Joining me this month is DJ Ghostdad – NJ native, Boston affiliate, choice selector. He’s between cities right now but promised to load up a crate of goods to bring back this way on his next return trip. Check him out on Fully Fitted for a taste of the diverse content he’s gonna provide. Call the party line (1-800-988-7361) for info on his new First Fridays at Coco 66 (with XXXchange), or hit the archives if you can’t wait for the weekend to get loose.

See you next Saturday.

I’m pleased as punch to be joined by fellow LGS founder Mike McGill in The Kontrol Room. Should be a real smooth-type gathering – even the weather gods have granted us some karma after last month’s snowed-in fireside affair. Mike is “dusting off his r&b records” which is great to hear.

Its free as always! Come through and tell us about your big 2010 plans over a beer, while serenaded by tasteful tracks! Invite yourself on Facebook if you’re so inclined.

I just posted my annual XMIX over on the F.A.T. blog. Its a year-end wrap up highlighting tracks that were favorites for me this year – not necessarily ‘09 releases but all tunes that were powerful music for me.
Also includes a very special YouTube audio mix – 40 mins of weird YouTube audio, complete with links for sharing.

Listen online and download at http://fffff.at/bennett4senate-xmix-09-youtube-mix-09/

Here’s to big things in 2010!!!

-b4s

For this month’s FineLine, I’ve invited two good friends, who just so happen to be fantastic selectors.

Marty McSorley – a L.A. transplant who has found a new home in Brooklyn, and a time slot on WFMU. I’ve shared the decks with Marty before and am always pleased with the breadth of his picks. He even invited me on his show one time for a special 4 hours of cassettes only. He’s doin it for the children.

Champangne King (aka Jon Kirby) and I also did a brief stint together on the internet-airwaves when I was on the last few months of The Wax Poetics Record Rundown on East Village Radio. Jon is a funk forte, Carolinas say HO!

We’ll be getting loose in the front room, so come through, have a beer, and enjoy the crispy sound quality. Seriously though, the sound in that room is great; after last month I can’t wait to be back.

See you next Saturday!
- B4$

Resident DJ Bennett4$enate builds on a synth disco bedrock to display jams and gems of 808 electro, sweet stepping boogie, and drum machine r&b. With special guests each month, FineLine is a place for to DJs get loose with outsider sets, and for listeners to soak up the benefits.

Guaranteed to be a great place to have a beer and hear something new to you. The room is a bit lacking in the dance-floor department so I want to make this a night for DJs to go a little bit farther, bug it out, and play some weirdo tracks.

Luckily I’m joined by two DJs well prepared to do just that:
AMIR
…and if you don’t know, now you know. Amir (of Kon and Amir) brings the rarest of digs, always tasteful. Hopefully he’ll play some African joints off his upcoming BBE comp.

TACKLEBERRY
Let’s Get Serious’ own, half the menergy of A Downtown Affair. You know his disco, but he knows his Psych too, and has wiped the cat piss off enough local rap 12″ buried in the back of decrepit stores to have some mind-bending tunes.

Invite yourself on Facebook, come through, have a drink, and lets make this night a success so we can keep walking that FineLine!

-B4$

We’ll be on Wed 11.11.09, 10pm – 1am.

90.3 FM in greater Boston, and streaming.

(p.s. CLICK THROUGH FOR THE ARCHIVED SHOW IN THE COMMENTS)

This Friday B4$ joins Greg Ferguson and Matt Harrison of Rockers Galore in the Front(ier) Room at the Bell House in the Gowanus. If you’re not glued to your hifi catching every second of A Downtown Affair, come through and have a beer!

http://www.thebellhouseny.com/home.php
http://rockersgalore.tumblr.com/ <— Check out their new mix, ‘Space Race’

Bobby Nunn – Do You Look That Good In the Morning? 1983 Motown.

If you like the intro, hang out for the steel drum solo.

When looking in the bins for early 80s boogie, you wade through a lot of heavy r&b from the same era while looking for something to play to the dance floor. For every uptempo, drum and synth driven heater, there is a syrupy, quiet storm B side or album cut. Even if you’re only looking for the former, you’ll end up hearing some slow records because its like everybody had their shirts unbuttoned and was rocking blue leather pants in ‘83. If you don’t recognize the names on the labels, you’ve got to throw it on to find out if its gonna sound like Kano or Peabo.

I’ve had to learn the names, being an 80s-baby born to parents who pretty much retired their record collection in the mid 70s. These tracks are new to me, but playing this mix for people, its been great how many of these tracks get a reaction like “oh that song is a classic! My dad used to play Loose Ends in the car all the time back in the day!” or “that was a huge radio hit!”

There’s definitely a stigma attached to the sheer smoothness of these songs, considering how much cache record collector types have put into “raw” funk. The intrigue may at first be ironic, like pop music, (“this is cheesy, but its kinda good too”) but at some point after unconsciously memorizing all the words and breakdowns I realized that not only were these crafted works, but they had all the elements in place – drum machines, great melodies, and powerful songwriting, all wrapped in the glow of 80s synths. Going from a diet of rap to loving disco was a similar process, but with disco, you’re dancing, which makes it a lot easier to get over your hang ups and just vibe out to some seriously gay content. And with both disco and r&b, the deeper I get, I hear samples that remind me just how many really good hip hop producers came this way before me, so I must be on the right path.

I think it might be the overt and at times egregious expression of sexual desire that makes people uncomfortable with r&b, from the 80s to today. So to help you get there, kick off those loafers, have a seat on your white leather couch, pour yourself a glass of chilled Chablis (with a splash of fruit juice) and press play.

Wine Coolers
(117 MB)
2009 – Bennett4$enate

1. Intro
2. L.A. Dream Team – You’re Just Too Young (1986 MCA)
3. The Deele – Shoot’em Up Movies (1988 Solar)
4. The System – Don’t Disturb This Groove (1987 Atlantic)
5. Zapp & Roger – Computer Love (1985 Warner Bros)
6. Juice – Love Will Find a Way (1986 Def Jam)
7. Bernard Wright – Music Is the Key (1981 GRP)
8. Faze-O – Riding High (1977 She Records)
9. Loose Ends – Hangin’ On A String (1985 MCA)
10. Jesse Johnson – Sex Sweat (Unreleased)
11. Sylvester – I Need Somebody to Love (1979 Fantasy)
12. N.Y.C. Peech Boys – On A Journey (1983 Island)
13. Ray Parker Jr. – I Don’t Wanna Know (1983 Arista)
14. Kashif – Help Yourself to My Love (1983 Arista)
15. Surface – Falling In Love (1983 Salsoul)
16. Rena Romano – Once You Fall in Love (Factory Beat Records)
17. Force MDs – Love Is a House (1987 Tommy Boy)