MOG - mullytron's Posts

Bela Fleck Satisifies

mullytron — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:54:12 GMT

When you're looking for intelligent bluegrass from a true banjo stud, Bela Fleck gets you there every time.

Dig the band on this track: Bela, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Earl Scruggs, and Sam Bush. Talk about a deep bench.

It's a rare artist that can pay such honorable tribute to his or her roots while still staying fresh and relevant at the same time.

African Tuesday Hangover - - Nigerian Memories

mullytron — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:40:47 GMT

(Let's see if I got this embed thing figgered out...)

Here is a cool youtube clip of the New African Shrine in Lagos State, Nigeria, West Africa:

It's crazy, I remember some of those dancers. Those chicks are FIERCE. They will sneak up on you and put makeup all over your a$$ faster than you can say water no get enemy... they are the funnest, most gin-swillingest, most butt-shakingest good time we ever had onstage, my GAWD...

Here are some shots we took when we toured out that way:

I miss all my African friends and hope to return someday and reunite with them.

Pat Benetar at BB Kings, NYC

mullytron — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:10:52 GMT

I know the lords of indie will crucify me for this, but at my wife's urging (and due to the ready availbility of freet ickets), we went and saw Pat Benetar last night. I know, I KNOW, but as much as I was willing to participate in yet another adventure into irony, she had me getting sincere by the end of it all.

Yes, it was a short set, yes she played all the hits, sure, and she looks a little older, but who among us doesn't, and she still has a strong voice and more stage presence than most 21st century acts. Despite constant guitar changes, Neil Giraldo's tone didn't seem to vary much, whether on a rocker, a ballad, or a blues cover, but hey, call it a signature, he still had plenty of git up n go.

The crowd was old, fat and old, and I guess I have to say that I can see it coming myself. But it was great to see an artist and an audience connecting for once, instead of wallowing in isolation and angst. Without attempting to unpack the complex semiotics of a 55-year old singing teen anthems to a crowd of adults, it was clear that Benetar was as pleased to be onstage as the crowd was to be adoring her, and that can be a rare thing these days.

(Van Halen) x (Schoenberg) = EXPENSIVE LIVE CONCERT!

mullytron — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:43:21 GMT

This is too funny:

http://warmowski.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/jump-in-pitch/

There's a marginally interesting and very involved discussion of what may have gone wrong here:

http://warmowski.wordpress.com/2007/10/19/whos-right-slap-fight/

But any way you slice it, it's a good blooper.

AWESOME LIVE SET, Heloise and the Savoir Faire

mullytron — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:40:22 GMT

http://myspace.com/heloiseandthesavoirfaire

These guys tore my head off last night at the Midway in the East Village. Full on rock/disco, with an outstanding front woman who has a real Debbie Harry/Janis/ Johnette Napolitano thing going on. Really awesome delivery and presence, full on belting it.

I feel bad recommending them, since their record isn't out yet, so you can't hear what they sound like, which sucks. But it's coming out on Elijah Wood's label (that's right, Frodo), and being distributed by Yep Roc sometime early next year. They have an EP out now that's just keyboard and laptop, but believe me, these guys bring the live electrock boogie disco power. And the sexy/campy background singer choreography fun n games, too, so if you see their name, do yourself a favor and check them out.

Summer Sonic 2007 - - HELLO TOKYO!!

mullytron — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:53:01 GMT

So Blue Man Group just played 2 shows at the Summer Sonic festival in Tokyo, and we had a straight-up blast. Blue Men and band were a mish mash of guys from NYC, London, Amsterdam, and Vegas, but they played their ASSES off, and the crowd ate it up. Plus I got to sit in one tune, which was fun, rocking out on the Chapman Stick for 17,000 insane, dehydrated Asians. BMG was honored to have Kumi Koda sit in with us on one tune, she's sort of a Japanese Christina Aguilera, so I'm told, and the kids went nuts.

The Japanese fans are amazing. They really live for music, and I didn't see a single lukewarm crowd all weekend. If they like you, they take a picture with their cellphone and email all their friends right away, and I swear our crowd doubled by the second day.

Where else can you see Polyphonic Spree, The Stranglers, LCD Soundsystem, Gwen Stefani, Interpol, Cyndi Lauper, and Motorhead all in one day?

Dig some pics. Cyndi Lauper covering Prince's "When You Were Mine":

My buddy Jeff and Cyndi. She ran backstage grabbing people and we got up and sang dorky backups on Girls Just Want to Have Fun:

One of Polyphonic Spree's fiddlers going for it:

LCD Soundsystem:

And, uh, Lemmy Kilmeister. Made my f'ing day:

"They say I'm born to lose And gamblin's for fools But that's the way I like it baby I don't want to live for-evah

And don't forget the joker!"

I LOVE PLAYING LIVE MUSIC, just did a SWEET random gig...

mullytron — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:05:02 GMT

...with my good buddy Todd and my old college roommate Brian Wolff, of the mighty Drums and Tuba. I've known Tony and Neil from D&T for about 10 years, and I think they both completely rule, so I was thoroughly flattered to be asked to sit in on guitar with Brian. And even though we had a whole week and 1 and a half actual rehearsals to learn a night of Brian's weird-a$$ tunes, I was a little curious how it would go...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there is no-one out there doing what Brian does on the tuba. I'm no tuba expert, heck, I'm not even beginner, nor have I even bothered to look, but I think that's safe to say, considering he uses a wooden stick, a metal pipe, a knitting needle, and his hands to beat on his horn, he yells and grunts into it, scrapes on it, anything he can do to get a sound out of it, and then he samples himself with a big rack of mad scientist blinking lights, and makes insane weird beats out of the loops, and then blows these completely alien whale noises over the top. I always knew he was a full-on nutball, back in the day.

But seriously, I do believe Bri is a genius or something, and Todd Perlmutter is a thermonuclear badass on the drums, plus he was playing one of these:

http://www.gigpig.org/

The Gig Pig is an entire portable drumset in a box, I'll leave it at that. To quote Prince: "It's little, but it's loud..."

We were honored to be asked to set up in the delightful barn where our mutual buddies, the Ryan Bros. host the epic BARNONIA shindig every summer, way the f out in the Hamptons, and we rocked a random crowd of the beautiful and well-heeled deep into tomorrow. I don't know what they (or we) were expecting, but from the looks on their faces, I'll have what they were having, jeepers

I was stoked because I got to make weird noises a lot, but when (3) guys can group improv for 2 hours or more without sounding like a bad Phish tribute band, well, that's just fun. TURN UP THE TUBA!!

Gnarls Barkeley/The Ether and Aether Experiment - - THEREMIN JAM!!

mullytron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:23:19 GMT

OK, this is sweet:

http://laughingsquid.com/theremin-cover-version-of-gnarls-barkleys-crazy/

The guy from The Ether and Aether Experiment made a video of a theremin cover of "Crazy."

Dude has theremin chops.

New Bad Brains

mullytron — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:45:38 GMT

Anyone heard it yet? They're on the road, and they got a new album, Build A Nation, produced by Adam Yauch.

Let us know!

Rockwood Open Mic - - NYC must

mullytron — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 19:00:05 GMT

Went to an awesome open mic last night, 1AM-4AM at the Rockwood Music Hall (184 Allen) for all you Lower East Side night-owls.

In a word, it's awesome. Every week they pick a year and post the Billboard Top 100 from a single week, and everyone picks a song to do. Last night was 1984, so my good buddy Emily and I did "If This Is It" (Huey Lewis and the News) - - which is a beguilingly well-crafted pop tune, BTW - - "Talking In Your Sleep" (The Romantics), and "Oh Sherrie" (Steve Perry). It was hee-larious.

The crowd there is great, everyone seems to know each other and sit in with each other, and there's a lot of talent. If you're in the LES on a Wed late-night looking for something to do, there's no cover, just go.

