The seed you sow, that's what you shall reap
For sowing bring reaping
and reaping is harvest
The seed that you sow a yard
that's what you shall reap, yeah
Lee "Scratch" Perry // "Dreadlocks in Moonlight"
Hey friends,
I have a wild story for you. It involves my family going through some trauma, but we are all safe and well. It has proven to me beyond a doubt that Ronda, my wife, is the best person I know. I will give a trigger warning right now and tell you that the story involves sexual assault and is disturbing, but again we and our friends affected are all physically safe and well.
On a Sunday afternoon in October, our friend and next-door neighbor was sexually assaulted by a man who was unknown to her. Ronda responded to her text/call for help and intervened, saving our friend from physical harm. Ronda had the presence of mind to take a picture of the man, and he was apprehended by police the next day. Here are the relevant articles from PDX news sources: Oregonian; Pamplin; Z100; Fox 12; Univision.
I'm not going to speak on it too much in the space because he's still in law enforcement custody and his case is on-going. I also want to acknowledge that this is a weird space for me to talk about what's happened. What I write here is mostly read by my friends, but I don't know everybody. I usually write way more personally here than I ever would on social media, and I also post pictures of my family here, which I am VERY cautious in doing for myriad reasons. That being said, I may be purposefully vague or whatever, but I am happy to talk to each and every one of you who care about us if you'd like to check in. I just can't put it all online.
When it happened, I was at the last Mariners game of 2021. For a good stretch there, my homie Glyndon & I made it to every opening day, but this is the first time we'd ever watched a final game of the season.The game had just finished, the Mariners had just lost, having their playoff hopes dashed for the twentieth time since 2001 when Ronda called to tell me what happened. I'm still working through the trauma and the guilt of being away from home, and I know it'll take me awhile. Ronda has the primary trauma of confronting the man, engaging him, and chasing him off. But I'm convinced we have the family, friends, and support group to see us through, as individual people and as a family. The incident definitely snapped me to attention on a few subjects: we keep us safe; there is no better security than knowing and looking out for your neighbors; and finally, that guy fucked with the wrong people.
⁂
DJ MIXES
STRICTLY REGGAE MUSIC // SIDE D
STREAMING // DOWNLOAD
I finally finished the fourth side of my mix with El Muntz! It was part of a mix series we call STRICTLY REGGAE MUSIC, which we recorded in August when he was in Portland. Those three, we recorded together as a mostly-live, all-vinyl mix, and it was a blast. Twice he did thirty-minute sessions, and I did one. When he left, I would finish the fourth volume and we could roll them out over the course of a month. Genius plan for two aspiring DJs, if I'm evaluating this whole thing objectively.
Problem was, after he left, I had mixlock. Honestly, I was just so humbled and flattered that he suggested it and invited me to collaborate on a reggae mix, I was a little intimidated/nervous about fumbling the bag. I have TREMENDOUS respect for Muntz as a selector of Jamaican sounds and a sage of the dankest songs the genre has to offer. He is also protective of the genre and his sound--it's his baby, and he doesn't want other false DJ's pinching his style or being callow dorks. Again, I respect that. I have tried to learn as much as I can from him, and any time he throws down a set of roots & dub reggae, I am all ears. We've bonded over playing too much Grand Theft Auto with its Blue Ark Radio station hosted by Lee Perry, and Muntz took me to see the Upsetter a few years back when he played at the Aladdin Theater.
This is all to say, I was excited to make the mix, I had a bunch of music I could & was ready to put on it, but I couldn't get it right. First off, I spent hours listening to "Freak Out Skank," making loops on the opening break, fucking around and having a BLAST doing it. Then I spent more hours trying to work that in with a sample from Althea & Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking," which has been burning a hole in my brain since I first heard it a few years back. The "no pop no style / I strictly roots" refrain is so RAD. Anyhow, I ended with a mix that was stilted, loaded with lover's rock, unbalanced... It just didn't sound right. I really wanted to include Janet Kay's "Silly Games," but I couldn't get it to fit. On the recommendation of Eric Isaacson of Missisippi Records, I watched a few episodes of the Am*z*n series Small Axe, especially the episode titled "Lover's Rock." When that man gives me an art-related suggestion, I listen.
I went through lots of drafts, couldn't make it fit to my liking, and then I followed Nelson & Eric's advice and made one that worked. Through all those drafts, every version had Lee "Scratch" Perry's "Dreadlocks in Moonlight" on them. At first I thought it was a lover's rock song, an ode to his lover. Then I listened to the lyrics, and realized that it wasn't about love at all. Then I read this account of what the Upsetter himself said about the song.
Think about it. The studio that he build in his backyard, Black Ark, was the primary hub of so much of the beautiful music to come from Jamaica for a long time, but Scratch knew it was time to burn it all down because there were thieves in the temple. The dreadlocks in moonlight were selfish people, parasites in a dim light, hypocrites in broad daylight. So he burned it all down. It was time for that cycle to end.
The wikipedia article on the end of Black Ark is also astonishing.
He begins the song with the lyrics:
A time to sow and a time to reap, yes my friend
The seed you sow, that's what you shall reap
This is from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes in the bible, which Pete Seeger wrote "Turn! Turn! Turn!" based from and the Byrds turned into a hit. I fucking love that song. I also believe the lesson here above almost all other things that I hold true, so I'm gonna say it big and loud because it's a truth that constantly humbles me.
