The Beatle White Albums

The Beatle White Album is very cool! "Helter Skelter"... rocking guitars!

CLUES

i'm not into "rock" or "roll" lately, i've been into Pontic music, a really cool mash-up of Greek, Turkish, Balkan, etc. folk music that's heavy on the drums.

But this band is great...check em out!

music blog hookups

DC basically just posted about it, but I think he's still waiting for me to drop something about it. Ya'll gotta check out these two music blogs where people are just posting albums for easy downloads.

Radiobutt

http://radiobutt.blogspot.com/

--This is a really good site for indie rock, post-rock/instrumental bands, and what EJ likes to say is indie chamber (I just call it classical and lump it in there; see Rachel's, Fifth's of Seven, etc.)

MyJazzWorld

http://myjazzworld.blogspot.com/

--This is the one DC has been fully geeked out over. First couple albums I got were cheezy and lame, but after I got a little more discerning I've gotten tons of killer albums. You could lose yourself in a blitz of downloading if you're into jazz on this one.

On the music piracy tip, do you think it's more ethical to download off MJW because most of the albums on there are old, reissues, sometimes recorded by people now deceased versus Radiobutt, which is new albums mostly by young bands? Meh, I just check out as much as I can and try to support bands I like when they come to NYC.

My Jazz World - MPS Hookup

    That's "Most Perfect Sound" and not the Beatles crazy WWALT member. MPS is the best German 60's & 70's Freaky Hipster Jazz label EVER, in my humble opinion. There probably weren't many. Their best stuff strikes a fine balance between being outre' but still having a groovy dancefloor vibe, super fun stuff yet still very good jazz. There were a couple of Crippled Dick comps that came out a while back, "Between or Beyond the Black Forest" I & II, that I think are absolutely essential. I pretty much buy anything I find on MPS no questions asked, especially if it has a cool funky cover. Most of the good ones do.

This Wolfgang Dauner is actually on a different label, everything else I have by him is on MPS and this is very typical of his style

Anyway, all of the above are available on that Jazz World blog, I suggest you grab them. The Wolfgang Dauner and Volker Kriegel in particular are the kind of thing I'd see and have to buy as some $35 Japanese import so thanks again to whoever first dropped that on this crowd.

Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want

Probably too much of a salad for DC's table, this has that sad/pretty/fuzzy Yo La Tengo or Damon & Naomi vibe I'm a complete sucker for. Also sounds a bit on the same 80's brit indie kick that Pains of Being Pure of Heart are all about, except not so over the top. Best thing I've heard in a couple weeks.

Mistabishi - Printer Jam

Forget glitch hop, this is printer jam hop! Combine the track with the video, and you got one stupendous creative thing going down. His other stuff is more straight ahead U.K., dance/dnb, style.

Capstone, as it were

Yea, the end was near (at the time) but, unlike, say, "The White Album," in which the Fab Four were never in the same (recording) room simultaneously, the Liverpudlians apparently put their differences aside for "Abbey Road." And we're all grateful for that. Conceptual heaven, the album features the best love song ever written ("Something"), according to Frank Sinatra and, had he put down the test tubes and the scale and run for U.S. president, the campaign theme song for Timothy Leary ("Come Together").

woahhh!

just got this off of the jazz blog (thanks to rootless)...
funky '70s jazz with a drummer-led group? yes please!
featuring Jan Hammer on synth, John Abercrombie on guitar...
Sonny Fortune on saxes.....

More

Here are some other things I've been checking out today:



and



and



and



and



and then this little nugget, solo Herbie playing piano and all his moogs and ARPs by himself which is insane. I have never heard of this before:



That's like a third of what I'm checking out today. Hurewitz, are you going to drop the jazz blog on the people or what?!?! It's loco.

dc

John Holt

This is probably my favorite reggae album of all time, "My Sweet Lord" is the best track. Perfect music for a hot Sunday afternoon in NYC.

