And by superhero...I mean you. YES YOU! I'm sure everyone who is a music lover, of any level, has a soundtrack. Shit...If you don't, you probably should. I was working on a article discussing 20 records that would change your life when i realized that was a topic to be left for the gods. I had be a little retarded to think that even I could even tackle something of such magnitude...its easily debatable and has great deal of grey area as some albums that are life-changing for some...would old hat for others.So?! I decided to change the role of this post to: soundtrack of a superheros day. A subject with which I frequent hourly. If you could soundtrack moments of your shitty to moderately blissful existence, what would you play? Here are 20 records to which I fall on when I need an enhancement to my day whether it be positive or negative...
Sonny Clark- a pianist who died way before his time, age 32 at the hands of a drug overdose, managed to somehow pack enough brilliance into all of his works that would carry for generations...to put a smile on my face and remind me when the dust settles...its whats in your heart that matters most. Sonny makes you swing. put him on when your cooking dinner... his piano will warm up your home.
...and speaking of piano and swing THE THREE SOUNDS will get it every time. This album features the hottest cut, "down the track", which makes me feel like I'm in a low-lit, after-hours dance parlor /speakeasy(drunk off my ass) with a 100 people sweating it out. It is sure to drown out the sounds of some shitbag that's trying to piss in your donuts.
Jimmy Smith-THE SERMON if there ever was a man to speak with his fingers that wasn't using sign language but instead chose to facilitate his communication with the touch to a Hammond B3 organ...it would be this man, and this man alone. The sound of an Hammond organ in the right hands can shake the soul of a man happy and render it useless for 20-30 minutes. Its better than weed...seriously.
Yesterdays New Quintet-STEVIE...this only reinforces what you already know. Stevie Wonder is a genius...these dudes take you there. Where? Wherever the fuck you want to be. Get in your car, put this on, look at that sky in front of you and thank God or whatever you pray to and thank it for living in a world with Stevie's music.
Smif n Wessun- DAH SHININ'When you're having a busted kind a day...when everything your doing is looking like sandscrit to the world you have to deal with... grab a neck brace and put on "stand strong", arguably the dopest track on this album. It'll remind you that you ARE a badass...and make you wanna punch the douche in the next cubicle singing the yacht rock tunes in the back of his neck. It also features one of the dopest utilization's of an Issac Hayes (may he rest in peace) sample to be adored forever.
Bill Withers-+justmentsSeriously?! this album will get you laid. Put this on for that special someone and sit back and front like you know more about Bill Withers than just "til you use me up". You don't even need candles for this one...put this shit on in the pitch black....and boom goes the dynamite.
Claude Debussy- Clair de LuneUpon the completion of a successful day...or I should say another day down in the books. I like to put this on, kick my feet up on the coffee table and stair into the middle distance and reflect on how nice it is to have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in my belly and ability to have access to some of the finer things in life. This album makes you feel like a distinguished beatnik. fo sho'.
Donny Hathaway- LIVE!For those of you who do not know of this man, you have been left out to dry. Donny is one the most slept on cats of all time. His voice will cure cancer. He will make you cry. He heals people.
His music....(crying just thinking about it.) is simply and at times regrettably beautiful in the most incomprehensible sense. we were cut short of his presence when he took his own life after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. Disclaimer: Donny is great but does not mesh well with recent breakups. He will have you crying most definitely, but only because his voice makes you feel so good to be alive.
Jingo- FEVERI first heard this cut when I was watching the Last King of Scotland. Two words: Pure Fyah! Take off your shoes and grab the one you love or like and get down. Smiles and happy feet are guaranteed. This is one-man dancy party material.
Thomas East & the Fabulous Playboys-I GET A GROOVEDo you want to feel like a badass but without all the misdemeanors and scars? Put this one on. This is the quintessential strut walkin' soundtrack. I want to put this one on a boombox and have a midget carry it behind 10-15 feet behind me as walk.
JDilla ( RIP)- DONUTSDILLA DILLA BEATS BEATS BEATS DILLA DILLA BEATS BEATS BEATS!!!!!!!!!!!!In the way that Mozart constructed requiem on his deathbed and left it unfinished...the same analogy could be made for Dilla. a majority of these beats were constructed when his illness was at his worst, yet at the precipice of his career. The work of this musician aids in defining me as a man and a dj...anything hes ever done goes down in the "happy to hear it" category. J Dilla is my Jesus...and HE saved my life.
