WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Happy Birthday, Ray Price

           

Ray Price Interview - Side One    7:45

Ray Price Interview - Side Two    6:14

Today we celebrate the 85th birthday of the greatest voice in all of country music, Ray Price.   I know George Jones has legions of acolytes who would happily take issue with this, but as much as I love Jones, I stand by my vote.  Over a career that's now spanned some six decades, Price has been the voice behind an extensive array of honky-tonk gems featuring an irresistible beat known today as the "Ray Price shuffle."  The sound was fully realized for the first time on Crazy Arms, recorded in 1956.

Price described the new sound to writer John Morthland this way in 1980.  "The sound they had going at the time in country was a 2/4 sound and a double-stop fiddle.  I added drums to it, which had been done before, but not much, and a 4/4 bass and shuffle rhythm and the single string fiddle.  We came up with it right there on the session (for Crazy Arms).  I don't know why or where from; that's just what I wanted."  (This description was lifted from Rich Kienzle's 2003 volume Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky-Tonk, Western Swing, And Country Jazz.  It's hard to find these days, but well worth tracking down.  Google Books has put large chunks of it online.)

Ichiban!

Thanks to everyone for voting us # 1 in the Radio-Info listener poll!!  We won for best Greatest Hits station in new platforms.  Check out all the winners Here.

"In most of our categories, voters went with stations that play the hits--albeit a wider mix of them.  WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban, on the other hand, promises and delivers "obscuro hits from the '50s and '60's."  Think of the records that director John Waters used to invoke both the danger and kitsch of rock 'n' roll's first decade or so.  Then go several times deeper.  It's the radio extension of the eclectic New York-area non-comm's annual Record Fair where, no matter how many records you have, there's always somebody raving about a $300 record you haven't heard of and will never own.  It's heavy on rockabilly, tough '60's soul, instrumentals, and jaw-dropping oddities."

Here's Ichiban around 10 p.m. on Jan. 6:

• Lou Rawls, “A Natural Man”
• O.V. Wright, “Drowning On Dry Land”
• T-Birds, “Full House”
• Rockin’ Rs, “Crazy Baby”
• Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs, “How Do You Catch A Girl?”
• Riptides, “The Last Wave”
• Wanda Jackson, “Let’s Have A Party”
• Jerry & Reggie, “Shoo Shoo”
• Jerms, “Bald-Headed Woman”
• Lucky Carmichael, “Baby You Can Get Your Gun”
• Keith Loren, “Born To Ramble”

New Platforms Runners-Up: 2 – Sirius XM ’60s On 6; 3 – Great Big Radio

Nikki Sudden WFMU Sessions

via Mike L, Xposted on FMA & Read:My:Back -- One of the selfish (but great) things about being involved with WFMU is how it's repeatedly granted me the opportunity to interact with my musical heroes. I'm no starfucker, but there's something to be said for dancing right nextdoor to the fantasy, and how doing so often reveals details of Our Most Exalted Rock Gods which are strangely absent from the written histories. For instance, did you know that Joe Strummer smells of tobacco and peppermint, Donovan is a bit like a leprechaun, or that Anton Newcombe is actually a really sweet guy?

In other words, there are the people, and then there is the mythology. But within the sacred confines of WFMU, the crossroads of those two competing concepts never resonated with greater poignancy for me than in the case of Nikki Sudden.

In the early 1970s, Nikki started a band with his brother called the Swell Maps, who somehow married the disparate influences of Krautrock and T. Rex to spectactular and lasting effect. His next band, the Jacobites, made no less a statement, albeit with very different ingredients in the cooker. And then there is the decade's worth of amazing solo albums and the memorable NYC-area shows that Nikki played in support of them. I made it a point to see him perform every chance I got, so by the time schedules finally granted him time to swing by my radio show for a live set on March 20th 2006, it felt like a meeting that was long overdue.

Nikki Sudden passed away unexpectedly less than a week after that performance, and it remains a crippling testament to what was a truly wonderful night of music in Jersey City. I wrote a short piece about the evening for the Brooklyn Rail several days after the news broke, so no need to go into all the sad details again. I'm just glad the tracks from that session are finally available for everyone to enjoy. Hosting Nikki on the radio was a years-long dream of mine, and I'm still humbled and honored to have spent some time in his company.

Eternal gratitude to Rob Watts and Danny Hole. Thanks be to Nikki. Stay bruised.

