Saturday, May 29, 2004
"Let me bunt forever now."
The Psychedelic Furs are playing after the Orioles game next Saturday! A mediocre baseball club and old-guy new wave is so very me. The only thing better would be an evening featuring the Detroit Tigers and Haircut 100.
Some Psychedelic Furs MP3s to get you geared up for the ballgame.
Do you think I'll look out of place in the bleachers sporting a Flock of Seagulls 'do?Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, May 28, 2004
Roland Alphonso & the Skatalites, "Tough Talk (Take 1)"
from Ska-Lternative: Top Deck Vol. Six (Westside 1998; rec. 1963)
Roland Alphonso & the Skatalites, "Tough Talk (Take 4)"
from Ska-Tola: Top Deck Vol. Five (Westside 1998; rec. 1963)
The Crusaders, "Tough Talk"
from Tough Talk, (Pacific Jazz, 1963)
Jazz vs. JA day five.
Monty Alexander once described Roland Alphonso's tenor-sax sound as something like a funkier Stan Getz---meaning that Ro was way cool but he could role when needed. On the first take of the Crusaders' 1963 hit "Tough Talk," Alphonso and the Skatalites do up the tune ska styleee, while on the fourth take the band finds the backbeat and does a version much closer to the OG soul-jazz cut.
Ernie B's has the Top Deck series, and what they don't have Big Up Radio does. The OG version of the Crusaders' Tough Talk album is OOP, but you can find the title tune in numerous places: the Way Back Home comp has the original (I think), a live version is on Lighthouse '68, and a funk take on The 2nd Crusade
Othernezzz:
Propers go to Derek Walmsley and the Wanderer. This U.K.-based Web zine is tite like Leif Garrett's pants. D Walms describes his site as "Like The Wire, but with a slapstick approach." In other words, he's got smart, cool jank there without a stick up his bum.
Anyone know what happens when you've exceeded your bandwidth for the month? Big-ass charges? Site goes down? Men in dark suits come knocking at my door at night? I'm way over my limit this month because of folks hooking me with linkz (Wassup, Holland! Holla!). Any suggestions for a host that allows a lot of bandwidth for little bucks? I currently rock NetFirms.com and get 50 gigs of BW.
Next week might be light on the posting due to the holiday and general work nuttiness. But if the Pistons go on the NBA Finals, you can bet I'm going to post some Sheed raps.Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Dave Brubeck Quartet, "Take Five"
from Time Out (Columbia, 1959)
Val Bennett, "The Russians Are Coming"
from Trojan Instrumentals Box Set (Trojan, 1999; rec. 1968)
Jacob Miller, "Standing Firm"
from Meets the Fatman Riddim Section (Lagoon, 1995; rec. 1978)
Jazz gone JA, day four.
I know very little about saxophonist Lovall "Val" Bennett. I think he was leading an R&B/jazz band in the 1950s, was in Prince Buster's house band in the early '60s and later was a member of the Harry J All-Stars, who did the killer instrumental "Liquidator." Like many talented, jazz-trained Jamaican musicians, Val made his living in the recording studios once ska and reggae took off, and he does a nice rock-steady version of "Take Five," the Paul Desmond compostition that the Dave Brubeck Quartet made famous. I dunno why he or producer Bunny Lee called it "The Russians Are Coming" other than to avoid royalties. My man.
Maybe I'll find out more about Val when I see the Skatalites on Sun. May 30 at the Knitting Factory in NYC. One of Val's drummers, perhaps in the late 1950s, was Skatalites stick-man Lloyd Knibb---the man who perfected the ska beat and who introduced that ratta-tat-tat riff on a disengaged snare drum (to mimic timbales) that you still hear at the start of, oh, every reggae song ever. He's one bad muthashutyomouth of a drummer.
That man up there, Jacob Miller, is the voice of a pre-Cops & "Bad Boys" Inner Circle. Miller was in that great scene in Rockers where the wedding band is sweating it out in front of disinterested wedding guests; rastas ina marriage-day Babylon. Sadly, the big man died in a car accident in 1980, just as Inner Circle was preparing to tour with Bob Marley. You don't hear "Take Five" in "Standing Firm" at first because it starts with the chorus, but the melody clicks in on the verse.
There are at least 10 other tunes based on the "Take Five" riddim. I think Paul Desmond is smiling.
Trojan Instrumentals box set at Ernie B's. Fatman Riddim Section is out of print. Brubeck---anywhere.
