Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 81 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere

Mighty WFMU, Beware of the Blog, Mining the Audio Motherlode, and the new web stream Give the Drummer Radio all received some nifty recognish recently in the pages of the online publication Examiner. Poet/trumpeter/arts organizer Dan Godston conducted a thorough interview via e-mail with yours truly in which I reveal, among other things, the "musical" instrument I learned to "play" at summer camp, the avocado-green birthday present that completely changed my life, and what I was doing whilst sitting at Max Roach's kitchen table. So grab a bucket of popcorn, put on a soothing Cecil Taylor record, and read all the Q's and the A's right here.

Now on to this week's stunners...

Franklin Boukaka  ~  "À Paris"
(Blog: Sea Never Dry)
From the album: Le Bûcheron (mp3)    [See a video of this song, with English subtitles]

Oh, Liberté
Falsely implicating Boukaka as a conspirator in a failed coup, in 1972, Republic of Congo's military president Marien Ngouabi had Boukaka executed. Boukaka's first name, Franklin, was given in homage to FDR (who, unlike self-proclaimed revolutionaries like Ngouabi, enacted social programs to assist the poor.) Boukaka's greatest crime was making gentle but defiant music that called out the hypocrisy of the strongmen who came to power a year before this record was made, in 1970.

Hideo Shiraki  ~  "In Fiesta"
(Blog: Orgy in Rhythm)
From the album: In Fiesta (mp3)

Sticks Chop
Is there any doubt that drummer Hideo Shiraki's every press roll, bass-drum bomb and tom-tom flourish were performed in reverent emulation of Art Blakey? Too bad Shiraki, who died at the obscenely young age of 39, in 1972, couldn't emulate Blakey's relative longevity. (Anyone out there know the circumstances of Shiraki's demise?) The title track (MP3 provided above) is the only one on this 1961 album featuring a traditional Japanese koto. Four years later, Shiraki recorded an album featuring three.

Various  ~  Rockin' Hillbilly Series
Volumes 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
(Blog: Western & Bop)

Southern Fried
This massively appealing set has been dosey doeing on and off the Bloggernet for a few years now. Huzzahs to W&B for giving it a go. Ten discs. Thirty-two tracks apiece. Every one a killer. Well, what are you waiting for? Stop reading this and go git 'em. No really, I'm not going say anything particularly pithy here, so just go. Go already! (Unbelievable... you're still here.)

José Mangual  ~  "Tribute to Chano Pozo"
(Blog: L'Ostia Latin Jazz)    [Password = Chumancera]
From the album: Campanero (mp3)

Son of Buyú
In 1977, the legendary percussionist Buyú (José Mangual Sr.), longtime mainstay in Machito's orchestra, released a demonstration record for the Latin Percussion instrument company. That same year, José Mangual Jr., also a renowned drummer and longtime mainstay in Willie Colón's orchestra, also released an instructional record—this Latin percussion showcase presented here—in tribute to the master bongocero Chano Pozo. Long after his dad's (terrific) record was relegated to cut-out bins and $1 boxes, Junior's record continues to be considered of the most highly acclaimed Afro-Cuban releases of its generation.

Norman S. Edmonds  ~  "Train on the Island"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)

Present at the Creation
Edmonds's professional music making dates as far back as 1927 when he was the fiddling sidekick to banjoist J.P. Nestor at  Ralph Peer's famous recording sessions at Bristol, Tennessee (which gave the world a first chance to hear stars like Jimmie Rodgers, Pops Stoneman and the Carter Family). Four tunes were recorded that August day, but only two were released, "Black Eyed Susie," and "Train on the Island," which gives this collection, recorded in 1973—when Uncle Norm was 84—its name.

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Comments

[icastico]

totally self-serving additions this time around.

New aboombong, amnemonic:
http://aboombong.bandcamp.com/album/amnemonic

Dave Segal (The Stranger):"another distinctive stream of ethnological forgeries (see Can), Fourth World ambient excursions (see Jon Hassell), mesmerizing post-rock mini/maximalism (see Holy Fuck), and unexplained transmissions (see Füxa). This is some of the most interesting, ambitious music coming out of Seattle at the moment."

and

New Dustdevil & Crow:
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dustdevil__Crow/while_speaking_softly_you_can_hear_the_insects_sing/

[Aaron]

thanks doug!