Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
In my estimation, each of the recordings surveyed here is a crucial document, a precious historical treasure. Plunge your ears into this loamy lea of humanity and tell me you don't dig them, too...
Flipping the Brazilian dictatorship a middle finger would've been too prosaic for Tom Zé, so he used the cover of his 1973 release Todos Os Olhos (see below) to present the censors with a decidedly more eye-opening anatomical region. • • • There's no question that the hard rocking, sideburn sporting lads of La Revolucíon de Emiliano Zapata would have enjoyed even greater success had they not turned down an invite to perform at Festival Rock y Ruedas de Avándaro (i.e., "Mexico's Woodstock") in 1971. • • • After serving as guitarist in Sugarhill Records' house band, Skip "Little Axe" McDonald connected with fellow Sugar Hillers Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc to form Tackhead. One side project resulted in the Adrian Sherwood–produced electronica/roots LP The Wolf That House Built, which reaches past James Brown and P-Funk to the Mississippi Delta for inspiration—and samples. • • • Your tax dollars at work: In 1973, the Library of Congress produced a stunning documentary account of one Appalachian family in words and sound. Comprising two records and a near-full length book, The Hammons Family continues to be a monumental achievement. • • • With the launch of LaTasha Nevada Diggs and Greg Tate's literary mag Coon Bidness, I though it would be appropriate to revisit its namesake, the late Julius Hemphill's landmark album from 1975 .
Deeper, deeper, deeper...
Tom Ze ~ "Todos Os Olhos"
(Blog: Mopho Discos)
Funky Butt
"His second record, Todos os Olhos, was released during the height of the censorship period in Brazilian music, during the dark years of the military dictatorship. It featured on the cover a blurry picture of what looked kind of like an eye... but in fact was a marble stuck in Tom’s ass... a “fuck you” to the dictatorship..." (David Byrne, from Luaka Bop: The First Ten Years)
La Revolucíon de Emiliano Zapata ~ "La Revolucíon de Emiliano Zapata"
(Blog: Weird Brother)
This Guitar Is Loaded
"Probably one of the best pieces of Latin American psychedelic rock ever made. This self-titled LP is the legendary 1971 debut by Mexican band La Revolucíon de Emiliano Zapata. These acid rockers let it all hang loose as fuzz guitar rips through nine excellent tracks with English vocals. With song titles like "Nasty Sex" and "Shit City" (Ciudad Perdida) you just can't go wrong." (Widely circulated p.r. copy)
Little Axe ~ "The Wolf That House Built"
(Blog: Earls Psychedelic Garden)
Blow Your House Down
"The first ambient dub blues album. Sorry, Moby."
(Mark Montgomery French, at Uppity Music]
The Hammons Family ~ "A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions"
(Blog: Times Ain't Like They Used to Be)
Aurual History
"This LP, subtitled "A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions," is an attempt to describe with sounds, words and photographs, the life and folklore of a rural Appalachian family, whose ancestors came from Britain and were early pioneers and settlers in Kentucky and the Allegheny mountains. Music was an important part of the family life and the album includes many banjo and fiddle tunes along with ballads and stories." (From the liner notes)
Julius Hemphill ~ "Coon Bid'ness"
(Blog: ... którędy pójdą dzicy święci)
Blast from the Passed
"Side one...works as a single composition. The opening piece, “Reflections,” begins with a slow lament, the three horns and cello creating dark, rich harmonies and utilizing a subtle vibrato to underline the music’s pathos. “Lyric” continues in this vein; then the space begins to open up. Hemphill, it seems, likes to work with several layers of sound, to slowly take them apart – to the point of near dissolution – then to put them back together again (though not necessarily the same as they were before). This is what happens during “Lyric” and also during “Skin 1.” The latter piece especially works its way into some very free space. Then “Skin 2” offers alternate choices as to the side’s resolution; yet there is no real resolution, only lingering afterthoughts. “Hard Blues” (side two) is an unreleased track from the sessions that produced Dogon A.D." (Henry Kuntz, at Bells)
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
A Do Not Miss...
http://sahelsounds.com/?p=356
http://sahelsounds.bandcamp.com/
And Croatian punks doing Turkish Psych
http://ghostcapital.blogspot.com/2010/12/hali-gali-halid-vo-zdra-cassette-1990.html
Posted by: icastico | December 15, 2010 at 01:25 PM
Thanks for the link to the info about Avándaro. As a music lover, Spanish speaker, and California resident, I'm embarrassed that I didn't even know of it.
Can't wait to get home and check out these treasures!
Posted by: Jessi Hance | December 15, 2010 at 03:23 PM
Y'know, I've had that (fantastic) Tom Ze record for years and never recognized the source of the cover art. Wow.
Posted by: Holly | December 26, 2010 at 08:29 PM