Spinning 45s at 33 RPM induces a disorienting effect. It’s not the slowness of the chop and screw, but a still-woozy crawl that seems to bring out the funk and soul of the right songs. It’s the sort of thing you rarely hear in 2013, because rare is the DJ that brings vinyl to a club, let alone a stack of 45s. That’s been the point of Danny Holloway’s Blazing 45s nights that he regularly holds in LA. If you’re unfamiliar with the record industry vet, sometime music journalist who spent over a decade years at Island, working closely with Chris Blackwell and Bob Marley, this LA Weekly profile does the math. Over the last few years, he’s quietly become one of LA’s best DJs, a Dublab regular, and one with the deepest crates ranging from reggae to soul to early rap.
For this stellar “45 En 33” mix, he teems up with Oakland’s E Da Boss (one half of the Stones Throw-signed soul duo, Myron & E). E handles the first half with some abyssal soul and disco grooves that you probably haven’t heard but want to. Holloway’s second half slips in similarly obscure gems alongside The Doors, Busta Rhymes, Dilla, and Shante. This mix is wild and unpredictable, smooth and with an avalanche of soul. If that doesn’t sell you, then the cost will. Free. Slow your role and strut.
