MOG - Reckon's Posts

Medeski, Martin & Wood | Lifeblood

Reckon — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:25:23 GMT

From IndieJazz.com:

Medeski Martin & Wood "Shack-man"

Gramavision - GCD79514

John Medeski - Hammond B-3 organ, clavinet, Wurlitzer, electric piano, pianet T, toy piano, Yamaha CSO1 II Chris Martin - drums, percussion Chris Wood - acoustic bass, electric basses, guitar

SHACK-MAN, was mostly composed and developed on the road during the last year in which they played over 200 shows. The band's third Gramavision release and fourth album overall was recorded in their tropical sanctuary, a shack in the remote jungles of Hawaii. “There's a certain vibe we get into musically in Hawaii that we don't get into on the road," says Medeski. "It was always our dream to make a record there. The sound of the Shack is amazing.” With ten new compositions and a remarkable revamping of the traditional “Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus,” MMW emerge as America's favorite groove band. Although critics have compared their unique musical hybrid to the soulful organ jazz of Jimmy Smith, the cosmic voyages of Sun Ra and Miles Davis in the 70's, these versatile keyboard, bass, and drum virtuosos hew just as closely to the dance floor pop and street savvy funk of Booker T & the MG's, Sly and the Family Stone, and James Brown. The instant accessibility and musical depth of such Shack-man tunes as “Dracula,” “Bubblehouse,” and “Strance of the Spirit Red Gator” invite music fans of every stripe into the Shack, spacious home to the universal groove. - from Gramavision/Ryko website

The fourth album by keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood is an ass-shaking testament to the many moods of the Holy Groove. Boasting a rhythmic precision somewhere between the flawless propulsion of the Meters and the free-flowing pulse of Weather Report, MMW distill extended live jams into four to seven minute instrumental pearls while energetically dissolving the boundaries that separate rock, jazz and the urban sound du jour. Long may they shack. - Rolling Stone, 11/18/96

Medeski Martin and Wood make thinking-person's groove music, with enough swing to satisfy fans of soul-jazz and enough sass to appeal to those who own everything James Brown ever recorded. - Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/10/96

Smart, tuneful and engaging, Shack-man shows that challenging music can be just as much fun as the easy stuff. - The Baltimore Sun, 10/11/96

An infectious yet edgy, mutable yet groove-centered stew that is the instrumental phenomenon of the 90s... Shack-man captures the raw hypnotic power of Medeski Martin and Wood like no previous album. - Boston Globe, 9/29/96

Archie Shepp | Bakai

Reckon — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:39:06 GMT

Archie Shepp

Kwanza at all about Jazz

ARCHIE SHEPP, tenor saxophone, vocal; JIMMY OWENS, trumpet; WOODY SHAW, trumpet; GRACHAN MONCUR III, trombone; CHARLES DAVIS, baritone saxophone; DAVE BURRELL, piano; WALTER BOOKER, bass; BEAVER HARRIS, drums. Recorded at National Recording Studios, NYC, February 26, 1969.

Peak, Archie, peak

yen for lyrical Africa's grand recordings of fresher fascinating first-thought choices, tremendous tone-poems n' that new trombone jazz imposing slang's liberation of everything ever unnoticed...

Kaleidoscope - Flight from Ashiya

Reckon — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 03:01:07 GMT

Kaleidoscope - Tangerine Dream

Puffs of white cotton passing the window Everyone talking, oh, so very loud And captain sits and seems to be in a daze One minute high, the next minute low Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are

Cigarettes burning faster and faster Everyone talking about the everafter And captain sits and seems to be in a daze One minute high, the next minute low Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are

Nobody will ever know why Nobody will ever know why

Visions of childhood rush past my eyes In seat number 30 somebody cries And captain sits and seems to be in a daze One minute high, the next minute low

Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are Nobody knows where we are

José James + Soil & Pimp Sessions

Reckon — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:40:11 GMT

José James with Soil & Pimp Sessions - Park Bench People (Live, Brownswood Loves Jazz night at Bush Hall)

José James Soil & Pimp Sessions

Update 16 April - Missing Posts?

Reckon — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:44:39 GMT

Update 16 April: Resolved (weeps).

Will re-up soon...

Hey everyone. I can't seem to access my two most recent posts and am wondering if you can see them? I'm looking at them in my browser but when I head over to comment am told they don't exist.

The two in question are Fontaine and Sarmanto.

Not sure what happened. If they did disappear my apologies to readers and those who commented. It's a Mog mystery to me.

Thanks - hope you had a pleasant Easter.

Marc Moulin Placebo Sessions: Plotseling

Reckon — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:47:43 GMT

I've run out of tags for Marc Moulin. Powerhouse, this guy.

Enjoy.

From Groove Collector: Their influences are jazz but also "Hendrix", "James Brown" and "Soft Machine".

Can't go wrong there.

The Third Eye (Cool Vibes)

Reckon — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:08:52 GMT

While Ayers aimed this feel-good record directly at the dance crowd, in 1976 it was heard coming out of passing cars and on apartment stoops as much as in discotheques. A Top 10 R&B and jazz hit, this one still shines with Ayers' liquid vibes and soulful grooves-- a sound that would be much copied, sampled and emulated decades later. - Nick Dedina, Rhapsody

Roy Ayers The Third Eye

secrets of numbers secrets of sound secrets of wisdom will be found...

Ed Motta's Poptical: Buttery Soul

Reckon — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:41:25 GMT

Good lovin' to you, everybody. Have a great day and night, and please do enjoy a little Ed Motta with your ups, downs, and all arounds.

A bold leap forward for Ed Motta -- once a mainstream Brazilian soul singer, now the darling of the jazz groove underground! The album's even more experimental than Ed's groundbreaking Dwitza set -- and has him working through a warm blend of jazz and soul styles -- heavily drenched in 70s-styled keyboard work, with Ed's lush vocals sounding even better than before! The range of expression on the set is amazing -- Ed will be scatting at one moment, crooning another, always in perfect step with the album's jazzy keyboard work -- soaring along with a really righteous sound.

via Dusty Groove

Poptical in the Amazon

Download Quem Pode Surpreender?

Download Fox Do Detetive

Free Your Mind

Reckon — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:20:34 GMT

A great track which often compels a repeat upon leaping up at random in this joint. Cody posted about the album here many moons back. Fans of the exquisite, often never-before-released funk championed by Stones Throw’s reissue wing Now-Again Records are no stranger to Amnesty. Based in Indianapolis in the early 1970s, the group released only two obscure 45s in their recording career. Birthed from the same scene as the Ebony Rhythm Band (Soul Heart Transplant – NWG 5011), Amnesty had a poltical edge similar to L.A. Carnival (Would Like To Pose A Question – NWG 5009) and the hardest brass section since The Kashmere Stage Band (Texas Thunder Soul – NWG 5023). Only one Amnesty song has ever been released on CD: "Free Your Mind" appeared on the most widely distributed Now-Again album to date – Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities 1968-1974, Vol. 1 (NWG 5017).

This previously unreleased anthology comes from the same sessions as "Free Your Mind." In 1973, Amnesty recorded five hard, vocal funk numbers alongside some ballads and a handful of demos based around nothing more than guitar accompaniment. Only two songs were ever released. While Amnesty’s ting, difficult-to-categorize prog funk/soul/rock could potentially reach far beyond Indianpolis’s bounds, the band never found a label to take them to the next level.

Obviously influenced by, but by no means simply imitators of, the sound of early Parliament and Funkadelic, Amnesty also responds to the grooves of Earth Wind & Fire and Sly & The Family Stone in their own way. Finally made available 33 years after they were recorded, these songs present a funk style arranged with dangerous complexity and performed with precision – arguably the most unique funk to originate from Naptown, and some of the best music of its kind.

via Underground Hip-Hop

Support Stones Throw

Download "Free Your Mind" mp3 here

The Human Expression: Love at Psychedelic Velocity

Reckon — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:25:33 GMT

The Human Expression is a psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles that released three well-regarded singles and made additional demo recordings between 1966 and 1967.

The music of The Human Expression has been compiled by Collectables Records/Cicadelic Records on a retrospective album called Love at Psychedelic Velocity that was released in 1994.

The track: Optical Sound Download here

From the Wiki:

The album contains the music on all three of their singles, plus demo recordings of their first two singles (including the original "B" side of their first single). A mark of successful songwriting is that the album can be enjoyed when two versions of the same song are practically side by side. There are also four unreleased recordings by band leader Jim Quarles to close the album. Presumably Quarles wrote these songs as well.

Vivien Goldman's Dirty Washing

Reckon — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:39:07 GMT

VIVIEN GOLDMAN - “DIRTY WASHING” 12″ (1981) | 99 RECORDS

VIVIEN GOLDMAN HQ

Vivien Goldman is a writer, broadcaster and cult post-punk musician who has devoted much of her work to chronicling punk and Afro-Caribbean music and culture. A widely published and anthologised journalist, Goldman's fifth book is "The Book of Exodus," (Three Rivers Press,) described as "vivid and intimate" by Rolling Stone. She is the Adjunct Professor of Punk and Reggae at NYU Tisch School's Clive Davis Dept. of Recorded Music; and writes a bi-weekly column on BBCAmerica.com as The Punk Professor. Her previous books also include Marley's first biography, Soul Rebel, Natural Mystic' and The Black Chord, a collaboration with photographer David Corio that chronicles the flow of music through the African Diaspora. A Londoner, Goldman has lived in Paris and now resides in New York.

