Quantic & Nickodemus - Mi Swing Es Tropical

A friend of mine hooked me up with a link to mixtapes they've done under the name of True Note DJs. They made these mixes consisting of all things groovy (rap, latin sounds, funk, breaks and whatnots) to promote the great parties they were throwing. If you're interested in the mixtapes, go get 'em here.

The second mixtape kicks off with one of my favorite tunes of 2005, Mi Swing Es Tropical by Quantic & Nickodemus. Yes, it's the track used for the iPod ad. This tune is especially convenient for these gloomy and cold winter days. It keeps me going though I'm freezing my nuts off standing on the bus stop in a blizzard. The reggae remix by ZEB does the trick as well. And yeah, it's okay to enjoy these tracks though you're fortunate enough to live in a warm and pleasant climate.

Quantic & Nickodemus - Mi Swing Es Tropical feat. Tempo & Candela Allstars [320 kbps]

Quantic & Nickodemus - Mi Swing Es Tropical (ZEB's Reggae Remix) [320 kbps]

Sharon Jones - How Long Do I Have To Wait For You (Ticklah Remix)

More Daptone greatness on boogiebanger.blogspot.com. I already mentioned Scion AV's Daptone remix project in my previous post. Ticklah, who used to play in The Dap-Kings but has since moved on to play in Antibalas, was asked to do a remix of some Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings' tune for this project. He chose their banging soul groover How Long Do I Have To Wait For You. Ticklah took the vocals and played all the instruments himself and created an amazing reggae tune that is completely different from the original banger. Like mentioned before, the remix appears on this compilation and on a Daptone 7" with a solid dub version on the flip side. If you're feeling this remix, you might wanna check out this one as well.

Sharon Jones - How Long Do I Have To Wait For You (Ticklah Remix) [320 kbps]

The Budos Band - Chicago Falcon (The Washington Sq. Lads Remix) feat. Wale

Because Make The Road By Walking was so amazing I've been listening to other Daptone related stuff a lot lately and rediscovered a nice remix of The Budos Band's track Chicago Falcon. The band is known for making raw instrumental afrobeat/funk whereas The Washington Sq. Lads Remix is completely different with electronic sounds and raps by Wale but still the remix works really well. The remix is taken from Scion CD Sampler Vol. 19. If you're not familiar with Scion AV, check it out. These samplers are part of Toyota's guerilla marketing campaign. The compilations are usually full of good tunes from independent labels. It would be nice to see more marketing campaigns like this one.

The Budos Band - Chicago Falcon (The Washington Sq. Lads Remix) feat. Wale [320 kbps]

Here's a cool video (made by pakratNYC) for The Volcano Songs that appears on The Budos Band's self-titled debut album (2005).

a little princess room & my first give-a-way winner!

And the winner is ~ Janie for my first give-a-way. Yeah! The elves are singing and lighting firecrackers. Boom, boom, kaboom! Soooo much excitement in the air! Congratulations Ms Janie!!!:o)

I gave Janie options for the give-a-way. She choose a acrylic rendering of her nursery. I painted her nursery a few years ago & her twins are grown and ready to have their own room and this is going to be a keepsake for her to treasure for years.

Each of the twins beds had a canopy, for the little girl a pretty pink castle and the little boy had a little brown & white dog on his. This room was so much fun to add special touches with my brushes. Congratulations again Janie and I'll get out to you a quick sketch for approval before painting your keepsake.

This last week I have been a tad busy with the start of this little princess room. I am having a lovely time ,excluding my neck %!*#ouch!!!). To tell you a little bit about this little princess, she loves pinks, lavender & blue ~which her mom says today it's her favorite color. In her room she wants a pretty princess, lots of glitter and sparkles.

This above image is of the princess' carriage, if you look through the window you will see the princess castle. I still have LOTS to do, the walls are going to have white stripes with little pink flowers. The coffered ceiling is painted a beautiful shade of lavender which I will paint soft clouds and put lots of magical stars and on top of the stars will be small touches of glow-in-the-dark paint. I am going to paint a canopy over the bed with a crown with lots of rhinestones and more glitter with some zebra pull backs & some more SPARKLES. I have a princess to paint next to her dresser, a chandelier, family dog on black iron pedestal and lastly a picture of ballerina slippers under the chandelier. I am sure I am missing something.

