Ubiquity Loves You!

Ubiquity is one of those record labels that never fail to deliver music of the highest quality, whether it's by way of their amazing reissues on the Luv N' Haight imprint or on the Ubiquity label itself which is home to some of the best funk, hip hop & electronic music you're likely to hear.

I was on their website recently and came across these compilations below, they've gone and selected a bunch of love themed joints from their extensive catalogue resulting in two 'all killer no filler' sets of love makin' & heart breakin' tracks. I can't recommend them enough.

V/A - Ubiquity Loves You

V/A - Ubiquity Loves You Too

DJ Day Talks Jnr High Love Jams, Eloping, Pretty In Pink & Tunes That'll Have You Weeping Like a Baby

I was introduced to the sounds of DJ Day a few years ago by way of his debut album 'The Day Before'. The fact that it was released on one of my fave labels Melting Pot Music was enough for me to pick it up on spec and upon hearing it I wasn't disappointed. It came at a great time as it helped fill a gap in my instrumental hip hop collection that was left when DJ Shadow went hyphy (The Outsider) and RJD2 got behind the mic and did the indie thing (The Third Hand).

Since the release of his debut, Day has gone on to produce some great remixes of Marvin Gaye, People Under The Stairs and Erykah Badu (see below) to name a few, run a great blog - Like a Throttle as well as tour the world with fellow west coast producer DJ Exile, showing off their amazing MPC skills

Day recently took time out from all this busyness as well as working on new business for his eagerly awaited follow up album to answer the Themes For Young Lovers questions, and here it is!

Who & where? - DJ Day, Palm Springs, California

Name 3 songs that would be no-brainers to put on a mixtape for that special someone you were trying to woo -

Off the top from past mixtapes, I'd say:

King Crimson - Cadence and Cascade
Outkast - Prototype
Stereolab - The Flower Called Nowhere

I could (and should) make a whole mix of joints, cause there are far too many to name just 3, here's a bonus Jr. High 3: Surface "Shower Me With Your Love", Whistle "Always and Forever" and The Deele "Two Occasions"

You've turned the lights down low, lit the candles and poured the dom perignon, what LP goes on the stereo?

Marvin Gaye I Want You. Solid all the way through. I have a story to go along with this, but it's not fit to print unless I want to end up living alone in a studio apartment.

What is your fave romantic film of all time?

I'm honestly not a big movie dude, but I'd have to go with Pretty In Pink. Who hasn't been Ducky?

You've just had your heart broken, what's the song/album that you play to ease the pain and get you through?

John Coltrane Ballads.

What song was/or will be played during the first dance at your wedding?

We eloped to Vegas to escape all this kind of schitt, but if I had to choose, I'd go with the classic "Ribbon In The Sky" (Stevie Wonder). It would probably make me weep like a baby at my own wedding, but it gets no better.

Who's music do you think has played the biggest part in helping increase the world's population over the years, Al Green, Barry White or Marvin Gaye?

That's a tough one for sure (where's The Isley Brothers?), but I'd have to go with Marvin on sheer personal experience.

and finally What's your fave guilty pleasure/cheesiest love song?

Personally, I don't think they're cheesy, but Todd Rundgren's "Hello It's Me" or Ambrosia's "That's How Much I Feel" are neck and neck. I actually got on the mic and sang Ambrosia while I was DJing a few weeks ago. That's how much I feel.

Erykah Badu - Honey (DJ Day Remix)

This Bed's Too Big Without You

Tony Johns does a tidy little edit job on this Sly & Robbie produced Sheila Hylton lovers rock tune from 1980 which covers The Police's 'The Bed's Too Big Without You'.

Sheila Hylton - Beds Too Big Without You (Tony Johns edit) by Tony Johns

I Want You.

DJ Friction is prolific not too mention terrific when it comes to the business of doing tasty re-edits of old funk/soul/disco tunes and this re-rub of Marvin's I Want You is no exception.