WizzNutzz would be proud:
How much do I love the Pistons & Rasheed Wallace? Last night I was wearing my Washington Bullets Sheed jersey over my Detroit Pistons T-shirt. Worked like a mofo, boss.Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Herbie Hancock, "Watermelon Man"
from Takin' Off (Blue Note, 1962)
Herbie Hancock, "Watermelon Man"
from Flood (Sony Japan, 1977; rec. 1975)
Baba Brooks Band, "Watermelon Man"
from Shufflin' on Bond Street (Trojan, 1989; rec. 1963)
Jazz & ska, day three.
Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man," as heard on the pianist's 1962 debut LP Takin' Off, is pretty well known (as is Mongo Santamaria's 1963 hit version), but the song takes on a totally different form on Hancock's Japanese-only live album Flood. The beat is slowed, the riff deemphasied, and the opening guitar accents play on the off beats, almost ska style, filling in between Bill Summer's cuica/puita hand drumming (the cuica is the Brazilian version of its African predecessor, the puita; sounds like a crazy bird; listen here for more.)
Meanwhile, the Baba Brooks Band just gets right to the groove on their 1963 version of "Watermelon Man" for Duke Reid's Dutchess label. Can't be holdin' up the dance with long-ass intros when people wanna be droppin' some legs, right? (Byron Lee also did a ska take in 1964, and the Maytals weighed in with their version in 1970.)
EB Reggae, which I plug all the time because it is the best place for reggae and ska on the Web and also because their prices and service are beyond tite, has Shufflin' on Bond Street. You can get Herbie's jank from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Baba Brooks & The Trenton Spence Orchestra, "Distant Drums"
from Ska-Tola: Top Sounds From Top Deck Vol. 5 (Westside, 1998)
Artie Shaw Orchestra, "Jungle Drums"
from 1938 (Chronological Classics, 1998)
Raymond Harper w/ the Skatalites, "African Blood"
from Prince Buster Record Shack Presents the Original Golden Oldies, Vol. 2 (Jet Star, 1998)
Day two of jazz gone ska.
Baba Brooks was a trumpeter and a contemporary of the Skatalites. In 1963 he did a ska take on Artie Shaw's "Jungle Drums" for Justin Yap's Top Deck label. While Brooks begins his version with drums that echo Shaw's, trumpeter Raymond Harper along with Tommy McCook and the Skatalites did "Jungle Drums" in 1963 as "African Blood," doing away with the tom-tom clubbing and getting right to the ska riddim and the tune's melody line.
EB Reggae has the Prince Buster and Ska-Tola CDs; Amazon has the Shaw.
In other news:
Finally got to interview Miriam Makeba---and the awfully preturbed Mama Africa spent most of the chat yelling at me! I think she even called me "my child" at one point. It's the first time I've had a person who has addressed the United Nations get mad at me. I can only hope it's not the last. I still love you, Mama! No more yelling, Mama! No more! Mama, no!
Meanwhile, the other day Makeba's ex-husband Hugh Masekela proved to be a great interview. When Hugh was really rolling back in the day, dude could make Miles Davis look like a nerd, though the two brassmen pretty much ran neck & feather-boaed neck with all the women & blow they were collecting. While Masekela is clean now, you can read all about his fast times at Pimp Daddy High in his new autobiography, Still Grazing.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, May 24, 2004
The Skatalites, "Malcolm X"
from Skatalites & Friends at Randy's (VP, 1998; Randy's Records, 1964)
Lee Morgan, "The Sidewinder"
from Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note, 1996; recorded 1970)
Most of the Skatalites were jazz-trained players, which is why they were such in-demand studio musicians---you could just set them up and they'd go, which is why they created a remarkably large body of music in their relatively short time together. And of course, the music they produced is the root of all Jamaican music since. (That guy up there on top of this Web site is the Skatalites' trombonist, the Cosmic One, Don Drummond.)
This week I'll be posting a few ska songs and their immediate jazz blueprints. Today's Skatalites cut is "Malcolm X," which is a direct copy of Lee Morgan's soul-jazz classic "The Sidewinder," heard here live in 1970 rather than in the more familiar studio version from the 1963 LP of the same name. You can find "Malcolm X" on both the Skatalites & Friends at Randy's CD and The Rough Guide to Ska: Classic Jamaican Ska From Randy's Vaults. While the most celebrated Skatalites tunes come from Clement Dodd's Studio One, Prince Buster and Duke Reid's Treasure Isle, the records produced for Justin Yap's Top Deck label, King Edwards and Randy's Records are equally as great. Both of the CDs that feature "Malcolm X" are collections of music from Randy Chin's studio, compiled by his equally talented son Clive Chin, who produced records for the likes of Augustus Pablo.
