http://music-bloggers.blogspot.com/

Not as clean as the sorely missed Captain Crawl, but promising. Anyone find any decent music-blog search engines?

Murat Salim Tokac

Not sure where this guy is from, but I am pretty sure he's Turkish.
He plays the ney, a simple middle-eastern flute. The whole record, Dem, is unaccompanied ney, and from the very first note, you can hear this guy is a MASTER. The sound is eerily close to that of a human voice, and as far as I'm concerned, even more expressive. The record is stark; very wide open, so roomy and spacey, it sounds like he's playing in a gigantic mosque in the middle of a vast desert that's thousands of miles from civilization. It's maybe the loneliest and most introspective sound I've ever heard.

More Turkish music posts to come as I continue to sift through....

Tortoise In-Store

On the whole downloading is the future, record companies have to change their business model tip... Other Music has this promotion for new Tortoise joint (that we all got a month ago):

"Tortoise In-Store Ticket w/Album Purchase. Buy Tortoise’s new album (CD, LP or MP3) from us either at the shop or on-line, and you’ll get a free ticket to their in-store on Saturday, July 18, at 9PM. 1 ticket per purchase, limit 2 purchases per person, while supplies last."

Thinking outside the box, y'all. Throw in a concert ticket in the cost of CD!

dc

Worthy?

Don't have this, and I'm not much of a reunion guy, but I saw the boys on Jimmy Fallon last week and I got that special fuzzy Dinosaur Jr feeling that I thought I would never feel again. Anybody have an opinion on this? a link for pilfering? I thought the cool Ent cover was I nice tie in with DC's Bo Hansson LOTR jam.

Bo Hansson

THIS IS DOPE.

Not a music post

It is music related though, and I know at least one of you has an iphone, so I thought you might think this is cool.

140 / curtis + thumb piano from m~fischer on Vimeo.

I found it here.
http://unrecnow.com/dust/979

MJ

What up. Sorry I'm jumping in late in the game on the MJ retrospective posts. I've been on vacation with no computer or even cell service for a week.

Yeah, it's a drag. Classic superstar. Like, Elvis in 50's, Beatlemania... Thriller-era MJ in 1984 was that huge.

However, in Pete's defense, just because the guy died you are going to ignore the fact that he destroyed himself with plastic surgery and became a weird deformed monster over the last 20 years? It is what it is. But, having said that, my reaction when i heard he died was sadness, but that is pretty much how i felt every time i heard any news story on him or saw a picture of him for last 10 years... sadness. I mean, you don't have to be Dr. Phil to figure out that the reason that he loved to spend his time around young kids (and allegedly molest them) is because his own youth was lost to being a star in the Jackson 5 under a shitty manager/father. Then he got mega super rich and it fucked him up.

Anywho, Off the Wall and Thriller are def all time top ten, desert island, uber influential super albums that people in every corner of the globe still know today (25 years later), so much respect to Michael Jackson, rest in peace. Billie Jean is my #1 jam, but i'm bumping this Say Say Say 12" in memorandum right now. Remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitiez. Paul McCartney added song to the flip called "Ode to a Koala Bear". hahaha.

dc

p.s. I don't listen to esoteric shit to be cooler than thou. I'm constantly on the search for some new shit that really speaks to me, I always have been, but if there is a good top 40 shit i can dig it. Being in the midwest listening to the radio with my brother-in-law, I realize how much "Three Doors Down" and "Nickleback" and shit like that there is, not to mention bad country. Generic vanilla rock, ugh. I hate that shit. Sorry.

Sonic Youth (DJ Shadow)

Listened to Washing Machine today, maybe my favorite Sonic Youth album? I really liked Rather Ripped, but going back to this was sweet. The last track, "Diamond Sea", incredible finish, the extensive outro is exactly what Sonic Youth do so well, skirt the line between cacophony and melody and make something weird and beautiful. I feel a Sonic Youth redux in my playlist coming on. What's your pick for best SY album?

Also going back to DJ Shadow, got Midnight in a Perfect World going right now. Got a train ride tomorrow and will definitely listen to some shadow------

Lost in all the media insanity . . .

. . . was the death (on Thursday) of Sky Saxon. R.I.P.