Marvin Gaye - I Want You (Frico 2010 Re-work) by DJ Friction

Stuck On You

Really feeling this newie from Pr!nce on the modern soul tip 'Sticky Like Glue'

Just B.Cause

Check my web history and in amongst Facebook, Twitter, eBay and various adult sites you'll find another site which i visit on the regular called Diamonds In The Dust it's easily one of my favourite blogs as it never fails to deliver something new (not too mention exclusive) for my ears every single time i stop by.

The man behind it all has been high on my list of people to get to answer the Themes For Young Lovers questions for a while now and he recently took the time out to do so.

Name - DJ B.Cause

A/S/L - 39, Male , San Francisco

Name 3 songs that would be no-brainers to put on a mixtape for that special someone you were trying to woo -
Etta James - Anything To Say You're Mine
Aretha Franklin - Call Me
Barbara Mason - Yes, I'm Ready

You've turned the lights down low, lit the candles and poured the dom perignon, what LP or song goes on the stereo?
Leroy Hutson - Hutson II (a-side!)

What is your fave romantic film of all time? Hard to choose one but either Amelie, Annie Hall or The Princess Bride

You've just had your heart broken, what's the song or record that you play to ease the pain and get you through? I like to listen to tortured ballads when I'm busted up as they help to expel the sad feelings, so something like Otis Redding's "Pain In My Heart" would probably be in the list. Actually though, I like to listen to tortured ballads all the time! Dionne Warwick's "You're Gonna Need Me" might be the move for simple vindictive satisfaction, haha.

What song was/or will be played during the first dance at your wedding? Kwick - Let This Moment Be Forever (below) or the Etta James track listed above

Who's music do you think has played the biggest part in helping increase the world's population over the years, Al Green, Barry White or Marvin Gaye? Smokey Robinson?

and finally What's your fave guilty pleasure/cheesiest love song?
Stacey Q - Two Of Hearts - cheesy perhaps, but no guilty feelings here!


Make sure to swing past B.Cause's blog and load yourself up with all the remixes, blends and edits he's whipped up. For a few on the love themed tip be sure to check here, here and here.

I'm Reaching Out For You

Slave - Feel My Love (InnerWestSoul Edit) by InnerWestSoul

After The Break-Up

Came across this killer break-up mix via Meatskull your one stop blog spot for the dopest mixes on the world wide web.

This is another amazing love themed mix by DJ Magneto (peep another one here) this time around he's delivered the ideal soundtrack for when love doesn't go exactly according to plan, which lets face it, is more often than we'd like.

1- The Shadow Of Lo – Chick Corea
2- Baby Come Back – Player
3- Lovers Rock – Sade
4- Move On Up (Break) – The Dynamics
5 – Unbreak My Dub – Jstar
6 – My Demons – Distance
7 – Wasted Time Feat. Vikter Duplaix – Jazzanova
8 – Holding You Loving You – Don Blackman
9 – Love for the Sake of Love – Claudja Barry
10 – Georgy Porgy (Brubekk re-re-Edit) – Toto
11 – Why – Carly Simon
12 – Keep On Movin.. (In My Life Always Edit)- Soul II Soul
13 – Open Your Eyes – Bobby Caldwell
14 – Sensitivity – Ralph Tresvant
15 – All Around The World (Open Hearted Edit) – Lisa Stansfield
16 – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss – PM Dawn
17 – Only Love Can Break Your Heart – St Etienne
18 – No One (Pocketknife’s Songs In the Life of Keys Remix)(Unbelievable edit) – Alicia Keys
19 – Kool and The Gang – Too Hot
20 – I’m Out Of Your Life – Arnie’s Love
21 – “T” Plays It Cool – Marvin Gaye
22 – Blood Is Thicker- Ino Hidefumi
23 – Mona Lisa (Outro Walk On By Edit) – Slick Rick
24 – Dominoes – Donald Byrd
25 – I Just Called To Say I Love You (Things That Don’t Happen Without You Edit) -Stevie Wonder
26 – Overpowered (Radio Edit) – Roisin Murphy
27 – Lettin’ Go – Janelle Monae
28 – I’m Afraid the Masquerade is Over – David Porter
29 – Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & The Pips

Download/Stream

You Are Always On My Mind

The most talented German I know Herbert Elch aka Tequiero lays down a sweet little love joint for the special lady in his life. Beautiful business and another Themes For Young Lovers sure shot!

thinkaboutlove by Tequiero

Bizarre Love.

