Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Rappin' Hood, "Sou Negrao"
Rappin' Hood, "Caso de Policia"
Rappin' Hood, "Rap du Bom"
from Em Sujeito Homem (Trama, 2001)
Blasting straight from the slums that surround Rio and Sao Paulo, Brazilian rappers are mixing traditional samba with hip-hop beats. One of the coolest is Rappin' Hood, who's striving for the rich while shouting out to the poor.
"Sou Negrao" is a bit wet kiss to black music everywhere, but especially to the Brazilian stars, such as Pixinguinha, Jorge Ben Jor, and Leci Brandao, who makes an appearance on the song and in the video (where she comes across as the hippest grandma evah). The "Sou Negrao" video, which I saw on Link TV about 100 times last weekend, is so damn infectious. Everyone's cold kickin' it in a giant samba-hop jam session, much like how we roll here at JazzTimes.
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Rappin' Hood downloads are available from Calabash Music and the CD from Stern's Music.
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A lo-fi live performance of "Rap du Bom"; more live performances & videos. Still haven't located an online clip for the "Sou Negrao" video.
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An interview with Rappin' Hood in Portuegues won't do most of us any good, but here are a bunch of Brazilian hip-hop videos. (How did Talib Kweli get in there?)
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The Rough Guide to Brazilian Hip-Hop is a new comp if you want more flava from the favela.
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Favela Chic is a new comp of various modern Brazilian sounds; it includes "Sou Negrao."
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Brazzil.com
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All Brazilian Music database
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Mud & chaos in Brazilian musicPosted by CP | Link |
Monday, August 30, 2004
Yet Another Very Special After-School Suburbs
The Cure, "Pictures of You" (Extended Remix)
from Razor Rare Remixes Volume 2 (bootleg)
The Cure, "Pictures of You" (Extended Dub Mix)
from Mixed Up (Elektra, 1990)
The Cure, "Pictures of You" (Live in Stockholm)
from a bootleg
The Cure, "Pictures of You" (Demo)
from a bootleg
The String Quartet, "Pictures of You"
from Whisper: A Tribute To The Cure (Vitamin, 2002)
The Cure, "The End of the World"
from The Cure (Geffen, 2004)
Sellout schmellout:
I like it when good tunes are used in TV commercials. Case in point: Hummer used the fab Mojave 3 song "Bluebird of Happiness" in a commerical that I saw during game seven of this year's Stanley Cup Finals---and it made me put on the CD and smack slapshots against the basement wall as Neil Halstead's dreamy voice floated through my makeshift rink. Hummer also used the Who's "Happy Jack." As soon as I decide to stop riding the bus to work, you best bet I'm gonna lay out the cabbage and buy a Hummer just for their fab taste in tunes. Oh, and then I'll buy a Jetta cuz of that killer Nick Drake song "Pink Moon" that they used to hawk their toy. And you better believe my garage is gonna be stuffed because I'm getting a Saturn, too---they used Pas/Cal's "The Bronze Beached Boys (Come On Let's Go)," which always makes me thing of my much-missed homeslices from Michigan.
While I like all the commercial-fied tunes I mentioned, I absolutely adore "Pictures of You" by the Cure. Robert Smith saw through his mascara and cheek fat to entrust the tune to HP for a digicam commercial---all the while worrying about selling out since the song means so much to so many. Drink your tears, Robbie, and have another donut & lager. When I hear the tune on HP's ad all it does is make me think of Gaele (see 8.27.04 post), not consumer electronics, and that's a good thing.
See, one of my best memories of visiting Gaele in France was holding hands and skipping through a vacant parking lot in Valence while singing "Pictures of You" at the top of our teenage lungs. (Sorry for that skipping image. I swear, normally I just walk briskly, but sometimes life takes over and the feets just follow.)
For Gaele it was fun to croon a good song with a good friend, with the added benefit of getting in some nice cardio. For me, I was probably struggling through a pulled hammy and a rippin' backache while trying to get a point across to her---how my heart felt about our trans-Atlantic romance, which had turned into friendship because of distance.
"Looking so long at these pictures of you / But I never hold on to your heart / Looking so long for the words to be true / But always just breaking apart / My pictures of you / There was nothing in the world / That I ever wanted more / Than to feel you deep in my heart / There was nothing in the world / That I ever wanted more / Than to never feel the breaking apart / All my pictures of you."
How could anyone belt those lines and not feel like the Cure were talking about me & my situation? Well, Gaele, for one. But for me---oh, those words meant everything.
"These pictures are all I can feel."
So tru, Robbie, so tru!
