Thursday, December 16, 2004  

Below is a letter from my good friend Casimer Pascal, the lead singer and songwriter of the best band from Detroit since, like, Sponge, for real. Certain words are hot-linked for your holiday edification.

Long time...too long. I am old now. You are practically dead. This is getting bad. Christmas makes me feel young. We are releasing a holiday split 12-inch with Asobi Seksu (NYC). Pas/Cal covered Wham!'s "Last Christmas." Here is a sneak peek of the Rankin & Bass-inspired cover and a downloadable MP3.
Aloha,
C.

Thanks, Cas. This is way better than the Manic Street Preachers' version.

Go here to DL Pas/Cal's masterful interpretation of "Last Xmas."

If you dig---and you will, especially if you heart that whole "Detroit Sound" (TM) as personified by Derrick May and Bob Seger---then buy the limited to 500, crimson-vinyl 12-inch single right here. The other side is Asobi Seku's version of the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)," which you can preview at Romantic Air Recording Co. (BTW, the incredible record cover you see above? Each element was hand-crafted from scratch by the musicians.)

Wanna here more Pas/Cal MP3s? Sure ya do, sailor. Right here.

In other Pas/Cal news:
-The bon vivants are recording their debut CD, which will include a song called "'The Truth Behind All the Vogues She Sold." If I may (and I shall), that tune started out as an improvised collaboration between yours truly and Casimer Pascal many years ago, when we both could run the pick & roll with precision. If I can scrouge up the cassette mixdown of that OG version you can best bet that thing is going on eBay.
-Pas/Cal have become official commercial harlots. Their music is featured in two different Saturn campaigns, one Sprint/FTD florist ad, and an episode of Malcolm in the Middle. As I stated before on this Web site---or I meant to and the thing just got held up in "Draft Mode" like 900 other posts---I like it when good songs are used in TV commercials. Good on ya, Pas/Cal! (Cas, ol' boy, lemme know if you can slip me a rocker's discount on a bouquet and a new sedan.)

In related news, Craig Le Roq, the cousin to Casimer Pascal on his father's side and one of the best DJs in Detroit since, surely, the Electrifying Mojo (or whoever hits Play for D12), once gave his friends and family an awesome Xmas-themed CD featuring reworked holiday classics. For you, dear reader of the Suburbs, here are more exclusives:
-"Christmas in Hollis"
The Run-DMC classic re-created from scratch, using the original recordings that Jam Master Jay sampled.
-"Silent Night"
As done to/by Kraftwerk, with a little E.L.O.-style Vocoder
-"Little Drummer Boy"
Little "Funky Drummer" boy is more like it. Is that Prince guesting on vox?

Oh, jeez, because Craig Le Roq is so effin' killin', here are two more Suburbs exclusives (the Le Roq family knows nothing but how to give):
-"Party in Detroit"
-"Bootie on Fire"
These two songs faithfully resurrect the Detroit booty-bass sound of the 1980s. Mr. Electrifying Mojo, peace be with you and the funky yours during this holiday season. I do not doubt that Le Roq sends these jams out to you.
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And now, for Random Linkzzz (TM):
-The British Library's Sound Archives division has a nice list of record label Web site links.
-Smart Music has free & legal music by Ninja Tune-type bands.`
-Douglas Patterson's East African Music Page
-Toshiya Endo's African Music Page
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Konono update:
I e-mailed my contact at Crammed Discs in Belgium to find out how U.S. peeps can get Konono's studio CD, Congotronics 1, since the label doesn't seem to have distribution in America. No response yet. But I did receive a copy of Konono's live Lubuaku CD, thanks to Mark at Subterranean Distribution, which does do mailorder in the U.S. (Crammed doesn't). Lubuaku is just as freaky-deaky and killer-diller as you'd expect it to be.

Below is a comment left after my Dec. 1 post on Konono. I thought it was worth highlighting:

i got a cd called urban music of kinshasa on the ocora label that has a 26 minute stunner cut of konono no. 1. here's an interesting excerpt from the liners: nzu-nlaza the leader of the band has no hesitation in disciplining itsmembers when they become unruly. electrician by profession, he hasadapted the "roger" electric guitar microphone which plays full blast! themain concern of the band being to blast out the sound as loud as possible;they play in front of a wall of six speakers only three of which containloud speakers...the piece we recorded is usually played in the morning toallow the singers who have been singing all night to rest. it is at thistime that the instrumentalists must be made to suffer in order to maintainthe rhythm while the singers sleep!
Jack Dee Email Homepage 12.12.04 - 7:37 pm
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At lastulllly, if all goes as planned (a.k.a. "If I can break away from saving the jazz world for one hot minute"), it's gonna be a Norwegian Music Bandwidth Blowout tomorrow.

Posted by CP | Link |

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