WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 42 (MP3s)

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

CASH FOR SPELUNKERS EDITION

We here at Mining the Audio Motherlode know a little something about economic hard times. Why, your very own Miner has gone eight long months without a paycheck ever since getting laid off back in March (smack dab in the middle of WFMU's fundraising marathon).

But did he curl up in a fetal position with one thumb in his mouth and the other jabbing the keyboard for those online unemployment benefits? Hell no! The Miner saw all that new-found free time as an opportunity to spend quality time in the murky deep of MP3Land, excavating free music for the masses. (Talk about turning gators into Gatorade!) And you, dear reader, have been the beneficiary. Over the past 42 weeks, this column has served up a massive free-form mix—over 350 amazing selections in all—of free full-album downloads.

As you take a moment to ponder all the cash Mining the Audio Motherlode has saved you this year, it's crucial that you take some of those beaucoup bucks and make a pledge RIGHT NOW to support WFMU, which finds itself in a major pickle. (For the first time in many years, the station's annual marathon missed reaching its fundraising goal—by over 10%—and that shortfall has left the station in an extremely precarious position.) Until 7:00pm this evening, WFMU is broadcasting an Emergency 24-Hour Marathon to pull in an infusion of desperately need dollars.

Before delving into the half-dozen audio doozies offered below, please take a moment to give a little something to WFMU by calling 800-989-WFMU or making a secure online pledge.Thanks a ton!

What Would MC 900 Ft Jesus Do?
MC 900 Ft Jesus w/DJ Zero  ~  "Too Bad" (and 2 other singles)
(Blog: Look What the Twat Dragged In)
From the single "Too Bad": Shut Up (mp3)

Out on the Urban Prarie
Souled American  ~  "Around the Horn"
(Blog: The More You Think About It...)

Incendiary Sonny
Huey Simmons  ~  "Burning Spirits"
(Blog: Ile Oxumare)
From the album: New Newk (mp3)


 

Hopa!
Petros Pandis  ~  "Songs of the Greek Resistance"
(Blog: A Blog About Post Punk, Anarcho/Peace Punk, Militant Entertainment
and Radical Politics)

   

Dog Gone It!
Riz Ortolani  ~  "Mondo Cane" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Singers Saints)
From the soundtrack: Hong Kong Cha Cha Cha/Colazione al Colony (mp3)

Mariachi Schmaltz
Various  ~  "La Revolucion y Sus Cantares"
(Blog: Música Popular Mexicana)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

7 Cool Th!ngs on the !nternet Th!s Week

Maybe ! should qual!fy th!s as cool th!ngs ! found on the !nternet th!s week, not necessar!ly th!ngs that were uploaded th!s week - although that !s often the case too.

F!re by Koko Taylor - whatta track

Bob Barker's 1956 TV Debut

Now Appear!ng !n the Lounge - Unf!n!shed Vegas Doc

Soundtrack for D!vorces and Break-Ups

Full 1956 ep!sode of The Grand Ole Opry TV Show wth commerc!als

Tom Snyder gets Pervy - Sex Ep!sode of The Tomorrow Show !n seven parts

Two Hundred and E!ghty Four Stax-Volt S!ngles

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 41 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some's
6 Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
[**Note: Look for the download links after the jump**]

A Veteran's Day post, for my father.

Growing up, I was always aware that my dad had served during World War II. I knew from old photos what he looked like in uniform. I knew that he'd fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I knew he'd earned a Purple Heart (though he claimed his injury required only a simple bandage). I also knew that he never cared to talk much about his wartime experiences. He wasn't secretive and walled-up about it, but he never went into any great detail on those rare occasions when the subject came up. So you can imagine my surprise when only a few years ago I learned, almost by accident, that my gentle, unassuming father is a Silver Star–decorated hero who performed with tremendous valor under terrible duress during one the longest and most devastating battles in U.S. Army history: the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.

Back in June 1994, during the 50th anniversary celebrations of WWII, the French government invited veterans who'd landed at Normandy to attend a ceremony where they were awarded a special commemorative medal. Unsurprisingly, my father chose not to go. A few years later, all the vets who missed the Normandy honor were invited to the U.S. Capitol to receive their rightful medals, and he was going to skip that, too (despite living in nearby Maryland). He had never told me about the invitation to return to Normandy, but when I learned of the ceremony at the Capitol, I couldn't resist asking him to share with me more about his experiences during the war. I traveled down to Maryland and took my father out to lunch and peppered him with questions, which he answered unreservedly with a great richness of detail. He told me what it was like when George Patton visited his outfit and ate with him in the officers' mess, with his shiny helmet and fancy revolvers; that an entire unit he'd been with, but was pulled from to join Officer Candidate School, had perished in a plane crash in North Africa; that he was among the first American soldiers to cross into Luxembourg and how his division was the first to advance across German lines; and about performing occupation duty after the war ended and seeing long queues of emaciated camp survivors.

