'nother one that done come in through the website...The Federalists.
As of today there are five tracks on
their MySpace page. I dig the bottom two the most: "When It Comes To You" and "Oh So Sorry".
Solid stuff, slightly reminiscent of Jeff Tweedy here and there and wouldn't you know it, Wilco are in their top friends...
I dig this in their bio:
"In 2006 we played a showcase for multiple indie and major record labels. The indies told us we were too mainstream; the majors told us we were too indie. This is exactly the line we’d like to walk, being accessible while maintaining artistic integrity..."
Give 'em a shot.
From what I can gather online, purists hate this record and I guess I can see why...AMG explains:
"Go Seek Your Rights
is the type of calculating release that fuels fans' hatred of major labels. For why bother with the expense of keeping three albums in stock when you can cull a batch of tracks from the bunch, delete the originals, and fob fans off with a single inferior record. Eventually Caroline saw the error of its ways and reissued two of the deleted albums, thus making this set totally dispensable...If your prospects are so poor that you'll only ever be able to afford one Mighty Diamonds album, this is a decent choice. It features the trio at its "classic" peak, its sublime vocals wrapping around stellar cultural numbers and the occasional gorgeous lovers/lovelorn song....you deserve better. And the Mighty Diamonds deserve better than this cash-in."
In fairness, though, this does make a pretty good compilation, given that it contains their classic
Right Time
in its entirety. You could do worse..
What I dig most about the Mightys are the soulful vocals, just a great harmony group...
The Mighty Diamonds -
One Brother Short from
Go Seek Your Rights
I did not forget about
this project, did you?
Oh D'Arcy, you crazy chick...I never believed a word Billy said about you until
January Y2K...
Smashing Pumpkins -
Beautiful from
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Does laughing at
this shit make me a bad person?
Easter eggs: click on each individual chart or graph...
Got turned on to this one through my site. They wrote in (a
while back) and asked me to have a listen at
their MySpace page.
I know I have mentioned before that a lot of these types of inquiries come in, and I love getting them, but I do cringe each time...my blog is decidedly not about taste making...like I say in the disclaimer: "I post MP3s as a way to expose other people to music that I dig...", so I am very hesitant to "review" a band's music, endorse them or slam them.
That said, I hear something I like and I want to let people know. Of the tracks on the MySpace page, I am partial to "k", "Memorandom" and "Sirenhorses". It's all a little left-of-center so that alone appeals to me. None of the songs are available for download so
pay a visit and listen.
Can I really add anything more to this review from Amazon?
"Touted for many years as the greatest live band in the world, the only surprise about this live album is that it's taken so long to appear. Recorded between '78 and '82, it captures the London punk torchbearers in all their fury--Strummer spitting out vocals like every breath is his last, the guitars of Jones and Simenon taut and abrasive. Even after all this time, songs like their debut album's scathing "Complete Control" and the dub-fired "Armagideon Time" blister out of the speakers, sending streams of scouring guitars and tight, chunky reggae rhythms into the atmosphere. Two complaints: no "White Riot," and no songs from Give 'Em Enough Rope, the underrated second album. Instead we have material from the sprawling Sandinista and disappointing Combat Rock. These are minor flaws though. Buy Live: From Here to Eternity for the first 12 tracks alone. From the angry, articulate dub of "London Calling" to the full-on force of "I Fought the Law," this is punk at its pinnacle."
Can you?
UPDATE: The download link was incorrect earlier today - fixed now!
The Clash -
Armagideon Time from
From Here to Eternity: Live
I guess you could say this is nothing more than a collection of material from the beginnings of Gregory's career...and you'd be
factually right...you'd also be leaving a lot out...
Gregory's
output over the last 35 - 40 years is ridiculous...he's the rare artist, like Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder, who can make deeply conscious music without ever sacrificing its accessibility, or commercial appeal. And this record puts his later music in a nice context...seems to be out of print right now, import or domestic...if you know otherwise, leave a comment. Thanks.