A close-up of the lantern on the carriage. I think I should add more dripping wax on the bottom. hmmm and maybe more glitter. More magical I think is better for this princess. She loves helping me with the glitter and the crystals.

Close-up of the castle scene. Tell me your thoughts on this room and also if I'm forgetting anything that a princess should have. Well I am off to take a long hot shower and an evening of rest before tomorrow.

Au revoir! ~Miss Kris~

J.Rocc - Cooking Ingredients

Cooking Ingredients is a newish (spring 2008) mixtape by J.Rocc. I love the selection of the mix though I'm unfamiliar with many of the tracks...or maybe that's the very reason that makes it so great. J.Rocc mixes some really obscure jazzy funk and soul with style and grace typical of him. The mood of the mixtape is laid back and occasionally pretty hazy (in a good way) and then boom, all of a sudden you're run over by a killer break. Great stuff!

By the way, J.Rocc started a new blog last month. It's worth checking out. So far there's some Beat Junkies and Melo-D related stuff...surprise and a couple of mixes. Hopefully he keeps updating the blog.

J.Rocc - Cooking Ingredients [128 kbps]

Marvin Gaye - Turn On Some Music

"Now when the music starts,

I'm gonna groove you slow and quiet."

Midnight Love was Marvin Gaye's last album (1982). He made a great comeback with it before his tragic death. He wrote and produced some great tunes for the album. There's more to it than Sexual Healing, for example my favorite Turn On Some Music. It's an overlooked song that highlights Gaye's majestic and sensual voice. I don't know if it's just me or can you hear his life long problem of being torn between bible and bedroom from his voice on this track.

Marvin Gaye - Turn On Some Music [320 kbps]

Btw, if some of you happen to have the instrumental version of Erick Sermon's Music, I would love to have it. The song isn't anything special but I could use the beat on something.

Erick Sermon - Music feat. Marvin Gaye [320 kbps]

Patrice Rushen - Straight From The Heart

Straight From The Heart is Patrice Rushen's best and also commercially most successful album. It was released by Elektra in 1982. The album is best known (a bit too well known after Will Smith abused the tune) for the catchy hit Forget Me Nots. The album is a solid mix of melodic poppish r'n'b and smooth boogie/disco approach. If you exclude Breakout, I'm feeling all the tracks on the album. My favorites of the bunch are I Was Tired Of Being Alone, an upbeat boogiesh tunes and Remind Me which has been sampled on a lot of good songs, my favorite of those being Common's Reminding Me (Of Sef).

Patrice Rushen - I Was Tired Of Being Alone (Glad I Got Cha) [320 kbps]

Patrice Rushen - Remind Me [320 kbps]

Paul Nice - Journey To The Centre Of The Beats

Paul Nice is one of those talented DJs/producers that are consistently putting out excellent stuff but never get enough props for their work. If you aren't familiar with Paul Nice you got a lot of listening to do. Check out his excellent mixtapes Soul On The Grill vol 1 & 2, Sade Blends, Breaks For Days...the list is long.

The tracks that I'm sharing today are taken from Journey To The Centre Of The Beats released by Antidote Records in 2004. The mixtape contains some freestyles, blends and remixes. It's not as soild as Paul Nice's other stuff but the dubbed remix/mash-up of The Message impressed me back in the day and it still works for me. It really takes balls to change the beats of a Grandmaster Flash joint but Paul Nice pulls it off in style.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (Paul Nice's Super Duty Bootleg Mash-Up) [320 kbps]

Sugarhill Gang - Paul Nice's Megamix [320 kbps]

Videos courtesy of MTV's music search.

Resense 006 12"

So far an Austrian label RESENSE has released eight EP's of great re-edits, mashups and other amazing funky latin stuff. RESENSE 006 is a 12" that consists of four latin flavored bossa brekabeat dancefloor monsters by The Captain, Sono Rhizmo, Palov & Mishkin and Mario's Tuna. I used to listen to this EP a lot last summer and now that the weather is cold, wet and gloomy at the headquarter of boogiebanger.blogspot.com it reminds me of those days in the sun and keeps me going.

