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A very special first Friday of Hometown December, as we welcomed indie recording artist TOPAZ to the show to premiere two tracks off the "Red Desert" EP, which drops next Tuesday!
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Dec 3, 2021
The Drop with Danno
I & II
The Sylvers – Stay Away From Me
Ginger Root – Call It Home
Taeko Onuki – Tokai
Sanullim – Don’t Go
Shadow Community – Restless Song
Mid-Air Thief – These Chains
Mass Production – Slow Bump
Wee – Aeroplane (Reprise)
Sunset Rollercoaster feat OHHYUK – Candlelight
The Durutti Column – Sketch for the Summer
Sultan of the Disco – The Slide
TOPAZ – Living Soil
TOPAZ – Drip/Drop
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It is 20 hours past midnight on a wet & cold one here in our fair city of light, but it is warm & toasty with the vibes here on the air and we got towels, blankets & hot cocoa at the ready if ya need it. And this Friday night is vibed into the dank & frigid night air as December 3, 2021. This is Danno, making extra certain that the vibes flow through from studio 2 to you, inside the main place at GFN HQ in downtown Gwangju, how do you do?
Tonight with it being December we kick off our hometown heroes final month, and tonight is a very special occasion with Zach Johnson aka TOPAZ joining us from Chicago to rock a playlist tonight and premiere a couple of tracks off his EP out next week called Red Desert. TOPAZ has really been turning both my own & Prince Paolo’s heads over the past couple of years, and we’re honored to have him join us and do an exclusive premiere of a couple joints off the Red Desert EP, which drops next Tuesday. However, prior to any and all of anything going down tonight, we gotta get with the history for our TIGHT (or) feature, and let’s just come out with it right now…it’s gettin’ kinda hectic out there AGAIN, so just stay away from me. THIS is The Drop.
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The Sylvers – Stay Away From Me
The Drop has commenced our weekly Friday feature, and we cannot thank you enough for hanging with is in The Drop Lounge Tonight. How’s it going this evening, Drop Gangsters? (Korean) This is Danno ready to get EXTRA vibey for a very special kick-off to December, as we have a world premiere for two tracks off TOPAZ’s Red Desert EP, which drops next Tuesday, and he’ll be on the phone with us in hour 2 to rock an exclusive playlist and talk about the new release.
For right now though, I don’t know what to say except COVID is one fierce foe. As you all know, the new Omicron variant has been spreading like wildfire and has arrived on these shores with a few people traveling back & forth to Nigeria. No fault on Africa, this stuff is already everywhere, just telling the facts, not layin’ blame so nix that right here.
However, the government has gone back to quarantining foreign travellers and banning several countries from flying to Incheon. Nothing yet about stricter measures for inside Korea yet, but travellers here will be strictly screened & quarantined moving forward, just as the government was planning to finally open things up in January with the “living with COVID” plan. Obviously, that is on hold for now.
So, stay patient people. I know a lot of travel plans are totally blown just in time for the holidays, but we just gotta keep on keepin’ on & weather the next storm. Stay safe, wear a mask, we love you all.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast…
Now let’s begin the warm-up for our guest artist selector TOPAZ tonight. We have a very vibey and funky continuance up next, but we’re gonna rock it with an Asian twist for this block. Up next is Ginger Root to be followed by Taeko Onuki & Sanullim, all of which we’ll talk further side opposite the fownk. THIS is The Drop on your Friday night with TOPAZ.
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The Drop returns for the final airbreak here in part 1 tonight, what’s up Drop Gangsters (Korean)? This is Danno, naturally. Airing it out every night on GFN between 8 & 10, and tonight is a very special Friday as we have a world premiere from TOPAZ to rock in parts 3 & 4 with a couple of exclusive, unreleased joints off his upcoming EP. Red Desert drops next Tuesday, so stay tuned for an exclusive listen tonight, and of course you can always stream it apres ski. We just started with some Asian-American and East Asian funk to put the radiological process in full swing right there, so let’s get to the liner notes…
Ginger Root – Call It Home (…off of the band headed by Cameron Lew now based in California’s 2019 album Mahjong Room. I feel like this LP was seriously slept on that year, it is a classic. We’ll hear more from the purveyors of aggressive elevator funk in hour 2 tonight.)
Taeko Onuki – Tokai (…another classic gem of an album right, but one very much slept on at the point of release back in 1977. If you want a really exquisitely arranged night of synthed-out vintage soul, we highly recommend spinning Sunshower.)
Sanullim – Don’t Go (…you didn’t think we weren’t gonna rep some Korean soul, did you? C’maan. This is a trio formed in 1977 by the Kim brothers in Chang-wan & Chang-hoon along with Kim Chang-ik, although no relation on the latter. One of Korea’s most future-leaning and influential groups. This tune was given new life last year when another forward-thinking group of a more contemporary variety in Khruangbin featured this on their Late Night Tales DJ mix.)