Also added to the Free Music Archive today & after the jump:
  >> Nikki Sudden's April 1998 live appearance on Stork's show (where he joined The Chamber Strings)
  >> Nikki Sudden live on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic, aired January 2002
  >> Oneida covering "Back to the Coast" live on WFMU in tribute to Nikki Sudden

The Turnip Farmer

"I like for you to listen then what I'm saying. I'd make the gitar say what I say, you unnerstand. If I say "Our Father" it say "Our Father. If I give out a hymn, it'll say it. If I play "Amazing Grace" it'll sing that too" - Fred McDowell in "Baby Please Don't Go" \ the liner notes to "I do not play no rock 'n' roll."

 

More often than not, instruments are played like artificial appendages. 

Most musicians think that their instruments are detachable, their lives somehow disconnected with that of their own.

Here are a few examples, marked by their use of, at times, 'guitar singing,' all the while silencing the voice.

Of course, the point here is not to just drop off a word, as in Willie Mctell's song, "I got to (cross) it for myself," or in Charlie Patton's, "I'll meet you on that other (shore)," replacing it instead with an instrumental substitution of the same meaning, as if this process were a sort of musical alchemy. The point being that the guitar's heard here are not entirely separate entities from the musicians themselves.

 

     

 

The turnip-puller

points the way

with a turnip

-Kobayashi Issa

"The man who is pulling up the turnips is so much one with them that he uses a turnip as his own finger, to point the way" - R.H. Blyth in Haiku, Vol. 4: Winter.

 

The Week in WFMU: 1/10 - 1/16

Trouble is very pleased to present a DJ set from NYC new wave luminaries Tom Tom Club this Tuesday. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who are playing a show at Irving Plaza on Wednesday the 12th, will come by to spin records and rap some about their many rich experiences. Expect plenty of heavy reggae and Tom Tom Club remixes. On This Is The Modern World, 1/11/11 <--(wow!) from 9 AM to noon.

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On Wednesday, Seven Second Delay kicks off a new schedule at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre -- Ken and Andy will broadcast live before an audience there every other week. This week's show features guests Frank M. Ahearn, an expert at making yourself disappear; all-female French horn pop quartet Ghengis Barbie; and comedian Chris Gethard of Comedy Central's Big Lake. 1/12, from 6 to 7 PM at 307 West 26th St. in Manhattan. Admission $5.

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Transpacific Sound Paradise will be live from the Golden Festival this week, on the second night in this Balkan bacchanal of music and dance. Over 40 Balkan and Eastern European bands perform on four stages, and after the broadcast the party will continue late into the night. Listen on Saturday 1/15 from 6 to 9 PM, then stop by Grand Prospect Hall at 263 Prospect Avenue in Brooklyn to celebrate along!

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Finally, on Sunday morning super early, Keili is hosting a set from Dinowalrus, the Brooklyn synth-punk band whose influences are myriad, almost dizzyingly so. The trio, including guitarist Pete Feigenbaum (ex-Titus Andronicus), will entertain us with their unpredictable blend of synthpop, shoegaze, postpunk, krautrock, and possibly more. Beastin' the Airwaves! is on on Sunday 1/16, from 6 to 9 AM.

JH Engstrom

"Although, if you get too serious, you might lose your self-distance, and then you're no longer making good stuff. Cross the line either way and you're lost." (Milene Larsson) 

"The risk is that if you can't handle that balance, you make a fool out of yourself. But that's exactly the risk you have to take. I don't know if I agree with what you said. I guess for some people, being a journalist, for example, you can't allow yourself to hesitate. You have to know exactly what you are doing because you need to tell the truth, so to say. It's different for artists I think, we need to dwell in doubt. For me, it has to do with trying and also failing. Self-doubt is an absolute necessity. It's a constant struggle, daring to expose what lies within, as well as trying to make a living out of photography. It's almost impossible these days." (JH Engstrom)

Excerpt from an interview via Huh. Magazine

Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys (MP3's)

Almost 17 years ago, following the death of my father-in-law, I came across a small metal box containing a couple dozen 78’s. Along with several hits of the ‘40’s, there were a number of instrumental folk, pop and traditional songs, played by string bands, some of which were labeled as to the type of dance they contained. My wife told me that her father had been a square dance caller, and that these were some of his records. 

It was hard to reconcile my memories of the man with the concept of either square dancing or calling square dances. I also didn’t expect too much of these records: my experience with square dance records up until that point had been that they tended to be fairly soulless sounding 45’s, featuring bands playing arrangement of pop and country hits, sometimes with the calls right on the record, with cutesy rewrites of the lyrics to fit in all the calls, and performances for which “phoned in” would be too high of a compliment. 

