Thematic #06

Thematic #06

30 March 2024

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This is the last one of these 'Thematic' sets that I've got for the moment. The plan next is that I'll be uploading some older mixes that haven't been online for quite a while, some aren't the best, some aren't too bad, most are music I probably wouldn't listen to now.

If this is the first Thematic post you've stumbled across though, these aren't mixes, they are selections from my record shelves, each with a theme or a vibe. I leave it to the listener to decide what they think that is. This one leans heavily into soul, but also has a little jazz and folk in there too. It was recorded in 2017.

The image is one I created using Ai, the tree of life with branches and leaves vaguely shaped like your thinking organ.

mixamorphosis · Thematic #06

 

Tracklist

01. Charles Bradley - Through The Storm (Dunham)
02. Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - Better Days Ahead (TVT / Arista)
03. Laura Allan - Opening Up To You (How Do You Are?)
04. Beginning Of The End - Trip To Nowhere (Alston)
05. Air - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free (Be With Records)
06. Idris Muhammad - Piece Of Mind (Kudu)
07. James Mason - Dreams (Chiarascuro Records)
08. Fatima - Do Better (Eglo Records)
09. Matthew Halsall - Music For A Dancing Mind (Gondwana Records)
10. Marvin Gaye - Trouble Man (Tamla)
11. Isaac Hayes - Walk On By (Stax)
12. Tomorrow's People - It Ain't Fair (Melodies International)
13. Minnie Riperton - Alone In Brewster Bay (Capitol Records)
14. Kings Of Convenience - Weight Of My Words (Source)
15. Bella Figura - Better Man (Claremont 56)
16. Baby Huey - A Change Is Going To Come (Curtom)
17. Gloria Ann Taylor - Love Is A Hurtin' Thing (12" Version) (Luv N' Haight)
18. Bobbi Humphrey - Smiling Faces Sometimes (Blue Note)
19. Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Ain't No Sunshine (Polydor)
20. The 24 Carat Black - Synopsis One: In The Ghetto/God Save The World (Stax)

 

D/L available via [Hearthis]

 

 

 

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Thematic #05

Thematic #05

27 March 2024

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If this is the first Thematic post you've stumbled upon, these aren't mixes like I've put out on my pages for the most part. These are selections to showcase some of the music I listen to and have on my record shelves, music that I might otherwise struggle to shoehorn into a mix. I'm just trying to get all my pages and the blog in order, they've been all over the place for some time and it's been on my 'to do' list.

Generally I leave the theme or vibe of these selections to the listener to decide what it means to them, or what the feel they connections are about. This one is pretty obvious, even more so when I say it was recorded for Valentines Day in 2017.

mixamorphosis · Thematic #05

 

Tracklist 

01. Willie Hutch - Your Love Keeps Liftin' Me Higher (Be With Records)
02. Gloria Ann Taylor - Deep Inside Of You (Luv N' Haight)
03. Mike James Kirkland - Love Is All We Need (Luv N' Haight)
04. Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Baby You Give Me A Feeling (Polydor)
05. Jermaine Jackson - You Like Me Don't You? (Motown)
06. Gwen McCrae - Rockin' Chair (Sequel)
07. Eighties Ladies - Turned Onto You (Original Selection Records)
08. Tony Joe White - I've Got A Thing About You (How Do You Are?)
09. Harry Nilsson - Love Story (RCA Victor)
10. Sue Barker - Lover Man (Hot Casa Records)
11. Milton Wright - All I Know Is That I Have You (Alston Records)
12. Aaron Neville - Baby I'm A Want You (BCI Eclipse)
13. Curtis Mayfield - Give Me Your Love (Love Song) (Curtom)
14. Eddie Hazel - Physical Love (Be With Records)
15. Lyn Collins - You Can't Beat Two People In Love (Get On Down)
16. The Voices Of East Harlem - Take A Little Time To Love (Just Sunshine Records)
17. Jean Adebambo - Paradise (Soul Jazz Records)
18. Sonya Spence - Talk Love (Attic Salt Discs)
19. Finley Quaye - Even After All (Epic)
20. Kellee Patterson - I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby (Hubbub Records)

