Cherry Soul

direct link to mix

(pic: cyberanubis)

If I had to choose between going deaf tomorrow and going blind tomorrow, I'd pick blind. Pretty quickly. My moms is a singer, my dad was a jazz drummer, and my childhood was pretty full of music (plus a 13" black and white TV for much of my childhood, and no cable EVER), so it makes sense to me that I gravitate towards the aural. Plus I stopped playing video games that aren't solitaire like 6 years ago (everything after Gamecube is smarter than me). I've been legally blind since the fifth grade, and without glasses or contacts I am a danger to myself and others. Computers can read to you now. The thought of never being able to hear a new song scares me far more than darkness. Never hearing Stevie again? Eff that. No more Bill Withers? Nope. Blind me, please. Without my ears I couldn't hear amazing funk and soul like the selection below. Enjoy, and try to imagine a world where you could never hear this again. Sucks, huh?

mantisounds - cherry soul

Mantisounds - cherry soul by Mantisounds

1. the mary jane girls - all night long

this is the song "Around the Way Girl" sampled. Ah, rooftop romance...

2. the barkays - holy ghost

the killer break is at the end, but the whole song is sloppy, sweat soaked jumpsuit funk

3. george mcrae - i get lifted

So do I, George, so do I....

4. ernie k. doe - here come the girls

this song is so pimp. "I was born to be free. Freedom of choice. Ring that bell. Give all the girls to me." HE'S the one with freedom of choice, to choose from all the girls! King of pimps!

5. garnet simms - stop and check yourself

I like to imagine he's singing to a crazy ass ex...

6. the explosions - garden of four trees

I think there's a sex metaphor in there somewhere, but have never been able to figure out the significance of the "garden of four trees." If anyone knows, please tell me...

7. bobby rush - mary jane

story of my life...

8. bill withers - who is he and what is he to you

Bill Withers is one of my all time favorites. His whole vibe was simultaneously vulnerable and cool, sensitive and badass. That's a tough tightrope to walk, if you think about it, but he killed it. He could tell a story, and most of them did not have happy endings (anyone who has listened to "Better Off Dead" knows what I'm saying). I am totally on Team Withers.

9. candi staton - best thing you ever had

Candi Staton is a badass broad. She's got one of those voices, like Sarah Vaughan or - I'll say it - Amy Winehouse, that's bigger than the singer herself, like she can barely control it, barely harness it to do what she wants it to do. Don't hate on Amy Winehouse just because she's a crackhead with a predilection for cutting. Hate on her because she's SQUANDERING REAL TALENT!

10. bobby womack - nobody wants you when you're down and out

Nina Simone did a version of this song that is totally different, I almost didn't realize they were the same songs when I first heard this. I was talking to someone recently about how timely all these old 70s musical themes, the "life's a bitch, there's no jobs, crime is on the rise, America is insecure" types of songs, are relevant again. Thanks a bunch, W.

11. lee dorsey - yes we can (mantisounds edit)

Si se puede. This song will always be the "Obama song" to me, even though it was recorded 38 years before President Obama was elected. Lee Dorsey was ahead of his time!

12. the meters - handclapping song

Tribe sampled this song for "Clap Your Hands" off Midnight Marauders. Whenever the "what year" game gets played, I always go with 1993. No question. Buhloon Mindstate. Midnight Marauders. Souls of Mischief and that whole Heiro crew. 36 Chambers! Illmatic (came out in early 94, but RECORDED in 93 according to wikipedia, which is NEVER WRONG). The motherf*cking CHRONIC. I worked at Hampton Beach that year slingin' syrian subs and spending my paychecks at the little skate shop in the dining room (it was more like a closet/display case that the owner would wisely keep locked). Skateboarding all night, popping No Doze and pounding Dew for the lunch crowd, then splitting warm pita bread for an hour before getting a fistfull of cash, a new deck, and a tuna wrap with tomatoes, pickes, onions, and hot pepper relish to go. Life was simpler then.....

