Year: 1999
Original Format: cassette
By 1999 my mixtape days were coming to an end. There would be a few more, but early in the 21st century I finally got a CD burner. The tapes remain close to my heart, though… even the less inspired ones, like this.
Playlist:
Going Down South RL Burnside
“Burnside was born in 1926 to Earnest Burnside and Josie Malone, in either Harmontown, College Hill, or Blackwater Creek, all of which are in the rural part of Lafayette County, Mississippi, near the area that would be covered by Sardis Lake a few years later. His first name is given variously as R. L., Rural, Robert Lee, Rule, or Ruel.” —Wikipedia
Gone Till November Wyclef Jean
Well, Clef, here it is November. Where are you?
The Faces Aceyalone
“Edwin Maximilian ‘Eddie’ Hayes, Jr. (born September 30, 1970), better known by his stage name Aceyalone, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California, United States.” —Wikipedia
The Truth (All Those Lies) The Automator
Apparently the source material for this, John Klemmer’s “Summer Song,” was also sampled in multiple Cypress Hill songs, which is not surprising somehow.
Sneakin’ Out the Hospital Beastie Boys
“Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) of Beastie Boys played all the instruments on this track, inspired by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney who could do it all in the studio. ‘This song is special to me,’ he wrote in the Beastie Boys Book. ‘Because of my sloppy drumming, this song has a different kind of funky to it.’” —Songfacts.com
The Movement The Highlife Movement
“All tracks done 4-track, SP-1200, and dirty mic style.” —liner notes, …estuary CD
Politics of the Sneaker Pimps Public Enemy
Urban Dictionary gives many different meanings for “sneaker pimp,” including
Term coined by the Beastie Boys and used as one who finds kick-ass shoes for another
and
(1) a collector of flashy sneakers and related footwear, i.e.: special editions, collectables, one-of-a-kinds, re-issues, and/or just plain kick-ass. (2) an individual incapable of showing self-restraint around a pair of sneakers that he/she cannot live without, regardless of how many pairs already owned, income, or closet constraints.
and
A pimp in high school working the sex trade and pimping underage girls as prostitutes.
None of which seems to get at what PE has in mind, which is something more like “athletic shoe company bigwigs.”
Friction Morcheeba
“On Friction, the band takes a political stance against the country’s legal system and admonishes the relative ease with which citizens get prosecuted. ‘Friction turning to fire’ highlights how efficient the ‘system’ is at stifling any opposition.” —The Timbuktu Project
Fire Fire Peter Tosh & the Wailers
“It may sound a tiny bit bizarre, but reggae icon Peter Tosh is an emoji. Dubbed by one writer as ‘perhaps the most enigmatic emoji of all,’ the levitating man emoji, which depicts a cool guy dressed in a business suit, standing tall and slim, with the ability to jump off a page, is none other than Tosh.” —The Jamaica Gleaner; full story here
Babylon’s Burning Max Romeo, Niney & Lee Perry
Freedom Fighter Bunny & Ricky
Lee Perry was into recycling before anybody, using the same riddim for sometimes up to a dozen different tracks. These are two of the eight that make up the “Babylon Deluge” section of the Version Like Rain CD
Burnin’ and Lootin’ The Wailers
A search for this song turned up a movie that I’ll get around to watching one of these days:
Cumbia de Los Muertos Ozomatli
I never thought to look up a translation of these lyrics until today. They go something like this:
Sadness doesn’t exist here
Only happiness exists here
It’s the dance of the beloved
The beloved from the past
Look at how my mom dances
Dancing with my brother from the past
Their spirits joining together to dance
Full of happiness and enjoyment
Only certain people can see
The spirits dancing among us
They can see my brothers dancing
They will be blessed within the heavens
Look at how my mom dances
Dancing with my brother from the past
Their spirits joining together to dance
Full of happiness and enjoyment
The Power and the Passion Midnight Oil
Apparently Midnight Oil played their final show about two months ago in Sydney. I guess I’ll never see them live. That’s OK, it was probably exhausting.
Wise Man Desmond Dekker
More songs should use the word “keepeth.”
Off the List J.F.
Sometimes I really miss my answering machine. Voicemails are never as good for some reason.