Fading Into Obscurity presents: What's Your Path, Man? (Side B)
compiled/recorded between friday, may 29 and sunday, may 31, 2026
- what tomorrow holds... -
Mark de Clive-Lowe - heart
Blakesmith - Live & Create
Werkha - Narrow In (feat Daudi Matsiko)
Nala Sinephro - Space 3
Byard Lancaster - Over The Rainbow
Menagerie - The Quietening
Shungu - The Wind Must Have Heard Your Voice Once
Beastie Boys - Twenty Questions
Lonnie Holley - Looking For All (All Rendered Truth)
Bless The Mad - Show Me The Way feat. Edson Sean
Blakesmith - 2 Steps for Dad's Grave (Intro)
Tom Noble - Lord I'm Trying
BONUS SELECTS:
Metronomy x Naima Bock x Joshua Idehen - With Balance
Surya Botofasina - Your Soul Is Perfect (Supreme Uniter) with Radha Botofasina
Sides A and B were created mainly because I had to get them out of me, but also in the hopes that the sequencing and selection of these tunes will make sense to someone other than myself, that the bright colors in Nala Sinephro's "Space 3" and the repeating, contemplative chord structure of Mark de Clive-Lowe's "heart" will connect with at least one listener. The Blakesmith pieces both have spoken sentiments that I've been thinking about a lot as I journey through this life as a creative soul and simply as a human being. The Shungu album Faith In The Unknown took me by surprise last year, a brilliantly executed hip-hop album with a number of emcees and singers that I'm genuinely interested in. The incorporation of sermon excerpts is the factor that causes constant rewinds of this album for me, hence the appearance of "The Wind Must Have Heard Your Voice Once." And shout out to Byard Lancaster for the slightly out there, free jazz rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" that I never knew I needed.
Lance Ferguson's spiritual jazz project Menagerie has been a personal favorite ever since the album They Shall Inherit was released in 2012. "The Quietening" is a piece that I return to often because the struggle to maintain mental calm in a world that never ceases to be unnecessarily loud is real. "Twenty Questions" by Beastie Boys is a special one, a cut that reminds me how much I miss Adam Yauch. I love the fact that there this moment in time when he opened himself up to listening to Brazilian music and was inspired to attempt his own take on bossa nova tunes. "Looking For All (All Rendered Truth)" was the first tune that I ever heard from the cosmic Southener, Mr. Lonnie Holley. His voice was so arresting that it froze me in my tracks and I still get emotional when I hear it. This is definitely one for the seekers. Werkha's "Narrow In" pulls me in every time, so delicate and vulnerable in its production and vocal delivery. The songs from Bless The Mad and Tom Noble represent the unconventional hymnal selections of Side B: modern gospel integrating with soul and house music.
The bonus cuts are selections that are far from afterthoughts, but songs that certainly deserve their place as closers for this compilation. Metronomy's "With Balance" has become an irresistible earworm with light percussion and acoustic guitar underneath airy vocals before Joshua Idehen comes through with a mighty spoken word. And Surya Botofasina's "Your Soul Is Perfect (Supreme Uniter)" is one of those present-day devotionals that I want to share with as many people as possible. It's a song that has rejuvenated my spirit at times and almost brought me to tears at others. It's my hope that you will appreciate its inclusion within this collection of tunes, and that you will find Sides A and B a pleasant listening experience that's worth returning to.