13. tyrone chestnut - bumping

14. allen toussaint - get out my life woman

this guy knew his way around a f*cking piano!

15. allen toussaint - either either

So nice, I played him twice...

16. lee dorsey - give it up

So funky. The Beastie Boys were right!

17. dianne & carole with the latin watchmacalits - the Fuzz

I definitely got caught up hard in that boogaloo craze that went around a few years ago. I dropped a lot of money on Soul Jazz compilation disks at Kim's on St. Marks back in the olden days. I love the style so much, it's so evocative of a specific time and place in America. I gave a disk of boogaloo music to a guy who grew up in Queens in the 70s, and he told me it took him right back. Plus this song's about getting busted by the cops, which is funny....

18. lemuria - hunk of heaven

Obscure Hawaiian funk. You can almost smell the pineapple roasted pig...mmmm, pork....

19. jimmy castor bunch - maggie

The saxaphone can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Jimmy Castor is the right hands.

20. stevie wonder - all day sucker

Stevie Wonder is ACTUALLY the Best. Ever. It's been proven. Songs in the Key of Life is the standard by which truly great albums are measured, and he also did Innervisions. Case closed. (oh, and I forgive him for the Woman in Red soundtrack)

21. ground hog - bumpin'

22. bohannon - run it on down dj

I think this was on the Brainfreeze mix that Shadow and Cut Chemist put out almost a decade ago (that just made me feel f*cking old!).

23. bill withers - kissing my love

To learn more about my unhealthy mancrush on Bill Withers, see #8 above

History IN The Making

OUT ONE EAR IN THE OTHER

i love indie rock. i like the music. i like the lyrics. for a while there, its felt as if the indie kids were the only ones breaking new grounds and going out on a limb and trying new stuff. bringing emotion back into the mix. i get tired of all this rap shizz, which quite frankly, isnt that very good right now. i know errbody is saying that, but just cause they are doesnt make it a lie. i love sufjan stevens, new pornagraphers, and the new matt and kim is off the wheels (do the kids still say that?) sometimes you just wanna rock out with your caulk out ya know? sometimes these guys and girls get it just right. they do know how you feel. i love me some biggie, but that ninja never peered into my heart. La MoDa has feelings, lots of them. sometimes a little indie is what soothes the beast. this mix is an attempt to put together some under-appreciated gems from the past couple of years, along with some (well deserved) over hyped stuff. grab yourself a PBR tallboy , put on some leggings, hell strap on a fanny pack, its 09, we got a black man in the white house, pretend you are on the L train, sit back and enjoy

Out One Ear In The Other (mosart212)set list

funkdafied - Faust and Shortee /
my man DJ JASONKEITH put me on to Faust and Shortee, and I have been a fan ever since. Its not exactly electro, it aint funk- but its funky, its kinda breaks, but not really... is this what florida sounded like in the late 90's?

Ankle Injuries - Fujiya & Miyagi /
they are not japanese. they will not teach you how to kick some cobra kai ass, but they will rock it with some smooth lyrics, and beautiful instrumentation.

Gotta get rid of Rick (James Pants Rmx) - Baron Zen /
so Baron Zen came out with his crazy ass shizz, a long, long, long, time ago, 1988, and then went on to found Stones Throw, which by the way, you need to stop jocking. I mean they are good, but not that good, for every Madlib on the label there is Charizma, and by the way even if you have never heard of Charizma, keep in mind that its not, "Charisma", its Chari"z"ma. La MoDa is militantly opposed to your incorrect spelling - unless we like your music, in which case we will make an exception, like you OUTCAST, uhm, OUTKAST... so, yeah, the Baron, he kills it. but this is about James motherfudging Pants. the new prince, not the color, but the awesome little musician? the new, weirder, robert smith? you tell us, but be on the lookout we will rock him again...