Obviously Yoko Ono has never been short on haters but there's no denying that John Lennon was madly in love with her, no matter how bizarre their relationship may have been and how many people were against it.

In this catchy tune from his 1971 'Imagine' album, their love for each other is captured for all to hear.

Oh Yoko! holds a special place in my heart as I remember singing along to it in the backseat of Mum's ugly ass Audi station wagon on family holidays and it was also featured on one of my fave films (not too mention soundtracks) of all-time Rushmore

I've Been In Love Before But...

Heavyweight soul from 1980 by Two Tons O' Fun nicely edited and extended by Mark Wayward. BIG ladies with even BIGGER voices.

Two Tons O' Fun - Never Like This (Mark Wayward edit) by Mark Wayward

Why Oh Why?

The year is 1972 and Dee Edwards is trying to get the attention of a guy that she's a bit keen on, unfortunately for her he's not interested, fortunately for us the resulting tune is an absolute soul belter.

Adidas were clever enough to run with the Pilooski edit on their latest Originals campaign, not the first time they've used a Pilooski edit for an ad either, see here

Simple Mathematics

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Donna Summer - love to love you baby (dj friction re-edit) by DJ Friction

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Heavy Lovin'

The Revenge have a case of the so hot right nows in the production/remix/edit game and this rework of Marvin Gaye will give you a pretty good idea as to why that's the deal.
Heavy Love Affair (The Revenge Rework) by The Revenge

Love - 70's Style

Killer 70's slow jam set from Bozack Morris of http://www.black-rap.com/blog/ fame, here's what he had to say -

If you know how I get down, you know I love my slow jams. Two years ago, I began working on this Black Zodiac project which consisted of some of my favourite 70's soul slow jams. Unfortunately I never got around to finishing it, even though it gained some positive feedback in its unfinished form. After two years on the backburner, I never touched it until now. In fact what you hear now is basically the unfinished version. Regardless I didn't want to keep it in the vaults for much longer, so here it is, Black Zodiac, the sounds of 70's love. Nothing fancy, just that good old soul music.

This is your opportunity to take it back to that 70's love groove. So invite an intimate friend over, light up the incense, grow a full set of pubes, play this on the highest volume and enjoy!

Bozack Morris presents Black Zodiac - Listen/Download

So Many Ways... None Of Them Are Easy.

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover (Pollyn's Re-Edit Remix) - Paul Simon by AOR DISCO

DJ Eleven Pours The Courvoisier, Lays Down The Bear Skin Rug and Talks Love Tunes.

You know it's a good day when one of the world's illest party and mixtape DJs - DJ Eleven tells you he's down for taking some time out from a hectic schedule to answer a few silly questions for your blog and that's exactly what we have here.

When he's not jet setting around the world or DJing at exclusive parties that you and I will never be on the guest list for i.e. Scarlett Johansson's 21st and Playboy gatherings, he's busy keeping dance floors packed in and around New York City as a member of The Rub DJ Collective (along with DJ Ayres & Cosmo Baker) and more recently he's stepped up his production game with a killer EP that really shows he's spent a lot of time in clubs taking note of what works as it's dancefloor gold! Click on the below pic for a sneak peek and try keeping still!

And now on to the question session!