These 78’s, though, were a revelation. While not all of them were great, none were bad, and nearly all of them had a wonderful sound which reflected a passion for making music. Chief among these were a few records by someone named Harley Luse, with groups variously identified as His Orchestra and as The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys. Best of all was a record which has gone on to be one of my all time favorites, and which I offered up before in a tribute to Citizen Kafka, last year, a rendition of the song “Spanish Cavalier”.

While this is, on the surface, a simple performance of a simple tune, both the lovely, wistful melody and the achingly beautiful performance by the entire group are never far from my mind, and all these years later. I still haven’t gotten close to having enough of it, and have on many, many occasions, sat down at the piano to attempt to recreate this performance with friends on guitar, violin and bass. I love the style of the leader (on violin), the variations played by the bassist (especially the walking style heard near the end), and the little musical embellishments thrown in by the pianist - even the fact that the second chord is sometimes A minor, and sometimes C major. The interaction of the entire group is just wonderful. 

1.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - Spanish Cavalier

Ever since, I’ve been on the lookout for records by Harley Luse, and aside from a few that seem to be fairly common, they tend to be quite hard to find, and even after all this time, I’ve come across only a handful beyond the ones we inherited. They range from sweetly wonderful (such as a version of “Narcissus” to just so-so (such as a fairly rote performance of “She‘ll Be Comin‘ ‘Round the Mountain“), and contain a wide variety of dance styles. All are worth a listen, assuming one enjoys this sort of thing. I’m surprised with the volume and range of what’s been re-issued in the CD era, that none of these have been deemed worthy. 

So who was Harley Luse? I have almost no idea - these records were made in Los Angeles and Hollywood, and IMDBshows him to have been a performer in about a dozen movies, mostly uncredited at the time, typically playing the accordion in a group. Since none of his records feature accordion, my best guess is that he is the pianist on these records, although piano is not always a featured instrument (I’m not even sure it’s there on some of them). Also, it seems a bit odd to think that the credited group leader would be on one of the backing instruments. So maybe he also played violin? If anyone out there knows more about Harley Luse, I’d love to hear about him. 

Here are most of the Harley Luse records I’ve found (there are a few I can't locate right now), starting with the flip side of “Spanish Cavalier” and credited as they were on their individual labels: 

2.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - Darling Nellie Gray (MP3)

3.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Under the Bamboo Tree (MP3)

4.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Narcissus (MP3)

5.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Cotton Eyed Joe (MP3)

6.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Veleta Waltz (MP3)

7.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - Moon Winks (MP3)

8.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - California Schottisch (MP3)

9.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Rye Waltz (MP3)

10.) Harley Luse and His Orchestra - Glowworm (MP3)

11.) Harley Luse and His Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - Mississippi Sawyer (MP3)

12.) Harley Luse and His Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - Arkansas Traveler (MP3)

13.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain (MP3)

14.) Harley Luse and the Blue Ridge Mountain Boys - At a Georgia Camp Meeting (MP3) 

Finally, here are both sides of another record that I found in that metal box. These are not by Harley Luse, but this record was my other favorite from my father-in-law's collection, and it is along the same lines. The performances here a quite a bit clunkier, and go on considerably longer, but there is a charm to both of these songs and performances, credited to Big Jim De Voone, which I also really love, and they go along nicely with the above collection: 

15.) Big Jim De Noone - Varsovienne (MP3)

16.) Big Jim De Noone - Schottische Mixer (MP3)

Spanish Cavalier Record Label (JPG)

 

Vic Mizzy and "The Night Walker"

  Horror Movie Dept:  Today some excerpts from Mr. Vic Mizzy's first feature film score, snipped from the actual film and not from the soundtrack CD release. Directed by William Castle in 1964 and starring the always-terrific Barbara Stanwyck, with Robert Taylor and Lloyd Bochner, and a screenplay by Robert Bloch. Quite a lineup! Joe Gershenson, head of music at Universal Studios decided to use as much of Mizzy as they could for film work, on the basis of his fine work on this score. I'm still unclear on Mizzy's timeline as to whether he worked on this piece first or the Addams Family TV show theme, but they certainly would have been composed very near each other.

