Tuesday, June 29, 2004
"This is a story, a very special story /
It's about Brian Jones, the one of the Rolling Stones"
Psychic TV, "Godstar" (Ready Steady Go mix)
from Godstar: Thee Director's Cut (Hyperdelic, Voiceprint, 2004; rec. 1985)
I didn't go to this show because of sleep deprivation, but I previewed it for the Washington City Paper:
I was watching the rave documentary Better Living Through Circuitry recently, and Psychic TV's head headcase Genesis P-Orridge was talking about the power of trance music. I'm sure he had interesting things to say about the ancient, ritualistic nature of dance music, but P-Orridge's words of wisdom came out sounding like one of Charlie Brown's teachers, because I was fixated on one thought: "Dude looks like a decrepit old woman." Then again, if you spent as much time as he did dropping acid, engaging in cultural terrorism, and generating more white noise than an electrical plant, you might look a little rough around the edges, too. A student of Situationism, William S. Burroughs, the Marquis de Sade, and Timothy Leary, P-Orridge has waged war on middle-class values for 30 years now. In 1975, he co-founded the noise-pop group Throbbing Gristle, which produced several recordings that helped define industrial music. When TG busted up in 1979, P-Orridge co-created Psychic TV, of which he remains the sole original member today. Psychic TV darted between extreme collage and '60s pop---as evidenced on the newly reissued Godstar tribute to Brian Jones---and then went on to dance music in the late '80s, when P-Orridge is said to have coined the term acid house. I don't know which version of PTV will show up tonight, but jack the tab just in case when the band plays with the Apes at 9 p.m. Friday, June 25, at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $20. (202) 397-7328. (Christopher Porter)
This version of "Godstar" is my fave (there are five or six more on the bloated Godstar double CD) because I used to listen to the 7-inch all the friggin' time in the '80s. Bought it from Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor. Ah, them days....
Genesis P-Orridge's Web site features lots ov spellings like ov, and you can see photos of him becoming an everyday hyperdelic pandrogenous man-woman.
Off to the Montreal Jazz Festival tomorrow, and here's who I'm attempting to see:
[iks]
Greg Osby
Tony Allen
Nellie McKay
Sage Francis
Sixtoo
Wibutee
Eivind Aarset
Burning Spear
Michel Portal
Dhafer Youssef
Mocean Worker
DJ Lady Miss Kier
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Souad Massi
Brad Mehldau
Soel
DJ Rainer Truby
Jon Hassell
Erik Truffaz
In addition to hundreds of other performers (this fest is huge), I understand Chick "Foo Fighters" Corea and Keith "Ughghjjj" Jarrett are playing, too. Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, June 28, 2004
"Do you remember Burning Spear?"
Burning Spear, "Old Marcus Garvey"
from Marcus Garvey (Mango, 1976)
Burning Spear, "As It Is"
from Calling Rastafari (Heartbeat, 1999)
Went to see Burning Spear this weekend---though not at the 9:30 Club. Since we'll be seeing Spear at the Montreal Jazz Festival this coming weekend, we went to XM Radio (i.e., the free concert) where he was cutting a session and being interviewed by Dermot Hussey. It was fun mostly to see how such a big band would do in XM's relatively small session room. Alas, the music mix was geared for recording, not live performance: the guitars were turned down low and the drums & horns were behind plexiglass baffles. But a good source reports that Spear's 9:30 show was incredible, so Montreal, here we come.
"Old Marcus Garvey" is a Burning Spear classic where he states, "No one remember old Marcus Garvey." Spear updates "Old Marcus Garvey" on "As It Is," a tale about how Spear got his start and wondering who will remember him, St. Ann's number two dread (Marley being No. 1).
The photo up there of Burning Spear is by Carter Van Pelt, publisher of 400 Years. Spear has a nice Web site with tons of interview links (including three by Carter) and plenty to purchase, including his new self-released album, Freeman, and, erm, the always fashionable canvas tote bag.Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, June 25, 2004
"Animal was my favorite drummer /
I couldn't get Kurt off my mind last summer"
New Kingdom was too heavy for hip-hop, too rap for rock, and too experimental for major-label stardom. And damn if they weren't one of the best bands of the 1990s.
