Something Old, Something New, and Something Borrowed

Greetings, loyal readers. You know how I know you're loyal? You stop by after almost 3 months of my own helpless inactivity. For that, I thank you. In case you're wondering where I've been, I've just been trying to rebuild myself from a professional curve ball that has been thrown at me. If it makes it any easier to visualize, my success in life has correlated almost exactly to the 2012-13 Lakers season (ouch). But you know what my man, Slug, says.."When life gives you lemons, you paint that ish gold." This is precisely what I've been doing over the past few months, along with contributing a few posts to the former Orisue blog and most recently, The 5th Element Magazine (shout out to the dopest team, Reach, Ryan, etc).

Anyhow, in the life of a mid to late 20-something, change is inevitable, and one of the most frequent changes I've witnessed among my friends is an exciting one: everyone's getting married. While I'm far from tying the knot with anyone, I do love the joy captured through attending a wedding, which inspired me to present to you some sweet tunes based on the timeless wedding tradition of "Something old, something new, and something borrowed."

Something Old:

Chi-Lites, "That's How Long"



If I were to narrate my autobiography and condense it to 4 minutes or so, I would recruit Just Blaze to lay down the instrumental. I've thought long and hard about this question, and Just Blaze edges out other competitors like The Alchemist and 9th Wonder for this purpose, simply because I love the way he transformed Jay-Z's "December 4th" with this Chi-Lites classic. With opening notes so joyful and regal, it's no wonder this is my favorite old school soul jam at the moment (and an optimistic start to my hypothetical autobiography).

Something New:

Vampire Weekend, "Step"



Ezra Koenig and the boys of Vampire Weekend are back. In fact, their new record, Modern Vampires of the City, is slated for a May 14 release. In the mean time, they're touring with Brookyln electronic duo, Tanlines, and they've released two new music videos. This track has that geeky, collegiate, pristine feel that characterizes many Vampire Weekend songs, and I dig it. Bonus points to Ezra Koenig for studying English Lit at Columbia and making what I assume to be a reference to the Souls of Mischief song, "Step To My Girl" (Anyone else catch that?)

Something Borrowed:

Adrian Younge Presents the Delfonics



A few weeks ago, I heard this excellent interview on NPR, which explored Younge's fascination with the film scores of Ennio Morricone. Coincedentally, I've been playing The Delfonics alot lately, not only because I'm an angsty, lovelorn, stuck-in-the-70s chick, but also because their music sounds especially excellent on vinyl. Adrian Younge would agree. Recently, he's been collaborating with a few artists, including Ghostface. But before the Ghostface collabo was released, he also produced this album with Delfonics lead singer, William Hart, borrowing some of his smooth vocals to recreate the group's timeless sound. While this classic crooner's falsetto isn't entirely intact (Hart is now in his 80's), the subtle imperfections, merged with Young's knack for unique and funky compositions, are what make this record so great. Paying close attention to those minute details, Young also recorded this entirely on analog equipment, mimicking all the little cracks and charming aural blemishes of a vinyl record. Lovely.

Something old, something new, and something borrowed is typically a tradition that is meant to bring good luck to brides. If any of you brides-to-be may be reading this, I wish you the best of luck and a bright future. For everyone else, I just wish you good luck in general, and be sure to pay mind to William Hart when he tells you "Stop, and look, and you have found love." Until next time...