The one jam I cannot stop listening to:
Sinner Man from Gregory Isaacs,
The Early Years
A pair of items in this week's NYTIMES book review got me thinking about music books, artist biographies and such.
The first music bio I remember reading was
No One Here Gets Out Alive, probably in 1981 or 82. Lots of books about the Stones, of course
Hammer of the Gods (I believed it all at the time), almost every Zappa book I could get my hands on...books about the Dead, Floyd, Miles, music industry books and countless others. I have an interesting book on the history of dub I am waiting to tear into...
Then there are the magazines...If only I didn't have to work! At one point I combined it all - I owned a bookstore in New Haven so could waste time
professionally. I had it all figured out ;-)
Do you have any favorites? Any genre, any angle...would love to know...leave a comment...
Jah Thomas started out as a DJ but made his mark as a producer, lucky enough to have the Roots Radics as his muse and an incredible stable of engineers as collaborators: Scientist, Sylvan Morris and others...His work on singles is a who's who of late 70s early 80s reggae and dancehall: Johnny Osbourne, Sugar Minot, Barrington Levy...
This is a tight record, through and through...lots of analog dub, real gritty sound...but the last track is the standout...
Jah Thomas Meets the Roots Radics -
People's National Party Dub from
Jah Thomas Meets the Roots Radics: Dubbing
We can be friends on
iLike...
Trust each other on
MOG or...
Friends (again!) on
MySpace.
You can also find my alter-ego on
Chowhound,
Facebook,
Friendster,
Goodreads,
Jaxtr,
LinkedIn,
Mashable,
MyOpenID,
Plaxo,
Spock and
Spoke.
Yeah so...I guess I get around...Recommend any other spots?
So you may recall
an earlier post about a competition a friend of mine launched with a few buddies...a 10-week battle to find the best songs in reggae, across the various subgenres and styles. It has been fun to watch unfold and inspiring...Now I need you to join me in creating the heavy metal version...
Specifically I need at least one person or up to three more people who will commit to the 10-week Heavy Metal Smackdown Challenge, Part One.
Each week the participants will use the first eight of the 24 subgenres recognized in the
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey "
Definitive Metal Family Tree" to pick a song that best represents that subgenre to them. This will be followed by two "wild card" weeks where the participants can pick another song from any of the 8 subgenres. Each participant will provide me an MP3 of their weekly pick and a few words about the subgenre, band or track, all of which will get posted here and voted on by this site's visitors. At the end of the competition I will compile all of the winning tracks into a mixtape which will be available for download from this site.
Assuming I can get a few challengers I will issue the schedule along with the deadline for each week's submission. If you are interested and willing to commit 10 weeks of your life that you will never get back, post a comment here and let me know. In a perfect world, participants and a schedule will be in place this time next week.
I realize there is a good chance no one will step up - because you
fear the challenge.
See you in hell!
My mixtapes are always the most popular posts around here, based on the number of downloads they get compared to my everyday posts. Oddly, I don't get a lot of comments from people about them...
I would love you to post some feedback or reviews in the comments...praise, criticism, whatever...you download them, but do you listen to them?
And now...Volume 17 of the never-ending series...this one's got jams and gems from Jorge Ben, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, Bill Laswell, The Congos, Brigth Engelberts And The B.E. Movement, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Tony Allen, Clemilda, Madjid Khaladj, Fela Kuti and The Chosen Few.
Download
Burning Dervish Volume 17Click here to view the albums these tracks were pulled from.
Let's stay on
the Africa tip...
"The Discothèque series was something like the Now compilation of its time, an annual collection of the government-run Syliphone label’s biggest hits." - Michaelangelo Matos, eMusic
The government in question was Guinea, the hotspot for West African jams in the early 70s...There are Discothèque volumes for spanning 1970 - 76...seems like decent years for music in most countries...
