Al B. Hard does it Pony Style

I’ll admit it: I’ve been keeping this to myself for too long.

One of my favorite bands of late, which you may remember from a certain birthday party back in March that got far too much interest from the Atlanta Police, is finally getting some of the critical respect that they’ve definitely earned. Arizona (MySpace) is a Brooklyn-based 5-piece that I was introduced to through my good friend Scott, who has played with most of them in previous musical incarnations. They played an exciting, loud set in Scott’s garage on that storied birthday evening, and it was worth the police intervention if only for the memories.

Fast forward 5 months or so, and witness them featured on NPR’s World Cafe for Monday, September 4. It’s a short piece, but it’s still great press. I appreciate that it largely lets the music speak for itself.

So what are you waiting for? Go listen!

This Saturday, August 19, I will be joining forces with some awesome local talents to present Pecan Pie Couture’s Wampum Disco Fashion Party at The Royal, downtown boogie down style. Here are some double-u’s!

• What? A celebration of Pecan Pie Couture’s Fall Line
• Who? Factory Aire (Lenny’s, CUDS, SOAP), Al B. Hard (Ponystyle Industries), Disco Goddess Ms Pope!
• When? Saturday 8/19 @ 10pm (I’m on first and Ms Pope will be spicing things up intermittently throughout the night)
• Where? 255 Trinity Ave SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 (The Royal)
• Why? Because the Good Lord gave you a booty, and you need to shake it.

DID I MENTION THAT IT’S FREE?!

So now that you are in the know, come on out and get down with us. I’ll be spinning lots of old, new and in-between disco and all that it inspires. Don’t forget to glitter up your chest for when the shirts come off and we all get sweaty together forever!

Saturday night at the 40 Watt was pretty cool. DJ Epic opened things up to a crowd composed mostly of other DJs (me, Joe, Roux, Mahogany) and he tore things right down. Definitely a skilled worker, that one. Going to try to get a gig in the ATL worked out so he can visit.

Topher was next up to rock the spot, and he did, with aplomb. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t have much net growth during this time, so the proper dancations could not seem to get off the ground. Our best guess about the lack of crowd was something about people resting up for next weekend, which is Athfest. That seems like a crock, though, because who the heck needs to rest for an entire week in advance of something that you’re staying in town for in the first place?

Mahogany definitely put down some exciting jams. Lots of disco-flavored soul and the dance moves to match. The crowd finally started dancing at this point, and after a wedding party arrived and doubled the numbers, things got pretty darn fun. It was definitely a sweaty good time.

Stay tuned for details of the potential upcoming ATL Deejay extravaganza.

I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing this Saturday night, but cancel it. Come with me to Athens for an evening of dancetastic soultacular groovin’ and shakin’ with my main man Topher and friends. From the Flagpole:

DJ EPIC, DJ ROUX & DJ MAHOGANY

(40 Watt) Tonight’s multi-tiered dance party offers a variety of sounds. Athens newcomer DJ Epic mixes anything and everything, from pop to soul to hip hop to country, smoothly blending beats. DJ Roux focuses on hip hop, dance and classic rock, and DJ Mahogany delivers his well-known mix of classic soul and funk and will work some “sweetly nasty” classic hip hop into his set. “All three of us will be spinning mostly vinyl all night long,” says DJ Mahogany. “There is a slight possibility that towards the end of my set that I will invite the other two deejays back out and we’re going to beat match vinyl literally off the cusp.”

Depending on the scene, I might even get up there and throw it down. Or perhaps I’ll play a behind-the-scenes Afrika-Bambaataa-style selector role. ZULU!

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of hauling some gear and vinyl to Athens for a jam session with my main man Topher (or Roux, as you may have seen him billed). We spent a large share of our time working on a funky soul mix, taking the opportunity to exercise a lot of my 45s. Sometimes I forget just how many good songs I have in there.

Perhaps the most fun aspect of the whole operation was having four turntables running simultaneously, each pair with its own mixer. In all the time I’ve owned my own decks, I’ve never actually done that. Be assured that I will in the future.

We got some solid ideas down on e-paper (and I made a sweet spreadsheet to keep track of everything), but we stopped short of actually recording. The decision was made to continue shenanigans in Atlanta Monday night, and we did. Unfortunately, after our delicious but rather lengthy dinner at La Casita, we had little motivation or energy left to accomplish much more than setting up the quad-deck action again. This morning, Topher headed back to Athens without much more than good times to show for it.

I guess that’s the way it is sometimes. Anyone will agree that you can’t force creativity. We’ll just have to be sure to reschedule for a not-too-far-in-the-future date.

Last night at Atlanta’s favorite dive bar/venue/discotheque, Lenny’s, I guested with the Factory Aire boys of Trashed fame. It was officially my second gig there, in celebration of the lovely and talented Rachael’s birthday, and I believe things went very well. Despite the fact that the Factory Aire gentlemen’s skills are well advanced in comparison to mine and ignoring the numerous equipment issues that caused total music failure on multiple occassions, there seemed to be no end to the compliments and support from my favorite audience — and the other various professionals present.

For that I am very grateful.

Had fun, got some chops, met some cool people, made them dance, and will be back again.

As foretold, last night was the first round of the Great Record Transfer of 2006. You can see the results here. There are about 45 full crates from the initial load, with about 20 more to be transferred tonight.

Record Explosion Part I (center)

The amount transferred so far was enough to fill Cody’s truck, his trailer and my car. With Mike and Edric helping out though, things went pretty quickly. That’s a very good thing, too, because the basement where these were stored smelled heavily of cat waste.

As far as the collection goes, it definitely shows signs of the life of a radio DJ: reams of worthless promo singles, subscription-only hits compilations and personal notes from no-name artists taped to sleeves. That’s not to imply that there aren’t plenty of gems to be had though. Specifically there’s a great deal of classic 80s and 90s hip-hop that I would probably never have found in a store. So overall, I think it’ll be worth it.

Look out for plenty of promo vinyl on eBay in the near future. Meanwhile, if you need me, I’ll be in my room sorting.