 

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Thematic #04

Thematic #04

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No prizes for guessing the overarching theme for this selection. So much stems from the African continent, through culture and music, food, customs, architecture.... humanity. For this though, the focus is on the music, the groove, the vibe, basslines to move to. This music is on my shelves behind me as I type, how else could I share some of the amazing music I've picked up over the years? If this music is new to your ears, I hope it takes you on a journey that leads you to digging for some more... it's a very rich and varied landscape and well worth your time getting to know what's out there.

 

mixamorphosis · Thematic 04

 

Tracklist

01. Fela Ransome Kuti & The Africa 70 - Let's Start (Knitting Factory)
02. The Rwenzori's - Handsome Boy (E Wara) (Harmless)
03. Ekambi Brillant - Nyambe (Africa Seven)
04. Matata - Wanna Do My Thing (Explosive Entertainment)
05. Los Issifu & His Moslems - Kana Soro (Analog  Africa)
06. Black Truth Rhythm Band - Ifetayo (Explosive Entertainment)
07. Tee Mac - Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (Hot Casa)
08. Sookie with Jeannie Otis - Rhythm On Rhythm (African Road Trip)
09. Tala A.M. - Black Gold (Africa Seven)
10. Osibisa - Sunshine Day (Gemini)
11. Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa (London Records)
12. Buari - Karam Bani (RCA)
13. Nana Love - Talking About Music (BBE)
14. Pat Thomas & Marijata - I Need More (Strut)
15. Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Roy Ayers - 2000 Blacks Got To Be Free (Eurobond Records)

 

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Thematic #03

Thematic #03

26 March 2024

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This selection leans heavily, though not exclusively, into the world of soul music. The back story to these selections are really simply down to the fact I love to share music from my collection in the hope it will encourage a few more people to explore music they might not otherwise be exposed to. I try to balance these selections between a some tracks that are more likely to be known with some that are a little lesser known. All are taken from my personal collection, mostly vinyl but some from CD too and I'll try and link the tracklist up to where you can find the tracks for yourself, quite often via Discogs but not always.

mixamorphosis · Thematic 03

 

Tracklist 

01. Minnie Riperton - Minnie's Lament (Epic / Capitol)
02. Willie Hutch - A Love That's Worth Having (Be With Records)
03. Gloria Ann Taylor - World That's Not Real (Luv N' Haight)
04. Eunice Collins - At The Hotel (Now Again Records)
05. The Atomic Crocus - Ombilic Contact (Because Music)
06. Ike & Tina Turner - Come Together (Liberty)
07. Bill Withers - I Don't Want You On My Mind (Sony / Sussex)
08. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - This Guy's In Love With You (A&M Records)
09. Marvin Gaye - Is Anybody Thinking About Their Living? (Motown / Tamla)
10. Gloria Jones - Tin Can People (Motown)
11. Mike James Kirkland - Doin' It Right (Luv N' Haight)
12. Idris Muhammad - Loran's Dance (Kudu)
13. Wendell Harrison - Peace Of Mind (Luv N' Haight)
14. George Benson - Lady (Warner Bros. Records)
15. Curtis Mayfield - Underground (Curtom)
16. Air - Martin (Be With Records)
17. Eddie Hazel - California Dreamin' (Be With Records)
18. Messengers Incorporated - Frequency Response (Jazzman)
19. Rikki Ililonga - Shebeen Queen (Now Again Records)
20. Cherubin - Sunrise (Leng)

 

D/L can be found over on Hearthis

 

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Thematic #02

Thematic #02

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After a short break to deal with some difficult personal issues, I'm going to try and get back to repopulating the blog with mixes and selections that I've got on my hard drive. My brain could do with some productive distraction.

