As you may know, this month marks the 10th anniversary of the Urban Landscapes Radioshow. As others I know have pointed out, it’s also my birthday this month as well. One of the former DJ’s of KCPR, Cal Poly State University’s radio station, requested to interview me. I was flattered and accepted his request.

After responding to his questions last week, the interview has now been posted on the Clubninetyone blog, a dance music blog fronted by all former KCPR DJ’s (except for yours truly, who’s still there).

Have a read if you wish, and feel free to share. Thanks to Loco for the opportunity; peace.

I don’t have a great deal of time at the moment, cuz I am about to head out to see Cloverfield. Yeah, I got sucked up in the hype since the very first teaser hit the screen and the net last summer. I can’t wait!

I’d like to introduce to you a new collaborator to the Urban Landscapes site; he’s Rocky Rococo, a DJ and fellow music fiend from the Bay Area of California. I’ve known him fleetingly since the days of the Acid Jazz mailing list back in the late 90’s, but it’s only been within the last few years that we’ve grown to known each other very well. His knowledge of music is extremely keen, and he’ll be the first to tell you that he has a voracious appetite for music in our special scene. Somehow, he’s able to splurge on vinyl after vinyl, and even go for choice albums and the like.

Having been involved with radio station KFJC, the community station of Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, he’s done fill-ins for the weekly show Rucker Park. He has also contributed to XLR8R a few years back.

I’m proud to say that there’s going to be more of Rocky Rococo here, as he’s graciously accepted my invitation to contribute to the Urban Landscapes site. He’ll share with us favorite music of new and old, music news, commentary and more. I feel that his insight will bring a fresh perspective, and add food for thought to this place.

Please extend a welcome to Rocky Rococo. Send him an email and make him feel at home.

I’m currently in recovery mode today, so this week’s edition of the show will have to pass. The plan is for the show to resume next week.

I have bunches of great music and several guest mixes on tap, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you.

I didn’t forget the comprehensive year-end list, and my monthly chart is running late but is coming as well. More content on the show’s blog/site is also on the way.

Have a good weekend!

When I read in the online edition of the Los Angeles Times a few days ago that the biggest storm system since 2005 was about to enter California, I was a bit concerned about whether or not the weather was going to keep me from attending the party for my radioshow. I thought, “How the hell are things gonna be if I don’t show up for my own party?” In the end, I was more concerned about getting through the drive than I was about my resolve to get there.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only person with similar resolve.

For that, it made me all the more impressed by people who traveled near and far to attend the Urban Landscapes 10th Anniversary Party at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown L.A. Having left San Luis Obispo at 4pm. Friday afternoon, it wasn’t long before darkness settled in. The rain had made itself present throughout most of the day, and during the drive it was raining in sheets. The wind also did its thing, seemingly pushing itself against my car. I had to drive steady, and needed to kill the music so that I could focus on the 200-mile drive to L.A. I had to change plans a bit, but I made it to the venue at around 8:30pm–a half-hour before the event’s scheduled start time.

That’s my story. Others have had their stories of driving in the weather too. One person drove down from Santa Cruz (near the Bay Area) just to meet me and attend the event; several KCPR DJ’s came through to join us, quite a number of them arriving directly from San Luis Obispo (that deserves major props); a couple of DJ friends arrived from San Luis Obispo too, but not before, one of them mentioned, passing at least three overturned vehicles on the way down. For all of those who braved the drive, I wholeheartedly salute and respect both your resolve and your presence.

I also must give respect to the party’s performers for coming through: the band Forward Motion; the DJ’s…Foniks, Mawkus (showin’ off his new found hip-hop skillz), Don Guapo (soulful house forever), Plan 9, and our headliner Jeremy Sole (a very down-to-earth person for someone who’s earned major respect in L.A.).

Big ups to producer Yosaku for attending as well. He’s a really cool person to chat with, and I’ll drop some music from him on the next show.

