Happy Birthday, Michael Jackson!

Today would have been the King of Pop’s 53rd birthday. Sad face. Luckily we can still remember him and his music (and try to forget about those crazy years towards the end there). Every year around this time, DJ BMF gathers his friends for a proper commemoration, Phat ‘N Jazzy style. This year, the 3rd Annual Michael Jackson Tribute Party is this Friday, September 2, at The Social and features Gerry Williams and Swamburger to name a few. It’s always one of my favorite parties of the year, hands down. So dust off your fedoras and get ready to dance, shout and shake your body down to the ground.

Rest in peace, MJ. We <3 you!!!

Lif + Larva

If you’re feeling political and hip-hop-y, don’t miss Def Jux's golden boy, Mr. Lif at The Social.



If you’re feeling artsy and bugged out, check out Doug Rhodehamel’s latest art installment, Larva (Get it? Bugged out? Larva? Anyways.) over at Will's Pub.



Here are the copy/paste-style details since the flyer is a tad small.

LARVA
an installation by Doug Rhodehamel

Will's Worm! Will's Worm! Party Time! Excellent!

On Tuesday May 26th I will create a giant, inflated, larva-like structure in the lovely Orlando Florida cozy spot that is Will's Pub.

This will be my first attempt at something like this. If all goes well, it should look really really cool!

Speaking of really cool, A Scissors, as well as Algarhythm will be making some music!

All for the unbelievable price of FREE!

Recap:

- Big air filled Larva.
- Music by: A Scissors.
- Free!

See? Not a single hater remark in this post! Aren't you proud of me? It doesn't matter - my opinions are what make this blog worth reading. You know you love it.

See Kid Koala for Free

The post-WMC haze is in effect but that's not always a bad thing for us Orlando-ians, especially since we still get a few DJs to pass through our town on their way home from Miami. Tomorrow night turntablist extraordinaire, Kid Koala, will be visiting Phat-N-Jazzy before leaving the Sunshine State. Tickets range from $12 to $14, or you can send an RSVP to RSVP@thesocial.org for free entry. (Only confirmed RSVPs will be valid and you have to be 21+.)



PS... I'll try to be better about posting ahead of time. I am the queen of procrastinating.

Obama vs. McCain -- Your Options for Getting Wasted on Election Night

Ummm, do I even have to say it??? IF YOU HAVEN'T VOTED, YOU BETTER GET THE FUCK OUT THERE AND DO IT. This election is WAY TOO IMPORTANT so PLEASE DON'T THROW YOUR VOTE AWAY! I waited an hour and a half last week to vote early so you have ZERO excuses. (Unless you're voting for McCain. Then you can stay home.)



By now you must know that we here at Don't Sleep Orlando are backing Mr. Obama as our new fearless leader. Actually, I guess I can only speak for myself but I would assume Mel-a-Monster is down with the O-man too. So where can you party down (or, in the unlikely case of a Republican victory, drown your sorrows) on election night? Read on.

Before we get down to where you should spend your evening, I suggest you download this song, play it on repeat and then send every goddamn good vibe and positive thought to Obama as humanly possible.

Nas - Black President.mp3

Now, on to the festivities. Phat-N-Jazzy is hosting an Election Night Special with the 10-piece band of Gerry Williams. According to his Myspace page, his influences include Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Al Green, Johnny Guitar Watson and Prince, so you can't really go wrong there.



Over at the Matador, C. U. Next. Tuesday will be holding another election party to either "attempt to fix the last eight years or one hundred more in Iraq." Let's hope for the former.



And finally, while I do not usually support or endorse the lameness that is Church Street, the hip hop duo of DJ Y-Not and Dolo will be playing their election night street party. Warning: you may be surrounded by super-white republicans, but at least the music will be tight.

And download Y-NOT's latest mix of super awesome presidentialness to get you in the spirit!

And on a completely unrelated Halloween note, I had the best costume of all time: Stevie Wonder.



Yes We Can... Change the World!

Hip Hop Tuesday

B-boys and b-girls rejoice! Tonight you've got a full agenda as two special tours hit up our city on the same night.

Start out your evening by making the trek out to Disney property (I guarantee it will be worth it) for The Roots, Gym Class Heroes and Estelle performing at House of Blues.