There's an interesting 'lightness' and 'goofiness' about the tone of this score for a 'serious' (as serious as William Castle could be anyway- this film isn't nearly as wacky as, say, 'The Tingler') horror picture; although it's rather an unfair assessment, as his work is well-known for its rather 'fanciful' air, being much less experimental or ponderous than many of his contemporaries. Mizzy was certainly known for his unique style and this piece shows it in spades. The picture also has many bizarre elements typical of Castle: peculiar dialogue and script, outrageous visuals, some over-the-top acting, and a good title sequence. Presented here are six selections from the soundtrack exhibiting some nice music cues, weird vocals, and sound effects.

  Beware of the 'Screaming Dream', though- Babs really ramps up the 'screaming in utter terror' in this flick and she generates waves of them; we hear Stanwyck rattle the rafters numerous times in here and she could sure let loose with them!  I hope you enjoy this fun collision of these unusual talents, from way back in 1964.

The MP3s:     Main Theme     'Your Dreams' intro sequence     Bab's First Dream     "I record everything"     Screaming Dream     Wedding Dream

Billy Jam's Best of 2010

January 8th, 2011: I know. 2010 is soooo last year by now and some might say that no one is looking for 2010 retrospectives anymore. Perhaps but if it is broken down into little bites with snappy headings they should. So here goes:

*Most effective use of the word "fuck" in a 2010 song goes to both Cee Lo Green (and his overexposed "Fuck You") and The Rubberbandits' "Horse Outside" - the hip-hop/comedy duo from Limerick, Ireland, who in December enjoyed a surprise runaway hit in Eire with the song/video (above) after it debuted on the RTE TV Irish sketch comedy show Republic of Telly. The bandits were my guests on WFMU in March of '09 during a live remote broadcast from Limerick.

 

*Best 4 emcee albums of 2010: Homeboy Sandman "The Good Sun" (High Water/Fat Beats), Tone Tank + Scott Thorough  Scott & Tone (Modern Shark), Gangrene (The Alchemist & Oh No) Gutter Water (Decon), Ghostface Killah Apollo Kids (Def Jam)

 

*Best 3 DJ/turntablist releases of 2010: V/A Community Scratch Music Volume 2 (Nozl Recordings), V/A Return Of The DJ, Vol. VI (BOMB Hip-Hop), & Rob Swift The Architect  (Ipecac Recordings) 

 

*Best two officially released mixes: El-P Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 (Gold Dust) & DJ Babu The Beat Tape Vol. 2 (Dilated Junkie Music/Nature Sounds)

 

*Best 3 under-the-radar hip-hop sub-genres of 2010:   Gurp City, Homo-Hop, & the Krip-Hop movement.

 

*Most discriminated sector (still) within hip-hop music: Women artists

 

*Best hip-hop movie soundtrack: OST for the Florian Gaag directed German graffiti film WHOLETRAIN (Goldkind Filmproduktion GmbH)

 

*Best educational hip-hop release: Naru Kwina Hip Science 101 (Hip Learning)

 

*2 Most gifted/versatile/prolific producers of 2010: Amp Live (inc. his solo Murder At The Discotech  + Zion I's Atomic Clock, and 9th Wonder (inc. David Banner & Murs collabs)

 

*Best two ongoing 12-part series in 2010: Madlib's montly Madlib Medicine Show releases thru Stones Throw, and Coolzey's summer weekly song release in his "Coolzey and The Search for the Hip Hop Hearts - Volume I:  He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" free mp3 series which premiered each week on WFMU and were/are given away as free downloads on the FMA (Free Music Archives) and other select sites.

 

*Best wrap-up in a rap song of 2010 = Skillz' "2010 Rap Up" from the man who shaped the annual retro rap-up format in which he not only condenses the main rap/hip-hop stories of the year but also the main news headlines grabbers too. Click below to play

 

DJ Handi's Archive Picks Of The Week: The Strange Fresh Familiar

Happy 2011!

DJ Charlie Lewis described his show with the inversion “making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.”  FMU DJs often tip "classic rock" radio music on its head with music that is grossly underplayed. The fresh makes the stale sound fresh once more.

Gaylord Fields played Fantastic Plastic Machine next to 1966 Folk Rock. Clue: Lou Adler LA harmonies almost sound new coming out of music recorded with today's digital sheen.

Pseu Braun, On Pseu's Thing With A Hook, followed Front 242 with ZZ Top and near show's end, played early Beatles

Bill Mac used The Association to set up Captain Zoom & The Androids on Zzzzzzero Hour.

Scott Williams  played Prince next to a live track from his show in 2000 by  Peaches and Gonzolas, and later, Eddie Callahan next to The Who. He called this week's show "You Are Forgiven," but I'm not sure for what.

