Here they are! Some winter music conference photos from last weeks trip. We had a great time running around hitting events and meeting folks. Thanks to everyone who showed love! Extra special shout to Tamir Z. Brown from Lyrics To Go, Al Swaki of Chung King Studios, 4th Pyramid, Cosmo Baker, Greg Nice and Big Al. See you next time in Miami!

-THE BAG MESSENGER

Swaki in front, Greg Nice, 4th Pyramid, Tamir Z Brown, Big Al,  Case Bloom

Check those placks out....Greg Nice and Tamir Z. Brown with the man.

Cosmo Baker has more Dashiki's than you.

The gang on the set of the Wire Miami.

Rich Medina getting on the good foot at Yuca Lounge with the North To South Messenger.

Bobbito Garcia is the man. If you don't know hit your googler. 

Uber crate digger KON in the b-boy stance (Kon and Amir/Waxpoetic's magazine)

Get the North To South Messenger bag here, and start planing for next years WMC trip.

Welcome to another work week everyone! Those of us on the East Coast have been getting hammered with rain for a few days now and with that in mind we present to you, the perfect rainy day mix "In The Rain" by DJ STEVE1DER. It would be fair to say that this mix is rain themed, but unfair to not explain what that means. Being that I have a full weeks worth of WMC sleep to catch up on and all this typing is getting in the way, I'll let you listen to the mix yourselves and take a nap. I will tell you that Steve will be visiting Philly this Friday to rock a video set at The Barbary. Come out and ask him yourself.

-THE BAG MESSENGER

Dj Steve1der presents.... In The Rain by DJ STEVE1DER

TRACKLIST: 

1. IN THE RAIN - THE DRAMATICS
2. IN THE RAIN - CHOSEN FEW
3. SOMEBODY CAN STAND THE RAIN - NEW EDITION/BIGGIE
4. THE RAIN/PAIN - BILLY PAUL/MURS
5. COME IN OUTTA THE RAIN - PARLIAMENT
6. I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN - LARRY GRAHAM
7. I CAN'T STAND THE RAIN - MISSY
8. MEMORIES LIVE - REFLECTION ETERNAL
9. RAIN OR SHINE - COUNT BASS-D
10. RAIN - FELICIANO/THE BELLS
11. RAINDROPS...-
12. ACID RAINDROPS - P.U.T.S.
13. RAIN IS GONE - FRANKENSTEIN
14. RAINZY DAYZ - RAEKWON
15. RAINY DAYS - PHAT KAT
16. RAIN - CHAMILLIONAIRE
17. RAIN - CUNNINGLYNGUISTS
18. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - LYN COLLINS
19. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - JIM LINDS
20. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - MICHAEL JACKSON
21. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - BILL WITHERS
22. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - EDDY SENAY
23. AIN'T NO SUNSHINE - WILLIS JACKSON
24. IT NEVER RAINS IN SO. CAL - T.T.T.
25. RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY - BOB AZZAM
26. RAINMAKER - HARRY NILLSON
27. RAIN ON ME - ASHANTI
28. QUIET STORM - SMOKEY ROBINSON
29. U CAN'T STOP THE RAIN - SHAQ
30. STOP THE RAIN - A.W.B.
31. RAIN ON THURSDAY - BOBBY HUTCHERSON
32. RIDERS OF THE STORM - THE DOORS
33. RAINY DAY, DREAM AWAY - JIMI HENDRIX
34. GO AHEAD IN THE RAIN - A.T.C.Q.
35. STORMY - THE CLASSICS IV
36. PURPLE RAIN - PRINCE
37. WALKING IN THE RAIN - GRACE JONES
38. WALKING IN THE RAIN - LOVE UNLIMITED
39. WALKING IN THE RAIN - O.J. JONES
40. 17 DAYS - PRINCE

Get the North To South Messenger bag here, add our waterproof liner to keep your goods dry while looking fly. 

As Winter wraps up and everyone is packing away sweaters and heavy jackets, I morn the end of soup season. Is there a more perfect food? One of my favorite soups is the humble minestrone, a nourishing  alchemy of vegetables and water that is a meal in itself. Don't forget to bring this one out from time to time. They say eating soup in the summer helps keep the body cool.

-THE BAG MESSENGER 

Ingredients 

 
red cabbage ( any type of cabbage will do but I like the color red cabbage adds)

dried large Lima beans

dried navy beans

2 potatoes

celery

carrots

1 red onion

quart crushed tomato

water

salt & pepper

crushed red pepper

garlic
 
Process
 
saute 2 cups of cabbage in a large pot in olive oil till cabbage begins to brown

fill the pot about half way with water

add 2 cups of dried Lima beans

add 1 cup navy beans

2 potatoes

celery

carrots

1 red onion

quart crushed tomato
 
Allow this to boil for 2-3 hours

Add crushed red pepper and minced garlic
 
Continue to boil but turn down heat and put a lid on the pot for another 1-2 hours

Add salt & pepper to taste

Serve with a nice hunk of sourdough bread and enjoy!