Wash it down at with a special Phat-N-Jazzy over at The Social. The Smash Mouf tour (no, not the shitty band that sings "Walking On The Sun") is promoting the collaboration between Roc C from Stones Throw and IMakeMadBeats as The Transcontinental. Check the flyer for more info.

DJ SPS + Isaac Hayes Tribute + Swingers

Second Place Sucks, ya'll.
Those in the mood for cuts and scratches -- no, not from a bar fight or your pissed-off girlfriend, but of the DJ variety -- should (hip) hop over to The Social where Phat-N-Jazzy's special guest will be 2008 DMC USA Supremacy Champion, DJ SPS.



Hot Buttered Soul
At The Peacock Room, DJs Nigel and Saint Christopher will be hosting a very special tribute party for Black Moses himself, Isaac Hayes. Believe it or not, his music extends far beyond anything from Shaft or Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls and these guys are ready to take you through his legacy.



Vegas, Baby. Vegas.
Also playing tonight at the Enzian Theater is Swingers, the cult classic and prequel to Made. Catch it again on the big screen and see if they say "that's money" a lot this time (hint: they will).

Tonight: DRM and Kidgusto

My apologies for the brief-ness... I am mega-bogged down. No witty commentary today -- all I can muster is a flyer and some links. Sorry!!!



Check out Phat-N-Jazzy for DJ DRM and Kidgusto.

I promise more in-depth posts in the future. Until then... :)

An MC Good Enough to Envy

Can Phat-N-Jazzy do anything wrong? Their persistent dedication to bringing the dopest names in hip-hop to our fair city continues to blow my mind. They are always so on it!!! Tonight they maintain their winning streak with the super talented MC/DJ, J-Live.



His first single, Longevity, was made popular by Mark Farina's first Mushroom Jazz mix, released in 1996. It's hard to believe the song could hold up this long and still be as awesome as it was back then, but it is. The title of the track pretty much says it all.

J-Live - Longevity.mp3

Here is a track off his new album, Then What Happened?, which dropped May 27th.

J-Live - The Upgrade (feat. Oddisee and Posdnous).mp3

And finally, while scouring the interwebs for J-Live info, I came across a promo mix from 1997 that gives a great example of what you may hear at The Social this evening.

J-Live Promo Mix (1997).mp3 (via Div Share)

Click the flyer for more info:

Feel Fantabulous

Since my day job has me trapped in post-holiday despair, here is the dealio about tonight via a Myspace bulletin from Phat-N-Jazzy.



tomorrow at phat and jazzy is a great line up...
beef wellington, divinci, swamburger, alex, bmf, and adeem of glue... will all be sharing the same stage at the same time... WOW

AND IT'S FREE... NO COVER
along with the bside artists blessing up the atmosphere.


swamburger

Tonight: Phat 'N Jazzy Presents: The Good Rub

I thought I didn't know who they were until this past Sunday when I was dining unexpectedly at hoity-toity Houston's in Winter Park. The jazz trio that was playing there consisted of a few guys I used to hang with in college: Tony and Willie from The Windham Group (on bass and drums respectively) and Harris from 11 Red Apples on piano. Turns out they are the ones who make up The Good Rub, along with another college friend Brian Mackey (aka "Slackey") on saxophone.

After this bit of information, I highly recommend seeing their new jazz collective at The Social tonight. They are all seasoned musicians who have graced the P-N-J stage in the past, improvising over BMF's DJ sets. Also playing tonight is Peter Baldwin, and resident DJs BMF and Slack.

Tonight: Phat 'N Jazzy with BMF and Q-Burns Abstract Message

What happens when two of Orlando's best DJs team up to create a new brainchild? The answer lies within tonight's episode of Phat-N-Jazzy. Here's some background info:

"From beyond the stars comes the mysterious John Bigbooty, an interstellar super-group prone to dusty vacuum tube beats and distorted hyper-melodies blasted out of hi-fidelity megaphone speakers. Delicious breakbeat buffoonery mingles with hip-hop sample catching in four outrageous studio productions bound to start a dancefloor pogo riot.

John Bigbooty is rumored to be a one-off collaboration between Eighth Dimension stalwarts Q-Burns Abstract Message and DJ BMF arising from a presumed-forgotten session of beer drinking and beat making. It's been unearthed and repackaged for widespread release and is a sure-fire winner for fans of labels like Wall Of Sound, NinjaTune, and Bastard Jazz. Lap it up."