Buy these CDs now.
If you'd like to read more about the influence of jazz on the creation of ska and, therefore, reggae, read the July/August issue of JazzTimes (on sale July 7). If I ever finish it, that is.
Some cool linkz:
Reggae Riddims is a huge database that tracks which riddims have been used on which tunes. Did you know that Paul Desmond's "Take Five" (via Dave Brubeck's quartet) provided the riddim for at least nine reggae cuts? Then head over to JamRid, which gives descriptions and listings of some of the most popular riddims and allows you to hear samples.
Weightless Animals is a series of sonic space cartoons by Mandy McIntosh, Kaffe Matthews, and Zeena Parkins.
Sasha FrereHypenJones tools on Nick Hornby for his recent NY Times whine. SFHJ makes good points and good jokes along the way. This beatdown = good times.
Roots Archive is a comprehensive and searchable database covering roots-rock reggae albums from 1970 - 1985.
Jazzman Records is a tite soul/funk/jazz label.Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, May 21, 2004
"Though I drop your name in vain / You still play tricks on my mind."
"Four in the morning / Maybe five / God it's so beautiful to be alive."
"I spin AC/DC after dark / Yeah, that's my favorite sound."
Sabine, "The Serf to the Level of the Lord"
Sabine, "A Rocket Is a Drum"
from The Serf.../Rocket... 7-inch (Wurlitzer Jukebox, 1996)
Veronica Lake, "Daisy Kiss"
from One Last Kiss (Spin Art, 1992)
Rucarlso & the Plastic Containers, "100 Percent"
from a demo CD (2002)
Big Friday upsies to round out my Michigan-to-D.C.-Move tribute.
I don't know much of anything about Sabine. They were some obscure D.C. trio in the mid-1990s that made a few singles, one CD, and then disappeared from the face of the earth. Oddly enough, it sounds like Tony Whipple recorded the "Serf" side of this single. I think he sang it as well. The B-side, "A Rocket Is a Drum," is home-recorded and deep improv-dub. No Whipple (or his vox) in the hizzo.
One more song from that Michigan band known as Veronica Lake. "Daisy Kiss" is a great tune and it's the band's first recording as a trio. The lyrics talk about listening to Prince and the Jesus & Mary Chain at 4 a.m. and feeling alive. So true.
And finally, one of my favorite songs, "100 Percent," from one of my favorite people that I've met since I moved to the D.C. area: Dr. Rucarlso von Trash Can. Kid can play guitar like nobody's biz and he can sing like Steven Tyler--or AC/DC, after dark. Ru needs to get a band together and get it together because he could be a star. To me, he already is. You can sometimes find out about Trash Can's rock activities over at KittyText. I think they went to school together.
Next week: Back to the movin' & groovin'.Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, May 20, 2004
"Trading Crash for Seam."
 
Veronica Lake, "Threnody"
Veronica Lake, "In the Clouds"
from Threnody/In the Clouds 7-inch (Audrey's Diary, 1993)
Veronica Lake was my favorite band for about two years. They only did a few 7-inches and they appeared on a few comp CDs---such as the scene-documenting and royalty-free One Last Kiss from 1992 that launched the Spin Art label---but they never managed to make a full-length album. Perhaps the band's problem was that it kept hiring tin-earred recording engineers with names like Tony Whipple, or perhaps it was because two of the three bandmembers were "artistic types" and they couldn't quite get it together. Whatever the reasons, I still love this band with all my heart. These two songs feature indie-rock utility infielder Pam Berry (Black Tambourine and about 900 other bands) in duet with my main man Tim Sendra. The 7-inch was supposed to come out on Slumberland in 1992, but when that organization had some stability issues the powerhouse Audrey's Diary label swooped in and saved the music, forever....
Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Elvin Jones, 9/9/27 - 5/18/04
Elvin Jones, "Keiko's Birthday March"
from Puttin' It Together (Blue Note, 1968)
John Coltrane Quartet, "A Love Supreme, Part One: Acknowledgement" (Live)
from A Love Supreme: Deluxe Edition (Verve, 2002)
We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast to pay tribute to the incredible engine that powered the John Coltrane Quartet. Polycurrent king Elvin Jones died yesterday at age 76.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
"There's a party goin' on in the 313."