99 Records on MySpace

“Vivien Goldman was a very well connected journalist from London who wrote extensively about the punk and post punk scenes for NME. She used her contacts to pull in Keith Levine, Adrian Sherwood, Robert Wyatt and John Lydon amongst others to make a 7″ which was released on her own tiny UK label Window Records. Whilst on a visit to New York, she took a tape of it to Ed’s shop and he fell in love with it right away and decided he had to put it out on 99. The 99 version is called ‘The Dirty Washing EP’, has completely different artwork and adds the ‘P.A. Dub’ which had appeared on the first New Age Steppers LP on On U Sound. Sadly Vivien never pursued making music and this remains her only ever solo release which is a shame as her lyrics and voice were unique and fabulous. She did however continue to write songs for other artists such as Massive Attack and has gone on to become a globally renowned writer as well as an expert on®eggae who still writes to this day.”

Also, Fodderstomp, the PiL fan site, sez:

“John Lydon is credited as co-producing ‘Laundrette’, along with Goldman and Keith Levene (who also plays guitar and bass). Apparently this single by music journalist Vivien Goldman was recorded when PiL snuck her into the Manor (studios)during the ‘Flowers Of Romance’ sessions in late 1980, with PiL also reportedly paying for most of the recording costs. It seems this is how Lydon earned his co-producer credit.

“Launderette” is an incredibly funky, airy stroke of genius, with Goldman’s slightly off-track vocal anchoring a bassline that slinks and crawls along the bottom of the song like a happy little animated worm. Some ethereal melodica wavers in the background, providing the right melancholic air to Goldman’s tale of doomed romance.

via Egg City Radio

Download the track here

Dr. Verhovtsev's Dream by Younnat

Reckon — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:44:17 GMT

Younnat

Younnat HQ

Younnat's MySpace page

Younnat is a side project of Oleg Serdyuk, keyboardist of Lyuk (Ukraine). "The Duct" is the debut album, a compilation of instrumental tracks in electronic eclecticism style. Sometimes romantic, sometimes sufficiently harsh. Net release contains 6 tracks. Full version of album consists of 14 compositions.

Mama Soul

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:18:08 GMT

Harold Alexander | Sunshine Man

It doesn't get much better than this. I know this track has likely made the Mog rounds - I think Cody might've posted it not that long ago. At any rate, it's a jaw-dropping feverish few minutes and it couldn't possibly hurt to have a replay now and again.

Enjoy if you're so inclined.

Track: Mama Soul

Label: Flying Dutchman

Year: 1971

A wicked bit of funky jazz from Harold Alexander -- and one of the hardest to find albums on the legendary Flying Dutchman label! The set's got a great sound that's freer than your average jazz funk album of the time -- with some nice traces of post-Coltrane spiritualism, mixed in alongside some sweet electric piano by Neal Creque, and tight funky drums by Pretty Purdie! Tracks are all nicely long, with plenty of cool and sharp changes -- and titles include the classic "Sunshine Man", plus "Tite Rope", "Quick City", and "Mama Soul".

via Dusty Groove

Cinemaphonic: Soul Punch

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:49:26 GMT

Cinemaphonic | Soul Punch | A Selection of British Library Music 1970-1976

Track: Number One Spy | Syd Dale

Various Artists Label: Motel Records

Hot on the heels of the brilliant Cinemaphonic Electro Soul comes another superb library music compilation from Los Angeles-based DJ David Hollander (library music collector and ex-child star a.k.a. Lil' Earl of "What's Happening" fame).

This is a killer comp, and as the sub-title says - all the tracks come from british music libraries with contributions from Amphonic, Impress and Themes International. Beautiful stuff.

via Movie Grooves

Shake Your Good Stuff

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:57:09 GMT

I didn't expect much, but I found a chocolate river leading to gold. So if you wanna be loved like a cat love a mouse hit the arrow.

MSR Madness! Volume 5: I Like Yellow Things

Wikipedia: Song-Poem:

"Song poem usually refers to song lyrics that have been set to music for a fee. This practice, which has long been disparaged in the music industry, was also known as song sharking and was conducted by several businesses throughout the 20th century in North America.

The business of recording song poems was promoted through small display ads in popular magazines, comic books, tabloids, men's adventure journals and similar publications with a headline reading (essentially) Send in Your Poems - Songwriters Make Thousands of Dollars - Free Evaluation. The term lyrics was avoided because it was assumed potential customers would not understand what the term meant. Those who sent their poetry to one of the production companies usually received notice by mail that their work was worthy of recording by professional musicians, along with a proposal to do so in exchange for a fee. The early 20th century versions of this business involved setting the words to music and printing up sheet music from inexpensively engraved plates.

In producing the recordings, the melodies were either improvised or recycled and musicians often recorded dozens of songs per recording session using minimal resources, often in one take. Some of the companies recorded new vocals over pre-recorded music backing tracks, using the same music tracks hundred of times. The recordings were then duplicated on 45 RPM vinyl singles or on individual cassette tapes, or they were released on compilation LPs with dozens of other songs by amateur lyric writers. Copies were sent to the customer. Promises that they would also be sent to radio stations or music industry executives were rarely if ever kept, partly because the recordings would not have been taken seriously by professionals. The practice played off the desire of unsophisticated people, who often lived in remote areas, for fame and fortune.

During the 1990s, some surviving recordings of song poems (especially from the 1950s and 1960s) attracted the interest of record collectors, who were then seeking old phonograph records. For some listeners, unusual, amateur lyrics in recordings made by rushed or at least marginally professional musicians almost half a century earlier offer a unique, discordant sound heard nowhere else. The intensity and naiveté of the lyrics combined with the workaday listlessness of the musical performances creates a tension that fuels whatever artistic merit may be found in these relics. Many of the lyrics involve subject matter relating to the passing fads of the day, and thus provide a window into a past pop culture.

In 2003, a documentary about the industry, Off The Charts: The Song-Poem Story, was aired on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. It has since been released on DVD, and the soundtrack was released as a recording.

Tom Ardolino, drummer for the band NRBQ, curated several compilation CDs of the material. His work, along with the efforts of others such as musicologist Irwin Chusid of WFMU radio, has allowed these scraps to reach a level of notoriety unthinkable in their own time.

Caglar Singletary is probably the best known songpoet, his most famous composition being "Annie Oakley."

But among the professionals paid to record these songs, the "Mozart" of the song poem genre is often said to be Rodd Keith. Several compilations of his made-for-hire song poem recordings have been released on CD with comments by his son, avant-garde saxophonist Ellery Eskelin. Eskelin never actually met his father, but was often told that his father was some kind of musical genius."

The above description does very little to describe what the best of these tracks actually sound like. Picture the average pleasant jazz arrangement you’d find on “The Lawrence Welk Show”, or perhaps later in the ’80s and 90s the sort of backing you’d hear on a Casio keyboard demo preset — laid on top of lyrics firmly planted in the world of the inane, the insane, the banal and bacchanale all rolled into one. The best song poems are more than diamonds in the rough or happy accidents — they are a window into the deepest recesses of our scared, fragile souls. Or unlistenable purile crap. Either way, they are unlike anything else you’ve heard. MSR was the most “well-known" purveyor of song poem albums, and the compilations below are cherrypicked from the MSR library.

via Egg City Radio

MSR at Egg City Radio

WFMU's MSR Song-Poems post (mp3s there)

Some of these you might want to keep - fyi.

Watch Tower Seller by Rodan

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:34:26 GMT

I hadn't planned on a double shot of Rodan, but why not. Egg to crack or unzip is here

Or if you prefer rapid sharity see Prog Not Frog

Please refer to my previous Rodan post for more info.

You are the One

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:13:56 GMT

Rodan

I picked this up a while ago from Prog Not Frog, and I'm happy I did. It's terrific. A strange, perplexing record, but worth your time.

On my first go-round I thought iTunes had mixed up my tracks. Take a look at the album cover - this is what I mean by strange. Rodan will surprise you.

Acid archives says; "Private 200 press, Pretty good LP ranging from prog with ripping guitar to horn-laden ballsy funk. The vocals are pretty out there. It appears that this band had roots with the Elastik Band of "Spazz" infamy!" I would never imagine a funk album with that coverart.

via prog not frog

Nice blurb from Joaquim Peso

...wild and moving raw hippie funk bonanza. with one of the sickest private press covers ever this had to be somewhat gonzo, and it really delivers on a lot of fronts. there are over-the-top funky riff-meisters, as well as proggy keyboard soliloquies. fortunately they keep it on the funkier/spastic side of what could have slipped into Chicago-honky-horn land. if i had to give some sort of mind visualization of this one, its like a cocaine and booze addled long hair musician's ride in a long black limousine to attend to some sort of shady business he is way over his head in. i would love to know more of the story on this one. it's a pretty sizeable production for a 200 press record, and supposedly these guys are related to the Elastik Band somehow. favorite song: track 6 (my cd-r of this has no track names) ---- a balls out rocker where the guy is singing about the headaches of the record business with a walking bass line half way in that just tears me apart. this would be a very cool reissue.

Unzip egg here

Del's Theme - George Braith

Reckon — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:35:01 GMT

George Braith | Musart

One of the most unique & beautiful jazz albums I've ever heard! Sounds ranging from exotica with wordless female vocals, to free jazz - often all within the same track. Worlds away from the typical one dimensional soul jazz that Prestige was cranking out at the time, and from most jazz albums that came before it, or after it on any label.

