Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
Two crucial blogs bounced back quickly after going dark last week: Chris Goes Rock, which has had more lives than a barrel of cats, returned almost immediately (under yet another new name), and Rockabilly Ranch, left for dead numerous times, has been similarly resuscitated. No such luck, though, with the excellent Seventeen Green Buicks, which just pulled its own plug. Fortunately, the 500+ items posted there are all still available! So don't mourn, get organized and go check out SGB's archives before the links are removed. (Here are a few of my faves therein: George Russell w/Don Cherry: Live at Beethoven Hall; Don Rendell/Ian Carr 5Tet: Dusk Fire; the Wildflowers NY Loft Jazz Sessions: 1/2/3/4/5.) With all the expanding, contracting and recombining of the music-blog universe, you either need a physics degree or Mining the Audio Motherlode to make sense of it all.
Jade ~ "Faces of Jade"
(Blog: Tyme-Machine)
From the album: My Mary (More Than Ever) (mp3)
Beatles Besotted Cincinattians
Don't confuse the 1970 Fairport-ish trio Jade from Westminster, U.K. (whose lovely Fly on Strange Wings is also posted at Tyme-Machine) with this Fab Four–infused foursome from Cincinnatti—also called Jade, also from 1970. This cheery DIY effort is shotful with lush harmonies, perky clavinets, shimmering guitars and psych-y studio trickery. For the latter, look no further than vertigo-inducing "My Mary" (see MP3, above) which turns backmasking on its ear.
Chano Pozo w/Dizzy Gillespie ~ "The Real Birth of CuBop"
(Blog: L'Ostia Latin Jazz)
[Password = Chumancera ]
Conga Line
The big bang at the origin of the Afro-Cuban jazz universe can be traced to the first slap of skin on skin when charismatic conguero Luciano "Chano" Pozo first joined Dizzy Gillespie's bop orchestra. The year was 1947 and Dizzy and Chano has co-written the first great jam of Latin jazz, "Manteca," and the sit-down-and-listen world of be-bop audiences suddenly got off its ass to dance.
Various ~ "Amazônia: Cult Music of Northern Brazil"
(Blog: Black Star Liners)
From the album: Cabolclo de Pena (mp3)
What Possessed Them?
As the slave trade spread and Africans were converted to Catholicism around the world, new religions, like Santería in Cuba and Vodún in Haiti, began cloaking traditional Yoruba beliefs and practices within an overt worship of Catholic saints. Centered in Brazil's Amazonian interior, adherents of Umbanda cults display a similar syncretism. Included in this collection of 1975 field recordings are spirit-possession rituals that nobody will mistake for Sunday morning mass with the parish priest.
Morton Feldman ~ "Durations I-V / Coptic Light"
(Blog: Don't Ask Me ..... I Don't Know)
Shape, Note Slinging
An odd pairing—Feldman's early '60s airy explorations into tone length, timbre and texture (Durations) with his final work for large ensemble (Coptic Light), a dense exercise in polytonality—but what the hell. Feldman's music has always necessitated an experimental approach to listening. Speaking of listening, dig the sublime "Durations III," a trio for violin, piano, and tuba.
Impacto Crea ~ "Impacto Crea"
(Blog: La Music Latina)
¡Diga No a las Drogas!
Puerto Rico's legendary drug-rehab center Hogares CREA was the inspiration for more than just the name of this killer mid-'70s salsa outfit. A number of band members, including lead singers Cheo Feliciano and Frankie Hernández were graduates of the program.
Relaxace ~ "Relaxace"
(Blog: Magic of Juju)
From the EP: Gamelan Jdou (mp3)
These Czechs Don't Bounce
Cross Prague with raga and you get the Czech Republic trio of Subcontinental music maestros who gathered in 1979 to form Relaxace. These days Vlastislav Matoušek is a shakuhachi flute master, Jiří Mazánka teaches tantric yoga, and Karel Babuljak is, if you believe what you read on the Internets, the "Don Quixote of Czech music." (What the hell does that mean, exactly?)
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).
Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode
I just got some stuff from the Hillbilly ranch So great Doo wop stuff. I thought I had the master DOO WOP collection however I found even more stuff I didnt have. Thanks for turning everyone on to these blogs
Posted by: Sister Hairy Hymen | April 07, 2010 at 07:19 AM
Great information: CreaImpacto Crea ~ "Impacto Crea", it's a shame to see how many great salsa artist have been lost to drug. As a past band member a great number of up and coming artist have also been lost to drugs.
Posted by: Raymond Iglesias | July 24, 2010 at 06:50 PM