The Heavy: Can We Do That Again?

And yes, that is the Dap King's horn section behind them...

Beyond the Aughts: This Time a Little Somethin' Soulful

I have been thinking of what I want from the year to come, and for lack of good insight have been hesitant to write about it.  Right now, however I feel perfectly fine that I did not impart to you my greeting card sentiments in proper haste.  This is because in time for Martin Luther King Day, from my own library and some of the blog-o-sphere's best offerings of the year, I whipped up one steaming hot extra concentrated dose of funk.   This mix I hope will impart to readers and passerby alike the smooth grooves and great performances to bring out the vinyl junkie, soul sister, rare groover, and funk soul brother in all of us for the year to come.  My fascination with funk and soul began with my band Marajo Funk, but if I had this mix I would have started a lot earliear.  Hopefully this will bring loyal readers and passerby alike will make you think about clicking around a bit more on the blogroll to the right of your screen and impart to you the impulse to lead your own funky journey in this coming decade. Enjoy!

Samplin' the Soul:

Lee Fields and the Expressions - Love Comes and Goes

Controller 7 - Get Ready for the Young Folks

Bobby Reed - Time is Right for Love

Nina Simone - To Love Somebody

Funkadelic - Hit it and Quit It

The Whole Damn Thing:

The Mix - Beyond the Aughts.zip


01-Love Comes And Goes 3:11 Lee Fields & The Expressions My World
02-Beverly 2:53 Eldridge Holmes Deep Southern Soul
03-Ecstasy 2:23 Ohio Players Ecstasy
04-Good Times 2:10 Aretha Franklin I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
05-Holdin' On To My Baby's Love 2:24 Bobby Womack Anthology: Bobby Womack [Disc 2]
06-Get Ready For the Young Folks 4:02 Controller 7 12"
07-Horsin' Up 3:51 Orchestra Harlow Presenta A Ismael Miranda Latin Soul/Boogaloo
08-Time Is Right For Love 2:04 Bobby Reed Soul Sides - Nov. 3rd
09-I Love You Still (comp version) 3:32 Zilla Mayes matthewafrica.blogspot.com/
10-Move Over 2:57 Soul Children
11-To Love Somebody 2:40 Nina Simone Anthology
12-Hey You! Don't Fight It! 2:29 Montclairs Soulful Thangs Vol. 3 R&B/Soul
13-I Don't Want To Loose You 2:24 Carolyn Franklin Baby Dynamite
14-I Want To Hold Your Hand 2:20 Al Green 7"
15-Piece Of My Heart 2:43 Erma Franklin Soul Sides: Volume One
16-Your Time Is Gonna Come 3:12 The Highlighters 7"
17-We're Almost There 3:45 Michael Jackson The Motown Years 50
18-(I Wanna) Testify 3:04 The Parliaments Testify! The Best of the Early Years
19-I'm In Love 2:47 Bobby Womack Fly Me To The Moon
20-Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' 3:03 Mayer Hawthorne A Strange Arrangement
21-Baby Baby Baby 2:55 Aretha Franklin I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
22-Across 110th Street 3:51 Bobby Womack Anthology: Bobby Womack [Disc 2]
23-What If We Stopped Paying Taxes? - Sharon Jones and the Dap King 5:01 Impeach the Precedent
24-Hit It And Quit It 3:50 Funkadelic Maggot Brain

Sounding Out Loud...

So I think it is worth mentioning that some of my blog posts are now being used on a new music review web site called Review Posse.  CHECK IT OUT!!!

How to Make a Jewish Brisket...

So a few weeks ago I made my first brisket.  Brisket is a delicious, cheap, and impressive way to feed a large crowd, or feed yourself to the point of considering vegetarianism.  On top of all that it is incredibly difficult to screw up.  A lot of people barbecue brisket but for a jewish brisket the basic principle is to braze the meat in enough liquid for long enough to get an incredibly flavorful sauce with a delectably tender cut of meat of course infused with the aforementioned incredible flavor of the sauce.  The sauce is usually more like a stew, filled with soft pieces of vegetables and infused with the flavor of the meat.  For the type of brisket I like the basic flavor platform for the brisket should be sweet, dark, rich, and highly aromatic.  In the brisket I made I did this with mushrooms, a little ground coffee (which was in a rub for the meat), worcestershire and wine for richness, coke and brown sugar for sweetness (also in the rub),  carrots, onions, bay leaves, and celery as the aromatics.  In addition to this I used some homemade pizza sauce to add to the liquid as well as impart more sweetness and tartness to the sauce. None of these ingredients are essential but the idea of their collective flavor I think is.  Here is a list of some common ingredients including the ones I just mentioned