For those unfamiliar with Braith, he is most well know as one of the few horn players to embrace Roland Kirks' sticking a bunch of saxaphones in your mouth technique. Far from having a large body of work (3 Blue Note lp's & one other on Prestige, if I'm not mistaken) this is considerd by many to be his masterpiece. But, his other records are quite good, though different and and a bit more conventional. Highly recommended.

via Waxidermy

The Aquarians

Reckon — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:57:15 GMT

Part of the strange California zodiac pop funk scene, the Aquarians took astrology rock in several interesting and generally unexplored directions. While primarily the brainchild of composer, arranger, and pianist Vladimir Vassilieff, the Aquarians were actually a supergroup of talented jazz musicians. Featuring Stan Gilbert, a much in-demand bassist at the time, and the incomparable Afro-Cuban percussion of Francisco Aguabella, the Aquarians blended a one love hippie philosophy with smooth, Latin-tinged jazz. Their first, and only, album, Jungle Grass sounds close to related astrology rockers Friends of Distinction (which also featured Stan Gilbert) and the 5th Dimension. While evidencing a nominal interest in astrology, the tracks on Jungle Grass are, at the core, jazz with a heavy Afro-Cuban (evident in the percussion), and possibly a Brazilian Tropicalia (evident in the vocals), influence. On an album packed with talent, there are few solos and no showboating -- the performance of each member is subservient to the groove. On the opener, "Bayu-Bayu," Aguabella lays down several beautiful fills over the sing-song vocal. "Batakum" features nice sax work by Joe Roccisano playing under the sign of Pharaoh Sanders. A solid but not explosive album, Jungle Grass is definitely an under- appreciated effort and is currently sought after by certain DJs for its little sampled piano flourishes and percussion breaks. ~ Brian Whitener, All Music Guide

Hat tip Orgy in Rhythm

Funk It

Reckon — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:39:53 GMT

A massive bit of funky fusion from the 70s -- an album that was crucially overlooked at the time, but which has gone onto become a crate-digger's classic over the years! The group's fronted by Polish jazz legends Michal Urbaniak and Urszula Dudziak -- but it also features a fair bit of American players too -- all working together in a blend of the best funky fusion modes going down in both the US and Eastern Europe in the mid 70s! Drums on the set are totally great -- played by Steve Gadd or Gerald Brown, depending on the track -- and some tracks have weird vocal bits that riff around the instrumentation, sung either by Urszula, Bernard Kafka, or some other backing singers. The keyboards are great -- quite tripped-out at times, but never too over the top -- and overall, the album's a fair bit more soulful and funky than most of Urbaniak's other work of the 70s. Titles include the killer sample track "Rien Ne Va Plus" -- used famously by the Beastie Boys many years back -- plus "After The World Goes Home", "Funk It", "Sinkin Low", "Next Please", "Horsing Around", and "Watusi Dance".

via Dusty Groove

Thanks oufarkhan

Dance with Me - Das Krause Duo

Reckon — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:27:17 GMT

Das Krause Duo Metaboman and his partner Carlson Basu work on a rather social plan of acoustic-electronic sound strokes without an affinity for any specific genre. Together they have created their own cosmos: electric-swing. Slamming, percolating rhythm structure sets the tone so that all know where the dance is going. "Canopolis" is a slimmed-down, cool-sax maximal, "Good Man Invasion" is an authentic and irresistible sunrise joint, "Dance With Me" is a crazy rap shuffle with guest Flowin Immo, and "Egoshooter" is pure Kraus-rave on the mountainside. Early morning nature-techno.

via Forced Exposure

Image via Kommerz.ch

Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki

Reckon — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:04:34 GMT

_Taken from the album Le Monde Fabuleux des Yamasuki on Biram (1970)_

From Captain's Crate

This post stands as a warning to the fledgling record head, a couple hundred LP's into the game and feeling pretty good about himself and his collection of sample-heavy CTI dollar-bin'ers and lesser known funk-rock gems on Westbound and Cotillion... You don't know how far the rabbit hole goes.

Hear me loud and clear on this one, friends: THE DEEPER YOU GET, THE DEEPER THE MUSIC GETS. There is more ill music out there than you and I can wrap our sorry little heads around and we're suckers to think otherwise.

Take for example: Yamasuki!

I have very little doubt that 90-some percent of the non-Japanese, non-LSD-loving populace that might lay ears on this record would be entirely perplexed by it. Even hate it. "What," they might ask, "Could have possessed somebody to combine twangy Morricone-esque guitars with Axelrod beats and Far Eastern choral arrangements?" And they would be right to ask the question.

But the answer, simply, for now and for always, is Yamasuki. Yamasuki. Yamasuki.

I will further endorse this record by saying that the five tracks posted here could have been arbitrarily selected. The whole album is start to finish sonic mayhem that gets better with each go-round. Not for the weak of heart, to be sure, but a record of such originality and--dare I say--grace, that if the first hundred listens don't make sense, you'd better hope that the hundred-and-first does because Yamasuki is like that patronizing dog in Duck Hunt: they always get the last laugh.

You're either with 'em or against 'em, friends... You know where I stand.

Purchase in the Amazon

via Captain's Crate

Update: If you missed the tunes hit the link above.

Bronca Buenos Aires

Reckon — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:14:58 GMT

_A great set from Argentinean jazz bassist Jorge Lopez Ruiz -- funky, cinematic big band swing and choral arrangements! The set is a four piece suite based on the writings of Jose Tcherkaski, featuring arrangements that range from big band with heavy horns and strings and a very late 60s/early 70s soundtrack feel, to intimate solo work from players that include Chivo Borraro on tenor sax and Fernando Gelbard on piano. It features spoken word bits that at a listen feel a lot like a 60s new wave film narration! It's got a lot of sweeping, cinematic funk things going on -- for great kinda early 70s soundtrack jazz vibe! Tracks include "La Ciudad Vacia", "Relatos", "Amor Buenos Aires" and "Brono Buenos Aires"._

via Dusty Groove

Huge thanks to Orgy in Rhythm

Cosmic Funk

Reckon — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:45:51 GMT

A real gem from Lonnie Liston Smith's early years in the studio -- and a record that's perhaps a bit more "cosmic" than it is "funk" -- but that's why we like it so much! The session has Lonnie stretching out a bit more than usual -- borrowing some of the righteousness from his years with Pharoah Sanders, and tripping out on tracks that revel in their own spacey brilliance. Lonnie plays both acoustic and electric piano on the record -- stretching out on some Impulse-influenced grooves that feature some great soprano sax and flute from the lesser-known George Barron. Titles include the soulful "Beautiful Woman", the ethereal "Sais", and the heavier groover "Cosmic Funk" -- plus great versions of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and John Coltrane's "Naima".

via Dusty Groove

Louis Sclavis - Guetteur D'Inapercu

Reckon — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:41:27 GMT

Inspiration for this new Sclavis disk came from the work of visual artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest, who spent eight years creating and attaching several hundred images to buildings throughout the city of Naples. While most so-called environmental artists (including graffitists) seem to be serving little more than their own ego needs, Pignon-Ernest's work is clearly cut from a different cloth, which is evident even from the small photographs incorporated into the booklet accompanying this CD.

He borrows from the representational art of antiquity, utilizing figures from Classical mythology and early Christian iconography, and he uses his source materials to evoke Naples' rich and tumultuous history, helping the viewer to connect with the emotional and spiritual strata of the city. Fittingly, Pignon-Ernest chose Naples for his project in part after hearing a French cultural documentary on Neapolitan music, and so with Sclavis responding musically to Pignon-Ernest's visual imagery -- which was in turn inspired by traditional music of the region -- the wheel comes full circle.

Like Pignon-Ernest, Sclavis employs a kind of psychic archeology to excavate the Neapolitan sensibility, studiously avoiding both historiography and post-modern pastiche. You won't hear any faithful renditions of traditional folksong on this CD, and very little in the way of gratuitous genre hopping. Instead, Sclavis creates his own variable synthesis of folksong, opera, jazz, popular music and even some beatbox percussion in the service of his vision.

He is assisted more than ably by members of his new group -- Vincent Courtois on cello and electronics, Mederic Collingnon on trumpet, voices, horn, percussion and electronics and Hasse Poulsen on guitar. Combine these instrumentalforces with Sclavis' own considerable prowess on clarinets and saxophones, and you have a musical aggregate that is literally ready for anything.

The graceful, unobtrusive use of electronics sometimes imparts a ghostly, surreal quality to the music, giving it qualities of dream, of elusive memory and on the opening track, "Colleur de nuit" (and elsewhere), a sense of foreboding. The use of octave dividers and other pitch control devices gives the quartet a surprisingly big sound at times without, one suspects, much need for conventional multi-tracking.

Collingnon is credited as the only vocalist, and if this is true, his vocal talents are impressive; a combination of Al Jarreau, Phil Minton, Pavarotti and an Italian sideshow barker. (His inspired glossolalia on the title track almost defies description.) He and Sclavis also make a lovely noise together on trumpet and clarinet, with Courtois' bowed cello frequently joining in as another contrapuntal voice. Courtois has an extraordinary range, pushing his instrumentquite comfortably into registers normally reserved for the viola and even violin.Poulsen's classical guitar chops are featured on "Les apparences", but when he switches to electric on other pieces, he can deliver a satisfying crunch.