Craig Le RoQ, "Christmas in Hollis"
Craig Le RoQ, "Party in Detroit"
Craig Le RoQ, "Bootie on Fire"
from A Very Badynee Christmas (Xmas gift, 2001)
I met Craig Casimer Badynee at Retro Image in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1992. I was shopping for an Xmas gift, and Craigers was sitting behind the counter rocking to some Luna. While I never cared for Luna, I loved Galaxie 500 and the two of us got to talking. Next thing you know I asked his band, Asha Vida---then called Caron---to open for our band, Veronica Lake, in Detroit. And the rest is history (i.e., Craig still makes great music as my dusty guitar gently weeps.)
Craig is now married to Missy, and they have two lovely little ones, Viv & Caz. But he still finds time to bring the pop in Pas/Cal---who sound a bit like Belle & Sebastian to most, though I know that Craig's primary loves are Marc Bolan, Syd Barrett, and Morrissey along with healthy doses of the first Mercury Rev album and plenty of OG hip-hop.
You can download Pas/Cal tunes from my post yesterday---and go see the band tonight in NYC at SINE-E---but today's music features The Other Side of Badynee. And there's no way in haggis that Stuart Whatshisnutz from B&S could get funky enough to produce anything even remotely similar to the tracks I've loaded up by Craig Le RoQ.
In addition to being a great singer, a fab arranger, a tite lyricist, and a rad guitarist, Craig is one mean motha of a DJ and MC. He grew up in the heart of Detroit---not the 'burbs; hello, Eminem, and eff you Kid Rock---and he was beatboxing and breakdancing long before he started rockin'. I'm pretty sure he had a hip-hop thing in high school, and he's messed around with rap tracks as long as I've known him. In fact, I think Craig has thrown out more good hip-hop tracks than most people will ever produce. But he's a perfectionist, so a lot of stuff never leaves his home studio---which is where he records everything, including the way-cool sounding Pas/Cal EPs. (BTW, you can buy the EPs from Pas/Cal or from Darla or from you local indie shop. They are recording their debut album now.)
Craig is also the DJ for MC EsQuire the Boy Who Invented Rap (that's them up top), and you can buy their limited edition six-song CD, which collects tracks that came out on 12-inchers in, like, Japan, at EsQuire's Web site. But the tracks I'm posting today are things you could only get as an Xmas gift from the Badynee family in 2001.
"Christmas in Hollis" is the Run-DMC tune redone Detroit styleee. Not only does it feature Craig Le RoQ on the vox, you've got MC Gus, Jesse Jess, and Missy Bumblebee rockin' the mic. But since Craig can't just do things the simple way---such as sample the Run-DMC version of "Hollis"---he went out and found all the original samples that Jam Master Jay used to create the song, resampled every one of them, and cut the tune from scratch. And it's so damn dope because of it.
"Party in Detroit" and "Bootie on Fire" are the Xmas CD's "bonus party tracks"---you know, for when the egg nog kicks in---and the songs remind me of coming home from middle school in the early '80s and watching the dance party on channel 62. Even to this day Detroit has a booty-bass scene---aka ghettotech---and on this locally produced dance show---like a low budget version of Soul Train---the music was ass shakin' at all times. All those moves you see the girls do in the rap videos today? The ladies did them to electro, rap and proto-house beats then. People would line up on two sides and the dancers would walk down the runway shakin' they sh*t. It made the music I heard on the Electrifying Mojo's epochal radio show Midnight Funk Association come alive. (Mojo is the DJ responsible for inspiring every early Detroit techno guy.)
Being a lifelong Detroiter, I know Craig remembers this dance-party show as well, and if the program was around today I'm sure it would play these two songs on heavy rotation. Check Craig's Prince-like vocals and Grandmaster Flash raps on "Party in Detroit"---kid is wicked. I really hope that---in between being a dad, working a full-time job, building a home studio, and leading Pas/Cal---he finds time to do more beat stuff. (Or just release stuff from the archives, Le RoQ!) Can you tell I love me boyee?
Break out the cardboard and bust a move in your cubicle.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, May 17, 2004
"In the morning I see you with your hair down."