That day at lunch my father also mentioned that he'd been awarded the Silver Star. I didn't really understand the great significance of this until I returned home and started doing some research. I asked my father to tell me the story of how he earned the Silver Star and he send me a long letter detailing what took place. He also included the original document that came through confirming his award of the medal. And most movingly, he sent me his Silver Star.

I treasure these items and continue to be proud of my father's service in the cause of defeating fascism. In the spirit of offering an oral history as tribute, I am reprinting below the command document ordering my father's Silver Star and an excerpt of the letter he wrote to me describing the circumstances surrounding his earning it.

(Please continue)

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 40 (MP3s)

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

Barack Obama was elected one year ago tonight, and to celebrate, the Miner feels like going out and pulling the white hoods off a few teabaggers. You betcha! If you prefer to stay home to get your jollies, take a gander at the magnificent recordings offered below. The good news? Just like Mike Bloomberg, you can spend somewhat less than $100 million of your own personal fortune to come out a winner!

Free Jazz for Short-Wave Radio, Hammers, broken glass, etc.
Karlheinz Stockhausen  ~  "Kommunion/Intensitat"
(Blog: Mundo Estranho De PB)

Listen for Lester Bowie!
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti  ~  "Perambulator"
(Blog: Likembe)

"Xaviet Cugat Goes Gamelan"
Phoem Khlaibanleng  ~  "Thai Modernized Music for Dancing, Vol. 2"
(Blog: Monrakplengthai)
From the album: Mon Son Pha (mp3)


 

Canada Lets Its Hair Down
Bob Bell  ~  "Necropolis"
(Blog: Mutant Sounds)

   

Balafon Blowout
Chico Freeman  ~  "Kings of Mali"
(Blog: Steakdust Cologne)
From the album: Kings of Mali (mp3)

Boll Weevils, Buckdances and Breakaways
Various  ~  "Eight-Hand Sets and Holy Steps"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)
From the album: Buckdance (mp3)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 39 (MP3s)

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

All treats and no tricks from the Miner this week: If you could count all the great "out" vibes records on one hand, this one—from Philly's Khan Jamal—would be the thumb. Magma founder Christian Vander plays drums here under the pseudonym Hassan Rashid.  •••  Beijing Opera–trained singer Grace Chang (Ge Lan) made more yuan as an actress than as a chanteuse. She appeared in over 30 films in career spanning just over a decade. Occasionally she landed a role where she got do her singing on camera. Check this freaky Youtube vid of her in 1959's Air Hostess.  •••  Refer-reeking garages of 1960s Uruguay, Peru, and Argentina were overflowing with mop-head maestros mashing en Inglés, but Spain's Cheyenes croon exclusively en Español. ••• Though "Ice Cream Man" was his biggest seller, Chicago bluesman John Brim ran a dry cleaners when he wasn't on the road. When he was touring, he took his wife with him. She was his drummer. ••• This "Indian"-themed blues compilation includes the one and only tune ever recorded (in 1929) by a mysterious performer billed as "Freezone." (MP3 provided, below.) Nobody seems to know who the hell this guy is!  ••• At 13, Junior Reid cut his first record with the great Hugh Mundell. (For an extra treat, go here.) At 17, Reid, now calling himself Junior Progress (with the backing band Voice of Progress), had a regional hit with "Mini Bus Driver." At 18, Reid was a passenger in a car with Mundell when Mundell was shot and killed.

Go Phillies!
Khan Jamal  ~  "Give the Vibes Some"
(Blog: The Growing Bin)
From the album: Pure Energy (mp3)

Star of '50s Hong Kong Cinema
Grace Chang  ~  "Pathe 100, Vol. 15"
(Blog: What's in My iPod)

If the Kinks and Pretty Things Had a Baby. In Spain.
Los Cheyenes  ~  "Sus Singles y EPs en RCA"
(Blog: Garage Music)
From the album: Eres Como un Sueño (mp3)

The Original Ice Cream Man
John Brim  ~  "1950-1953"
(Blog: Oldies But Goodies)

What You Me "We," Kemosabe?
Various  ~  "Cherokee Boogie: Indians and the Blues"
(Blog: The Devil's Guitar)
From the album: Indian Squaw Blues (mp3) by Freezone

No, Not Mini Driver
Voice of Progress  ~  "Mini Bus Driver"
(Blog: JeckrootsDJ)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 38 (MP3s)

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

Mining the Audio Motherlode mourns the passing of South African saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi, who was silenced by heart disease on October 13. While many fellow musicians coming up in the 1960s expatriated themselves and garnered international attention, Mankunku and many others remained home to carve out a musical life in the belly of the apartheid beast. Life was no cakewalk for those who chose exile, but the soul-crushing indignities experienced by artists who stayed put were just devastating.

