LOWRIDER

 

The third volume in Thump Records' Lowrider Soundtrack series is a master class in funk and freestyle anchored by DEBBIE DEB's "When I Hear Music," an indispensable track worth the price of admission and then some all on its own. Follow that up with "I Need A Freak" from SEXUAL HARASSMENT and TONY-O's "Drop Them Drawers" and you know this a different kind of party. There are still solid lowrider jams here (HISPANIC MCs, DAZZA, SAPADILLA) but overall this collection is way freakier and more hi-NRG mix than the first two collections. So get down to TOGETHER BROTHERS, CRAZY CLOCK MC, FREESTYLE, BABY G & TRUE FUNK POSSE and HOLLYWOOD HAMILTON and you're talking about an actual fucking party....you're also talking about a brilliant mix tape. 

LOWRIDER SOUNDTRACK VOLUME 3

WEEKEND AT GRITTY'S

 

I don't know how many times I will tell you that a well crafted and curated mix tape is a wonderful thing....but here I am telling you again today that a well crafted and curated mix tape is a wonderful thing. Weekend At Gritty's is the seventh in the Pinhole Mixtape series (the first five volumes are already here - the sixth is....well, you're gonna have to wait for Halloween or something) and the brilliance in construction is perhaps best demonstrated when the curator rolls effortlessly from NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL to JEF THE BROTHERHOOD to a cut from Return Of The Living Dead. This mix is soundtrack heavy, which makes for an even better "casual" listen that allows you to relax and drift before yanking the leash with cuts from SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET, JESUS AND MARY CHAIN or THE SQUALLS. It's a gorgeous listen...highest recommendation.

WEEKEND AT GRITTY'S

SUMMER JAM LOVE CLASSICS

 

Summer is right around the corner - shit, looks like the Central Valley is going to kiss 100 degrees this weekend - and that means it's time to dust off some summer love jams. Don't worry though, we've got you covered. I don't know what subsequent volumes of Summer Jam Love Classics had to offer, but it's entirely possible that the creator/s simply looked at this first volume and decided it would be pointless to try to top perfection. Kinda like SLAYER should have done after Reign In Blood - even South Of Heaven was a lateral move at best, but I digress. A solid hour of slow soul grooves, late '70s to early '80s R&B...Summer Jam Love Classics, just like the title says. ENCHANTMENT, WHISPERS, SKYY, DENISE WILLIAMS, ATLANTIC STARR all anchored by PEABO BRYSON's excruciatingly sexy "I'm So Into You." Yeah, summer will be here before you know it. Get ready to sweat. 

SUMMER JAM LOVE CLASSICS Vol.1 

BARRIO MUSIC

 

This is probably the coolest Barrio Music volume I've delved into so far, which makes me excited to keep plowing my way through the twelve tape series. Anchored by undeniable classics by ELVIS PRESLEY ("Now Or Never"), ? AND THE MYSTERIANS ("96 Tears"). LITTLE RICHARD ("Good Golly Miss Molly") and JERRY LEE LEWIS ("Great Balls Of Fire"), you've also god JAMES BROWN's deadly ballad "Try Me" and "Doing It To Death" by FRED & THE NEW JB'S (a song I always thought was actually by The Godfather Of Soul). And then there't the other stuff....GENE & EUNICE, LARRY WILLIAMS, MANHATTANS, PEACHES & HERB, even PAUL fucking ANKA delivers a killer. A standard from THE PLATTERS and a smooth as fuck track from the suitably named DON & JUAN round out the roster and.....my people this is just a perfectly curated mix of perfectly wonderful music. Like, can you think of a better way to end your week?

BARRIO MUSIC vol.4

AUFLAGE 100

 

What a.....what a sweet collection of songs. You could really stop listening after the opening track from GHOST AMBULANCE and feel satisfied - one of the most innocent and sincere love songs I can remember hearing. What follows is a perfectly curated mix of '90s proto-shoegaze and harmlessly mellow indie cuts from TRAUMA GLOW, MANIC YOUTH, COMBAT BEACH, LAUNDROMAT CHICKS, a surprisingly addictive groover by SWELLE and an airy epic from SAKURA.....basically a grip of modern Austrian bands I would never have crossed paths with if I didn't have a well connected pal who likes to meets for burritos on occasion. He says "you're welcome."

AUFLAGE 100

KALX

Y'all know the drill with these tapes, but even so....this is a really good one.
Here's life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 39 years ago today. 

HERE

Worth noting that life as broadcast on KALX in Berkeley 38 years ago today was posted last year.... 