Six Organs of Admittance

One of my favorite bands of the past few years is Comets on Fire. They are totally sick, but this post is (mostly) not about them. It's about Six Organs of Admittance, and the reason I even mention Comets on fire is that Ben Chasny is in Comets on Fire. Ben Chasny is the main guy (only guy?) from Six Organs of Admittance The super intense psych rock explosion of Comets on Fire inspired me to seek out Six Organs. What I found was decidedly mellower mostly acoustic guitar based folk with beautiful songs. The electric bits are atmospheric and not overpowering. It's so good. The one I'm listening to right now is from 2005, and it's called School of the Flower. It's really hard to choose a sample track. Here's one called Home:



In case you don't know Comets On Fire, you should totally check them out, too. Again, it's hard to choose a sample tune. Do I choose one of the more melodic ones, or do I go with a balls in your face number? This one is the first track from Avatar which was their last record. It's balls in your face, but it's kind of melodic. It is called Dogwood Rust:

Jazz Stacks

This record is awesome. Everyone is on Grant Green's jock, and I like the Grant Green mystique, but pound for pound Kenny Burrell tears him up, I feel.



Another gem.

Rootless, spread the love to the people!

dc

TWO WORDS:

"shit sandwich."

Please God, fuck my mind for good

"Approaching The Fractured Glass, Dripping In Light, He Spoke: 'I've Just Looked At Myself, And From Here To there It Ain't Far Enough, But From Here To Here It's Too Short." 

Don't get the IBM reference in the last post, but I like the idea of quotes from favorite albums. Who's Next?

So wonderful to be here

"You'll never get fired for buying IBM."

I bought records

Had to go to Other Music today to buy records to kill the pain of being horribly stressed and burned out at work.



I said I wasn't going to get the new Black Dice joint, that I was over them, but the vinyl version is a fat ass gatefold cover with 12 page booklet of art and, what can I say, old habits die hard. Haven't checked it out yet. The vinyl comes with free download so I'll hook you jerks up and you can form your own opinions.



I've kind of been missing out on "Record Store Day". Gabino, do you do "REcord Store Day"? I guess lots of bands do vinyl only shit that are only available in retail stores, not online. Anywho, the one I really wanted to get was put out by Numero and sold out faster than Rootless eats a salad. But I got this joint put out by Truth and Soul label, spin off of Daptone Records. it's fucking awesome.



Had to do the old buy it on cover alone move, and got this.. i don't even know who it is, hold up: "Kurt Vile". PRetty good, kind of singer songwriterly but stripped down BK Warehouse vibe. It's good, worth price of admission.

OUT.

remember this cat?

Snow - Informer
Uploaded by ptidavid

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

“I've got a bike/You can ride it if you like/It's got a basket/A bell that rings/And things to make it look good/I'd give it to you if I could/But I borrowed it.” A kind of playfulness permeates “Bike,” that wonderful little ditty from Pink Floyd’s brilliant “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (1967). The album is the baby of the late, great Syd Barrett, rock’s first acid casualty and the inspiration for “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” Bicycles, scarecrows, gnomes, fairytales; they’re all here, straight from Syd’s stem. The entire album is filled with a sense of wonder, rather than the overproduced pompousness of latter-day Floyd a la “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall.”

New Numero Joint

I got the new Numero Group joint.

Those fucking guys... top shelf. Everything they do is quality. They took it up a notch with this one, though, and included a DVD with a 30:00 documentary, which is sweet, because they always have the interesting uber-extensive liner notes, but they are in 6 point type and who has the time? 30:00 DVD is perfect.

Spiritual home-recorded gospel and soul. Beautiful.

KUDOS! KUDOS, Numero Group! I swear I will drop $20.00 on every record you put out from now until the day that I die.

Dirty Projectors

The Dirty Projector's new album "Bitte Orca" is the best of a big batch of new indie rock I've gotten lately. They are from Brooklyn and in some ways this album reminds me of "Saint Dymphyna", the newest Gang Gang Dance, I'm talking about something that sounds original and is a bit all over the map stylistically while always sounding like a band and itself. They sound at times like Animal Collective and then other times like Led Zepplin, and there is one really great track with the female singer on point that reminds me of MIA or Santogold. 