See, I'm a sentimental guy. I tear up during Olympic montages set to Bon Jovi tunes. I watch Richard Linklater movies and whimper, "So tru!" I think Dashboard Confessional, the Counting Crows and the Cure write songs just for me. And they do.
BTW, the Cure's new album is far better than I would have expected. You can see the video for "The End of the World" here. And you can see a gaggle of Cure videos here, including "Pictures of You."Posted by CP | Link |
Saturday, August 28, 2004
"War has killed up to 3.3 million people in the African nation of Congo over the past decade. The fighting, ignored by the rest of the world, continues to this day. The Congo war may add up to the deadliest conflict in the world in the last 50 years, yet its causes and consequences are still unknown. This reader's guide traces the history of the tragedy."Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, August 27, 2004
Before Sunrise / Sunset
Husker Du, "Hardly Getting Over It"
from Candy Apple Grey (Warner Bros., 1986)
Husker Du, "Hardly Getting Over It"
from Makes No Sense at All bootleg; live at Vikateateret in Oslo, Norway 9.13.1985
Husker Du, "Celebrated Summer"
from New Day Rising (SST, 1984)
Husker Du, "Celebrated Summer"
from Makes No Sense at All bootleg; live at Vikateateret in Oslo, Norway 9.13.1985
I recently saw my high school girlfriend for the first time in 15 years. Gaele was a French exchange student in my tiny town of Howell, Michigan, and we dated in 1986. (I'm not sure anybody from France had been in Howell since, like, the 17th century.) I went to visit Gaele in the summers of 1987 and 1989, but I hadn't seen her since, though we did manage to stay in touch via brief phone calls every few years. She got married, had three kids, and is a doctor in a village of 1,000 in the south of France. I got married, have no kids (but our parakeets are a pain in the ass), and edit a jazz mag in a suburb of Washington, D.C. C'est vrais, c'est tout.
Gaele was visiting NYC with her sis, so wifey-poo & I went up to visit, staying with my best buddy Samps. It was a great experience---especially the SoHo rooftop party overlooking David Bowie's pad and the tearful goodbye at the crowded corner of Broadway and Spring where somebody snapped, "Move it!" (Thank you, New York!) But it was also Flashback Central. There were moments when I felt 16 again, and I think I even developed a zit just to make it seem like old times.
Naturally, I started thinking of music that reminded me of Gaele. Our first kiss? During a Tears for Fears documentary (Orzabal l'amour!). Our first concert together? Echo & the Bunnymen. Our favorite bands together? Depeche Mode & the Cure. Bands that remind me of her that we didn't necessarily listen to together? 7 Seconds---since it took exactly the length of Walk Together, Rock Together to drive to her host home---and Husker Du. The Cure will come, but today is all about Bob, Grant, and the dude with the 'stache. (And in an indirect way, this post continues the Nordic love I started last week.)
Did you know Bob writes a blog? Of course you do. I moved to D.C. and eventually met Ian. So if I meet Bob, and then Robert Smith and Milo Aukerman move to the District, I could sell off my teenage record collection and just invite the fellas over for bonfires and sing-alongs.
Speaking of D.C. homeslices, Waremouse has fired up the MP3 blog.
Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Did somebody say OPEN MARRIAGE?
Julian Casablanca's girlfriend is airing as much dirty laundry as she can find between blackouts.
Credit: Tinyluckygenius aka the Unicorn's tearPosted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Trojan Records to release 5,000 CD box set with every Jamaican tune recorded between 1959 and 1999. True story! So very tru! And tru withou the "e" means XTRA TRU! Pass it on!
Like the countryside, Boom Box has tite streams.
The Wire hosts many good radio programmes that U kin flow on da line (but not in da club, unless U rock T1). Also, a Wire MP3 Gallery. I had the pleasure of hanging out with The Wire's Tony H, Rob Y and Anne H-N in Oslo, and they didn't remotely live up to the mag's beard-scratching rep. In fact, they were all charming and witty, and during LCD Soundsystem I definitely saw some Wire edit-staff boogie---even some next level air conga shit.
Nice collection of OG Jamaica photos; plus Jamaican record sleeves and even more sleeves.
Hasidic reggae? Matisyahu is far better than anyone would assume, let alone us nonreligious Goys. But once you think about all the lion in Zion stuff in reggae, it all makes perfect sense. Throw in Klezska and you have the makings of a Warped Tour for the Chosen Crew. L'chaim, Jah!Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Konono No. 1 might just be the greatest thing I've heard in the '04 this side of Rabelais. The MP3 at the bottom of the page is OK, but dig the QuickTime clip. Fennesz of the Congo? Let's hope the DR of C doesn't ban Konono No. 1, too.