Get the simple messenger bag here. The perfect bag for a day of running around with room for life's large and small ingredients .

This week's interview is a repost from a while back, our interview with DJ Ayres of The Rub.

-THE BAG MESSENGER 

The Bag Messenger: What's in your bag at all gigs?

DJ AYRES: Serato records, headphones, laptop, serato box, and allergy pills

The Bag Messenger: What is one track you can pull out at any time, that is guaranteed to always rock it?

DJ AYRES: I do so many different gigs. Umm..Hot Music by Soho.

The Bag Messenger: Bathroom break song?

DJ AYRES: We have these records that we made...rough edit records that are mega mixes. Each side is 15 minutes long but it changes songs like every minute and a half to two minutes. We just recorded ourselves djing really good sets and did a rough medley. So I put that on and it sounds like I'm still djing. So I can do whatever and come back.

The Bag Messenger: Most influential DJ?

DJ AYRES: Jazzy Jeff. DJ Spinna. Guys that can play hip hop, R&B, house, classics, reggae, rock, or whatever and are really good at all of those things. I like really versatile sets.

The Bag Messenger: Strangest request?

DJ AYRES: Oh god! At Lotus about year and a half ago they would transition over from a being a restaurant to being a night club. When I would get there they would make me wait till everyone was done eating. So you would get there at 10:30, but it might not happen till 11o'clock depending on how much people were spending. So anyways that would bring really odd people into night club situations who wouldn't normally be there, because you have a dinner crowd rubbing elbows with a nightclub crowd. There were these girls who must have been ether teenagers or college kids, they were very young with their mother and her friend. You know, two middle aged women, two younger women. So the girls come over and they bring me a napkin, and usually when you get a napkin its gonna be like "Can you play Chingy" "Can you play Black Eyed Peas" or Brittany. You know some pop shit or something like that, but she had written on the napkin "Can you play some old music? My grandmother just died and it would really mean a lot to my mom." This is still in the warm up part of the night, so I did a Motown Set, which I would do anyway. Its not a stretch at all (for me) to play oldies. They loved it and came over afterwards. They were really happy. It was so weird. You look at them and think Brittany Spears fans, or you know.."These cougars are gonna want to hear some bullshit", but all they wanted to hear the Temptations. It was great and weird. That happens like one in a million.

The Bag Messenger: Have you ever had anyone who didn't know you were a professional DJ come up to you and emphatically demand that you switch the song or turn off what's playing?

DJ AYRES: Yeah all types of shit. You know you will have people who are going to the club for themselves or with their little group of people, and a girl will come up and be like "Can you play Motley Crue? Everyone would really love it if you played Motley Crue right now." No...I'm not gonna do that because the crowd here. It's ten o'clock at night, so even if I were to play it, it's the wrong time. These people want to here Total or 112, they don't want to be banged in the head with bottle service rock. Than another girl comes over and is like "Can you play Motley Crue?" and you think, "Didn't you just come up here?" Ooh...that was your friend. They send all their friends over . I get it. EVERYONE wants to hear Motley Crue right now, but I'm still not playing it. You can't trick me.the demographics don't work. A lot of times people just want to hear something and don't understand that there is a room full of people your entertaining. And that you're trying to hold on to 90%, not trying to please 10%. If I can get to the other 10% over the course of several hours I'll be really happy, but you cant just shift gears just to make one person happy because its their birthday and loose everyone else. You have to make them feel like they are a part of something and not in exclusion to everyone else.. You have to explain to someone in so many words that it's not all about you. It's not all about me. I don't love this song that I'm playing right now but look at the crowd. Other times at The Rub, its just like "Fuck No","We've been here for seven years, and there is a line around the block. Please leave so someone else can come in and I can make ten more dollars from someone who would love to get in and be very happy to be here." Sometimes I'll be doing a wedding or something and someone will come over and say "Can you play some metal?" and its like "hummmm."That actually happened to me at a venue in when I played a wedding for this music executive guy who was very emphatic about wanting this song, and this song, and this song, and this song. "This is my second marriage and I just want to hear what I want to hear." So you're just gonna do what this guy wants and try to make it a good wedding. A woman comes over and asks, "can you play metal?" and its like...let me figure out who this person is. If it's the bride, fuck yeah...I'm playing what ever you want. If its just some drunk asshole cousin, than no...what are you doing? Your making a huge mistake. This guy wants world music. Metal is definitely not gonna get me tips.

