Yes! A new mix is in at the International Fountain at Seattle Center!

Included in the mix are Seattle-based artists : Jake One, Floyd Standifer Quartet, Scntfc, and Tiny Hat Orchestra.

Full list of artists follows. Go to the end for links to three tracks in the mix.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Black Moth Super Rainbow
The Majestics
Inner Circle & The Fatman Riddim Section
Boozou Bajou
Little Jr Jesse & His Teardrops & The Tears
Chrissy Zeppy Tembo
J Dilla
The Meters
Dan The Automator & Del The Funky Homosapien
Beak>
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
The Silver Recovery
Floyd Standifer Quartet    
Jake One            
Miyazawa & Rainier Trüby
The Crystal Method
Toob
Road Runners
The Smiths
DJ Cam
Los Holy’s
Ernest Ranglin
Vern Blair Debate
Haugaard & Høirup
Gabor Szabo
Scntfc
Tiny Hat Orchestra
Mohammed Mounir
Jazz Jamaica
Mickey & The Soul Generation
Massive Attack
Skatalites
Soul Ones


Three tracks in the mix:

1.  “3030 (Instrumental)” by Dan the Automator & Del The Funky Homosapien

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ESIBE4/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk1/175-2354861-4484301

2. “How We Ride (Instrumental)” by Jake One

http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Ride-Instrumental-Explicit/dp/B001H4N2GW

3. “Gable Mountain” by Scntfc (aka Sientific American aka Scientific American)

http://vimeo.com/16745853


Best musical wishes! :)

James Whetzel

http://jameswhetzel.com/

A little teaser for some of the new palm-wine guitar tunes I am working on, much more to be added to this track in terms of percussion and perhaps accordion…

Yes there is a new mix playing in the International Fountain at Seattle Center!

A special focus for this mix is Japanese music, in honor of the 38th Annual Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival which is happening this weekend at Seattle Center.

Included in this mix is an exclusive version of “Kaneda’s Theme” by Geinoh Yamashirogumi from the Akira soundtrack:

“Kaneda’s Theme” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-wv4pFodIQ

And additional tracks by Japanese artists such as Nav Katze and DJ Krush and including this track: 

“Drop” by Cornelius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=penAy3JrXws

Here’s the full list of artists. Go to the end for links to a couple additional tracks, including two by Seattle based artists La Luz & Fjord Morrison.

Nav Katze
Blue Mink
Guitar
Free Radicals
Geinoh Yamashirogumi
Seekae
Maceo & All The Kings Men
Robot Koch
Augustus Pablo
Vitamin String Quartet
DJ Krush
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Fjord Morrison
La Luz
The Silver Recovery
David Axelrod
Cornelius
Dabrye
The Meters
Inner Circle & Fatman Riddim Section
Sly & the Family Stone
Jackie Mitoo
Ernest Ranglin
Fjord Morrison
Prefuse 73
Manuel B. Holcolm
Amiina

Additional specific tracks in this mix:

 ”Damp Face” by Seattle-based artists La Luz http://laluz.bandcamp.com/track/damp-face

 ”She Make Me Feel So Good” by Seattle-based artist Fjord Morrison: http://hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com/track/she-make-me-feel-so-good

“Bloop” by Dabrye http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Ne9_48p2E

Enjoy the music and this glorious sunshine too Seattle people!

James Whetzel

subatomicsound:

Dubbing ‘pon the #jumbotron @Coachella #LeeScratchPerry & #SubatomicSoundSystem C u again April 19!

I wish I had been there for this! Looking forward to catch the deepest dub in PDX!

Woo-hoo! This is a big mix with lots of tracks. I think I must have favored some extra Afro-Beat as I am heading to Ghana today for a musical vacation/trip. Lots of Dub in this mix as well—must be the bits of sunshine in Seattle in the past few days inspiring me in that direction. Go to the end of the list of artists for a link to one track in the mix.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti
Vitamin String Quartet
The Silver Recovery
Scientist
Le Groupe X
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Gabor Szabo
Lightnin’ Hopkins
Beck
King Sunny Ade
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
Mogwai
David Axelod
Peaking Lights
Takénobu
Lee “Scratch” Perry
DJ Krush
Inner Circle & the Fatman Riddim Section
The Meters
Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetters
Tony Allen
Robot Koch x Pavel Dovgal
Jackie Mitoo
ESG
John Fahey
The Natural Yoghurt Band
Flying Lotus
Liquid Liquid
Sunset
Tommy McCook, Richard Ace, The Skatalites & Disco Height
Jimmy Hyacinthe
Michael Dulin
El Boxeo
Scntfc

As I mentioned this is a big mix with lots of tracks.  Voilà a link to a classic Afro-Beat track which I have an extended excerpt of included in the mix.