Runner-up is Lackthereof, which has the singer from Menomena, dude's got a really laid back cool voice and the album is mellow, great song-writing and arrangement.

I also like the Notwist, Hood and Midlake.

Raining hard in NYC tonight------------------ 

These are Powers - All Aboard Future

hi. i was just listening to some of the large amount of music procured in 2009, and i stumbled upon these are powers. i thought to myself, "they remind me of liars," so i looked them up. it turns out that the bass player used to be in liars. crazy.
anyway, it is synth laden. i would not call it pop or gay. some of the tracks are quite strong, and some don't do much for me. much of the record is atmospheric with noisy moments blasted into the relative calm. the vocals are not the strongest aspect of this recording, but i totally enjoy the overall sound. i doubt that these are powers will become a favorite, but i will definitely listen again this week. maybe next week as well.

here is a sample entitled "adam's turtle":


best wishes,
jim

Super Mother Bad

My entry in baddest song ever contest.

Sorry so budge, i did this in 30 seconds on iMovie

Sunday Jazz Stacks

Marlena Shaw

"Woman of the Ghetto" is one of the all-time baddest tunes in history. Who's with me?

Lil' Wayne Part II

OH SHIT! I've been meaning to post this for a week.

Last weekend I was at Passover dinner and I was talking to my brothers-in-law (22 and 17 years old) who are Lil Wayne fans, and I was like "why do you guys like Lil' Wayne? I have some friends that really really want to know."

They looked at me funny, and then older one said "I don't even really like Lil' Wayne anymore, he's too commercial." So i was like "OK, why DID you like him? Please tell me!" and they were both basically like "He has a cool voice and good raps."

Pretty much the standard answer that someone would give about any rapper out there.

So, I think the issue isn't so much "what is going on with Lil' Wayne that I don't understand?" It is "Why is the media trying to spin this guy as Prince or George Clinton or whoever the fuck other musical genius instead of just another rapper?"

As far as why you guys (primary demographic: bordering on middle aged white dudes) don't love Lil Wayne (target demographic: gangsta inner city kids and wannabe inner city kids)... do you really need me to spell that out?

And before you launch into "Well, I like rap from the golden era of '92..." In 1992 I was 17, and, truth be told, I more or less fell into the "wannabe inner city kid" demo. As much as anybody who 17 is, who wants to be cool like the people he sees on MTV.

Would I like Cypress Hill as much if I heard it for the first time today?

illy-B

I've been listening to a CD that came with Billy Martin's instructional book about claves of African origin.
You may already know Billy aka illy-B as the "Martin" in Medeski Martin & Wood.
He's one of my favorite all-time drummers because of his approach to music and musical ideas as well as his unique groove.
Anyway, this CD is just him playing lesson examples from his book. I know it sounds like it would be boring, but it's so groovy, simple, and concise that I think (for a drummer learning these rhythms, at least) it stands on its own. Plus it's cool to hear these rhythms that you'd never hear Billy play with MMW; but once you listen to his use of clave, you can hear these rhythms as the foundation of what he plays with MMW.
Just as a postscript; if you are a drummer living in America, or anywhere west of the Mediterranean, you should know about claves, the basic rhythmic patterns from Africa. Every rhythm, and I mean every rhythm we have in the west is derived from these claves. Going back to these roots will definitely deepen your groove as well as your knowledge.

Indie Fatigue

Pains of being black moth hunter seksu for vetiver lashes & the horror phoenix dept of nuclear cakes collective

Absolute glut of indie stuff lately, all good and a lot of variety, but still just too damn much at once. Here's some stuff I've thrown in the mix to reel it in:

Neil Young -  Rust never Sleeps

Ann Peebles - Straight from the Heart, Can't Stand the Rain

Fleetwood Mac  - Tusk

Parliaments - Testify! Best of the Early Years

Epic Soundtracks - Sleeping Star

Dead - Wake of the Flood (for DC and the new guy)

Sahib Shihab - Sentiments

Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear, Domino

Billie Holiday - Decca Recordings

Fairport Convention - Liege & Leaf

Bobby Hutcherson - Montara

Van Morrison - Veedon Fleece

Esbjorn Svensson Trio - Tuesday Wonderland

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou  - The Vodoun effect

There, I'm starting to feel a little better.......