I've got a few more of these 'Thematic' selections to share. These aren't mixes, they are selections from my shelves and you'll find them in that playlist on the cloud / hearthis. Each one has a theme or a vibe, some will be more obvious than others, but I'll leave it to the listener to decide what that theme or vibe might be...

 

mixamorphosis · Thematic 02

Tracklist

01. Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Reggae Recipe (Trojan Records)
02. Matumbi - Bluebeat & Ska (Frontline / EMI)
03. Sonya Spence - Where Is The Love? (Attic Salt Discs)
04. The Voices Of East Harlem - Loving You The Way I Do (Just Sunshine Records)
05. Letta Mbulu - Down By The River (Be With Records)
06. Michael Nesmith - Capsule (Hello People Of A Hundred Years From Now) (How Do You Are?)
07. Mandrill - Getting In The Mood (Arista)
08. Troublemakers - Lemon (Blue Note)
09. Curtis Mayfield - We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue (Curtom)
10. Friend of E. Rodney Jones - Soul Heaven (Beechwood)
11. James Brown - Doing The Best I Can (Polydor)
12. Maxayn - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Harmless)
13. The Doobie Brothers - Losin' End (How Do You Are?)

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Thematic #01

Thematic #01

21 February 2024

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I've tried a couple of different ways to put selections up that don't put any weight on the mix aspect and lean entirely into sharing great music that a lot of people might not otherwise encounter; this is true at least where I grew up and spent most of my life. The musical palate in Aberdeen in the 1980's was pretty limited, it improved marginally in the 1990's but mostly due to rave culture that swept through the UK in that era, but it was never a hotbed of variety or diversity in the North East of Scotland. Things have changed quite a bit since then in the faces you see and voices you hear on the street, but I couldn't say if it's broadened the culture or not, I'm not in the town very often these days but you'd have to hope it would enhance the range of options available.

 

Anyway, I always liked dipping into things I was never exposed to, I used the public libraries and mail order through magazines and newspapers and these Thematic selections are really geared towards that line of thought from my younger days. Sometimes they will be considered quite commercial to someone who may have grown up in a very diverse area, but not everyone did, and perhaps many haven't explored music outwith narrow parameters, so perhaps these will bring something to the table in that regard.

I'm not sure why I've felt uneasy at sharing these in recent years, perhaps because of the lack of interest or feedback. I have actually had them hidden from public view for the most part since they were done in 2016. Although there's no focus on mixing, I do still try to create a nice flow so that the tracks sit well together. This one leans into funk and disco though not in the most commercial sense, there's a definite 'world music' vibe through this selection. Anyway, enough words, the music is where it's at and you can decide yourself how it flows and where it sits in terms of the genres. I'll link up to where you'll be able to easily grab the tracks for your own collection.

 

mixamorphosis · Thematic 01

 

Tracklist 

01. Ron Rinaldi - Mexican Summer (Spacetalk)
02. Jam Band '80 - Jammin' (With The Jam Band) (Rush Hour Music)
03. Sunset Gun - Be Thankful For What You Got (Thanks But No Thanks Edit) (Balearic Blah Blah)
04. Carrie Cleveland - Love Will Set You Free (Kalita)
05. Nana Love - Love Feeling (Dance Mix) (BBE)
06. Rob - Make It Fast, Make It Slow (Soundway)
07. Baby Huey - California Dreamin' (Curtom)
08. Experience Unlimited - Functus (Black Fire)
09. Marvin Gaye - Right On (Tamla)
10. Jeff Floyd - Don't Leave Me (City Of Dreams)
11. Jaye P. Morgan - Let's Get Together (How Do You Are?)
12. Reuben Wilson & The Cost Of Living - Together (Cadet)
13. Frederic Castel - Open Up (Leng)
14. Billy Paul - It's Critical (12" Version) (Philadelphia International Records)
15. Oby Onyioha - Enjoy Your Life (Soundway Records)
16. John Ozila - Funky Boogie (Spaziale)
17. Bokoor Band - Onukpa Shawarpo (Strut)
18. Roy Ayers - Africa, Centre Of The World (pitched up) (Polydor)
19. BB Seaton - Dancing In The Moonlight (Studio One)

 

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Dusk Dubs Selection - DD0305

Dusk Dubs Selection - DD0305

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Dusk Dubs was a podcast series, in a similar vein to the Back To Mine series. My contribution is from back in 2015. There were so many great names contributing to this series, I'm not sure how my name managed to be put in as an option, but it was and I was really happy to be a part of it. 