The Captain - Every Man [320 kbps]

Sono Rhizmo - My House [320 kbps]

~Sweet Dreams~

(courtesy of Home and Garden)

It is time to dream of pretty embroidered linens, soft floral prints, sumptuous satins and delicate laces. I love everything about this bedroom. Look at the lovely picture frame over the headboard and the painted harlequin pattern floor. I also think the canopy panels are done in a natural silk taffeta. Love Taffeta, I think I could have taffeta window treatments in every room of my home!!!

(courtesy of Home and Garden)

This lovely bedroom is covered in layers of beautiful floral pink prints. The walls seem to be painted in soft pinky peach and washed in white which seems to give it a beautiful cloudy effect.

(courtesy of Home and Garden)
Ohhhh, i love the carving and the caning of this bed all painted in white. In this volatile market we might just be able to find something close in style at a consignment shop. And with a fresh coat of white paint and some vintage quilts this might actually be achievable

I love English gardens. And this beauty takes me right there. I could definitely achieve sweet dreams here.

This room is so sweet. I love all the quilting, from the bed skirts to the bedding and the pretty soft grey blue one resting upon the white iron frame. My favorite is the pretty white lacey top sheet. This is one item I can never do without ~ white sheets. Also white towels ~ Love them!

A darling bed for a little girl. I love the baskets under the bed to place all those little lost toys for the night.


This room is so pretty and soft. For me though I need just a bit more color or umph... Maybe just a tad lighter on the walls could do it for me or perhaps a white wash strip. What do you think?



I could definitely make this my spare bedroom. I love the pops of pink, just enough umph (color).

I do love canopies, having one as a tot, I always felt safe. Do you notice the wood beams on the left side of the picture? I can almost in vision a wood burning fireplace in the corner. What a lovely!

Wow! This room is all about different textures done in whites and pinks. My favorite is the large pink check on the headboard/foot board and chair. What room is your favorite?

I hope everyone has sweet dreams this weekend!

~Miss Kris~

Tuomo - Don't Take It Too Hard

Active readers of BoogieBanger might have noticed the lack of posts lately. That's due to some EPIC problems with computers. First my external hard drive fell into pieces and I lost my backup copies and the majority of my vinyl rips. And then before I had time to buy a new external HD, the hard drive of my MacBook broke down and I lost ALL my files. Because I had Tiger as a OS instead of Leopard so I'm not able to recover the files. Well, now I'm back in business trying to get my schitt together but it will take time.

In addition to all this whining I hooked you up with a couple of excellent tunes. Tuomo Prättälä is a young Finnish pianist/composer/singer who influences in various great ensembles, e.g. Quintessence. Last year Tuomo released his debut solo album entitled My Thing. The songs that I'm sharing are taken from that album. Don't Take It Too Hard is an amazing upbeat northern soul banger in the spirit of Curtom Records. 26 is a more laid back tune that stresses Tuomo's skills as a vocalist. In my opinion he's easily the best blue-eyed soul singer of the 21st century.

Tuomo - Don't Take It Too Hard [320 kbps]

Tuomo - 26 [320 kbps]

Holiday GIVE AWAY! yup, that's right!

North Pole

(18x24" canvas with wooden dowel and ribbons)

This is my 2008 Christmas Collection, all are hand-painted, sprinkled with lots of Love & drizzling with lots sparkles. My north pole hand-painted wall hanging was actually introduced last year & I decided to include it in this years collection. It is still my favourite.

Candy Faerie Land

(18x24" canvas with wooden dowel and ribbons)

This is my new hand-painted wall hanging, 3 little candy cane faeries, crystallized Christmas ornaments with special words like "Wish", "believe" & "twinkle" on them. Lots of sugar candies laying around in the crisp, fresh snow. Finished off in candy coated swirls. Sugar Kisses.

Red nosed reindeer

(12x17" hand-carved wood)

This little cute reindeer is surround by berries with holly and pretty white snow flakes. With a tiny touch of gold. And you can pick your own saying or perhaps a little ones name from Nana with 2008 included.

