29 May 2016

Off list today, I’m ripping the No Borders Here LP from Jane Siberry, so we’ll have a track from that. Dunno much about Siberry except that she’s Canadian and she sang with a group of other Canadian stars on a track on the We Are the World LP. Anyway, I’m usually not one much for lyrics, but this tune, "Symmetry (The Way Things Have to Be)," speaks to me. I don’t particularly like asymmetry, and I hate it when people do things wrong. It also makes me think of my father, from whom I inherited these traits. In particular, these lyrics:

Or say you're in an air show
And you're flying with two other pilots
And you want to do it right
Because you like to do it right
And one guy is flying
At the tip of your left wing
And the other guy's off
Doing his own thing
Would it bother you?
It bothers me


25 May 2016, No. 156, The J.B.s, ‘The Grunt (Part 1)’

My copy of this tune is from an Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilation, so the first bar is looped eight times or so. When the loop is in effect, the Public Enemy is unmistakable if you’ve heard it before. The JBs doing “The Grunt” at No. 156 will keep your rebellion off pause forever. Careful, though, or that squealing sax will go right up through your roof.

17 May 2016, No. 155, Tamiko Jones, ‘Let It Flow (The Deep and Slow Edit)’

I’ve got a lot of edits from Tim Zawada, and all the good ones made this list, which is still a lot of them. His edit of Tamiko Jones’ “Let It Flow”—the “Deep and Slow Edit” at No. 155—is as dubbed out and synth-y as you might expect, but it’s also stringy without being syrupy and loopy without getting boring. Checks all the boxes. Have a listen.

10 May 2016, No. 154, Stevie Wonder, ‘As’

No such thing as too much Stevie Wonder. No. 154, “As.”

5 May 2016, No. 153, Sly and the Family Stone, ‘Loose Booty’

There are lots of tunes that are close to my heart because the Dust Brothers used a snippet or two on the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique LP. “Loose Booty” at No. 153 from Sly and the Family Stone stands up on its own, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are forever Biblical unburnt Beasties in my mind with Rose Stone singing “Hey, hey, hey yay yay yeah.”