Born in 1943, Mankunku explored piano as a child, then switched to sax in his teens after falling under the spell of John Coltrane. When he was 19, the same year his hero recorded A Love Supreme, Mankunku performed as a soloist with an all-white big band, but laws forbidding inter-racial mixing forced him to play behind a screen while a white musician mimed a pale imitation. In 1968, Mankunku recorded a track expressing his anguish over Coltrane's death. The tune's title, Yakhal' inKomo, which translates from Xhosa as "Bellowing Bull," was a direct reference to the hideous sound cattle make as they approach the slaughterhouse. Less obvious to the apartheid censors was the song's symbolic reference to the defiant cry of an oppressed people. The song made Mankunku a hero of the townships and the album it appeared on became South Africa's greatest selling jazz record.  • • •  Listen to Yakhal' inKomo (mp3)

Leading off our half dozen offerings is a lovely LP from 1975 showcasing Mankunku and the jazz funk combo The Cliffs.

Mankunku Will Make You Smile
The Cliffs  ~  "Alex Express"
(Blog: ElectricJive)

Con Corazónes Tristes
Raphy Leavitt y La Selecta  ~  "Jibaro Soy"
(Blog: Global Groove)
From the album: La Cuna Blanca (mp3) sung by Sammy Marrero

Na Fidhle Álainn
Bobby Casey  ~  "Taking Flight"
(Blog: Ceol Álainn)
From the album: The Drunken Gauger (mp3)

Conakry Men
Balla et Ses Balladins  ~  "Balla et Ses Balladins"
(Blog: Oro)

Hooray for Kitschywood
K.V. Mahadevan  ~  "Vasantha Maligai" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Tamil Film Story)
From the soundtrack: Irandu Manam Vendum (mp3) sung by T.M. Sounderarajan

Our Lady of Hearts and Flowers
Mahasti  ~  "Del o Del"
(Blog: Snap, Crackle & Pop)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 37 (MP3s)

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

This past week your hard-working Miner dove deep into the inky dark of music's lost history and came up cradling some shimmering gems: Rainful Days appears to be the only record ever released by West Sussex folk siren Maria Barton. The album came out on the tiny Airship label in 1980. ••• More stellar music recorded on British soil comes from Johnny and June Carter Cash, whose live performance at the London Palladium in '75 was released, replete with enchanting between-song banter. Fan sites always call attention to the IRA bomb threat announcement that interrupts June's intro to "Church in the Wildwood" (check the audio clip, below), but the tales told and tunes tendered are top notch. ••• Never really a brother-sister act, Zambia's John and Joyce Nyirongo were popular stars in their own right who occasionally performed together. Here we have a selection of their best '80s collaborations. ••• New Orleans cornetist Freddie Keppard blew loud and hot. Some say to hear his brash brass playing is the closest we'll ever get to experiencing the sound of the legendary (and legendarily unrecorded) Buddy Bolden. In 1915, Keppard passed up the chance to cut for the Victor Talking Machine Co. what would have been history's first-ever phonograph disc. ••• Cuban tres maestro Arsenio Rodríguez and ivory tickler Rubén González joined up with members of cha-cha-cha king Ninón Mondejar's group to form Orquesta América del 55. Rodríguez would evently leave Cuba to wider fame if not fortune; González never did, save for a few minutes in the Buena Vista Social Club limelight. ••• The patriots of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, who came to the aid of republican Spain in 1936, were labeled "premature anti-fascists" by their own American goverment. Compare and contrast please to the tea-party buffoons of today—calling their own American president "Hitler"!—while grooving to the these anti-fascist anthems.

Was There a Laurel Canyon in West Sussex?
Maria Barton  ~  "Rainful Days"
(Blog: Time Has Told Me)

Live London Show in '76 (Complete with IRA Bomb Threat)
Johnny Cash  ~  "Strawberry Cake"
(Blog: A Truer Sound)
From the album: June Carter Cash intro w/evacuation announcement (mp3)

Zambiance!
John & Joyce Nyirongo  ~  "Zambian Legends"
(Blog: Freedom Blues)
From the album: Nikondeni (mp3)

Cornet King Before Louis
Freddie Keppard  ~  "The Complete Freddie Keppard Heritage"
(Blog: Music A-K-O)

From Havana with Love
La Orquesta América  ~  "Los Marcianos"
(Blog: La Ostia Latin Jazz)

Songs of the European Resistance Against Fascism
Various  ~  "Die Sechziger: 1933-1963"
(Blog: Terror + Rays)
From the album: Gallo Negro y Gallo Rojo (mp3) [artist unidentified]

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Exercises in Internet Avoidance, Part Two: Strong Bad Email

Watching funny cartoons on the funny Internet can get in the way of important things like incessantly checking email and downloading ribbons of underground metal and free improv radio broadcasts and stuff. In fact, I had been so busy checking email and, uh, previewing CDs which I then deleted and ordered from Amazon that I totally missed out on Homestar Runner, just like the same way how everyone always knows about everything before me until someone said something about going to Crazy Go Nutz University and I was all "Wisconsin Tourism Federation?" I was soon set straight.

