brothers on the side…i love okra
May 7, 2008
Matt’s I Love Okra is the kind of space I would like to run if I was a little more organised and a little less technophobic. His radio shows, captured on the blogspot, are thoughfully crafted and extremely well put together. His research into music is insightful and the play-lists dig into areas of interest for any music lover. We could all learn a little from Okra, and as you know, it’s good for you too…
BACK TO BASICS
BLOG NAME:
CONTRIBUTORS:
Just me.
DATE OF FIRST POST?
12/16/2006
HOW OFTEN DO YOU POST?
Roughly once every two weeks.
WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU STOP THE BLOG?
1) A cease and desist letter. 2) If I stopped doing the radio show from which I “capture” these mixes, although I may continue on even if I did stop the show.
HYPE MACHINE OR EL.BOWS?
Neither very much, but in a pinch I would say Hype Machine.
BLOGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE
WHAT IS BEHIND YOUR BLOG NAME?
For one thing, it’s the truth. Fried okra is basically a delicacy in the southern US, and I grew up loving it. When asked my favourite food as a child, my answer was always fried okra. That hasn’t really changed. It was also my first email address and has served me well in that regard.
THE BLOG IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN?
Worrying about work.
THE BLOG IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN?
Wife and child (see him above).
A POST YOU ARE DAMN PROUD OF?
I suppose the Moodymann mixes. I have a feeling those draw about 90% of all the traffic my blog sees.
WHY MP3S, AND WHY NOW?
Well I have done this radio show for six years now. I only do it roughly every two weeks at this point. (Sidenote: I purposefully don’t really make it obvious the name of the station where I do the show because of RIAA paranoia. It’s a lovely free-format college radio station, and I would hate to see the entire operation punished because I chose to share some poorly mixed shows I did there.) I have always recorded my shows just to re-listen to see how things went and as little mixtape time markers to see where I was at a given point in time. Once I finally figured out how to capture them digitally about three years ago, I gradually came around to the idea of posting some of them.
WHAT BAND OR PRODUCER IS REALLY DOING IT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW?
I’m going to cheat by saying there are the standbys who never seem to disappoint and are always really doing it for me: Theo Parrish, Moodymann/KDJ, Omar-S, Carl Craig, most Henrik Schwarz, Ame, newer (to me) guys like Patrice Scott, Keith Worthy,… However, to pick out one perhaps less obvious choice, I have to say that The Mole seems to get better with each new release. I first heard him on the Motorsoul Vol 1 compilation on Philpot and liked what I heard, but it wasn’t until the two 12”s he released on Wagon Repair in 2006 that he really caught my ear. He released a great 12” on Musique Risquee last year and has a new one on Wagon Repair this year (with an album to come), and the quality seems to be steadily increasing.
OTHER THAN LIKING THEIR TRACK WHAT WOULD A BAND OR LABEL HAVE TO GIVE YOU TO MAKE YOU POST ON THEM?
I just have to like the music.
IF YOU COULD GET ANY WRITER OR MUSIC EVENT EXCLUSIVE FOR YOUR BLOG, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I would take an exclusive Theo mix or KDJ sending me a promo of Freeki MF.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
3 BLOGS THAT YOU RECOMMEND / INSPIRED YOU TO START:
I’m going to cheat again by saying there are the standbys, most of which are linked on the right under ILL COMMUNICATION. Honestly. So I’ll list three that I really enjoy that aren’t there.
Great house/techno/etc.:
Deep Movements
Serious boogie excellence:
Beat Electric
For something a little different:
Destination Out
3 DESERT ISLAND BOOKS:
I won’t pretend to be able to answer this. Sadly, I haven’t read actual books regularly in about 10 years.
3 DESERT ISLAND RECORDS:
Pretty much impossible, but here goes: Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes’ “Wake Up Everybody”, Moodymann’s “Forevernevermore”, and the Cure’s “Disintegration.”
3 PEOPLE YOU REALLY HOPE WILL READ YOUR BLOG:
Everyone who checks in now is someone I hope will continue to do so.
3 PEOPLE YOU HOPE WILL NEVER READ YOUR BLOG:
I don’t suppose anyone.
AND FINALLY
A TRACK FOR THE READERS OF INNERSOUNDS…
I would like to continue with the 3 thing if you will allow it:
Archie Shepp – Blasé
Raw. A perfect song to me. I’m never not in the mood to hear this. Listening to it, I want to be there.
The Rotating Assembly – Orchestra Hall
Theo and Marcellus Pittman create a dirty, orchestral masterpiece.
Brick – Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody
Dance people.
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