Although Sclavis and company inhabit an expansive musical territory on this CD, nothing seems forced; nothing is out of place. Throughout, Sclavis manages to combine an impressive variety of styles, genres and influences, creating a nonpareil experience for the listener.

via BBC | Bill Tilland

A great Amazon review by Jan Dennis:

A Disc of Huge Consequence

Often it takes a strange combination of circumstances to produce great jazz.

This is one of those instances.

Louis Sclavis has labored in the jazz trenches for a couple of decades. Along the way, he has been an integral part of some pretty remarkable jazz. One thinks, for example, of the noteworthy disc Green Dolphy Suite, including such luminaries as Marc Dresser, Ernst Reijseger, and Mark Feldman. Or the two great Label Bleu discs, Carnet de Routes and Suite Africaine, with Aldo Romano and Henri Texier.

His discs as leader have often not been as successful.

All that changes here.

Sclavis, in complete command, composing, leading, playing bass clarinet, soprano sax, and bari sax, as well as his main ax, clarinet, has, along with bandmates Vincent Courtois (cello), Mederic Collignon (pocket trumpet, voices, horn, percussion, and electronics), and Hasse Poulsen (guitar), produced an absolutely astounding disc, perhaps the first great jazz recording (if it can even be confined to that label) of the 21st century.

This is a very ambitious record, conceptualized in and operating out of a huge variety of musical contexts--everything from chamber jazz to cabaret to neo-swing to free to North African to minimalist to a-referential freak-out (although in generally a pleasant, not scary, way).

The players are among Europe's finest. Sclavis has long been regarded as a player with huge chops and a unique concept. And though he has struggled to find the absolutely ideal context for his musical gifts, he has finally found it with this band. He plays with deep authority and uncommon facility on his four horns, carving out a voice unique and powerful on each one.

For anyone who's been paying even slight attention to European jazz, the name Vincent Courtois should be entirely familiar. He has graced numerous sessions, making a huge contribution, for instance, to the altogether remarkable disc In Touch by Yves Robert. Europe seems blessed with an abundance of exceptional jazz cellists (e.g., Ernst Reijseger and Tristan Honsegger), and Courtois is among the very best. It is astounding the variety of sounds he gets from his instrument, as well as his ability to move effortlessly from classical voicings to chamber jazz to bop, post-bop, and neo-swing.

Hasse Poulsen on guitar, a name new to me, adds some real magic to this session. His concept is practically unique; the only other guitarists he sounds remotely like are James Emery and Bern Nix, whom he likely has not heard. Mainly playing acoustic (although he pulls off some wild electric sounds on "Guetteur d'inapercu), he's almost a wild card here, balancing the more out cuts with his earthy/edgy single-line offerings, digging deep to ground the proceedings in a down-to-earth sensibility no matter how far afield they venture.

The ringer here is multi-instrumentalist Mederic Collignon, again someone completely new to me. He adds unexpected coloration--always perfectly apposite, I might add--be it pocket trumpet, voice, horn, percussion, or electronics. His wordless singing is among the most incredible ever put to disc, eclipsing even that here-to-fore champ, Arto Tuncboyacian.

That Sclavis can make such rowdily incongruent elements jell is just this side of impossible. But he does, with absolute ease, consummate musicianship, and almost scary frisson.

One exceptional thing about this disc is that I find few if any referents or precedents. It's practically sui generis, one of a kind. It's almost as if Louis and the boys sat down and somehow came up with an unlikely and altogether unique concept, wildly mixing disparate styles and forging something entirely new--absolutely listenable and utterly compelling.

Indeed, this may be--tellingly--at once one of the most beautiful and most outrageous jazz discs ever recorded.

Aurally stunning, trenchantly intelligent, bursting with creativity.

What more do you want?

Amazon Review / Purchase

Ouelele

Reckon — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:54:06 GMT

The Funk goes native on this heavy back-to-Africa collection of rare Afro-grooves from around the globe. Ouelele is an eclectic mixture of African and African-derived music from 12 different artists who deliver some of the heaviest rhythms known to man. Nothing hits harder than the hardcore Afrobeat of Smahila & The S.B's epic "African Movement," a 19-minute Fela Kuti derived groove that keeps you spellbound with its endless energy. Soul-jazz meets South Africa in Letta M'Bulu's swinging cover of Hugh Masekela's "What's Wrong With Groovin'." All the intensity of free-jazz is channeled into the percussion heavy groove of Philip Cohran & The African Heritage Ensemble's "Unity," a tribal-funk jam built around a hypnotically droning violin line and a wall of drums. Henri Guedon's "Volcano" is a highly danceable obscurity that skillfully combines jazzy flutes and horns with raw Afro-Latin percussion and pure funk bass. Argentine native Fernando Gelbard opens up 1974's "Alevacolariea" with an African-inspired chant sung over a lone hand drum, before kicking into a Fender Rhodes led vamp that blends the best elements of early Fusion with the soul of ancient Africa. Nigerian percussionist Ginger Johnson & His African Messengers deliver a truck-load of solid rhythmic uplift with "I Jool Omo," a jazzy gem from their highly collectible 1967 lp, "African Party." New York City-based Antibalas unleash a brand new and heavy Afrobeat classic, "World War IV," an unadulterated blast of prime African funk in the tradition of "Black President" Fela Kuti. The album closes with Batsumi's exotic slice of South African jazz-mysticism, "Lishonile," a 9-minute track swirling with impassioned flute and sax solos. Without a dull moment or weak track, Ouelele is definitely worth owning. And, if you find yourself Jonesing for more rare and obscure Afro-rhythms, check out Comet Records' earlier collection, Racubah!

via Must Hear | by John Ballon

Sahib Shihab's Stoned Ghosts

Reckon — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:55:48 GMT

Jazz music has more than its fair share of overshadowed figures that whilst contributing much to the music have little presence in its collective conscious. One such musician is the talented multi-reedist, Sahib Shihab, who despite emigrating from the United States in the early 1960’s managed to have a significant impact on the scene. Recording with some of the legends of bop, before embarking on a European career in jazz as a soloist and member of the successful Clarke Boland Big Band.

He was born Edmond Gregory in Savannah, Georgia in 1925, his earliest professional experience playing alto with Luther Henderson’s band, at the tender age of thirteen. After a period of study at the Boston Conservatory he went on to play with trumpet great Roy Eldridge and lead alto with Fletcher Henderson in the mid forties. Here he was still billed as Eddie Gregory but in 1947 he became an early jazz convert to Islam, rather quaintly referred to as Mohammedanism in the vernacular of the day.

The Bop explosion of the late 1940’s that swept through jazz gripped Sahib Shihab, as many others and he quickly became one of the leading Parker influenced altoists of the day. Proving himself well equipped to deal with the complexities of the new music, he contributed to a series of classic sides with Theolonius Monk, between 1947-51 laying down some of the cornerstones of Bop’s recorded history, including the original version of “Round About Midnight.” The self styled eccentric genius was an influential figure both on and off the bandstand and Shihab’s later work on Baritone owes a debt to Monk’s quirky and individual approach to the music.

During this period he also found time to appear on many recordings by popular jazz artists including Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Benny Golson, Tadd Dameron and on John Coltrane’s first full session as leader for Prestige, First Trane. The invitation to play with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band in the early fifties was of particular significance as it marked Sahib’s switch to Baritone, the instrument he became most readily associated with.

Bio continues here

via All About Jazz | by Bobby Hancock

Sahib Shihab

The Healer Poetess

Reckon — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:20:20 GMT

Moved to post this after reading mollifire's entry about the album artwork for _New Amerykah_. Thoughts?

_Personally, I don't choose any particular religion or symbol or group of words or teachings to define me. That's between me and the most high. You know, my higher self. The Creator._ - Erykah Badu

BADU HQ

_The simple truth “Love is blind” is the backbone of Erykah Badu’s charity organization, Beautiful Love Incorporated Non Profit Development—or B.L.I.N.D. Beautiful Love Inc. was established in 1997 and provides community-driven development for inner-city youth through music, dance, theater and visual arts._

_Beautiful Love’s first endeavor was to establish a base of operations. Erykah chose to renovate and reopen the Black Forest Theater in south Dallas. Built in 1920, this venue had seen many changes, gone from an upscale movie theater to urban performance hall, and then closed in the late 90s. The Black Forest now serves as a community anchor, bringing people together and celebrating the art and culture of south Dallas_. - via Look to the Stars

Black Forest Theater MySpace Page

You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth

Reckon — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:42:57 GMT

A tried and true love song. Enjoy.

Certainly one of the freakiest bands to ever be released on Motown, the Undisputed Truth combined a heavy "psychedelic soul" sound with increasingly bizarre subject matter to produce some weird but really good music.

It's not exactly fair to peg the Undisputed Truth as a one-hit wonder, because they did have a few hits for Motown in the first half of the 1970s (albeit only one big one), as well as made half a dozen albums for the label. Still, it's not that far from the truth. Nothing else they did matched the strength of "Smiling Faces Sometimes," which made number three in 1971. Crafted by Norman Whitfield, Motown's most adventurous producer of the time, it employed the funk-psychedelic guitars and ominous, socially aware lyrics that were also characteristic of his work with the Temptations during the period.

Text via The Undisputed Truth myspace page

The Undisputed Truth web

You Make Your Own Heaven and Hell Right Here on Earth

Reckon — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 13:52:27 GMT

A tried and true love song. Enjoy.