Vintage Ry Cooder

You can hear the Santa Ana winds sweeping through “The Way We Make a Broken Heart,” one of the many delights on Ry Cooder’s “Borderline” (1980). Doo-wop, Dixieland, Salsa and (snarling) slide guitar make for a rich gumbo. Pretty danceable stuff following a string of albums in which the inimitable Cooder deftly mined the blues (“Boomer’s Story”), evoked Dust Bowl America (“Into the Purple Valley”) and reworked vintage ragtime numbers (“Jazz”). Food-for-the-masses “Buena Vista Social Club,” which Cooder produced, is all well and good (and rather sleepy). But “Borderline” et al. are vintage Cooder; timeless material from my favorite Angeleno. Cooder has also scored several films, from the gripping (“Paris, Texas”) to the gooey (“Crossroads”).

Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time And Space)

On the topic of Jazz Cats - listening to this today.

Jazz Stacks - MJQ

"Modern Jazz Quartet always got that A-Class"
-Quasimoto, "Jazz Cats Pt.1"

Sometimes you want to listen to "jazz": just somewhat generic, bordering-on-background music jazz from 50's or early 60's with that jazz beat and acoustic instruments and so forth.

Modern Jazz Quartet, and anything by any of their members, Milt Jackson specifically, is sold gold. Just great music, deep pocket, quality players. Piano, Vibes, Bass and Drums. No horns.

Top notch. Everything I have by them works for times you need jazz: cooling out, Sunday mornings, parent visit, daytime party background music, poetry reading, beatnik convention. hahaha, when else do you listen to jazz? New School recital.

Stay up, bros. WWALT Brotherhood (tm) sweatshirts coming in 2009. Only $19.99 plus shipping.

Phoenix

With me and DC the band Phoenix has become a synonym for gayness along with Ryan Adams, salads and bubble baths, so this post isn't meant for him, but the new Phoenix album is cool, and if you're at all into hook-laden synth-pop, which I am from time to time, this is worth checking out. 

Iron Chef of Beats

DC bringing some records back to the basement...

Here's an idea that I had for a new TV Show. It would be called "Iron Chef of Beats", and you would get like Cut Chemist, Madlib, Shadow, etc. guys like that. And you would give them 10 LPs, and give them an hour to make a track. We would purposely put an LP in there that had a break or some open drums, so partially it would be a test of record knowledge because they would either have to search through all the records to find the drums or the break, or know exactly where it was.

We would also put in like some wacky obscure Russian children's record or weird opera record or something. Judges would critique the tracks on overall quality, but also get bonus points for using all the records, and also points for originality for using the wacky record, etc.

I think that would be a quality tv show... anyone here work in TV? Please make this show and then pay me a royalty for coming up with the concept. "IRON CHEF OF BEATS!" Even the name is dope!

dc

Beatles

My wife is requesting I get some Beatles for her and my kids. I don't own any digitally and have sold all my LPs (they move fast at stoop sales). Gabe, do you have like every Beatles remastered? Any of you guys got my back on Beatles tip?

dc

Heavy-Handed Gail (w/hat tip to Alex Leeson)

Oh, Gail (Zappa), why do you take such pains to sully Frank's legacy? Don't you know hubby hated lawyers? This is sad, really. In any event, some new Frank from the shelf. He's only the Greatest of Them All.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102907874

"So long as somebody gets a laugh out of it, what the fuck?"-- Frank Zappa, Guitar Player's "Mother of All Interviews" part 2