Afrobeat Alert - - Seun Kuti

mullytron — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:50:59 GMT

For those of you who appreciate the Afrobeat, you MUST find a way to see Seun Kuti this summer. See tour dates here:

http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/seun_kuti_north_american_tour_2007

Of course, elder brother Femi more or less holds the torch as the modern epitome of Nigeria's most-beloved musical and political expression. He is a hero and a true gentleman, who graciously invited my band to perform at the New African Shrine in Lagos, and hosted us as kings and queens. I can personally attest that his band is slamming, his dancing girls are beyond hot, and his club is a beautiful symbol and an important destination for the people of Lagos, Nigeria, and hopefully someday the rest of the world.

But on this tour, Seun has the power of Egypt 80, Fela's old band, behind him. For what it's worth, many of the members in Egypt 80 feel that Seun is the TRUE inheritor of the Afrobeat legacy, so these shows should be definitely worth seeing.

Oh No, here come the Sweet Snacks

mullytron — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:19:07 GMT

Bored? Tired? Just need a little lift? Get out your insulin:

http://www.myspace.com/thesweetsnacks

The Fortune Cookie is good, but Hong Kong Ping Pong Champion really takes it...

Awesome NYC band - - Beat The Devil

mullytron — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:30:33 GMT

Go here:

http://www.beatthedevil.com/index.html

I love these guys, they totally cut my head off this week, on a Tuesday night, no less.

Bass/drums and then full-on female SCREAMIN' n' YELLIN', while she plays theremin and pump-organ. PUMP ORGAN I tell you. Gawddamn, they rock. Dude just destroys his drums, and other dude has a super-fuzzy bass attack, and then the lady just totally unleashes like a she swallowed a really drunk Stooges-era Iggy Pop, or maybe Ian Astbury. I can't make out a word she's singing (well maybe one or two), but she very clearly means it, and it's all very spooky and sultry and more than a little bit mean. Big thumbs up.

Support local live New York Music - - Post 2

mullytron — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:41:58 GMT

OK peoples,

My band from California is out this way this week, and we are playing SOBs in Manhattan on Wednesday, and Galapagos in Brooklyn on Saturday, featuring tracks from the upcoming CD "Lagos By Bus."

See here:

www.aphrodesia.org/iastic

New York peoples: I need to see all your shiny, sweaty MOG-faces in the crowd, getting down and dancing your sweet patoots off. The beats are tight, the horns are out there, the ladies are hot, and we have new t-shirts and logo panties for that a$$, so BE THERE.

Support local live New York Music - - Post 1

mullytron — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:22:43 GMT

Tonight, the Ray Corvair Experience dishes up the finest in surf, lounge, grind, and boogie. Featuring a veritable festival of all-star players, these guys will do it to you the way you like it.

Tonight, 8PM, Pianos in LES (158 Ludlow at Stanton), plus some other bitchen' acts: Bishop Allen, The Comas, Beat the Devil, and DJ TokyoShapiro.

It is a benefit, for a good cause - - single-payer nationalized healthcare that is - - so it will cost you. See here:

http://webeillin.org/events.html

Hope I see some of you Moggers in person...

What It Is - - RHINO funk compilation

mullytron — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:25:12 GMT

Well, Cody B told you, but if you were sleeping, let me tell you again: this comp rules. Rhino did a great job putting together (4) CDs of classic funk, almost none of which you've ever heard before. Seriously, out of (4) discs with 20-25 songs each, I knew maybe (5) cuts. These are some seriously dusty grooves.

Go get it!

Neko + Merle

mullytron — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:29:26 GMT

Saw them team up on the Paramount Theater in Oakland last Friday. What a venue, what a double bill, I hear they are only doing (3) shows together, total.

Neko's voice is like a wrecking ball wrapped in velvet, dipped in honey, and rolled in some kind of delightful, sweet, powdered candy. Man, can she sing. And loud? Forget it. Her band is sensitive as always. Major props to the backup singer, who managed to really nail Neko's timbre, phrasing, and lyric style.

He may be more offhand and aw shucks than in his younger days, but Merle is still a giant, and his songs are still the country gold standard. When Merle sings Silver Wings for the American men and women overseas, you believe it, rather than feel manipulated by a corny ploy - - which makes his critique of the policies and culture of the Bush administration is all the more meaningful. His lead guitarist was sitting down, the sax player took maybe 3 solos, and his wife's backing vocals are less than stellar (I kept hoping Neko would come out and sit in...), but overall the set was great. I got a strange Lou Reed vibe from Merle, and a sort of a lounge-y/country/DIY vibe overall. I'm glad he's still at it.

The Fucking Champs are fucking sweet!!

mullytron — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:38:47 GMT

If you don't know, now you know.

Two guitars and drums, no bass, check please. Game over. METAL UP YOUR A$$!

Jetlagged, and fearful of change ... I blame New York (and Germany)

mullytron — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:15:50 GMT

"We fear change..." - Garth, 'Wayne's World'

So it's 8:30PM and I'm waking up now. Reason being I just spent 5 days in Germany observing the Blue Man Group load-in at their new venue in Berlin (across the street from the old venue).

[And this after a weeklong fun-fest at the NAMM show in Anaheim. Setting up a booth and standing on cement floors talking about gear with reps, dealers, and "end-users" (read: hopeful rockers who want free stuff) may sound like a fun way to spend a week to some, but not me...]

That's about a 1:5 travel:visit ratio, and it will f#ck your sh#t up, biological clock-wise. I would not normally play such mean tricks on my body chemistry, but I was doing myself and my soon-to-be employer a favor by getting a quick lay of the land. Yes, I am turning my back on friends, bands, a steady job, mortgage, the Pacific Ocean, and 10 years of Calfornia Dreamin' for a change of pace, namely the Big Apple.

I grew up on the East Coast, so I know how cool New York is. Even so, I never really wanted to live there. I mean, who wants to live in a closet? I have 1,100 square feet here, enough room to toss the ball for the puppy, enough ceiling height to keep the longboards upright, and a lemon tree in my front yard. Why leave? My cost of living will certainly go up, and it's not like I'm getting a huge raise. Why do it? The weather is worse, it's more crowded, and you can't get good produce. What gives?

I kept asking myself this question while watching the Blue Man previews last week, trying not to doze off from jetlag, over and over again, those three eager Germans in face paint and black getups, a theater full of techs, directors, and producers, focusing on every little detail. What is it about this process that is appealing to me? Why get involved in what could legitimately be described as a precious, hipster, in-group aesthete party?

For me, I think it starts from the music. The show is not only about the music, of course, but that almost makes the music more noticeable. Instead of a lyric narrative that tries to explain, the music provides an extension, a mirror and another layer to what is happening onstage, a more approachable sonic counterpoint to the overriding "Huh?" that the Blue Men sometimes represent (at least for me). Maybe you could say that the music holds your hand, and then the Blue Men stick it into a bowl of paint.

BMG builds many of its own instruments, debates incessantly about mic choice, amplifier choice, lighting settings, and has a specific and closely-guarded performance practice, handed down from one generation of performer to the next. Not just the Blue Men, but bands, techs, and at FOH as well. Theirs is a personal rulebook, developed onstage and in-use; very specific, and requiring careful attention, but so thematic as to be readily expanded as needed, either for new material or new audiences.

I think it is ultimately the committment to something specific and undefinable - - a pursuit of excellence, even if it is an excellence that is semi-invisible and mostly inscrutable to the audience - - that makes me interested. Instead of comforting repetition, this move promises dynamic, confusing, and challenging surroundings. Instead of the guaranteed change driven by product and market trends, I will surround myself with the guaranteed change driven by the human need to dress up in costume, make a mess, and beat the living shit out of a drum. Instead of a peaceful, pleasant, and predictable existence, I am throwing the deck in the air and grabbing my cards out at random. This move is all about change and not knowing.

And REAL bagels.

Disco Apache video

mullytron — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:40:23 GMT

Who knew they had the music video perfected in 1978...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTKL8MNH95Q

Bollywood stud

mullytron — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 08:10:34 GMT

I don't know what it is about Bollywood, but it just does it for me sometimes. The power of this fellow's moves cannot be denied:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqeSXJtvvo

Cookie: An Anthropological Mixtape: Outstanding Album

mullytron — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:18:08 GMT

It may not need to be said again here (because I know you all really, really GOT DOWN to her John Cougar duet on Van Morisson's "Wild Nights,") but Me'Shell is a thermonuclear BADA$$ on the electric bass. I remember growing up in DC in the 80s, she would show up now and then and sit in with my buddies in Circus Mind (extra f'ing credit if you remember them...), and just DESTROY.