“Water No Get Enemy” by Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Africa 70

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdV1V4vPPLI

It seems highly appropriate that “Water No Get Enemy” should be played in a public fountain!

Cheers!

James

Yes there is a new mix in the International Fountain! And if you wish you can come and play and dance to it like these kids in the photo—it’s starting to get warm and sunny enough where it’s no longer just for the hardy, daring and inveterate fountain dancers and players. Soon my mixes will become progressively sunnier… :-)

Artists in the new Fountain mix include:


AbJo
Inner Circle & The Fatman Rhythm Section
Half Light
The Meters
Keyboard Kid 206
Herbie Hancock
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo
Goonies Never Say Die
Lee Scratch Perry
Leave Trace
Le Groupe X
Väsen
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Keyboard Kid 206
JuSoul
Treacherous 3
Cedric Im Brooks
Tony Allen
Build
Serge Gainsbourg
Augustus Pablo
David Axelrod
Maximoe
 BLO
The Silver Recovery

And here are some links to the music of excellent Seattle based artists in this mix:

1) Leave Trace “Cyanwave (feat. Night Train) - Dilate (Leave Trace Remix)”
http://leavetrace.bandcamp.com/track/cyanwave-feat-night-train-dilate-leave-trace-remix-2

2) Half Light “Ambeing” http://halflightseattle.bandcamp.com/track/ambeing

3) Keyboard Kid 206 “in The Water”
http://keyboardkid206.bandcamp.com/track/in-the-water

Best musical regards,

James Whetzel

Yes yes! The fountain is back running at Seattle Center! Here is the music that is playing February 20 - March 6, 2013. I made this mix two weeks ago and I’m glad to finally have it in rotation now that maintenance work on the fountain has been completed.

Artists in the mix include:

The Silver Recovery
The Cure
Witch
Yann Tiersen
Peaking Lights
Natural Yoghurt Band
Gabor Szabo
Lee Scratch Perry
Liquid Liquid
The Art of Noise
Tony Allen
Tame Impala
Blu
Devotchka
The Meters
John Coltrane
Jackie Mittoo

One tune in the mix is “Cavern” by Liquid Liquid. This is a classic track which inspired another classic track “White Lines” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

BTW: It is enjoyable to my mind to have a track by a band called Liquid Liquid playing in a fountain…But enough of the quirky juxtapositions which I find endlessly intriguing—onto the music!

“Cavern” on Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001A7D61C/ref=dm_dp_trk2

The, somewhat odd, official video for “Cavern” on Youtube: http://youtu.be/IL45YOtbuy0

As I mentioned, Grandmaster Flash based much of the music of their famous song “White Lines” on “Cavern.” You can hear that the iconic baseline, chord progressions, and even the “something of a phenomenon” lyric were directly inspired by the Liquid Liquid Song. “Whites Lines” is worth listening to on it’s own as well.

“White Lines” on  Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/White-Lines/dp/B00123FABI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361481345&s=dmusic&sr=1-1

An unofficial video for “White Lines” was produced as a student film by Spike Lee

http://lockerz.com/u/popchristy.vodpo7946/decalz/13267687/grandmaster_flash_white_lines_direct

And as a belated Valentine’s day bonus here are links to one more track in the mix, “Cloak and Dagger” by Dub Maestro Lee Scratch Perry.  

On Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Cloak-Dagger/dp/B001NTFMQO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361482301&s=dmusic&sr=1-2

On Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzc4L5IxdxA


Best musical regards,

James Whetzel

Si! There’s a new mix playing in the International Fountain at Seattle Center. The photo above shows what the fountain looks like when its water jets are in pause mode. This was taken after the new mix went in on Wednesday, January 23rd. #InternationalFountain in #Winter in #Seattle.