I have to be honest: I'm a fan of both of these DJs but the name John Bigbooty is terrible. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me of a two-person horse costume.



Still, all things aside, the music should be pretty dope. In addition, tonight is also advertised as "Swamburger's Expo Tees" but I'm not really sure what that means. I'm guessing there will be t-shirts to buy. The B-Side Artists will be doing their thing, and Maria Diestro, the driving force behind local house promoters Hoochie Productions, will be celebrating her birthday.

Beer fest + John Beltran + SOS Band + Tittsworth

Blogger power outages and a musical about two witches has left me MIA the past few days. (ADD moment: speaking of MIA, I am absolutely in love with the Soulwax remix of 'Paper Planes,' a song that is normally almost unlistenable. Go download it from Glitter and Gold right now!!!!!) Also, forgive me if I don't link everything below -- I am running late, as usual. Anyways, what was I saying? Oh yes...

This weekend is totally going off. Tonight there's an over-priced Beer Fest taking place at Heritage Square that may be worth checking out. Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes these things can turn into drunken frat boy fests (try saying that five times fast!). Not my scene, jellybean.

The Fast Forward crew will be bringing another one of Ubiquity's golden boys, John Beltran, to DJ at the Peacock Room this evening, alongside Dr. Um and Riverside. Nujazz, soul, funk, broken beat and house music lovers unite!



And on to Saturday's events.

The house kids in this town have been trying to pull together a daytime pool party for ages, and it seems as though it's finally happening on the roof of the Vue building downtown. Not too shabby. The free party goes from 12 - 6 PM with DJs Atnarko, Edson, Rob Slac, Mo Negro, Nat, Buckner and TARD.



Old skool kids can relive their Firestone days for a good cause. Tomorrow night a memorial party will be held for Donald Johnson in an effort to raise money for the family he left behind. The lineup includes Stylus, Sandy, Rob E and more. Click the flyer for full details.



Orlando is on a roll with awesome disco-band reunions -- tomorrow Star 95.4 will host a free block party on Central Ave between Orange and Magnolia. Who's performing? None other than the S.O.S. Band. You know them -- they sing "Baby we can do it, take your time, do it right, we can do it baby, do it tonight!" Since I can't find any awesome funked out photos of the band, here is a great album cover that could have easily been shot last week at a hipster fashion show.



And here are two dope songs from the same album:

S.O.S. Band - You Shake Me Up.mp3
S.O.S. Band - Can't Get Enough.mp3

The big event of the weekend will take place right down the street from the block party. Art and music nerds alike will be flocking to the warehouse space at 630 West Central Ave. for the Pintura International Graffiti Conference. The all-day event begins at noon and will continue until the wee hours of the AM. Headlining the event is Tittsworth; other talent on the bill includes Kittybat, Swamburger, Phat-N-Jazzy Collective, Andrew Spear, MOT, Mega, Cub and a ton more. Find all of the details on WPIentertainment.com and MBArtProjects.com.



Grab the Tittsworth remix of AC/DC at Awkward Pirates (and grab the Crookers version too, it's sick).

And finally, if warehouse graffiti parties aren't your thing, the Peacock Room is hosting its new monthly hair metal party, "Turbo Love Machine," and DJing this month are Anti Social and Angry Asian. Come prepared to rock out with your cock out.

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday

Lately, I've been hearing that Tuesday nights at the Matador are going off. The flyer already makes it awesome.



If you feel like bustin' a move to Kris Kross and Vanilla Ice, Tuesdays are 90's Night at Voyage. According to their Myspace page, they promise "NO Lil' Wayne, NO Rhianna, NO 80s backbeat with a new hip-hop vocal, NO Reggeaton, NO CRAP!!!" Fulfilling this promise tonight will be DJ Y-Not and LT Smash.



Or, join the hip hop kids over at Phat-N-Jazzy with music by BMF and live art from the BSide Artist.

Feliz Cumpleaños, Swamburger

Tonight, the Solillaquists of Sound will be hosting Phat 'N Jazzy to celebrate frontman slash artist Swamburger's birthday bash, and apparently try to get him elected as a public official. Kind of like the time Billy Manes tried to run for mayor. Or not. Either way, Swam and co. will be joining the absolute hands-down best DJ in Orlando (and nicest man on the planet) Mr. BMF for a night celebrating music and art, P-N-J style.