Cutie Snow Angel

(12x17" hand carved wood)

A cute snow angel with lots of snow flakes and a tiny touch of gold. You can also specify another saying instead of Happy Holidays.

Sugar Faerie

(12x17" hand carved wood)

This sugar faeries is holding a little box and is surrounded by lots of candy. Candy canes and sugar drops...mmmmm

I would love to hear what you think of my new Christmas items. I'm planning a give away from my Christmas Collection this week. All the names of those of you who comment on my items will be placed in the hat for the drawing. The drawing will close Sunday (11/17) by 11pm central time.

~Miss Kris~

A Pink Pretty

This is a Pink Pretty my Mom made and I wanted to share with everyone. My mom is a wonderful needle pointer. She spends her retired days stitching all sorts of pretties. This is one of my favorites and she won 1st prize!

My passion for painting and designing has come from her. She has a wonderful eye for color and as a tot I loved going to the stiching store to help pick out threads. I can't wait for her to get her Christmas tree up so I can share all her needle point stockings with you. They are small and sweet & come in all sorts of colours and are very eceltic.

I'd love to hear what passions you have that were helped upon the way from your parents or grandparents.

May you have a great day!

~Miss Kris~

Fairy Princess Dreams part deux

These are more images from the Fairy Princess Room ~ actually the Princess Bathroom. Way up, up in the clouds, lives lots of faeries. This magical faerie town is drizzling with crystals, sequins & lots of glitter. All the stars are finished off in a crystal and glow-in-the-dark paint. A darling bathroom fit only for a princess.

Princess Zebra Flower Clock~It's a real clock

more towers with lots of windows & a trees.

This wonderful family enjoyed the summer in Venice and they all made masks & this princess had the most colourful mask, hmmm, I wonder if this room inspired her, nope! It was the princess who inspired me. I love little ones imaginations. They have such wonderful ideas. Thank you Princess Maggie!!! Well, that completes this mural tour & I hope you enjoyed this lovely princess room?

May everyone have a GREAT WEEKEND!

~Miss Kris~

Fairy Princess Dreams

Today I finally had the chance to go back & take more pictures of this mural I finished awhile ago.

This room was completely inspired by a four year old wonderful imagination. She told me everything she wanted in her room. A few princesses, lots of animals, from elephants, rhino, hippo, zebra, giraffe, red panda (Lincoln Park Zoo has one) and so many more. Castles, rainbows and also a lovely white swan. Since this little princess loved animals I made them come to life completely dressed for the occasion, dressed in lots of jewels! In the end this room was drizzling in lots of crystals, sequin and lots of glitter. What a lucky little princess...

And more pictures!

Bunk bed topped with a beautiful tiara corona with pretty feathers, beads & more crystals.

When painting trees, on the darker leaves I suggest painting a top coat of light green glitter paint, this gives a really special effect. Makes a magical space for any princess!

May everyone have a great Princess day!

~Miss Kris~

Funky president

Congratulations for making the right choice. Way to go!

Fabulous Souls - Take Me

Take Me by an obscure touring funk combo Fabulous Souls is a great organ lead funky charger with nice interchanges of female and male vocals. Lamp Records released the tune on a 7" originally in 1971 and Stones Throw reissued it in 2002. The single itself is worth buying but the art work of the package is equally amazing.

If you feel like dancing to this tune but you don't have the right moves let this guy help.

Fabulous Souls - Take Me [320 kbps]

Red,White & Blue

Don't forget to vote, Americans!

The world is watching and soon we will have a new president elect for The United States of America. It is going to be a very exciting day!

~Miss Kris~

COCO *ALERT*

Hi Everyone! I apologize if I am behind but, "Have you heard yet?" that Audrey Tautou is playing Coco Chanel in an upcoming movie expected to be out sometime next year (2009) titled Coco before Chanel. It is still in it's pre-production stage. I can not wait to see it!!! I am saying it again I can not wait to see it!

My reason why I can not wait to see the Audrey Tautou movie is, I fell in love with another version of Coco Chanel's life on The Lifetime Channel staring Shirley MacLaine as the older Coco and an actress I never heard of until now ~ the lovely Barbora Bobulova as the younger Coco. It was a WONDERFUL movie!!! So romantic and the scenes were so beautiful. I never knew too much about Coco Chanel but she had a beautiful story to tell besides just about her clothing/products etc. If you have seen the Lifetime Movie version let me know your thoughts on it.