The Undisputed Truth website

Text re-blogged from their MySpace Tribute page here

Thanks, Oufarkhan

Beware of Darkness

Reckon — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:05:06 GMT

Watch out now, take care Beware of falling swingers Dropping all around you The pain that often mingles In your fingertips Beware of darkness

Watch out now, take care Beware of the thoughts that linger Winding up inside your head The hopelessness around you In the dead of night

Beware of sadness It can hit you It can hurt you Make you sore and what is more That is not what you are here for

Watch out now, take care Beware of soft shoe shufflers Dancing down the sidewalks As each unconscious sufferer Wanders aimlessly Beware of maya

Watch out now, take care Beware of greedy leaders They take you where you should not go While weeping atlas cedars They just want to grow, grow and grow Beware of darkness (beware of darkness)

All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison recorded and released after the break-up of The Beatles. The first triple album by a solo artist, the original vinyl release featured two records of rock songs, while the third, entitled "Apple Jam" was composed of informal jams led by Harrison with musician friends and other famous musicians.

Received as a masterpiece upon its 1970 unveiling, All Things Must Pass is widely considered to be one of the best albums made by a Beatle as a solo artist. It is certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA, making it the best selling album by a solo Beatle.

Wiki

Todos es Real

Reckon — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:27:37 GMT

Pick this one up straightaway if you don't already own it. Superb.

"An insanely wonderful bit of Latin funk! The groove is super heavy, and falls somewhere in between NuYorican soul and Chicano Power rock -- with a sound that's pretty close to Black Sugar, but a little bit more psychedelic, due to the heavy guitars and keyboards in the grooves. Hard congas take the lead on most of the tracks..." via Dusty Groove

Nine Yards Orchestra's Extreme Expressions

Reckon — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:25:58 GMT

This album ranked amongst my favorites of 2007 even though it was apparently released years prior. If not for Mog and emusic I wouldn't have known a thing about it. Unfortunately, I still don't have much information and would love any input from my fellow Moggers if you happen to have a little to spare and are familiar with Max Brennan's work.

"Described by NME as a "spiritual disco-technician," Max Brennan has recorded some of the most consistently imaginative music of the last decade. Describing himself as "on a spiritual tip, into cosmic things," Max was initiated into Transcendental Meditation (as taught to the Beatles by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi) some years ago and describes his current life as "attempting to stay balanced in the Western world." Meditation, he says, gives him the "nice inner states of bliss I was always looking for with class A drugs. I'm getting more detached from all the bad things in the world and I definitely see that as a good thing."

Making his home on the Isle of Wight, where he has lived all his life, the distinct lack of anything else worth doing leads Max into the far reaches of philosophical and extraterrestrial thought. "We sit around for hours chewing the fat about conspiracy theories - and you end up with a head full of amazingness. Me, I'm into the idea that there are things up there helping us evolve down here. Call them angels, aliens, whatever you like."

These interests have always been reflected in his music, from his own Alien to Whom?, the "joyous stomping. . disco-techno, alien encounter..feel-good" of We Are Part Of Us And So Are You, and O.H Krill's The Krill Papers, to Fretless AZM's Astral Cinema, and From Marz with Love.

Max has now undergone intensive training in India under the guidance of Sri Kalki Bhagwan and Sri Amma, and is able to offer a process known as Diksha (Enlightenment - transfer of Divine Energy) to anyone. For more information, see Enlightenment or phone Max on 07977331493.

Max records with a makeshift assemblage of ancient synthesizers, live instruments and modern samplers to achieve a special blend of live organic sounds with a contemporary twist. Something of an electric bass virtuoso, Max is also a dab hand at keyboards, tabla, double bass and any number of instruments that cross his path, mixing influences from funk, disco, jazz, Indian classical and movie soundtracks. Some of his best music consists of collaborations with local and London-based musicians, including Tom Vernon, Paul Butler, Rupert Brown and James Nye. But Max is also a seasoned solo performer, combining driving bass playing with sojourns at the mixing desk and keyboards, and usually stealing the show at any live gig in which he participates. He has performed at many festivals throughout Europe. Max is also much sought after as a DJ and remixer."

via The Frog Web | Max Brennan Discography

The Dragons

Reckon — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:45:29 GMT

The Dragons - Your Way Too

Aquarius Records Review:

"Wow. Imagine Captain & Tennille, Shuggie Otis, and Broadcast making a record together. Or even Gary Wilson and United States of America making some skewed electronic but totally weird and catchy seventies yacht rock (ok, we realize that may sound terrible to some folks, but it really works awesomely here!). The Dragon brothers, Doug and Dennis (of Surf Punks fame!), sometimes joined by their other brother Darryl (aka "The Captain" of Captain and Tennille!) and sister Carmen on harp, recorded BFI (short for Blue Forces Intelligence?!) in Malibu during the early seventies inspired by surfing and the explosive late sixties west coast music scene of The Doors, Byrds, CSN, etc. Unfortunately, all the connections they had as a popular musical family in Los Angeles (their father was a well known conductor and symphony arranger in Hollywood) gave them great studio access but didn't yield the recording contract they were looking for. Most of the labels they shopped it to liked the record but didn't see any single potential. So the masters were shelved and the brothers went their separate ways. It wasn't until DJ Food from Ninja Tune contacted Dennis Dragon to ask permission to use a Dragons' track ("Food For My Soul") from an obscure surf movie soundtrack for a mix tape he was making, that it was discovered that a whole Dragons album was recorded. Thankfully Ninja Tune resurrected BFI from the musical graveyard because it's fast becoming one of our favorite "buried treasures". Full of Moog grooves, break beats, jazz inflected piano, and high and low male voices, BFI is one of the most surprising and eccentrically sunny LA records we've heard in these parts in awhile that sounds completely timeless. Highly recommended! Oh, and if you loved the reissue by hippy surf psych band The Farm on EM Records, these are some of the same guys responsible for that album!"

Ninja Tune

Spoon Dipped Lo

Reckon — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:14:43 GMT

Diplo's remix of Spoon's "Don't You Evah" from the Merge Records digital shop. Proceeds from the sale of the single will go to the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.

Spoon

OOIOO

Reckon — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:50:21 GMT

Om Yoshimi, this gold is, um, green and filled with intricate isms. Whimsical psych n' jazz bites and things one cannot pronounce.

Green and Gold goes sooooo thataway poppish and snaps back to punk pfolk and, before you know it, you just know you owe that island an uma and a bag of fat rocks. Jazzgirl jazzdrums with big secrets in the synths. In other words, yes it does have me walking backward on occasion (successfully).

OOIOO OOIOO at Thrill Jockey

In case the vid is buggy or not yr thing:

Open Sky Unit

Reckon — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:40:25 GMT

This is a reissue on CD and LP (LP is available from www.whatmusic.com) of a rare classic from 1975.

The packaging is high quality digipak, and the following interview with Micheline Pelzer (the drummer and daughter of the band leader) is included on the packaging:

The whatmusic.com interview...

I started playing drums at 14 - it was the instrument that attracted me the most because in my mind drums represented freedom. It was when I heard John Coltrane 4tet with Elvin Jones in 1965 at Comblain-La-Tour Festival that I really decided to be a drummer. Of course the influence of my father Jacques Pelzer was important in my decision to become a professional musician. In my infancy I was always surrounded by bebop musicians - Bobby Jaspar, Rene Thomas and Chet Baker, for example.

I began performing concerts in 1967, mostly with my father and also with guitarist Rene Thomas and organist Lou Bennett; the best school to learn is the stage! In the late 60s I was very influenced by the free jazz scene and Steve Lacy, who was a good friend of my father, asked me to join his Post Free Big Band (with Enrico Rava on trumpet) for a 6 month tour of Italy.

Back in Belgium I then had a few concerts under my own name with a trio comprised of Johnny Dyani on bass and Mongezi Feza on trumpet, and I asked my father to join us for that 'free adventure'. In 1969 we opened for Miles Davis at the Liege Festival. That evening, Wayne Shorter heard the group and asked me to come to NY to record with him.

I arrived in New York in December 1969 and then recorded Wayne's Blue Note LP "Moto Grosso Feio" in April 1970 with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, John McLaughlin, Ron Carter and Miroslav Vitous. New York was a big shock for me; I've never felt such strong vibrations anywhere else. I think that every jazz musician in the world must go to N.Y. at least once in their lifetime, as it is the foremost jazz town in the world.

When I arrived there I was invited to a 3 storey house on 19th St. and 7th Ave. Chick Corea lived on the 1st floor, Dave Holland on the 2nd and Dave Liebman on the 3rd. Liebman opened his place for rehearsals and jam sessions everyday - so many musicians passed by that I cannot remember them all! Very often I jammed with Bennie Maupin, Steve Grossman, Richie Beirach and Chick Corea. Living in N.Y. was the richest experience of my life - when I returned from the U.S., Belgium seemed sad to me!!

By chance, Barney Wilen (another good friend of my father's) returned from a two-year trip to Africa and asked me to join his group Moshi in Paris. It was a great 2 years experience. Coming out of free jazz, I had to play African rhythms to accompany taped field recordings that Barney made in Africa. That was world music 20 years before anyone had heard of it! It was also in Moshi that I met pianist Michel Graillier, who was to become my husband.