Dublab has great streaming mixes.
Vous aiment la roche primative avec des tirets de Gainsbourg et de Birkin? Stereo Total has posted 13 of its rarest tunes.
Most likely only built 4 Cuban linkz this week.Posted by CP | Link |
Friday, August 20, 2004
Min Bul, "Champagne of Course"
from Min Bul (Universal Norway, 1970)
Txt ripped (and then edited, somewhat) from Forced Exposure, but hyperlink'd for your EDUTAINMENT by The Burbs: Official, remastered reissue of this underground classic from 1970 (originally issued by Polydor, in Scandinavia only). Never reissued before, long awaited. Terje Rypdal: (guitar and soprano saxophone); Bjornar Andresen: (bass); Espen Rud: (drums). "The trio Min Bul came out of a progressive environment of jazz and experimental music in the late '60s surrounded by innovators such as Jan Garbarek, Karin Krog and Arne Norheim. The trio included some of the most important figures in the development of modern music in Norway in the late '60s. Terje Rypdal was by now known from the groundbreaking Jan Garbarek quartet with bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen. All the four of them are today in the heavyweight league of European jazz. Drummer Espen Rud and bassist Bjornar Andresen came from the free-jazz group Svein Finnerud Trio, which performed regularly at Heine Onstad Art Centre outside of Oslo. The Finnerud Trio albums are, as the Min Bul album, cult classics for record collectors and listed high on the hard-to-get list. Today Terje Rypdal is recording regularly for the German ECM label. This spring he was invited to compose the opening concert at Norwegian jazz festival Vossajazz. Espen Rud is recording and performing with artists such as Knut Riisnaes and Staffan William Olsson. Bjornar Andresen is active in the Oslo-based improv scene and is to be found on the upcoming Jazzland release Samsara, which includes piano and keyboard player Bugge Wesseltoft and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. The music on this CD, available for the first time since the release in 1970, sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. The opening track 'I Cried a Million Tears Last Night' blows out like a noisy Sonic Youth burnout and the 11-minute long, groovy-bass-riff tune 'Champagne of Course' represents the funk side of the group. Min Bul also has a mellow side, like the midtempo closing track 'Strange Beauty,' which has some strong references to the early work of Carlos Santana. Enjoy the experience of this great music sprung out for more than three decades ago."
Posted by CP | Link |
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Jaga Jazzist, "Serafin I Jungelen (Jomba vs. K-Mart & Ravi '97 Mix)"
from Magazine EP (Smalltown Supersound, 2004; rec. 1996)
Lars Horntveth, "The Joker"
from Pooka (Smalltown Supersound, 2004)
Lars Horntveth, "Tics (Four Tet Remix)"
from The Joker EP (Smalltown Supersound, 2004)
Motorpsycho + Jaga Jazzist Horns, "Doffen Ah Um"
from In the Fishtank EP (Koncurrent, 2003)
Motorpsycho, "Sunchild"
from Demon Box (Voices of Wonder, 1993)
Jaga Jazzist is the best-known band to come out of the Smalltown Supersound stable, and it's easy to hear why on great records such as A Livingroom Hush and The Stix. Jaga features jazz-smart horn arrangements and harmonies as well as dance-club-ready drums and electronic gizmoez. Post-rock? Pah! Post-jazz, baby!
The "Serafin" remix is off Jaga's newly reissued 1998 EP, but the O.G. version comes from the band's 1996 debut CD, Jaevla Jazzist Grete Stitz (which is out of print and way ready for a loving Smalltown reissue). Lars Horntveth is one of Jaga's main peeps (there are 10 of them, for cripe's sake); his solo CD, Pooka, and the first single, "The Joker," are all killer / no filler, just like the wig rockin' Phyllis Diller. Go to Smalltown's Pooka micro site to download the original version of "Tics."
Horntveth does some string arranging on the side for fellow Norwegian bands such as the very popular Motorpsycho, who teamed up with Jaga for the Mingus-proppin' improv "Doffen Ah Um." But Motorpsycho have been around since 1989, releasing enough albums and EPs to fill up a Pearl Jam-sized bin at your local Norwegian CD store. Motorpsycho's music tends to be all over the place, from heavy rawk to country to punk, but the track I posted could have come straight off a 1991 Superchunk single or a 1986 Dinosaur Jr. demo. It rockets me back to American indie rock's Golden Era, making me want to dig through my 7-inch collection and dust off my Greg Ginn transcriptions.
BTW, Scissorkick is still hosting two songs by Jaga Jazzist, "Day" and "Animal Chin," right here. And if you don't already love Long Fin Killie---and I think only about 4 people do---Scissor K is hosting tracks by them as well. Long Fin's first album, 1995's Houdini, is a stone-cold classic.
