DJ Leon Lamont

Dear followers,
It’s literally been a month since my last Crate Confession.  I make no apologies because life happens and MFs get busy.  I’m not hating or being salty, I’m just saying.  Anyway, children, uncle Leo is going to take you way back and, since it’s been a minute, do more than one track for this confession session.
1. Reflections - Diana Ross & The Supremes

I grew up on Motown music because my parents are huge fans and my dad is straight up borderline fanatical when it comes to Motown music.  My dad has the popular Motown stuff and the obscure Motown stuff.  Example: If it weren’t for my dad, I wouldn’t have known that Tommy Chong of the famous Cheech & Chong was a musician that put out a record on Motown before becoming a famous comedian.  That being said, I’ve yet to hear a Motown track that I didn’t like.  Reflections, like so many other Motown songs, has amazing song structure and chord choices (things I knew nothing about when I first heard the song as a kid). …

The Preatures - Is This How You Feel? (2014)






This is an Aussie band that takes the Hip-Hop approach to band naming (someone already has the name?  Let’s spell it all effed up).  I’m not a big fan of misspelled band names because I believe it contributes to making people dumber than they already are (myself included).  Outside of the not-so-clever name, I like this tune because there is funk in it.  To the untrained ear, there probably is zero funk in this song, but if you know funk, you could strip this track down to drums, bass and totally dance to it.  This track isn’t super funky, but funky nonetheless.


The lead vocalist reminds me of a famous actress, but I can’t remember the actress’s name.  Oh, well.  Anyway, this track is a good head bobbing track and for some strange reason, it sounds even better when you can see the video, probably because I’m a straight dude.  Hope you enjoy.  Later, and don’t be a hater.   

Faith Evans - Soon As I Get Home (1995)

This song is just plain old good RNB/Gospel songwriting.  While it’s not advertised as Gospel, it is definitely in a Gospel style.  Further more, guys listening to this either have a girl like this or WISH they had a girl like this.  Only a certain type of woman can even sing this song.  For a woman to even have to write a song like this totally labels her as effed up, but for her to recover in such a debonair style as a smooth RNB cut begging your forgiveness is my total wet dream.  Why is that, you ask?  Women will SAY anything, but when a woman will SHOW you how sorry she is, that’s when you drop to one knee and burn the black book…but enough about me.



I love this track. The lyrics, the music, the artist, I love it.    Faith Evans is hot and talented.  This track is hot, songwriters did their thing.  There really isn’t much else to say.  Later, and don’t be a hater.  

D.R.I. - Four of a Kind (1988)

This is one of the albums that, once it’s on, I don’t touch it.  I like every jam on here and can just let it play from start to finish without skipping any tracks.  Rumor has it that the band was practicing at one of the member’s parents’ house and someone’s dad yelled down the stairs for them to stop making noise and called them dirty, rotten imbeciles afterwards, thus giving them a band name.

If you don’t like hard edged punk rock-hardcore-metal-type- music then you should just skip this one and wait for my next Crate Confession.  I really don’t have much more to say about this record besides I love it. If I was dating two girls and had to pick one, I’d date the girl that had D.R.I. in her record collection of her own accord.   She would say something cute like, “You ever heard of D.R.I.?”  Then I would say something not as cute like-“You ever have sex with all the lights on with D.R.I. playing in the background?”

Later and don’t be a hater

The Perfect Circle (self-titled) - 1977

This band was picked up on my funk radar courtesy of Eddie Murphy via his not so great movie titled Norbit.  During the scene when Norbit is a kid and meets his future wife, Rasputia, The Hands of Time by The Perfect Circle was playing in the background. This funk band is not to be mistaken for the rock band with a similar name called A Perfect Circle (in a name, oh what a difference an “A” makes).  I’m a sucker for 70s funk because its’s what I grew up on and is the main genre that inspired me to play drums when I was a kid.

I wish I could say that this whole album is tight, but it isn’t.  The best tracks on the release IMO are the aforementioned The Hands of Time and Peaceful Funk.  Everything else on this release is kind of lacking in the funk department.  If you like old school RNB funk that sounds like the soundtrack to a 70s TV show then this will be right up your alley.  What does a picture of Pam Grier have to do with this release?  Not a …

Every blue moon, someone will ask me what I’m listening to at home, so I had the idea to do this blog.
Crate Confessions is a blog where I confess to all of the stuff that I actually listen to at home when I’m not doing a DJ gig.

My first crate confession comes in the form of Olivia Newton John’s Physical album which was released in 1981.  While I don’t love every song on this album, and I don’t hate any either, with the exception of The Promise (The Dolphin Song), I listen to this album all the time.  In addition to liking Olivia’s singing, the production and songwriting on this album is top notch.  I’ve been listening to this album in various forms since it first came out in 1981.  That’s right, I’ve been listening to this record for 36 years.  It’s never cool to confess to liking this record if you’re a dude, not even to women, so you can imagine how hard this must be for me.  I’m kidding of course. 



This was one of my first “secret” records that you never told anyone you owned or l…

download here

The iPhone turns ten years old this year.  Most people will respond, “So what.  Big deal.  It’s just a stupid phone.”  Of course, with that response, those individuals would be identifying themselves as either really young, really old, or non-creative types.  No artist worth mentioning that is in his or her right mind would scoff at being forced to acknowledge how much their life has been changed by the advent of the so-called Smart Phone.

Sure, the Smart Phone has wrecked many a happy home and given the promiscuous types a weapon on par with a sexual atomic bomb.  Sure, the Smart Phone has brought news media quality to an all time low by arming way too many people with a video camera and audio.  Sure, the Smart Phone has created a society of onlookers trying to capture money making video instead of helping their brothers and sisters in need as they are being assaulted right in front of their faces.  Sure, the Smart Phone has turned teenagers into overnight porn stars (and in some ca…

An Evening with Vernon Reid An evening of music with the Grammy-award winning guitarist, songwriter, photographer, and composer, Vernon Reid and friends. Sam Messer is a long-time collaborator with Reid, a Bed-Stuy native and founding member of the band Living Colour.

Vernon Reid - guitar/loops/electronics

Leon Gruenbaum - samchillian, keys, clarinet

DJ Leon Lamont

Date
Jul 26, 2017 • 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Cost
FREE w/ RSVP

Location 
BRIC House Stoop
647 Fulton Street
(Enter on Rockwell Place)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
United States

listen and download track here

https://archive.org/details/PandRMXcover

The Leon Lamont Shop

Someone asked me this question, pertaining to themselves and a mutual musician friend that seems to be MIA.

There are so many answers to that question, but the basic answers are being with the wrong spouse, trying to do music with the wrong people, having the wrong friends and associates.  It all ties together.  Then there is personal tragedy and heartbreak, among other things.  Then there is the nightmare that haunts all musicians; health issues.  Sometimes nothing can be done and it’s a matter of having a degenerative disease or an injury so major that it prevents a person from ever playing their instrument again.  In the same realm, there is also mental health to consider, which is a close cousin to substance abuse and addiction.

While its fun to think that every musician that disappears “got pussy whipped (or dick whipped), sold out and started working for the man” the reality of the matter is that life is a little more complicated than that.  For some, the universe only allows a …

the track
the t-shirt and the mug

the track
The T-shirt and Coffee Mug

My hometown hero made it to 90.  Stunning