Below is the list of artists in the mix. Go to the end for a link to one track in the mix by Seattle based artist Havoc Softener.

Artists in the January 23 - February 6, 2013 Mix.

Augustus Pablo
The Natural Yogurt Band
Pale White Moon
Tony Allen
Penguin Café Orchestra
Air
Skatalites
Booker T. & the MGs
Havoc Softener
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
Caural
Jackie Mittoo
The Meters
Tom Hagerman
2Cellos
Flying Lotus
The Bamboos

One track in the mix:

“Swass” by Seattle based artist Havoc Softener from the album “Evergreen State of Mind.”

http://havocsoftener.bandcamp.com/track/swass

Best musical regards,

James Whetzel

OK. The photo of the fountain in this post is from July 26, 2012.  It’s nice to think of Summer in Seattle when it’s January in Seattle. Nonetheless, I shall dutifully post a, probably foggy, photo of the International Fountain from the present moment when I put in the next mix.

Here are the artists who have been gracing the fountain with their music for the past two weeks.

2pac
Johnny J
Hot Chocolate
Vitamin String Quartet
Body Language
Keep Shelly in Athens
Lee Scratch Perry
Rubies
Yppah
The Spy from Cairo
Philly Four
Wu-Tang Clan
Fistful of Mercy
The Section Quarter
Trishes
Damu the Fudgemunk
Inner Circle
JAfrica
Norma & the Heartaches
Grand Agent
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
Soul II Soul

Here’s a link to one track by Seattle based artist JAfrica:

https://soundcloud.com/jafrica/ibdia

Best musical regards.

James Whetzel

OK, I admit I got a wee bit behind in listing the mixes I had playing in the Seattle Center International Fountain as Fall eased into Winter.  My excuse is that the Next Fifty, Seattle Center’s fiftieth anniversary celebration finished at the end of October and things got a bit crazy busy around that time. There’s my excuse. I ask for your forgiveness.

Now time to catch you up!  Here are some details on the last two mixes—Winterfest Mix #1 and Winterfest Mix #2.  Winterfest Mix #1 played from November 23 - December 20, 2012.  Winterfest Mix #2 started to play  December 20th and will continue through January 6th which happens to be the last day of Winterfest at Seattle Center.

Here are some of the artists that appeared in Winterfest Mix #1

The Players
Vince Guaraldi
Ralph Flanagan
Väsen
Duke Ellington & Orchestra
Andy Statman & David Grisman
Booker T. & the MGs
Abdallah Ibrahim
Munir Nurettin Beken
Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
The Chieftains
James Whetzel

Two tracks in the mix:

1) “Shabbos Waltz” by Andy Statman & David Grisman
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S42GRS/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk7

2) “God Rest Ye Funky Bhangra (Sarod & Beats)” by (yours truly) James Whetzel
http://jameswhetzel.bandcamp.com/track/god-rest-ye-funky-bhangra-sarod-beats


Winterfest Mix #2

Duke Ellington & Orchestra
Chip Mergott
Evan Johns and his H-Bombs
Vince Guaraldi
James Whetzel
Claude Thornhill
Booker T. & the MGs
Flairck
Mexicani Marimba Band
Ronn McFarlane
Booker T. & the MGs
Maggie Sansone
James Whetzel

Here are links to two tracks, plus one sizzling hot tip:

1) “Little Cajun Drummer Boy” by Evan Johns and his H-Bombs
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/please-mr.-santa-claus/id580565802

2) “Auld Lang Syne” by (yours truly) James Whetzel
http://jameswhetzel.bandcamp.com/track/auld-lang-syne-sarod-beats

And here’s the sizzling hot tip. In my humble opinion Booker T. and the MGs’s “In the Christmas Spirit” is one of the best Holiday/Christmas albums of all time. And extra bonus—it’s instrumental. So go get it!  It’s got so many good tracks you might as well get it on CD, then you’ll be ready for next year:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Christmas-Spirit-Booker-MGs/dp/B0000034CL

Alright, best musical wishes for 2013!

James