Pas/Cal, "I Wanna Take You Out in Your Holiday Sweater"
from demo CD Rough Mix No. 1 (2001)
Pas/Cal, "What Happened to the Sands"
from Oh, Honey, We're Ridiculous (Le Grand Magistery, 2004)
Pas/Cal, "The Bronze Beached Boys (Come On Let's Go)"
from The Handbag Memoirs (Le Grand Magistery, 2003)
This week I'll be posting tunes by my talented friends from Michigan and D.C. in honor of my 10 years away from the Great Lakes state (*sigh*) and living in the Washington area. If only some of my buddies did soporific piano ballads....
No time to write today, so tomorrow I will do a full update on Pas/Cal and their leader, Craig Casimer Badynee, when I post some dope-ass tunes from his side project. All you beatnuts, get ready to breakdance. This kid is waaaay talented.
If you live in NYC, go see Pas/Cal on Tuesday, May 18, at SIN-E (150 Attorney St. New York, NY 10002; 212-388-0077; www.sin-e.com).
Pas/Cal's Web site.Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, May 14, 2004
Hugh Masekela, "U-Dwi"
Hugh Masekela, "Cantelope Island"
from The Lasting Impressions of Ooga Booga (Verve, 1996)
Busi Mhlongo, "Oxamu"
from Roots & Ancestors 1 (Melt 2000)
Big ups to Soul Sides, Can't Stop Won't Stop, Large-Hearted Boy, Catch Dubs, Never Came Home, Crank Crunk, Moebius Rex, and, yes, the Dylan newsgroup for providing so many ears for the Suburbs over the past few days.
This weekend is going to be tite:
Saturday night is Mission of Burma and Fiery Furnaces with Beau Beau. I just wish I liked those bands more; for me Burma has two good songs (yeah, those two), and I don't get the Furnaces. At least the company will be fab and the beers expensive.
Then on Sunday I'm going to be try and run my fanny from Upper Marlboro for a ska & reggae fest to downtown D.C. for this South African sonic celebration.
I've gone to the venue for the ska & reggae fest twice since I've been in D.C.---and both times it was for ECHL minor-league hockey games for the now-defunct Chesapeake Icebreakers. It's a multifunction arena that is normally an equestrian showplace, but this weekend it's gonna have so much West Indian flava that the concession stands will blow up cayenne styleeee: Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest, Marcia Griffiths, the Mighty Sparrow & Baron, Carl Malcolm & Eric "Monty" Morris. I'll prob see Malcolm (now a Takoma Park resident), Morris, and the Mighty Sparrow & Baron before having to cold bust it over to the Ken Cen to see Hugh Masekela, the breathtaking Vusi Mahlasela, Busi Mhlongo, Jabu Khanyile and the dance group Moving Into Dance-Mophatong.
That's some worldwide jank.
Busi Mhlongo is a Zulu singer, heard here a capella on the traditional tune "Oxamu." The clicks she produces while singing tickle my throat. There's a house mix of "Oxamu" on Global Vibes (Melt 2000), but it's pretty tepid. Anybody wanna make a mash-up using Mhlongo's singing? Maybe something glitchy to play off the clicks?
And Hugh Masekela is, well, Hugh Masekela. Herbie Hancock's "Cantalope Island" is taken at an almost leisurely pace, and "U-Dwi" mixes township jive and soul-jazz. These tunes were recorded in NYC at the Village Gate in 1965---Masekela's pre-"Grazing in the Grass" days---and originally released on The Americanization of Ooga Booga in 1966. The CD version adds another LP, The Lasting Impression of Hugh Masekla, cut at the same live date.
Oh crap. Just found out that I have to interview Miriam Makeba in 10 mins.
Next week is the 10th anniversary of my journey from Michigan to D.C. This is gonna be special for me as I give big ups to my musical peeps. Bring on the weepy white guys.Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, May 13, 2004
"In times like these, war is not the answer. / Only love can conquer."
Big Youth, "My Time"
from The Chanting Dread Inna Fine Style (Heartbeat, 1992)
Big Youth, "S.90 Skank"
from Ride Like Lightning: The Best of Big Youth, 1972-1976 (Trojan, 2002)
One day I'm going to post a "Top 10 Songs That Me & Trash Can Sing at Work." And along with Mull Historical Society, Owls, and Spyro Gyra (oh, yes, you can croon instrumental smooth jazz; we prove it daily), I guarantee you that Big Youth's "My Time" is on that list. His warbley chant-singing sounds like no one else, but when Big Youth stretches for the high notes on the chorus section of "My Time" that goes "Because I deserve the right / to live / like any other man," you feel free to join in.