Homestar, a sort of emasculated Trix rabbit with a lisp is kinda funny, but I immediately took to this grouchy Mexican wrestler guy who guess what he does? It's so cool. He checks email ! So here I was watching this little Mexican wrestler guy that sounds like Jack Klugman and looks like an egg, but it was all like distracting me from checking my own email. But so then get this, I found it on DVD!

So like, really, the whole nonlinear thing of the internet makes me nervous. There was this blob of episodes to watch and I couldn't remember which ones I'd already watched and I was worried about finding the ones I liked again and I was kind of freaking out, so the DVDs are cool for that because they're nice and orderly and stuff. Well, except for these bonus feature Easter egg things which you have to find and then you forget what you're doing and next thing you know you're missing your window for downloading another demo by another French black metal band.

So yeah, I got a couple of the DVDs, including SBEmail's 50 Greatest Hits which was of course the most economical option because they were the greatest and because it actually contained 50-five greatest hits, including "Radio" (see up above), a valuable episode on death metal and "Personal Favorites" which is like a meta sorta besta within the greatest hits.

In short, my live is richer now. I have begun faking a Spanish accent when writing emails, even though I'm not really sure that's what Strong Bad's accent is really. And my bandwidth is reserved for more important things, like tracking down Slits bootlegs. Now if only they could figure out a way to put emails on paper and bring them to my door.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 36 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some's
6 Yusef Lateef Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere

Back in 1979, right around my 18th birthday, I ventured from my suburban Maryland home into D.C. to go see my favorite musician, Yusef Lateef, who was performing at Blues Alley. I'd tried to enlist a few friends to come with me, but ended up going by myself. I've always been bashful about approaching the musicians I idolize, but I was determined to speak to Yusef, to express to him how much his music meant to me. With some measure of embarrassment, I brought with me an album cover for him to sign and kept it in a paper bag.

At the club, the host led me to a small round table right at the foot of the stage, close enough for me to reach out and touch Yusef's tenor, propped on its stand. Soon the lights dimmed, the cocktail-clinking quieted and the emcee called the musicians to the stand. Along with his band, Yusef descended the stairs from the second-floor dressing rooms garbed in flowing white robes that dazzled in the glare of the spotlight. I sat there alone during that transcendent first set, barely breathing, taking in the almost-too-intense thrill of it. Yusef delivered great rollicking sermons and tender, ecstatic ballads, ending each song by holding out the sax or flute or oboe he'd just played as if the instrument, not him, was deserving of the applause. When the set ended, I remained in my seat, unable to summon the courage to approach him.

After a brief interlude, the band came back down for a second set, one long blissful R&B number that built over the course of 45 minutes from a bright vamp to a pulsing, surging, wailing catharsis. Yusef's supporting musicians played as if they adored him, and the intensity of their communal spirit was palpable to everyone in the room. As each man soloed, Yusef made the selfless gesture of removing himself from center stage, standing off to the side with his eyes closed, nodding in appreciation.

When the set came to a close and the musicians retreated upstairs for the final intermission, I felt emboldened and headed, with my paper bag, for the second floor. There was a queue of well-wishers and fans between me and the entrance to Yusef's cool-down spot, and I nervously half-wished that the people ahead of me would use up all the break time. But the line moved along and soon enough I found myself standing there being warmly received by Yusef himself. In the next moment, a couple of dashiki-clad gentlemen pushed past me to greet Yusef, but he gently rebuffed them and said he was already speaking with someone, pointing to me. It was just a small act of courtesy, but to be the recipient of his kindness made my head spin. I pulled out my record, and Yusef autographed it and handed it back. He wrote, "To Bro Doug in peace, Bro Yusef A. Lateef.

Before leaving, I asked Yusef if he was still playing "Russell and Eliot," my all-time favorite tune (which appeared on the 1969 LP Yusef Lateef's Detroit). He said that the song was in the band's book and then smiled as I thanked him and walked on jelly legs back down to my table. When the next set began, I sat there at the edge of the bandstand, transfixed, as Yusef stepped to the mic, bowed in my direction, and announced, "Here's a song for my new friend." Then he counted off for the band and they launched into the opening groove of "Russell and Eliot." (mp3)

This Friday, October 9, will be Yusef Lateef's 89th birthday. Tune in to my radio show, Give the Drummer Some, [hear the show here] for a three-hour celebration. To get the party started early, this volume of Mining the Audio Motherlode offers six wonderful recordings by Yusef, including downloadable tracks for Hikima, a recording that recently surfaced that has never appeared on any discography. (It contains material that appears to have been recorded at the same July '83 session that produced In Nigeria.)

