WildSeed Music NYC is proud to present its first ever double mixed cd, High Holy Days: The History and Future of House Music. Episode 1 “The Children of Baldwin,” explores several periods of classic house where both familiar Chicago hits and underground New York City gay club sleepers tell the stories of their sound. Baldwin tells us that: “The responsibility of a writer is to excavate the experience of the people who produced him/her,” and I believe the same can be said for the Disc Jockey. Through this mix I hope to bring voice to the untold stories and visibility to the nameless people that generated a global musical movement. Episode 2, “Mighty Real: The Sound of Tomorrow” pulls on current producers who incorporate elements of classic house, but also push beyond the borders of acceptable dance-floor grooves. Sylvester helped shape a soulful, yet formulaic genre of house music that focuses on spiritual-sexually-inspired falsetto vocals and driving, repetitive disco rhythms. This mix is dedicated to his artistry, fearlessness and commitment to authenticity. Liner notes for High Holy Days feature two of my favorite scholars and house heads: The first is Thokazani Mhblambi, A South African ill-disciplined musicologist; shifting between diverse creative genres, from classical music to sound art and display. I will interview Thokazani in South Africa to discuss electronic music (Kwaito and House) in the Post Apartheid era. The following excerpt was pulled from his article “Freedom in the Age of Democracy” and best describes the sentiment behind “The Children of Baldwin” mix. “Music’s fluidity, its ability to exist in-context and in many other contexts simultaneously, can provide a stimulus towards the direction of freedom. But for house music to do this, it needs to be rescued from the context of excess and accumulation and loaded with transformative content of liberation. It needs to be freed from the ghettoes of global cultures of consumerism, which seek to marginalize the contributions of the church, gospel music, African spirituals, gay-club culture all of which have been foundational to its origins.” Read the article in its entirety here. http://www.archivalplatform.org/blog/entry/freedom_in_the/ The second scholar provides Haiku poetry inspired by Episode 2. This is none other than the author, poet, activist, lover, freedom fighter, professor, emcee, freestyler, vocalist, edutainer, tease, father, big brother, publisher, friend, papa bear, curator, scholar, raptivist, public intellectual, spiritualist, house-head: Mr. Tim’m West. Jimmy B-boy blues wide-eyed and full like his laugh surrender to joy We close our eyes inheriting the praise dance of sinner sermons Sweet serenity baby powder voudou dust Eden where we dance