Anyway, after Madonna signed her in '92 or '93 she had a couple fast hits, but decided to go deeper, not necessarily avoiding popularity, but definitely focusing her attention elsewhere, both musically and thematically.

"Cookie..." is an outstanding document. I knew it right away when I first heard it, but was recently reminded - - driving in a car with no stereo - - just what an amazing listen it is, especially on headphones. The band, well, whatever, just listen and decide for yourself. Programmed or live, the drums hit with a quickness; the guitar is by times itchy and funky, or rocking like Jimi; the sax is 472% jazzier than anything you're liable to hear on any jazz release these days, and through it all her bass is a true chameleon, whether funked, synth, or pure ambient, she's no wankazoid solo machine, just all flavor, all the time.

Lyrically, what can you say. She goes there. I guess some find her insistence on going deep a little much, but if you want to hear a girl get real, on this album alone she covers communism, the modern American class struggle, media and culltural hegemony, the prison system, religion, urban violence and it's socio-political roots (and branches), lesbian sexual politics, and, of course, blackness: its multivalent "definition," its pain, its enduring beauty, and all the glory, shame, pride, and anger associated thereto.

Aside from the consistently stellar playing, programming, and overall sonics, there is layer on layer of eloquent, complex, shifting spoken word on this album, not only from MeShell, but also such luminaries as Etheridge Knight, Claude McKay, and Angela Davis (not to mention Kiggo Wellman, WHATS UP, 202?). There is always something here to listen intently to, and usually a banging groove, as well...

(Akel Dama, Field of Blood)

Who covers themselves with the light, as if it were a garment? Who makes the angel's spirit from the flames of the fire? Laid the foundation of the earth So that it shall not be moved Covered it with the deep of the ocean Who stands above the mountains And at your word, they fled, They hastened away; Send the springs into the valley That flow through the hills, And give drink to the beasts of the field And quench their thirst;

By you the birds of the heavens Have their home and sing amongst the branches The earth is satisfied by the fruit of your works, Cause the grass to grow for the cattle, And the vegetation, for the service of the human, So that they bring forth the fruit from the earth: The wine that makes glad the heart of man, And oil that makes his face shine; The wine that makes glad the heart of man, And oil that makes his face shine

I like to watch the leaves fall, last breath Sweet ash from the slash and burn And lazy eyes from being in a dream Talk to the trees... Please, me, see, be, free, Heed, believe, see, breathe; Need and want nothing, I need and want nothing.

Dry roses hang from the bed, Nakedness is all around, Barren is my soul.

I beg to be a child born for Love So I sway to the pulses of the rivers of blood That flow through my body For I believe in things you cannot see;

To some god is the light That leads them to believe, That they see, And know, everything; To some god is the light That leads them to believe That they see, And know everything.

But if one is to truly be born again You would have to gouge out your eyes, Cut out your tongue, and grieve; And cry like a baby that's been snatched away, Cry like a baby that's been snatched away

Sister, Cry like a baby that's been snatched away

Brother, Cry like a baby that's been snatched away

One more James brown musing...

mullytron — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 23:03:07 GMT

Like a lot of you, I spent yesterday walking around sort of in a daze, wondering if it could really be true that the GFOS was actually dead.

As I sometimes will when feeling in extra rambunctious or happy, I kept saying, in my best James Brown voice, over and over, "Watch me!!" "Git up-ah!" "Please, Please, Pleeeease, Pleeeease!" Hoping that somehow I would get over the sinking feeling that the world as we know it just got a whole LOT less funkier.

It didn't work. The wife and I went surfing, as we try to every Christmas Day, and let me tell you, people look at you funny in the water when you're paddling by and you just say "Watch Me!" or "Git up-ah!" Maybe they hadn't got the news yet. I was just trying to get my funk on. But it didn't work. I was feeling the same way I felt when I heard that Zappa died...

So we got to cooking Christmas dinner, and after some obligatory Xmas tunes (Motown, ska, and Latin), I had to insist that we put on some JB. But all I had was "Hell," a little-referenced 1970s album. So we poured out the red wine, spilled a little for the Godfather, and spun that disc a few times.

Let me say, there may be JB aficionados somewhere who feel that "Hell" is one of his best works, but I haven't met them. It kind of gets overlooked sometimes, released after "The Payback" and before "Get Up Offa That Thing." It has "Papa Don't Take No Mess" on it, which keeps the whole thing feeling vital. The sound is good, shinier and flatter than many of the classic 60s sides, and the JBs are in fine form. It's funky, for sure. But it's also strange, in that as a record, feels like a nightclub set in a way that no-one would have the balls to put on wax today. James does a bunch of covers, including "When The Saints Go Marching In," "Stormy Monday," "These Foolish Things..," and 2 covers of himself, of course, " I Can't Stand It '76," and "Please, Please, Please," with some truly funny, if un-PC, Spanish lyrics.

Don't get me wrong, "Hell" is an amazing 2-LP achievement, with some of the tightest and most inspirational playing by the JB's I've heard. It just shows another side of the man, maybe a less obvious side. If there's anyone who can turn 3 or 4 words into a killer track, it's JB. So to not only have the JBs cover " Oh, When The Saints Go Marching In," but to then put it out? It's kind if a weird choice. Sort of nonchalantly ignoring things like airplay, reviews, sales, fans...

Always the COMPLETE showman, James sounds like he's onstage in a bar, riffing in the studio, rather than trying to blaze any new ground. Not that he was out of gas or irrelevant, it's just so outstanding to hear someone who literally WROTE THE BLUEPRINT for the rest of us, just kind of cooling out for a minute. I had to laugh. It's like watching James spar with the woman interviewing him here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnyPlxGdCFc&;mode=related&search=

If anyone can get away with goofing in the limelight, its JB. Not just anyone can completely rewrite the rulebook, even once in their lifetime.

Ahmet Ertegun - RIP (Dave Marsh homage)

mullytron — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 19:24:41 GMT

Ahmet Ertegun, founder and CEO of Atlantic Records, died December 14 at the age of 83. The following is an obituary written by Dave Marsh, author of dozens of book on music and the editor of Rock & Rap Confidential. reissues, asked if I'd write an essay for a box set the label planned for its 50th anniversary. I said I'd do it, if I could write about the label in terms of how it reflected one man's vision-that man being, of course, Ahmet Ertegun. As I remember, I said he was a greater visionary than Sam Phillips and Berry Gordy--and I'd be glad to defend the statement today, because it's true. Ahmet's vision lasted much longer, for one thing, and it extended to a much more diverse body of music, for another. program and then, if I remember right, just vanished-nothing at all ever came out, at least not with my piece. But it's especially memorable for me for two reasons. crept in. There was Jerry Wexler, there was Tom Dowd, there was Arif Mardin, there was Neshui, Ahmet's elder brother. All those people, and a few more, were indispensable to the story. But when I went back and surveyed the story of the label, it was Ahmet's imprint on all of it. It wasn't just that he produced the first hits by Ruth Brown and Ray Charles, or that he signed the Rolling Stones and made the deal that gave the label Cream, or that it was his continual interest in black dance music, from "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" to "Le Freak" that sustained the label after that, for as long as it had an identity. (It doesn't any more but neither does anybody's else's label.) Others came and went. Ahmet remained, and as long as he remained, Atlantic had a unique focus on the world of music. It was all touched by his sense of elegance, raunch and grace. to make sure he'd know how I felt about what he contributed to music-he went to Yves and said, "This is good stuff. Maybe we should offer him more work and he'd get off our back about the royalty shit." Yves explained that it didn't work that way. of Atlantic artists on royalty issues irritated the fuck out of him. Once, a few years ago, we were in the middle of a splendid interview for the PBS roots music TV series. He told me the story of how he'd found Stick McGhee to sing "Drinkin' Wine," by calling up his friend Brownie McGhee, who said, "Hell, that's my brother." He told me about Neshui taking him to his first jazz concert, in London when Ahmet was 12, and how what impressed him most was how loud the music was, and how much of early jazz and blues recording was simply about trying to capture the physical impact that music had live. (I would not have written my latest book, about a career on stage, without that conversation.) He told a bunch of stories I've heard before and you might have too, about Ray and the rest. He told a hilarious story about why he didn't like signing singer-songwriters, which ended up with a French promoter refusing to book Sonny and Cher because Bob Dylan's incomprehensibly wordy show had bored Paris beyond further endurance. about how the business was in the old days. Basically, he tried to rationalize why Ruth Brown wound up cleaning windows and LaVern Baker ended up running a bar on a military base in the Philippines. Well, he didn't actually get down to cases, because there wasn't any justification for how those lives got lived, for what Atlantic did to and didn't do for its veteran artists. calluses where there should be none in order to survive in it. Thirty years ago or something like that, I wondered aloud if he'd miss Nat Weiss, his good friend, who was taking his Nemperor label from Atlantic to CBS for distribution. "He'll miss the billing," said Nat. Both of them laughed, 'cause it was true. and wound up making more money in a job she hated, the situation was resolved by Ahmet simply walking up to her after an Eric Clapton concert and saying, "I think it's time that you came home." Later, when she got fired, very unjustly, he couldn't fix it but he did give her everything she asked for in the way of compensation (and I will always believe that he made sure that the jackass who fired her paid with his job not long thereafter). attention at various receptions the label held. For one of them, I made up some tapes of music from the label's glory days: Aretha, Otis, Joe Tex, Sam and Dave, Ray (always Ray), Drifters, Clovers, Coasters, Ruth, LaVern, the MGs. If you don't know the list, you can get the highlights from every other obituary. Ahmet came to the event that evening and he not only stuck around, he regaled a bunch of us with another great set of stories about making that music, hearing it for the first time, trying to get the world to hear it. music that has ever been, Ahmet Ertegun took his passion and brought that music into the world--the whole world, not just black America, not just America, for that matter--and showed the rest of us how great it could be. The music lasted. So should his memory.