Another cool thing about Big Youth is just how damn stylin' he is. Dude has red, gold & green jewels on his front teeth; he rocked dreads on stage back when baldheads ruled; and he rides motorcycles like Evel Knievel, which is why I've posted Big's ode to the Honda---"The S.90 Skank." Big up to da Youth.
Speaking of looking cool on motorcycles: Trash Can and I were driving down 14th St. last week, and this fella came scootin' by:
He should be on Rides.
Get all your Youth-ful needs met at Ernie B's. The two comp CDs I posted music from are way tite, and don't forget the right-on Big Youth comp from Blood & Fire: Natty Universal Dread, 1973-1979.Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Bill Moss, "Sock It to 'Em Soul Brother"
Elijah & the Ebonites, "Hot Grits!!!"
from Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label (Numero, 2004)
Numero Group is a new label dedicated to crate digging. Their second release is a comp CD, Camino del Sol, for the Belgian bossa-nova-n-synth band Antena who recorded for Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crepuscule in the 1980s. (How did LTM Records let Numero get their paws on this before they did?)
The first release by Numero is a comp from the 1970s Columbus, Ohio, R&B label Capsoul. Bill Moss headed up the bedroom operation, and that's him giving shout outs to O.J. Simpson and 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche on "Sock It to 'Em Soul Brother." Such sweet irony today; so damn funky and empowering then.
And from the liner notes, here's the ridiculous story behind "Hot Grits!!!"
On a promotional trip in 1974, Four Mints founder James Brown (no relation) and Bill Moss were driving through Memphis when the story broke that Al Green had been hospitalized after being scalded with hot grits. They suddenly found themselves racing back to Columbus to resurrect the old Elijah & the Ebonites instrumental "Pure Soul" as "Hot Grits!!"
Dudes were cashing in on Rev. Green's mushy face!
While "You Can't Blame Me" by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum, & Durr is the tune that pretty much got this comp made---I guess it's a hit in the rare-groove scene---I like Kool Blues' "I'm Gonna Keep on Loving You" and Ronnie Taylor's church-organ ballad "Without Love" and soul stomper "I Can't Take It."
Numero's packaging is rad and their vibe right on (Rhino-like enthusiam & care). You can buy their releases direct.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Sizzla, "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
from Jah Knows Best (RAS, 2004)
Sizzla, "Come On"
from Strictly the Best 29 (VP, 2002)
Close your eyes, hold your breath, count to five. In that same time Sizzla released 17 new records. When not burning the chalice, dude is cutting tunes.
Like Capleton and Anthony B, Sizzla is of the Bobo Ashanti Rasta persuasion. They usually wear turbans (though Sizzla is sans headgear in the awesome photo up there) and sing a lot about fire and, you know, more fire. It's funny, but Bobo Rastas are really conservative, and yet few people call them on their views in the same way someone would, say, Pat Robertson. Maybe it's because the Bobos can bring the noize.
Yep, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is the Bob Dylan tune. Not only is it on Sizzla's forthcoming album, Jah Knows Best, it'll be on a new reggae/dancehall tribute to ol' Robby Zimmerman. Reggae and dancehall have always covered or outright thieved the music of others, so wipe the idea from your mind that this is a novelty tune. It's pretty tite, tho I don't really like the fade.
The other tune is plucked somewhat at random from Sizzla's mind-numbingly large oeuvre. On "Come On" I like that, for brief moments when Sizzla goes for the high note, he sounds like the Pixies' Black Francis.
Here's an interview with Sizzla by Jeff Chang in Murder Dog. Natch, Ernie B has all the Sizzla you want to buy.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, May 10, 2004
 
2Pac & the Backyard Band, "Baby Love"
2Pac & the Backyard Band, "Baby Love Break"
from Live at the Sheraton Hotel, D.C., 8-19-93 bootleg
I'm not a D.C. native, but I have lived here for 10 years and one thing is certain: Go-go music is the undeniable heartbeat of Chocolate City. Drive around D.C. on a Friday and Saturday night, and it's go-go not hip-hop that rules the car stereos. (Even a pale boy like Moist was known to rock some buckets in his youth.)
