Outre R&B mixes from overseas, new jazz releases incoming please, and Bandcamp Picks that for sure will make you buy even more. It’s Under The Stars between The Leftover Turkey and Mistletoe Edition….. Spend some time with us….
STEVEN JULIEN DJ-KICKS (!K7 RECORDS)
Sometimes I’m the biggest fan, while other times I’m the biggest pain—asking why you clog the lane. Listen, I’ve been following the !K7 DJ-Kicks mix series since it forced Kruder & Dorfmeister on the populace, and I had to explain at my Jungle/Drum and Bass gigs back in the day to “White” Mike, “I’m not playing your chilled out downtempo vibes right now buddy, so take your Red Bull and vodka and disappear. Quickly.”
In most cases, the series does more good than bland. For example, the recent Steven Julien (fka Funkineven) edition does the thing folks kinda forgot how to put forth: an abstract alternative soul, new jack swing, boogie-friendly compendium that gives you everything you were not checking for. In a nutshell, that’s kind of Julien’s steez, so we have to give !K7 Records their props for pushing through that steadily darkly building project that throws so much weird heat in the buttermilk, you don’t know what’s coming next, but dammit, pass the popcorn because I’m here for it.
There’s a classic, real fussy hand-clappy DāM FunK synth concoction by the name “Morphing” and a four-on-the-floor remix of KOKOROKO’s “Dide O” from Ash Lauryn & Stephan Ringer that most definitely goes bump in the night. And of course, the comical thumper “Number” from Julien himself. Thank DJ-Kicks for that new new to step into 2025 with and Julien for being his funky-freaky self.
Hip up your record stores or check back here.
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS TRIO, APPLE CORES (ANTI-)
Busy. Diverse, scattered. Vibrant. Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis can be called all of those adjectives and more—he’s an artist whose creativity can’t stay put. He bounces—sorry—burns through one project that involves collaborating with DC punk group The Messthetics, featuring former members of Fugazi. Next, he’s making improvised albums with his core band—right, he has two bands—collaborators Chad Taylor on drums/mbira and Josh Werner on bass guitar.
“If you don’t spend time with your band, you’re not going to really trust that moment,” Lewis said in a statement. “I think we’ve spent enough time together to where we can do that. I’ve been playing with Chad for like 10 years, so that’s like water right there, and me and Josh have been playing together since 2018.”
The upcoming album is called Apple Cores and is out February 7.
Watching James Brandon Lewis and The Messthetics light up Rickshaw Stop amidst a leaky roof situation and also transform SF Jazz’s Joe Henderson Lab a couple of years ago, en fuego.
Dynamic shows. His new single “Five Spots to Caravan” is a roiling vamp and upticking meditation with Lewis setting to flight, dunking on this sinewy pogoing quagmire. He’s one of those performers we’re going to be speaking of historically, so pre-order the album and keep your eye open for his next SF performance; they’re never average.
He’s next, people. Next.
Pre-order here.
BANDCAMP FRIDAY PICKS—PICK THESE UP AND ALL $$ GOES TO THE ARTIST
KUSH ARORA, RUNKUS, ROYAL BLU, “LIFE IN THE JUNGLE“
Jamaican duo Runkus and Royal Blu have connected with Bay Area-based producer Kush Arora for EP ‘Life in The Jungle,’ which was released this past September. It’s an active reminder of how jungle and drum and bass can be reintroduced, reinterpreted, and just overall continually embraced.
With remixes from Flore, Scotch Rolex, Feel Free Hi-Fi, and the Bay Area’s own Lukeino, the original late-night studio session in Oakland has provided audio bliss by way of breakbeats, dub tactics, and veteran inventiveness, with the voices of Runkus and Royal Blu guiding the energy.
Grab it here.
THE BROTHERS COMATOSE & AJ LEE & BLUE SUMMIT, “THESE DAYS”
All these years, I did not know until, like, right now that “These Days” was written by the almighty Jackson Browne when he was 16. He’s said it’s just a tale of small teenage disappointments that was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and a series of volumes on the troubled life of Vincent van Gogh, particularly Irving Stone’s “Lust for Life,” in The New York Times this past September.
But when it was picked for Nico’s 1967 debut, Chelsea Girls, it got darker, colder, far more dramatic, and canonical. In the ’80s and ’90s, several alternative groups—10,000 Maniacs, Everything But the Girl, Elliott Smith— covered the tune, pulling inspiration from Nico’s version—especially since she passed at the age of 49 in 1988. Then a rising young filmmaker named Wes Andersen used it ever so perfectly as the Margot Tenenbaum walk-up music, an ennui-filled lumbering crawl introduction of the somber goth-like character in the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums. It’s one of several tear-jerking moments in one of my fave Wes Anderson joints.
Welp, it seems, the Santa Cruz-based Americana folk outfit, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, has continued to give this generational chart yet another interpretation. Interspersed between the community of voices, plucking of the mandolin, and the natural country soul of the outfit gives the tune hope and a different heart of it’s own.
Bandcamp Daily illuminated their recent City Of Glass release, and you should make it a priority too, basking in their California folk stillness.
Pick it up here.
MAGIC USER, “LIKE THE MOON” (DANDY BOY RECORDS)
Oakland-based imprint Dandy Boy Records is getting at it these days, positioning itself as a central figure amongst the Bay Area musical real-estate. October’s 15-track tribute in honor of DIY troubadour Martin Newell and the everlasting and prolific group Cleaners From Venus….and now this Magic User project?
Make room for new underground rock royalty. Jeezers. Mopey 90s drone atmospheres, accelerated by upfront guitar bombast, coupled with an faint garage pop feel.
“Like The Moon,” the lead single, fires off silvery waves of flucuating tone over thudder backbeat. Striking a balance amongst buttrock, post-punk and twee;Magic User, indeed.
Pre-order it here.
