Category Archives: Vinyl

Glad to see Colemine Records putting out new 45’s from Los Angeles based funk band, Orgone.  Been a fan of these guys for years!

Buy their 7″ vinyl direct: http://coleminerecords.blogspot.com/p/online-store.html

Big up to Cherries records for always putting out quality funk.  Check out the new 7-inch from Benjamin.

From Cherries Records:

BENJAMIN comes back full force with two back-to-back modern soul burners.  Side A, ‘Those Memories (Sneak Up On Me)’ is a mid-tempo live funk track, originally created for the infamous Toulouse Soul Club party in southern France. With a driving guitar/bassline combo, slinking funky drums and swelling synth lines, BENJAMIN encourages you to leave the past behind, never looking into the “rear view” mirror of love. On the B side, Cherries’ co-founder, DJ Shred One, serves up a stripped down extended edit version of ‘This Time’. Deeply influenced by the Chicago “steppers” sound, ‘This Time’ is a smooth and sultry quiet stormer, custom made for those who like their dance music sexy, sophisticated, cold and grown. It is the perfect 45 for the cool out hour, when it’s the lovers’ turn to take over the dancefloor.

This is going to be such a huge record this Summer (and hopefully beyond).  27-year-old multi-instrumentalist Gene Dudley has been making some noise over the last few years, with releases on the Wah Wah 45’s label.  This one might be his best yet, with a nice A-side featuring Eric Boss of Myron & E.  The B-side kills with a heavy funk rendition of the Todd Terje dance classic, “Inspector Norse.”  I dropped this on Soundwaves a few weeks back, and am looking forward to playing this out as much as I can.  Hopefully Gene comes to the U.S. for a tour!

I’ve been working in radio for about 15 years now. I linked up with a lot of people from around the country when I was broadcasting out of Cal State Fullerton. One dude, DJ Prizmatik, was syndicating my show back in 2005-06 on his network in the New York area, and somehow linked up with Sprint Mobile, so people on that network could find our shows on their phones. Here’s the first one I did for that project.

WHAT IS A TRIP is this NYC accent I would use on the radio during that time. I’m not sure where that came from, and almost forgot about it until I stumbled across this. I think it was just a hip hop thing. I’m glad the audio is still available, because this represents a time when I was going real heavy on the DJ tip, gigging a lot, plus doing radio and spinning at school. I was eating and sleeping music, while hustling in college. You can hear the Garth Trinidad influence for sure! I think it’s safe to say this identity is long gone, and the (semi) grown up Frank Foreal (who was born in CA) has lost his NY accent.

Last week, we aired a conversation I had with Roger Bong, a DJ who took his passion for Hawaiian records and turned it into a great blog, Aloha Got Soul, which lead to him starting his own re-issue label under the same name. Gearing up for their second release on June 22nd, Roger talked about his blog, establishing relationships with local musicians, and why he felt a re-press of his first release was good for everyone.

Full tracklist available at Soundwavesradio.com

There’s a really cool record store in West LA that I recently discovered (late pass), called Touch Vinyl.  I found out they have an open tables event every Thursday, so I thought it would be fun to spin some records there.  They liked my set enough to post on their Soundcloud page, so now you can enjoy.  The selection there is well curated, from new releases in numerous genres to classic albums in great condition (saw D’angelo’s “Voodoo” album on the wall, promo).

Music from Little Dragon, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thes One, John Klemmer, and much more.

Just when you thought that the Easy Star All-Stars couldn't come up with a better idea for a cover album, boom, they hit you with "Easy Star's Thrillah."  This is an amazing reggae version of the Michael Jackson classic, released just a day before MJ would have turned 53 (Rest in Peace, Michael).

One thing about Easy Star cover albums is that they really do their research.  From front to back, they make sure the original album is intact, with respectful renditions that are just too good to be true.  My first experience with the Easy Star All Stars was back in 2006.  I was in Maui, and a friend of mine put on their debut, "Dub Side of The Moon," while we were driving around Kihei.  One of her friends had mentioned it to me at a party the night before, that there was a reggae version of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon," and I was completely oblivious.  She put this on and from the intro I was hooked.

Definitely was stood out to me was their version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," which brings an afrobeat vibe to the party.  Lovin it!

Cop the vinyl at a decent price on Easy Star's website.  Go for the Vinyl and T-shirt bundle!

I had the honor of reviewing the debut 7-inch release of LA based afro-latin funk band, Jungle Fire, on the Beat Swap Meet blog.  Check it out here.

You can now find me contributing to the Beat Swap Meet blog.  I recently reviewed the Sonix "Vintage Vinyl" iPhone case.  Check it out here.

Sonic Boom records, also located in the Ballard area of Seattle, is pretty much the equivalent of Amoeba records, just smaller.  New releases all over the place, great selections, a cool used section with decently priced quality records, and a large dollar bin section.  They even had a cool 45's section, which was well organized (alphabetically) in wood boxes, and even had a "Sale 45's" bin, in which I surprisingly found some quality joints.  I spent most of my time shuffling through some $2.99 records.  Ended up scooping up a Willie Hutch "The Mack" soundtrack, Pharoahe Monch "Internal Affairs" Instrumental LP, Butterfield Blues Band "Keep on Moving" LP, Budos Band "Up From The South" 45, John Holt "For The Love of You" 45, Santana's S/T LP, Rasco "The Unassisted" 12", and Souls of Mischief "Rock It Like That" 12".  Even found some cool, locally made, buttons that were called "Music Dictionary buttons."  Each button had what looked like a page torn out of a dictonary, with terms like "phonograph" or "record" on them.  Had to support the local artist, whose name is Dawn Tyler.  You can find her on Facebook, but if anyone knows Dawn, please send her a BIG UP for me.