This month, Day 10 - CSS /
i was afraid of the new album, Donkey, was it gonna suck? was it gonna prove all the haters right? was CSS and their first album all hype? nope and nope. this song rules, this album rules, the new one rules.

Circle Square Triangle - Test Icicles /
test icicles is thrash rock, or "noise". they dont exist anymore. they had a black guy in the three- man-band. La MoDa loves when bands that dont sing rap music, have a black guy. this is progressive, after all La MoDa loves it when "people" point out that black people started rock and roll; having a black guy in the band legitimizes that "claim." this song has just the right amount of yelling with a broken voice, to make it awesome, but not annoying.

I just had to die - The Knife /
the knife is like when ghostface killah wore the stocking on his face for the first few months of the wu's career. then tony figured out he was too pretty to wear a stocking on his face and stopped.

its like that, except that the knife didnt stop. they hate the media, they hate interviews, and they hate all the things curt cobain hated. they are brother and sister, and Karin Dreijer Andersson's voice is so goddamn sexy i dont want her to die.

Since you were gone (mosart212 icey cold mix) - Chromeo /
I am over the whole chromeo craze. its was hard to break out, but i am now on the other side. from here i can still say they are incredible. worth the hype? its so hard to say as a former junky. what do you think?



Kennedy Killed the heat (MSTRKRFT rmx) - Buck 65 /
Thank me with your hands (MSTRKRFT rmx) - Panthers /
Death From Above 1979 had to change their name because apparently James Murphy came up with it first! seriously? yes seriously, they had to add the "1979" part. Jesse Keeler from MSTRKRFT is one half of the phenomenal DFA, not to be confused for DFA from NYC, right james murphy?!. there was a point at the height of the electro-music blog craze (you know where errbody you knew was downloading errthing that was put onto missingtoof, and discobelle, and, and...) where whenever you saw this: "mstrkrft remix" you knew it was going to be good. not too much glitch, not too much pretension, just enough of the song left in that you actually recognize it as a remix.

Black Background - Presets
this beat is banging. oddly enough its not indicative of what the whole presets album sounds like, but a good clue that you should get your hands on their art.

Nothing Better (mosart212 1000 bongos remix)- Postal Service /
dont hate on the postal service. they make real emotional music, that is great to listen to when you are feeling depressed. I especially loves this song when we are feeling blue. seriously. dont. hate. ben gibbard is wack with death cab (yeah we said it)(they take that feeling sad thing a little too far and all of a sudden you no longer feel ike someone knows how you feel, you feel worse!) but awesome in his shoegazing emo-ness when it comes to the postal. we cant say we loved DNTEL at first but then like a tumor, they grew on us, and now i likes DNTEL. so jimmy tamborello is cool too. this is one of mosart's first ever edits. we think it came out alright.

Young folks (Dj Serafin breaks mix) - Peter Bjorn and John/
this remix is off the hook (do the kids still say that?) i know you are sick of this song and we are sorry. but whenever we throw this joint on at the enormous room the kids go crazy. still. serafin doesnt do anything special here except find the most perfect, basic, breakbeat to throw behind an almost perfect song.

Chi Ching - Lady Sovereign /
yo we are still waiting for that album with Juelz Santana (hey if you gonna like ignant rap, you might as well go all out and like the sleeziest, dirtiest, nihilistic dudes out there, right?) and the young "lady" from england.

Time stands still - Cut Copy /
so La MoDa notices that this mix is covered with peeps who received a lot, and we do mean a lot, of hype when they first drop, and in the case of cut copy, the hype is still on high. we meant to do this. its what we do from time to time. you know you liked it when it came out so why dont you like it now?

