(Give the drummer some. On second thought, I think he’s had enough…)

I’m kind of been going through a lot of stuff at home recently, which may or may not explain why I played some Lauryn Hill last week, and may or may not have informed some of the soul and funk selections from the middle of the show the week before that. This week, Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine has been running through my mind quite a bit. Such a melancholy song, which should come as no surprise seeing as it was apparently inspired by a story of alcoholism and codependency, a fact which I only found out today when I read the wikipedia entry on the song. “Sometimes you miss things that weren’t particularly good for you.” Amen, brother.

Anyways, rather than come right out and play Withers’ version, I thought I’d play a short selection of my favourite covers, starting out with Michael Jackson.

mj_sunshine

Followed that up by a reggae version from Ken Boothe and then some really funky instrumental reinterpretations. The Prophets of Soul version is definitely a strong personal favourite. Then we dropped into a couple of hip hop cuts. As I was back-announcing the tracks, I was gonna give you a gem of info about Marc Mac, but I ended up cutting it short because I momentarily doubted my memory, but I should have just trusted the instinct. Marc Mac is one half of 4 Hero, legendary drum’n’bass producers who I also played a couple weeks back. The other half of the duo is Dego McFarlane. Tek 9 was a side project of Dego’s. So it all turned out to be related, although that plan hadn’t really been running through my mind when I selected the tracks on the fly. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Then on to a bit of sad news.

neferiu_end

Last week, local record label Neferiu records announced that they were closing their doors. I’ve known label boss Nate (Mantrakid) for many years now, and dude is one of the nicest around. For over 10 years, he’s been steadily putting out quality music on the Neferiu label from local and international artists, and was always kind enough to slip the odd copy my way. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll hear out of Mantrakid, but I will be sad to no longer be playing and interviewing Neferiu players about their latest release. So this show includes a very quickly put together, very short, limited and uncomprehensive tribute to the label.

After the retrospective, we speed it up for the last part of the show with a few breaks and deep house numbers. Enjoy!

Too late! File removed (mp3 – 56Mb)

Tracklist
artist – name [time]
Michael Jackson – Ain’t No Sunshine [5:56 PM]
Ken Boothe – Ain’t No Sunshine
armado perza – ain’t no sunshine
Prophets of Soul – Ain’t No Sunshine
Kashmere Stage Band – Ain’t No Sunshine (J.Rocc Remix)
Black Milk – Sunday’s Best
Busta Rhymes ft Q-tip – you can’t hold the torch (dilla production)
Marc Mac – down south
Main Flow feat. Cormega – Forever
Tek 9 – We’re Gettin’ Down

***Neferiu Records Mini Retrospective***
Mantrakid – The War [6:20 PM]
The Dirty Sample – Love Sound
Touch – I’?m Fierce Wit It
DJ Stilz – Regrets Are All We Have
Cinister Cee – Check It Out
Dockta Valkus – Loungin at Luna
Impirical – You Know What
Ricca Razor Sharp – A, B, C’s
Mantrakid – The King – SoWyz Remix

Ticklah – Answer Me [6:38 PM]
Clayton and Fulcrum – The Get Down
Kodaline – All I Want (Everything Everything Romares Remix)
Kings Of Tomorrow feat. April – Fall for You (Sandy Rivera’s Classic Mix)
Tom Y Joyce – Vai Minha Tristeza
Roska – The Sheppard [6:56 PM]