Vegetables:                    Liquid:                                  Spices:

Celery                            Simple Tomato Sauce           Any of your favorite barbecue rub

Carrots                           Red Wine                              Salt (you don't need too much maybe 1 or 2 tsp)

Potato                             Coca-Cola (one can or so)    Pepper

Onion                             Ketchup                                Bay Leaves (I love this flavor in my brisket)

Mushrooms                    Chili Sauce                            Thyme

Tomatoes                       Coffee                                   

Any combinations of those flavors and a bit of creative discretion should yield a rich and very flavorful brisket, but the preparation is important too.  For this brisket I used a crock pot to keep the juices in the pot and ensure the tenderness of the brisket, but a baking pan covered in aluminum foil should get the trick done.

To cook the meat, if you have chosen to use a spice rub, cover the meat with your rub. Whether or not you have a rub I recommend browning the meat in your crock pot or a large pan on each side.  Some people think that this seals in the juices of the meat, this is debatable.  However what this does is create a chemical reaction on the outside of the meat that yields the deep flavor of seared meat without burning or drying out the meat.  After this preheat oven to around 300 F and chop vegetables how you want and put them in the pot with brisket.  Add liquid and spices, cover, and bake till fork tender (should be around four hours or more).   

Here comes the tough part, waiting.  After your brisket is done, you can sample and enjoy but 99% of that brisket (after it has cooled) should go into the fridge overnight to let the connective tissue that has now converted into gelatin solidify because after gelatin has solidified, it is much harder to revert to a liquid state thus making your meat tender yet able stay together when you slice the brisket.  After waiting  jewish brisket is not pulled like many bbq recipes, it is sliced ACCROSS THE GRAIN of the meat into strips.  Serve strips with sauce on the side or ladled on top, make sure you've got some challah around and enjoy.  Soooo Gooood...

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Homer: Happy 20th Anniversary Simpsons!

So the the list of my major childhood development goes as follows. At about age one I ate my first real food when I broke down at the dinner table demanding I had the same pizza the rest of my family was eating. Five years later, I had my first piano lesson. And finally in fourth grade, I first watched and fell in love with the Simpsons. From then on out I can safely say, any place I've been to anything I have done, if not being directly related to one of the three has probably been vaguely (sometimes not so vaguely) influenced by my perspective on them. 
This realization is not new to me or those who know me well (another important developmental landmark worth mentioning perhaps was my journey into manhood at age thirteen with my Simpsons themed "Bart-Mitzvah"), but tonight I was reminded how special the Simpsons truly are in my heart. While watching the Simpsons 20th anniversary special this evening, I could hardly keep the grin off of my face hearing all the producers, actors, and writers talk about the show. Though my dedication has waned (I have gone from watching it three times a day, to about once if that) nothing makes me happier than hearing Mr. Burn beckoning for his hounds to be released, or seeing America's favorite family plop down on that same old couch at the beginning of every episode. 
One of my favorite things about the Simpsons though, is its music. Along with its theme essentially now firmly placed among the American popular musical canon, all episodes are completely scored by Alf Clausen, and scored well to boot! Before my CD case was stolen/lost in 8th grade I would listen religiously to Songs in the Key of Springfield, enjoying both the tunes and the memories of their respective episodes. 
Though the Simpsons mean a lot to me one thing I easily recognized watching the special tonight was that I am by no means the only one. So today, to represent this point I am going to share with you some of the best Simpsons songs sung by random everyday fanatics like myself, plus a real version of Flaming Moes (cause that one's, I think, my fave). Some are pretty good, some are others just goofing around, though each to me represents the same curious power the Simpsons had on me at the young age of ten years old, that has brought it into history and to the far reaches of the globe.