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW
There are consequences for our actions. When you plant seeds, you'd better hope to God that when it comes time for harvest, it will be enough to feed you through the winter. I grew up in the rural Pacific Northwest, on both sides of the Cascade Mountains. My father taught agriculture for a career, and I have a degree in agriculture and taught for five years. There is no truer piece of wisdom I've encountered in this life, and it's something that helps me in joy and sorrow, and it has been a lifeline to me this fall.
For so many reasons, the song was a prayer for me. Not the least of which was the Upsetter chanting at the end of the song "It didn't work / it couldn't work!" The hypocrites tried to attack him in broad daylight, but he outsmarted them. You reap what you sow.
Cannot recommend the series Small Axe enough, especially the "Lover's Rock" episode. Reminded me of classic movies with dope house parties, like Weird Science, Say Anything, and above all, uh, House Party. The scene with Janet Kay's "Foolish Games" alone is worth the price of admission, but there's a lot to love. There is a scene that uses "Dreadlocks in Moonlight" too, and it played beautifully with my expectations of a love song vs. a story of betrayal.
⁂
MILTON LESLIE
Jerry Jeff Walker // “Night Rider’s Lament”
Tammy Wynette // “Lonely Street”
Don Williams // “Tulsa Time”
Hank Williams // “I Saw the Light”
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood // “Sundown, Sundown”
Willie Nelson // “Hands on the Wheel”
Wanda Jackson // “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”
Pete Drake // “Pleading”
Kenny Rogers // “Love Will Turn You Around”
Patsy Cline // “She’s Got You”
Buck Owens // “There’s Gonna Come a Day”
Waylon Jennings // “Another Bridge to Burn”
Alison Krauss & Union Station // “When You Say Nothing At All”
Randy Travis // “I Won’t Need You Anymore”
Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell // “Let It Be Me”
Merle Haggard // “Silver Wings”
Jimmy Webb // “Where The Universes Are”
Miss Lana Rebel // “Dreaming of You”
Dwight Yoakum // “Guitars, Cadillacs”
Brooks & Dunn // “Neon Moon”
The Highwaymen // “Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)”
Dolly Parton // “Here You Come Again”
George Strait // “Marina Del Rey”
Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys // “Wreck On The Highway”
Kitty Wells & Red Foley // “No One But You”
Sons of the Pioneers // “Red River Valley”
Willie Nelson & Leon Russell // “Don’t Fence Me In”
My uncle Milton died this past spring, and I took up a trip up the Okanagan Valley to see my father's family for the first time in years. Milton was a cowboy, through and through, so on the journey, my sister and I listened to lots of country music. Honestly, I was pretty nervous to spend time around my more conservative family in Eastern Washington, as I hadn't seen most of them since Trump was elected in 2016. It ended up being a nice reconnection, and I made a mix of some of my favorite country songs to remember him by.
The sky above Oroville the night before my Uncle Milton Leslie's funeral.
⁂
NEVER HEARD IT
I was honored & humbled to be invited on my friend Free Tillman's YouTube series called NEVER HEARD IT. The concept is to select a record you haven't listened to that is considered classic in some circles, give it a few spins, and have a conversation about it. I chose Del Tha Funkee Homosapien's record I Wish My Brother George Was Here from 1991, and I'm glad I finally got around to listening to it. My selection stemmed from a conversation with my good friend Megan, where she was VERY surprised that I didn't recognize a reference to Mr. Bob Dobalina. Giant shout outs to Megan for the ribbing!
Free does an awesome job hosting different series on his YouTube channel, and he's been one of my favorite musicians and beatmakers since I moved to Portland five years ago. In short, I fuck with him, with his style & music, and I think you might wanna consider it as well.
⁂
BROWN SUGAR COCKLE
Oh yeah, we got a puppy. Meet Sugar, aka Shuggie or Suge. 
She's a pit bull mix, she's about five months old and we LOVE her a great deal.
Her favorite spot is where the HVAC keeps warmest.
Very good girls.
She's named after the D'Angelo song/album. Not the goddamn Stones songs, which is so vile and racist I still consider gouging it off my wax copies of Sticky Fingers and Hot Rocks and Love You Live and...
She's a real sweet girl, very strong-willed and opinionated, which means we got a house full of 'em. My intent was to get a boy dog to swing the scale to a little more balance in my home, but shit, I don't mind living with a grown woman, two daughters, two lady cats, and now two lady dogs. It's cool.
⁂
LIVE DJ
Did a fun set last Friday at PAYDIRT
⁂
Upcoming
Booked a few holiday sets, including one at Kenton Club on Thursday the 23rd that promises to be REAL special.
Brunch set scheduled for this coming Saturday at Either/Or. Gonna play soul, jazz, and soul jazz, most likely. Or maybe just Prince? Come find out.
Working on end of the year stuff, including my favorite records of 2021 and my favorites PDX records of the last five years.
⁂
Notes
Please read this McSweeney's article entitled A TYPICAL FRIDAY IN OREGON, AS IMAGINED BY MY EAST COAST FRIENDS. And laugh, and weep.
If you went to school in Pullman in the late 90s/early 2000s, and you haven't seen the infamous Pat Reeves Cable 8 video in awhile, you should really watch it again. If you have not heard of Pat Reeves, boy have I got a story for you.
My favorite local writer (Jenni Moore) reviewing my favorite local rapper (Fountaine).
Did you all hear about the 🍎🏆? Please be sure to check in with your Husky friends to make sure they are ok. I’m a little worried about them, just like I was when they went 0-12 in 2008.
I would check in with my Husky friends, but I don't have any.
Hahahahaha jk love you dumb huskies.
Until we meet again,
DJ MR. MOM
North Portland, Oregon
December 9, 2021