Give the Drummer Some's
Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
After our hopeful words last week about an attempted comeback at The Vault, it appears (for now) that this mighty Everest of music sharing has been reduced to rubble. Adding to the misery in blogland this week was the apparent demise of the enlightened pages at Weird Brother, but an outpouring of appreciative comments at the site has led erudite host, Y Brawd, to consider giving it another go. (We were all set in this post to link to an historic Fluxus audio collection at WB, but the link went dead as a DCMA doornail.) Please cross fingers—and maybe send a few encouraging words—to help inspire this vital cultural resource to find a way to keep calm and carry on!
Starship Commander Wooooo Wooooo ~ "Mastership"
(Blog: Allegory of Allergies)
Pick Hit: "Laugh and Dance"
"Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri in the late 1970s Omer was running a mobile disco that ended up using live instruments. It incorporated a spectacular stage show with smoke and light effects. Along with other stage props, including a spaceship styled car, the stage attention inspired him to create his first solo album in the early 1980s under his moniker 'Starship Commander Woo-Woo.'" (Uncredited bio posted at Discogs)
[A friendly hint from your Miner: Do NOT sleep on this one!]
Jimmy London ~ "Jimmy in London
(Blog: Root Stone)
Pick Hit: "Kissing in the Back Row at a Movie"
Jimmy London (Trevor Shaw) was half the vocal duo the Inspirations with Ransford White (aka Billy Dyce). After leaving the Inspirations, London went on to have a solo career, his most notable hit was a cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
Sitompul Sisters ~ "My Way"
(Blog: Madrotter-Treasure-Hunt)
Pick Hit: "Kutunggu Tunggu"
"Here's the fantastic 1972 album from the Sitompul Sisters!!! I've got this one without a cover but I found the cover on the Internet, and unfortunately there's a crack in the LP so I can't give you the first songs of side A and B but for the rest there's not a scratch on it. Some great soul à la Motown on this one. If you like Dara Puspita and The Singers you'll love this one:)" (Description from the Mad Hatter at Madrotter, the marvelous Henk)
Garland Green ~ "Jealous Kind of Fella"
(Blog: Funk My Soul)
Pick Hit: "Don't Think That I'm a Violent Guy"
"The first time that you listen a song of Garland Green his voice will surprise you, with an amazing quantity of refinements and incredible control of the pauses. Jealous Kind Of Fella is his most famous hit, but as is often happens with most of the artists, it’s not his best by far. When you place the record on your turntable and the music starts to play, one of the values of it, is the originality of each of their songs that don’t repeat themselves and are far away from so many songs that seem copy of the soul classics." (Review by Bac, at Funk My Soul)
Walt Dickerson ~ "Impressions of a Patch of Blue"
(Blog: Flageolette: Vita con Gusto!)
Pick Hit: "Bacon and Eggs"
"Impressions of a Patch of Blue was the second time Walt Dickerson recorded an album of rearranged movie soundtrack pieces, following his interpretations of material from Lawrence of Arabia. Starring Sidney Poitier, A Patch of Blue was about a star-crossed pair of interracial lovers, with the twist that Elizabeth Hartman's character also happened to be blind. More important to jazz fans, though, is that the album marked one of Sun Ra's extremely rare appearances as a sideman, playing both piano and harpsichord. And he turns in a masterful supporting performance behind Dickerson, putting his own indelible stamp on the proceedings without ever overwhelming them." (Review by Steve Huey at AMG; reprinted at Adventure-Equation)
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.
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
Comments