I can't pick just one track...picking just two was hard enough...I want to post the whole record
but that would be wrong...wouldn't it..?
Kogno Koura by Pivi et les Baladins and
Mme Tolberg -
Bembeya Jazz National
from
Discotheque 72
Tezeta is a song style, or genre and found in the subtitle of this record, volume 10 in a series of 23 (so far) focusing on music from Ethiopia.
There are technical and emotional aspects to the style:
"Tezeta, an Ethiopian style with a relatively strict format built on repeated circular riffs, relies on the singer to put his stamp on the form with improvised verses and the up-and-down vocal spirals characteristic of Arabic music..." - Don Snowden, All Music Guide
While
"Etymologically, the word itself means memory, nostalgia, and several Ethiopian authors have used Tezeta as the title for their memoirs..." - budamusique.com
This record can just go on continuous loop...It is so sparse, but lush with ambience and soul...
Teredtchewalehu by
Alemayehu Eshete from
Ethiopiques, Vol. 10: Tezeta - Ethiopian Blues & Ballads
Received this by email from a friend of mine...
"Come out to Fat Cat on Saturday Night to hear my Quintet play my original ompositions and some favorites of the band in a very special performance.
Or......just come down for the ping pong, pool, and scrabble!!
It's the first time in a real long time that my band has gotten together to play my music, so needless to say - I'm pretty excited and really looking forward to the hit.
The
Geoff Vidal Quintet will feature:
Tatum Greenblatt - trumpet
Joe Hundertmark- guitar
Michael O'Brien - bass
and
Fresh in from Chicago....my main man from my days out at UMASS!!!
Makaya McCraven
www.fatcatmusic.org/
Fat Cat is located in the heart of the West Village at 75 Christopher & 7th Ave South
Subway: 1 Train to Sheridan Sq
10pm - 1am
$3
Beer and wine no liquor..... ;-(
Please pass this info around to anyone that might enjoy some thrashy grooves and ping pong!!!
or...kindly ask to be removed from these mailings!
Hope to see you out there,
Best,
GVQ"
I came across this cat on a compilation from Thievery Corporation's label,
Den of Thieves: The Sound of Eighteenth Street Lounge Music
.
Federico Aubele hails from Argentina and is really one of those "modern" musical artists...he covers reggae, Latin music, various flavours of electronica...If you recognize him it might be because his song "Esta Noche" was featured on
Allias...He sounds nothing like Manu Chao but I think of him that way..."international" in the most literal sense...
Download
El Amor De Este Pueblo by
Federico Aubele
You know, I blew past this record when it first came out a little over a year back...I loved Son Volt but for a while there it felt like Jay Farrar just kept making the same record over and over and over and less good each time...
This album is not revelatory...there are some great tracks and really no stinkers...given there are over 20 songs on the disc I guess that's something...Maybe if it were November and maybe if I were in New England...but brothers and sisters I am in Brooklyn and it is too damn warm for January 16th...
My favorite:
Gob Iron -
Hills of Mexico - from
Death Songs for the Living
A record best known for the presence of the Glimmer Twins, including a duet with Mick on (You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back,
Bush Doctor is one of Tosh's most accessible but interesting records.
We got Mick out of the way. The duet is great, but Keef's riffing on the title track is definitely a highlight of the record. Whereas Mick is turned up in the mix and overpowers Tosh, Keith's searing overdubs are mixed perfectly and fit in tastefully.
My favorite tracks on the record are the soulful "self-help" song Pick Myself Up and the ambient sound collage Creation.
Peter Tosh -
Bush Doctor and
Creation from
Bush Doctor
I don't love this record. A lot of reviewers do, though. It is pretty sophisticated for such a young bandleader, featuring a nonet. Maybe it will grow on me...the large group makes it is a little claustrophobic for my liking...
