Boston Is a Island, Seen?

s/o thephoenix (rip) for the img My recent post involving a Boston sound session focused on the use of the zunguzung meme, so I didn’t discuss some of the other interesting and awesome things about the recording — and how I found it. I’ve been turning my attention back to the story of reggae in […]

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Tales of the Tape(s)

Among other recent publications, I’m especially happy to share a paper I co-wrote last year with my ol’ friend and colleague, Pacey Foster. As some of you surely know, Pace has been working for several years to collect, curate, and explicate a very special cassette archive documenting the early Boston rap scene. (Check these articles […]

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Zunguzungunguzung-again

I recently added a few “new” instances of ye olde zunguzung meme to the list, each helping to tease at this knotty tapestry we’ve been weaving. First, thanks to the attentive ears of NYC-based Puerto Rican electronic act Balún, we discover that PR-based Nuyorican reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen once wove a zunguzung allusion rather seamfully […]

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Jampacked Picó

Picó Picante is always a nice nice time, but this Friday they’ve really stacked the decks — All these DJs are stellar and longtime friends & colleagues, and among other things, Jubilee has a poppin new EP out on Mixpak Records, and Dev/Null just posted a helluva 2 hour session devoted to atmospheric jungle from […]

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Picó’clock

Once again it’s that time! I’ll be guesting at Boston’s Best Dance Night™, Picó Picante, this Friday– Picó is always the ideal occasion to break out treacly dancehall pop covers, classic reggaeton, salsa remixes, and azonto jams, among others, so, yeah, pretty much always ready for that. And readers of W&W need no intro to […]

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Urb & Beach Boyz

This Friday, at the very #rare time of 5pm and at a rather lovely spot, I’m psyched to be opening for two of my favorite (erstwhile) local talents: Rizzla DJ & False Witness, the two from the #KUNQ crew who cooked up the time-warped, globally-warmed, zombie beach party of Isla Toxico — While we won’t […]

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Owed to Picó Picante

Tonight is the 2 year anniversary of Picó Picante, one of the shining lights of Boston’s club scene, and something I’ve been grateful to be close to — The pics of me at Picó over the years attest to the special vibes of the place (even when I’m seemingly giving the stankface to someone making […]

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Panel People, Can Y’all Get Funky?

For anyone who missed our panel last week and would like to check out our conversation, I’m happy to report that it’s been archived here. But here’s an embed for your viewing ease — Video streaming by Ustream Thanks again to my eloquent interlocutors, all of whom had colorful stories & trenchant perspectives to share, […]

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Let’s Get CVLT, Let’s Get TGTHR

Got two great gigs in the next couple weeks that I want to make a little bit of a big deal about! First up, next Monday (May 6) at Middlesex, I’m excited to take a turn as a guest at CVLT, Cambridge / Boston’s semimonthly source for “Electronic Death Music” (as they put it) — […]

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Boston Mashacre

On the 243rd anniversary of the Boston Massacre (bigup Crispus Attucks!), I’m reposting the merely titular-pun-related mix of Boston-associated songs I cooked up for the Somerville Art Council back in 2005. This is also (barely) germane to the day given the currently flaring debate over Massachusetts’ official rock song. (As they say around here, I […]

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Gone for November

What a weekend on the way! First, this Friday, I’ll be honored & pleasured to drop some gems at the Good Life (downstairs to boot!) for an absurd iteration of Picó Picante, my favorite local dance party. (And apparently Boston’s too!) In addition to resident DJs, Pajaritos and Oxycontinental, I’ll be joining downstairs headliners Uhuru […]

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Toneburst Reunion!

Allow me to remind that next WEDNESDAY, July 25, Beat Research will play host, in the Good Life‘s booming basement, to a full-blown reunion of Boston’s legendary Toneburst Collective. Bubbling up from Boston’s underground during the late 1990s, Toneburst was a loose-knit crew of DJs, electronic musicians, and video and installation artists, who together produced […]

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Good Giggity! (Early Summer Edition)

Summer vibes really on lock all a sudden, eh? Boston tropical and ting! (In fact, the main reason I’m finally getting around to writing this post — best intentions notwithstanding — is on account of IT IS TOO HOT TO SLEEP.) The dog daze arrived just in time, tho, for I’m delighted to report that […]

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Summer of Beat Research

Ok, Boston Massive, the time has come! Tonight we kick off our new monthly edition of Beat Research with none other than NYC’s DJ Rekha! What (more) can we say? Flack & I have been wanting to get Rekha up here for ages; we’ve both had the pleasure to open for her at local shows; […]

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Beat Research REEEEEBOOOOOOOT

Contrary to former reports, we will not have DJ Rekha at Beat Research tonight. Indeed, we will not be holding Beat Research at all this evening. Our final Tuesday night session will happen next week, May 8, when Tony “DJ” Flack and his students from MassArt present “Beat Research at Beat Research” — that is, […]

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Delay Is the Way

We’ve got the one DJ Delay — aka Brian May, aka Beam Up, aka Sonical — in the house at Beat Research tomorrow night. I’ve been into his dub-drenched beats for a minute now, linking to one project (of gritty, bassy Balkan remixes) way back when, e.g. — After Junior Rodigan’s stunningly sweet set last […]

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Rocksteady to Lit City

If you happened to have slept on either of these two recent and utterly epic Beat Research sessions, I’m happy to report that both DJ Rashad’s blistering juke set and Junior Rodigan’s masterful tour of Studio One’s rocksteady resonance are now online and listenable & what-not. Enjoy!

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Junior Rodigan @ Beat Research

It’s finally time, Boston Mass(ive): tonight, Tuesday April 17, we’ve got the city’s undisputed #1 reggae selector, the mighty Junior Rodigan, in the house at Beat Research! We’ve been wanting to have Junior over for a long time now, and though we’d welcome any set from him, we’ve taken the special occasion to ask him […]

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The Origin Story Is Genius Tho…

There’s an archived video of the panel I moderated last week during the Together fest. It begins with a six minute opening from me, then I introduce my esteemed co-panelists — Boima, Poirier, Ripley, Max, and Jesse — and we finally REALLY get into the convo about 10 minutes in. From there it’s a solid […]

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