The Freak of Araby

Got a chance to catch Sir Richard Bishop at the Swan Dive in Louisville last Wednesday. I didn't see the whole set (I'm too old to stay out until 2 am and catch an alarm three and a half hours later), but the big chunk I did see was amazing. He's been touring solo and acoustic frequently since Charlie Gocher (Sun City Girls drummer - R.I.P.) first became sick. I've seen him solo three times - had the pleasure of opening for him once - as well as with brother Alan on their tribute tour after Gocher's death. All the shows were amazing.

This time he's touring electric and with a band behind his new album The Freak of Araby. The sight lines at the Swan Dive are such that I could never actually see the stage, so I can't tell you the exact instrumentation, but it was a variation of the standard bass/guitar/drums lineup with Eastern spice. And boy, was it a hot set (in all senses of the word).

At some point when our paths crossed over cigarettes and bourbon, the brothers Bishop expounded at length on the connections between surf music and various Eastern musics, starting with the fact that, like Dick Dale, the Bishops are of Lebanese descent on the paternal side. The Freak of Araby sounds like a surf album built out of Eastern modes and melodies . . . and like a surf album, it works because the guitar is pristine and the melodies stick to you like glue.

Over the years, it seems that nobody writes about either Richard Bishop or the Sun City Girls without mentioning (and perhaps overplaying) the ethnic music angle. Much more interesting to me is Bishop's synthesis of Indian, Arabic, Persian, etc. musics with free jazz, Chet Atkins, Jimmy Page, Django Reinhardt, etc. The thing is that, unlike some guitarists, he doesn't play jazz, he doesn't play ragas, he doesn't play Arabic music, he draws on it for his own remarkable sound. It's not the discrete elements or how he uses them that are interesting, it is the incredible music as the thing itself.

There was some interesting discussions about summer music earlier in the blog. The Freak of Araby is one of my major records this summer. If surf music piques your interest, do yourself a favor and check out this tasty variation. And, here's a quick listing of his remaining dates this tour:

Saturday June 27 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7^th Street Entry with Paul Metzger

Tuesday June 30 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir

Wednesday July 01 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile

Thursday July 02 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall on Univ. of Oregon Campus

Friday July 03 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill with Rubber O Cement

By all means, if you can, catch this show . . . because, as amazing as the record is, it's twice as good live.

He touched me like no other..

in my opinion, his best work.

Thriller was great and actually the first cassette I ever purchased, but this is one I can and will still listen to (like I am right now).




RIP MJ

Kings of Leon

Sometimes there is a pop band that actually deserves the hype. These guys fucking rock, and Aha Shake Heartbreak is a killer album. I don't care if they sell out stadiums and are big with the brit-pop magazines or whatever, I was just listening to "Pistol of Fire" and it reminds me of the best of Firehose. I've been trying to get DC hip to this for ages and he refuses to check them out, I think that he is afraid he will actually like it.  

Looks like Captain Crawl has turned in his cape...

I can't get it through Firefox, Safari or IE.

Funk-o-phonix

The yee-haws in Etown were on my last nerve the other day, so I had to pull out a vintage soul/funk/r&b playlist to drown out the cowboy hats (not that I have a problem with cowboy hats, but if I hear one more lard-slathered slice of good ol' southern country common sense, I'm gonna let Jesus back in my life and then shoot myself).

What follows is said playlist . . . it violates my usual mix rule of one song per artist, and essentially is nothing more than an expansion of Tarantino's Jackie Brown soundtrack. By no means comprehensive or even particularly inclusive, it nonetheless got me through the day and back into my car at night, where I had a Kool Keith compilation waiting for me in the player & 40 miles of interstate to ride back up to the River City.

