20 March 2015, No. 57, Stone Alliance, ‘Sweetie-Pie’

No. 57 might be the only song the Beastie Boys name-checked but didn't sample. "Like 'Sweetie-Pie' by the Stone Alliance / Everybody knows I'm known for droppin' science." Not sure which one of them said that in "Root Down"...Ad Rock, it sounds like, my favorite Beastie. But I digress. Listen to "Sweetie-Pie" by Stone Alliance, No. 57.

19 March 2015, No. 56, Roy Ayers Ubiquity, ‘The Boogie Back’

"Ubiquity" is such a great name for a musical group, and Roy Ayers is a great bandleader and vibraphonist. And calling his band Ubiquity turned out to be prophetic, as Wikipedia says Ayers has more records that have been sampled by hip-hop artists than anyone else. I find this doubtful, and whosampled.com confirms at least that while an even hundred songs have sampled Ayers, James Brown bits are featured in nearly 5,000. But maybe Ayers has 50 songs that have been sampled and Brown has only 20. I could count them up, but I don't feel like it. The main thing we're here to do is to listen to Roy Ayers Ubiquity bring "The Boogie Back" from 1974's Change up the Groove LP at No. 56.

18 March 2015, No. 55, Dennis Edwards, ‘Don’t Look Any Further’

No. 55 is a total favorite of mine, easy listening smooth jazz pabulum though it seems to be. Maybe go listen to "Paid in Full" by Eric B and Rakim, and then this tune will seem a little cooler afterward. Dennis Edwards' yearning vocals and the recurring "day o umba day o" chants will seem less full of cheese and may even grow on you. So "Don't Look Any Further," or, if it doesn't suit your tastes, disregard Edwards' advice and check back with us tomorrow for No. 56.

17 March 2015, No. 54, Breakbot, ‘Make You Mine’

You may have noticed the few outliers on the list that that were made within the last 25 years (and edits and flips only half count), and here's another one. At five years out, it's not like this is a super fresh cut or anything, but it's one of the newest in the crate. Breakbot brings you a lovely little piano-and-vocoder groover to listen to with your life-automaton while you warm up by the cyber-fire. "Make You Mine" at No. 54.

15 March 2015, No. 53, Tatsuro Yamashita, ‘Windy Lady’

The first cool band I heard out of Japan was Shonen Knife, and ever since then, I've known that Japan can be trusted to adopt basically any musical style and throw their own odd twist on it. Think Yellow Magic Orchestra, Boredoms, 54-71, Deerhoof kinda counts, etc., et al. So I was pleased to find this downtempo piece of boogie awesome from Tatsuro Yamashita, stringy though it is. Actually, though, the strings in "Windy Lady" at No. 53 are unobtrusive and kind of nice.

14 March 2015, No. 52, Monk Higgins, ‘Can’t Stop’

I think it’s the sax solo and the laid-back-but-driving tambourine in No. 52 that does it for me. The little “me oh my” vocal bridge is fun too, and the parts with just sax/voice/drums toward the end. Second tune from Monk Higgins on the list. If I knew much about Monk Higgins, I’ve forgotten it, but Wikipedia tells me his real name was Milton and he was from East Chicago Heights, Illinois. Copies I have are digital, but maybe since he was from around here, I’ll dig up some wax. Get me around a bunch of records to be had and I “Can’t Stop,” kinda like the tune...

13 March 2015, No. 51, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, ‘Wake Up Everybody (DJ Apt One Re-Edit)’

I took the week off posting to celebrate eight years with the lovely Francesca, so it's fitting that we're coming back to hear some more of DJ Apt One's work, as Francesca and I met eight years ago at he and Skinny Friedman's long-running Philadelphyinz party in, of all places, Philadelphia. Medusa Lounge, the party's second location, I think, after it moved out of the Khyber. Anyway, life's never been the same since, and that's probably a good thing.

No. 51, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, "Wake Up Everybody (DJ Apt One Re-Edit)"