A Mix for BREAKSELF
RAJ
tenacious local 7,779 Posts
Reposted from the Beat Electric Blog
*Beneath all this text is a mix of some of the rarest black music you have ever heard. Some of it digitized for the first time. But please, keep reading.*
Funk, boogie and soul record collecting elite are rallying to help Aaron 'Breakself' Anderson, renowned Detroit digger, and founder of one of the USA's most famous nights, the Ann Arbor Social Club, in his fight against brain cancer.
I had the chance to meet Aaron a couple of summers ago during one of his visits to San Francisco, through his collaborator and friend, the bay area's own Deejay Om. I collect a few dance 12's here and there, but Aaron and Om play in a tier above, having over the years unearthed Michigan scene 45's that go on to trade for more than collective worth of my crates, be it to northern soul obsessive middle aged businessmen in Scotland, or a funk collecting oil industry millionaire in downtown Manhattan (no joke). And its some of these records, from Breakself's own shelves, that Om has used to create this exclusive mix, in the hopes of raising some money and awareness to help his best friend Aaron out.
I'll let Om explain in his own words:
Sometimes bad things happen to good people, this is all so true with my best friend Aaron Anderson who is currently dealing with brain cancer. A crushing blow to all those who know and love Aaron, and there are many, because upon meeting him you instantly feel as though you???ve known him, or want to, and that he truly cares about anyone and everyone he meets. I???ve not met anyone like him and doubt that I will for a very long time, this seems to be true of others too. A man of his word, someone who that if he has a penny in his pocket he would gladly offer to someone less fortunate, a person who cares about others and truly takes time to listen; and now it???s our turn to listen and our turn to give him that penny that he needs.
I met Aaron about 12 years ago, and instantly felt as though I???d met my best friend, our personalities, albeit quite different, seemed to mesh, and we both had a deep passion for music, meditation, buddhism and records. Aaron cites me as his mentor when it comes to Soul/Funk music, a title I humbly accept. He was like a sponge that seemed to be nowhere near capacity, and his thirst for knowledge was unparalleled. He was living in Ann Arbor and I in San Francisco, we???d sit for hours on the phone talking about life and records, and I would constantly play him things I had recently gotten or already had. At a time when others ridiculed me for liking Boogie, Disco, and Modern Soul Aaron was one of the few people who actually listened and grew to enjoy and understand where I was coming from...but, that???s Aaron for you, always with an open mind and heart.
We began this project quite some time ago, Aaron (aka Breakself) had been diagnosed with brain cancer while in school at Stanford and he began to bring records over to my house to record...it seemed endless the amount of ridiculously dope, and rare records he had; the ???student??? truly has become my teacher, and for that I am grateful...I have learned so much from him, and continue to learn more every time I speak with him. I (Deejay OM), did all the mixing and only supplied a couple of the records, my intent was to show our relationship through music, and I hope that you too can appreciate and enjoy the aptly titled ???The Buddy System???.
Although I think of Aaron more as a little brother than just my best friend, had we been in kindergarden together I have no doubt he would have been the one whom I turned to when the teacher told us to ???pick a buddy??? for field-trips, projects, or anything that needed a dynamic duo. It pains me to see him dealing with brain cancer, and I???m constantly impressed with and admire his ability to stay positive and to look forward, not back. He???s not just my friend, but a shining beacon to the world, and I???m sure that if you met him in person you???d be happy that you gave your donation to such a great person. Cancer medicine is ridiculously expensive ($1000 per chemo pill, and ???Avastan??? treatments which cost $45,000 per month), and I can only hope that this mix inspires you to help out...donations of $10 or more will receive a high quality version of the mix, and receive another mix I???m working on....this mix is free, but I hope you find it in your heart to help Aaron.
http://beatelectric.blogspot.com/2011/02/buddy-system.html
Comments
just give the word. i got fifty on it right away if my man is still fighting this cancer crap.
and echoing what ohm said...i only spent a couple days hanging with breakself during a short trip to detroit but i immediately left feeling like i met a wonderful person who i considered a friend
Great mix! Thanks
Bigs to Aaron..........G
Aaron knew all along. He handed me a couple of homemade CDs and pushed the beers over to me on some "you'll figure it out" yoda shit, and he was out.
I posted one of those mixes on my site and asked him for a tracklist. I wrote, "it's called 'Records Are People Too'." He responded that he called every mix that, and sent me what he thought was the track list but wasn't sure. And that was just like Aaron. The title implies some kind of shut-in obsession, but it's really the opposite - this is a man with a love for life so visceral that these little records might as well have been sitting right next to him in human form. And also a man who would think absolutely nothing of sharing that love with a random friend-of-a-friend, a stranger really. And do it so often that he called them all the same thing and somehow, the tracklisting that he sent wasn't wrong. Still, people aren't records, and these experiences aren't pieces of plastic that I can always return to. Minds fail, and memories get embellished or vanish in the smoke and mirrors of the input saturation that we all live with. It's been my absolute pleasure and privilege to know this guy and I pray with every fiber of my being that there'll be more fun times down the road like the one depicted up top in that photo.
...And Happy Birthday to Breakself!!
:happyday:
Aaron is my dude, and I had to do something to help him out...one of the greatest people I've ever met, and I'm happy to have him as one of my best friends...thanks sooo much to everyone who has donated towards the cause...it's really very much appreciated!
Big ups to Mike/Elektro4 for donating his time to make the cover, and for the homies (Drew, Johnny, and Dreas) for letting me use them as part of the cover...as some of you may remember that was the night we all partied hard at APT while Aaron (and Brad) dropped an amazing set of killer Funk and Soul music...
I hope you all enjoy the mix...it was a lot of fun for me to make it...and it's going towards a really good cause.
Hope to see you in Chi soon.
I hope you beat the shit out of that cancer, Aaron.
I've only met Aaron a handful of times, but as others have noted more eloquently than I, he's a solid guy who doesn't let the fact that he knows more than others prevent him from being a genuine, kind and cool individual. Beat this, Aaron. We are all pulling for you.
will peep the mix later, im sure its good!
Though I only learned this after seeing it and referring to him as "break shelf" for years. Hey, I thought he was proud of the shelf where he kept all his breaks.
A breaks elf would be awesome though.