The Bag Messenger: Do you still dig for records? How has Serato changed the way you dig?

DJ AYRES:  Yeah I still dig but its changed hugely. Now getting the record is like a last resort because it used to be that you were judged for your selection, but now with Serato everybody has everything. Even with CDJs it was like this before Serato. You could play the stupid song that they did on Saturday Night Live the night before and get a reaction. So the digging from that perspective...nobody cares. Nobody is gonna come in the booth and be like "Eww, he's playing that off an Ipod", or mp3, or he's using Ableton with a midi controller or whatever. Nobody gives a shit. If people here a hot song, they like it. On the other hand, there is a ton of shit that you can get on record that you can't get on amazon.com or itunes. Stuff you can't find it on a blog, kids don't know about it, that's still really hot, that excites me and my peers. So for that reason I'm still buying records because that stuff just hasn't made it to mp3 yet, or you've looked for it and a mp3 doesn't really exist. Nobody has it and you just have to spend $100 on it because the ten other people who have that 45 aren't trying to let that song get out. There is much less of that than there used to be. Every year it gets less and less. I think that now it's less about getting really exclusive records and more about getting really exclusive edits, getting tracks from DJs before they come out. Not on some breaking a record shit, but just a cool version of something before everyone else has it. 

DJ AYRES edit of Curtis Mayfield "Move On Up". This one moves the dancefloor.

Check out Ayres rocking the North to South dj bag in gray, get it here .

This week is sure to be a bit crazy. We are headed down to Miami for Winter Music Conference 2010 and looking forward to spending a few days on the beach relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, here is your mix for the week. J Rocc's "Droppin Science On Blue Note" is filled with all the jazzy Blue Note cuts you would expect and some lesser known gems. While your at it take a look at the Blue Note page for Droppin Science, and get your Jazz sample knowledge up. See you on Miami Beach!

-THE BAG MESSENGER

You know the drill. Click the cover, and refill your coffee.

If you are in Miami this week get in touch via Twitter.

Travel much? Get the designer North To South Messenger bag here and have room to bring home a couple souvenir records. 

Philadelphia artist, Leighann Bogner, sent us this photo of the Transit pass in front of Florence's Arno river. Thanks Leighann!

Send in your travel photos to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

-The Bag Messenger

Keep your essentials tucked away from sticky fingers, and out of harms way with the transit pass. 

This week we have our recipe for stuffed grape leaves. This is one of the things I like to make during the hot months of the spring and summer. Because the process of making these things is relatively time consuming I suggest you make a large batch at once, and perhaps consider enlisting the help of some friends.

-The Bag Messenger 

Ingredients

1 Large jar of Grape leaves in brine

3 cups of rice

2 quarts of tomato sauce

1 cup olive oil

1 cup pine nuts

1 table Spoon salt & 1 table spoon pepper

crushed red pepper

2 cloves garlic

2 lemons

Prep

• Cook rice in a 2 to 1 ratio of rice to water in large pot; adding rice to water when water boils...Continue to boil until the rice begins to thicken, reduce heat and cover pot
• Add pine nuts when the rice is done
• Add tomato sauce
• Season with 1 table Spoon salt & 1 table spoon pepper and crushed red pepper

Process 

•  Line 2 large baking dishes with grape leaves (bottom and sides) spoon one heaping table spoon of rice mixture into the center of an open grape leave and roll the leaf with the sides tucked in so as to enclose the rice.
•  Continue until you are out of grape leaves. Make sure you stack the finished rolls in orderly fashion, rearranging dolmades usually results in casualties. 
• Squeeze the lemon juice over the rolled grape leaves 
• Put the finished tray of grape leaves into preheated oven (300 degrees) 
•  Cook for one hour
•  Take them out and let them chill

Serve them chilled with olives, fresh feta, cucumbers and fruit for a nice spring meal.

 Enjoy!!

Get the simple messenger bag here. The perfect bag for a day of running around with room for life's large and small ingredients .

This Tuesday's interview is taken from a German handbag blog that just interviewed us. We never get to talk about ourselves anyway, so we figured we should take it where we can get it. 

Here it is from The Bag Stage Report. 

-THE BAG MESSENGER

What is the name of the label and what is the idea behind the name?
Tucker & Bloom: We are a family owned company, with deep roots in design, and a dedication to old world craftsmanship. The name comes from the combination of the two sides of our family.
The Tucker's were British relatives that settled in Northern New England as ship builders, and whalers in the 1800’s. The Bloom's were Eastern European craftsmen that moved to America after the First World War and became involved in the New York garment industry. The brand strives to meld these two histories through clean functional design and use of rugged, durable materials.