Brian Turner played some early 70s prog leading into Fetid Poets.

Irene Trudel juxtaposed late-1970s Joni Mitchell with a band called the Castanets. She also played Pharaoh Sanders "The Creator Has A Master Plan "  You have to hear the Sanders  if you haven't, or if you haven't in a while.

Tom Glazer found in a Polish basement, and favorites of 2010

"On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese..."

At a Polish church basement sale in the EV a few months ago, I bought this Tom Glazer cassette for something like 50 cents. I also bought a lot of Polskie Nagrania vinyl in the hopes that it would be jazz but it all turned out to be light instrumental/vocal music of one kind or another. Of course, the real charm was the coffee and cupcakes being sold and the Polish kids intended to market them.

I'd never heard of Tom Glazer before--but, incidentally, I came across a stack of LPs in the garbage recently, one of which was his classic children's album On Top of Spaghetti (Kapp, 1963), which reminded me that I bought the cassette. I liked it so I thought I would share. As I was putting this post together, I realized that Folkways has seemingly already released most of it as Tom Glazer Sings Honk-Hiss-Tweet-GGGGGGGGGG and Other Children's Favorites (2008), though there are a few songs missing, like the wonderful "Pick a Bale" and "Names," which provide connecting links in the cassette's live performance. (I wonder how Folkways chose which tracks to eliminate from the program? Perhaps a white man singing about picking cotton was considered by editors to be inappropriate or, at least, expendable?) Wikipedia informs me that the late Glazer (1914-2003) did not primarily consider himself a children's singer (or held this to be the least of his accomplishments) but was rather a folksinger of the leftie stripe who left a big impact on people like Dylan and Seeger. In any case, his children's music strikes me as a wee bit more interesting and carefree than that old warhorse Ella Jenkins.

Tom Glazer - Activity and Game Songs, Vol. 1: Come On and Join in the Game (CMS, 1973)

Side A: Jimmie Crack Corn / Jennie Jenkins / Skip to My Lou / The Fox / Put Your Finger in the Air / Hush Little Baby (17:59)

Side B: Pick a Bale / Names / Come On and Join in the Game / Little Bitty Baby / Now, Now, Now / The Frog / So Long (16:21)

I'm not much of a tastemaker and I don't have a radio program, so here are my (basically) meaningless year-end stats, in no particular order, and some of which you can find out more about (or even listen to!) in other posts here on Beware of the Blog.

 

Newly released material:

1.) Anne LeBaron - 1, 2, 4, 3 (Innova)

2.) Giuseppe Ielasi - Tools EP (12k)

3.) DeBrunner/Silverman/Carter/Zlabinger - Macroscopia (Metier)

4.) Ricardo Gallo's Tierre de Nadie - The Great Fine Line (Clean Feed)

5.) Jean-Marc Foussat & Sylvain Guérineau - Aliquid (Leo)

6.) Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek - Bird Lake Objects (Faitiche)

7.) Vladimir Tarasov - Thinking of Khlebnikov (NoBusiness)

8.) John Butcher - Trace CS (Tapeworm)

9.) Frank Rosaly - Milkwork LP (Contraphonic)

10.) David S. Ware - Onecept (AUM Fidelity)

Worth hearing: Marina Rosenfeld/George Lewis - Sour Mash (Innova), Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky - Pieces for String Trio and Trumpet (Leo), Giuseppi Logan - Giuseppi Logan Quintet (Tompkins Square), Daniel Carter - The Perfect Blue (Not Two), Axel Dorner/Diego Chamy - Super Axel Dorner (Absinth), Christopher Campbell - Sound the All Clear (Innova)

 

Worthy reissues/collections of old material:

1.) Sounds of Liberation - Sounds of Liberation (Porter, orig. 1972)

2.) Sun Ra - Heliocentric Worlds 1-3 (ESP, orig. 1965)

3.) Bruce Haack - Farad (Stones Throw, orig. '60s-80s)

4.) va - Next Stop, Soweto: Vol. 2 (Strut, orig. 1969-1976)

5.) va  - The NYFA Collection: 25 Years of New York New Music (Innova, orig. 80s-00s)

 

Released in 2009 but not reviewed until 2010:

1.) Tide Tables - Lost Birdsongs CD-R (Prefecture)

2.) Giuseppe Ielasi - Aix (12k/Minority)

3.) Tim Catlin & Machinefabriek - Glisten (Low Point)

4.) Nicolas Collins - Devil's Music (EM)

5.) Lisa Moore - Seven (Cantaloupe)

 

Best album I've heard that hasn't come out yet: Rova - Planetary (Solyd)

Most stitches knit in a day: About 2,500 or 3,000

Longest book read: Robert Caro's The Power Broker

Jack Mello's Best of 2010

In no particular order....

