February 2021 Challenge (& Raffle)

PS For those chafing at all the favourites/ultimates in this month, just play any record you like. I quite like being put on the spot and trying to decide what I like best/one of the ones I like best, but I totally get that some of you don't want to do that so just interpret each theme however you want. Most of all, I just wanted to be introduced to a load of records you all love...

No worries, I'm just being lazy ;) . I'll try to get caught up!

Sun 7 – Celebration
Kool & The Gang hit number 1 today in 1981. Play your ultimate party anthem.

This one has some bangers on it...

Arcade Fire ‎– Everything Now

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Mon 8 – You should have been there
Reminisce about your best ever gig, and play a record by that band.

Like most of you all here, I love going to shows. Can't wait to get back to those small venues. Fortunately (hopefully) I think my two favorite local venues will survive.

I saw Caroline Rose several years ago. Great show and fun performance. I even got a signed record from her and her band. I'll spin her latest album, hoping to get the chance to see her perform it someday.

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Caroline Rose - Superstar

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Tues 9 – Duo
Spin your most cherished record made by just two people.

Madlib - Sound Ancestors (arranged by Kieran Hebden)

In this case, the duo isn't a traditional duo, per se, but this album exists because of two people- Madlib and Kieran Hebden (Four Tet). Madlib made the music, but Hebden arranged a huge stream of ideas and music into something that flows as an album, and the result is wonderful- easily one of the best of the year so far.

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Wed 10 – Latin
Play the album you like the most with a Latin vibe, be it from La Paz or LA.

Empress Of - Us

Today, I'm going to listen to this bilingual album from a daughter of the Central American diaspora, L.A.'s Empress Of.
That’s one of the biggest things I feel I can do, is just represent my experience so other people who are Central American can see themselves represented in me and to be like, “there’s no doubt in my mind can do that” because they already see someone else doing that. I didn’t have that growing up, the closest thing to that would be Selena. But now, there’s so many people who are representing us. It’s really important to do. But as a Honduran-American, I’m always really surprised and it’s dope to see other Honduran-Americans doing it too because it’s hard to be in the arts in the first place. A lot of people who come from Honduras, they come out of desperation or to seek better opportunities, so you really have to be good at what you do to be an Honduran-American in the arts. It’s a luxury, you know what I mean?


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Mon 8 – You should have been there
Reminisce about your best ever gig, and play a record by that band.

Neil Young - Harvest Moon

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This album held its spot in our Dodge Caravan’s cassette deck as it was one of our family’s favorites from the 90s. The year after my dad died, my wife bought tickets to go see Neil Young at the WaMu Theater in 2007. She can’t stand his voice, so I thought it was a very kind gesture, even though she fell asleep halfway through. I ended up imagining my dad was sitting in her seat anyway.
 
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Tues 9 – Duo
Spin your most cherished record made by just two people.

Boards of Canada - Music has the Right to Children

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My #2 all time. From the opening synthesizer in "Wildfire Analysis," Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin transport the listener to a mysterious, alien world...it's akin to that of a foreign radio transmission. The electronics and production on display here seems impossible to believe it was conceived in the late 90s. There is an uncanny beauty about this album underpinned by a subtle feeling of something dark and foreboding lurking on the periphery of its crunching beats and jarring waves of ambient noise. It can capture your attention throughout just as easily as being a phenomenal background listen. The music overall is soothing and yet unnerving, and you lose yourself in it in a way that is almost hallucinatory. The music is not necessarily dark, but in a way meditative and gloomy, poetic and clever, with uplifting and bright edges throughout. Boards of Canada condensed the feeling of nostalgia and made it into audible form.
 
Wed 10 – Latin
Play the album you like the most with a Latin vibe, be it from La Paz or LA.

Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto

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I don't think this classic has been played yet! I took a chance on this Acoustic Sounds reissue in the first Target B2G1 sale from last year, which ended up being $14, and it doesn't disappoint in any way.
 
Wed 10 – Latin
Play the album you like the most with a Latin vibe, be it from La Paz or LA.

Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto

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I don't think this classic has been played yet! I took a chance on this Acoustic Sounds reissue in the first Target B2G1 sale from last year, which ended up being $14, and it doesn't disappoint in any way.

This was almost my pick but then I realized I've never spun Jorge so I went with that
 
Thurs 11 – Do bass players get laid?
Double bass, electric bass, whatever – who’s your favourite player?

New Order - Technique

Peter Hook's bass, uh, technique is instantly recognizable.

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