Where are you from?
The company was founded in 1978 in Boston Mass as Bloom Fine Leather Accesories where it found success in its first line of handbags. It than relocated to Brooklyn NY and is now based in beautiful Nashville TN.

What is the inspiration behind your collection and what kind of materials do you use?
Our bags emphasize organization, and individuality through the use of functional design. We were inspired by a combination of things when designing the collections. The function of the bags came first. We also felt that designing them for domestic manufacturing and having the bags fit into specific lifestyles were important. We currently offer three lifestyle lines Work, Transitions and Leisure. Each line has a particular feel, use and purpose. The materials that are used in the collections are 1980 denier Ballistic Nylon, Heavy Cotton Canvas, Neoprene and Leather (Some
vegetable tanned and some chrome tanned). We have also used some small rubber micro-injection branding patches, as well as satin nickel side release buckles with our logo laser engraved on them.


Since when do you run your own collection?
The Tucker & Bloom bag collections have been available since 2007.

How or why did you start designing bags?    
I started designing bags in the 70’s and was lucky enough to find a mentor in Kosta Spyrololous(a small handbag manufacturer in Boston). I became fascinated with European classical handbag construction, though in my early years the handbags were far from classical construction.  After moving to New York I worked side by side with aging holocaust survivors who passed on knowledge learned from many years in the business. I’m not exactly sure why I have found bag design so endlessly interesting but I continue to learn everyday.  What more could a person hope for in work; passion for the product and the opportunity to learn something new everyday.

Do you exhibit on trade fairs?
It is our desire to make our company a sustainable US manufactured product, with our main distribution direct to consumer and very little wholesale. Although, we are looking at doing some co-branding b2b, and will be offering our Transitions line through the wholesale channel in the spring of 2010.

Happy Mix Monday everyone. This week we bring you a solid hip hop mix by uber blogger, and nasty mixtape DJ Pipomixes. Pipo does a great job of keeping music you know really well sounding fresh. Its nice to be able to hear all these classics with new ears. Below is his description of "We Go The Jazz". Enjoy

-THE BAG MESSENGER

"I am constantly thinking of different themes to build a mix around. With the completion of each mix I typically fall into a 2-3 week funk where I try to think of a new theme for my next mix. Following the Folger's Blends mix I was struggling to think of a new theme. Then, one day while doing a random google search I stumbled onto the above logo. At first glance, I thought the logo was straight dope. However, the logo became even cooler when I learned that it was the creation of my favorite t-shirt designer, Derek from Manifest Worldwide. Given that the saying behind the logo comes from a ATCQ song, I was originally intending to do a Tribe mix. However, since Tribe mixes are a dime a dozen I went in the direction of creating a mix that attempts to capture the jazzy vibe that groups like Tribe and Digable Planets spawned. As the title suggests, all songs on this mix incorporate jazz based samples. The track selection includes music from jazzy groups and producers such as A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Diamond D, Black Moon, De La Soul, Madlib, No ID, Gang Starr, Showbiz & AG, Big L, The Roots, and Nas (I think that's all of them?). Half the fun of making this mix was doing the research to ensure that all songs maintained a jazz break. Some were no brainers, but other songs with jazz breaks were quite surprising. Jazz based samples have always given a special vibe to hip hop music so I hope this mix captures that magic. Thanks again to Derek at Manifest for inspiring the mix's theme. I hope you all enjoy the mix."- Pipomixes

Click here for a quick and painless download

Digging for Jazz? Get the designer North To South Messenger bag here and hide your treasures from those prying eyes

Thats right folks Kitchen Sink is this Friday, and this month we have grandwizard scratch master DJ Apple Juce rocking with us. Juce is quite nice on the wheels, and knows just how to itch that dance floor spot. Plus he is bringing 40 of his new "Blunted" Mixtapes. Luck party goers will have a chance to snatch one up...and apparently win a date with Case to the center city Olive Garden? We hope to see all your glowing radiant faces in the crowd. 

-THE BAG MESSENGER

Ed Blammo, Coolout, and Case Bloom are back at the Khyber this Friday, March 12th, and they're bringing the young gunna party stunna DJ APPLEJUCE along for the ride!

#####

the J-U-C-E has been killing it in Philly for a minute now at his sooper-groovy parties Boogiejuice and Crushin. The Kitchen Sink boys are rulllll excited to have the dude help stir the funky stew party brew. Expect the usual heavy dose of FunkSoulHipHopHouseRockReggaeDiscoClubJams, well groomed partygoers, and some sage advice from stalwart bartender Graham Dogg.

