Refracting Sound Mixtape Volume 2

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In collaboration with Friday Night Record Club, Refracting Sound celebrated it’s two year anniversary with a curated a three hour music set on Friday, April 18th. What follows is the link and notes for said music set.

Enjoy!!

1. Public Enemy “Lost At Birth” 1991 – Public Enemy are one of the best hip hop groups of all time. With Chuck D’s authoritative delivery and Flavor Flav’s personality and comic relief, they literally moved mountains with their music and challenged things every step of the way. “Apocalypse ‘91” isn’t widely considered to be their best album, but this opener is undeniable.
2. Public Enemy “1 Million Bottlebags” 1991 – Another song off “Apocalypse ‘91”, I love the sentiment questioning alcohol in general and the marketing to Black communities.
3. EPMD “So Watcha Sayin’” 1989 – Erick and Parrish Making Dollars are one of the greatest hip hop duos ever, effortlessly bouncing rhymes back and forth. This is one of their best songs, just straight fun.
4. James Brown “Say it Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud) Part 1” 1968 – It’s James Brown! You know this song and if you don’t, you lose 50 points.
5. Beatnigs “Malcolm X” 1988 – Late 80s Bay Area Black experimental/industrial band. They recorded one album then kinda reformed/regrouped as the more straightforward and hip-hoppy Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.
6. Gary Byrd “Are You Really Ready for Black Power?” 1970 – I just found out about this artist and song from a recent Questlove book. Yes, it might sound a little obvious, but for 1970, this is kinda gold.
7. Funkadelic “Standing on the Verge of Getting It On” 1974 - I remember going record shopping as a teenager and seeing records with a bunch of Black people dressed as astronauts, babies, etc. and wondering what that was all about. Little did I know that the music inside was way better than whatever I was listening to. This is a great example of it.
8. Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few “The Time is Now” 2024 – Chicago/NY-based jazz quartet, saxophonist Isaiah Collier is 27 years old and already has several formidable albums to his name. This is off their most recent one. I just saw them a couple months ago and they blew doors.
9. 5 Style “Outta Space Canoe Race” 1995 -5 Style was a Chicago-based quartet who put several singles and two albums out on Seattle’s Sub Pop Records. They broke the Sub Pop mold, playing (ahem..) “jammy”, Meters-ish grooves. Their first album (which is great!) went straight to the discount bins because their name wasn’t “Nirvana” or “Soundgarden”, their label mates. This is a great representative cut.
10. Laughing Hyenas “That Girl” 1987 – Detroit’s Laughing Hyenas formed out of/after the 80s hardcore punk scene, infusing more blues and early punk influences into their sound. They were one of the best/most explosive bands I’ve seen of any genre, with John Brannon’s howling vocals and Larissa Strickland’s (RIP) emotive guitar playing.
11. X “Come Back to Me” 1982 – Los Angeles’s X have been great for almost 50 years. This is a downbeat track chronicling how vocalist Exene’s sister died in a car accident on the way to see them play.
12. Damned “Wait for the Blackout” 1980 – The Damned “Black Album” is amazing and this is the showstopping opener.
13. Ramones “She’s the One” 1982 – Probably the band who “changed my life the most”. I can’t believe I didn’t include them in my first set. Either this or “Rockaway Beach” is my favorite Ramones song.
14. Clash “Spanish Bombs” 1979 – Might be my favorite Clash song of all time. Mick Jones’ vocals are clearly one of their secret weapons. Somebody uploaded this song’s isolated vocal tracks to this song to Youtube and it’s amazing.
15. Bob Dylan “George Jackson” (Acoustic Version) 1971 – I’m not a huge Dylan fan but I love the acoustic version of this song, about the murder of Black activist George Jackson.
16. Weeknd “Without a Warning” (first pressing version) 2024 – I recently figured out that I like the Weeknd. Giant R&B/Pop act, this song features amazing and expensive-sounding drum programming and the line “I wanted to be sober but I can’t afford to be boring” (I disagree strongly with the sentiment but guiltily enjoy the line).
17. Weeknd “Give Me Mercy” 2024 – Maybe the flipside to the previous song, this song is an uplifting, redemptive call to God.
18. Karina (Aespa) “Up” 2024 – Super fun solo song by a member of KPOP girl group Aespa, the beat sounds like a West Coast hip hop track.
19. Enhypen “Bills” 2023 – My daughter’s favorite (male) KPOP group, for good reason… their ratio of great songs far exceeds the average for the genre. Here’s a great song equating the loss of failed love with debt and unpaid invoices. I love the concept. This track reminds me of my daughter.
20. Giselle (Aespa) “Dopamine” 2024 – Another solo track from an Aespa member; my daughter turned me on to this one, too.
21. Carmen McRae “Coffee Time” (off soundtrack for The Subterraneans) 1960 – The Subterraneans is probably my favorite Jack Kerouac book, a brief whirlwind tale about a brief whirlwind romance set in the backdrop of the San Francisco North Beach jazz scene of the 60s. This song is on the soundtrack and captures the vibe.