DOGGISH BOYS

 
I don't even know what to say here. Just listen, okay? A wild and unhinged spectrum generated hip-hop mix tape orbiting the mind of JEFF DOGG. Chopped and/or Screwed drug addled rap dispatches like you've never even imagined from the Pinhole Family.....the shit sounds weird, the shit is infectious. I feel like this is something Aesop would have created and/or released (which reminds me that I should hit that dude up to say hello). Just listen, okay?

DOGGISH BOYS MIXTAPE

1-800-REMIXES

 

If you weren't alive when (most) these songs were unavoidable then mayhaps you can't really grasp what a comfortable listen this is. I was there though - I was high school kid with a weekend job as a small town commercial radio DJ and I heard damn near every one of these tracks countless times. I didn't hear them like this though, and there's a magic in this era-appropriate collection. Until today, I never knew that MC HAMMER name dropped Oaktown in "U Can't Touch This" (which is followed by DIGITAL UNDERGROUND and EN VOGUE, two more outfits that helped put the East Bay on the mainstream map around the same time ECONOCHRIST moved out from Arkansas), and until today I never knew that JANET JACKSON collaborated with HEAVY D on a remix of "Alright." And Canada's JANE CHILD dropped one of the most essential freestyle bangers ever with "I Don't Wanna Fall In Love" and she's basically the arctic Sheila E or some shit. Basically, I learned a lot of things today. MICHEL'LE, ROB BASE, JOHNNY GIL round out a remix tape that was hopefully distributed out of the trunk of a stolen Camry...and could have provided the soundtrack for every episode of In Living Color. 

1-800-REMIXES VOL.1

If anyone has a line on subsequent volumes....you know where to find me. 

MEZTISOUL

 

Half hour chill-house mix from Central (CA) Valley's MEZTISOUL. Bump under heat during the Season Of The Disappearing Sun if you'd like to have the same listening experience I had.....and it was a sensational listening experience. 

PRESCRIPTION PART 1

PAIN IN MY HEART

 

I don't know how often I need to remind you how much impact the right mixtape can have in the right moment. There's an art to curating a cassette the right way - it can't just be bangers and it can't just be unknown gems (even if the gems are all diamonds), it's better if there's a through-line but if you deviate from the mission it can deaden the impact. A perfect mix is indefinable, but when they come to you.....you know it because you feel it, and you cherish them. Bailey makes them. Jensen makes them....and apparently Pinhole Collapse makes them. Pain In My Heart is the fifth in a twelve tape series, and is among the most gut-wrenching and excruciating listens that I have endured. Ever. You want to talk about variations on a theme? You want to talk about heartache in song? You want to talk about fucking pain? REUBEN BELL and BILL BRANDON and JOE WILSON and MARION BLACK and JOHNNY THUNDER and CALA THOMAS are gonna tell you about pain, motherfucker. The only hope on this tape is the hope that hopefully you'll be able to make it through the pain. The pain will never go away, but maybe you'll make it. I told you a few months ago that Howlin' At The Moon was perfect....and Im here to tell you today that this next volume hits ever harder. Absolutely devastating. Listen to DIANE LEWIS' "Please Let Me Help You" and cry. Cry, motherfucker. 

PAIN IN MY HEART

LOWRIDER

 

Nothing says "lazy Friday" like a killer collection of freestyle, funk, R&B and street dance jams. Straight up. MC FROSTY. DAZZA. THE FLAVA SYSTEM. WORLD CLASS RECKIN' CRU. SETH LUV. BABY G. There's more, but really you just need to freak to ROCKY & MS. VEE "Dance Freak To The Beat" and fuck literally everything else. I know I said some things about punk music yesterday....you know what motherfuckers? I'm saying the same shit today listening to BY ALL MEANS KINGS and MILDRED BLACK so think about that maybe. Or just listen and fukkn ride...low.

LOWRIDER SOUNDTRACK VOLUME 2 

CRUCIAL '78

 

From the opening echoes of PRINCE JAMMY's track that sets the tones to a bizarre dub from JOE GIBBS & THE PROFESSIONALS to TRINITY to U-ROY's smooth rizzed out rock steady, Crucial '78 is a master class in dub, crackling beats and hopelessly infectious reggae adjacent sounds. A glorious (and presumably homemade) mix that truly makes you feel like you've been on a journey once it's finished.  

CRUCIAL '78

NORTHEASTERN HYMNS

 

You want something profound? Nah man, this is just four songs from four modern black metal bands I had never heard of before I listened to Northeastern Hymns. That's all. The OBSIDIAN FOREST and INFERNA BRUO tracks are exceptional. I don't like the other two quite as much, but that's just me, you know?

