mixtapes

i deliriously make more mixes than i get. and i give out less and less the older i get.

i did get a super special one…and i’d like to share it with you…and get the ‘maker’ back their review.
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here goes
–soft
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jill scott-come see me-besides being one of my most favorite sangers of all, i love this song. it’s supersexy and super jazzified…the horns remind me of an old al jarreau tune. i like how they glide.

usher-can you help me-tryna get his grown man on. a beautiful classic ballad. it’s nice. it’s smooth. it has just the right style to be so in the middle. it lets the lyrics breathe quite beautifully. i love it. i love the music. the piano. the imagery. his voice is perfect. the chorus is killer and makes the song swing.

mario-do right-i like the beat. it grabs me immediately. i also dig the bounce. mario is underrated to me. the hop in the beat yield to the nice “right, right, right.” very cool.

conya doss-the one-i found out about ohioan conya thru myspace. i love her more refined, restrained r&b sound. i love this. it’s real nice and chill. i think she’s underrated as well. she dope. the bass reminds me of an old isaac hayes joint.

jill scott-all i-awesome. so grown up, so jill. the bass slides so cool. a definite song for slow dancing. a most definite. this is so good it’s naughty. i love it. she got that fever.

robin thicke-sweetest love-robin thicke matures like wine. i love his voice and this song. robin thicke is r&b, to me…more than most out there. everything about this song is sugary sweet. it’s almost at times stevie to me.

janet jackson-can’t be good-this song could perfectly be a cool ambient groove by the beginning vocals and the drums. i love it. i’ve never heard this tune, i don’t think. i love how it unfurls, musically. when i hear this song, i think of love and hand holding walking central park during spring. it’s breezy and love solid. she sings, “can’t be good” but it is good. ah…therein lies the problem. the sweet problem.

floetry-lay down-floetry is always that group that takes it there…right there. they have this inherent gift. this song…no different. great romantic, sensual poetics…and that’s why i super-dig floetry.

force mds-tenderlove-awesome classic. awesome. awesome. awesome. i could listen to this song for 24 hours nonstop. this song reminds me both of a saturday night and a misty sunday morning.

john legend-i love, you love-a testament to the struggles of love, breaking forward to yet a newer love. i got this guitar part…u got the bass? love this. even better live. john’s voice is soooo beautiful right here. his vocals remind me of chris martin from coldplay and sorta…bob marley.

tamia-officially missing you-nice. nice. this song is perfectly crafted about some kind of distance. my favorite part is the “oooooh, can’t nobody do me like you.” is sweet and i love the guitar.

ennio morricone-barn-awesome. breathtaking and beautiful. this song makes me want to go on a vacation and open my window so that a soft breeze will blow through the drapes as i look out.

hope-who am i to say-nice, delicate song. it’s so soft and longing.

joan armatrading-willow-i like the attitude in the guitar play/vocals. what a voice! ok, i wanna learn the guitar part. i like the lyrics. they are unconventional, yet very…we are all looking for a willow.

maxwell-know these things-one of the most beautiful voices ever. i like the soft tension in this song. this so is gorgeous and yet he’s singing about such vulnerability.

702-you’ll never know-this is cool and soft. i like it. it’s very sweet and understated. it can easily get by you as average subject matter until you really tune in to the lyrics…they get me every time.

adele-best for last-reminds me of brett dennen. i clutch my heart at this new sound. really really digging this a lot. it’s so different and fun and i love her voice. this is awesome.

kem-say-this song is all kinds of luscious. i somehow feel it is me. moody, jazzy, yearning. he sings, “say you’ll never lose faith in me.” that’s what love is all about. i love the music…also.

i’ve noticed

i’ve noticed that we are a people addicted to now.
right now.
and that now is never as good as early or earlier.
i’ve noticed.
now.
that we are addicted to fast.
hot.
ready.
here.
yet it takes centuries to learn how to love.
even now.
to live and learn. but to thoroughly live and learn…it takes a millennia.
and it takes defeat. and it takes pain. and it takes pleasure. all at their supposed measures and doses and nights and days of quantum turmoil. anguish. animosity.
now.
i’ve learned it takes art.
it takes time.
it takes intellect.
it takes gives. it takes takes.
it takes science, geology and mathematics.
it takes multi-linguistics and magic.
it takes unanswered prayer requests.
it takes believing in God and questioning.
it takes zodiac signs and newspapers.
it takes songs and it takes time.
it takes a toll and tools and money and time.
it takes questions.
it takes time.
to learn.
i’ve noticed.

not at home

i’m not at home today.
and it took me 2 plane rides to get here.
the news plays endlessly in the background.
and if i stand at the window, i’ll see a gray cat running behind the fence.
the window is cracked and the breeze is smooth.
looking out the window i see a wooded area, tall tall trees and then some.
i drove you to work this morning…shuffling the shifts of your car.
bumping along with the movement of morning traffic as the sun peeked down at us a bit.
there’s something here that i long for…this sort of way to be.
there’s something here that holds me…when

warm milk…

one of the best things i can do for myself right now…in this frozen moment of my life is saturate myself into something new. i am currently working on several different things at once…hoping one will stick to me, work for me and propel me to a new level, amongst all my other fascinations like hgtv’s house hunters, hgtv’s myles of styles (that chick is dope!!!), criminal minds, the tv prog and a longing to go back to miami or to see new orleans for the first time, i keep finding myself so engaged and intrigued by just one small morsel of something. i’ve given so much time to it already and i’ve just started. i feel like i’m in some underground market, bartering for information, writing nothing down, speaking in secret codes…and it is about all i can think of…wanting to know more…everything…the right things…the many ways in which i am sure i’ll succeed. i have such a hunger for it, i tried to sleep one night…but my eyes were as wide open as the universe itself and i had to get up…get up and write. if i’d put it all to song…i’d definitely go to steve lawler’s house compilation called ‘viva toronto.’ i hated it when i first heard it…rolling my eyes up to the heavens because on the surface it operates out of a sheer minimalistic beat redundancy…now it works like sips of warm milk…