Each month our resident cycling fiend and S.F. DJ legend Toph One drops 13 bombs for your listening, watching, and wearing pleasure.

It’s about hopping on the bike with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and just riding for the pure joy of riding and being alive. Lazy Saturdays along the Portland riverfront and fast Tuesdays around S.F., and the weird and productive thoughts that come with them. The brilliance of Burroughs, Steinski (check the new retrospective, What Does It All Mean?), and Crayone. A well-placed mug of pink grapefruit juice or the perfect sourdough toast can make any day. And there isn’t a bill in the world that a good bartender and the open road can’t fix.

1.Lightning Head “NPG”
Lion Head/UK/12EP
Glyn “Bigga” Bush of Rockers Hi-Fi fame heats it up once again with this Afrobeat burner for the summertime sessions. Good God, man, how’d this guy get so funky? Open up the doors and windows and invite the neighbors–this is the joint.

2.$mall Change
“Steviano Italiano”
Bstrd Boots/US/7
My man $mall Change is anything but, and he throws down some big soul sounds on this lil’ nugget. Track it, and damn near anything else, on this bootleg label. Take my word for it: girls + art shows + free wine + this = good times.

3.Santogold
“Creator”
Downtown/US/12
Freaky-deak! Like some mutant blend of M.I.A. and Bonde do Role with a bit of Berlin thrown in ta’ boot, Santi White forges a heavy, electrified alloy that both confounds and delights.

4.James Pants
Welcome
Stonesthrow/US/LP, CD
All you need is a strobelight and a fog machine and you’re set. Sexxxy electro-lust for aging hipsters and kids too young to even know. Delicious.

5.M.I.A.
“Paper Planes (Homeland Security Remixes)”
Interscope/US/12
Hotness! As if guest verses from the likes of Bun B weren’t enough. As if King Ad Rock on the reggae remix isn’t enough. As if the original wasn’t already one of the hottest shits out there–we got DFA with a serious dub-disco stomper to shake things up and get the job done right.

6.Makestaples/Le Feelings
“Close Your Eyes and Sleep/Day By Day”
indie/US/7
Houston’s MakesTapes comes through with a warm, fuzzy head-nodder on the a-side, while Le Feelings (best band name ever?) works the exotica angle on the flip. When I get my own bar, both these guys will have their own nights.

7.Peabody & Sherman
“Chicago Blowback Remix”
Super Bro/US/12
Loopy, dubby goodness from my second favorite place on Earth. Come to think of it, it does kinda sound like a ride on the Red Line El. Music to get “defragged and slightly plastered” (their words) to. My kind of lads.

8. The Archives
“The Dream Came True”
white/US/12
A solid vinyl debut from this underground tape slanger from Oakland. Big soul samples carry side one, while the West Coast funk shines through on the flip.

9.Existereo & Deeskee
“Cry Me a River”
Nice/US/7
Twisted hip-hop and strange tales from the southland. It’s as if John Lydon were sitting in the corner of the Paul’s Boutique sessions with the Dust Brothers. M-Fusion adds the outer-space funeral-dirge vibe to his remix on the b-side.

10.B.Dolan
“Live Evel”
Strange Famous/US/12
It’s hard not to love a record dedicated to the memory of Evel Knievel, and joined by Sage Francis and Alias on “Heart Failure,” B.Dolan gives up the goods. Long live that real American badass.

11.Protassov
Shalina Music
Switchstance/GER/CD
Jazzy downtempo grooves from Germany’s Protassov, and a fine label to get acquainted with as well. Look for the new Ancient Astronauts disc on the label, too. Tasty stuff indeed.

12.K’naan
The Dusty Foot Philosopher
Interdependent Media/US/CD
Even though this album was originally released in 2005, K’Naan’s voice and music sound new and vital on this domestic re-release. A native of the war-torn streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, this cat was rapping in English before he could even speak the language, and now he holds it down with the best of them.

LUCKY 13
Universe Crew w/ Adrian Sherwood
Live at the Double Door
12:10–Forty-Five Films/US/DVD
For fans of the Midwest Funk zone, or On U Sound collectors, this little nugget captures a night in Chicago back in ’97 with Toledo’s U-Crew and the legendary Adrian Sherwood working the board, and the collaboration is brilliant.

Photo of James Pants by Darcy Caputo.