#####

If that wasn't enough to get you all hot under the collar, Applejuce will be unveiling his new mixtape masterwork at the KS this Friday. The Juce has been working hard on his limited edition BLUNTED mixtape. Hand made for you with love, copies will be up for grabs, limited quantities, first come first serve. So don't sleep kidzzzzzz.

#####

Sponsors Tucker & Bloom will be on hand spreading good cheer and positive vibes before they ship off to Miami for Winter Music Conference with Chung King Studios for some serious party BIZNESS. Also, I heard if you give them you're email you could win a free dinner with Case Bloom at the center city Olive Garden... not saying, just saying.

#####

Kitchen Sink
Every 2nd Friday
Upstairs @ The Khyber
w/ DJs Ed Blammo, Coolout & Case Bloom
$1 PBR / $2 Kenzinger till 11
Free copies of FRANK 151 magazine

#####

Kitchen Sink consists of 4 members: Ed Blammo, Coolout, Case Bloom & Jarobie 

click here for a quick and painless download

Bring your camera, get loose, and photograph the mayhem! Get the mini messenger bag here

If you live in Philadelphia and follow the music scene; than chances are you ether know about the Ill Vibe Collective, or have been to one of their events. The crew has been doing work in the city for a solid ten years, no slow in pace, and with no end in site. They are a true asset to the city, and frankly more useful than that damn cracked bell everyone comes to see. An integral piece of this music machine is David Adams, AKA Lil Dave. I will say Lil Dave is a complex man, and that he is also a genuinely really nice guy. This could strike you as odd. Usually when you meet a "lil" they are either humongous, or a rapper with an airbrushed t-shirt and rhinestone encrusted teeth. Neither is the case with Lil Dave. Upon meeting him, you realize he got the name sincerely because of his lack of bigness, and that unlike most guys he shares a nickname with, he has impeccable taste and no visible tattoos. What makes the man tick? Why does he like robots so much?  Read on good reader...your answers lie ahead.

-THE BAG MESSENGER

The Bag Messenger: Name, Age, Where are you from? 

lil'dave: I go by Lil Dave. I'm Thirty one and from Philadelphia.

The Bag Messenger: What do you do?

lil'dave: I dj and promote various events around Philadelphia with my crew Illvibe Collective.  I make music (hiphop, future soul, house, broken beats, soul, etc) and I have a bunch of releases floating around. I've been been on the radio giving people cutting edge music since '96.   My current show is Eavesdrop Radio.  I also dabble in graphic design and technology.

The Bag Messenger: What exactly is ILL Vibe Collective? Who is involved?

lil'dave: Illvibe Collective is my musical family.  We are basically a group of five djs -  Phillee Blunt, Skipmode, Panek, Mr. Sonny James and myself.  Everybody has lots of different talents and resources that make us a force to be reckoned with.  We can produce, engineer, design, organize, film, edit, build and destroy.   Over the past ten years members of our crew have released countless mixtapes, toured the world, recorded with some legendary artists, dropped some great records, designed our own line of clothing, hosted a bunch of radio shows and podcast, etc etc etc.

The Bag Messenger: What is Eavesdrop Radio?

lil'dave: Eavesdrop Radio is a show that DJ Junior of Record Breakin Music and I have been doing for the past few years.  Musically we play all sorts of stuff from japanese jazz to future soul to wonky hiphop beats to latin house.  The common denominator between everything we play is that it all has soul.  We are broadcasting out of a small college station in West Philly, but thanks to the internet we have grown a giant international following that just keeps getting bigger.  You can catch us live every Friday 6pm-9pm EST on WKDU 91.7 FM in Philadelphia or http://www.wkdu.org worldwide.  We also have a podcast at http://eavesdropradio.podomatic.com.

The Bag Messenger: How did you first get into music and when did DJing come into the picture?

lil'dave: My parents were big music lovers.  My moms vinyl collection has some sick records in it.  They got me hip to all the soul, funk, and jazz stuff.  When I got older I was a radio fiend.  I got tapes of all the old mixes from Vibes & Vapors, Radioactive, and other shows.  I started buying lots of vinyl and I made a dj setup out of some old audio equipment around the house.  When I got to college, I immediately joined the radio station and started my first radio show, The B-Side (which eventually got changed to The Down Lo Mix Show).  That lead to a bunch of opportunities and experiences that lead me to being the DJ I am today.



The Bag Messenger: What brought you to design? We're you always into visual art?

lil'dave: Way before I was into music, I was into art.  I used to illustrate my own comic books and do all sorts of art projects as a kid.  The design I do these days comes out of necessity.  There is always a need for a flyer, web graphics, and artwork for a music project.  It's all worked out pretty organically because making art and making music are very similiar processes.