More about Smalltown Supersound soon, as I did an interview with founder Joakim Haugland while in Oslo; he's a really nice, earnest, and motivated guy. I could probably learn something from him. But in the meantime, just scoot over to BubbleCore or Midheaven and buy some of Smalltown's many, many produkts. And if you have any rare Sonic Youth material lying around, by all means send it to Joakim; dude luvs the Youth even more than my buddy Sonic Tom.
Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Euroboys, "Hold On"
Euroboys, "Sleep 'Til Tomorrow"
Euroboys, "Break Away"
from Soft Focus (EMI Music Norway, 2004)
Turbonegro, "My Home Town"
from a 1993 demo
Turbonegro, "Rock Against Ass"
from Apocalypse Dudes (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 1999)
These two bands share a guitarist and not much else. Where Euroboys are California dreamin' (think Teenage Fanclub, Cosmic Rough Riders, Beachwood Sparks), Turbonegro are the Darkness filtered through New Bomb Turks and Judas Priest. Both are big in Norway, with Euroboys having a current chart hit there, but Turbonegro have CDs out in the U.S. (via Man's Ruin, Epitaph, and Sympathy for the Record Industry). I dunno for sure, but I can't help but think that, like Turbonegro with das metal, Euroboys are takin' the lite-rock piss just a little bit. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if Euroboys get a release here in the U.S.; their music is insanely catchy and it stands up even if the band is toying. Meanwhile, Turbonegro is a good joke, but take away the great song titles ("Don't Say Motherfucker, Motherfucker") and you're left with a solid rock band in porn mustaches. Which, come to think of it, isn't a bad place to end up.
Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Oslo, you had me at Hyggelig a treffe deg.
Back from a whirlwind trip to happenin' Oslo, which played host to three big and simultaneous music festivals: Oslo Jazz Festival, Oyafestivalen, and the Oslo Hip-Hop Festival.
Report to come as soon as I catch my breath, along with a deluge of Norwegian music, from pop to electronica to jazz---the Vikings know how to bring the noise.
In the meantime, quick Norge primer:
Wibutee (Way excellent jazztronica group)
Hakon Kornstad (Reedist in Wibutee and awesome graphic designer)
Sternklang (Knob-twiddler in Wibutee)
Tord Gustavsen (Incredible pianist)
Music Information Centre of Norway (From classical to pop to noise)
Poor Rich Ones (Defunct, but great)
William Hut (Poor Rich Ones' singer)
Smalltown Supersound (Great electronica/jazz/noise/pop label)
Rune Grammofon (Another fab electronica/jazz/noise label)
Jaga Jazzist (More excellent jazztronica)
Jazzland (House-y jazz label, run by Bugge Wesseltoft)
Kim Hiorthoy (Amazing graphic designer + good electronica CDs)
Kings of Convenience (Soft focus, baby)
Sondre Lerche (The singer, the song)
Turbonegro (Get yer trash on)
Euroboys (Turbonegro guitarist goes 1970s California pop)
Terje Rypdal (Norse guitar god)
Eivind Aarset (Norse guitar god mach 2)
NorCD (world, jazz, folk label)
Supersilent (Improvtronica, with Deathprod/Helge Sten, Arve Henriksen)
Biosphere (Spacetronica)
A-Ha (Take on me? No, take on you.)
Nils Petter-Molvaer (Trumpetronica)
Royksopp (Electro-on-ikaaa)
St. Thomas (So solid songs)
Madrugada (Rawks)
Plenty more to come, and I didn't even have time to get into the Black Metal scene (yet).
Posted by CP | Link |
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Arthur Russell, "Keeping Up"
from The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz, 2004; rec. 1993)
Akira Rabelais, "1390 Gower Conf. II. 20I can noght thanne unethes spellethat I wende altherbest have rad."
from Spellewauerynsherde (Samadhi Sound, 2004)
Two distinctly different ways to make music sound simultaneously ghostly and full. I want to go deep with an essay on this topic, about how disembodied sounds can coalesce to create a solid whole, but laaaawd, my allergies are acting up, and who can write with a runny nose?
The World of Arthur Russell deserves all the praise it has received, and I would love to hear Bjork cover "Keeping Up." The Arthur Russell renaissance begins now---or rather, earlier this year when everyone was writing about The World... and Calling Out of Context.
Akira Rabelais says, "I'm a composer writing software, not an engineer making music." Whatever, brah! Propeller cap or not, you rock my world (in the softest way possible). Spellewauerynsherde is on David Sylvian's Samadhi Sound, and it consists of electronically processed field recordings of Icelandic a cappella laments. Most beautiful record of 2004?