So the man wasn't perfect. But the music is. In the greatest era of American

www.rockrap.com

Squarepusher is dope

mullytron — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:35:32 GMT

That is all. Guess I'm stuck in 2000...

More Noise!

mullytron — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:43:24 GMT

Yep, it's good, thanks again Mog. More brainy and indie than Lightning Bolt, but still good n rowdy. Got to give it up to bands that do the no-singer thing. Screw vocals, MAKE MORE NOISE.

Mother's Finest - - ROCKS YOUR FUNKY A$$

mullytron — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:30:21 GMT

Man, these guys rock. Cool songwriting, funky as hell, bitchen female lead vocals, rockin' guitar solos. Easily as radio-ready as AC/DC, Heart, Zep, Sly. Hello???

I guess 70s/80s radio wasn't ready for a killer black rock band? Is the reason these guys are semi-unknown actually that lame? I get kind of color blind when I'm banging my head and rocking out this hard . . .

Looks like they are on tour these days, go support some cruelly under-appreciated American rock if they come to your town:

http://www.mothersfinest.com/

MORE NOISE ROCK!! NOW!!

mullytron — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:32:46 GMT

Thanks MOG! After you guys steered me to Lightning Bolt, I got to checking out more new noise rock. Don Caballero rocks me! It's noisy and craz-ee! Whee!

Why do I like this album?!?

mullytron — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 01:01:57 GMT

It was $2.99 at a gas station somewhere on the 5, coming back from Orange County for the holidays. Who knew? It's a near PERFECT driving record.

This record is so fully 90's I can't take it. The production is not as bad as the super-gated reverb shittiness that they remixed onto all their classic 70's sides to "improve" them, or the 80's stupidity that they dabbled in either. But it's definitely heavy-handed. The lyrics are basic and offhand, Billy Gibbons' guitar is so fuzzed out it sometimes gets that "Tron" sound, and the beats are itchy and modern, not exactly rootsy. The bass is greasy and wide, and the vocals are just drunken enough. But it sure kicks like a mule. Anyway, it all gelled for me Sunday night, and got me home in record time.

Sam Phillips - - not the one who discovered Elvis

mullytron — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 01:15:31 GMT

So I wore this album out one winter in Chicago, while building a guitar in my friend's cabinet shop. Talk about freezing. Wet-sanding a finish when you can't feel your fingers. Not so fun. But I got it done, and still play it once in a while.

The point is: she's good. She doesn't have a huge vocal range, and her whole thing is sort of obscure. I think her albums were good in direct relation to her marriage to her then-producer, T Bone Burnett. In fact, I'm not sure if she's done much since. But I find her smart lyrics and semi-jaded realism extremely compelling. Sultry vulnerability gets me every time. And she has one of those voices that sounds cool when it's multi-tracked.

Any other fans?

Prog/Metal/Pop Canadian Strageness - - Devin Townsend

mullytron — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 21:53:53 GMT

I just got a few of his CDs on a recommendation. I already knew Strapping Young Lad, which is pretty much straight-up metal, DTB is way more experimental and expressive.

Anyone else here into his stuff? What a strange guy.

Hey MOG - - Thansk for the tip

mullytron — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:26:32 GMT

Thanks to you, I am banging my head to some fun a$$ noise rock. Lightning Bolt rules, and Boris is a kick in the pants!! It's getting me thru Monday like a mutha...

Solo Chris Cornell

mullytron — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:35:13 GMT

Has anyone else found this record? I like it. It's kind of (can I say this?) Beatles-y. Or Beatles-esque. There's acoustic guitar, tremolo, cool b-sections and bridges, and none (well, maybe a little) of the Audioslave hysterics I'm used to from Mr. C.

If my rock memory serves, 1999 was right there between Soundgarden and Audioslave. It's kind of a shame he only put out one record...

Trojan Box Sets

mullytron — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 16:34:50 GMT

Who else is into these? (No, not condoms) They have to be one of the best reggae deals around. They're insane. I've found them for between $10.99 and $12.99, each one has (3) CDs of serious old skool reggae, and there are SO MANY OF THEM. I just picked up the Dub set vol.2, the Roots set, and the X-Rated set (funny). The only drawback is the packaging is minimal, as in, a track listing, and a little blurb on the sleeve, that's it. But if you like more reggae for the buck, these are the heat.

Do you like Massive Attack? Do you like dub? Get "No Protection"

mullytron — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:12:29 GMT

It's a sweet collaboration. Mad P cutting up "Protection" by MA, in a dub stylee.

Very low-key and super-groovy, with just the right darkness and creep factor to it. I've done the experiments, and can confirm that it's good for driving, good for working, good for cleaning the house, good for making out with that hottie you've been eyeing, good for just about anything, as far as I can tell.

Dr. Hot Pepper

mullytron — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 09:43:24 GMT

OK it's late and I can't sleep. I'm getting older and nostalgic, and I just thought about a guy I used to play with in Washington DC, and I wanted to see if any MOGgers of a certain vintage would have been around and seen any shows. The only name I ever knew him to go by was Dr. Pepper, or more completely, Dr. Hot Pepper, and I was in the Hot Pepper Orchestra for a while in my early 20's. We played strictly blues and R&B in shitty bars around DC.

He played piano, my friend John played drums, and I think John thought it would be more fun if I was around, so he got me to play guitar. Doc was a little older, well, a lot older, and he drank, like a champ. He would bring his own wine glass to gigs, some dime store cut glass goblet, and drink cheap red like a whore until sunup if you let him. He always needed a ride. Rocket Jim, the bass player, was a painter and had a van, so sometimes Doc would catch a ride with Jim, but if you got stuck riding him home, it was always a late one, sitting in the car in serious Northeast somewhere, in front of the house where he rented a room from an old lady.

Doc smoked Viceroys out of a bling cigarette case (until he had to bum off you), made all his own suits (because he was so damn short, like seriously a miniature guy), but they were hip; I mean he was a good tailor. He had a full-on marching band suit with the gold cables all over it and the tall fur hat, several tuxes with tails, in like light blue and beige and bright red, it was a stitch. And he always wore huge shades, 24-7, with the fade in the lens and the fucking rhinestones. He would always go to the Junior Walker show when he was in town and get up and sing and dance, and MC. I guess they went back. If you ever saw a skinny dude in like a skipper's hat and a suit, dancing and singing backup at a Junior Walker show in the DC area in the 80s or 90s, that was probably him. And he could jump up and come down, to the floor, doing a split, in rhythm, in the middle of a James Brown tune. At like 55, or whatever he was. Man, it was hilarious being in bars with him and talking to women, the guy was a caution.

