I came back to Singapore from Malaysia to spend New Year’s eve in the company of friends (Vortex, Ko Flow, Garuda and many others) who were lined up to play at BluJaz for a very special edition of Good Times.
On my way back Hafez from Pushin’ On told me he needed me to play some tunes at BluJaz’s newest venture, the Mexican restaurant Piedra Negra.
I was very happy to oblige, but I was also a bit apprehensive. In my experience Mexican restaurants either serve Tex-Mex cuisine from the American side of the border (which can be very good food, that’s not the point) or pseudo-latino food such as Spanish tapas, Chilean wines, etc. Basically any type of spicy meat prepared in a tortilla and served with a Corona beer is supposed to be Mexican cuisine.
So I went and checked the place out, ready to once again be disappointed (In that respect I’m quite used to being disappointed. I know how difficult it is to get proper Mexican ingredients and then cooking them with the time and know-how some of the elaborate dishes require. In fact, I’ve stopped looking for proper Mexican food outside of Mexico and outside of my mother’s kitchen. I just push cravings to the back of my mind and let them come back as soon as I’m off the plane in Benito Juarez airport).
My initial plan was to play some music on New Year’s eve, maybe try some of the food, and if it was OK for pseudo-latino stuff, recommend the place if I was ever asked for a Mexican restaurant. To my great surprise the Mexican cook greeted me warmly and presented some of his dishes, most of which are real, proper Mexican classics (flautas de pollo, tamales dulces, enchiladas, torta de milanesa, etc.). Everything tasted delicious and the margaritas, along with some cold Negra Modelo beers, were an unexpected bonus.
I should also mention that some serious work was put into decorating the place. Everything, from the exterior to the interior, seems genuinely Mexican (bright colors, mirrors, statues, aztec handicrafts, etc.). I must admit I’m very impressed by the place, and I will really spread the word around (that probably won’t be necessary as it is situated right next to BluJaz and across from the Mexican Embassy in the Gateway building).
Anyway, here’s the recording of the set I played on New Year’s eve. For a change I played mostly cumbia, salsa, mambo, bolero, bossa, and other latin-flavored tunes.
About 5 years ago, back when I was an exchange student at NTU, I met the lovely Cherry Chan, who at the time delighted me with countless hours of cool music through her Pop My Cherry nights.
She has since participated in countless events and radio shows, and alongside husband Kiat, has kept on putting some great experimental and boundary-pushing shows through the audiovisual collective Syndicate and contributed to the Qilin record label.
A couple of weeks ago Kiat asked me to prepare a little dub selection to go along the end of the year vibe. I decided to get some of my all-time favorite dub tracks, and to mix them as if preparing a mixtape for a long Christmas bus/train/plane ride (this could be due to the fact that I prepared the selection while on an Odyssey bus going from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, hence the “Dub Odyssey” title).
French listeners will recognize most of the tracks towards the end from the excellent French label Jarring Effects (although I have to admit I’m not particularly crazy about their newest productions, they tend to be too bleep bleep wobble wobble for my taste…), while the others are more traditionally-dubby.
I’m proud to say that both Kiat and Cherry dug the selection I prepared and that it is now featured on Syndicate’s website:
1. Frédéric Galiano & the African Divas – Bathourou Dub
2. Zenzile – Morning Daylight
3. Augustus Pablo – Skank On Dub
4. Atiko Minus Project – The Wariors Are Moving (Melodica Cut)
5. Afrikan Simba – The Warriors Are Moving
6. Eek-A-Mouse – Wa-Do-Dem
7. Double Ugly – Get She Away
8. John Wayne – Tired Body
9. Fred Locks – The Lion King
10. Improvisator’s Dub Feat. Danny Vibes & Jonah Dan – Dirty Babylon
11. Kaly Live Dub – Dirha
12. High Tone – Hempro 905
13. Kaly Live Dub – Steppa For Violin
14. Highvisators – Pusher Dub
15. Kanka – Nova Dub
16. Brain Damage – Booster
17. Stereotyp – Fling Style (feat St. Paul Hilaire)
Last Friday I once again had the great honour of playing some tunes for the Pushin’ On crew at BluJaz Café.
