Mixtape: Roger Riddle - "Music from the Juke Joint 2.0"

In May I DJed a party that might have saved my DJ soul.

I've been DJing for about 15 years now, and it gets harder and harder to keep doing it.

Now, everyone is a DJ. Thanks to streaming, everyone has a huge music collection. Digital DJing has it's advantages, but the downside is everyone thinks they're a DJ. People can hear their favorite song any time they want, so why should it be any different in the club?

People make requests and they are incredibly rude. No one wants to hear a song - no matter how good it is - if they've never heard it before. Play it, an everyone walks off the dance floor.

For years I DJed in a place where the people who would most enjoy my events either didn't come to them, or if they did, they all went ad sat in the patio outside and smoked smoked cigarettes for 3 hours before they came in to party for the last hour.

Music has changed so much that stuff I am really into seems irrelevant. I never dig deep into my collection. And I began to wonder if all my years of digging for music was best served only playing for myself. 

I'm doing all this complaining to say - In May I DJed an event in Akron, Ohio called the Juke Joint 2.0. It was put together by my friend Eriq Troi. It featured DJ Vinnie G and myself.

It was the absolute opposite of everything that I just said was wrong with my prior DJing experiences. It was such a breath of fresh air - and much needed too. Prior to playing this event I had been telling my girlfriend that I wanted to quit DJing live shows because I wasn't enjoying them anymore. 

I put together this great set of music to pull from at the Juke Joint, and when my time came to go on, people danced and sang from beginning to end. It was amazing. People danced til they were soaked in sweat, and sang until their voice was hoarse. 

This mix is a selection of songs that I played from that night. I hope you enjoy.

Track list after the jump.

Be Thankful For What You Got (FKJ Remix) by William De Vaughn
Slave - Watching You by Slave
Inside Out by Odyssey
Rock Creek Park by Blackbyrds
Jam on it (Main Mix) by Mos Def
Let The Beat Hit 'Em by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Unknown by Unknown
Saturdays by De La Soul
Golden (Kaytranada's Life Extended Living Edition) by Jill Scott
Stronger Than Pride (Karizma K2 Mix) by Sade
Everybody Everybody by Black Box
Big Fun (Original 12'' Mix) by Inner City
100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters
Optimistic (Original) by Zepherin Saint, Ann Nesby, G3
I Can't Kick This Feeling When It Hits [Explicit] by Moodymann
Looking For The Perfect Beat (12" Vocal Version) (Remastered) by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force
I Didn't Mean To Turn You On by Cherrelle
A.I.E. (Cobblestone Jazz Remix) by Soil & "Pimp" Sessions
Elevator (Going Up) (Louie Veg by Louie Vega, Monique Bingham
My Life Is A Minimal Circle (Original Mix) by Rick Wilhite
Haven't You Heard (Joey Negro Extended Disco Mix) by Patrice Rushen
It's Tricky by Run-D.M.C.
Push It by Salt 'N' Pepa
The Tears Of A Clown by Smokey Robinson
Momma Say Bull Shit (rmx) by Rod Lee
Ensemble by Sinclair
Lions Of Judah (Four Tet Re-Edit) by Emanative & Ahmed Abdullah

Mixtape: Roger Riddle - "Tuning In"

I've been "Tuning In" to a lot of good new music lately. I share what I recently discovered with my newest mix.

This mix came about because I have not been able to spot playing Katranada's "Lite Spots", Jarreau Vandal's "Small Talk", and Prequel's "Nothing Better".

I guess you can call these songs house music, but they really blur the lines between a lot of different styles.

So as I am listening to them over and over again over the past couple of months, I have been collecting songs that I think will sound good around them. Some were old favorites of mine - Trus'me's "W.A.R." and House of Gypsies' "Sume Sigh Say" but most were new. There is a lot of good new music out there right now and it just keeps coming.

Then just as I thought I had all I needed to finally put together a decent mix, I hear something I knew about but had slept on. Emanative's cover of Sun Ra's "Love In Outer Space". It came on in my headphones and I knew right then that I had to include it - even if it wasn't really a house song.

This song was part of an album called The Light Years of Darkness that was recorded and released as a fundraiser for the Steve Reid Foundation - an organization which aims to help people working in music who are in crisis. Killer album for a great cause. Download it.

And because of that Emanative song, I was finally able to play that massive Cut Chemist tune at the very end of the mix that has never fit anywhere else.

Listen, share, and enjoy. Tracklist after the jump.