Open Sky Unit - named after Dave Liebman's group Open Sky - was at first a family affair. My cousin Steve Houben studied classical flute at conservatory and learned sax with my father. While I was in Paris with Moshi my father met Ron Wilson in Maastricht. Ron is a great composer so we decided that Steve, my father and myself would form a group based on Ron's music. Steve brought his friend Janot Buchem to our house and we started rehearsing hard in our basement for a few months and the group started to develop its own sound. Open Sky Unit had a lot of success wherever we played - Belgium, Holland, Germany, Tabarka's festival in Tunisia.

I like the OSU LP, especially when Ron Wilson sings - I love his voice. The LP is not "perfect" because it's a live recording from one evening's concert, but the feeling of the group is present. That's the most import-ant thing - we were a joyful group.

In 1975 Steve Houben left Belgium for Boston and Ron Wilson lost interest in singing - he wanted to concentrate on piano, so when we had a second opportunity to record for Duchesne, my father and I asked my friend pianist Michel Graillier and bassist Alby Cullaz to record another live LP, "Song For Rene".

Since those years we kept the OSU name and its concept of friendship and family. Even the last OSU CD "Never Let Me Go", recorded in 1990, had 3 of the family and 3 good friends (Barney Wilen, Eric Legnini and Bart de Nolf) on it. Personally I think that was the best thing we recorded.

During the 80s I played in a women's group called Ladies First, a swinging group that was a big success in Paris. We also played the Vienna Festival with Dee Dee Bridgewater in 1987 - it's a pity no recording exists. Ladies First split up when the guitarist Marie-Ange Martin left for the U.S.

At the same time I played a lot with Chet Baker (I first toured with him, my father and Michel in Zaire in 1977) in Italy, Paris and Chicago in 1986. Chet and I were very close friends-he knew me since I was a kid in '55!!

Micheline Pelzer - May 2001

via CDBaby

Soft Machine Live(s)

Reckon — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:37:59 GMT

SOFT MACHINE. Great band. Killer book. Super cool spacesuit.

Kevin Ayers, bass, guitar, vocals; Hugh Hopper, bass; Mike Ratledge, organ, piano; Robert Wyatt, drums, piano, vocals; Brian Hopper, saxophone; Elton Dean, saxophone; Mark Charig, cornet; Lyn Dobson, saxophone, flute; Nick Evans, trombone

Tracklist: 1. Clarence In Wonderland — 2:57 2. We Know What You Mean — 3:11 3. Certain Kind — 3:38 4. Hope For Happiness — 4:37 5. Strangest Scene (aka Lullaby Letter) — 4:55 6. Facelift/Mousetrap/Noisette/Backwards/Mousetrap Reprise — 11:54 7. The Moon In June — 13:02 8. Instant Pussy — 3:19 9. Slightly All The Time/Out Bloody Rageous/Eamonn Andrews — 19:19 disc 1 time: 66:52

1. Virtually — 9:58 2. Fletcher's Blemish — 12:11 3. Neo-Caliban Grides — 7:34 4. Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening — 2:46 5. Eamonn Andrews/All White — 7:11 6. Mousetrap/Noisette/Backwards/Mousetrap Reprise/Esther's Nose Job — 21:11 disc 2 time: 60:51

total time 127:44

Links: see all soft machine reviews at ground & sky review at the bbc review at clouds and clocks review at cosmic reviews this album at progarchives soft machine at calyx soft machine at the gepr

Day of Phoenix 1969

Reckon — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:16:01 GMT

Apparently this is a prog classic, a 60's psych gem.

I just came across it a couple of days ago. Although it hasn't won me over entirely, I am cozying up to a few tracks, namely "If You Ask Me" which is, whaddya know, right here.

Kurt Cobain - About a Son -

Reckon — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 03:37:34 GMT

Based on more than 25 hours of never-before-heard audiotaped interviews conducted by noted journalist Michael Azerrad, the movie KURT COBAIN ABOUT A SON is an intimate and moving portrait of the late musician and artist Kurt Cobain, told entirely in his own voice -- without celebrity soundbites, news clips, sensational or tabloid angles. It's who he was from the man himself, with cinematic imagery shot on film of the three cities in Washington State that played a major role in his life (Aberdeen, Olympia and Seattle) and set to an evocative score by noted Northwest musician and producer Steve Fisk and Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard, as well as the music of more than 20 artists who influenced or touched Cobain during his life. Kurt Cobain About A Son opens in select markets in October. The soundtrack is out now on Barsuk Records. Visit barsuk for more information!

Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic

Reckon — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:12:10 GMT

This is pure, unadulterated hard heavy funk in the style of early Funkadelic, early Ohio Players and those sadly underrated soul bands out of the Invictus stable (100 Proof Aged in Soul, Flaming Ember). The Politicians were in fact the Invictus house band and trombonist McKinley Jackson was in practice its head. This album, originally released under the title "The Politicians featuring McKinley Jackson" in 1972, came into being after Jackson's contact with Funkadelic - he can be heard on Funkadelic's 1971 tune "Back In Our Minds". Impressed with George Clinton's entire Thang, he wrote and recorded "Psycha-Soula-Funkadelic", a heavy funk track washed in psychedelic gimmicks.

via electric mud

The Return of Jack Splash

Reckon — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:51:29 GMT

If Prince is the daddy of electro kool and Outkast are the mother of all things falsetto voiced, pimp funk then their bastard love child would almost certainly be Plantlife. The foursome who make up the band hail from LA and whilst they have not yet managed to gain the mainstream acclaim of Outkast, they’re getting close. Support from artists and DJs as diverse as King Britt, Mos Def, Gilles Peterson and the Chemical Brothers indicates that cross-over to the world of popular music might be around the corner.

‘The Return of Jack Splash’ is the band’s debut album is a blend of 70s funk, 80s electro and a hint of jazzy hip hop. “Sounds all too familiar,” I hear you cry. Maybe, but I can assure you that Plantlife have done it with style and panache.

via BBC / Sarah Chapman

Plantlife

Make Her Feel Better Than She Thought She Could

Reckon — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 02:08:42 GMT

UbiquityOfCourse

It's likely this has been posted before on Mog. But it's ok. Great tune.

Kool & Mother Earth

Reckon — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:33:34 GMT

No surprises here. Just really liking it right about now. TGIFF.

Magic in the Air

Reckon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:08:10 GMT

You can say that the Attack were in fact, at least a couple different groups for the fact that vocalist Richard Sherman had to regroup Attack from almost scratch 3 times.

The Attack's beginnings lie in a group called The Soul System. With members coming and going, once a stabilized 5 piece arouse, the band came attention to Don Arden, a top agent who signed them, found their first single (Try It, a Standells tune), and changed their name to Attack. Issued in January 1967, the single didn't do much on the charts. However with it's heavy garage sound, it is considered a minor Freakbeat classic.

The flip side We Don't Know is a rather strange jazz/soul and freakbeat hybrid with some silly lyrics. This same lineup stayed for the recording of their next single Hi-Ho Silver Lining before disbanding due to the lack of success with both 45's. Hi-Ho Silver Lining was met with fierce competition as Jeff Beck, who presumably heard The Attack's version and rushed out his own version as his first single after only a few days of The Attack's single. The result was Jeff Beck getting the hit with Hi-Ho. The B side to Hi-Ho was an awesome piece of freakbeat, Any More Than I Do. This number, apart from being featured in recent compilations of the years, was used by John Peel for a radio jingle for the pirate Radio London. The guitarist responsible for the powerful riffing on Any More Than I Do, David O'List left to join the Nice in breaking new ground for a while, whilst drummer Alan Whitehead went back to the Marmalade and the others faded into obscurity. Richard Sherman, now the only one left, regrouped The Attack with Scottish organist George Watt, drummer Chris Allen, guitarist Geoff Richardson and bassist Kenny Harold.

Their follow up to Hi-Ho was another cheeky and very English affair, Created By Clive. In a very ironic coincidence, two versions of Created By Clive were released the same day, by The Attack and The Syn! The result was neither got any attention that the song was meant for which was probably better off as the liner notes of their posthumous compilation Magic In The Air notes "Clive, a fashion designer who specialized in dressing debs in see-through mini-dresses, would have probably sued anyway". The new guitarist Geoff Richardson penned their B side, the slow tamped raga Colour Of My Mind. With the single just barely in the shops, a new guitarist John DuCann was added and the drummer and keyboard player were replaced too. With this lineup, The Attack went about playing all the venues available, Middle Earth, Tiles, the Speakeasy etc.

However, personnel changes shifted once more in the summer of 1967, and Geoff Richardson and Kenny Harold left being replaced by Jim Avery. They recorded the two sides of their next single, Magic In The Air/Lady Orange Peel but the A side was rejected by Decca for being too heavy and the band were sent in to record the harmless Neville Thumbcatch. Two more tracks were recorded in October 1967, covers of Morning Dew and Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever, but the single that was eventually released in January 1968 was Neville Thumbcatch backed with Lady Orange Peel. Thumbcatch was very similar to Cream's Pressed Rat And Warthog with it's narrative verses and trumpet melodies. With this single, the group disbanded again. DuCann and Sherman kept Attack alive, recruiting bassist Roger Deane and drummer Keith Hodge and continued on as a four piece.