Albums:

Guido -- Anidea (Punch Drunk) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHfCNbq8WVE)

Kenny Graham and His Satellites -- Moondog and Suncat Suites (Trunk) (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bnskASlKlsA)

Hype Williams -- Untitled (Carnivals); Find Out What Happens When People Stop Being Polite And Start Getting Reel (De Stijl) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZsad3s3hk)

Digital Mystikz -- Return II Space 3LP (DMZ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhIbyzvZFqM)

Mad One -- House Girls (Devine UK) http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/house-girls-the-album/ id401732838

Yellow Fever -- s/t (Wild World) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4NRsW85tiI)

Forest Swords -- Dagger Paths (Olde English Spelling Bee) (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UgYOcWh8G5E)

Dylan Ettinger -- New Age Outlaws, Director’s Cut (Not Not Fun) http://dylanettinger.bandcamp.com/ album/new-age-outlaws

Actress -- Splazsh (Honest Jon’s) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wsKiQDTBzg)

Tracks:

Ms. Dynamite -- legendary UK garage vocalist appears on two banging house/bashment/electro tracks in DJ Zinc’s “Wile Out” (Bingo Bass) and Redlight’s “What You Talking About?!” (More Than Alot). (http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvfFZvf8ePw)

Night Slugs, Numbers -- a pair of hot young labels with strong releases from Lil Silva, Girl Unit, L-VIS 1990, Kingdom, Jam City, Mosca, Taz, Slakk, Roska & Untold, Deadboy, Mr. Mageeka, Redinho, etc. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37OHvRKQptg)

Ramadanman/Pearson Sound -- a slew of future bass singles from Hessle Audio cofounder David Kennedy (“Glut”, 2x12” s/t ep, “Blanked”, “Stifle”, “Fall Short/Work Dem”, “Grab Somebody”). (http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pLzBTmmt0E)

LHF -- “EP1 Enter the Silence” (Keysound Recordings)...the ghosts of Goldie, Peshay and El-B filter through this debut 12”. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf7qwcKZ3EE)

Boddika -- “Boddika’s House” (Naked Lunch) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_3dN29n3I)

Space Dimension Controller -- “The Love Quadrant” (Kinnego) (http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=e6Vq9E-p3xM)

Hounds of Hate -- “Tumble Down Slow” from the “I Like Triangles” EP (Back Yard)...a sweet summer jam. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxPfAB_kWU0)

More favorites from the year + bonus pic of cat in a box below!

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 98

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

As we embrace the mad cacaphony of 2011, I am thrilled to continue cliff-diving into the ocean of free online music with you as I begin a third year of Mining the Audio Motherlode. (You can scroll back through all of my old columns via this link.)

Often the last person in my zip code to embrace new technology, I limped along online with a gerbil-powered dial-up connection for years—never even sniffing an MP3, let alone downloading one—until finally switching over to a high-speed cable modem in 2008. Then, with the ever-proliferating landscape of full-album-sharing blogs suddenly traversable, I started a mad dash that continues to this day, monitoring many hundreds of amazing sites daily for each new offering of sonic splendor. Mining the Audio Motherlode bears the fruit of this pursuit, yanking the branches down low for ravenous plucking.

In this week's bushel: (1) A brilliant Brazilian iconoclast's early bossa deconstruction; (2) a studioful of Swedish avant savants creating epiphanic mayhem; (3) the complete 30-volume set (wow!) of Boppin' Hillbilly comps; (4) sweet ditties from a Tennessee rambler who wound up in Alaska; and (5) a collection of somewhat creepy, totally compelling soundtrack-like pseudo-jazz audio explorations made by an coterie of Italian session musicians.

 Dive head first...

