RadioMilwaukee’s Soundboard

Another week here at 88Nine and with a Monday, that means Sound Travels, which of course is enjoying a bit more time time on your airwaves here at 88Nine. Now on Monday and Wednesday to go with its regular spot on Friday’s. This week, with Valentines Day right around the corner, I was thinking of ways that I might get the themes we normally associate with the day into the Sound Travels segment.

The thing is, my first idea, which was to play some love laden music from all over the globe, play it and talk about it. In my research however it is quite apparent that while the world celebrates love like we do on V-Day, they do it at some very different times of the year…so it didn’t really make sense… So with a question I re-examined the idea of love, which comes from the heart and music…and recalled something I had once heard about the drum representing the rhythm of the heart and boom… like a djembe, the idea that spoke to me was to play some real percussion, or rather music whose focus was and is the beat. Not really love songs then, but rather an invigorating set of percussion heavy music to get you going. The drum is often referred to as a primal instrument because it can connect your heart and its heat to the rhythm of the beat. The bigger the drum, the more you move…make it to your feet and dance to these beats.

It’s what I played today, here’s a refresher if you missed the set, and more details are farther on…

Sound Travels Monday: Heavy Drums – Rhythm and Love

1. Ko-Thi : “Drum Talk”…something of a find here at the start of today’s set, Milwaukee’s own James (pron. Yah-maize) Finlayson with Milwaukee’s premier Afro-dance-drum ensemble. Here I have them with an aptly titled cut from their only album(that I know of). James continues to play with Ko-Thi, and with another great band here in Milwaukee, One Drum…if you hear about one of their shows…check it out.

2. Mambo Percussions : “Rhythmotion I”… A dusty little gem here from the catalogue of the excellent French label Comet Records. All drums and a nice pace on this one. You can find it on a heady little comp called Racubah …

3. Antibalas : “Che Che Cole Makossa #3″ This one was in my record crate for like two years straight and got played at nearly every one of my gigs during that time. Almost burned myself on it…almost. A scorcher is what it is after all and off of the same Daptones label that has nurtured artists like Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings as well as the Budos Band…caliente.

4. Tino’s Breaks : “Latin Persuasion” …unusual to hear breaks on the radio, but if there is anyone who sounds good repeating the beat its Tino, who makes sure DJ’s keep it real!…real hot that is, every breaks comp he’s put out is worth the price, and remind me that all you need to move is rhythm.

5.  Mr. Hermano : “Como Um Sol”…a big-beat Brazilian jam that starts spooky and ends mysterious. In between, Mr. Hermano filters the African djembe through the lens of Brazil and a jam is what these beats do. Just doing my part to invoke that sunshine for tomorrow.

Tune in to this Wednesday’s Sound Travels for a ‘nother dose of the drum as we get into so newer material and try to quicken your purse with more deep grooves. And, if you are inspired and have an idea or a song request for Sound Travels write ‘em here…