Baby Doll - NERD
not the full song, but here it is if you just have to have it. and yeah that new NERD album sucks. sorry. such a disappointment since everything before this one is kaboom! perhaps pharrel is, dare i say it.....busy with other things?

set list said and done
peace

Black Metal Monday

(pic: nowhereskateboards)

Since this is the inaugural "Black Metal Mondays" feature on the new site, I thought I'd give just a smidge of background before I get into the unbridled evil. Black metal is defined by wikipedia as "an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It often employs fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, double-kick drumming, and unconventional song structure...Black metal has been met with considerable hostility from mainstream culture, mainly due to the misanthropic and anti-Christian ideology of many artists. Additionally, some musicians have been associated with church burnings, murder and/or National Socialism. For these reasons and others, black metal is often viewed as an underground form of music." As you can probably tell by that brief description, the more evil, misanthropic and anti-Christian the music is, the "better." Consequently, promotional copy for black metal bands tends to be a hilarious exercise in hyperbole of the most extreme sort (you might think that's redundant, but you'll soon see it's not). Since Mondays suck divine ass, and black metal as a genre encourages - nay, celebrates - such suckiness, I like to cheer myself up on Mondays by trolling my favorite black metal website for inspiration. So begins a (semi-)regular feature I like to call "Black Metal Mondays." Put on your dancing shoes and join me...


As you may have noticed, the economy sucks nate sack these days, so even 5 mics or 9/10 stars from Satan himself doesn't ensure black metal success in these trying times. So blackmetal.com is promoting some items from their back catalogue for a lovely post-holidays sale (just in time for Valentines Day!). First up on the hit parade is 1999's "On the Sortiledge of Christianity," the satin-smooth stylings from Lucifugum, a group of delightful chaps coming out of Zhitomir, Ukraine. Originally released in cassette format, Lucifugum have generously reissued this release on "blood spattered vinyl," which is great news for all you djs out there (you have not truly heard black metal until you've heard a killer doubles routine with Lucifugum's heartwarming ballad "When Hate is Burning Down the Sky"! Bboys rock the spot!). Their sound is described as "anti-dogmatic wolfish poison," and really, isn't regular anti-dogmatic poison just pussy shit compared to the wolfish kind?

Our next discount offering comes all the way from Japan, not usually known as a hotbed of anti-Christian misanthropy and bloodlust, but, just as with compact cars and game shows and vinyl figurines, I am confident Japan will soon be the world's leading exporter of recorded despair. Endless Dismal Moan (or "E.D.M." as my parents know him) is a solo project from jinglemeister Chaos9, whose release "Lord of Nightmare" is tantalizingly described by revered critic "Weed B. Gone" thusly: "tension, bloody fury, drama and despair do battle using flesh-ripping thrash guitars and haunting piano melodies." If that hasn't got you adding Lord of Nightmare to your cart, dig on this amazingly cheery review by JoelH: "[Lord of Nightmare] is indeed a nightmarish occurrence. I honestly can’t say when the last time was that I experienced such a frightening, gripping, hallucinating, spellbindingly evil recording as this one. Seriously the riffs in this thing send shivers up and down my spine, the hairs on my arm standout up and quiver, and as I continue on listening I feel my very thoughts might betray me to do something wicked. Amongst these evil chords are brutally programmed drums that at no point sound human, but more like some sort of futuristic death contraption hooked up to my psyche. Plus with eerie synth that brings me back to the first Emperor album, and vocals that sound like something straight out of hell, you can bet you’re in for one tremendous journey with this recording." Check's in the mail, broh. (just in case the nuance is lost on you, please enjoy this sampling of E.D.M. set to some famous love scenes from classic American cinema)

