Here's a few new OKP posts from September.

Baraka Noel -The Mixtape Philosophies of Mushroom Black

Kid Koala - Your Moms Favorite DJ

DJ Kayslay and Greg Street - The Champions

I may wear the same shirt for three days, but you better believe that when it comes to accessorizing my music I've shopped around like a trophy wife in Bloomingdales. These two items have become indespensible to my music listening habits.

1.) Grado Labs SR60 headphones - Handmade in Brooklyn, these are the only model in the Grado line that even approach the pocketbook of a still unrealized lotto winner.
2.) Vaja Cases I-Pod case - again, handmade but this time in Argentina. Easily in my exhaustive search one of the most expensive cases available on the market, but absolutely nothing competes with their quality. And, they offer an entire gamut of customizable options and colors to fit every conceivable electronic device. Mine (pictured above) is army green with a brown back.

Check out Living With Music.com. This website is my newest first stop when I'm looking to waste time. It has comprehensive reviews of a whole range of storage options for every form of media imaginable. Not included in the reviews is Boltz, my personal favorite storage system. But I've already demonstrated my love for them by posting a photo of my own unit several entry's below.

Continuum: First Listen
There's a chance this new record may be JM's best yet. Either way, it is without question his most cohesive and acomplished after having only played it through a couple of times. Continuum is the logical evolution of the scented candle reflection of 2003's Heavier Things merging with the Hendrixian posturing of the JM Trio's live release Try. The pyrotechnics are toned down here (save for the "Bold As Love" Hendrix cover) in favor of sizzling late night grooves more in line with his previous studio efforts. Essentially, this feels like a lost Clapton or Sting record from the 80's. Think Nothing Under the Sun or Slowhand and you're pretty much on target. So much so that I have read that same sentiment in several reviews of the record including the same album comparisons. The music is John a little more grown up and stretching his legs within the Adult/Alternative Rock genre more than ever. The lyrics still hold a tinge of the cocksure boy that wrote Inside Wants Out but lean more towards the overarching twists on generalization that made "Daughters" a hit. What is most suprising is the almost uncharacteristic acousitc work. Sure, John is known for his acoustic hits, but "The Heart of Life" lacks his signature sound in favor of a lo-fi lope that very closely resembles McCartney's "Blackbird". "Stop This Train" also draws more from the tone of JM friend and admired artist Teitur than the strummed ballads of Room For Squares. Still, these offerings are strong as well as the album standout "Slow Dancing In A Burning Room," a Bonnie Raitt style heartbreak groove, which may be John's most mature offering to date.

How is is not criminal to even nominate Nick Lachey for anything, but Mos Def can't get on stage and say something that has relevance to the political state of the union without walking off in handcuffs?

Sweet Soul Music

by Peter Guralnick

The definitive history of southern soul. A music always largely under represented in American popular culture that long ago submerged to mostly a cult following of collectors trolling through dusty 45 bins. This book left a pile of scribbled notes beside my bed and scattered along my coffee table full of long lists of artists and records I'd never heard of. The obvious are well represented here (Stax, James Brown, Aretha) but the stories of Goldwax, Johnny Jenkins, and Dan Penn are the reason to dig in. Now if someone would just release the legendary Dan Penn demo's from Fame and American studios.

My only complaint is the more than lacking discography which is comprised almost entirely of bargain bin best of's for all the baby boomers who picked this book up on a whim of nostalgia. For such a thoroughly researched work, the discography could have at least pointed at a few of the less obvious gems instead of just telling readers to pick up James Brown's Polydor comps.

Above Otis Redding protege Arthur Conley performs the books namesake to a German audience in 1966