As we all wait for me to get off my ass and record a new podcast episode, I thought I'd post a couple of short (30-40 min) promotional radio mixes in I did in the summer of 2007 for Minneapolis-Saint Paul's 89.3 FM "The Current."  This particular radio station has a reputation in the Twin Cities for playing a less-commercial, more-independent selection of music (you know, since it's "member supported").  In practice, I think, they were only slightly better than other radio stations.  To their credit, they did have a couple specialty shows, including a particularly good hip hop show done by Kevin Beacham (another WNUR alum)--but their only outlet for house and techno was a 30 minute mix slot on Friday nights.  Anyway, these two mixes were played in May and June of 2007 to promote the short-lived run of ODDIOFILE nights at the now defunct Foundation Nightclub (RIP).

OdDio - "Abicah Soul Promo Mix" (LISTEN/DOWNLOAD)

OdDio - "ODDIOFILE Fridays Promo Mix" (Listen/Download)

One of the reasons these two parties were especially exciting for me, and worthy of the extra promotional efforts, was that both of these guys were friends and mentors, and had had an important musical influence on me when I was living in Chicago from 1997-2002.  Gene was a frequent guest on my show on WNUR, and Stax was such a frequent guest that in no time he became the show's co-host.  Both of them introduced me to a whole lot of great labels and artists, and hanging out and playing records with them constituted an important apprenticeship.

I hadn't seen either of them in several years.  In the meantime, Stax had been making a name for himself.  He had given me his first single produced under the name Abicah Soul (The Abicah Soul EP) shortly before I left Chicago, and he was already well on his way to becoming the talented, prolific producer he is today.  But in 2006 and 2007 he was blowing up, on everyone's top ten lists, getting remix requests from Dennis Ferrer and Osunlade, etc.  Anyway, there was a lot to celebrate, and putting together this "tribute" mix of all of my favorite "Abicah Soul" records was a pleasure.  I didn't have enough of Gene's records to do the same for him, so I sent "The Current" a warm, summer set featuring Fort Knox Five, Shazz, Dubtribe Sound System, Mo'Horizons, and other things of that nature.  By the way, Gene Hunt is pretty much the most fun out-of-town guest ever.  I was laughing from the moment I picked him up at the airport until late the next morning when, severly hungover, exhuasted, and beginning to feel that my cell phone was yet another "casualty of the night," I called myself--only to have Gene, in his hotel room, pick up.  The good news was we didn't exactly make it to the airport in time, so he got to stay a little longer.