This last lineup recorded tracks for a future album and single, all left in the can. Before their split in mid 1968, the group recorded many songs, including Winding Up Clocks, Feel Like Flying, Strange House, Just Waiting, Freedom For You, etc. Unfortunately, not all of these tracks survived when the Magic In The Air album was being compiled. But featuring all their singles (with one exception, Created By Clive) and a handful of unreleased tracks from their 1968 album sessions, the compilation gives a better look at who The Attack were really about. Tracks like Magic In The Air, Strange House, Freedom For You & Colour Of My Mind justify their high place in British freakbeat/psych history. Perhaps with a more stable lineup, the band would have reached farther than they did.

via UKPsych.

Lefties Soul Connection

Reckon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:39:20 GMT

Amsterdam Alarm Funk complete with lapel shaking beats.

Lefties Soul Connection.

Bohannon

Reckon — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:07:23 GMT

Hamilton Bohannon was born on March 7th, 1942 in the small Georgia town of Newnan, about an hour's drive southwest of Atlanta. Hamilton grew up in a working class family of middle income.

After high school Bohannon attended Clark Atlanta University where he graduated with a B.A. degree in musical education. Upon graduation he began teaching before accepting a job as drummer for a band that included Jimi Hendrix in it's line-up. He came to the attention of Stevie Wonder, who appointed him drummer in his touring band in 1965.

Bohannon relocated to Detroit and worked for Wonder from 1965 to 1967. Over those two years Bohannon's style impressed the hierarchy at Motown Records to such an extent that they made him top bandleader, responsible for live arrangements for all Motown's top acts. When Motown relocated to Los Angeles, Bohannon stayed in Detroit, assembling his own band.

He signed with Dakar/Brunswick in 1972 and by early 1973 he had his first release with the album "Stop And Go." Five more albums for the labels followed: "Keep On Dancin'" (1974), "Mighty Bohannon" (1975), "South African Man" (1975), "Inside Out" (1975), and "Dance Your Ass Off" (1975). Although several singles did well in the U.K.it wasn't until 1975's "Foot Stompin' Music" that he began to make waves in the American club scene.

Oddly enough during the disco boom of 1973-1978 Bohannon's career was relatively quiet compared to others that struck disco gold in that period, yet he churned out album after album. His contract with Brunswick/Dakar ended in 1976 and with out missing a beat he signed with Mercury and released "Phase 2" in 1977. That year he scored hits with "Disco Symphony" and "Andrea."

His second release for Mercury was 1978's "Summertime Groove." "Summertime Groove" exemplifies the Bohannon sound, as does the funky, potent "Let's Start The Dance." This song propelled the album to the top of the charts and was a huge summer smash thanks to Carolyn Crawford's vocals (He subsequently produced Crawford's solo release, "Coming On Strong," that same year),. "Me And The Gang," "The Street Dance," and the lesser of the rump-shakers, "Listen To The Children Play," continue the party atmosphere. This is pure uncut boogie music. The only ballad is a wistful winner titled "I Wonder Why." He followed this with four more releases for Mercury, "On My Way," "Cut Loose," "Too Hot To Hold" and "Music In The Air."

Bohannon albums carbon each other: all have shuffling grooves, heavy rhythms, and quality ballads; the only things that change are the personnel and the song titles. Liz Lands replaces Carolyn Crawford as the feature vocalist on his final 1980 Mercury release. Both recorded at Motown and, despite making good records, failed to scale the charts at Hitsville U.S.A. Lands' vocals elevate "Music In The Air" above the mediocre level. Lands has an amazing vocal range that reminds me of a singing flute. She does an admirable job on the Originals' classic "Baby I'm For Real"; her finest moment occurs on "Thoughts And Wishes," a song with jazz roots — her soprano soars to crystal-shaking heights as she rips into the lyrics. As always, Bohannon has some dance grooves to shake your booty too; "The Funk Walk," "The Hammer" and "Feel Like Dancin'" will get you up and down on the dance floor.

Unfortunately, like most Bohannon releases, this one appealed to the hardcore Bohannon fans and didn't find a broader range of fans and buyers. He started Phase II Records in 1980, he also switched to recording under the simpler banner of Bohannon. He scored another chart topper with a reworking of "Let's Start The Dance" in 1981. "Let's Start 2 Dance Again" featured Atlanta rapper Dr. Perri Johnson, with his 15 minutes of fame, rapping over the instrumental passages. A remix of the remix followed and then a 1983 attempt at reworking the reworked hit with "Let's Start The Dance 3."

Needless to say at this point it had run it's course. His albums from 1981 to 1984, "Goin' For Another One," "Alive," "One Step Ahead," "Make Your Body Move" and "Bohannon Drive" produced nine R&B charters, but none matched his 1978 pop success.

Bohannon dominated the clubs and R&B charts in disco's heyday, but found the going tougher in the 1980's. By the time of his 1989 session, his one and only for MCA Records, there was a whole new sound among dance fans. House, techno, and British and European dance was lighter, faster and not as rhythmically heavy as the music that Bohannon championed. "Here Comes Bohannon" put as much emphasis on Altrinna Grayson's vocals as Bohannon's arrangements. She was a fine singer in the genre, but Bohannon didn't make much impact with this one. One 12" single, "House Train," gained little club play and for all purposes it seemed that club music had passed Bohannon by.

He has spent the recent years resting happily in Atlanta with his family and past earnings (he wrote, arranged and produced all of his albums, maximizing his take of the proceedings) until a wave of sampling sparked renewed interest in his work. His work has been sampled by Richard "Humpty" Vission, That Petrol Emotion, Jose Melendez, Jay-Z, DJ Lynnwood, DJ Irene, and Class A Felony to name a few. Compilations of his past glory were quickly assembled, and now most of his best moments are available on CD for all to enjoy.

via disco museum.

Dance Girl (Charge the Fatback Band & Stomp)

Reckon — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:31:56 GMT

The Rimshots were the house band at Joe and Sylvia Robinson's All Platinum/Stang label family during the '70s, and also released their own records, mostly on the latter imprint.

Led by guitarists and sometime composers and producers Walter Morris and Tommy Keith, their ranks also included drummer Clarence Oliver, bassist Jonathan Williams, and keyboardist Bernadette Randle. Their highest-profile backup appearances were with label flagship artists the Moments, whose Harry Ray and Al Goodman sometimes penned material for them.

The Rimshots began releasing their own singles in 1972, when their brand of funk was harder than the disco-flavored sound they would later adopt. Early songs like "Soul Train, Pts. 1 & 2" and "Save That Thing" would go on to become rare collector's items, as would their 1972 debut LP Soul Train.

Over the next couple of years, the Rimshots continued to release high-quality, non-LP singles such as "Dance Girl," "Harvey Wallbanger," "Who's Got the Monster", that further cemented their future standing as a reliable source for hip-hop samples.

By 1975, singles like "Do What You Feel, Pt. 1" and "(7-6-5-4-3-2-1) Blow Your Whistle" were beginning to move the Rimshots into smoother disco territory, and 1976's "Super Disco" and "We've Got You Singing" solidified the transition. 1976 also saw the release of the Rimshots' second album, Down to Earth, and the group contributed two tracks to the lesser-known blaxploitation soundtrack Patty.

In addition to their work as the Stang house band, the Rimshots backed Etta James on her funky blues outing Etta Is Betta Than Evah. The 2000 Sequel compilation 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Blow Your Whistle) reissued both Soul Train and Down to Earth, plus additional non-album material. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Cast King Picking on the Corner of an Old Piano Bench

Reckon — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:39:37 GMT

Born 2-16-1926, Cast King showed musical interest at a young age, forming his first band, the Alabama Pals, at age 14.

Nearly a decade later, he put together Cast King and the Country Drifters, a band that played everything from country to bluegrass to Cast's own compositions and arrangements. With this band, he toured extensively, traveling what seemed like "a million miles". Cast, being the smallest of the group, "rode about 3/4 of it underneath a bass fiddle".

The band made a demo of one of Cast's songs, 'No Time to Pray', and it found it's way into the hands of Sam Phillips in Memphis. One day when the band came in from the road, there was a message waiting for them : Sam Phillips wanted them in Memphis to record at Sun Studio. The 8 original sides that resulted from the Sun sessions reveal a touring band in fine form and a glimpse into the musical genius of Cast King.

Though the band made no more recordings and eventually broke up, Cast continued to write songs and play his music for family and friends. These recordings were made in a little shack beside Cast's house at weekly informal picking sessions that we share.

We used a cassette 4-track and a minidisc recorder with whatever microphones we could borrow or were working at the time. Cast is a fine hand at improvising needed cords or adapters from bits of old solder, line and tape. He'd sit on the corner of a piano bench and I'd sit in an old folding chair. We'd pick and sing while the roosters crowed and black walnuts fell on the tin roof......-matt downer (from 'saw mill man' liner notes)

Cast King.

Sugarman 3 - Pure Cane Sugar

Reckon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:48:20 GMT

Picking up where their 7" singles left off, Sugarman Three provides 11 memorable, booty-shaking moments on this 2002 release.

Although Sugarman Three has received many Jon Spencer comparisons from indie rock circles, Pure Cane Sugar is a slick and soulful slab of raw R&B that carries little of the screaming and noise of Spencer's outfit. Instead, they harness the sharp timing of funk and produce intensely groovy instrumentals with the occasional guest vocalist making an appearance.