The Bag Messenger: Where do you find inspiration in your work (design wise, music wise, production wise)

lil'dave: Dope color schemes, ethnic foods, robots, percussion instruments, indie movies, video games, jazz, new technology, textures, old records, analog synthesizers, and my family.

The Bag Messenger: What are the tools of your trade? (whats in the bag; gig wise, design wise, work wise)

lil'dave: I pride myself on having some crazy records.  I use Serato to dj most gigs, but if you see me pull some vinyl out of my bag, hold your head.  I have a full arsenal of rare and timeless dancefloor rockers in all sorts of genres.  On the production end, I mainly use Reason to make beats, but I'll make use of anything I can get my hands on.  Design wise, I'm with the industry standard... Photoshop.


The Bag Messenger: Any projects we should be on the look out for from you? What's Ill Vibe up to in 2010? 

lil'dave: We are currently putting the finishing touches on our first Illvibe Collective album.  It's a producer album with lots of different singers, MCs, and musicians performing over our tracks.  The musical styles are really all over the place.  Hopefully it will be in stores by the summer.

Check out this mix done by Mr. Sonny James of Ill Vibe. It's all crew exclusives, free, and blazing hot. 

Use a computer? Need to get off the couch before you loose your mind? Hark! The Laptop Backpack is clamoring to help you with your transportation needs! Heed its beckoning call. 

Here is the new theme song for those of you who like to keep your upper lip tidy, brought to you by Philly based group RCMP. Be on the look out for their self titled EP which drops today.

-THE BAG MESSENGER

Keep digging for more music. Fit a laptop, records, and more. Get the designer North To South Messenger bag here. 

The snow has finally melted here in Philly and the sun is shining. Happy Mixtape Monday. Here is an older mix by DJ Neil Armstrong, a New York City mixtape legend who has recently been touring with Jay-Z. This mix is all over the place genre wise and is well executed. Hope the sun is shining where you are. 

-THE BAG MESSENGER

Click the cover for a painless download.

1. Nas feat. Quan Yara - Moment Of Silence Intelligent Hoodlum
2. Minnie Riperton - Baby This Love I Have
3. Jimi Hendrix - Sweet Angel
4. Notorious B.I.G. - Big Poppa
5. Frank Sinatra - Cheek To Cheek
6. Barry White - Its Only Love Doing Its Thing
7. Aaliyah - More Than A Woman
8. Elliot Smith - Coast To Coast
9. INXS - Dont Change
10. Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
11. Larry White - Cant Get Enough Of Your Love Babe
12. Biz Markie McFadden Whitehead - Let Me Turn You On Aint No Stoppin Us Now
13. Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
14. Marvin Gaye - Hitch Hike
15. Beatles - And I Love Her
16. Beatles - A Little Help From My Friends
17. Queen - Under Pressure
18. INXS - Mediate
19. The Doors - People Are Strange
20. Nirvana - Come As You Are
21. Jimi Hendrix - Gypsy Eyes
22. TLC - Baby Baby Baby
23. Tupac - Do For Love
24. Luther Vandross Gregory Hines - Theres Nothing Better Than Love
25. Rick James Smokey Robinson - Ebony Eyes
26. Aaliyah - At Your Best (You Are Love)
27. John Lennon - Imagine
28. Marvin Gaye Tami Terrell - California Soul
29. Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved
30. Beatles - In My Life
31. Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World

Lust for vinyl? Get the designer North To South Messenger bag here and hide your treasures from those prying eyes

NYC this Friday The Sheen Bros return to get the dance floor slick, with their own brand of greasy funk,and jerry curl joints. See you there!

-The Bag Messenger

FRIDAY MARCH 5th

 
Lyrics To Go & ML2 Present: The Sheenic Route
The Sheen Bros (Cosmo Baker & 4th Pyramid)
w/ Special Guest: Boogie Blind (The X-Ecutioners)
11pm - 4am @ The Vault (on the southwest corner of Essex & Houston)

NYC lookout the Sheen Bros are back at it at a brand new venue!

SHEEN BROS:

The Rub's Cosmo Baker and Toronto producer/MC 4th Pyramid came up with the concept of a duo of slicked-out sleazesters tuned into the greasy funk and drippy disco sounds that make girls lose control and guys feel like macks. Thus The Sheen Bros.

Cosmo says “So basically it started out as a joke between me and my homeboy 4th Pyramid. Hanging out in downtown Manhattan one evening, we decided to come up with a funk / rap group, and Sheen Bros was born. Like I said, it was all kind of in fun, but then after a couple shows and some recording things actually got serious. So with dedication and focus, Sheen Bros is a full on go.”