Stunning Unheard Nigerian Gem
Yusef Lateef  ~  "Hikima (Creativity)"
High Life (mp3)  |  The Mood (mp3)  |  C.N.C.S. (mp3)  |  Koroso (mp3)
North Africa (mp3)  |  Blues Revised (mp3)  |  Mud Theatre (mp3)

Blowing in Philadelphia
Yusef Lateef  ~  "Live at Pep's, Vol. 2"
(The Sound of Jazz)

Theremin Alert
Yusef Lateef  ~  "A Flat, G Flat and C"
(Blog: Daytime Lovers)

Blowing in from Detroit
Yusef Lateef  ~  "Before Dawn"
(Blog: The Monk)

Big Bass Drum Say Tum T'tum
Yusef Lateef  ~  "Part of the Search"
(Blog: Flageolette)

Stay in Contact with Your Mind
Yusef Lateef  ~  "Autophysiopsychic"
(Blog: The CTI Never Sleeps)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

ATP-NY 2009: PANDA BEAR (MP3)

If you're anything like me, then this cutie's album Person Pitch really made your summer 2007 something a little more magical than it would have been without it.

Using only a couple of exquisitely-picked loops and a shitload of very specific reverb, Panda Bear (a.k.a. Noah Lennox a.k.a. 1/3 or so of Animal Collective) creates small but very detailed worlds of songs that take you somewhere Brian Wilson might have gone if he had only stuck to the good kinds of drugs and understood the internet.

If you're already familiar with the work of tha bear, the live set, recorded and broadcast during All Tomorrows Parties just a few weeks ago, will sound very much like what you heard on the album, but with a lot more fun insight and deep-diving into the sparklies, yelps, and high-impact loop layering technology that make the PB experience exactly what it is.

Download a free MP3 of BROS courtesy of the FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE.

Expertly mixed by Rob Christiansen as part of WFMU's live broadcast from ATP (more recordings here). Photo by heybelinda = Creative Commons by-nc-nd

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 35 (MP3s)

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

Well sure, mean people suck, but what about the "mean people" of China? The mean people were certain classes of citizens who were bonded to servitude by heredity. (Some of whom were relegated to such lowly occupations as frog-catching and sedan-chair bearing.) Among these groups were the yuehu, or musicians' households, who were subject to official discrimination for over ten centuries.

You may have mixed feelings about tomorrow's massive parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Revolution, but I think we should have all tooted a horn or two this past May 23 in honor of another notable event in China's history: On that date in 1724 the reform-minded Yongzheng Emperor (Qing Dynasty) issued an edict officially abolishing the second-class status of all them nice musicians.

To commence your own private commemoration, please avail yourself of Mining the Audio Motherlode's first offering, below, an astonishing 8-CD collection of music from ancient China. Toot!

String Dynasty
Various  ~  "Ancient Chinese Music" (8 CDs)
(Branle de Champaigne)

Nigerian Highlife Royalty
Cardinal Rex Lawson  ~  "...and His Rivers Men"
(Likembe)
From the album: Nkpa Ke Da Owo (mp3)

Buenos Aires Blues Rock
Pajarito Zaguri  ~  "Pajaro y la Murga del Rock 'n' Roll"
(Blog: En Busca del Tiempo Perdido)
From the album: Deja Que ya Escuche Su Oración (mp3)

Cello Colossus
Ernst Reijseger  ~  "Taiming"
(Blog: Lucky Psychic Hut)

Hey, Ain't the Hot Mud Family from Ohio?!
Various  ~  "Tennessee Folk Arts"
(Blog: Allen's Archive of Early and Old Country Music)
From the album: Rain and Snow (mp3) by Suzanne Edmunson & Rick Good

Another Psychotic-Hippie-Drug-and-Sex-in-the-Greek-Isles Movie
Mike Rozakis  ~  "She Knew No Other Way" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Bug in the City)
From the soundtrack: She Knew No Other Way (mp3)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 34 (MP3s)

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

In addition to the usual download selections, this week's Mining the Audio Motherlode offers a brief commentary on the recent Kanye West imbroglio.

Commentary:
The entire event seemed preconceived: The staging appeared blocked; the camera angles locked in; the Hollywood happy-ending scripted as if drawn up on a lunch napkin at Spago. Even more telling is that all involved had so much to gain: Kanye re-upped his bad-boy bona fides; Taylor got boosted into the pop-star stratosphere; Beyoncé cemented her status as the #1 one-name überdiva. Of course the increasingly irrelevant music biz profited most of all.

Set piece or not, what's truly disturbing about this third-rate melodrama is how the roles played by its three principals conjure those familiar old racist paradigms: 1) Angry black man; 2) innocent white ingenue (menaced by angry black man); 3) benevolent black mama (who cuts the black man down to size, reassuring the white power structure).

The detestable irony in all this is the unwitting involvement of President Obama, whose "jackass" comment only served to legitimize these standard-issue racial stereotypes. Is it any surprise that his off-the-record utterance was leaked? How better to cut our African-American-in-Chief down to size.

The whole thing was a trap. The extent to which we as a collective culture lock-stepped so willingly into its steel teeth suggests that there are still many more miles to trudge through the backwoods of the American soul before coming home for some steaming post-racial porridge.

