The Podcast Cafe

This is the third and final installment in the unexpected Michael Jackson tribute trilogy, "Blame it on the Boogie." Parts 1 and 2 are posted at www.http://www.destinationburningman.com/stuff/podcasts/index.html. I first thought it would take only one session to spin out my favorite MJ tracks in memorial of his surprising passing, but the first set started to get longy before I even in to "Bad," and so got split in to two sets.

But then, in cyberspace explorations for MJ music, I kept finding amazing material to work with: early Jackson 5 basement jam sessions, dance floor remixes, rough demos, alternate takes, etc., and my appreciation for his output over his nearly 50 years as a performer grew -- at the end of the second set, I still had all kinds of oddities and gems to share, like a reggae remix of "Ben," the lost "Thriller"-era track "Cheater" and "Off the Wall" B-sides. I also had yet to include "We Are the World" or "Man in the Mirror," which I felt like were essential pieces of this puzzle (I tried to keep them interesting by using a rough demo and live version). So, needless to say, a third set was spun and is being released to the people approximately two weeks after this whole tribute series was initially started.

Unlike the first two, this session is not chronological, but instead bounces around the different versions of MJ according to feel instead of timeline. To me, it feels a bit less cohesive than the story I've told of his musical evolution in the first two sets, but still has plenty to tell and is not to be missed.

The first two sets have been downloaded over 500 times each in the short period of time they've been put out on the internets, which makes me very happy. I envision Michael Jackson dance parties happening around the planet to the soundtrack of joyful music I've weaved together here. I appreciate the positive feedback I've heard from many listeners in diverse corners and hope that those who appreciate these mixes will share them widely with friends.

Michael Jackson's story is a very complicated, weird, mysterious and, ultimately, tragic. Some think his troubles originate in his childhood at the hands of his father, other argue that he brought it all on to himself. "Blame it on the Boogie" sidesteps all of these debates and instead focuses on the unmatched legacy of Michael Jackson's music -- his original blending of Motown, disco, r&b, funk and soul, spiced up with a huge amount of confident showmanship. MJ was a musical genius who created a huge body of uplifting, emotionally moving, booty-rocking music, and I hope this tribute trilogy helps remind listeners of how, beneath all the controversy, MJ was an extremely and sensitive gifted artist.

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Part 2 of my Michael Jackon Tribute series picks up where Part 1 ends, delving back in to the "Thriller" era before committing to an extended appreciation of "Bad" and then dropping in on a fast-paced, booty-rockin' exploration of MJ's underappreciated Late Period. I had no idead he was still putting out such amazing and ground-breaking music post-"Bad," tracks like "Scream", "They Don't Care About Us", "2 Bad", "Xscape" and "Jam." Like Part 1, this mix tells the MJ story through nontraditional tracks: home demos, remixes, dubs and rare tracks. I've been listening to both constantly these past 2 weeks, with mad appreciation for MJ's gift of groove to the world.

Against my better judgement, I had to start a third (and hopefully final!) installment in the tribute series. As I was mixing this one up, I kept finding amazing remixes and rarities online, but I wanted Part 2 to come in at under 80 minutes so it could be burned to CD, and the incoming rush of MJ music had to spill over in to a 3rd mix. A Michael Jackson "Trilogy" was unplanned when I first started out, but that is what this process has naturally evolved in to, so there it is. The man just put out too much great music -- blame it on the boogie!

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This musical journey starts with some selections from the Jackson 5, of course, before exploring his early solo career, with a multifaceted look at "Off the Wall" and his original melding of disco grooves with Motown soul. Eventually, we reach "Thriller," looking at half of the album's hits from various different perspectives, before running out of time at the 79:45 mark -- just the right length to be able to burn this mix to CD. Part two, to be released in a couple of weeks, picks up with the second half of Thriller and runs through various side projects and the most intriguing sounds from his later releases.

