Elliott Sussman Presents: STFU Volume 2

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As long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with Spring. Sure, generally speaking a person's favorite season is usually dictated by where their own birthday falls into, and I'm no different in this regard (April 14th). However, even if my birthday were November 14th, I'm almost certain Spring would still be my favorite season. It's the season when the monotony of life gets a little more interesting, whether that be with a new love interest, the sun staying out longer, or people in general just feeling the natural energy Spring brings.

Last year's Spring mix "Shut The Fuck Up & Enjoy Yourself," consisted of mainly covers or originals that spawned covers. The original title was "Cover Yourself In Originals," which sounds a lot less harsh but in no way dictates how I feel about what's known as Northern Soul -- songs that were popular in clubs north of London in the 1970s, but never made it popular here in the states. Spring is a time for less talk and more action, and especially in the case of these songs it's all about forgetting about your problems and just dancing them away.

So this year's "STFU Volume II" is more or less to be played right next to last year's mix, only this time around instead of mainly covers or originals that spawned huge hit covers, what's here are the cream of the crop when it comes to Northern Soul, including the "Holy Grail" of Northern Soul songs: Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)," which is so rare (only 2 known copies of it exist) and well-loved by Northern Soul aficionados that the last original copy of this 45 sold for $28,000, making it one of the most rare and expensive records to ever exist (for the full story on this record, click here).

This year's mix is special in a few regards and especially awesome for iPod owners. Just like last year's, it's one long file with tracks mixed together, but this year I figured out markers for podcasts and translated them into this mix. Every time a new song starts, that song's 7" record label will appear in the album artwork section of your iTunes. However, for you iPod owners, if played you will notice markers in the file which can be skipped to if you really dig one track but don't want to spend time scrolling (you can also do this by opening the file in Quicktime).

As for that year spent making this mix claim -- it's true. As soon as last year's collection was put up I started right away making this one and it's taken me a year to discover all these songs to be put into a mix which I feel is the finest I've ever made for anyone. It's also the loudest mix I've ever made, where I bumped up the levels so high that even those of you listening on laptop speakers will be able to get down. There's not a second here for breathing room and if I were a DJ this would be the playlist I would want for a Soul dance party.

So go on and clear that living room of the coffee table, make sure your speakers are on the "eleven" setting and invite everyone you know over for the Northern Soul dance party of the season. And by all means...just shut the fuck up and enjoy yourself.

This mix is dedicated to Ian Friend and James Riel of The Steel City Soul Club to which I owe everything for even knowing this stuff exists. Your kindness and helpfulness with everything has been invaluable. Keep the faith, Soul brothers.