The best use of a singer is "Take It As It Comes," a James Brown -style number that uses a tight horn part to drive the song along while Sugarman Three jams away in all their funky glory. Other highlights include the mid-tempo groove of "Pure Cane," the Motown-esque "Modern Jive," and the saxophone extravaganza "Country Girl." The key to Sugarman Three's magic is the tension they manage to pull out of these songs, making each glorious breakdown seem like a genuine release. Soulful, swaggering, and fun, Pure Cane Sugar is a fantastic modern funk release that journeys into the complicated rhythms and bass lines of the genre's heyday and comes back ready to dance.

via daptone

review: bradley torreano

Funky Junkyard

Reckon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:49:46 GMT

Back in 1983, when Jason Hinkle and TJ Widner were just kids, they had a code word: Baldwin. "We used it to mean someone who was in-the-know," says TJ. "It was just some in-joke. So the name really never had anything to do with those other Baldwins."

Indeed: While Alec, Billy, Stephen, and Daniel were lapping up the highlife in Hollywood, the other Baldwin Brothers were in Chicago, working out that elusive musical link between jam bands and laptop electronica. Machine music could ooze sex, they were convinced; it could have the spontaneity of a live performance but the structure of a pop song. And the results of their efforts? Voila! The brilliant Cooking with Lasers, a blend of live funk and studio-created beats that owes as much to Herbie Hancock and the JBs as it does to Kraftwerk.

via CDBaby

Baby Yr the Best

Reckon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 03:05:38 GMT

"Nobody Does It Better" is a song composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager. It was recorded by Carly Simon as the theme song for the 1977 film James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. It was the first Bond theme song to be titled differently from the name of the film, although the phrase "the spy who loved me" is included in the lyrics. Released as a single from the film's soundtrack album, the song became a hit and is still popular today.

"Nobody Does It Better" has been covered a number of times and has been featured in many non-Bond films, including, most recently: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), performed by 8mm. Little Black Book (2004), Lost in Translation (2003) and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) also used the song.

In 2004, the song was honored by the American Film Institute as the 67th greatest song as part of their 100 Years Series.

Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame is even heard to claim, in a bootleg recording of a live performance, that this is the "sexiest song that was ever written."

via wiki

tip of the hat to Radiohead

photo: missouriskies

The Name of the Staircase is Funky Funky Staircase

Reckon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:37:05 GMT

An early funk album by Bill Cosby -- with backing by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Bill was pals with Charles Wright and crew in the hip LA of the late 60s, and he was also responsible for bringing the group to Warner Brothers - so the fit here is quite a natural one. The record was also produced by Fred Smith who handled the Watts Band's albums, and it's got a very similar feel to their classics for Warner from the late 60s (but with Bill Cosby stepping out in front on vocals, in a similar style to Charles Wright).

Cosby's singing is often a bit goofy, but works beautifully with the stoned to the bone feel of the group.

via Dusty Groove America

The Heliocentrics are Out There

Reckon — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 00:02:00 GMT

You might think that The Heliocentrics are a jazz band, and you would be right. However, they’re too damn funky to be simply labeled as jazz. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Okay, so they’re a funk band.” Right again, but their willingness to be free and experimental touches upon the beautiful aspects of astral jazz travels.

The Heliocentrics float somewhere in between while anchored by a discipline that is far beyond their years. The interplay between the drummer and bassist satisfies the hip hop head nod factor and ultimately, the band’s innate ability to work towards loops and grooves assure them Holy Grail status some 30 years down the line, when producers and MCs will sample this record to death.

There’s even a symphonic dissonance that recalls the treasured works of David Axelrod, as heard in “The Zero Hour” and “The American Empire.” All of these elements collide in “Age Of The Sun”: the locked-on target precision of the bass and drum, the punctuated screeches of the saxophones, and the flourish of tickled ivories spilling over the top. Sun Ra’s spirit looms over this album, but not to an overpowering degree. It’s just enough so that you can sense you’re no longer within Earth’s orbit while listening.

via Impose Magazine / Jason Randall Smith

Yellow Magic Orchestra '79

Reckon — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:24:01 GMT

Yellow Magic Orchestra

This song got me moving this morning, and led to a very productive day. Thought I'd post it for that reason along with more obvious ones. Enjoy.

Oh.My.God.

Reckon — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:15:53 GMT

Of special note: Courtney Love has been signed as the new Alka-Seltzer spokesperson, and will be recording a grunge version of the jingle. Ahem. Wake me when that's over.

The Holy Mountain

Reckon — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:14:34 GMT

Talk about a bio. According to Wikipedia, Alejandro Jodorowsky is:

_Philosopher, scholar in comparative religion, playwright, director, producer, composer, actor, mime, comic book writer, tarot card reader and historian, and psychotherapist_

That last label should read psycho-magician:

Psychomagic_is a term created by Alejandro Jodorowsky, for a non-scientific technique that is assumed to be useful in psychotherapy. It is a fringe subject without critical scientific evaluation_

The technique combines art, Eastern philosophies (particularly Zen Buddhism), mysticism and modern psychotherapy to heal patients with emotional problems. The principle relies in the belief that the unconscious mind takes a symbolic act as a fact. So a symbolic act could help solve some types of non rational conflicts.

_These acts are prescribed by the therapist after having studied the patient's personality and family tree._

Interesting, no?

This guy's worth a look. Not nearly as boring as some of our mayo styled Holly Wood magicians, and they tend to keep it to themselves. Meanwhile, Jodorowsky's shimmying bean stalks.

_At 17, he debuted as an actor and a year later he created the pantomime troupe, Teatro Mimico. In 1953 Jodorowsky wrote his first play, El Minotauro. That same year he traveled to Paris to study pantomime with Etienne Decroux, the teacher of Marcel Marceau. The next year he joined Marcel Marceau theatre troupe; the performances realized during this collaboration toured worldwide. After performing in Mexico in 1960, Jodorowsky decide to continue his stay in order to pursue other theatrical endeavors._

_El Topo_(1970), a mystical western, was his second film and is now considered a cult classic. John Lennon and Yoko Ono helped to arrange the film's release and distribution in the United States through Beatles manager Allen Klein.

_Jodorowsky's third film, La Montaña Sagrada (The Holy Mountain) (1973), was entirely financed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. At a projected budget of $1,500,000 (in USA dollars), it was the most expensive Mexican film production to date. It has been suggested that the Holy Mountain may be inspired by Rene Daumal novel Mount Analogue._

Dinosaur Gardens has a great article on the man at this link:

http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/archives/139

It's also the spot for mp3's of the soundtrack (featuring Don Cherry no less).

Below is the original trailer courtesy of YouTube:

RIP Marcel Marceau who passed away very recently.

German New Wave Kick

Reckon — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 08:15:30 GMT

Hat tip to Dalston Oxfam Shop for turning me onto this track amongst others a few months ago.

Early Morning Moog Incantation

Reckon — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 07:55:27 GMT

Bruce Haack. All of his names were cool. This stuff is pure drug.

Krzysztof Kieslowski vs. Skalpel - Tramwaj So Far

Reckon — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:49:42 GMT

It's been too long, Mog. I promise to pick up my posting frequency. Hope you are all well and good. Can't wait to listen to your recent posts!

$120,000 Worth of Graffiti Art

Reckon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:59:49 GMT

For your pleasure, something of value from Rolling Stone. Great to see Baby Huey in the mix.

via Rolling Stone's R/R blog:

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/08/16/eric-claptons-120000-graffiti-art-purchase-what-exactly-did-he-buy-the-artist-speaks-out/

This week news broke that Eric Clapton shelled out $120,000 to buy twelve paintings by legendary graffiti artist Lee Quinones; each work depicts a shoplifter grabbing an album from the Seventies, including James Brown’s Sex Machine and the Isley Brothers’ Get Into Something. The guitarist’s apparent love of graffiti art dates back at least a decade, when he attended a London show that featured Quinones and fellow train-to-canvas artists Stash and Futura. Clapton bought a few pieces and commissioned the artists to paint guitars for his concerts. So when Quinones was looking to sell his collection, he sent e-mails to Clapton and other famous fans of his work, like Debbie Harry, the Beastie Boys and ?uestlove. But before he could fire off the next round to Jay-Z and Russell Simmons, Clapton responded. “He was the first. Like within ten minutes. He must have been online,” Quinones laughs. “He never even saw them in person and was like, ‘Lee, they’re mine.’”

This dirty dozen of paintings, as Quinones likes to call them, was inspired by his life in New York City in the Seventies. “I was painting all the time and to make money on the side, I was lifting records,” he says. “It fit into my agenda of lifting everything from coffee to paint. All I needed was paint and music to survive. I could live on water after that.”

Each painting depicts Quinones’ hands slipping one album into his jacket. “The paintings are a celebration of the times, musicians and those songs,” he said. “The album covers are meticulously reproduced because they were also beautiful pieces of art. These paintings are exploding with color and then have a ghostly image of my hand — a kind of skimpy drawing of my hand to symbolize that I had to be invisible in that store ’cause you knew you had to go back in and do it again.”

Transmission94 (Parts 1 & 2)

Reckon — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 03:27:49 GMT

Simon Green aka Bonobo returns with his third album and the kind of quantum leap in quality that very few artists make. Days To Come has the feeling of a classic all over – a big, brooding, emotional and uplifting record that you can dance to, do the dishes to, or sit and really study.

Green has always been expert at welding together music dripping with atmosphere, combining his own musical and technical talents in such a way as to make utterly organic-sounding machine music. This is not just a knob-twiddling producer but a multi-instrumentalist at work, who writes, plays and then manipulates almost every note of music he releases.

via bonobo http://www.bonobomusic.com/bonobo/releases.php?release=1176