 

Jocy de Oliveira  ~  "A Música do Século XX"
(Blog: Mundo Estranho De PB)

ExperiMental Bossa
"When I discovered that this album existed was in despair. I am a fanatic for the work especially of composers of contemporary music and avant-garde Brazilian 60s and 70s. It was a big fan of the work of Jocy, but never could imagine that she had flirted with popular music on disc. Can not remember where did I hear talk of that work ... Logo sought a collector who had a copy on cdr that graced me with a copy. Later, I befriended a great researcher of exotic music, obscure, avant-garde, revolutionary and bizarre world. A true expert who now have as my teacher. YUPO TOZUKA. He had nothing more and nothing less than six copies on vinyl this pearl, which kept the order to pass for true connoisseurs of the work of Jocy. Feared see this disc set as a mere curiosity in derogatory Japanese catalogs."   (Paulo Beto at Mundo Estranho PB) 

G.L. Unit  ~  "Orangutang!"
(Blog: Ezhevika Fields)

(Oran) Gu Tang Clan!
"Heralded by chirpy field recordings that are later mimicked by clarinets, flutes and soprano saxophone, "Waves" lets an easy swing grow out of heaps of dissonance, reveling in the incongruity of straight-time rhythm, chordal comping and continuous commentary from flutes, tambourines, cello, and reeds. Lindquist's post-Coltrane tenor has a burnished keening sound, providing a deep gutbucket bottom to what might otherwise be a top-heavy, high-pitched ensemble. Segments seem like snapshots from a larger whole, snippets of unison lines from trumpeters Peter Hennix and Torsten Eckerman ringing bell-clear while a chorus of yells and a rhythm section trying to find its footing tug melody into the morass. Norlén and pianist Allan Wajda lean towards post-bop, in the face of folksong skronk from Nordstrom's alto and bassists and drummers following the saxophonists' cue. A brief singsong theme and a Cherry-esque fragment emerge only to be buried by seashore sounds. The title track is the most massive of the set, Lindquist doling out repetitious tenor honks to fill out the ensemble as Spångberg thrashes around."   (Clifford Allen from Paris Transatlantic)

 

Various  ~  "Boppin' Hillbilly"
(Blog: Western & Bop)

Worth the Effort
Volumes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30
  

Jimmy Simpson  ~  "The Oilfield Boy Sings Kiana Kid and Other Favorites"
(Blog: Time Has Told Me)

Just Jimmy from Juneau
"A big man, six feet tall, Jimmy had definite stage presence and a gift of gab that enabled him to enjoy a side-career as a disc-jockey for most of the fifties and early sixties. His records were released on an array of small labels that continue to fascinate collectors – Republic, Hidus, Jiffy, Big State, Caprock, and his own Sourdough – but included a brief run with Starday as well. Along the way he managed to get in appearances on the Grand Ole Opry, the Louisiana Hayride, and the Big ‘D’ Jamboree, with a wide array of country music characters, musicians, songwriters and disc jockeys : Jim Denny, Jack Rhodes, Harlan Howard, Slim Willet, Hank Harral, Tillman Franks, Willie Nelson, and Don Pierce, to name a few."   (Xavier from Bopping.org)

 

Tony Iglio  ~  "Drug Store"
(Blog: Mondo Ribelle)

Say Yes to Drug Store
"Unknown Library LP by Iglio and his band. Full of weird exploito-psych-jazz, Ive never come across this artist or label, must be his only release I reckon. Anyway, it's rare, it looks great and it sounds wild."   (Anonymous commenter at iueke.com) 

 

 

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

 

The Week in WFMU: 1/3 - 1/9

Joe Belock will welcome NYC-based rockers Jay Banerjee and the Heartthrobs to Three Chord Monte. Jay, a rising star in the realm of jangly retro pop (yay), has a new CD titled "BAN-ER-JEE. Just Like It's Spelled," on which he sings and plays all the instruments; the Heartthrobs help him out on stage. Hear them this Thursday, 1/6, from noon to 3 PM.

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Late that night, on My Castle of Quiet, Wm. Berger presents two live sets from Lussuria. The solo project of Jim Mroz, an original member of the Forgotten and tour player with French black-metal group Celestia, Lussuria offers sound collages that paint a subtly mesmerizing, sometimes scary landscape, "like a dreamy, obscure film soundtrack." Recommended listening for this Thursday night/Friday morning, 1/7, from midnight to 3 AM.

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Saturday evening, Transpacific Sound Paradise will be action-packed, as Rob Weisberg presents previews of both Globalfest and the Golden Festival -- a multi-stage international showcase at Webster Hall, and the annual Balkan music and dance celebration in Brooklyn, respectively. In addition, Golden Festival ringleaders the Zlatne Uste Brass Band (r.) will perform a live set to prepare us for the party! It all happens on 1/8 from 6 to 9 PM.