While I never cared much for 2Pac--and his death brought back the Airbrush Artiste---he sounds perfect in a go-go setting, which is all gruff chanting and stolen sing-song choruses. (I wonder how Pac would have done on a dancehall riddim?) In this 1993 performance (at a Sheraton Hotel?), the Backyard Band pounds out the canyon-deep grooves and 2Pac gives shout-outs to, well, pretty much everyone in D.C. as well as to many of his hip-hop homies.
There's very little on the Web about the Backyard Band, but you can buy their music at this go-go music shop and you can see a Backyard Band live video here. There are some Backyard Band MP3s here, and here's an article on go-go in, er, well, the Georgetown Voice
The Backyard Band still plays D.C. all the friggin' time, including every Tuesday night at Insomnia.Posted by CP | Link |
Saturday, May 08, 2004
"Endless talking, life rebuilding / Don't walk away"
New Order, "Atmosphere"
from Radio One Sessions (Strange Fruit, 2004)
Colder, "Crazy Love"
from Again (Output, 2003)
Can we really say New Order is covering Joy Division since, you know, they were Joy Division? But it is odd to hear "Atmosphere" without Ian Curtis' distinctive baritone and overwhelming gravitas. This was recorded for John Peel in November 1988 and broadcast one month later.
For someone doing his best to sound like Ian Curtis and Movement-era Bernard Sumner, check out Marc Nuygen Tan---aka Colder. "Crazy Love" zips me back to high school---minus the angular haircut.
New Order's Radio One Sessions is only available at import prices; Colder's Again has a ltd. ed. DVD with it in some copies. All discs are available from Other Music.Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, May 06, 2004
"I am cold / Distant / Increasingly resistant to your smile."
Lloyd Cole, "Music in a Foreign Language"
Lloyd Cole, "Brazil"
both from Music in a Foreign Language (One Little Indian, 2004)
I spent the summer of '89 with Lloyd Cole. He wasn't traveling with me by rail across Europe, but it felt like he was cooling in coach because his Mainstream cassette rarely left my Walkman. (It was especially nice to have his company when I missed an overnight train in Germany and was left in the station with nothing more than "My Bag" and a big bottle of pilsner.)
I kept trying to chill with Cole in the '90s, but due to record-company problems the funny, erudite singer-songwriter with the deep croon didn't get to hang as much as CP von Superfan would have liked. Still, I had the three great albums he made with the Commotions in the '80s, and he did release a few decent solo records during the go-go '90s.
Now he has a fresh record label, One Little Indian (check out the tune by Polly Paulusma that automatically plays when you go to the site; very nice), and a backlog of King Cole is hitting at once: the lost folk-pop album Etc, the Eno-esque ambient record Plastic Wood and the new Music in a Foreign Language, which ranks among his best. We'll meet again tonight at the Birchmere. I'm bringing my skinny friend, Trash Can. I hope he doesn't embarrass me with beverage-fueled antics and ribald jokes at the expense of the performer. Or maybe, just maybe, I do.Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
C.S. Dodd: Jan. 26, 1932 - May 4, 2004
 
Leroy Sibbles, "Express Yourself"
from Studio One Soul (Soul Jazz, 2001)
Monty Alexander & Ernest Ranglin, "Redemption Song"
from Rocksteady (Telarc, 2004)
Coxsone Dodd died yesterday. The man who ran the legendary Studio One, where ska was born and reggae prospered, was 72.
In honor of the Brentford Road all-star, here are two songs to send him off to that big sound system in the sky.
Leroy Sibbles does a tite version of "Express Yourself," the 1970 soul-power classic by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (think NWA sample).
And Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" is performed by Monty Alexander and Ernest Ranglin, two musicians who made their mark at Mr. Dodd's earliest recording sessions. This track came from an impromptu performance at the end of a studio session for the new Rocksteady album.
If you're in the Washington, D.C., area this Friday and Saturday, Monty & Ernie will be playing Blues Alley. And if you have XM Satellite Radio, they will be interviewed at around 12:30 p.m. on Friday by the charming Dermot Hussey.