Download 'Scumbag Funk Volume 1' mixed by 4th Pyramid:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/639150272cb97c71/

Download 'Scumbag Funk Volume 2' mixed by Cosmo Baker:
http://sharebee.com/563b1450

Be on the lookout for a Sheen Bros EP featuring a star studded line up this spring!

http://www.twitter.com/SheenBros

BOOGIE BLIND:

The definition of a Dee Jay is what Boogie Blind embodies from spinning a variety of different music like House Music, Hip-Hop, B-Boy and Funk in numerous countries. The turntablist is also a Battle DJ and is a Vestax World Champion and 2001/2002 DMC Champion. Let's show respect to DJ Boogie Blind, who is a stalwart in the New York DJ scene and has backed the likes of Jean Grae, Fat Joe, Pharoahe Monch and most notably The X-ecutioners. Real Hip-Hoppers might've seen Boogie Blind on the 1s & 2s at the 'Rock the Bells Tour last summer which featured Pharoahe Monch, Wu-Tang, Immortal Technique, Bootcamp Clik to name a few.

Bring your camera, get loose, and photograph the mayhem! Get the mini messenger bag here

I am going to preface this Wednesdays post with a statement. I know that people take their marinara seriously, and that in fact wars have been fought over less. This is no declaration of war. It is a recipe for a tasty Italian "gravy". Please do not send us hate mail. Thank you,

-THE BAG MESSENGER

When I have run through my standard repertoire of evening meals I always circle back a favorite standard, a large pot of marinara sauce. You can feed an army with a pot of sauce and some pasta, not to mention its delicious and easy to make.

- David Bloom

Ingredients

1 quart size can crushed tomatoes

1 quart size can of tomato sauce

1 small can tomato paste

1 lbs ground beef  (or sausage)

1 lbs ground pork or Italian Sausage (spicy or otherwise)

1 table spoon fresh or frozen basil

3 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

1/ 2 cup red wine

1 Table Spoon of extra virgin olive oil

Process

Cook the meat, drain the grease, and add it to a large sauce pot.

Add the tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and paste.

Stir, and let it simmer. The longer the better (just don't burn it)

Chop the garlic, crush the basil, and throw it in. 

Spoon in the olive oil, and stir.

Pour the red wine in, and add salt & pepper to taste.

Enjoy!!

Get the simple messenger bag here. The perfect bag for a day of running around with room for life's large and small ingredients .

Will Van Zandt is a man full of stories. Son of famous folk singer Towens Van Zandt, who is as legendary for his wild antics as his song writing; Will is a bit of a legend  himself. He was once run over by a tractor trailer on the interstate in Nashville, passed up by the responding ambulance, and lived to tell about it. He is about as genuine a person as anyone could hope to meet. I have had the pleasure of knowing him for some time, and share a few crazy stories with the man myself.  This interview won't be covering any of his wild past, or give you specific insight into his fathers song writing process (sorry Townes fans). Instead we will cover WVZ's obsessive passion for crusty old spray paint cans. Perhaps this will give you more insight into his father than a world full of unreleased demo tapes. Perhaps you will learn about the hunt for Jungle Green. Either way, while "there are two kinds of music. (The Blues, and Zippity-Do-Da"- TVZ), there are many can's of spray paint yet to be unearthed.

- Case Bloom

THE BAG MESSENGER: How did you first get into collecting cans?    

Will Van Zandt:  I got into it through graffiti. Back before all the specialty paint brands were around, you were very limited as far as colors and shades. In the mid nineties krylon had discontinued a lot of their more vibrant colors. My guy Verse, who basically schooled me as far as graffiti is concerned knew about some local mom and pop hardware stores who still had a good stock of discontinued colors, so we started cleaning those out, just getting paint to use. Every now and then I would find cans that were real old, they wouldn't even spray, little off brands I had never heard of, some with crazy graphics. I would stick those on a shelve to display. Over time it was less about finding paint to use, and more about the older cans themselves.

THE BAG MESSENGER: How long have you been doing it?    

Will Van Zandt: It started in 98' so around twelve years. I slowed down for a while until I realized people were paying good money online for some of these cans. I defiantly got a second wind after that. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: How much are some of these worth?   

Will Van Zandt: In this economy no one is safe... Stuff isn't going for what it was say, five years ago. At one point it was nothing to get on ebay and see cans going for a couple hundred dollars. I've seen single cans go for close to eight hundred dollars, that's unheard of right now. Most stuff isn't even selling. Right now it's more about trades with other collectors.  

THE BAG MESSENGER: What brands are you into? What types of cans are you looking for? How many cans deep are you?  