McCoy is joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Julian Priester, altoist James Spaulding, Bennie Maupin on tenor, the French horn of Bob Northern, Howard Johnson on tuba, bassist Herbie Lewis, and drummer Joe Chambers. Count 'em,
nine.
With the larger group, Man from Tanganyika is the best track, but my favorite on the record is the overlooked Lee Plus Three, which is a much more traditional arrangement with Lee Morgan backed by drums, bass and piano.
McCoy Tyner -
Man from Tanganyika and
Lee Plus Three from
Tender Moments
I mentioned this record in
a post from a few weeks ago about music-related christmas presents I received...I have finally spent enough time with the music to offer up a track.
I don't have a ton of experience with music like this. It is basically "classical" but also folk-tinged, in a European folk manner. Very melodic, with gorgeous interplay between nothing more than viola and piano.
I lack a vocabulary here...let me quote from
All Music Guide:
"These soulful Spanish and Argentinean songs arranged by violist Kim Kashkashian and pianist Robert Levin are well suited to their expressive and expansive playing. Most of the songs...are written in a late romantic to early modern idiom, and many incorporate a strong folk element. The selections include rowdy, rhythmically charged dance-like songs, tender lullabies, and many flavors of love songs, from the exultant to the despairing...The choices of repertoire are excellent; each one of these songs is a jewel, and the ordering of the selections artful, including the surprisingly effective repetition of two songs at different points in the program. The transcriptions are inventive and imaginative, with the vocal lines idiomatically adapted for the viola's expressive capabilities. Kashkashian is a remarkable violist who brings vibrancy to everything she plays, and these relatively straightforward songs are no exception. Her warm, throaty tone and the nuanced, colorful inflections of her playing accentuate the vocal origins of the pieces. With his springy and languid rhythmic energy, Robert Levin is an equal partner in making the performances sparkle with passion..."
That's a glowing review regardless of genre!
Download
Oye Mi Llanto by Kim Kashkashian and Robert Levin -
Asturiana: Songs from Spain and Argentina
A man's home burns down and he responds with a dubplate...that is the spirit of a man who has operated his soundsystem since the early 70s...
As
the website says, "Jah Shaka is one of the most important roots reggae and dub artists. He's a composer, musician, singer, mixing engineer, producer, record label owner, and the operator of the heaviest roots/dub sound system in the world!"
There is something about this record...I don't love it but can stop listening to it...I think it is the sameness of each track, the droning...
Jah Shaka Meets the Fire House Crew -
Dub for Everyone from
Authentic Dubwise
Are you up for a Moroccan Trance Concept Album? I can't say I blame you if you never gave it much thought, but now that I bring it up..?
The people that make up Amira Saqati all hail from the band/collective
Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects, who was posted about here back in September.
Let's quote the label's site to describe this record (I will edit this down but I am not going to correct the whacky grammar from the site as it is part and parcel of the effect the album tries to stir up):
"AMïRA SAQATI ( Amïra = a piece of .... , Saqati = a "thing"...slang expression, mostly used as a substitute for rude or offending words = A piece of a thing...a sideprojectband of 4 Aisha Kandisha`s Jarring Effects members, where Maghrebian roots are a general starting point, from where the sound structures are getting developped in different crossover directions...Agdal Reptiles on Majoun, is the story of a snake leaving it`s body to get reincarnated with it`s soul and habits into a Jedba - ( Trance ) musician, leading him to an unknown consciousness of aural sensations and got inspired by " Allal " from Paul Bowles, where a Majoun eater has a strange relationship with a snake and achieves his own reincarnation into the reptiles body and is finally getting killed by the peolple of his village . Agdal normally means garden, but because of a famous psychatric hospital in Marrakech called Agdal, it became another way for the youth to say: crazy or freaked out . Majoun is a dark sticky paste made out of cannabis butter, honey, nuts and spices, with a guaranteed hallucinating side-effect. There might be in both stories or experiences a parallel line of going to the limit of a state of mind with transmutations. Either by becoming the animal or by coming from the animal into the person, captured by Majoun...The music, is in one way the antithesis between a certain image of the transformed subject into a snake and the Majoun Brainfood eaten by the snake to become a human being on Amira Saqati...The synthesis of a romantic Love/Death balance and a political Raï/Algeria/Death related understanding, is up to your ability of following Moroccan Dadaism..."