New Kingdom once played this club in Wheaton in suburban Maryland that tried to be a concert venue, a used record store, and a microbrew pub. It featured the oddest bookings: death metal night followed by ska, followed by rockabilly, followed by prog rock---save for being azz backward it had no identity, so it's no wonder the joint went belly up. The crowd for New Kingdom was small, and the low stage gave the feel that we were watching a high school talent show, but the band ignored the lame surroundings and just tore sh*t up. Jamming like Jimi, down like Public Enemy, fly like Curtis Mayfield, and punk as the Pistols. Awesome, really.
They went on hiatus when their label, Gee Street, was swallowed up, but New Kingdom's leaders have continued to make music---you just needed to be Sherlock Holmes, holmes, to find it. Jason / Nosaj now goes as Nature Boy Jim Kelly, and Sebastian records as Truck Stop [his site is down for the moment]. Guitarist and beatnut Scotty Hard has made a name for himself as a producer or engineer for everyone from Medeski Martin & Wood to Wu-Tang.
Here's a treasure trove of New Kingdom downloads, straight from the band. While the DLs are heavy on NK's second album, 1996's Pardise Don't Come Cheap, you have to find 1993's Heavy Load. Both CDs are available dead cheap from Amazon's used shops: Paradise and Heavy Load for less than 2 bucks each. Steal.Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Femi Kuti, "Blackman Know Yourself"
from Shoki Shoki (MCA, 2000)
I missed seeing Femi Kuti, son of Fela, in South Africa, so I was glad to have the chance to strap on my dancing shoes (orthopedics) and drop some legs here in D.C. Dude did not disappoint. Listen to the song "Blackman Know Yourself" (nothing to do with Joe Higgs' tune) and imagine a full house of sweaty folk gettin' up and get-gettin' down as eight instrumentalists and three dancers bring the funk. And those dancers must have animatronic asses because no way the human butt can move like that without the help of technology and a 9-volt in each cheek.
Femi doesn't seem to have a Web site anymore (his name was hijacked) and MCA haven't updated their jank in more than a year. But here's an interview with Our Man, and the BBC reviews Femi's Fight to Win CD and provides a few samples and some other linkz. Get Shoki Shoki on the cheap. Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
"I had a feeling that I belonged."
Tracy Chapman, "Fast Car" (live)
from Live at Casino de Montreux, Montreux, Switzerland, 4.7.88 (bootleg)
Tracy Chapman "Fast Car" (acoustic)
from ???
Xiu Xiu, "Fast Car"
from A Promise (KRS/5RC, 2003)
Wayne Wonder, "Fast Car" (Taxi riddim)
from Collectors Series (Penthouse, 1999)
DJ Sharon O Love, "Fast Car" (Club Remix)
from a white label 12-inch (2004)
Nice & Smooth, "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow"
from Ain't a Damn Thing Changed (Def Jam, 1991)
About a week and a half ago I interviewed Abdel Wright for an article in Global Rhythm, and we got to talking about how he learned to play guitar. The story that's been floated most often is that Abdel was inspired through repeat visits from Johnny Cash to the Montego Bay-area orphanage where he grew up. While the Man in Black certainly helped, this is what Abdel told me: "I fell in love with the guitar when I listen to Tracy Chapman, long before Johnny Cash. I got my own guitar and started to impersonate Tracy Chapman."
Jamaica has a big thing for country & western music, but it's also crazy for love songs (which place isn't) and, for a while, Tracy Chapman. Like in the U.S., "Fast Car" was a huge hit in Jamaica in 1988. Foxy Brown did a cover---the dancehall deejay, not the rapper--and Wayne Wonder cut one as well (on the Taxi riddim).