Name – DJ Eleven

Location – Brooklyn Son! Originally from Oakland CA

Name 3 songs that would be no-brainers to put on a mixtape for that special someone you were trying to woo –
Leon Haywood “I Want’a Do Something Freaky To You”
Pharoahe Monch “The Light”
Ryan Leslie “Rescue U”
and the honorable mention goes to John Legend “Refuge (When It’s Cold Outside)”

You've turned the lights down low, lit the candles and poured the dom perignon, what LP goes on the stereo? LPs take way too many trips up off the bear skin rug to flip sides, so I’d put on my playlist of the 60 greatest Bill Withers songs and lay back. Or Darondo’s “Didn’t I” on repeat.

What is your fave romantic film of all time? By far, without question, “The Mack”.

You've just had your heart broken, what's the song or LP that you play to ease the pain and get you through? Anthony Hamilton’s ”Comin’ From Where I’m From” album has probably gotten more run than any other record in those times. I love the record because he was able to touch on super deep despair, but still turn around and leave me feeling hopeful at the end.

What song was/or would be your pick to be played during the first dance at your wedding? One of my great hopes in life is to never do the traditional wedding mess. But at the party to celebrate the wedding we’d eloped to Bahamas for, we would walk in to The Impression’s “Love Me”. Or “The Theme from Shaft”.

If you had to pick one artist or group, whose music do you think has played the biggest part in helping increase the world’s population over the years? Man, that’s such a generational thing… For folks of my generation, Barry White. For other generations, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Sade, R Kelly, and for the kids born next year, Trey Songz.

and finally What's your fave guilty pleasure/cheesiest love song?
A week or so ago, I caught myself admitting to my girl that I really love Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” a LOT! Needless to say, she wasn’t impressed.

BONUS! Eleven was nice enough to pass on this little edit he did for you and yours!

Sunny (DJ Eleven Edit) - Bobby Hebb Listen/Download

Ever Wondered How People Hooked Up Before Myspace & Facebook?

O-Dub Talks Love Jams, Sans Music Weddings and Nora Ephron Rom-Coms.

When I first started making a wish list of people to answer the Themes For Young Lovers questions, music journalist, scholar and DJ Oliver Wang aka O-Dub was one of the first names I wrote down as someone who I had to have answer them.

I've been a fan of his for ages thanks to his ridiculously good DJ mixes and more recently his Soul Sides blog which has introduced me to more amazing music than I can even remember over the past few years.

So when I got in touch with him recently and he said he was down to answer the Q's I expected school to be in session with well thought out answers and as you read on you'll quickly see he didn't disappoint!

Name - Oliver Wang

A/S/L - 37/M/Los Angeles

Name 3 songs that would be no-brainers to put on a mixtape for that special someone you were trying to woo - OK, so I’m probably way over answering all these questions but I have start off by saying that much as I love “love songs” as a loose genre, when it comes to my personal associations with love/romance/heartbreak and music, everything becomes audio-biographical and as someone who usually tries to talk about music through more of a curatorial perspective, all that pretty much goes out of the window. To put it another way, all three of these songs I included have much more to do with how they’ve been markers in my own life than any kind of “no-brainer recommendations” I’d give to some random person. I mean, if you’re making a mixtape for someone, ultimately, you should pick songs that first and foremost, say something to you before you can hope to have them say something to anyone else.

In any case, I’ll probably surprise some people by not including any soul songs here. In fact, I’m surprising myself by that fact.

1. Joni Mitchell: “All I Want” from Blue. My now-wife turned me onto Joni when we were merely friends but so much of what’s said in “All I Want” captured my sentiments during the time we were transitioning to being “more than.”

What it says to include it on a mixtape: “Hey baby, I’m slightly crunchy, left-leaning, like reading books and newspapers. I have good taste in the classics and don’t trust today’s singer/songwriters because they’re not as clever as Joni. I keep my sentimentality on the d.l. but “All I Want” is perfect because it’s happy, folksy pop won’t be confused with the schmaltz of a power ballad.”

2. Duke Ellington and John Coltrane: In a Sentimental Mood from Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. The gold standard in romantic jazz standards.