Trus’me - W.A.R.
Moodymann - I Got Werk
Kraak & Smaak - Way Back Home Feat. Ivar
Reverendos Of Soul, Danny Losito, Micky More, Andy Tee - Moon Rising (Micky More & Andy Tee Mix)
Re-Tide - Revolution Is Here (Original Mix)
KAYTRANADA - Lite Spots
Joy Jones, Osunlade - Over (Osunlade Remix)
Marcel Lune - Sketches (Original Mix)
DJ Gregory - Block Party
Eli Escobar, Steven Klavier - Back 2 Luv
Soul Vision, Dario D'Attis - Don't Stop (Dario D'attis Remix)
Mad Villains, Aisha Zoe - Senses feat. Aisha Zoe (Extended Mix)
Jarreau Vandal - Small Talk
Reckonwrong - Getting Warmer (Hot Mix)
Seven Davis Jr - Open Up(Remix)
Kort, FaMEnotMoney, Elementary - That's Why (Original Mix)
Prequel - Nothing Better
House Of Gypsies - Sume Sigh Say (MAW Remix)
Emanative - Love In Outer Space (feat' Ahmed Abdullah)
Cut Chemist - Adidas to Addis

Mixtape: Roger Riddle - Tomorrow's Funk Today

Tomorrow's Funk Today 

Futuristic sounding music from the past. You don't have to wait for the future to come to hear it. I am giving it to you live and direct right now.

I want you all to know that I don't like Doctor Who.

Anyway, this is fun stuff. Remixes of songs you love done in funky futuristic ways, and songs you may have never heard done in the same future funk style.

Anyway, I play some tunes I dig. I share them with you. I hope you like them. Blah blah blah. You aren't interested in what I have to say, you just want to listen to the music. So with out any more delay, hit play.

The track list is after the jump.

Tomorrow's Funk Today by Roger Riddle on Mixcloud

Daniel Crawford - Rock With You (Dance Remix) 
Petula Clark - I'M NOT IN LOVE (LUXXURY EDIT)
William De Vaughn - Be Thankful For What You Got (FKJ Remix)
Amp Fiddler - Hold On ( Daniel Crawford remix)
Jazzanova - Another New Day
The Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Death of a Star (Supernova)
Stevie Wonder - Superstition (OPOLOPO Remix)
D'Angelo - Spanish Joint (Miguel Macedo Soulful Mix)
Womack & Womack - Conscious Of My Conscience (MRN Remix)
Crusaders Feat. Randy Crawford - - Street Life (OPOLOPO Rebounce)
Plant Life - Stardancer
Funkadelic - Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You (Louie Vega Remix)
Jamiroquai - Little L
Jacob Collier - Don't You Worry Bout A Thing (Scott C's GOODS Touch Up)
John Arnold - 1,2,3,4 (feat Paul Randolph)

Mixtape: Roger Riddle - The Conversation Piece

I had laid out the tracks for this mix earlier in the week after listening to about two weeks worth of house music. However, I had too much other stuff to do to finish the mix without feeling guilty. Then in the course of my dealings, I suddenly found myself in three separate conversations about house music over the course of the week. The last one - with El-Prezidente of The Mighty Soul Night - was a pretty intense conversation about the state of house in Akron as compared to Cleveland and then Northeast Ohio, compared to Chicago, Detroit, and New York.

While the scene in Akron and Cleveland may not be as strong as it is in those other big cities, people in this area love house music. I felt even more at home here in Akron. I came home, turned on the turntables, and hit record. Here it is. I hope you enjoy!
(#ProTip: If you don't listen until the last song, you are playing yourself short. That last song is fire!)

Track list after the jump.

The Conversation Piece by Roger Riddle on Mixcloud

Zepherin Saint, Ann Nesby, G3 - Optimistic (Original)
Alejandro Paz - El House
The Maghreban - Wonder Woman
Shuya Okino - Give Your Love A Chance (Replayed By Root Soul - Dimitri From Paris Disco Edit)
DJ Cam, Pablo Valentino - Summer in Paris (feat. Anggun) (Pablo Valentino Remix)
Tracy Hamlin, Dj Spen, Thommy Davis - MacArthur Park (Dj Spen & Thommy Davis Perishable Peak Mix)
Todd Terje - Delorean Dynamite (Disco Mix)
David Anthony, Beverlei Brown - I Don't Know Why (Manoo Remix)
House Of Funk, Oliver Night, DJ Spinna - You Got To (DJ Spinna Vox Remix)
Adesse Versions - The Light
Louie Vega, Monique Bingham - Elevator (Going Up) (Louie Veg
Breakbot - You Should Know (feat. Ruckazoid) [Le Family Club Remix]
DJ Sneak - The Hot Shit
Gerideau, Joey Negro - Bring It Back To Love (Joey Negro Remastered Real Garage Remix)
Seven Davis Jr - One
Hapkido - Break The System (Original Mix)
Moodymann - 9 Nites 2 Nowhere
Julio Bashmore - Umuntu (feat. Okmalumkoolkat)