I hadn't thought about "Fast Car" in, well, forever. Sure, whenever I heard the tune by chance on the radio I listened and sang along, but I always took it for granted. But talking to Abdel made me purposely revisit the song, and somehow I heard it with fresh ears.
Supa Obvious Bulletin, Boss:
"Fast Car" is a devasting, beautiful song about desire. And Tracy Chapman's voice is filled with such gravitas and grace.
It's no wonder that so many people have covered the tune---hello, Vertical Horizon; and goodbye.
First, two versions by Chapman: a minimalist live performance on electric guitar and an "acoustic" version (i.e., bongos are in the mix) that has some slight rip glitches in it (sorry, dunno where I got it from; anyone know which album, collection or single it's on?). Next up is Xiu Xiu's lo-fi drone; I generally don't like the band but I appreciate this interpretation, which seems in tune with the song's slightly desperate spirit (which might be the only thing in tune). Wayne Wonder's almost Musical Youth versioning and house DJ Sharon O Love play up the melody and hook moreso that the lyrical sentiments---but oh, that hook, that melody! Finally, the here-today, gone-today rap duo Nice & Smooth took the guitar riff and built a smart, catchy song that mixes some socially conscious lyrics with declarations that they rhyme slow and quick. Rock on, fellas!
Tracey Chapman doesn't have an up-to-date Web site, but this fan site is tite, as is this one.
Xiu Xiu is here and here.
DJ Sharon O Love's homepage has some more song samples---and the declaration that it's not Tracy Chapman singing on her dance version of "Fast Car" but rather a soundalike named Lelani. There's an article on Sister Sharon here, and another one about the child therapist by day, house DJ by night, right here. Meanwhile, Ministry of Sound put Lovey's "Fast Car" on their annual spring break comp.
Wayne Wonder, who seems to articulate words through his nose, is becoming better known in the U.S. in the wake of Sean Paul's Dutty Rock, but dude actually got his start with King Tubby more than 15 years ago. Did you know Wonder co-wrote Buju Banton's notorious "Boom Bye Bye"?
Nice & Smooth last cut an album in 1997, but I expect them to start touring again any day now. Hey, if Rob Base can still perform on the strength of one eternally great song, so can Smooth Bee and Gregg Nice.
And for that matter, so can Tracy Chapman.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Bruno Pronsato is doing a live session on Proton radio today @ 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, June 21, 2004
Bobby Karate, "Hello Steven Please Destroy"
from Hot Trips, Cold Returns (Woodson Lateral, 2003)
Bruno Pronsato, "Viaje a la Luna"
Bruno Pronsato, "Read Me"
from Silver Cities (Orac, 2004)
Steven Ford (left) is Bobby Karate (ambient glitch) and Bruno Pronsato (house glitch). Like the coffee, Steven is Seattle's best---at everything, boss! And my man loves unicorns!Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, June 17, 2004
"Tread on water / I just suck on sympathy"
Rollerskate Skinny, "Miss Leader"
from Shoulder Voices (Beggar's Banquet / Placebo, 1993)
Rollerskate Skinny, "Speed to My Side"
from Horsedrawn Wishes (Warner Bros., 1996)
Lotus Crown, "Well (Of a Mother's Symphony)"
Lotus Crown, "Riddle Me Sober"
from Chokin' on the Jokes (Warner Bros., 1997)
Kid Silver, "Devils and Demons" [via Moistworks]
Kid Silver, "Dead City Sunbeams" [via Moistworks]
from Dead City Sunbeams (Jet Set, 1999)
Rollerskate Skinny was an Irish band that initially featured Jimi Shields, the bro of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin. (I'm not sure Jimi's name has ever been written without reference to Kevin's, and I'm not about to be the pioneer, boss.) Jimi played drums in Rollerskate Skinny and overdubbed guitars on their early singles and awesome debut LP, Shoulder Voices. His drumming---usually falling-down-the-stairs beats, though you don't get that so much on "Miss Violence"---was integral to Skinny's sound, but he left after the first record. Rollerskate Skinny's Horsedrawn Wishes suffers from Shield's absence---it's much more polite---but it's still very, very good. You can find Horsedrawn Wishes in cutout bins from coast to coast. You may even find Shoulder Voices in those very bins because it got a U.S. issue on Atlantic some time after the Beggar's release came out in Europe.