I played a selection of my latest latin, funk, garage rock, sixties pop and hip hop findings in between extremely groovy sets by Mister Magic and Ko Flow (who, despite launching his album that very night at Esplanade, gave everything he had at BluJaz).
The night also featured a dance contest which brought in the crowd as much as the good vibes.
Unfortunately technical difficulties prevented me from recording my set, and what I was able to record from Mister Magic’s set was filled with parasite noise and echo. I hope this is only a minor issue such as a faulty cable, and not a more serious issue with my laptop.
In order to rectify this I have decided to present various studio/live sets from some of my fellow DJs/selectors from Singapore. Most of them are available on their various websites, so I thought it’d be nice to have them in one place.
These past few weeks I’ve been discovering and accumulating lots of excellent French pop/rock from the sixties and seventies, and I thought it’d be nice to share some of these gems.
Some tracks are by some really obscure singers who had nothing but a single, others are by French legends who went on to longer (better?) careers.
Here’s a little (actually, kind of large) selection of these French-flavoured tracks.
Enjoy!
1. Danielle Denin – Je Lis Dans Tes Yeux
2. Brigitte Bardot – Je Danse Donc Je Suis
3. Annie Philippe – On M’a Toujours Dit
4. France Gall – Teenie Weenie Boppie
5. Frank Alamo – Heureux Tous Les Deux
6. Cosette – Idéalisation
7. Les Capresses – Les Cailloux
8. Kiki Caron – Sentimentalement
9. Dani – La Machine
10. Stella – T’achètes Des Disques Americains
11. Sophie – Je Ne Fais Pas D’histoires
12. Larry Greco – C’est Fini, Bien Fini
13. Stone – Fille Ou Garçon
14. Les Pollux – Tu Es Fou
15. Les Problèmes – Non Je Ne Vois Rien
16. Ronnie Bird – Chante
17. Jacques Dutronc – Les Cactus
18. Thierry Vincent – Dis-Moi Pourquoi Tu Refuses
19. Régis Barly – Faux Beatnick
20. Jeremy Gavroche – Qui Peut Etre Cet Homme
21. Johnny Hallyday – Mal
22. Valérie Lagrange – Ce Que Je Suis
23. Les Terribles – Tes Yeux
24. Ariane & Les 10-20 – Les Gémeaux
25. Gillian Hills – Tut Tut Tut Tut
26. Normand Frechette & Les Hou-Lops – J’étudie Mon Grec
27. Monty – Le Collège
28. Jacqueline Taieb – La Fac de Lettres
29. Michel Polnareff – La Mouche
30. Yves Josselin – Je Voulais
31. Laurent Lombard – Papa Twist
32. Nino Ferrer – Alexandre
33. Claudes Channes – Mao Mao
34. Jehan Jonas – Flic de Paris
35. De Giafferi – Sado Maso
36. Erick St. Laurent – J’ai Cru À Mon Rêve
37. Eddy Mitchell – Vieille Fille
38. Myriam Martin – Le Blue Beat
39. Patricia Carli – L’Amour en Cage
40. Christine Pilzer – Champs Elysées
41. Les Parisiennes – On Recoit, On Envoie
42. Les Révoltés – Dans le Bleu de Tes Yeux
43. Les Pharaons – Pas à Pas
44. Les Misérables – Il s’appelle Antoine
45. Les Mystics – Mon père est Millionnaire
46. Les Maraudeurs – Dis-Moi Chérie
47. Christine Delaroche – Des Tigres et des Minets
48. Michelle Torr – Dur D’avoir 16 Ans
49. Patricia – Tous les Jours Passent
50. Edouard – My Name Is Edouard
51. Dominique Walter – Les Petits Boudins
52. Claude François – Eloïse
(PS: This is the follow-up to Part One which seems to be quite appreciated over at 8tracks)
Last Saturday I played some tunes at HOME Club‘s Flea Fly Flo Fun event, where I was able to play some of my favourite jazz/soul/funk/garage rock tunes for some 3 hours.
After my set Farah played some cool hip hop and Pamm played her latest electronic findings (I recorded their sets, but I’m awaiting permission to upload them here). Note the cool street art display outside HOME Club by the OBEY crew.
All, in all, a very nice and chilled afternoon followed by great reggae/ska tunes by Wan from Straits Records (at BluJaz) followed by Drum & Bass by Lynx (at HOME Club).