Interested yet?
Amira Saqati -
Jedba from
Agdal Reptiles on Majoun
Hail, hail, the gang's all here! Trane, Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, and Elvin Jones in a pretty smoking set that has seen all manner of release over the years: bootlegs, various packagings and set lists across multiple labels, etc.
I like this version for the track I am including below...which throughout the 70s stayed in Elvin's set lists as well. So blistering...
Enjoy.
John Coltrane -
Chim Chim Cheree from
At The Half Note
This record reminded me how much more there was to Stan Getz than bossa nova...In a career that spanned Ella as well as his brushes with the young lions of the 60s (Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Grady Tate...) its that damn bossa nova period most folks know him for.
The track I want to serve up here is from his first record with Chick Corea, one often cited as the best song from his best record (and one written by Corea).
Enjoy.
Stan Getz -
Litha - from
A Life In Jazz: A Musical Biography
Why this album?
"Between 1976 and 1977, Lee Perry released a quartet of albums that can easily be considered amongst his finest moments...Not only do these epic albums represent Scratch at his best, but reggae at it's finest...Of this mighty quartet, War Ina Babylon is perhaps my favourite, a righteous mix of potent lyrics and musical excellence..."
Why these tracks?
"The fantastic "Norman" is like a film noir set to a Black Ark beat. The story of a flashy and corrupt gambler was apparently based on a real-life friend of Max's. "Norman is a friend of mine, Norman Eliot from Bull Bay in St. Thomas," relates Max. "A very good friend of mine, I used to hang out at that guy's house every evening. We play cards, it's like a little gambling gathering 'mongst us when the day is done to unwind. He was the house master. He buys the deck, he gives us the table and the chair, and you can get a beer and things like that. Every six games you play, he's got to collect, and that's the way he runs the business... He tax the players every sixth game they play. If I say 'Norman, beg you a less' he'd say 'me? I want more!'""
"The epic "Uptown Babies Don't Cry" has never been as popular as other War Ina Babylon tracks that were released as singles, but it's fantastic arrangement and heartfelt lyrics make it one of the most powerful songs on the album...His poignant observations of the "little lad selling Star" and the mother who has to "pay the fees for little Junior to go to school" paint a vivid picture. Scratch's arrangement of majestic horns and prowling organ give the excellent lyrics a magnificent rock to stand on."
Excerpts quoted from
Upsetter Station: A Lee Perry Magazine.
Max Romeo & the Upsetters -
Norman and
Uptown Babies Don't Cry from
War Ina Babylon
If only all politics were as funky as Gil Scott-Heron's...The only funkiness in our politics is that which goes on in the voting machines...
I figure
it must be freezing cold in Iowa today, but to encourage our brothers and sisters there to go to the polls, and to help thaw them out while doing so, I thought I should fire up a little GSH...
Johannesberg and
Johannesberg live from
From South Africa to South Carolina
You could not find a more appropriate title for this record, McCoy's first as a leader for Blue Note. This record is the
real deal, the real McCoy!
Teamed with Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones and Ron Carter this album hums from beginning to end. Speaking of apt titles, the first track (included here) is Passion Dance and it starts the record with a real spirited swing from the whole ensemble. What I find most interesting and important about this record is that it sets the table for the main course - McCoy's driving, intense records on Milestone in the 70s, which will get some coverage here in 2008...
All of the songs here are McCoy originals and there is not a dud in the set.
Get this record.
McCoy Tyner -
Passion Dancefrom
The Real McCoy