Other Rollerskate Skinny sounds and samples here, and right thurr you can find a little recent-ish news about the ex-band members.
Oddball sidenote: See the cover for Shoulder Voices up there? Next time you watch the 1996 Jon Lovitz vehicle High School High---you know you own the DVD---look for that Feargal Fitzpatrick painting in his classroom; it's there.
Lotus Crown is what Jimi Shields did---and seemingly still does, albeit on the waaaay down low---after he left Skinny, stepping up to the mic and snappin' up an ax. Shields lived in Chicago for a while, but I dunno where he is now. The lone Lotus Crown album, Chokin' on the Jokes, is so damn good---and you can find it in cutout bins everywhere as well. Go here and scroll down to the Alternative Press review to read a younger man's japes. Lotus Crown just got caught up in the Warner Bros. machinery in the post-grunge-signing-binge era, and the album may as well have been released directly to used CD stores. More Lotus Crown samples and even a few live things are here.
Kid Silver is the project of Skinny's singer Ken Griffin. He released one completely great album as Kid Silver---and disappeared. Oh, I'm sure he's around somewhere, busking or something, but I don't think he's recorded anything. He needs to bust out the damn tape recorder again because Dead City Sunbeams was one of the best records of 1999 (even if the cutout bin came a-calling).
If any of you heads know, I'd love updates on Shields and Griffin's activities.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Bark Psychosis
Here are two songs from Bark Psychosis' forthcoming album, Codename: Dustsucker. I absolutely loved Bark Psychosis back in the day---cripes, more than 10 years ago now---but I'm not sure how I feel about these new tracks yet. Still, I'm buying the album when it hits July 5; available through Darla. Drum & bass nutz will also remember BP's singer/headman Graham Sutton as Boymerang, who released a few good singles on Leaf and a mediocre album on Astralwerks.
Sultana
She's a Turkish rapper and a lil' bit money. I saw her "Kusu Kalkmaz" video on Link TV and kinda liked it. You can see the vid in super low-res at Sultana's homepage. Calabash Music sells world-music downloads, and you can listen to samples and buy Sultana's album there. Also, if you sign up for Calabash (no obligation) you can download their 8-track sampler for free.
Kid Rockz
Here are a bunch of hip-hop and dancehall riddims created by schoolkids in Kingston and Spanish Town, Jamaica. Download, mashup, and send back to the lil' ones! The kids created the beats through a very cool benefit program called Wax & Wayne that teaches shorties about digital-music production.
_______________________________________________________
Uh huh, yeah, Phil! Ralpher!
Pistons win. Oh, Los Angeles, how do you sleep? I'm tearing up and it has nothing to do with the late-night onion tort I'm preparing. Much love, Sheed, Benny, PF Doom, Darko, and the rest of my tank-top gang. Darvin, this one is 4 U.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, June 14, 2004
Shystie, "I Luv U"
from a white-label 12-inch, 2003
Fluxblog has the new Shystie single posted for download, and he makes reference to her answer song to Dizzee Rascal's "I Luv You." Considering only the most hard-core grime fans know this song or Shystie, my public service today is to post her slammin' version of "I Luv You." I only discovered Shystie and the tune yesterday, completely by chance. For some reason a Google search of "Rasheed Wallace" + "awesome rapper" comes up with Shystie MP3s. Imagine that.
Then go hear Dizzee's version of "I Luv You" (video) as well as "Fix Up Look Sharp" (mp3) and a 16-minute interview/freestyle (mp3).
Here's a Guardian article on Shystie. 2-Step interviews Our Gal as well.
Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, June 14, 2004
Sheed says, "Back off, Slav, before I slap the Ukraine right out ya back side."
Larry Brown put in Donnie Darko Milicic for the last 9 seconds just to rub it in.
How ya like my two-tone 'do, Glove? Think cuz I put tape on my new earrings it means the Human Blowout Indicator can't ball? Bring it, Stanislav. Sheed and his white spot teach me to roll with the two tone. Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, June 11, 2004
Gods of Thunder
Wicked Lester, "Keep Me Waiting"
Wicked Lester, "When the Bell Rings"
Wicked Lester, "Sweet Ophelia"
Wicked Lester, "(We Want to) Shout It Out Loud"
from The Original Wicked Lester Sessions (bootleg, 1972)
Wicked Lester was Gene and Paul's band before they formed Kiss and its attendant Army. "Keep Me Waiting" and the protest song (no kidding) "When the Bell Rings" feature bongos, which I'm not sure ever made it onto a Kiss record. Or at least not until Dynasty. The bridge of "Keep Me Waiting" sounds a bit like Iggy Pop's "The Passenger." Then bathe in "Sweet Ophelia," just your friggin' average jam about a chick who loves a midshipmen from Baltimore so much that she won't get with Cap'n Gene and Lt. Paulie. Sounds like the Band. "(We Want to) Shout It Out Loud" doesn't seem to have any relation to the Kiss song "Shout It Out Loud," but it's obvious that those calculating boys Gene & Paul recognize a good song title when they hear it. It sounds like a stripped down version of the Zombies.
Want the demo? This guy has it and more Kiss rarities for sale or trade. Also, be sure to visit the Kiss homepage---it clicks ass!!!---and pick up some tchotchkes. There are so many good Kiss fan sites out there, but I like Lynn's Kiss Dominion because "This site will showcase KISS and a true KISS fan!" So true, Lynn, so true! Her self-created Kiss art is especially notable.Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, June 11, 2004
The Face Breaks Off 31
Pistons win by 20. The Human Blowout Indicator, Donnie Darko Milicic, even played 108 seconds, which is 108 more than Rick Fox.Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Charlie Parker, "Barbados"
from The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes (Savoy 2002; rec. 1948)
Charlie Parker, "Barbados" (live)
from The Complete Live Performances on Savoy (Savoy 1998; rec. 1949)
Charlie Parker, "Barbados" (remix)
from Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project (Savoy 2003)
Lester Sterling, "Forest Gate Rock"
from Sir Lee's Rock Steady Party - At Greenwich Farm (Jamaican Gold 2000; rec. 1968)
______________________________________________
The Skatalites, "Surftide Seven"
from Ska-Boo-Da-Ba: Top Sounds From Top Deck, Vol. Three (Westside 1998; rec. 1964)
Duke Ellington, "In a Mellow Tone"
from Duke Ellington: The Blanton-Webster Band (Bluebird 1985; rec. 1940)
______________________________________________
Lester Sterling & Stranger Cole, "Bangarang"
from Trojan Jamaican Hits Box Set (Trojan 2000; rec. 1968)
Lieutenant Stitchie, "Bangarang"
from Bangarang (Shanachie 1995)
JA + Jazz Versioning, Day 7
I'm closing the ska/reggae + jazz series with a massive upsies now that I've finally finished my article about it for JazzTimes, which went to press today. You can buy it on the newsstands everywhere on July 7 and help me find typos (such as "mellotone" or "mellow tone").
Track the evolution of Charlie Parker's "Barbados," from the 1948 studio version, to the 1949 live version at the Royal Roost (Max Roach emulatin' congas during Parker's solo?), to Matthew Backer's 2003 remix with Hubert Laws and Redback, and then back to Lester Sterling's 1968 rocksteady version as "Forest Gate Rock."
Interlude with the Skatalites' "Surftide Seven" version of Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone"---er, "In a Mellotone"---featuring the talents of bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster---the Duke's finest band.