What it says to include it on a mixtape: “The inherent melancholy of this song reveals an emotional depth that you perhaps were not aware of when we were flirting at the bar last weekend. I too, like you, have been wounded and you will want to be with me in order to unravel my shrouded past of heartbreak that you will then try to heal.”

3. King Pleasure: Moody’s Mood For Love. My affection for this song predates ever having actually been in love and there’s an innocence in its sentiment that one can only really appreciate at an age where you’re imagining what being “in love” feels like without having actually gotten there.

What it says to include it on a mixtape: “I like Nora Ephron rom-coms too.”

You've turned the lights down low, lit the candles and poured the Dom Perignon, what LP goes on the stereo? I seriously gave this some thought and to be honest, I’ve never used music as a seduction ritual. I figure those situations are about taking things OFF, not putting things on. But hell, I guess if I were going to try to pull a move like that off, you can’t tell me that Sade’s Lovers Rock would fail, as far as a single album would go.

What is your fave romantic film of all time? This changes as I get older but the last film that I felt really nailed it for me was probably Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But that feels a bit too “early 30s” for me; I don’t know if I’ve found something that I can connect to now though.

You've just had your heart broken, what's the song or LP that you play to ease the pain and get you through? John Coltrane: “Naima” from Giant Steps. Practically any Coltrane ballad seems cosmically tuned into the resonant frequency of heartache.

What song was/or would be your pick to be played during the first dance at your wedding? Unbelievably, I had no music, at all, at my wedding. It wasn’t a conventional ceremony or reception and it just never occurred to either my wife or myself that we should have music. Later on, some of my friends pointed this out and I thought, “oh yeah, I guess that would have made sense” but we loved our wedding even sans music. That said, I turned to my wife and asked, “so what would our first dance song have been?” between the two of us, we decided that we probably would have gone with something seemingly anti-sentimental yet secretly romantic like Rufus Wainwright’s “My Phone’s On Vibrate For You” from Want One.

If you had to pick one artist or group, who's music do you think has played the biggest part in helping increase the worlds population over the years? Marvin Gaye with “Let’s Get It On,” no question. When I used to do a college radio show on KALX in Berkeley back in the ‘90s, an acquaintance of mine would call to request this song so he could get his mack on.



and finally What's your fave guilty pleasure/cheesiest love song? I don’t think any song you enjoy should ever be something to feel sheepish about. But if I had to pick a song that seems hopelessly out of fashion today, I’d probably roll with Huey Lewis and the News’: “Do You Believe In Love” Awesome hook. This is one Zooey Deschanel rom-com soundtrack away from redemption.

For further reading be sure to check Oliver's published works archives and as I mentioned earlier if you haven't already visited his audioblog Soul Sides do NOT pass go, do NOT collect $200...

Warm and Fuzzy

DJ Neil Armstrong delivers one of the best love themed mixes you're ever likely to hear as he combines just the right amount of turntable trickery with a super tight selection of love jams, originally released in 2005 it's always been a mix I've kept coming back to and I can't believe it's taken me this long to pass it on to all you young lovers!

Here's what the man himself has to say about it -

This mix is called Warmfuzzy, like the feeling. It's to "celebrate" Valentine's Day, but if you're as pimp as you think you are, this CD should be good all year round. This is NOT what you want to bump when you're planning your next driveby. It IS the mix you should give your homegirl or emothug on 02-14, it IS something you should listen to if you love ALL types of music and skills. It's even something you should hear if "love" is kicking you in your ass and you're staring at the wall all day cause it seems like you can't find anyone, or your significant other is a trifling, lazy, no good... Oops, I digress...

It should give you hope that this crazy little thing that all these people write, sing, paint, dream and fight about - is something real and worthwhile. To all those on the infinite pursuit, and especially those who have finished their quest, I salute you. Let this be the soundtrack for the big adventure, I'll be right there with you...

- DJ Neil Armstrong

Warmfuzzy - DJ Neil Armstrong - Listen

Peep the comments for the full track listing.