So I was a kid and it was a goof, and then I moved away, and I maybe saw the guy twice after that. He was always a gas, but kind of a bummer too, I'm sure you've all known guys like him. Then one day John tells me he's dead, and I sort of bummed out, but it only sort of registered. I probably hadn't seen him in 2 or 3 years.

But I just thought of him tonight and wondered, what does the life of a guy like him impact? Does it mean anything? Should it? Does it have to? Does his family know what happenned to him? Did he have family? I know he left Benton Harbor, Michigan in a hurry when he was really young, and never went back.

This was purely selfish, I just wanted to tell you about a strange man I knew who loved music, and played it as much as he could, because I thought it would make me feel better, right now. Maybe one of you saw him in DC once, he was not shy, and he liked to meet folks. If you did, well small f'ing world, he closed this loop right here, and that's enough meaning and impact for me today.

Sleep tight.

REISSUE ALERT: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

mullytron — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:28:08 GMT

In 1979, David Byrne and Brian Eno teamed up to produce (along with Bill Laswell, an early Eno protege) one of the most future-proof albums ever made, the outstanding "My Life In The Bush of Ghosts." It was completed before "Remain In Light," but would ultimately be released afterwards, due to the need (pre-sampling, pre-hip hop) to legally clear the vocal tracks.

Using found audio, broadcast outtakes, radio and other "sampled" vocal content, MLITBOG has that (say it with me now) post-modern pastiche character that we are all so familiar with now, but Bri and Dave were way ahead of the curve. Sure, it's turtleneck-wearing, art-school, Manhattan hipster shit, but I tell ya, it holds up. The beats are itchy and weird, the bass playing is atypical, it's like the perfect marriage between the 'Heads and Eno-ism.

Plus, the reissue has a bunch of extra tracks from the seesions, so if you already own the album, tough! Go buy it again!

REISSUE ALERT: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

mullytron — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:28:05 GMT

Plus, the reissue has a bunch of extra tracks from the seesions, so if you already own the album, tough! Go buy it again!

Sweet Motorhead Puppet Show

mullytron — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 02:04:32 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rnIuow93vo

More Tower Records RIP

mullytron — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:45:36 GMT

Insightful commentary from Dave Marsh's Rock and Rap Confidential (a good read, BTW):

from the October issue of Rock & Rap Confidential...

" TOWER RECORDS COMMITTED SUICIDE. The calamity caused by the liquidation of Tower Records doesn't just consist of the 2700 workers fired and the dozens of small label releases that will lose their most important national outlet. It isn't just that Tower will certainly take down with it some indie labels and distributors to whom it owed a fortune. It certainly isn't just the eight-figure losses each of the major labels will absorb, probably resulting in more firings at those that aren't already pared to the bone.

You're going to feel the demise of Tower too, even if there isn't a Tower anywhere near you. Tower died not because of illegal downloading or any other record biz boogeyman. What killed the chain, in the final analysis, is the breakneck expansion and consolidation of the past 20 years. Although Tower didn't participate in the merger and acquisition of other chains which have led to so many other bankruptcies, it did attempt to spread tentacles coast to coast and continent to continent.

Tower CEO Russ Solomon is revered in the music industry. But why? In the name of profit, Solomon made Tower one of the chains that most avidly championed Tipper stickers and record label lyric screening committees. Combined with the equally crazy campaign to condemn fair use of copyrighted material to the dustbin of history, this shrewd maneuver choked the most exciting record-making climate since the dawn of rock'n'roll. Then he expanded his California business all the way to New York and Tokyo, without managing to figure out how to do anything but lose money.

Now, consider what you'll do for an alternative. Probably, if you're a big music fan, you'll do more ordering from the Internet--meaning a wait of a day to a week before you can hear the music you've paid for.

What you won't be doing is going to your town's record store with the knowledgeable staff . That store doesn't exist any more. Most likely, price competition from the chains drove it out of existence. So what we get out of the process is a temporary set of lowball prices, vastly fewer musical options, and a long-term lack of convenience and absence of expertise.

This phenomena operates throughout our society. It's the reason airlines and oil companies, insurers and drug corporations, even electricity providers, jack up prices and strip down their services. Most of the time, the only people who come out smiling are the financiers, who peel off a part of every dollar in order to hire sometimes great artists to play at their birthday parties.

Tower Records was a poster child for "hip capitalism," a fig leaf term meant to cover a system     which justifies itself by providing "competition" that leads to "innovation"--until the reckoning comes and the cartel or monopoly begins to take shape, driving out all not on the inside. The idea that this has made our society wealthy, efficient and convenient is lunacy, as Tower's demise confirms.

Tower Records was a suicide. The choice we face is whether we'd like our entire society to do the same or whether we will begin working to change it fundamentally. "

Go Get Blood Mountain

mullytron — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:56:08 GMT

A true masterpiece. Both Musical and Metallic. I like it so much that after I listened to it twice in a row, I just wanted to support the band and bought my wife a Mastodon girly T online. I never do that.

These guys are the real thing. Long Live American Metal.

Oh SNAP! We're opening for MACEO PARKER!

mullytron — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 23:27:07 GMT

Just found out we're opening for Maceo at the Fillmo' the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Can you say HOLY SHIT?!? Any Bay Area MOGgers that are available and who like FUNKY ASS music should try and make it. God knows you'll be in a turkey coma the next night. The wife and I need to drive down to Orange Country immediately afterwards, but WHO CARES.

Playing the Fillmore is a blast in itself, their staff is top drawer, huge stage, the sound rules, and the crowd is generally pretty hip. Plus, I get another cool poster with my band's name on it.

But then on top of that add opening up for James Brown's right hand and, well, I'm purty stoked.

"MACEO! Go on brotha..."

Saw Rebith Brass Band last night

mullytron — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:32:30 GMT

We opened for them at the The Independent in SF. Those guys don't stop. 2 super-slamming sets, and some lady in semi-business attire took her pants off and danced around onstage in her panties.

I bought their debut LP on vinyl, waaay back when, I think they were all in their teens. And they're still doin' it, nationwide. If you like second-line beats, Nawlin's style (is there any other style?), check them out. You will boogie.

In Flames

mullytron — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:38:58 GMT

GODDAMN! Thsoe Swedes know how to rock out with their Viking selves. Anyone else like these guys? Super melodic, awesome leads, and the remasters they got out sound killer.

This one has a cover of "Everything Counts" by Depeche Mode. How cool is that.

Why Is Bonnie Raitt so hot?

mullytron — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:41:03 GMT

I mean, I have as short an attention span as the rest of us. (well, maybe not that short...). I always forget stuff, and it's not like I sit around drawing her picture on the knee of my jeans in class. Why has my crush on her not worn off yet?

Sure she's awesome, but so is a lot of other music that doesn't always grab me when I hear it. You know, when it comes up on shuffle, or at someone else's house, or at the grocery store (I KNOW, it's lame), or even on mother f'ing KFOG. Every time.

That record ("Fundamental") sounds so awesome and 3D, her vox are big and in your face, the guitars are sweet, the bottom end is hitting, and the band is cool (David Hidalgo, Joey Spampinato, Pete f'ing Thomas!). And you got Mitch Froom and Tchad Blake at the desk, still putting their cool flavor on everything (compressed drum sounds, distorted vocals, cool small reverbs, weird percussion, you know what I mean), but they also have the good sense to lay off the hipster trickiness long enough to get out of the way of the songs and of Bonnie Raitt's SEXY ASS PERFORMANCES.

She is so cool. If you can take a little cheesy "old person" vibe in your musical day, do your self a favor, this record is just good.

Who digs iRiver?

mullytron — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:31:04 GMT

I'm not a hater, but I won't buy an Apple. I might check out the MS Zune. I know, it's big and it's only 30GB, but I've seen a pre-release unit, and I dig it. Love that big screen, and it does video in EITHER aspect ratio...