Alright, so as we approach the end of part 1 tonight, we’ll keep it at home here in Korea with a couple of tunes from two groups that are fronted by the same guy, or so it is alleged. Up next is Shadow Community with Restless Song or Dong-YO, then we’ll finish and really go off to the cosmos with Mid-Air Thief and a tune called These Chains. THIS is The Drop on your Red Desert World Premiere Friday night.
Shadow Community – Restless Song
Mid-Air Thief – These Chains
II
The Drop returns here in the 2nd quarter of tonight’s World Premiere game of audio mirrors. Danno making sure everyone is playing fair from studio 2 GFN HQ, warming up for a very special world premiere 2nd hour in parts 3 & 4. TOPAZ will be joining us to give a couple little tastes of his new EP called Red Desert, which is available in full everywhere on Tuesday, and he’ll join us to rock some recent favorites & influences for the fullness of our 2nd hour. For now though we just got the ball rolling towards halftime with a couple slow roll vibers from the old school. That was ….
Mass Production – Slow Bump ( …the immense band out of Norfolk, VA right here with a b-side cut off their 1978 LP Three Miles High. The famed 10 piece orchestra of funk would reach their peak the next year with the release of In The Purest Form, which was the band’s 4th album and featured their biggest hit in Firecracker.)
Wee – Aeroplane (Reprise) ( …for you crate diggers out there, this one is from 1977 & was famously sampled by Kanye on Bound2, which of course featured that ridiculous video with Ye & Kim riding a motorcycle & making out. Still, can’t hate on Kanye’s sampling, crate digging & production skills.)
Now before we continue just a quick reminder to follow us on social media if you so dare, we are @gfnthedrop on most major social media platforms. If you’re local aka here in Korea, send us a message #9870 (50/100). What doesn’t cost you anything is catching us after the show, The Drop with Danno or The Drop on GFN (or) is available on most major podcast platforms, and you can find us with a simple google search & subscribe free & easy.
Moving ahead, we got some more Korean cuts to throw for the bread on the next audio sammich, and we’ll let Madchester be the main course. Up next we got Sunset Roller coaster feat OHHYUK then the Durutti Column to be rounded out by the oh-so delicious & nutritious Sultan of the Disco. THIS is The Drop on your Friday night with TOPAZ.
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Back on The Drop as we begin the final mic spit sesh for the first half this evening. Danno here, hoping you’re keeping safe & warm tonight and we thank you for vibin’ with us tonight. Another cat we’re very happy to have vibin’ at Drop Central this evening is Zach Johnson aka TOPAZ. The Chicago-based producer & singer-songwriter is out with his latest EP in Red Desert next Tuesday, and we get an exclusive world premiere of a couple tunes off of that starting after we hit the top of the clock again momentarily in parts 3 & 4. To the recap for now though, that was…
Sunset Rollercoaster feat OHHYUK - Candlelight (…for those not familiar, the main band here is an indie outfit out of Taiwan. Here we see them teaming up with indie darling OHHYUK, who is of course the leading man in the HYUKOH outfit here in Korea. This was the grand finale tune on a great album from last year called Quiet Storm, one of our favorites LP’s of the year.)
The Durutti Column – Sketch for the Summer (…one of the most influential bands out of the 24 Hour Party People Madchester Era, although undoubtedly the softer and more melodic side of that insane music phenomenon. This cut appeared on the ironically named and super iconic debut from the band, The Return of the Durutti Column, released in 1980.)
Sultan of the Disco feat SUMIN – The Slide (…this is just a fantastic team-up between two very popular artists here in Korea, maybe my own personal favorite Korean tune ever. This cut appeared on the Aliens LP from 2018, both artists a very worthy follow on social media.)
So, let’s get our first taste of guest artist selector TOPAZ for tonight, although we’ve featured this cat so many times especially on Tuesdays with Prince Paolo. Up next we have a pair of tunes from TOPAZ’s 2020 album called Help Yourself To My Garden, and we’ll lead off with Living Soul, and finish the first 57 with Drip/Drop. Get it? THIS is The Drop on your Red Desert World Premiere Friday night.
TOPAZ – Living Soul
TOPAZ – Drip/Drop
III & IV: TOPAZ
TOPAZ – Eclipse
Aalon – Summer Love
Ginger Root – Loretta
Connan Mockasin – Sexy Man
Cindy Lee – Heavy Metal
Prefab Sprout – Wild Horses
Joni Mitchell – Blue Motel Room
TOPAZ – Another Island
Haruomi Hosono – Sports Man
Jai Paul – Str8 Outta Mumbai
Standing On The Corner – Off a Little Bit
The Replacements – Swingin Party
Arthur Russell – Make 1,2
Jimi Hendrix – Drifting