I’ll be playing four nights in Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan this month. I’m excited because it’s the newest hotel in Vegas, and they are doing a great job with bookings: some recent DJs have been Holy Ghost!, Jubilee, Classixx, Prince Klassen and DJ Mel. Big Boi and the Black Keys are also playing (in the bigger room) while I’m there. Get at me on Twitter if you’re in Vegas!

Thursday, February 17 – 20 2011
The Cosmopolitan
Bond Room
3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV

DJ Ayres – Down Pon Me by T&ARecords

Irish Man – Part Time Lover (right click “save target as”)

As promised last week, here is another Steve Wonder-related gem. This one has an odd story: back when South Rakkas Crew was releasing rhythm albums on Greensleeves, they included this cover of “Part Time Lover” on their Clappas rhythm. I’ve been a big fan of this one since 2003, so when I got a chance to meet Dennis from South Rakkas, I asked him about it. Irish Man is not a Jamaican DJ but literally a guy from Ireland who just happens to be able to sing like Stevie Wonder. That the group included this tune on an otherwise pretty straightforward dancehall album is a sign of the genius that would come, as South Rakkas took over the mid-late 2000s with Chinkuzi, Mad Again, Bionic Ras, Red Alert and so much more.

Donnie – Do You Know (right click “save target as”) 2001, Giant Step I’ve been doing Vinyl Mondays on the Flashing Lights blog for exactly a year, and since today is MLK Day, I wanted to spotlight the first record I put up over there.  We all know Mr Fingers “Can You Feel It,” it’s one of the top five house tracks of all time.  And there are lots of versions with different vocals, but the most moving is the version with MLK’s I Have A Dream speech. Download that here. Today’s record isn’t a Flashing Lights type of song but I rediscovered it in the back of my record shelves today and it matches my mood perfectly.  This was a 7″ single but you can also find it on Donnie’s excellent LP from 2002, The Colored Section.  It’s remarkable how much this singer sounds like Stevie, but he is actually a cousin of Marvin Gaye.  Next week I’ll be back with another Stevie Wonder-related post on Vinyl Mondays, produced by South Rakkas Crew (a cookie for anyone who can guess which record I’m talking about!).

Return of the Mash by Dj Ayres on Mixcloud

This is a CD I did last fall exclusively for Urban Outfitters UK. Pretty much the whole set comes from my “dance pop” crate, with a few twists and turns. The artwork is by Mike Davis (Burlesque Designs).  Tracklist after the jump.
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The first Flashing Lights of 2011 is going to be a doozy: the homie Uproot Andy will be helping us heat up Public Assembly on Saturday, January 15th. Not to be missed!

To help get you in the mood, here’s a brand new DJ mix from the FL trio. Download and enjoy, and peep the tracklist after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Kenny Rodriguez shot The Rub every month for a year, then compiled his 100 favorite photos.

See the whole set here

Munchi has two songs with MIA on her new mixtape: Murda Sound is taken from the T&A EP of the same name and Tamil Beat is brand new. Get the mix here http://vickileekx.com/ and get his debut EP on T&A Records
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Village Voice Sound of the City Awards

Photo by Kenny Rodriguez

Best Party To Take Anyone To: The Rub

Once you’ve been to the Rub as many times as I have, you start to pick up on the little things that make the party flow just so. You’ll notice that of the three resident DJs, Cosmo Baker is the showman, often dancing over his mixer and chatting with the crowd over his signature funk-heavy sets. Or that DJ Eleven, the strongest technically (and most unassuming despite the fact that he looms over his fellow partners), has the keenest ear for r&b and dancehall. DJ Ayres is the friendliest (and funniest) of the bunch, and regardless of his ventures into dance music, his selection constantly reminds us that he’s a hip-hop nerd at heart. In fact, hip-hop is the constant of the party, and the one of the many reasons that half of Brooklyn can’t seem to stay away from the monthly throw down at Southpaw.
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Moombahton (pronounced moom-buh-tone) may be from D.C., but it’s not exactly of D.C: The essential summery vibe of his music, after all, comes from the Netherlands and a variety of Latin sounds. Dave Nada’s Moombahton peers, likewise, owe little to the Potomac basin. Within a month of his first Internet posting of Moombahton tracks, DJs elsewhere created their own versions. Even the Moombahton Massive gig featured artists from Alberta and New York, not to mention a 21-year-old Dutch wunderkind named Munchi.

Moombahton could never belong to D.C., because it almost immediately belonged to the Web.

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