Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 149

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

In addition to producing this weekly travelogue through Freemusicstan, I also wrassle a couple of other sonic obsessions: I run a 24-hour webstream/radio channel for WFMU called Give the Drummer Radio, and I host two weekly radio programs live on the stream, called Give the Drummer Some. (The show airs Tuesdays, 6 to 7pm and Fridays, 9am to noon, ET.)

In its default mode, the stream delivers a continuous flow of the sorts of sounds presented here in the Motherlode—unusual, wide-ranging, adventuresome, groovy. In addition to the queue of tracks, the stream also serves as a broadcast channel for radio programs produced by a regular crew of DJs. For a schedule of these shows and links to their playlists and archives, go here. To listen to the stream anytime, go here.

In the next two weeks two programs will be added the the GTDR schedule. Starting tomorrow and airing every Thursday, noon to 2pm, Charlie Lewis will revive his excellent show Busy Doing Nothing. Beginning on January 20, and airing every Friday, noon to 1pm will be rebroadcasts of mix maestro Steinski's legendary show A Rough Mix, which first ran on WFMU back in the mid''90s!

For program alerts and other info, friend Give the Drummer Radio on Facebook and follow on Twitter at @GTDRadio.

Yoshiaki Fujikawa & EastAsia Orchestra ~ "Shoyoh Jurin"
(Blog: Big in Japan)

Blowing in from the East
"Very rare original Japanese progressive, improvised free Jazz Avant record from 1984." (Random description on a Popsike page)

"This is great, Doug! It sounds like a demented version of Masada or something." (Comment left by "Ricardo Montalban" on the playlist for my January 6 radio show.)

"Fatmire Breçani ~ "Fatmire Breçani"
(Blog: Bodega Pop)

Phat
"I know nothing about Fatmire Breçani other than she has one of the most powerful voices I've ever heard. And I've put her song "Ani Rushe Ruxhes Kush O Ma Ka Pa" (the 4th track on the playlist above) on nearly every mix-tape CD I've ever made anyone." (Description by Gary, at Bodega Pop)

Sun Ra ~ "Sunrise in Egypt, Volumes 1-3"
(Blog: . Adventure-Equation .)

No, not Cairo, Illinois
"The stories of music visionaries are very rarely in our culture the product of rigid government directives, but in the case of the rise of Jazz music in Egypt, the greatest pioneer was also a political dignitary who made it part of the national agenda. Salah Ragab was born in Egypt in 1936. By the 1960s, the multi-instrumentalist would be responsible for introducing jazz music to the Afro-Arab world, aligning himself with the compelling currents of American jazz music and to later be revered as the Godfather and pioneer of Egyptian jazz music." (Read more of this essay by Boyuan Gao at The Revivalist)

Charles Sherell ~ "For Sweet People From Sweet Charles"
(Blog: Milk Crate Breaks)

Sweet!
"A supremely fantastic album, and one that's always woefully overlooked in discussions of James Brown's incredible People label! Sweet Charles, Charles Sherell, was a great lost soul vocalist who had a voice that was warm and mellow, with a sweetness that was often missing from James' singing – but which sounded great with his arrangements and production. Fred Wesley and Dave Matthews arranged this one and only album, and the record's a great blend of sweet soul tracks, funky numbers, and other stellar grooves. There's a killer version of "Soul Man", that begins with a very tasty break; the monster "Yes, It's You", which has a sweetly sliding intro that's ripe for sampling; the righteous political "Why Can't I Be Treated Like A Man"'; and lots of other nice ones too!" (Description by Greg, at Oufar Khan)

The Lat-Teens ~ "Fuego a La Lata"
(Blog: Mi-Melodia)

Muy Sabroso!
"Like many of New York's Latin artists emerging in the late '60s and early '70s, the members of the Lat-Teens were not only steeped in their own tradition of mambo, cha cha, and rhumba, but also in the soul-driven sounds emanating from the streets they now inhabited. The results are not only Anglo-oriented band names, but also the inclusion of English-language lyrics and R&B melodies over a traditional Latino rhythm and horn section. Though this approach was more or less abandoned a short time later, and hence sounds incongruous to modern audiences, the boogaloo movement was a force to be reckoned with. 1969's "Fuego" a la Lata was among friends, as part of a groundswell that included groups like the TnT Band, the Latinaires, and Joe Cuba's sextet. The Lat-Teens handled the challenge of rhythmic alchemy with much more grace than some of their contemporaries. In fact, much of the record simply concentrates on New York salsa done well, and it is. The percussion section is swinging and funky, while the lead vocals are smooth and expert." (From a posting by Evan C. Gutierrez at what appears to be an unofficial Lat-Teens Facebook page )

Listen to my radio show Give the Drummer Some—Tuesdays, 6-7pm, and Fridays, 9 to noon—on WFMU's web stream Give the Drummer Radio.
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