22. Pharoah Sanders “The Promise” 1987 (year may be wrong) – Saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is probably my favorite jazz artist of all time, this is a fiery take of a John Coltrane song off a tribute album. Oh yeah, he played with Coltrane extensively and Coltrane is commonly thought to be “influenced by Sanders”.
23. Alkaholiks “Daaaam!” 1995 – Early 90s LA hip hop group, part of the “Likwit Crew”. Fun West Coast vibe, they played in the Bay Area a lot and put on a great, no BS show, just fun beats and rhymes.
24. Q-Tip “Gettin’ up” 2008 – Hip hop fans often talk about top 5/10/20/50 rappers of all time. Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest is rarely on anyone’s list, but he would be high up on mine. Like Gang Starr said, “It’s mostly the voice.” Qtip’s voice is so smooth and he sounds like he raps so effortlessly; this might have been his last “big hit”, off his 2008 solo album.
25. Comet is Coming “Unity” 2019 – One of my favorite groups from the last decade, improvisational dance/jazz trio from London featuring saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. This track is a little on the mellower side for them.
26. Gil Scott Heron “Pieces of a Man” 1971 – Probably my favorite musical artist of all time. Famous for his social/political commentary, this is a more emotive personal track.
27. Sons Of Kemet “Going home” 2013 – Another one of my favorite groups of the last decade or so. Two drummers, a tuba player and a saxophonist (same guy from Comet Is Coming) combine to create some of the most electrifying jazz I’ve heard recently. They sadly broke up a few years ago, this is a very early track.
28. Sun Ra “Plutonian Nights” 1959 – Jazz legend Sun Ra has literally put out hundreds of records; it’s virtually impossible to listen to or even fathom it all. I love this 4/4 exotica-tinged song.
29. Notorious B.I.G. “Sway freestyle March 1, 1997” 1997 – Live on the radio freestyle starting off with Biggie’s crewmate Lil Cease and Notorious B.I.G., who starts rapping with the line “I make your mouthpiece obese like Della Reese”, then proceeds to show why he was one of the best rappers ever. Most of this material ended up on his then-unreleased “Life After Death” album. His final words on the mic are “You’re nobody till somebody kills you”. He was shot to death 8 days after this recording.
30. Nas “Memory Lane” 1994 – Nas “Illmatic” is the one of the best rap albums ever made, with a concise ten songs. This track shows why, with the melodic, reflective track and flawless rapping.
31. Common “This Man” 2024 – Chicago’s Common has been putting out quality music for over 30 years, here’s a track from his most recent album.
32. MDC “I Remember” 1982 – When this TX/CA HC punk quartet named their band “Millions of Dead Cops”, they really weren’t trying to make friends. Very serious about their politics, their first self-titled album is a classic; this song is chilling.
33. Code Of Honor “Stolen Faith” 1982 – Another San Francisco early 80s punk band, Code of Honor were a little slower, more creative but still with the punk ethos and politics of the time.
34. Reagan Youth “New Aryans” 1983 – Classic scrappy early 80s punk from NY. No, they are not “New Aryans”…it’s an anti-Nazi song.
35. Raye “Escapism” 2023 – Raye cut her teeth as a young woman writing for Beyonce’, John Legend and more. Her dumb record label wouldn’t let her release her own music so she went independent and did it herself, releasing “My 21^st Century Blues” in 2023. It’s a great, varied R&B/pop album; this is a standout.
36. Grandmaster Flash “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” 1982 – This song was recorded live in three hours utilizing three turntables. This was released as a single at the time and reached in the 50s in the Billboard hot 100 chart.
37. Beastie Boys “Time to get Ill” 1986 – In retrospect, the Beastie Boys weren’t the “best rappers” but their personality and creativity more than made up for it. It’s hard to argue against the first four records. I love the drum programming on this track on “Licensed to Ill”.
38. Faith No More “Caffeine” 1992 – Faith No More is hella underrated. Yes, they’re “commercial” but the first two major label records are undeniable. This is a banger off “Angel Dust”.
39. Shabaka “Ital is Vital” 2022 – Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings (of the forementioned Sons of Kemet and Comet is Coming) put down his saxophone a couple years ago and picked up the flute (prior to Andre 3000…and, yes, they’re friends). This is from his first solo album, great meditative music.
40. Carmen McRae “I’m Always Drunk in San Francisco” 1968 – I don’t know much about this song, I actually came across it while compiling this set. Although I don’t advocate the action, the title is kinda funny.
41. Irma Thomas “It’s Raining” 1962 – I was turned on to this song by an ex-GF of a zillion years ago; it’s still great. I love the swaying/singsong nature of it.
42. Syl Johnson “Is It Because I’m Black?” 1969 – Syl Johnson is one of the most sampled artists in hip hop; this is one of his most famous songs.
43. Father’s Children “In Shallah” 1989 – This 80s soul outfit was called The Dreams until they got into a near fatal van accident, found Islam and changed their name to Father’s Children. Indie label Numero Group discovered the lost tapes and released them about a decade ago. I love the uplifting nature of the song.

*Gigantic thanks to Nick and Chris from Friday Night Record Club for making this happen!

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