 

The brief was to provide tracks that meant something to me for some reason or another, to write a little about each track and the guys would segue the tracks together. Or as they put it to me, no mixing, just letting the tracks breathe. As is often the case with these things, I'm not sure everyone followed the brief... I know from my dealings with Box Frequency FM that even the simplest of guides, like time limits to mixes, were often not followed very well. 

 

Sadly, Dusk Dubs is no more, and the website is down too, otherwise I'd have shared some links and the writing I contributed with my tracklist. The tracks each have a meaning to me in one way or another though, and as mentioned, this isn't about mixing (and it wasn't me doing that part in any case). The final aspect was providing an image to use as a cover for my show and I opted to use one from a bike trip I had been on and this is of Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands.

mixamorphosis · DD0305 - Dusk Dubs Guest Selection (2015)

 

Tracklist 

01. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Moonlight In Vermont (Wax Time / Verve)
02. Bill Withers - Hope She’ll Be Happier With Him (Sussex)
03. B.J. Smith - We Can Sail (NuNorthern Soul)
04. Nina Simone - Do I Move You? (RCA)
05. James Brown - King Heroin (Polydor)
06. Nick Drake - Saturday Sun (Island Records)
07. Harry Nilsson - Everybody’s Talking (RCA Victor)
08. Jellybread - I Pity The Fool (Blue Horizon)
09. Fat Freddy’s Drop - Hope (The Drop)
10. Massive Attack - Better Things (Virgin)
11. Gwen McCrae - 90% Of Me Is You (RCA Victor)
12. Lani Hall - Love Song (A&M Records)
13. Junip - Without You (City Slang)
14. Suzanne Kraft - Flatiron (Melody As Truth)
15. Kings Of Convenience - Misread (Source / Virgin)
16. The Detroit Experiment - Highest (Ropeadope Records)
17. The Doobie Brothers - Losin’ End (Warner Bros. Records)
18. Christian Prommer’s Drumlesson - Plastic Dreams(Sonar Kollektiv)

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Reflect - Guest Mix for Corsica One

Reflect - Guest Mix for Corsica One

20 February 2024

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This one comes from back in 2021. It had been a good couple of years since I'd been asked to do any guest mixes, and it was always something that gave me a bit of a thrill. Putting mixes together has been a big part of my life, but only in the sense of being a hobby I've loved through the years. At one point I wanted it to be more than that, but opportunity only knocked a couple of times and it was the right opportunities, nor the right times, so a hobby it has remained. Being asked to do a guest mix though, it's nice because it gives me the feeling like someone else has actually enjoyed the selections and stitching together of tracks, and who doesn't like to feel they're doing something they enjoy but getting it right in the sense others do too. That feeling has been few and far between, so when Alessio of Corsica One asked me to put something together for him to host on Mixcloud, of course I was happy to get on the case. As it stands, this was the last guest mix I put together for anyone, so maybe I'm not getting it quite right for others after all... but it's right for me and I'll go with that 🙃

 

This mix straddles the ambient / electronica sphere, sounds like I've grown to love more as I have explored the genres over time. I'm not altogether content with the cover image but I've opted to leave it as it is. The photo is one I took during my bike trip to Europe in 2019 and is from a few days I spent in Vienna, Austria where I managed to take in a gig with José González.