Will Van Zandt: Probably my favorite right now are what are called picture cans. They were made by a few different brands, and basically every color has a different illustration that describes it. Also I'm into Rustoleum  stuff 1965 or older. They sent out a lot of cool advertising stuff back in the day. Giant display cans, transistor radios that look like cans, I have a gold money clip, and a company softball team jersey from the early seventies. I'm looking for 1950's "grenade and soup cans", called this because of their shape. I don't think most people would even recognize the "soup cans" as spray paint. I'm into greens, avocados, limes, and aquas. I would say i have around a thousand cans that are worth mentioning, but I'm defiantly trying to downsize. It's gotten a bit insane, so a lot of stuff is boxed up these days.  

THE BAG MESSENGER: What is the furthest you have gone on a trip digging?   

Will Van Zandt: With Verse I've been down into Mississippi, on all back roads. We made it to Vicksburg Miss before we ran out of room in the truck and had to turn around. Same deal in Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky. Those are forsure some of the best come ups.  There is not really anybody else in the South doing this. It isn't like in the North East where you have a lot of guys going to the same spots competing. It was all untouched old family owned hardware stores. You know, "Grandpa opened up after the war, then my dad took over, now it's mine."  These guys don't recycle, and they don't throw stuff away. Prime digging.

THE BAG MESSENGER: Can you describe what a digging  mission might look like? How do people react when you tell them you want to dig up their old paint cans?   

Will Van Zandt:  We leave at three or four in the morning, and by the time we get to the next state the stores are starting to open up. We map it out, then hit every little town. When they start to close we get a cheap ass hotel room, and figure out where to go the next day. Most of the time you just get looked at like a psychopath, " Your looking for what!?"  I've been called a "long haired paint huffing drug addict" and told to get out of people's stores. Sometimes you come across an old man who's happy to have somebody who's actually interested in his business, and wants to show you everything upstairs, in the basement, and tell stories about the "good ole' days".  You can spend full days in a place like that. I've been in basements where cans were literally stuck up in the spaces under the floorboards.  Then his buddy over in whateverville has a store so he calls him up and sends you over. These places are far and few between now, if they even still exist. 

THE BAG MESSENGER: What other kinds of stuff do like to collect?    

Will Van Zandt: I've collected everything at some point. Stamps, coins, comics, baseball cards. If I see a shiny rock I want that shit, but there's a fine line between a collector and a hoarder, and I'm trying to cut back. I don't want to end up on A&E! 

Get the simple messenger bag here , perfect for the daily grind, and stylish enough that you can avoid looking like a "long haired paint huffing drug addict".
 

The votes are in and we have a winner! But before I go ahead and tell you who it is, and ruin the surprise, I have a short speech that more than 90% of you will scroll past.(I know this on the outset, and yet still I feel the urge to thank folks.) I really want to thank all the DJ's who submitted. We received a lot of great mixes, and enjoyed listening to them. Thanks for sharing. I would also like to thank Pipomixes and Cosmo Baker for judging. Thank you gentlemen. Also big bullhorn shouts out to everyone who voted, you too have a voice! And HEEEERE are the results!

First Place- DJ HUDSON

*Airhorn! Airhorn! Airhorn!

Second Place- DJ CHILL WINSTON

*Airhorn! Airhorn!

Third Place- DJ 45Fivan

 *Airhorn

We will also be bringing copies of the top three mixes down to Miami for Winter Music Conference to distribute at the Chung King and Tucker & Bloom event. Stay tuned for details on that!

-THE BAG MESSENGER 

THATS RIGHT! ITS MONDAY FOLKS...... HERE IS YOUR MIX 

This one is hot off the presses! DJ Marsellus Wallace, a friend of Tucker and Bloom's and uber crate digger, just did finished this nasty library funk mix. Be sure to give it a listen.

The man is seriously deep in the crates. Expect to hear some rare library gems in this one...the kind that make the fullest of record collections drool in desire. While your at it, make sure and take a gander at his blog here, its chalk full of obscure library heat, and vaults of record related insight. 

-THE BAG MESSENGER

CLICK THE THEMES LABEL FOR A PAINLESS DOWNLOAD, AND REFILL YOUR COFFEE CUP..ITS GONNA BE A LOOONG RIDE.

"Themes International was a library record label founded in 
1973 by Alan Parker. The music was specifically designed for television 
and movie scores, and was never released to the public for sale. With a 
catalog stretching from 1973 to 1985, Themes remains on the top list of 
vinyl collectors and enthusiasts around the world. The mix tape is a 
brief glimpse into this mysterious London based record label, and shares
to the world a little taste of rare English funk! Enjoy.."- Marsellus Wallace

P.S This looks like a winner.......AND

Speaking of winners, check back later today for the results of the Leisure mix contest. 

Lust for vinyl? Get the designer North To South Messenger bag here and hide your treasures from those prying eyes.