Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 90

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

How the hell am I supposed to sit here and write heartfelt descriptions about music I find enormously meaningful in the aftermath of an election when it seems the whole goddamn country has gone to shit? OK, yeah, not the whole country, but a big, bleak scary-ass chunk of it. (Props to Oklafuckinghoma for banning Sharia Law.) I know. I should just calm down, blah blah, and focus on the beautiful things in this world, focus on how this sudden shift in political power is to be expected in mid-terms, especially with such a crap economy, but I just don't feel like it.

I do feel like running screaming out my front door. Like racing down the block to my neighbor's car sporting the John Birch bumper sticker. Like pounding its fender off with a baseball bat. But I am not a violent person. I am a contemplative person who easily sees beauty in simple things. Maybe if I just chill out a bit with my headphones on blasting some of this gorgeous music, I'll feel a little better. I don't want to feel better, I want to be really pissed off. But I'll give it a try.

 Blasting the ugly with beauty...

Evolution Ensemble Unity  ~  "Concrete Voices"
(Blog: 9 Grey Chairs)

It's Only Ketchup
"Anyone not having had the opportunity to discover Toshinori Kondo, or who has only heard the very disappointing pop jazz and fusion collaborations with Bill Laswell, can be assured that this is the real deal comparable to a great many wonderful independent releases from Europe, and the States in the 'Golden Era' of the late '70s. How to describe this varying record is another matter ... ecstatic yes ... thoughtful and replete with moments of sensitive interplay ... as well! This touches a number of bases ... from familiar tunes such as Monk's "Brilliant Corners," and Lacy's "Bone," both of which are accorded excitingly rag-tag rambunctious performances.... to all out Free improv."  [Description by Sotise at 9 Grey Chairs]

 

Ashiedu Keteke Cultural Group  ~  "Gbo Ofo Mino"
(Blog: Osibisaba)

Mal Content
"I think this album by The Ashiedu Keteke Cultural Group is amazing, one of my favorites in the Ga cultural style played by groups like Wulomei, Suku, Dzadzeloi, etc. (there are dozens more). Ashiedu Keteke is one of Accra's eleven sub-metro areas, containing the dynamic neighborhood of Ga Mashie in old Accra, the historical center of the capital city of Ghana. This Ga area is rich in history, encompassing places like Jamestown, Ussher Town, Bukom and others. It is where the Ga cultural style was born during the '70s (and continues to flourish) along with somewhat older "traditional" styles like Kpanlogo, Gome, and Kolomashie. Ga Mashie currently faces some economic hardships in terms of development and poverty alleviation, yet this area remains beautiful, vital and inspiring."  [Description at Osibisaba]

Archie Fisher, Barbara Dickson, John MacKinnon  ~  "The Fate O' Charlie"
(Blog: Time Will Tell You)

The Devil You Know
"Although Archie Fisher is a legendary figure in the Scottish folk music world—everybody's favorite singer and an enormously influential presence both musically and philosophically—he has remained largely unknown to the greater pop music mainstream. While the mainstream's a poorer place for that, one gets the idea it suits Archie Fisher just fine."   [From bio by Stewart Mason at All Music]

Cicala Mvta  ~  "Ching Dong: The Return of Japanese Street Music"
(Blog: Jazz Archives)

Spaghetti Occidentale
"Chindon is one of the stranger musical combinations in the world. It comes from both the street music and avant garde jazz scenes in Japan, defying the conformity of tradition and yet reveling in the connections to it. This brass/woodwinds based music merges jazz, klezmer, brass band, Japanese folk (and anything else it can get its hands on), into a wonderfully twisted and always surprising hybrid, unique unto itself. Cicala Mvta includes tuba, drum, percussion, cello, fiddle and electric guitar players, led by clarinetist/composer Wataru Ohkama. Ohkama was a member of the seminal Masami Shinoda bands, who took the chindon off the streets and into the edgy world of hard jazz and rock."  [Review by CF at Jazz Archives]

 

Listen to my radio show Give the Drummer Some—Tuesdays 6-7pm, on WFMU and Fridays 9 to noon—on WFMU's web stream Give the Drummer Radio.
Send your email address to get on the mailing list for a weekly newsletter about the show, the stream and Mining the Audio Motherlode.

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

 

Comments

[Mogambo]

Here's a British political gag, cause things are harsh all over and we got the old austerity going on:

THE TORIES: PUTTING THE "N" IN "CUTS".

But all that aside, you linked me to the Cicala Mvta album, which i've been curious about since i heard a track on the Rough Guide to Japanese Music, a CD i bought some ten or twelve years ago. You made this frowning, grumpy fat man into a smiling, dancing (while seated) grumpy fat man. So cheer up, bredren!

[Mirco]

I want to reccomend a wonderful unreleased Third Ear Band's track from 1968, on the TEB's official blog: http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/10/5-teb-fans-cant-be-wrong-at-last-heres.html
Third Ear Band's fans can also join a page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Third-Ear-Band/156660855584