Now, those listeners looking for a run-through of his greatest hits can, well, purchase or dig out his many "Greatest Hits" collections. In other words, this ain't your mamas Michael Jackson. The mix is built on alternate takes, mash-ups, early home demos, interviews and, especially, remixes. There are many, many remixes of Michael floating around out there in cyberspace, and I chose a wide variety of reinterpretations: some ready to bump your booty, some corny and others just plain weird. I reveled in the wide, creative diversity of remixes that MJ inspired, and listening to them over the past week, it dawned on me just how universal his music was -- there was an essential DNA of heart, soul and groove in just about everything he performed, and those core elements were able to be fit in and reprogramed in all kinds of musical scenarios. House, reggae, grunge, glitch, ambient -- Michael's words and voice sounded natural in so many different genres and environments, in part because it was so real. And I guess that is why he was loved the whole world over -- his gift of song was universal. It touched the heart and moved the booty, no matter what culture or creed.

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This episode features a wide array of music from just about all of my favorite genres -- hip-hop, reggae, electronica, jazz, alt-folk, Grateful, ambient, funk, weird noises -- and is like a transcription of my favorite toonz this springtime. It is a sibling mix to earlier efforts including Spring Buds, Fall Equinox and Summer Solstice I, and a cousin to 080808. This episdode does two things: collects and presents some of my freshest harvesting of tracks -- new songs, old songs newly discovered -- alongside a random smattering of other tracks not new in anyway but riding high on my "favorites" playlist. A finely-tuned assortment of grooves, ballads and jams that fill my earholes as of late.

Is there deeper meaning within the seemingly randomness of it, like the procession of Bill Frisell into Sonic Youth into the Supremes? That is, I suppose , a question for the listener to decipher on his or her own time. Or you could just kick back and enjoy the ride....

DJ Playaduster's Green Man Trilogy, which began with "DISORIENTATION," leaves the playa and begins the difficult efforts to reenter the Default World in this second installment, "REORIENTATION," or better yet, "Hyper Primbly's marsupial thumbdrive."

Herein, the Four return to their respectable former lives in the Default World. We follow them from Smith Rock to the Nightlight Lounge to Birch Bay Beach as they attempt to keep their freshly-stoked flame alit despite confusing circumstances...

For its third anniversary on 5/15/09, the Podcast Cafe is kicking off its first ever listener-powered fundraiser. The old soundsystem, aka 5-year old MacBook, is starting to wear down and its memory banks are brimming over. The headphones recently stopped working and the music vault is straining. The whole shebang starts to smoke everytime Fundi gets deep down in to the groove, and that is unacceptable work conditions. The soundsystem can't take the strain of DJ Fundi's heavy podcasting habit and so the Cafe crew looking to upgrade to a system with more horsepower -- the better to power the Podcast Cafe!

Give a little and watch it come back to you with more musical blends to tantalize your earholes and frontal lobe. In 3 years, between all of his channels here at the Podcast Cafe and his work for www.destinationburningman.com, Fundi, sometimes in the bewigged guise of DJ Playaduster, figures he has somehow cranked out 60-70 podcasts. No kiddin'. That averages something like 2 per month, which is ridiculous. If you've been a beneficiary of this musical manna, then we hope you'll consider donating something like a 20 dollar bill to the Podcast Cafe PayPal account and help us upgrade the soundsystem for the next 60-70 podcasts. We're all looking forward to replacing things that are barely functioning now, and can see a bright future of music-mix-making on in to the future!

Donate via PayPal @ www.podcastcafe.org -- look for the button in the sidebar -- and big thanks!

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I made this here mix with the idea of exploring sacred music from Africa, the Middle East and India. I tried to keep a sublime, introspective vibe pulsing through this diverse array of selections, which include field recordings from villages on the Nile River, traditional music from Iran, Armenian chanting, drum circles, world beat fusion from Pakistan and Ethiopia and a survey of Malian masters like Bouboucar Traore, Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate. The journey begins and ends with hypnotic sounds made on the kalimba, or "thumb piano," opening with a track from Samite and closing with Bobby McFerrin.

I hope this swirling mix of continent-spanning music from the soul inspires your own internal journeys.

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Here is a recently-unearthed treasure trove of golden hits of the 1990's. This episode represents a cross-section of what I was filling my ears with in an earlier decade. I suppose you could call this mix The Roots of Fundi.

Featuring Bult to Spill, Pearl Jam, Pharcyde, Soul Coughing, Kristin Hersh, Ben Harper, the Presidents of the United States of America, Beck, Ani DiFranco, Nirvana, Pavement, Cornershop, Blind Melon, Tribe Called Quest, Jane's Addiction, Morphine, Digable Planets, Soundgarden, Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blues Traveler, Spearhead and others!

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