NORTHEASTERN HYMNS

BANGUN DARI MIMPI BURUK YANG INDAH

 

More like this please? Thank you. A breathtaking collection of raw fastcore, mince/grind, noise, shit-fi and punk, all delivered with a brilliantly honest lack of fidelity. DESTRUCT, PROJECT BABI NO.9, DEVIATED SYMPHONY, DIRTY MOUTH, NOISE FOR VIOLENCE and more, all hailing from Yogyjakarta. Shit just feels real, and the next 42 minutes of your life are about to get a lot more brutal. 

BANGUN DARI MIMPI BURUK YANG INDAH: A SOUNDTRACK FROM A PRINTMAKING

A BROKEN HEART FOR EVERY GUITAR IN NASHVILLE

 

I feel like this one could have just as easily been compiled by some LA hipster trying to front as a country expert by releasing DIY mix tapes. This is to say: A Broken Heart For Every Guitar In Nashville is an absolutely stellar comp with artists you know, artists you love and artists you didn't know you needed. The FREDDY FENDER cut (one of my favorites from a criminally underrated singer) would be at home on a Barrio or East Side Story collection, you've got Willie and George mingling with Wilma Burgess and Jack Scott. THE STATLER BROTHERS' track is a shock to my system and the tape starts to fail just before you start to cry, B.J. THOMAS delivers an all star performance with "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" and if I start talking about the BARBARA MANDRELL contribution then I won't stop so.....so I'm just gonna stop. 

A BROKEN HEART FOR EVERY GUITAR IN NASHVILLE

BARRIO MUSIC

 

I was biking home from practice tonight and spotted a lowrider mural on the side of a parklet on 24th  Street. Figured that shit was appropriate. These comps are life giving - even if you've heard every single one of these songs, context is everything. 

BARRIO MUSIC Vol.2

D-70's

 

This was a freebie that Paul from Ragin' casually tossed in the pile when I snagged that grip of Lowrider and Barrio comps. Dude just added it to the pile like it was nothing special because he rolls that deep in the special shit...and rest assured that this is special shit. I could tell you it's essentially a disco comp, and you'd probably decide to blow it off. I could tell you that you probably know most of the songs here, and you'd probably decide that it's not worth your time. But you see.....those would be wrong decisions, because this mix is one of the best dancefloor smashers I have heard. Period. Every song is a straight killer, the sequence and the segues are simply flawless. PETER JAQUES, GIORGIO MORODER, SYLVER CONVENTION, DONNA SUMMER, THE MUSIC MAKERS, THE TRAMMPS, FOXY....and even though there is so much more, this comp is so much more than the simply sum of its parts, you know? Listen at full volume, and appreciate the generosity of others. 

D-70's

BARRIO MUSIC

 

Dedicated visitors will remember my excitement when I came into an entire set of the East Side Story comps. On that note, those who know me can imagine the look on my face when I was presented with the opportunity to score the first eleven volumes of the Barrio Music comps that started trickling out of Mexico in the 1980s. Essential....? I mean, you can listen to oldies on the radio if you prefer (or at least you used to could be able to do that but the radio is different now so I suppose it really depends on your market) but there's something about a perfectly crafted collection of songs, and that is exactly what these comps are. Much like East Side Story, these tapes are filled with standards that you (should) know inside and out ("I'm Your Puppet," "Seasons In The Sun") mingling with essential cuts like "Eighteen With A Bullet," It's Okay" and "Those Oldies But Goodies" that have spent decades in the shadows. These compilations create a vibe in the most glorious way, and I look forward to sprinkling the next tewn into your life. 

BARRIO MUSIC vol.1

RPM'S R&B DANCE PARTY

 

If you saw this in a pile of question marks.....would you pick it up and pop it in?

Yeah, me too. 
It's not what you think.

RPM'S R&B DANCE PARTY

HOWLIN' AT THE MOON

 

First - go back and check the first three Pinhole Mixtapes. Please. They're perfect. Then - download this fourth volume and just fukkn relax. Wallow in the joy that comes from listening to a perfectly crafted and meticulously curated mix tape. The first three are near perfect, and Howlin' At The Moon continues the tradition. Off the beaten path essentials from ESCO HANKINS, CHARLIE FEATHERS, VERNON WRAY, JOHHNY SKILES and TERRY FELL rubbing elbows with lesser known classics from PATSY CLINE, GEORGE JONES, WAYLON JENNINGS, LORETTA LYNN and a few others you thing you don't need to pay attention to because their very names are institutions in themselves. Listen to BILLY RUFUS sing "A Way To Die" and tell me you don't need more country music in your life...the shit is the realest, and Mr. Pinhole is doing an amazing job of keeping the sounds simultaneously mysterious and relevant. 

HOWLIN' AT THE MOON
I was appropriately whiskey drunk and may or may not have been crying when I edited this cassette, so typos (should they exist) in the track listing are not just excusable, they're a part of the experience.