But while travelling this month, I have fallen in love again with my clunky old iRiver iHP120. I mean, YOU CAN PLUG A REAL CONDENSER MIC INTO IT AND TAPE SHOWS!! I just listened to some old gigs, rehearsals and rough mixes on a ferry ride, what a cool thing! And I didn't ever have to burn, rip, or download afile, I just recorded them right on there...

So how about it, who else has any version of this weirdo Korean doodad?

Taiwan and the News Cycle

mullytron — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 02:44:17 GMT

So I'm in Asia for work right now, and I'm 15 hours ahead of y'all (PST, that is).

It's extremely strange, digging the news of the world this way. For one thing, North Korea is like, right over there. I'm on the CNN and BBC diet, which, all told, is a pretty good one. They're fast, pretty even-handed, and they hit the highlights without the frantic vibe that local news in the US gets. You get the WSJ and the International Herald on the tray with your coffee in the morning, and people in general just feel a little more plugged in to the post-post-modern world. You are way more liable to have a conversation about the long-term prospects for the per-ton price of copper than you are in the States.

Asia is SO complicated and it's moving so fast, everyone just needs to pay more attention if you want to stay afloat. And even though it's all confused and potentially bad, everyone just keeps on keeping on. If America were all of a sudden to appear in the Far East, I have a feeling Americans would just seize up.

Who Replaced the Replacements?

mullytron — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:02:32 GMT

So I just got Bash and Pop in the shuffle, and I had to recall how hard they rocked me when I needed it most. God, going on 15 years ago.

Did anyone else besdies me get tired of the final days of the Replacements? I worshipped at Paul W's feet several times, and wore out several copies of most of the records, but c'mon, get over it. Yeah, I still bought all his solo stuff because I figure he deserved it, but I saw (2) shows on that last Mats tour, and Steve Foley looked like such a macho god the first show, just PUMMELLING his kit, and so tired and hunched over by the end of it, well, I dunno, I just kind of got over them, at least in their final lineup.

And never mind that Tommy S is theoretically still in Guns N Roses now, OK great. But "Friday Night Is Killing Me" is a great rock album, with dynamite performances and solid song writing. Hell, it got me thru my twenties. It's hard to say who's actually on the record, but Steve F and Slim Dunlap were in the band for awhile, and they all kept rocking even though lots of people had stopped caring about rock.

Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come - - Galactic Zoo Dossier

mullytron — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 22:11:06 GMT

Anyone else heard this record? Man, talk about drug-induced weirdness. Makes Pink Floyd look like schoolboys. Super-cool organ and guitar freakouts, creepy weird vocals, tape loop randomness, strange muttering and noise beds, he really was out to blow your mind. Whatever happened to him? Anyone know?

Songs that evoke a time and place, specifically

mullytron — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:01:37 GMT

One of the coolest things about music for me, the thing that made me notice it at all in the first place, is how a particular event in time when you hear a certain song - - and not even necessarily the first time, although it can be - - can get BURNT into your memory, and that song just closes the deal. It's like it hardwires your brain and just welds some neural pathways in place, so that you're helpless when you hear that song. Hearing these songs is like smelling your mom's favorite perfume in a crowded bus, your psyche just gets HIJACKED and you are transported somewhere else...

So which tunes, and where/when? And how were you listening?

Here's a few of mine:

The Beatles/Maxwell's Silver Hammer >>> sitting on the floor playing Legos with my cousin, clock radio

The Eagles/Life In The Fast Lane >>> sitting at the desk under my cool L-shaped bunk bed, doing homework, radio in my first shit stereo (with 8-track)

The Doors/Riders On The Storm Public Enemy/Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos >>> smelly DC summer days, 17 y.o. and driving my parents' white Plymouth Reliant K around town, OEM tape deck

Steve Earle/Guitar Town Los Lobos/I Got Loaded >>> riding the DC metro to junior high, Sony Walkman

Michael Jackson/PYT >>> mowing lawns in 100degree heat, Sony Walkman

Bad Brains/With The Quickness Red Hot Chili Peppers/No Chump Love Sucker Living Color/Cult of Personality >>> dancing like drunk idiots in a college hallway and throwing folding metal chairs at each other, gen1 CD boombox

The Beatles/For The Beneift of Mister Kite >>> sitting in the big chair after dinner as a 6-year old, dad's stereo, wearing headphones and staring at the blue Marantz dial...

Pink Floyd/Pigs On The Wing >>> Pennsylvania summertime grassy field, getting dumped after 2 weeks by some girl whose name I can't even remember, SHE PLAYED GUITAR AND SANG IT TO ME

Autechre/Sim Gishel >>> staying up until 4AM in a SF warehouse, building effects pedals with my old roommate Rich (RIP), computer speakers

What are yours??

Super chill, semi-morose guilty pleasure - - Talk Talk/Laughing Stock

mullytron — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 01:13:27 GMT

Ever have one of those days where you're bummed and need the right music to fit? Not romantically bummed, because everybody knows the best musical cure for the romantic bum-out is Sade. More like, bummed out in the soul, over it, not feeling it, feeling like your guts are all hanging out and your skin is missing.

Talk Talk is a lot of things, but I never thought they might be emotionally soothing. But if you're on that page, get Laughing Stock, their last album. It's the record that sunk their deal, but man, is it gorgeous. Mark Hollis mumbles, the songs are kind of improv-ed and formless, but the upright bass is your friend, the harmonica/harmonium combo is a psychic pillow for your tired brain, the organ is a cool breeze, and the Telecaster feedback is like a pure nerve vibration, showing you what's real and what is merely lies.

Brassy

mullytron — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:30:29 GMT

Who digs Brassy? I get such a charge when they come up in my playlist. Muffin is Jon Spencer's sister, I think? She's got attitude, I like it.

What kills me is the drummer who can kick a real beat AND scratch the decks at the same time. Well, deck, anyway. But he's on the kick, snare and hat, AND he's cutting it up.

Brassy

mullytron — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:29:04 GMT

Who digs Brassy? I get such a charge when they come up in my playlist. Muffin is Jon Spencer's sister, I think? She's got attitude, I like it.

What kills me is the drummer who can kick a real beat AND scratch the decks at the same time. Well, deck, anyway. But he's on the kick, snare and hat, AND he's cutting it up.

Making Music: Traditional > Modern = Personal

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 19:34:45 GMT

God I love shuffling.

I just got TInariwen back to back with Kal. Neither of these acts gets much play in the press, but they both rule. I am using them as examples to make a point about musical relevance, and the ability of the modern popular arena to offer shelter to traditional forms, while simultaneously giving those forms a space to evolve and stay pertinent into the 21st century.

TInariwen is a band made up of a group of tribal warrior/exiles of the Kel Tamashek (derisively referred to be Arabs as Tuareg, or "abandoned by God") people, whose spoken/sung poetic forms go back centuries. The Tamashek were run out of Mali and found refuge in Libya, but returned to engage in armed struggle in and around Mali. Eventually, some of the freedom fighters were offered a deal by the Malian government where they turned in their guns and were given electric guitars in return (I'm not kidding). They have a couple records out, and (I don't know firsthand, since I don't speak thier dialect) but they are still revolutionary advocates for their peoples' cause, thru song. Plus, they totally groove, in a desert/blues kind of way. Theirs is a traditional musical voice being given a shot at forced, fast-track evolution, which nevertheless transforms an ancient (arguably outdated and isolated) form into a megaphone for their personal and tribal concerns. I think that's cool.

Kal is a group out of Belgrade. made up of Romani (aka Gypsy) musicans struggling to "keep it real" in the 21st century. The Romani are a well-documented worldwide diaspora, whose main claims to fame are their intensely insular group mentality and their extreme musical excellence. A Roma proverb states "The one who does not know how to play does not eat. The musician awakens what's human in the human being. Music was given to the Roma by God." Often forced to move around, the Roma have historically played the music of whatever country they happenned to be in, often better than the ethnic "home team." So Kal is a bunch of young gun players, disenchanted by the willingness of many modern Roma to play lowest-common denominator pop music (doesn't that sound familiar) because that's what pays the bills. Staying true to their gutsy improv roots, Kal's music has RIPPING violin and accordion solos, but over funky beats, with slide guitar, some bhangra, and a little rap, as well. These guys are racially proud, yet all-inclusive, and their music is a gas. They play their a$$es off, and have a bold statement to make about 21st century homogeneity vs. heritage and creativity, seen through a personal/pop lens.