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***

So, the holidays are completely over and all the WFMU holiday-themed shows have been broadcast -- I listened to many great ones. One of the best moments of the past couple weeks, IMHO, was Bennett's conversation with his brother (at around 0:30:00) who called in from California to reminisce in a holiday vein. There was a lot of other awesome xmas and New Year's warmth/fun. Check archives!

No Precogs Were Hurt in the Making of this Blog Post!

After drowning in year end wrap ups and best of lists I yearned for the sweet kiss of the near future, the great frontier, no looking back but only forward. We all know 2011 is going to rock, but because I hate surprises I asked some people what they thought was coming next. Here is what they reported back to me. Deuteronomy 18:10-13 be damned, this is compelling internet, yes-sir-ee-bob.

Don't agree with a prediction, or have your own? Hit the comments section, I love hearing from you. 

Jeff Conklin - Avant Ghetto - I predict hipsters now into witchhouse will resurrect the cross colors clothing line, wear leather Africa necklaces and proclaim Bell, Biv, Devoe to be the best musical act ever. possibly wearing their jeans backwards.

John Fell Ryan - Excepter - a resurgence of techno orthodoxy, carnivorous visions

Brian Turner - WFMU - Waxtrax revival continues, Revolting Cocks play You Goddamn Son of a Bitch at Don't Look Back.

Nate Rulli - Abandon Ship Records - Scott Stapp comes out of the closet -Eddie Vedder commits suicide -The Mets win the World Series!

DJ Handi's Archive Picks: Captian Beefheart 1941-2010

Hi: I'm DJ Handi:

Each week, I’ll be picking an archive, or aspects of shows I found compelling and hope you also do. This week is about how different WFMU DJs handled Captain Beefheart’s death at age 69. If you are new to Beefheart, learn about his importance in this article.

Scott Williams incorporated his music with  Beefheart covers and musicians influenced by the Magic Band’s savage guitar, playing; Edgar Broughton, Sonic Youth, and Big Blood, linked by clips of Mother Jimmy Carl Black and Simpson’s Creator Matt Groening.

John Allen played live recordings  that showed how the Magic Band on stage had amazingly punk rawness, but maintained the modern classical  precision Beefheart demanded of his units.

Bill Mac on Zzzzzzero Hour, explored early  blues roots of Beefheart, working with albums like Mirror Man, and the later Clear Spot.

Dianekamikaze's 2010 Best of List

Amazing Releases::

Ludicra - The Tenant

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

Tinsel Teeth - Trash As the Trophy 

Hail of Bullets - On Divine Winds

White Drugs - Gold Magic

Electric Wizard - Black Masses

Child Abuse - Cut And Run

Triclops! - Helpers on the Other Side

Horseback - The Invisible Mountain

High on Fire - Snakes For The Divine

 

 Amazing Experiences::

Easy Action LIVE on WFMU

Hugh Cornwell LIVE on WFMU/and interview

Coliseum LIVE on WFMU

Bleeding Ears Fest on WFMU (Wizardry pictured below)

Batillus and Kowloon Walled City LIVE on WFMU

Iron Man LIVE on WFMU

Away from Voivod interview

Justin Broadrick interview

 

 

Amazing Opportunities::

Engineering: The Sights on WFMU- Evan "funk" Davies program
Engineering: Rapp's Boat Yard on the Passaic River/Billy Jam special program

Engineering: The Communion on My Castle of Quiet

Engineering: Oblivians on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Engineering: Styrenes on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Amazing Live Performances::

Accept and Kings X

Laurie Anderson

Sleep, Doomriders, Unearthly Trance

Thrones and Christian Mistress

Watain and Goatwhore

Amazing Festivals::

SXSW: Dark Castle, Roky Erickson, Torche, Voivod, Weedeater, Coffinworm, Blower, Motorhead, Salome, Iron Man, Pierced Arrows, Sons of Hercules, Hickoids, Withered, Fucked Up, Jim Jones Revue, Tombs, Batusis, Goatwhore, Dixie Witch

see blog posts on SXSW here and here and here

High Voltage Fest: ELP, Opeth, Down, Focus, Gary Moore, Cathedral, Saxon, High On Fire, UFO, ZZ Top, Argent

see blog post on High Voltage Fest here

Posted by dianekamikaze on January 01, 2011 at 12:00 PM in Art, Billy Jam's Posts, Diane Kamikaze's Posts, Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, Photography, Radio, Travel, WFMU Annual Favorites Lists, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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