Much love to Beau Beau, Ewa & Baby Cam.
Off to Oslo.Posted by CP | Link |
Monday, August 09, 2004
This pitch had me at massage
-----Original Message-----
From: hassabelnour@xxxxx.com [mailto:hassabelnour@xxxxx.com]
Sent: Sunday, August 08, 2004 4:42 PM
To: Letters@jazztimes.com
Subject: massage to the artist in u.s.a
DEAR SIR THROUGH YOUR GREAT IHOPE TO SENT MY MASSAGE TO THE ARTIST IN U.S.A BRITNEY SPEARS WARM WISHES -------------------------------------
DEAR GREAT ARTIST IN U.S.A BRITNEY SPEARS SO ILIKE YOUR WORKING MORE THROUGH SOME CD. THEN IHAVE APROJECT IN MATHEMATICS FIELDS BOOK PROJECT IN MATH FOR STUDENTS IN U.S.A STUDY THROUGH U.S.A UNIVERSITY. SO IHOPE TO DO IT UNDER OUR GREAT ARTIST DEPT IN U.S.A. SO INEED FULL FUND FOR THIS PROJECT FROM OUR GREAT ARTIST DEPT IN U.S.A IHOPE TO GET THE ANWER THROUGH hassabelnour@xxxxx.om
warm wishes from; hassabelrasoul hamza hassan elnour teacher in mathematics fields SO THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF MY PROJECT IN MATH A- AT X=0 FIND DY/ DX FROM; 1- y= lnlnlnx 2- lnlny= coslnx 3- lnlnlnlny = sinx
warm wishesPosted by CP | Link |
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Miss Tony, "Pull Ya Guns Out"
Miss Tony, "How You Wanna Carry It?"
2 Hyped Bros, "DooDoo Brown"
Foe, "Stretchmarks"
from DJ Ice: Father Time Vol. One (Club Classics Mix) (Iceland Organization, 2001)
Baltimore's ghetto-trax style is beyond minimal, cheap in sound and content, but it's perfect for pole dancing. I only wish I had one here in my office. Alas, I'll just have to make due with these carefully taped together pencils.
Though I live a mere 30 miles south of Bal'more, truth is I know almost nothing of its music scene. Part of that is because I don go to da city dat much, hon, udder dan fer ta drink Natty Boh an ta see da Oboes play ball. And it's also because I don't go to strip clubs.
Sure, Baltimore booty-bass music---aka "doo dew"---gets played at club nights where people stay (mostly) clothed, but I don't go to those anymore, either, at least not since I severely pulled my left hammy doing the Funky Chicken at Republic Gardens back in '94. (Did you know that former Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker once missed part of the season due to his overuse of the Cabbage Patch? True story.)
I can't find anything about DJ Ice, 2 Hyped Bros, or Foe, and my pal Bri C hooked me up with the CD, which lists a phone number but no Web site. Just go to Catascopic for a profile of the B'more sound, and then read why Scott Seward thinks "Baltimore House Music Is the New Dylan." And then go to Baltimore Club Trax to hear more music that would make Luther Campbell proud.
But I did find out about Anthony "Miss Tony" Boston:
Anthony M. Boston, 36, a popular female impersonator and disc jockey in Baltimore, died of kidney failure on April 11, 2003, in Baltimore. For years Boston was known as "Miss Tony," a popular drag queen in Baltimore's nightclubs and on WERQ-FM, a radio station better known as 92-Q. In 1998, he retired his drag persona and joined a church in the city and worked to help needy residents. Boston created "Miss Tony" in the mid-1980s, and was discovered by Frank Ski, a well-known disc jockey at WERQ-FM. Boston became the entertainment reporter at WERQ-FM, and later joined its morning team. After his stint on the morning radio show ended, Boston continued to work there part time as host of a late-night show known as "Off the Hook Radio."
Posted by CP | Link |
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Joyeux Anniversaire a Moi
"I've got the rhythm down / Cycles of end on end."
"I woke up this morning with a piece of the past caught in my throat."
Rites of Spring, "End on End"
Rites of Spring, "For Want Of"
from End on End (Dischord, 1985)
T.S., take it away:
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden.
My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
...
... Maybe next time I happen to see Guy Picciotto at the movies I'll ask him how much Four Quartets (and The Waste Land) influenced his writing in Rites of Spring. Or maybe I'll just be content with End on End (aka Rites of Spring) being one of my favorite albums, one that I use like a bookmark to reference moments in my life.
...
What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make and end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.
...
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.Posted by CP | Link |
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Who cork the dance?
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