It’s late July, 2017,and I’m walking up Kingsland Road in London’s East End on a Saturday morning. I’m fuzzy from jet lag and a seven-hour gig from the night before; the sun is surprisingly bright and people are talking fast. Where the hell am I? Traveling to another part of the world within a day can make you question if anything is really real. My legs are jelly.
I take a left onto narrow Bradbury, down a block and see the small storefront of Eldica Records, a spot recommended by a friend the day before. Boxes of 45s, nag champa, and a woman named Beverly are inside. I pull up a box marked “Rare Caribbean” and start flipping through the sevens, feeling myself surfacing into the day. Familiar territory, a bit of grounding. Stuck in the middle of the rares is, oddly, a copy of RBMB’s Big Pimp Jones “Rigor Mortis” 7”. I text a pic of it back to Junior in Philly. Suddenly distances don’t feel so large.
This is sixty minutes of records played live—some new, some not, all on 7” except for one—that have been keeping me company all summer long, through all kinds of transitions. Here’s to you keeping your rhythm in whatever you’re moving through, too—wherever you are.
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ps I also realized while making this that, through this thing called music, I’ve gotten to know (and, in some cases, work with) many of the artists on this mix, which is a really cool thing to have happen. A huge thank you to all of the artists here for making the world seem closer.
>mo
- Nautilus feat. Mizuki Kamata · Tom’s Diner
- Dead End Boogie · Hyppa Hyppa! Pt 1
- Pan-Atlantics · Rhodesian Girl
- El Michels Affair · Iron Maiden
- Obote Soul Sounds + Adrian Quesada · The Revolt of the Cockroach People
- Ajicero · Palenke (TNT Remix)
- Kokolo · The Way Up
- Jungle By Night · El Miraglo
- Diplomats of Solid Sound · Hurt Me So (Lack of Afro remix)
- The Skatalites · Ceiling Bud
- Bamma Gamma · Go Back to the Zoo
- IGBO · Creamy
- Peter Thomas & Mocambo Astronautic Sound Orchestra · Piccicato in Heaven
- Kool Men & Diamond T · One for the Road
- Pat Van Dyke · On the Good Foot
- Gillespie & Co. · Sunshine People
- Toli Nameless & The Femm Nameless · See Line
- Baggy Leggins · Expensive Sheeeeet
- Record Breakin' Ensemble ·Batucada Samba · Pela (Sol Power All-Stars Remix)
- Will Sessions & Amp Fiddler · Lost Without You
- Super Hi-Fi · I’m Only Sleeping