In Rotation - Soul Funk One

Shuggie Otis - "Inspiration Information"
Issac Hayes - "Shaft"
Billie Paul - "Me & Mrs. Jones"
Bill Withers - "Ain't No Sunshine"
The Isley Brothers - "That Lady" (Pt.s 1 & 2)
The Meters - "Cissy Strut"
The Delfonics - "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time"
James Brown - "Down and Out in New York City"
The Brothers Johnson - "Strawberry Letter #23"
Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground"
The Brothers Johnson - "I'll Be Good to You"
The Meters - "Look-Ka Py Py"
Bill Withers - "Use Me"
Bobby Womack - "Across 110th Street"
The Brothers Johnson - "Get the Funk (Out of My Face)"
Bloodstone - "Natural High"
Minnie Ripperton - "Inside My Love"
Shuggie Otis - "Gospel Groove"
Bill Withers - "Lean on Me"
Bill Withers - "Who is He (and What is He to You)?"
The Brothers Johnson - "Stomp"
Stevie Wonder - "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"
Randy Crawford - "Street Life"
The Delfonics - "Going out of My Head"
The Meters - "Fire on the Bayou"
The Delfonics - "La La La Means I Love You"
The Isley Brothers - "Spill the Wine"
The Brothers Johnson - "The Real Thing"
The Gap Band - "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Want to Hurt Me)"
Parliment - "Up for the Downstroke"
Stevie Wonder - "Living for the City"
Shuggie Otis - "Shuggie's Boogie"

Enjoy!

yo

Check out this news story:

"Jury rules against Minn. woman in download case"

All i'm saying if this lady got hit with $1.92MM, then Radiobutt is staring down the barrel of $100,000,0000,000.

R.I.P. Jammie Thomas-Rasset.

dc

Atlas Sound

Been listening to the new Atlas Sound album "Logos", which can be found on Radiobutt, repeatedly, so good. I think this is really the 2nd Atlas Sound album, it's the solo project of the lead singer from Deerhunter and I like it actually a lot better than Deerhunter, much more blissed-out ambient style. I know DC was sick of looking at Lou Reed but now he's gotta look at Brad Cox, whose got some weird disease that makes him super-skinny. My favorite song off this album so far is "Quick Canal", which I hope isn't about what I think it might be about if you've read about this dude or seen the cover to their first album, urgh.....

Rainy Day...

Another rainy day in NYC...

Any votes for best rainy day album? Shadow Endtroducing, Kind of Blue, and Electric Ladyland get a lot of play in my house on days like this.

Lastly, someone post something new so i don't have to look at Lou Reed anymore. I don't want the lack of posts to make the new guy feel self-conscious.

dc

The Blue Mask

I have had friends that worship Lou Reed like people worship Dylan (sometimes the same people), but I've never been one of those guys. Nonetheless, Lou Reed at his best has an undeniable power. The Blue Mask is one of those powerful moments, perhaps the last great work of his solo career.

"My House" is more meditation than rock, a low flame that builds into a raging fire by the end of Side A. Starting with his new found domesticity, Reed wanders through meditations on women (a particularly facile one at that), alcoholism (not much more interesting), and guns (a little better, but not as good as the similar "Kicks" from Coney Island Baby). By the time he gets to "The Blue Mask", he's full of masochistic aggression worthy of the best Velvet Underground.

He manages to hold momentum through the start of Side B, with "Average Guy" being one of the more interesting reflections on middle age: though not specifically about middle age, "Average Guy" manages to connect in ways that the misfires on Side A do not. After a brief sidetrack with "The Heroine" (the song sounds like it wants to be symbolic to the point of allegory, but I just can't see it . . . and what is it with seafaring rock songs? Does this song want to share compilation space with "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)"?), Lou is quickly back on the rails with "Waves of Fear" - which is an interesting companion to John Cale's "Fear". After another sidetrack with with "The Day John Kennedy Died" (the sort of optimistic Americana embodied in Kennedy worship just doesn't sound legitimate coming from Reed), he ends the album with the magnificent "Heavenly Arms", which belongs up with his best from the last two Velvet Underground albums.

The Blue Mask has four of Reed's best songs: "Average Guy", "Waves of Fear", "Heavenly Arms", and, above all, "The Blue Mask". The stripped down rock sound, with Robert Quine on guitar and Fernando Saunders on bass, is as good a band sound as Reed ever gets. There are the indulgences familiar to any fan of Reed's . . . but, though this may not be the best Lou Reed album, it certainly lives with the best.

Gay for Valet

I was checking out my music on my work computer today (keep about 10 GB on there just randomly) and came across Valet, "Naked Acid", which, I will make the statement, pound for pound is my favorite album on the planet. It is just totally exactly where I'm at musically. Love it. I truly am gay for Valet.

