Part of the Daptone family and featuring members from their esteemed groups, The Budos Band plays a funky instrumental brand of African inspired psychedelic spooky funk. As you’d expect from Daptone, their sound is meant to move and groove and they’ll be doing just that here in Los Angeles this Friday at the Echoplex where they’ll be performing live. If you’d like to go courtesy of Melting Pot, e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com by 12noon Thursday (as in Tomorrow!) for a chance to win tickets!

Here’s a rather slick Spaghetti Western style music video for their song “Unbroken, Unshaven” that gives you a sense of their style and what you’re in for on Friday night!

Baloji feat. Blitz the Ambassador, Joya Mooi & Freddy Massamba – Indépendance Cha-Cha (Remix)

Intrepid listeners may recall me raving about this album from Congolese singer/MC Baloji last year. It was released overseas in 2010, but it’s FINALLY getting a stateside release this year, with different packaging and a few remixes. Seems like there’s a good chance there will be additional remixes to follow later in the year, but for now, this VERY different version of “Independence Cha-Cha” will tide us over until we get some proper new music from one of the most exciting African artists in quite some time.

…Just so you can see exactly how different this remix is, here’s a smashingly good video for the original, also found on this album:

Art Don’t Sleep strikes again with the latest in their Homage series, this time with a monster bill featuring Venice Dawn and William Hart of the Delfonics starting off the night, the legendary DJ Spinna on the decks and the mighty Hypnotic Brass Ensemble with Kelan Phil Cohran, all performing live at Exchange LA this Thursday, Feb. 23rd! Local cats will be spinning on this night too, including Expo, Rani D, Anthony Valadez and Seano. Be sure to peep Expo’s exceptional HBE mix right here. This is NOT a night you want to miss…you can go courtesy of Melting Pot if you win these tickets, make sure to e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com before 12noon on Wednesday to get your chance to win!!!

Here’s a teaser of HBE with Phil Cohran, “Black Boy” gives us a sense of what the upcoming collaboration between father and sons will sound like:

“War” remains my favorite track from Hypnotic, still one of the best things I’ve heard in the 21st century:

Here’s the first video from Something About April, for “Lovely Lady” featuring Dennis Coffey on guitar, and surely a bit of what to expect when William Hart of the Delfonics performs with Venice Dawn:

Here’s a little tour of DJ Spinna’s studio and record collection from the man himself:

And a little taste of his work on the 1s and 2s:

Ray Barretto – Cocinando

All week long my wife and I have been listening to these classic recordings from the Fania All Stars. Originally released on two separate “Live At the Cheetah” LPs, the music is collected together along with the DVD of the film Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa). I’d seen bits and pieces of the film over the years, but never got a chance to see the whole thing until this set arrived just ahead of our fundraiser. It’s a really fascinating document, less a concert movie than almost stream of consciousness film-making. Though the performances are what draw you in, it’s the scenes on the streets of New York that stick with you, whether it’s the street party featuring Larry Harlow’s Orchestra, Ray Barretto yelling out “Tamarindo” as he gets a tasty treat and even serves some up, A santeria ritual, or just regular folk singing and dancing with mountains of style. Definitely one of the highlights of my current fundraiser package. On this 40th Anniversary edition they include a couple of bonus tracks, including Ray Barretto’s “Cocinando” the mid-tempo latin groover that starts off the film…speaking of which, if you’ve never seen the film, here’s a taste of how everything begins:

A true soul legend will grace us here in LA on Saturday, February 11th. Syl Johnson will be dropping into Funky Sole at the Echo to perform backed up by the mighty Breakestra, sure to be a legendary night you won’t want to miss. If you want a chance to attend courtesy of Melting Pot, make sure to send an e-mail by 12Noon this Friday to michael[at]meltingpotblog.com!!! By the way, just in case you missed it, you should definitely check out Oliver Wang’s recent interview with Syl on his podcast “The Sidebar.”

Syl Johnson – Different Strokes

Syl Johnson – Is It Because I’m Black?

Syl Johnson – The Love You Left Behind

And just in case you needed a reminder on just how funky Breakestra can get (and how funky, Funky Sole, actually is) here you go:

Ana Tijoux – Quizas

La Bala is the new album from Ana Tijoux who made a nice splash with her prior record, one of my faves from a couple years back 1977. This new album builds on all the promise in that record, broadening the variety of sounds and samples that Ana flows and sings over. At times the beat and flow are forceful, almost martial in their character, (particularly on the first couple of tracks, “La Bala” and “Shock”) while at other times there is a greater sense of intimacy and depth of emotion on display (such as on “Mi Mitad,” “Quizas” or “Sacar La Voz”). The range that Tijoux displays is something that is unfortunately far too rare in American Hip-Hop. “Quizas” is my favorite track, mixing Ana’s spanish flow about the possibilities of reconnection with an old friend over a mellow beat anchored by piano that picks up into almost Mizell Bros. territory when the English chorus comes in. La Bala is a truly exceptional album from one of the best MCs making music right now, definitely an early fave for 2012.