Big up, Mr. Dodd.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
"Feelin' downtrodden / Fresh kid turned rotten"
 
Q-Tip, "Feelin'"
from Kamaal the Abstract (Atlantic, unreleased album)
Fatlip, "What's Up Fatlip?"
from What's Up Fatlip CD single (Delicious Vinyl, 2000)
In 2001, and then 2002, Q-Tip was supposed to have an album come out called Kamaal the Abstract. JazzTimes even put Q on the cover of its March 2002 issue because the album featured jazzbos like Gary Thomas, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Kenny Garrett, and the tracks go for a decidedly "jazzy" feel (i.e., jazz chords over R&B beats). Real instruments rather than samples dominate, and on at least half of the CD Q-Tip sounds more like a Prince imitator than he does Q-Tip. Plus, there's a general sense of import to the album---which means it ain't a whole lot of booty-shakin' fun. So perhaps it's no surprise that Atlantic, smelling nary a whiff of a hit single, canned the album, consigning it to the dustbin of history. Man, the editor of JazzTimes must really feel like a jackass!
Luckily, we have the Internet.
But I have to admit: I don't even like this Q-Tip song that much. I much prefer the first three Tribe albums---Who doesn't? Those LPs are friggin' all-timers---and the singles "Vivrant Thing" and "Breathe & Stop" from Q-Tip's solo debut, Amplified, for which he was accused of selling out by going all flossy: wearing fur coats and penning ghetto-fabulous paeans to the young ladies
Fans of the Roots might dig this cut, however. But I don't really like the Roots, either. I guess I just prefer my hip-hop beats like I dig my ham: canned. I say, "Bring on more bling, Mr. Q!"
So why am I posting this lost Q-Tip track, then? For the kidz, friend, for the kidz.
Here's an in-depth audio interview with Q where the status of the Kamaal CD is addressed.
I hear Q has a new CD coming out soon, but I didn't find info about it on page one of my Google search---and there's no way I'm clicking to page two. Too much work, brother!
For a song I do like---no, Slice, make that LOVE---check out "What's Up Fatlip?" from former Pharcyde rapper Fatlip. And yes, he is wearing a diaper in the photo above and in the video.
I dunno exactly why Lip left Pharcyde after 1995's way-tite Labcabincalifornia---perhaps because he knew they would morph from playful rappers into "conscious" dudes and make the bomb (not da bomb) album Plain Rap in 2000. (And now the OG four are two.)
So many folks are praising Kanye West (who I don't really get quite yet---but I do like that his fave rapper is Mase) for writing anti-bravado anthems that address insecurities, but what about Fatlip? His first--and possibly last---solo tune is all about how lazy and plotless his life is. It's a somewhat sad but damn funny tune. And don't forget: DIAPER!
Bumped off the "Current MP3z" links update on the right since you folks are smart enough to know where the MP3s are on this blog. Also, I want more room to update the ol' Blogodex and give out some more props & links to those of you who make the Blogosphere a fine & dandy place to reside. Keep on FTPin', folks.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, May 03, 2004
 
Chuck Carbo, "Can I Be Your Squeeze?"
The Explosions, "Hip Drop"
from New Orleans Funk: The Original Sound of Funk 1960-75 (Soul Jazz, 2000
Unstrap yourself from the cubicle chair before you play these tunes. I wanna see all of you in the blogosphere drop some hips to these OG musical biscuits.
The entire New Orleans Funk compilation has probably been sampled to death, but for those of you looking for unaccompanied and killer breakbeats, you've found your Valhalla. Other highlights include the Meters' "Handclapping Song" and "Just Kissed My Baby," Aaron Neville's "Hercules," the Explosions' "Garden of Four Trees," and Danny White's "Natural Soul Brother." (I never figured the Dallas Cowboys' former QB / punter to be such a fonkee mofo.) Special notice goes out to Eddie Bo's "Hook 'n' Sling," which is one long breakbeat with him coughing in rhythm. What is it about coughing solos and bringin' the funk?
The sister Soul Jazz comp to this one is Saturday Night Fish Fry. Other Music in NYC and Dusty Groove in Chicago should be able to hook you up if you're Chuck Jonesin' to hear more NO funk---and how could you not?Posted by CP | Link |
Saturday, May 01, 2004
After having the CDs for a few weeks, I just watched the 46664 DVD. Now I know why Abdel Wright's voice cracks like mad at the end of his solo performance: he was overcome by emotion. He was (and still is, for now) a complete unknown when he was invited to participate in this concert. Here's a kid who grew up in SOS foster homes in Jamaica and spent a short stint in prison, was plucked out of nowhere based on a demo that Bono & Co. loved and given the stage at one of the biggest charity concerts of this generation. Big up, Abdel. (See my April 20 for more details on Abdel Wright.)Posted by CP | Link |
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Who cork the dance?
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