***Spoiler Alert*** Don't read this paragraph if you have not yet seen the Lifetime movie. Coco and Etienne Balsan were so wonderful together! In that, the Lifetime version I saw. I want to believe that they would have ended up together. Someday. If it wasn't for his untimely death. sigh sigh...

Please let me know if anyone has heard anymore about the Audrey Tautou movie ~ Coco before Chanel or if you have any comments about the Lifetime Movie about Coco Chanel

~Miss Kris~

Coffee Breaks, pt. 5

What do you get when you take the best features of The Dap Kings, El Michels Affair, The Budos Band and Antibalas and mix them all together. The answer is my favorite LP of the year Make The Road By Walking by Menahan Street Band. The sound on the album is something amazing and what's even more amazing is that the album was recorded in Tommy Brenneck's bedroom on Menahan Street, Brooklyn.

The album came out just recently but the title song was released on a 7" already in 2006. Like so many times before Jay-Z was on the spot when hearing Make The Street By Walking. Or actually it was Diddy's Hitmen who found the tune and passed it to Jay-Z. You'll find more info on that here. I haven't been very impressed by Hova's production in the last couple of years but I dig Roc Boys or actually the whole album.

Menahan Street Band - Make The Road By Walking [320 kbps]

Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...) [320 kbps]

Chairman Mao & Citizen Kane - The Greatest Part

I haven't posted a mixtape for a while so I decided to make it up by sharing one of the best soul/funk/disco mixes out there. This one dates back to 2002 and it was put together by Chairman Mao & Citizen Kane. All the tunes are solid gold and it's mixed together with finesse. What else can you expect from these guys.

I can't offer you a comprehensive tracklist since it doesn't appear on the sleeve notes. Most of the tracks I've spotted but there are some obscure ones I haven't yet identified so you'll be left with some record nerd detective work to do if you wanna find all the artist and the titles on the tape. You'll find at least one tune that I've posted on this blog earlier.

If you're feeling The Greatest Part, you'll most likely digg Selects 001, another great mixtape by the same duo. Check out also Chairman Mao's new solo mixtape Run For Cover featuring cover versions of both classic and obscure soul tunes. You'll find more of Mao's thouhgts on the mixtape and DJing from this article. And here's a good interview with Citizen Kane.

EDIT: When writing this I should have remembered to recommend Citizen Kane's excellent mix Adult Section but for some reason didn't remember to mention it. Go get it, it's worth it. It's available for purchase for example on Turntablelab.com

Chairman Mao & Citizen Kane - The Greatest Part [zip-file, click to download]

Bastide de Charme

Hi Everyone! I am sharing with you one of my all time favorite images of a home from the Bouches du Rhone area in southern France. This magazine (Maison Francaise Juin 99) has traveled with me from my time in St Louis Missouri & even sorta inspired my first mural in the furniture store I was a buyer for. I'll share that mural with you in a later post.

If my foyer had similar architecture I would love for it to look exactly like this. Not one single change. I love the iron chandelier. The tiled floor. OMG the iron railing! And I love LOVE LOVE the walls. Such lovely shades of soft greens & robin's egg blue mixed in with beautiful simple touches of gold. And the sky ceiling~so soft. I would never leave my foyer.

Plus, I would love to paint this! It would be a few days of heaven for me!

~Sorry about the images~

The soft green & robin's egg blue walls is being carried into the parlor with the beautiful gold touches again. I'm not into the bright color so much but this is stunning to my eyes. I love the double french door in a celedon wash. It just feels like HEAVEN!


The garden grounds. The statues just beautiful! The rustic iron door knocker is so charming against the lovely shade of the French Blue Door.


So lovely! I can almost feel the sunset against my face. OK, I'm just dreaming for a bit.
I love the cute lanterns reflecting off the beautiful patina of the stone terrace and the water. Lovely!

So that is it. Thank you for taking this journey with me! Let me know your thoughts of this place?

Have a great day Everyone!

~Miss Kris~