If the previous releases are just a little too "mainstream" for your tastes, then pull up a chair and start harmonizing with Through the Eyes of Carrion (formerly known as Slumber, which, given that word's possible non-evil nursery rhyme connotations, simply had to be changed). Metal Maniacs magazine says of their 2003 release "The Passing": "For those of you into more scathing and raw offerings of Black Metal, as opposed to the more commercial orchestral releases, check out Salt Lake City's most torturous project... Over the course of these... tracks, you will surely drop into a murderous trance...'The Embrace and Devourment' has blistering speed and the coldest, hollow vocals, letting you know you're in for a wild ride of traditional patterns, and high-powered machine gun drumming, interrupted only for segments of just as evil trance-like passages of noise-filled destruction. A consistent yet unique feeling approach to Black Metal, being straight-forward in anger and slightly infected with broken melody, not fixed on any particular band." My senior class picked "The Embrace and Devourment" as our class song, and I can confirm that there wasn't a dry eye in the house at the graduation! If you think Lucifugum is a bunch of studio gangsters, Through the Eyes of Carrion is the band for you!

If you'd like to catch up on some previous Black Metal Mondays, click here.

Kareem Abdul vs. Bruce Lee?!

Too Busy Looking Good

i love this mix, i cant say that about all my mixes, but after repeated plays, i still think this is good, so i have chosen it for first mix out the gate. i love the sample at the beginning of the mix, "Enter The Dragon" shizz. i have this excellent sample record called "Fractured Breaks" its a battle record and one of the first records i got when I started dj'ing 11 years ago. i have no recollection how the record came into my hands. i do remember breaking it though. i was at a gig and by the end of my set i was pretty drunk, i was putting away the record in my bag, back when i had to lug around crates of records to get a party going. thank god for laptops, i for one am NOT one of those dj's bemoaning the end of wax at parties; dont get me wrong i love rocking the lone turntable in my living room when the wife and i sit down to entertain guest - an LP has no substitute during a dinner party - but there is immense freedom gained from showing up to the gig with my old school, manhattan portage, bizzle that i have been using as a dj bag for a decade, and plugging in to the serato box, and boom, im off to the races. so as i was putting away the record i grabbed it upside down, sleeve side down, and it fell out of its protective cocoon, bounced once on the floor and then landed on its side. broken. a huge chunk taken out of outer edge. i continued to spin it anyway since i mostly used it for the awesome and ubiquitous samples on the end of side A. Last year a student of mine borrowed it and recorded the samples and the salvageable breaks on it, to mp3 and sent me a copy of the file. i let him keep the record itself. after all if you love something you should let it go right?


the mix is, as usual, unconfined to genre's, speaking to you through the shifts in drum patterns and melodies. you've got your nu-funk, your house music lite, your breaks; i even break out two edits for this mix. like all my mixes, there is deep interplay between the song being mixed in and the song being mixed out. i like to think of it as an edit-on-the-fly, old school dj's call it "deep mixing". is this made to make you dance? not on purpose, but it cant hurt if you do. is it designed for maximum chillaxing, oh, most def.....



track list :
Alienation (Alias Remix) - Lali Puna

Harrison Reverse - Lali Puna
i am crazy for lali puna right now. major crush on valerie trebeljahr, and her voice which is itself an incredible electronic instrument. i just love how she plays within the bass lines. ooh so seductive...

Hold On - Holy Ghost
big big ups to mark, from electrik cokaine, be on the look out for those dudes, on the real they are going to be killing it soon. as for this track - i love how the synths sound so 80's and yet the arrangement is definitely post-ableton, the hook is cheesy but in a i'm-drunk-lets-dance-and-pretend-we-know-the-words, sort of way

Return To Paradise (Mark De Clive-Lowe Remix) - Shirley Horn
there is a glut of "soul" remixes out there and boy am i sick of them. for every 100 "rmx" there's 1 good one, this is an example. here is an example of one that is norm, and thus, awful, just awful

Long Way (Sun Orchestra Remix) - T'boys

Sunrise On Fujiyama - Lemongrass
i have been into lemongrass for a minute now. real laid back almost new-agey sound. toes the line between house, downtempo, and yoga sountrack

Pink Funk - Lumiere (Mosart212 Edit)
an edit where i sent the first couple of notes to my oxygen pad and then played them in different arrangements throughout the song, then messed with the middle section by looping and unlooping in 4 to 8 bar increments

Good Morning - Fred Everything
check out any remix by this dude, very good

Keep On Pumping It Up (DJ Anonymous Edit)
ok, so here is where i start to indulge my way lame love of old hip house, remember hip house? terrible raps, repetitive drum patterns, poor production, fun

Fuk Dat - Sagat
classic for real

The Definition Of A Track (The Back Room Mix) - Back Room
1989!

