Pitchfork: Mp3 Blog Soul Sides Bringing Rare Tracks to CD

Mp3 Blog Soul Sides Bringing Rare Tracks to CD

Now that all the hubbub surrounding those newfangled mp3 blogs has died down, it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sure, any hipster nerd with a DSL connection can share his/her eclectic taste with the world, but it takes real skill to keep web surfers coming back. I mean, a Kevin Federline track isn't going to leak every day.

Journalist/activist/DJ/all-around cool dude Oliver Wang (or O-Dub if you're nasty) has maintained Soul Sides, one of the best audioblogs on the net, since early 2004. An invaluable source of unearthed R&B;, soul, funk, and hip-hop tunes, Soul Sides uses Wang's bottomless record collection for its source material.

And now, those deep cuts will be available to everyone, even those without a DSL connection. Wang has partnered with Zealous Records to bring the listening public Zealous Records Presents Soul Sides Volume One, a compilation of rare soul music, which will hit stores March 21.

How rare, you ask? It's got Aretha Franklin's sister, Erma, singing the original recording of "Piece of My Heart." It's got Donny Hathaway doing John Lennon's "Jealous Guy". It's got Clarence Reid before he was Blowfly. Consider yourself schooled.

Tracklist:

01 Charles May and Annette May Thomas - "Keep My Baby Warm"
02 Clarence Reid - "Master Piece"
03 Lee Moses - "Time and Place"
04 Amanda Ambrose - " (I Ain't Singing) No More Sad Songs"
05 Erma Franklin - "Piece of My Heart"
06 Donny Hathaway - "Jealous Guy"
07 Linda Lyndell - "What a Man"
08 Jimmy Jones - "Live and Let Live"
09 Ann Sexton - "You're Gonna Miss Me"
10 Johnny "Guitar" Watson - "Loving You"
11 Joe Bataan - "Ordinary Guy"
12 Weldon Irvine - "Morning Sunrise"
13 William Bell - "I Forgot to Be Your Lover"
14 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - "All Over Again"

A portion of the proceeds from the disc's sales will go to the nonprofit Rhythm and Blues Foundation, an organization that provides financial and medical assistance to older R&B; artists who, to be blunt, got screwed over by the system, ya'll. So by buying this CD, you can damn the man, save the empire, and take a soul trip all in one fell swoop.

* Rhythm and Blues Foundation: http://www.rhythm-n-blues.org/