SO: (sorry to bore you) my point is this: so many times we find the modern music scene a place where enthusiatic would-be stars will sing/write/wear whatever they think the fame machine requires this week, and let their unique selves dry up and blow away. Claiming your musical "heritage" sometimes seems no more complicated than spinning some records from the 80s and wearing a vintage Iron Maiden t-shirt (ed. note: I LOVE MAIDEN). We all mine our pasts for "inspirado," but most of us are drifting in an ocean of recycled consumer trash, masquerading as personality. On the other hand, honest-to-gosh "traditional" music is often a boring exercise in cultural taxidermy, tedious re-enactments of material that was once vital, but now stands as an essentialist stamp of official cultural authenticity.

These bands are showing us there is a way to unite the past and the present, both inside and outside of the pop/major label juggernaut. It takes work, thoughtful intent, and a willingness to swim upstream, and I don't expect they will be making P-Diddy money any time soon, but for real musical weight, you can't go wrong with either of these acts.

Langley Schools Music Project

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 17:44:02 GMT

Anybody familiar with this CD? It was making the hipster rounds a year or two ago, and I just got it.

It's a remaster of some tapes from the 70s, this hippie music teacher in Canada had his 60-voice elementary school children's choir do a bunch of current pop tunes, with basic accompaniment. Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, Barry Manilow, Bowie, it's wild. The one kid who hits the snare and the cymbals really gives it his all...

But it's the 6-year old girl singing Desperado that blows my mind. I love that song, cheezy as it is, and she just breaks your heart the way she does it.

http://www.keyofz.com/keyofz/langley/

Japan

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:07:34 GMT

Anybody else in love with Japan? When I need a Brit fix, I usually escape the "B" word, for the Kinks, Kate Bush, Monty Python/The Rutles, Judas Priest, and motherf'ing Japan.

Why are they so cool? Duh, David Sylvian is smart and cool. Mick Karn is clearly some weird kind of bass god, and if you dig him, dig Dali's Car with him and Peter Murphy. And Steve Jansen on drums was badass! Duran who?

I miss the 80s too.

Andy Bey - - jazz vocal MACHINE

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 02:11:59 GMT

Anyone here like jazz vocals? A lot of jazz vocals are a waste of time, same old songs, some dude or some chick really "goin' for it," whatever.

But Andy Bey is amazing, flat out gorgeous. He has sung with Horace Silver, Stanley Clarke, McCoy Tyner, etc etc. The way he wraps his voice around syllables is intense. That kind of intense that's intense even when it's quiet.

I only know this one album, and the band is smoking, Ron Carter, Victor Lewis, and Mino Cinelu. He's an elder statesman for sure, if you have any interest at all, check him out. It's everything good about jazz singing without all the lameness.

I miss Frank Zappa

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 01:46:19 GMT

Man, every 6 months or so I bum out about Zappa. I mean actually feel bad, feel like I lost a friend, even though I never knew him. I guess a lot of lightbulbs turned on in my head during the years I was listening to his music a lot, so I take it personally, and feel like I am who I am in some part because of all the music he made.

So "Heavenly Bank Account" just came on, and it's such a great-sounding, funny, huge MIDDLE FINGER to those in power, I realized how much I really miss that approach these days. Sure, there's lots of revolutionary music, lots of angry music, but no-one who just disarms and out-maneuvers the competition the way Frank did. I mean, his band was slamming, everyone sang, everyone played their a$$ off, and the lyrics were FUNNY. And they made fun of WHOEVER they wanted. I wonder if he could get away with it now, he barely could then...

Frank Zappa was a man who went to Congress and testified against corporate and governmental censorship on YOUR behalf (him and Dee Snider). He made himself a target throughout his career because he was smart, lucid, and deeply concerned about music and freedom.

How many rock stars would do that today?

"That's right, you asked for it, remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over . . ."

- FZ

Shuggie Otis - - Inspiration Information

mullytron — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 00:29:16 GMT

Is it tiresome to say, yet again, what a great record this is? We all owe David Byrne a debt for re-releasing this 70s gem. Like a soundtrack to a movie that was so cool it could never get made. Which is fine, because now you get to make it up for yourself.

Cool songs, real strings and woodwinds, weird stony Optigan beats, funky-a$$ wah, groovy bridges. Sheesh, whaddaya want?

who remembers Pell Mell?

mullytron — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:16:59 GMT

I just rediscovered this record, what a great band and sound. Cinematic guitars, cool keys, clever songs with lots of space, and NO SINGING. Love it. I miss the 90s.

Anybody ever heard of Jonny Polonsky??

mullytron — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:28:53 GMT

He's an old bud of mine from the Chicago daze. He has an ungodly way with a pop hook, and is helluva guitarist. He moved out to LA back when and I lost track of him, but I just found out he's all over the last Neil Diamond record (with Rick Rubin at the desk). How rad is that?

I guess he's still at it, if any of you LA types get a chance to check him out, do, he's a great performer. I think he's in a band called Feather, also.

Go, Jonny, Go Go Go!

Soprano Sax

mullytron — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:22:38 GMT

Can be a dangerous thing. I'm pretty we can thank Kenny G for its more-or-less humor status.

But it can also be bee-yoo-ti-ful. So who's your fave?

I nominate Eric Dolphy.

Listening on Laptop

mullytron — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 23:55:52 GMT

How many of you guys are PC users? I have been auditioning multiple headphone samples, and wanted a better sound interface for my laptop, which I use to host mp3s and other sound files.

The Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS is a killer upgrade for your PCMCIA-equipped laptop. It has 1/8" (optical too!) in and out jacks, and an onboard 24bit/96kHz sound engine. Way better imaging and resolution, and it's bus-powered.

I've seen it for as low as $65, but you can get it for $80 all day long. No brainer!

When sound is not sonic

mullytron — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 16:39:59 GMT

Got another question for you guys about music.

The records we really, truly love are both meaningful and beautiful. That is to say, they are both intellectually and sonically satifying. These are the ones you buy 4 or 5times because you keep wearing them out or losing them.

However, most albums are not, but some are still damn good. I have some records that I love because of their lyrical and musical content - - what the songs are about, the way they are written, delivered, and recorded - - regardless of the sonics. And there are some records that I have no idea (or need to care) about the intent/content, but I just totally fall for the way they sound.

For instance: I was listening to Brian Setzer's first solo record yesterday, The Knife Feels Like Justice, which holds a special (old guy) spot in my heart. The songs are awesome, his singing is great, and the guitar playing rules, but the 80s production SUCKS. I mean, cruelly-gated drum sounds, cheezy digital reverbs, tons of beer-commercial compression, you know the sound. And I know a lot of intelligent, sensitive people who just can't get past it, and I totally understand. But there's a lot there to like on that record, if you can hear past all the cocaine everyone was doing (yeah, gate that high hat some more, man...).

On the other hand, and I know this will be an unpopular stance, regardless of what the indie press says, I don't really care what Jeff Tweedy is talking about. I was in Chicago when he got the whole Wilco thing going, and even 12 years later, he's still not that compelling a writer or singer (to me). But I really, really love the way Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sounds.

What do you guys think? Got any records you have to listen "past" to enjoy? Are we obliged to try and get all inside these records? Is it shallow or disrespectful to just enjoy the sound?

Shameless plug for my baby girl - - Emily Zuzik, "You Had Me At Goodbye"

mullytron — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:42:43 GMT

This is a good friend of mine, and she rocks.

http://www.emilyzuzik.com/

I played with her in some SF bands back when, but she had bigger fish to fry, and moved to NYC. She just put out another record (which rules), and was just back in these parts for a West Coast CD Release show, with me in the band. What a performer. She has the "female Elvis" thing down pat.

If you get a chance to see her, do it. She plays a lot of solo shows, but if she does a full-band set, definitely don't miss it, she always gets great players. Stellar vocals, AWESOME songwriting over cool changes, and she's a babe to boot. I hesitate to say Beatles-y, but hey, and she's got soul/diva power to burn.