Then check out the absolutely joyful "Bangarang" in Lester Sterling & Stranger Cole's 1968 OG cut and in Lt. Stitchie's 1995 take. Meanwhile, if anyone can provide me with the track the tune was based on---Kenny Dorham's 1957 version of Ernie Henry's "Cleo's Chant" (not "Bongo's Chant")---I'd love to hear it. The album Kenny Dorham and Friends seems to be out of print, but it looks like all three Ernie Henry albums are available.
Ska & reggae at Ernie B's. Jazz at Amazon, B&N or Jazz Record Mart. BTW, I posted "Mello" from an older version of Ellington's Blanton-Webster collection. I think the newly remastered version from 2003, Never No Lament, sounds like ass. It's as if Demolition Plot J-7-era Pavement was the guiding spirit since it's all treble and hiss. Next time they remaster this stuff---and you know they will, once another format rears its beak---I'd sacrifice some dynamics to tone down the brightness (which is pretty much my mantra in life, too).
Next up: Some rock&roll.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, June 07, 2004
Robert Quine, 1942-2004
"I used to wake up early / I used to try to believe"
"You gonna leave me, baby? / Well be my guest"
"You pull down the blinds and shut out the sky"
Lloyd Cole, "Don't Look Back"
Lloyd Cole, "No Blue Skies"
Lloyd Cole, "Loveless"
from Lloyd Cole (Capitol, 1990)
Robert Quine, the guy who bootlegged the Velvet Underground, died of a heroin overdose. Suicide. He played guitar with many people, most notably Richard Hell and Lou Reed, but I love his lead-guitar playing on Lloyd Cole's first album without the Commotions. Great tone, so friggin' crisp, so damn complementary. Ass ass ass.Posted by CP | Link |
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Secret Weapon? HAM SLAM!!!
Sheed: "Guys came off the bench, picked us up. Corliss, Elden, D Ham."
Darvin Ham: 3 minutes, no points, 2 personal fouls.
Pistons win!!!
Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Duke Ellington, "Caravan"
from The Essential Collection, 1927-1962 (Columbia, 1999; rec. 1936)
The Skatalites, "Ska-Ra-Van (Take 3)"
from Ska Boo-Da-Ba: Top Sounds From Top Deck, Vol. 3 (Westside, 1998; rec. 1963)
Jazz Jamaica, "Skaravan"
from Skaravan (Ska Records, 1993)
The Skatalites, "Skaravan"
from Bashaka (Marston, 2000)
Ska von Jazz, day six.
Took the Chinatown Express up to NYC to see the Skatalites on Sunday. Show was fine, but that band has some backstage drama. Old interband beefs are still ragin' 40 years on. Still, it's amazing that a 70-something Lloyd Brevitte can smoke so much chalice and then rock that bass in double-time for 90 minutes. Interviewed Brevitte & alto saxophonist Lester Sterling; drummer Lloyd Knibbs was feeling too tired. Will this beautiful article ever end.
Gary Crosby's Jazz Jamaica All-Stars are some tite mofos; a bit like Mingus gone ska. I don't think Jazz Jamaica's Skaravan album is in print anymore, but I know you can buy their great CD Massive on Crosby's way-excellent Dune label. While you're there be sure to check out music & info on saxophonists Soweto Kinch and Denys Baptiste. (You can also get Dune discs from North Country mail order.)
The Skatalites's Bashaka is at Ernie B's. You might have to search a bit for Ska-Boo-Da-Ba; it seems to be out of print because Universal in the U.K. is starting a reissue series of all the Top Deck recordings. You can probably get it used from Amazon or possibly new from Reggae CD or a place I've been digging recently, Music Selection. Ellington, get it anywhere---but just get it.Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
POW!
Back to the Funny Farm, Ron Ron. Sheed and the Elevator Man Crew are already writing a dis rhyme about you and your flagrant forearms and Rip is gonna guest rap---with his mask on, bizzzatch.Posted by CP | Link |
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Who cork the dance?
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