Welcome to our weekly column, "Staff Picks," in which we ask the staffers at our favorite book, music, and movie stores around to town to share with us what they're reading, listening to, and watching this week. We figure they're good people to ask. Today we're checking in with Bret Winans at East Village record/DJ supply store Turntable Lab to find out what he's been listening to on repeat.
Bret says: "Usje Sukatma, Waiting For Your Love 7": We get a lot of great stuff from Andrew Morgan who runs the People’s Potential Unlimited label. Usually it’s of the boogie funk variety, but this time around he’s unearthed something even more unique. Usje Sukatma's uber-obscure 1983 release Satra-Neti of rare Surinamese vocoder disco! The two sides are pretty different from each other with "Waiting For Your Love" laying out some seriously smooth disco and "Pepundenku” delivering the tropical vibes. Recommended summertime listening.
William Onyeabor, Anything You Sow LP: The original 1985 release of this William Onyeabor's 1985 album Anything You Sow is no easy find. It regularly fetches around $150 on the used market when it does pop up. Thankfully it was recently reissued. Perhaps it has something to do with Caribou sampling the opening cut, "When The Going Is Smooth And Good", for his “Ye Ye” track under his Daphni alias. Anyway, this is not your run of the mill Nigerian funk reissue. The sounds on Anything You Sow are particularly unique. With his battery of synthesizers Onyeabor crafts an eclectic afro-electro-disco-soul feel. An enjoyable listen from end to end.
KZA, Le Troublant Acid 12": Le Troublant Acidcame out last year on Endless Flight’s label showcase I'm Starting To Feel Okay Vol. 4. Built around a sample from French actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi’s turn as Paul Martin, the track has a really sentimental feel. KZA slowly builds on the loop, adding in a little arpeggio and eventually dropping the chorus from the original tune. This is a really exciting tune to play out and a favorite of mine at the moment.
Turntable Lab // 120 E. 7th St // (212) 677-0675 // online