The CD sounds glorious. Cool production, real band, but with some cool loops/samples and electronics too. She's the entire package, for sure. Check it out.

I'll admit it, sometimes I swing Prog - - John McLaughlin

mullytron — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:26:09 GMT

Yeah, I know, it's not very hip. I mean he's old, we can blame him for many of the sins of fusion, he had an weird Indian name for a while and hung out with Santana at spiritual retreats in the '70s. And he practices too much. But he played with Miles, so that's good enough for me.

But seriously: Live at Royal Albert Hall is a beautifully recorded document. Three guys, JMcL on nylon string, bass machine Kai Eckhardt (yeah, that's right, all you Garaj Majal fans), and Trilok Gurtu DESTROYING his weird little kit. That guy is unreal.

The sonics are awesome (HUGE dynamic range), the playing is top drawer, and there's a ton of improv. Why not.

Jon Wayne

mullytron — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 01:21:37 GMT

"Mr. Egyptian" just came up in the shuffle.

Anyone else ever heard these guys? Possibly the hardest I've ever laughed on first hearing an album.

Question for all you MOGeniuses

mullytron — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 23:27:29 GMT

So Stevie Wonder just came up on my shuffling Windows Media (Macin-what?). It's a track I didn't even recognize, "Positivity," off of his last release, A Time To Love, which is spelled out "A [clock] 2 [heart]." Get it? I know it's tricky...

Now don't get me wrong, I love me some Stevie, pretty much across the board. And I will typically ALWAYS cut him big huge pieces of slack that I won't cut anyone else, which you pretty much have to, because he is so cheesy all the time. And (I'm not sure why I'm surprised) this song is pretty good, it has kind of a Jackson 5 vibe to it, which is always fun. But it is so blatantly upbeat and loaded - - in that there's no room for me to insert myself into his narrative - - that I can't help but feel manipulated by it. Which is more or less in a nutshell the problem I have with all the various versions of lowest-common-denominator, programmatic music out there (young country, R&B, hiphop, take your pick): it hits you over the head without engaging you on your terms AT ALL. I mean, we as listeners want to come to you, but meet us in the middle, fercryinoutloud.

But I'll be honest, I didn't care. My question is why? When does music that is so thoroughly pre-chewed, couched, and thoroughly loaded get away with it? Why will I tolerate Stevie Wonder, and not Usher? They're both pop monsters, so where is the difference? Both of them are sincere, of that I have no doubt. Maybe it's a question of mastering the craft, consider Stevie's huge career, but who can deny Usher's skills?

Why do Boston tunes still hold up? I mean, they all kind of sound the same. Why do we consider the Beach Boys albums works of genius? How many songs about cars can we all tolerate? Madonna? Hello? She tells you straight up she's in it for the money and is 100% posing. These records are simultaneously both crass, money-grabbing label products, and also highly personal and expressive labors of extreme individuality.

When does pure pop lead turn into genius gold?

Sweet breakdancing Indian kid

mullytron — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:37:52 GMT

This kid CRACKS MY SH*T UP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-NLPH8JeM&eurl

Need MOG input! Headphone/earbud question!!

mullytron — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:34:18 GMT

OK, MOG-a-teers, I need your collective input on some things. And I know I can count on you, because you're all such pedal-to-the-metal music freaks.

I work in product development, and I am working on some headphone projects. The market today is mostly for replacement in-ear units for the cheezoid ones that come with your iPods, Creative Labs mp3 players, etc etc. Everyone has at least one pair, becuase they are small, light, give realtively good isolation, and put the audio right in your ear (which can be bad, but we knew that...).

As a baseline, I have been auditioning several of the popular models on the market now, and have decided that, as much of a step up as these can be from the stock white POS ones you get from Apple, most of them are still more or less crap. This is based on 20 years of auditing audio program material and audio equipment, engineering/mixing/mastering records, listening to music nonstop for days, etc.

So I need to know from you guys: Which factors are most important to you where in-ear headphones are concerned:

- Comfort? Let's face it, if you can't bear to have something shoved in your ear, it's game over. Do you like the rubber ones or the foamy ones that expand?

- Frequency Response? After careful listening, I find most in-ears are way too bright for me (but then, I can still hear the mosquito ring tone noise). Most lack real bass extension and resolution, and have erratic, unsmooth frequency repsonse in general. Do you guys notice this too and just put up with it? What have you tried to improve it? Which models are you in love with?

- Imaging? Does the 3D image the producer and artist worked on matter to you? Most of the in-ears I have tried seem to ruin it right away. Very few stay true to what you can get from speakers and even a basic stereo. My hunch is that imaging is one of the first things to get value-engineered out of these 'phones, as maintaining good imaging is something of a black art.

- Noise Isolation? Most are OK, assuming your ear canal is shaped like the molded insert. If the fit sucks, you get no bass, let alone no isolation from outside noise. Are there any ones out there where you love the way they sound, but can't use them in your noisy applications?

- Ability to cut thru noisy environments? Assuming the noise isolation is fair to middling, these 'phones still need to overcome some level of ambient noise, especially on the train or bus, or in a crowded airport, etc. The problem is that good cut power seems to come from completely abandoning good/faithful frequency response, and by jacking the upper mids way up, so the sonic character is sometimes downright painful.

- Loudness? Related to the above, but different. Some of these 'phones are so sensitive that they are screamingly loud, if you don't turn your source level down. I know a lot of you might use in-line amps, but I am assuming connecting straight from your computer or iPod to your ear. I find the really loud ones don't sound too good, but audiophile quality doesn't count for much if you can't hear it on the bus.

- Looks/design? Cannot be ignored. Is this a factor for you? And if so, what makes a tiny plastic doodad that you shove in your ear cool to you?

Thanks a lot for your time and any input you have. Any of you in SF that feel like doing some blind in-ear taste testing, I would be willing to bring CD/mp3 and/or use yours, and listen to your comments. (PS, I have extra rubber ear things...)

Prince and the NPG w/Chaka Khan and Larry Graham, live in Paris

mullytron — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 23:46:52 GMT

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2559319268527738305&pr=goog-sl

I mean, if you're into that sort of thing. Sure there's some cheese (hello, it's Prince) and it's long, about 50 minutes. But man, Chaka Khan can sing, and Prince is one fine guitar player.

I think it's funny the way they keep referring to him as The Artist, so it must be before he got out of his contract...

Can a heavy metal fan dig Ambient Electronica?

mullytron — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:00:32 GMT

Does anybody else here dig Autechre? I just heart their take on electronica, it's not too boomy or dance-y, they use more small sounds and clever layering, kind of itchy, background music instead of full-on rave-beats or digital slam/noise. As an official "old guy," I find that my musical genre-meter doesn't go into dance-music seizures when I hear them, it's more just purely sonic, so I end up listenin and not judging.

I like to put it on late at night, super quiet in the background, like a bug crawling around on the inside of my brain sending Morse Code signals to all his buddies in all of your brains...

Roky Erikson

mullytron — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:36:39 GMT

Who else here digs Roky Erikson? I was just spinning "Two Headed Dog," and it rocks off the tables. Man, what an awesome weirdo. I miss his craziness...

YOU'RE A STALKER...LEAVE THE INDIVIDUAL ALONE.

mullytron — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:44:54 GMT

I know you guys and gals are hip, so you know who Mr. Pregnant is. This one is funny, How to Get Rid of A Stalker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im7IorDZ9uY

Favorite Gear

mullytron — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:22:20 GMT

I think part of why I like playing music is hooking up all the gizmos and making noise. And I get bored fast, so I need to make lots of different noises to entertain myself. Yeah, I'm fickle, so what? Here's my list, where's yours? What is turning your crank this week?

VHT 50W Pitbull 2x12 combo Robin Ranger

AnalogMan KOT pedal (v4) Ibanez Bi-Chorus

Boss Slow Gear pedal

whee.

Here I'm Is

mullytron — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:46:01 GMT

Whatta cool site, I like it here. I live in Oakland, I play guitar. Go to www.aphrodesia.org, that's us.