Had the pleasure of filling in this afternoon on East Village Radio, alongside Sucio Smash, for The Bobbito Garcia Radio Show. Bob is out of town promoting Doin’ It in the Park and invited Suc and I to come co-host the show.
We had a ball playing records and chopping it up on the air. Lots of jokes and incredible selections throughout!
In case you missed the show, you can stream it here
*playlist can be found here
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It was a pleasure to play at the Afro Funke’ 10 year anniversary on June 27th.
Salute to the whole AF crew and Ozomatli for making it a night to remember! For those that couldn’t make it, enjoy the LIVE mix!
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Had a ball selecting 10 tracks for the Mixtape Club…dope concept, each curator hand picks 10 tasty tunes, no more, no less.
I present to you ‘Free’
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I’m very happy to see this lovely remix effort get proper release worldwide today!
This remix trailed in just after we finalized the ‘Everything in Time Remixed’ album, but we loved it so much, a future release was inevitable.
The ‘Leave the City Outside (Chris Read Remix)’ EP highlights work from the London based DJ/Producer/Radio 1xtra Host and BBE compilation recording artist, Chris Read.
The EP features Oddisee on vocals and instrumentals of both the original and the remix versions are available with the digital album.
Get the goods here.
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This past month I made the trip happen that I’ve been waiting over half my life for- I went down to Brasil and lived in Rio de Janeiro for two weeks.
The experience was incredible! I’ve loved Brazilian music and culture for a long time, so to go down there, post up and get a real day to day sense amongst the people was beautiful. Music is so much a part of their culture and the history of incredible artists and records coming out of Rio specifically, runs deep. I thought I had a little bit of a sense of it, but being down there, soaking up music and talking to the people was a real education.
The photo above shows a samba session that happens every Monday night, outdoors, free and with a vibe like no other! What seems like the entire Saúde community comes out and gathers in the evening around a historic rock called Pedra do Sal. To describe the feeling is difficult to put to words, but the overall essence is happiness. You look around and it almost seems like people are trying to out do each other with who can be more happy, while singing samba classics together. That session was a major source of inspiration and one I will look back to again and again.
My record digging search began in a shop that houses all Brazilian grooves, Tropicália Discos. There, I met owners Márcio and Bruno. I spent an entire day there talking to Márcio (he later became known to us as ‘the Professor’) about the music- from Brazilian Jazz, Funk, Samba, Reggae to Soul. His crates run deep and he was an open book, sharing his love of the music with us. I came out of there with more than a few records, tunes you will be hearing from me for sometime to come! Obrigado Marcio!
That was the starting point for many other record digging adventures during my stay in Rio, often breaking night to hit flea markets at dawn, getting the fresh picks on the finest LPs. The record digging competition is serious out there, it didn’t stop!
There’s much to miss about Rio, be it the sunsets at Apoador, Ipanema beach or the fresh fruit/juice culture on the corner of every block. Acai is the way I started out almost every morning and I’ve been searching of ways to bring that back to my daily here NYC. It’s not the same, but for now the memory will do, as this no doubt will not be the last time I’ll be in Brasil! Até que a próxima vez, todo o amor!
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I take the job of digging for musical gems very seriously. New and old, the lost get found.
I make sure to leave no rock unturned when searching for the perfect beat! Along the way, you find those tracks with beats that give you instant goose bumps or lyrics that seap into your mind so deeply, they seem to come to you first thing when waking up in the morning.
There still is plenty of brand new music being made, full of flavor, but these days, you have to look harder than ever for it. You want the goodness, then go and weed through the mediocrity to find it. That’s why it’s with such pleasure that I bring Push the Fader Radio to you each month.
It’s a look inside what’s been most played in my iTunes as of late, what sees the most burn on my turntables and what exclusive may have just come my way.
This month we have new and timeless music from Quantic & Alice Russell, Protoje, Action Bronson, Jamie Woon, Marc Mac & the Visoneers, Fela Kuti and much more!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | March 2012 (Download)
For Complete tracklisting –
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*All Vinyl Mix
From my studio to where ever you may be in the world- welcome to the latest installment of Push the Fader Radio!
This month’s podcast is dedicated to two of my musical loves- Jazz and Latin music. The place where they meet is beautiful, artists from both genres lighting up each other’s sessions, running off of pure influence and inspiration.
From reading the backs of the LPs covers, you see certain Latin artists featured as session musicians, often on classic Jazz recordings, while more than a few Jazz players have recorded on timeless Salsa LPs. That blend has created some incredible music and this mix is just a few of those moments that I’ve been listening to lately. Enjoy!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | February 2012 (Download)
For Complete tracklisting –
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Fresh and new for 2012!
Push the Fader Radio is back this month, featuring a mix of both unreleased and classic selections of music in Soul, Jazz, Latin, Brazilian and Hip-Hop.
A good number of cover tunes played on this month’s show, from Tall Black Guy Productions‘ version of MJ’s Thriller with Renee Dion, to the Jazz Crusaders version of “Eleanor Rigby”. I got a thing for covers, especially when an artist can take a classic and make it their own.
Okay, enough talking, let’s get to the Center Bumps…to the great year to come!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | January 2012 (Download)
For Complete tracklisting –
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To be honest, I could have easily kept running back Robert Glasper’s “Afro Blue feat Erykah Badu” for the entire hour of this month’s radio podcast. It’s one of them tunes! I can’t seem to stop repeating that one ever since I first received an advance of it at Electric Lady Studios a couple weeks back.
Still, that would be a major de-service to you all, simply because this months show is packed with that many goodies!
New, unreleased, exclusive and timeless music from The Robert Glasper Experiment, J.Rawls & The Liquid Crystal Project, Zaki Ibrahim, Tall Black Guy, Joe Blaxx + The Temptations, José James, Jamie Woon, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley and much, much more.
Tune in, download and enjoy! Happy Holidays to you and yours from the Push the Fader family!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | December 2011 (Download)
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November is here and with it the next installment of Push the Fader Radio has arrived!
This month’s mix has been a proper life soundtrack for me, representing what the last 30 days have sounded and felt like. Packed with music I’ve come across, been bumping in the studio and/or have experienced live.
From Will Sessions’ beautiful instrumental take on Nas + Q-Tip’s classic, “One Love”, to taking in Nicola Conte’s jazz outfit live at LPR in NYC- the music has been flowing. From my street to wherever you reside, enjoy!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | November 2011 (Download)
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It’s here! After previewing select remixes for the last couple of months, I’m happy to announce that ‘EVERYTHING IN TIME REMIXED’ has officially arrived (and with some good words to compliment)!
The album features choice selections from my debut record, re-imagined by a crew of some of my favorite producers-
DJ Spinna, Waajeed, J.Rawls, DJ OBaH, Captain Planet and Applejac, amongst others.
iTunes featured the album on the front of their R&B/Soul picks the day it dropped (thanks!). Check it out and let me know what you think of the different versions. Plenty on there for you to enjoy.
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Push the Fader Radio is here!
Feels great to be bringing you the best in monthly podcast mixes from my favorite artists and tunes of the moment. Some special ones here, featuring new and timeless music from Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, Oddisee, Hollie Cook, Ocote Soul Sounds,The Resonators, Quantic and more!
DJ Center – Push the Fader Radio | October 2011 (Download)
For Complete tracklisting –
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