Here we are again, the next instalment of Seasons Change for 2021. We convene every Equinox and Solstice to welcome in the new season, and this year have themed the mixes around the four elements: earth, wind fire and water.
I’m out of the picture this round with the birth of the latest addition to the Pettinger clan (welcome to the world Miles!), but Jimmy Monsta Funk (https://www.mixcloud.com/JimmyMonstaFunk) continues his recent onslaught of mixes with a wonderfully blustering wind-themed offering, whilst Kamikaze (https://www.mixcloud.com/kamikaze) goes full Chicago to recognise the incredibly rich musical heritage of the so-called Windy City.
Check out both mixes below with track list and narration underneath the links. And as always I hope to be back in action soon – in this case once I’ve finished googling “cheap people movers”.
Jimmy Monsta Funk
Artist – Heavy Sea And Wind (EMI Seaside Sound Effect Record)
Hannah Peel – Wind Shadow (My Own Pleasure)
George Benson – The Wind and I (Warner Bros)
Santana – Singing Winds, Crying Beasts (CBS)
Talking Heads – Air (Sire)
Reggie Dokes – Earth, Wind & Fire (We Play House)
Ed Nine – Lake Shore Breeze (Tales)
Mandrake – World Wind (Dust Tracks)
Silent Phase – Air Puzzle (R&S)
Perception & Mad Mike – Windchime (Underground Resistance)
Fat Freddys Drop – Wild Wind (The Drop)
Kraftwerk – Aerodynamik (Kling Klang Dynamik Mix) (EMI / Kling Klang)
Shogun – Wind Dancer (Remix) (R&S)
Tableek – Everyone Knows Wind (BurntBerry)
Bob Dylan – Idiot Wind (CBS)
Kamikaze
So, Chicago…
Now I know what you’re all thinking here – neither Satchmo or Jelly Roll, nor indeed Jlin, are actually from Chicago. No, technically not, but the former two were early relocators to, and both such vital players in the jazz blueprint of the city, so they absolutely need representing here. And Jlin, from just down the road in Indiana is arguably the most important cog in the juke wheel post-Rashad, so she’s totally in here too!
A word on juke, because when I first became aware of it c.2009 I was sceptical, thought it would be a short-lived gimmick at best, but in fact it has gone from strength to strength over the past decade or so and remained one of the freshest genres out there. I’ve pulled a handful of my all-time juke hall of fame tunes in here. I’ve attempted to mix them but am woefully out of practice, so although far from slick, the tunes are bangin! Rashad & Freshmoon, Taye & Manny, Rashad & Manny, Nate, Jana Rush, EQ Why & Traxman, RP Boo, and of course Jlin.
Another splatterbeat carnage fest occurs later in the mix when a handful of 126 ish belters land in succession. In here there’s GU Boo, Chaka Khan, Beau Wanzer, Greens Keepers, Africans With Mainframes, and Hieroglyphic Being.
On a dance tip I should mention there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t necessarily covered here, and it’s interesting to think of how every record bod would approach a Chicago mix differently. Yes it always starts with jazz in Chicago, but we all take such different paths through music that I think most people would bring a different, though equally valid, three hours to the table. In fact I challenge any of you to go full Chicago, I wanna hear what road you go down. Gauntlet thrown.
So, jazz. Because yes, it really does all start with jazz. Even when the actual jazz is off the table, its spirit remains. It infiltrates everything. This is the town that spawned math rock for goodness sake!
A mix of new and old jazz, hot and swing in here though. The aforementioned Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong, but also Lionel Hampton, Mead Lux Lewis, La Mont Zero Theatre, Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, Art Ensemble of Chicago, and Matana Roberts, whose Coin Coin series has been an absolute revelation over the past decade or so. We’re on Chapter Four now, from which the tune in this mix is taken. If you’ve not caught up with these yet, you know what to do!
So math rock! Yes, math rock. We all hated the name, but good god did this offer us some fantastically angular guitar treats. Tortoise were always the posterkids of math, and if you’re not up to speed with your Tortoise then it’s time to get acquainted via whatever medium you digest your music.