Downloads:

R.I.P. Luther Thomas
Human Arts Ensemble  ~  Live, Vol. 1"
(Nothing Is V2.0)

The Gaithersburg Address
The Muffins  ~  "Air Fiction"
(Mended Records)
From the album: The Lagoon (mp3)

L'Affaire Messiaen!
Olivier Messiaen ~  "Petites Liturgies"
(Blog: A Closet of Curiosities)

Samm He Am
Bosho  ~  "Chop Socky"
(Blog: Lucky Psychic Hut)
From the album: Rail (mp3)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 33 (MP3s)

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

Well looky here, goodies galore: (1) The #1 record on Rolling Stone Japan's 100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums list just happens to be the Miner's #1 selection this week. (2) Speaking of Japan, flute-wielding hipster Herbie Mann was touring the island nation in '68 when four members his band—including the exalted Sonny Sharrock—cut this pair of avant-leaning 45s. (3) Buenos Aires in the '70s was a well-known prog rock hotbed, but some earlier Argentine bands, like Los Walkers, found inspiration in the Merseybeat scene. (4) Speaking of Liverpool, Paul McCartney's brother Michael performed for a spell in the musical comedy/poetry troupe the Scaffold with Roger McGough. The two released this album featuring a host of big-name backing talent (including bro Paul and Jimi Hendrix). (5) The pioneering early country duo of Darby (passable blues vocalist) & Tarlton (certified string genius) sold hundreds of thousands of records in the late '20s. By most accounts they hated each other. (6) Finishing with a flourish, the Miner serves up three dazzling collections of '60s rockers from Rio. (Huge thanks to Raphael Soulcialista at Teen Trash). Listen for covers of "Gloria," and "I'm a Believer" on Volume 1.

Being a rock-solid union feller, the Miner can't end this post without paying tribute to labor hero Crystal Lee Sutton, who died last week at 68. Sutton was the textile worker whose defiant crusade to unionize her plant was the real-life inspiration for the film "Norma Rae." Lesser known but no less a protaganist in this story is the former coal miner and labor organizer Eli Zivkovich, who originally enlisted Sutton's help. To get your union on, listen to this inspirational speech from "Norma Rae" (click here), delivered by Ron Leibman, who played the character based on Zivkovich

Greatest Japanese (Soft) Rock Album Ever?
Happy End  ~  "Kazemachi Roman"
(Japanese Rock for Fucks Sake)
From the album: Taifuu (mp3)

Going Inside Out (w/Sonny Sharrock)
Roy Ayers Quartet  ~  "Comin' Home Baby" and "All Blues" (Two 45s)
(El Goog Ja / Soundological Investimgations)




Argentine Popadelica
Los Walkers  ~  "Walking Up"
(Blog: Bomber Blog)
[Password = mza-acid]
From the album: Hasta el Fin de Mis Días (mp3)

Not Bad for a Bunch of Ex Art Students
McGough & McGear
(Blog: Ezhevika Fields)





Old-Timey Superduo
Jimmie Tarlton & Tom Darby  ~  "Darby & Tarlton"
(Blog: Friends of Old Time Music)




Fuzz and Farfisa Fest from Rio!
Volume 1  ~  "Selvagens: Brazilian 60's Punk Artyfacts"
Volume 2  ~  "Selvagens: 60's Wild Surf and Raw Instro from Brazil"
Volume 3  ~  "Selvagens: Obscure Brazilian 60's Garage Beat and Punk Groups"
(Blog: Teen Trash)
From the first album: Coração de Pedra (mp3) by Os Jovens

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 32 (MP3s)

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

Mining the Audio Motherlode is back with more mid-week marvels: (1) a gobsmacking compilation of sixties township jive from the vaults of South Africa's Motown. Accompanying the tunes, posted at the venerable Matsuli Music, is a crucial history of the music not to be missed; (2) a lovely album from the Polish folk-rockers Anawa—their first effort following the departure of founding member and legendary singer-songwriter Marek Grechuta; (3) Thailand's "King of luk thung" (rural folk song), who died last month at the age of 52. When he wasn't starring on stage and screen, Yodrak Salakjai somehow found the time to release (according to this online source) over 500 albums; (4) a rocking collection of '40s sides from smoky-voiced Savannah Churchill. She released barely 50 songs in a performing career that came to crashing halt when, during a club date in '56, a drunken fan fell on her from a balcony seat; (5) sunny angst from '69 and the Barcelona teen band Pic-Nic, featuring the debut of future Europop icon Jeanette; (6) spacey, Jesus-tinged musical mini-dramas from a California band that used to rehearse at Bob Denver's house (read the comments in Waxidermy)

Standing in the Shadows of Mavuthela
Various  ~  "Mavuthela: The Sound of the Sixties"
(Matsuli Music)
From the album: Marks Special (mp3) by Marks Mankwane

Dreamy Polish Psych
Anawa  ~  "Anawa"
(Mutant Sounds)