The Jimi Entley Sound- THEME FOR CHARLIELISTEN CAREFULLY: THIS IS THE BADDEST FUCKIN' GROOVE ON THE PLANET....AND I STAND BY IT. Everytime I put this on, I feel like i just robbed a bank or shanked some dude for looking at me sideways with a spoon that i was stirring my coffee with in an old diner... I stand up, gather myself and light a lucky strike...adjust my fedora and confidently walk outside to my 1968 black cherry Lincoln continental...Wait!!!! you see what it does to me?!LOL.....its a classic and consequently, a sample used by none other than King James aka J Dilla. If your not in the smooth and debonair mood, you will be.
Gustav Holst-THE PLANETSif you need music to slay a dragon to or perhaps you need music conquer the rush hour traffic....OR if you want to be overly dramatic and pretend that you're doing something in slow motion? This is the album for you. "MARS", the albums first planet and introduction, is pretty much what I play in my head from the minute i open my eyes to sitting up in bed to the walk to the commode for the morning duty. the other cuts are kinda dainty but do well for illustrating anything from faxing to starting your lawnmower for the first time in the spring...whatever.
People under the Stairs- CARRIED AWAYI pretty much refer to these dudes as tribe called quest of the millennium. Big shoes to fill? Hell ya! These dudes preserve every last element of hiphop i feel like we're losing by the day. They have been around longer than a minute and everyone of albums is nothing short of dope. the samples, the production...the lyrics...OMG! the lyrics. These guys are some of the few that have the whole package. Drink a beer with some homeys and give this a run... it is sure not to let you down.
Ray Bryant-UP ABOVE THE ROCK
Wanna a hear a song that makes you feel like your gettin' down in the middle of a southern baptist mississippi congregation on Sunday afternoon sweatin for the Lord and savior but you want the instrumental version? guess what I found this year?! Its a groove thats unforgettable. I rock this when I'm cleaning the house.
A Tribe Called Quest- LOW END THEORYif you don't know by this point in time...then I don't want to be the one to tell you. Seriously, you should kill yourself if you don't know....and yes, I'm serious. For all of you that do know? DUH, muthaflackas!!!!
Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Fergueson-SUITE FOR MA DUKESa beautiful tribute album for King James aka the aforementioned J Dilla. this album comprises a classic charting of four infamous Dilla beats ( most notably Tribe's "Find a way".) to pay homage to his body of work and the world of music that he changed. I rock this when I'm in my head when I'm looking at hot ass women doing cool shit like cleaning or walking their dog or yelling at their boyfriends in a crowded bar piss drunk. Its one of my favorite things. This album more seriously, is infinitely and insanely intense and is stated in my last will and testament, as what will be played when I decide to for that eternal dirt nap.
The Motherhood-I FEEL SO FREEcontains the track "Soul town" which is what I feel like you should hear when you just got over on somebody... Its got trumpets out the ass and feels like what eating Prime Rib at the Sahara buffet at 5am after you just blew 20 large at the craps table would sound like. I have no experience on the matter but you have some relation to what that does feel like, then you're a superhero in my book... even if you are stupid enough to do that.
Gran Puba-2000For my hiphop heads....Here's a resurrected forgotten classic from the PUBA! I rock this when I'm on the hustle but i need something without edge or conscience rap shit. Too many new cats are spewing the same ol' message...little did they know, the Gran Puba summed that shit up with the quickness long before rose to the game. This album also fits the mold for asking for money that someone owes you (for some reason i feel like an authoritative hustler and have no troubles getting my shit back with this is playing in the background-which is funny because there is nothing hustler about it). Its hard to find these days- i know that for sure.
Dj Cornbread- EARWAXthe first mixtape made by your truly is sure to encompass all the fixins the quintessential mixtape you should need: action, suspense, drama, beats....classics. the whole caboodle. Looking back on the last 4 years, its remains one of my favorite things and I rock the shit out of it like I am a superhero. for those of you sleeper cats out there...you can find this little number amongst all my works at djcornbread.podomatic.com( WARNING: DO NOT JOKE THIS ONE! i regard this one as my first child....) enjoy and thank you as always.
Peace.