But there were a slew of other acts challenging what it meant to be a rock band through the 80s, 90s and 00s, with endless short run 7″s, LPs and CD releases. Some became household names, others disappeared from memory. Featured in here are tunes from Shellac, Assembly Line People Program, Bablicon, and We Raggazi, who released a short but perfectly formed album in the late 90s, and whom I had completed erased from my memory until I started pulling this show together.
Always a lot of funk and soul and blues when thinking Chicago too. Curtis Mayfield, The Emotions, Maurice & Mac, Earth, WInd & Fire, The Chi-Lites, Kip Tyler, and The Staple Singers all featured in here.
Never a shortage of experimental offerings from Chicago either. We’ve got our two favourites Lauries – Anderson and Spiegel – both featured here.
And wrapping up the loose ends, one man band next levelist The Lonesome Organist, dirgey beatsmiths Shadowlust, post-flamenco dudes Gastr Del Sol, Ivor Cutler coverist Jim O’Rourke, troubled soul Kanye West, and house godfather Mr Fingers.
Chicago Rocks!!!
Jelly Roll Morton – The Jelly Roll Blues [Biograph]
Mead Lux Lewis – Honky Tonk Train Blues [Magpie]
Louis Armstrong – Doctor Jazz [RCA]
Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra – Hamp’s Boogie Woogie [Solid Sender]
Kip Tyler – She’s My Witch [Ebb]
Maurice & Mac – Lay It On Me [Checker]
Curtis Mayfield – Superfly (single edit) [Sequel]
The Emotions – I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love [CBS]
DJ Rashad & DJ Manny – R House [Planet Mu]
Jlin – Never Created, Never Destroyed [Planet Mu]
Jana Rush – Old Skool [Objects Ltd]
EQ Why & Traxman – Pump Dat Jam [Orange Milk]
DJ Taye & DJ Manny – Need It [Hyperdub]
DJ Rashad & Freshmoon – Everybody [Hyperdub]
DJ Nate – Sexual Healing [Planet Mu]
Kanye West – Gold Digger [Roc-A-Fella]
Laurie Spiegel – Patchwork [Unseen Worlds]
Gastr Del Sol – Bauchredner [Domino]
The Lonesome Organist – All Of Those Dirty Swine [Thrill Jockey]
Laurie Anderson – O Superman [white label]
Bablicon – An Orange Pumpkin Glowing Moon Ensemble [Pickled Egg]
Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra – Parable 3000 (We All Come From Somewhere Else) [International Anthem]
Matana Roberts – Trail Of The Shining Sphinx [Constellation]
La Mont Zero Theatre – Eulogy For The Black Fairy [Athens Of The North]
Art Ensemble Of Chicago – Theme De Yoyo [Universal Sound]
Tortoise – Eros [Warp]
Shellac – This Is A Picture [Touch & Go]
Assembly Line People Program – Noise Version 80 [Transcopic]
We Ragazzi – Being Alive Is Like Vandalizin [My Pal God]
Emperor Penguin – How Y’All Feel [My Pal God]
Mr Fingers – Can You Feel It (Chuck D Mix) [Trax]
RP Boo – Back From The Future [Planet Mu]
Hieroglyphic Being – Under The Stars [Last Known Trajectory]
Chaka Khan – I Feel For You (Remix) [Warner]
Beau Wanzer – Hey Hey Hey Hey [Russian Torrent Versions]
Greens Keepers – Bang In Your Face [Classic]
GU Boo – Make Me Dance [Strictly Jazz]
Africans With Mainframes – Negroid Spink [Soul Jazz]
Shadowlust – Jute [LIES]
Earth, Wind & Fire – Brazilian Rhyme (Interlude) [Columbia]
The Chi-Lites – Have You Seen Her [Brunswick]
The Staple Singers – Go Tell It On The Moutain [Fantasy]
Jim O’Rourke – Prelude To 110 Or 220 / Women Of The World [Drag City]