Pet Sounds

Listen to the first few notes from harpsichord on "Wouldn't it be Nice" and hear Brian Wilson's descent into madness. The mother lode. Otherworldly. But oh so musical. This is arguably my favorite album ever. Packed with gorgeous harmonies and brilliant instrumentation, "Pet Sounds" is Wilson's masterpiece. (Pound for pound, I still think it beats 'Smile,' Wilson's "symphony to God" that he started recording with the Beach Boys in 1966, but wasn't released until 2004, with back-up from members of Wilson's then-touring band.) Wilson's artistic response to The Beatles' "Rubber Soul," -- whereas "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was The Beatles' commercial response to "Pet Sounds" -- "Sounds" includes the Caribbean-drenched classic "Sloop John B" and the existential "God Only Knows" (used to great effect in the 1997 feature film "Boogie Nights"). The 11th studio album from the Beach Boys,Wilson had shucked sun and surf for a bit of lysergic acid diethylamide. Is "Sounds" trippy? Wonderfully so. But, the album -- sorry, showing my age -- is also one of the most grounded recordings ever. Listen to how the violins, drums and piano mesh beautifully on "Let's Go Away For Awhile." A towering musical feat, "Sounds" is not without its social commentary. Released just as hippiedom was starting to penetrate the mainstream -- and young people in droves were beginning to "tune in, turn on and drop out" -- "Wouldn't it Be Nice" is an ode to bourgeoisie domesticity. It's not exactly equal to Frank Zappa slaying hippies on his 1967 classic "We're Only In It For the Money," but the tune appropriately zigs when, at the time, everyone else was zagging. Need any more evidence? Wilson's slighlty sentimental, yet no less powerful "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times."

Dengue Fever

Not a life changer, but I'm surprised how long this has been shuffling through my heavy rotation playlist. I still find it infectious and groovy. Interesting band story which led me to this awesome comp of Cambodian Rock

Fleet Foxes Sun Giant EP

it is available from Amazon for 99 cents all in. DRM free mp3's. solid little collection of 5 songs.
http://bit.ly/4iKgGK

Going 'round and round' with the Grateful Dead

Before guitarists Jerry Garcia and Bobby Weir knew how to harmonize. Before keyboardist Ronald "Pigpen" McKernan started to deteriorate after years of hard drinking. Before those mind-bending shows from the mid-1970s that exemplified improvisational music. Way before the hit single "Touch of Grey" (1987) minted a brand-new generation of Deadheads. Indeed, before the name became synonymous with jamming (and everything right – and wrong – with the 1960s), the Grateful Dead consisted of a bunch of Ka-blooey kids performing some of the finest, most inspired music, as this show from Cortland, NY April 18 1971, attests. Steeped in blues, folk and rock, the Dead in 1971 had already climbed down from the psychedelic ramparts that had defined their music in the mid-to-late 1960s. In 1970, the Dead released the twin gems, “Workingman’s Dead,” which showed their penchant for country and western music, followed by “American Beauty,” which proved that the members of the Dead were bona fide songwriters (“Friend of the Devil,” “Ripple,” “Sugar Magnolia”). However, as they would demonstrate throughout (most of) their 30-year run, they knew how to mix things up and serve it up Goldilocks style – smoking hot and just right. The first set features the always crowd-pleasing “Bertha,” followed later in the set by a blistering “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider,” one of the band’s signature segues. During the second set the boys show their ability to channel Smokey Robinson (“Second that Emotion”) and Otis Redding (“Hard to Handle”), but integrate their own material, with rollicking versions of “Sugar Magnolia” and “Truckin'.” The second set is capped off by the haunting “Uncle John’s Band,” which includes a sentiment that I’ve been wondering about with increasing frequency lately: “Woh - oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?”

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing

 Will love this guy until I croak. Hate the whole "desert island discs" idea but I know there would have to be one Beefheart in there, probably Ice Cream for Crow. Lyrical fucking genius, amazing vocalist, beautiful abstract spirit.......

Jazz Stacks 4/5

All time classic. So live, those guys had barely ever played before and they are both on, electricity from the crowd. Great LP.



Another good'n.

Just Kidding...

THIS is the best album of all times, hands down! Lord Quas "The Unseen"!

Best Album Ever?

discuss.

Dude, Creed......

I luv Nickelback but these guys are still the best, just check this out if you dont believe me:

Nickelback

I love this new Nickelback record! It is really cool and makes me feel great and refreshed. I love life now! I've just received my Nickelback belt buckle from the Nickelback fan club and am rockin' it right now! You dudes should really try to listen to Nickelback!