I want to extend my thanks to everyone else…from the people who took time out of their Friday night to brave the weather and join us, to the cool staff of the Mountain Bar who helped us out when the need arises.

Finally, I need to give major respect to the man who’s worked tirelessly to make the event happen: the resident DJ/planning of the Voodoo Lounge DJ Abstract Butta Fingas. The event wouldn’t have been possible without both the diligence and tenacity to bring everything and everyone together.

And in case you’re wondering, I passed on spinning that night. We’ve started a half-hour late, and hip-hop had already kicked in. My slower tempoed records wouldn’t have stood a chance at that juncture, and I was cool with that. For those of you that were hoping to see me in action, my apologies. You’ll have your chance in due time, y’all.

Expect a few more events to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary in the near future. Details coming soon.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Greets Everyone:
First, Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that 2007 was a good year for you, and may 2008 become your best year ever.

Next, apologies for the lack of updates. I’ve been extremely busy these last few weeks, and at the same time I needed to take some breaks to relax, unwind, reflect, and plan for the year ahead. I’m planning on it being my best year, and I feel it will be. Meanwhile, I have loads of info to share with you (videos, news, music, etc.) that I will be posting in the coming weeks. Also, look for my final recommendations of The Most Recommended Music of 2007, to be posted this month.

Last night’s show marked its 10th anniversary. Up until the last minute, I had to decide how I was going to handle the sort of music that I wanted to play. I’ve resolved myself on that issue, and that is that you will get a few 10th anniversary specials this year. Last night, I decided to focus on the albums that I’d consider classics of the show. Many of them are the usual suspects; others, were suprises. I already know that I’ll have to do another “albums” show because it’s impossible to fit them all in a special three-hour broadcast. In fact, the show ran about 3 hours, 40 minutes long. What I’m planning to do is to split the show in two to make it easier for you to digest the music. Quite a bit of focus has been on music from 1995-2000, with at least one album going all the way back to 1991, and another was from 2006. Otherwise, the choices were wide-ranging, and it felt really good to go to the wayback machine to play the tunes from choice albums that have held up well.

Other specials will focus on choice compilations, singles/EP’s, and maybe a “songs” show to pinpoint those specific tunes. We’ll see as the year moves forward.

I’m really looking forward to the big night–the show’s 10th anniversary celebration. It’s been several months in the making, and the lineup looks solid. We have eight DJ’s and a live band taking over two floors. The Mountain Bar is L.A.’s Chinatown is where all the craziness will take place. More on the event’s aftermath in a future post, but I hope you’ll be able to join me if you’re close and local.

It’s about time for me to get ready. Apparently, a strong storm is going to be following me on the long drive down to Los Angeles. Keep listening to the show, tell your friends, and all the best for your 2008. Peace.

A few months ago, Gert Keunen, aka Briskey, alerted me to a video of his collaborative live project known as the Briskey Big Band, following up on the release of said album. It wasn’t long afterwards that I’ve watched it, and I gotta say that it was quite the video. I thought it would be relatively short, but it ended up being practically a full-on concert (without the long waits in between).

Since then, I been meaning to post about the video because I thought that more people would have the opportunity to enjoy it. I’ve slacked off a bit, but now it’s happening here.

I asked Briskey himself to share a few words, and these are his…

• Briskey is my musical alter ego and a way to put out my personal musical creativity.
• The combination of electronics and live instruments with some jazz flavour was always the starting point.
• Since 2002 I released two albums, 4 maxi’s and set up a 6-people live band with which we played at all mayor venues in Belgium and festivals in Holland, Italy and France.
• As I’m sampling lots of old big band brass, I got the crazy idea to set up a real big band myself. Luckely some important stage in Belgium liked the idea, so this could be realised.
• In the future I will still do some big band gigs, besides writing new material for the ‘normal’ briskey and - hopefully - write a soundtrack for a film…

There you have it. The video was recorded live at the AB in Brussels, Belgium. Watch it and enjoy! And big ups to Briskey for his words and his blessings for me to pass it forward.

Watch the Video!