Upcoming Gigs:
The Sol Power All-Stars are twice-monthly residents at Tropicalia in Washington, DC
Booking:
info [at] solpowerdc [dot] com
Crazy & The Kalico Band - Tarshika (Meistro Sol Power Edit)
Just posted a new Sol Power treat for the masses. On a recent work trip to Trinidad, the wifey scooped up some records for me (I did pretty good, huh?). This joint stood out but needed some heft for a modern dance floor. It’s a pretty massive tune, with a ridiculous break, so it didn’t need too much tinkering — just a DJ-friendly edit, some added percussion, and a few other subtle tricks.
Enjoy!
Turns out Crazy is still at it (and looking pretty damn crazy):
Crazy soca 2012 music video He Mad from KWV Media House on Vimeo.
One of the Sol Power All-Stars got married. He arrived on a horse. Congrats Ramona and Marc!
The Sol Power squad will be split up this Friday. Stylus at SWENKA. Meistro holding down Shrine at Tropicalia with lil’dave. Both events are within five blocks of each other. Make it an intercontinental bar-hopping dance night.
Shrine w/ The Sol Power All-Stars
Friday, Sept. 28
Tropicalia
2001 14th St. NW Washington DC 20009
10pm - 3 am
ABSOLUTELY FREE. No cover all night.
Get there early for the Tim Maia worldwide birthday celebration with DJ Neville C (Som Records, DC)
African System Orchestra - My Dear (Meistro Sol Power Remix)
Here’s a new one for ya. I’ve had this record for a bit and always loved the original. But it needed more for a modern dancefloor. It had the groove, just not the boom.
So I edited down, rearranged, added a LOT of percussion, some effects…and voila.
Stream it below, or click the “Download here” button, which will direct you to our fan page…if you “like” us there, you get the track! Capiche?
Top Ten All-time Sol Power joints: #7 Magic System - Premier Gaou (Bob Sinclar Le Bisou Dub)
#7: Magic System - Premier Gaou (Bob Sinclar Le Bisou Dub)
Absolutely massive throughout West Africa and in France when it dropped in 1999, Bob Sinclar gave “Premier Gaou” new life with a set of remixes in 2001. Magic System continue to be very popular in their native Côte d’Ivoire and in Africa, but never really achieved the massive success of this 1999 single.
While the original is undeniably great, house master Sinclar added just the right thump to this for the club. We’ve been dropping this since the Dahlak days and it never fails to set the floor into a frenzy, especially if there are West Africans in the building.
Lucky for you, there is no youtube video of the Sinclar remix. So you get a download:
Top Ten All-time Sol Power joints: #10 Flavour - Nwa Baby (Ashawo remix)
The August 11th Sol Power is important for a couple of reasons:
1) It marks 3 years of Sol Power parties in this fine city; and
2) It is the last Sol Power with Deep Sang as a DC resident (for now). He will make the trip back for as many Sol Power gigs as he can, but I for one know that grad school can be pretty demanding. Help us send him off in style.
(note: The August Sol Power is on the 11th — the SECOND Saturday)
With this in mind, we decided to countdown the top ten all-time Sol Power dance floor bangers. All styles (we play a lot of them), all eras (we probably cover 40-50 years in most Sol Power sets). So, without further ado…
#10: Flavour - Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix)
Sometimes a huge hit in Africa will have a regional impact, but this Flavour joint was a smash in many countries throughout the continent. That’s rare, but speaks to how catchy this song is even if you don’t understand what he is saying. Banned by many radio stations in Nigeria (they have Censorship Boards over there), Flavour discusses leaving a love behind only to return and find that she betrayed him while he was away. And Flavour has some less-than-endearing words for her that we here at Sol Power do not condone (Ashawo is not a nice thing to call a woman).
I’ve dropped this at all kinds of gigs in DC and it works every time. Especially when Africans (or Peace Corp alums who volunteered in Africa) are in the building.
Check the video below and cop the joint here
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Meistro is playing a house set at ESL this Saturday with Farid in the Gold Room! Sol Power favorites the Whiskey Barons holding down the main room! See you on the dance floor!
Idan K & The Movement of Rhythm
You might recognize Idan K & The Movement of Rhythm from some of our live mixes. I met Idan I think in 2007 in Tel Aviv and he gave me a cd of some of his unreleased joints, which haven’t left my play crate since. I helped him shop his then unreleased LP around a bit to the limited label connects I had, but, to my surprise, no one bit. Eventually it did come out on very small independent label whose name is escaping me, but, as far as I could tell, it wasn’t really promoted. I’m not sure what happened — it’s not on the big digital retail sites anymore— but you can still cop it direct from the Idan K & The Movement of Rhythm bandcamp page. Go get em!
And check them crushing it live in Israel!
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The Best of Quantic / J-Rocc mix
What if I released an instant classic soulful / jazzy dance LP when I was just old enough to drink? And then I followed it up with another the very next year? And then I got a little bored, so the year after that I started a full funk / soul ensemble and unleashed another instant classic? And then I realized I could do it all at once, and got back to producing and remixing. I’m gonna collaborate with a veteran soul vocalist too. What if I then I got a little bored at home, went to Puerto Rico, and recorded another dance floor smash that Apple happened to really dig too?
You know, after that, what if I decided that I wanted to release another solo LP (I think I’ll put some Brazilian bangers on this one), then get back with my Soul Orchestra, but this time put out a Latin funk LP? You know, funk and soul were cool, but I want to move to Columbia and form a new band and focus on cumbia, dub, and reggae (all at the same time). What if I then released two LPs with them? And a handful of singles too?
And what if, after that happened, I decided I really dug Columbia. I’m gonna start a new band and release another instant classic.
Un Canto a Mi Tierra from Quantic on Vimeo.
Sorry — I forgot to ask: What if, while doing this, I put together countless remixes, singles, mix cds, and a hip hop / cumbia side project?
Well, if I had done all that (within 10 years!!!), plus a bunch of other stuff I didn’t have space to mention, I would be Will Holland aka Quantic. Tru Thoughts (very appropriately), just released a Best of Quantic LP and, to help promote it, The World Famous Beat Junkie J Rocc did a little best of Quantic mix that you can stream or download below
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