Thai Soap Opera Heartthrob
Yodrak Salakjai  ~  "Rap Khrueng Dieow"
(Blog: Monrakplengthai)

Tragic Darling of the Jukebox
Savannah Churchill  ~  "The Queen of R&B"
(Blog: Rockabilly Ranch)





Spanish Teen Pop
Pic-Nic  ~  "Cállate Niña"
(Blog: 18 Rodas)
From the album: Oí Tu Voz (mp3)




May the Longtime Sun Shine upon You(r Ears)
Vision of Sunshine  ~  "Vision of Sunshine"
(Blog: Red Telephone 66)
From the album: Summer Sundown Woman (mp3)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Vol. 31 (MP3s)

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

For this first post of September, here's a pop quiz to pump up that back-to-school spirit: What do Patsy Cline's fellow plane-crash victim Hawkshaw Hawkins, elegant early jazz arranger/band leader Don Redman and "Brady Bunch"-theme composer Frank DeVol all have in common? Give up? They are all 2009 inductees into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. (Soupy Sales was considered, but didn't make the cut.)

Inspired by a recent week spent feeding chickens and downing buckwheat cakes in the Mountain State, the Miner is kicking off this week's selections with yet another WVMHOF '09 inductee, the Bailes Brothers. Why, they're just like West Virginia's motto: Wild and wonderful.

Brother Act from Kanawha County, WV
Bailes Brothers  ~  "Avenue of Prayer"
Nifty cover scan here
(Jeremy's Saggy Record Cabinet)
From the album: God's Hand Rules the World (mp3)

Holy Grail for Drummer Lovers
M'Boom  ~  "Re:Percussion"
(Fat Toro)
[Scroll down to Comments for working link]

 

Murdered in the Sivas Massacre of '93
Muhlis Akarsu  ~  "Asik Olan Durmaz Aglar" & "Aglam Gulum" (2 LPs)
(Blog: Sounds of Enlightenment)
From one of the albums: Yakma Beni Oldurursun (mp3)



Good Ol' Boy of Cuban Country
Guillermo Portabales  ~  "Sones Cubanos"
(Blog: El Negrio del Batey)
From the album: Esto Se Llama Montuno (mp3)

Get This Man A(nother) Drink
Abner Jay  ~  "Swaunee Water and Cocaine Blues"
(Blog: Allegory of Allergies)




You Bet Your Sweet Axé
Margareth Menezes  ~  "Margareth Menezes"
(Blog: Música da Boa)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 30

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

This last Mining the Audio Motherlode post of summer delivers a half-dozen killer-dillers: Ghanaian percussionist Guy Warren's rare session with Brit jazz greats is worth the price of admission, but don't overlook the compelling contributions from Chicago's Tiny Topsy and Kraków's Ewa Demarczyk. If you dig noise, Monoshock's side-project, Sternklang, will curl your nose hairs (in a good way), as will the debut LP from Blind Idiot God (who, one night at CBGB's produced the loudest beauty I've ever heard). All in all, some terrific beach listening.

Before you head out with your SPF 45 and flip flops, take a brief moment to observe the passing of the legendary woodwind maestro Joe Maneri, who died on Monday. Joe was an astonishingly inventive and original improviser and composer, but his greatest legacy may be the wisdom he imparted to generations of musicians. For nearly four decades Joe taught performance, theory and composition at the New England Conservatory of Music.

A few Friday's ago on Give the Drummer Some, I aired a home recording of an unreleased blues number Joe performed at one of the gazillion wedding gigs he played. It is one of the most audacious, breathtaking, heart-in-your-throat 3 minutes and 8 seconds of sound you'll ever hear. To listen, go to my playlist and scroll down to the fourth tune in the fourth set. (When you're done, pick yourself up off the floor and check out more Joe Maneri genius—a recording from 1963—in the first full-album link offered below.)

Simply One of the Greatest Recordings Ever
Joe Maneri  ~  "Paniots Nine"
(A Blog Ain't Too Much to Love)

Unburied Treasure
Guy Warren  ~  "Afro-Jazz"
(Fat Toro)

R&B Sessions in Miniature
Tiny Topsy  ~  "Aw! Shucks Baby"
(Rockabilly Ranch)

 

Extreme! Noise! Now!
Sternklang  ~  "1"
(Blog: FM Shades)

Polish Melodrama Queen
Ewa Demarczyk  ~  "Ewa Demarczyk 1974"
(Blog: Easy Music)

I Dub You Very Much
Blind Idiot God  ~  "Undertow"
(Blog: Colostomy Grab-Bag)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 29 (MP3s)

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

The miner considered brandishing his pick-axe outside his local town hall in support of a public option in health care reform—but he's lover not a fighter. His best contribution to community well-being is made right here each week. (And once you've spent a little quality time with the sextet of gems dug up this week, you'll be feeling a helluva lot better.)

