June, Gay Pride Month, may be long over, but that doesn’t mean that you have to put an expiration date on your pride. Logic Pride Vol. 4 (Logic), the latest compilation from the folks at Logic helps you extend that fresh pride feeling into August and beyond. DJ Keana has put together a “rainbow” friendly continuous mix, including Love Inc.’s “Here Comes The Sunshine” and Funkstar DeLuxe vs. Bob Marley’s “Rainbow Country.” Keana also made some interesting choices in the dance remakes of classic tunes category by including Fable’s dance reinvention of the Bill Withers ballad “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Etta James’s interpretation of The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” and Lucrezia’s version of Madonna’s “Live To Tell,” that is inspirational and motivational.
White dude with dreadlocks alert. Midwestern-born Colorado-transplant DJ Harry combines his love for house music and for the band The String Cheese Incident to come up with something akin to what the Disco Biscuits do on The String Cheese Remix Project (Instinct/Scifidelity). As the latest heirs apparent to the dented and tarnished Grateful Dead crown, jam-band of the moment The String Cheese Incident are, in DJ Harry’s words a “finely tuned psychedelic groove machine.” With the aid of Harry’s sampling and turntable skills, The String Cheese Incident has the potential to reach even the circuit partygoers with their funky flourishes and use of real instrumentation, including Karl Denson on saxophone on the track “MLT.” After all, weren’t Grateful Dead concerts the original raves?
“Always bumpin’ the funk,” Subliminal Sessions One: Mixed by Erick Morillo (Subliminal), a double disc mix set by Erick Morillo testifies to the necessity of house music. You don’t believe me? Just see if you don’t find “Night @ The Black” by Harry “Choo Choo” Romero, “Forever” by Sandy River & John ‘DNR’ Alvarez, the Latin house of “Do What You Want To Do” by New Yorker Soul, the Euro-retro of Bel Amour’s song of the same name, and the freaky but fun “Last Dance (And I Come Over) ” by Superfunk, all from disc one positively irresistible. If not, be gone before someone drops a house on you too. The rest of us will move on to disc two, and house heavy tracks such as “Keep Control” by Sono, “Mr. Jingles” by Eric Prydz, Stylus Trouble’s “Sputnik,” Jaimy & Kenny D.’s “Keep On Touchin’ Me,” and Harrison Crump’s “Get Boogie.”