I'll Follow You - Captain Hook

Fairytale Of A Working Day - Electric Brother (Mosart212 extra city Edit)
i love the ambient city sounds mixed into the background of this song, makes me miss nyc

Slowdown - Eyereel Allstars

Forever - Gold Lust

Everything is Changing - Groove Collective

Keep You Hird (Plej Remix) - Hird
every remix of this particular song kills. all the time. the original is killer as well. yukimi nagano doesnt really get into the full lyrics on this version, but she still brings the soul to the mix. hird is another band that i think is lumped into house music, but is so much more than your average-guido-backing-soundtrack

So Far - Miguel Migs
old school dude, still out there doing his thing, this one has it all, chunky bass line: check; disco diva just coming off of a night of studio 54 inspired debauchery: check, lame lyrics cribbed from 10th grade poetry class: check

Alone - Tennis Hero
based out of sweden, electronic duo, great name. is everything good right now coming from sweden. norway, and germany? discuss!

Just Waiting (Chillhouse Mix) - Wooden Man
i only play a minute off this track before sliding the mix volume down, but the synth-play is incredible. this is to me, the sound of late 90's early 2000's house music. i am a sucker for those "best of lounge" collections, and that is where i found this one

set list said and done. we hope yalls enjoys this one, as usual we worked hard and we dug deep to bring it on the La MoDa tip.

word.

1977....Back to the Future

1977 is the year of our birth. Its when it all began. SO we thought it would be fitting to start our blog, and our first mix with the date. 1978, 1979, and the rest will follow.

For this mix we pulled out some of our faves, some came from the vault, others just popped last year. One of our specialties, is the faux-capella edit. We use the AEM 100i (big up to elliot!) to strip away beats from vocals, we can get pretty close sometimes, and then drop them onto a beat in real time. Everything is real time. All the time.

Check out 1977 and let us know what you think. 1978 coming up in a few….

La MoDa - 1977

Multipitch - Jel
Rolf Royce - Fila Brazila
Something For Windy (La Moda Dirty Hair edit) - Bonobo
Freeze Explode - Cassettes Won't Listen
Go Left (ft. Lateef the Truth Speaker & Gift of Gab) - E da Boss
Good Times - Strange Fruit Project
DJ Food Style (La Moda Makin Dollas edit) - DJ Food
Kalimba (Flute Mix) - Freakniks
Chicken in a Box - Krafty Kuts
Notion - Flevans
Nothin Goin' On But the Rent - Gwen Guthrie
Athena - Hercules & Love Affair
Venom (ft. Joe Dukie) - Dutch Rhythm Combo
PPP (PEACE & Rashaan Ahmad) - J Boogies Dubtronic Soundsystem
All I Do (U-Turn Remix) - Stevie Wonder

Greetings Earthlings

(pic:  cloxboy)

Allow us to introduce ourselves.  We are La MoDa, AKA Mosart212 and Mantisounds. Combining two diverse music collections and backgrounds, La MoDa is militantly opposed to the "flavor of the week"-ism that has infected much of the "underground" or "music blog" culture of late. If a song was dope 1, 2, 5, or 30 years ago, it should still be dope today, right? Our mission for this blog, like our dj sets every Tuesday night at the Independent in Somerville, is to defy convention or categorization, and the mixes we drop will span the spectrum of funk and all the bastard children it has spawned over the years, perfectly illustrated with our debut mix posted above.  Come in, make yourself at home, and enjoy...