This past weekend's commemoration of Woodstock's 40th anniversary stole a few headlines from the "death panel" blowhards, but another historic benchmark approaches that deserves attention: Fifty years ago this Friday, Hawaii, dominated so obscenely for so long by the Big Five corporate oligarchy, cast off its chains and attained statehood. In recognition, the miner offers up "These Trails," a gorgeous bit of natural splendor recorded in Hawaii in 1973. Mahalo.

Volcanic (Folk) Rock
These Trails  ~  "These Trails"
(PHROCK Blog)
[password = phrockblog.blogspot.com]

Like Bourbon for Your Ears
Romica Puceanu  ~  "Cine Nu Stie ce-i Doru"  (and lots more!)
(Robert Gargfias archives at UC Irvine)
From the album: Cine Nu Stie ce-i Doru (mp3)
 

AKA "The Franco of East Africa"
Mbaraka Mwinsheshe ~  "Masimango"
(Blog: Coleção de Sons)
From the album: Sululu Ya Moro (mp3)



Don't Cover Up That Ribald Spot
Nino Rota  ~  "Felini's Casanova"
(Blog: Zamboni)
From the album: L'uccello Magico (mp3)

Galax Strums, the World Hums
Fields Ward  ~  "Bury Me Not on the Prarie"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)




Barcelonian Fusion
Tribu  ~  "Barriu Chinu"
(Blog: Rock Progresivo Español)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Nicki Rose, "Personality Crisis"/"Nicki's Way (The Rock Stars)"/"Battle In The Sky (The Desperate)", (199?)

(Big apologies to Brian Turner.  He already posted the "Electric Warrior" vid by Nicki Rose in June of last year.)

But the man submitted more "demos" to record companies around the country hoping to get signed.  He didn't.  As the hair obviously blows independently--without the use of a fan--so does Rose himself.

No, no, no...I'm just giving you a hard time, big guy.  Nicki Rose, you're perfect.  You are going through to the next round.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Vol. 28 (MP3s)

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

After three fine weeks in the glorious daylight of coastal Maine, your Miner has burrowed back down to his accustomed subterranea. (Despite numerous visits to this particular region, he once again failed to spy any moose or black bears, though a couple of carefree harbor porpoises did gambol past his kayak one cool morning.)

But have no fear: the music hunting never really stopped. Charm-filled visits to the Opera House Internet Café in Bar Harbor and the WiFi hook-up at the Free Public Library in Brooksville afforded the occasional opportunity to scour the blogs and make copious notes for future Mining the Audio Motherlode offerings. The fruits of those "labors" are already ripening, below.

The past week saw the passing of two devout brothers of the musical cloth: Rockabilly legend Billy Lee Riley (whose failing health was mentioned here in a previous post) and the folk-revival griot and virtuoso Mike Seeger who did more than practically anyone to prevent treasured old traditions from turning to dust — and keep the winds from scattering ones that had.

Ashes to ashes.

Family Values
Mike & Peggy Seeger  ~  "Peggy 'n' Mike Seeger Sing"
(Merlin in Rags)

Revista Crooners from the '20s
Various  ~  "Mexican Rataplán"
(De 78rpm a 33 1/3rpm)

 

Samba Enchanted Evening
Nadinho da Ilha  ~  "Cabeça Feita"
(Blog: J Thyme KIND)
From the album: Palmares (mp3)



Wail Watching
Various  ~  "Rockin' Rhythm Very Dark"
(Blog: Rockabilly Ranch)
From the album: Love Doctor (mp3) by Phil and Marie

Lesser Known Brit Stringbender
John James  ~  "John James"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)




Ashanti Almighty
Dr. K. Gyasi and his Noble Kings ~  "Sikyi-Highlife"
(Blog: World Service)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Songparts vs CMX: Two different approaches

Over the past week or so vague details have been appearing about a new digital music format being developed by the 4 major labels which is tentatively called "CMX". Both CMX and a competing format being developed by Apple dubbed "Cocktail will bundle such rich media elements as videos, song lyrics, interviews and album art along with music tracks in what one can only guess is an attempt to bring back the golden era of people buying full albums.

On one hand it's nice to see the record industry finally realizing that they need to offer some sort of value proposition in order to make people feel like forking over their money. On the other hand, a concerted effort to bundle things together at a time when digital consumers like to increasingly get their content a la carte seems a bit misinformed.

Now consider the polar opposite approach: songparts.

Much in the same way itunes dismantled the notion that paying $16 for a cd with 2 good songs on it was a good idea, songparts goes a step further and argues that even $.99 is too much to pay for that one part of a song you really like.  Instead why not fork over $.06 for the "Best line in Steely Dan’s 'Kid Charlemagne'
looped for your convenience" or the "Gluten, gleebun, glauten, globen" intro from Def Leppard.

The majors recently bought a 17% stake in Spotify, the much loved (but Europe only) music subscription service and one can only hope they can get on board with these guys too....  I give the site about a week to live.

Image by Laser Bread