 

mixamorphosis · Reflect - Corsica One Guest Mix

 

Tracklist

01. Biosphere - From A Solid To A Liquid (Biophon)
02. Cosmic Neman - ProximaB (Tigersushi)
03. Sun Electric - Love 2 Love (Music From Memory)
04. Jo Johnson - Discontent Arises From A Knowledge Of The Possible (Self Released)
05. Pauline Anna Strom - The Eighteen Beautiful Memories (RVNG Intl.)
06. Soundstory - Rainstorm (Self Release)
07. Etienne Jaumet - Orage Dans Le Creuse (Tigersushi)
08. Jonathan Fitoussi & Clemens Hourriére - Five Steps (Versatile)
09. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Dreamshore Forest (Analog Remake) (Leftfield Records)
10. James Bernard - UWA10 (A Strangely Isolated Place)
11. Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek - Workshop For Modernity (Faitiche)
12. David Moufang - Sergio Leone's Wet Dream (Music From Memory)

 

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Restore The Soul

Restore The Soul

19 February 2024

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I've been out of action the last week or so, but slowly getting back into things and what better way to do it than sharing a mix that was put together in the spirit, and (I think) with the feeling of restoring the soul. There's no real back story, I put the mix together following a period where I wasn't doing too great and the music within feels like it connects to healing and rebuilding, or at least to my ears and mind. I had used a different cover originally that I wasn't as keen on, so I've updated that. Perhaps it'll pick up a few more plays, this one went so far under the radar that it was barely worth sharing.

 

mixamorphosis · Restore The Soul

 

Tracklist 

01. Luftrum - Dawn Chorus (Self Released)
02. Andrew Wasylyk - Blossomness #2 (Clay Pipe Music)
03. D. Rothon - The Ghost We Bring (Clay Pipe Music)
04. Trigg & Gusset - Blue Shades (Preserved Sound)
05. Amanda Whiting - After Dark (Jazzman)
06. Nat Birchall - Mirror Mind (Ancient Archive Of Sound)
07. Ishmael Ensemble - The River (Reprise) (Severn Songs)
08. Dwight Trible ft. Matthew Halsall - Deep River (Gondwana)
09. Yusef Lateef - Like It Is (Music On Vinyl)
10. Chip Wickham - Pushed Too Far (Lovemonk)
11. Katya Yonder - Mood (Meteron)
12. Arooj Aftab - Last Night (New Amsterdam Records)
13. Warren Hampshire - Eye Of The Deluge (Athens Of The North)
14. Luke Howard Trio - Phases (Hobbledehoy)

 

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All Night Long

All Night Long

9 February 2024

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I have no backstory to share here, I can't actually remember when this was recorded but think it was around 2019. There was a different cover attached to it that I was never very happy with, so I've updated it. This was made using an Ai programme and a bit of editing from me with a design app.

mixamorphosis · All Night Long

Tracklist 

Caribou - Leave House (Motor City Drum Ensemble Mix) (Merge Records)
Talaboman - Sideral (Matt Karmil Remix) (Studio Barnhus)
Mount Kimbie - Made To Stray (DJ Koze Mix) (Pampa Records)
BNJMN - Keep The Powers Out (Rush House Direct Current)
Siggatunez - Dreamcatcher (Tieffrequent)
Jimpster - Ceilings (Freerange)
Adam Stromstedt - Rent (Banoffee Pies)
Quentin - Mirage (Hivern Discs)
David Alvarado - Beautification (Peacefrog Records)
Moodymann - Freeki Mutha F cker (KDJ)
KiNK - Bitter Sweet Special Dub (liebie*detail spezial)
Bratha - Untitled (Self Released)
Sfire - Sfire 3 (John Talabot's Bubble Metrolopis Rework) (CockTail d'Amore Music)
Marvin & Guy - Moreno (Permanent Vacation)
Mark E - Oranges (Space Dub) (Spectral Sound)
Delorean - Seasun (John Talabot Remix) (Fool House)
Lorenzo Kurizu - Lauwerecht (Neo Vinyl Recordings)
Carrot Green & Selvagem - Vandre (Disco Halal)

 

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