So I Gchatted at your boy Rootless and he said "Oh, you got the new Valet? I heard Pitchfork gave it a "meh"..." I cruised over to Pitchfork to check it out, and got as far as the second paragraph where they said "It's only being released digitally and through limited edition vinyl, 500 hand numbered only which is sure to go fast..." and I literally dropped what i was doing (sales rep on other end of the phone saying "hello? hello?") and ran to Other Music to pick it up.

Hahaha, "limited edition vinyl" and it's like Manchurian Candidate, I become a zombie and walk to the nearest record store. Or Reggie Jackson in Naked Gun, "I MUST.. KILL... THE QUEEN..." Anyone feel that?

Anywho, it's pretty cool. They (she? Honey Owens?) covers a song "Rainbows" by Boris and it's supposed to be pretty hot. Came with a download so I'll get it and pass on digitally if we ever do a DVD trade again in this crazy era of blogs and Rapidshare.

Also got the newest Numero Joint.




Keep reaching for that rainbow.

dc

Band of Horses--Live at Carnegie Hall

I saw these guys at Terminal 5 about a year and a half ago and it was a really good but inconsistent show. Tons of energy and they sounded great for an overflowing and adoring crowd, but they fucked up a couple of times. The worst was on one of the encores, the lead singer actually stopped the song about a minute in and they moved on to another song. I can't remember seeing that from a big pro band.

That kind of amateurism was on display again last night. Ben Bridwell somehow knocked the mic over at the start of a song and the sound guy had to run over and put it back into place for him. He kept struggling with his guitar strap, and the violinist (who was basically useless throughout the set) knocked into her mic or messed with her input and created a huge ugly sound several times.

All of those things were annoying and kind of comical and they might even be endearing because these guys are not jaded indie rockers who are just calling it in. There was real sincerity from these guys, they were totally psyched to be playing Carnegie Hall and most of the show was great. Highlights were "Monsters", "Weed Party", and "Detlef Schrempf". Some of these were reimagined version of the songs for the acoustic set up of the venue that made them more folky/country, like on "weed party". They started the encore with just the singer and guitarist on a subdued version of "Ode to LRC", which is usually a big powerful song, but that worked really well. The lowlight for me was their terrible change to "Window Blues", a really beautiful slow song that closes out their last album "Cease to Begin". They played it as uptempo country song and it was awful and sloppy. It reminded of when I saw Bob Dylan play one of my favorite songs "Don't think twice, it's all right" as a power ballad with his whole band and how that felt like heresy.

Still, pretty cool show and I had never been to Carnegie Hall before.

Impressions on a Patch of Blue

I bought this record off of eBay a few years ago. Walt Dickerson Quartet, "Impressions of a Patch of Blue". Got hip to this because your boy Sun Ra is on the keys. It's really good stuff. Anywho, I got it on eBay but the LP was fucked up and it had the same recording on both sides of the LP. But what can you do? My beef isn't with the seller, it's really with the record manufacturing plant from the 60's.

Then, DING! I remembered... the internet! Here it is my, friends. Dope LP. Definitely worth checking out.

Now I'll sell the LP on eBay to the next guy, and the beat goes on...

dc

NEIL!

Don't want to cause any trouble by going on about something so obvious and un-esoteric as NY, but I love him to death and think almost everyone would want this, especially for free with no 15 minute wait. Dig it!

Music from the igloo

I was visited by a friend this evening, a certain S.G., and my visitor commented upon the music. I was listening to Rogerio Duprat's "Brazilian Suite", part of the recent best of blog music exchange with DC, and feeling it big time, such good vibes. I was able to tell my story about being deported from Brazil to Paraguay, with the sounds of the '70s Junta behind me. 

Also been checking out: Tony Allen, "no accommodation with Lagos"; Wavves; Japandroids' "Heart sweats" is my favorite song of the moment; listened to the Beastie Boys "Check your Head" on a road trip this past weekend, which was a highlight; I got some crazy dan bau music from Vietnam going right now. But really for me it's all about Pink Mountain tops, I <3 them.

4 GB of Turkish music...

...still have to sift through all of it, but I will keep you posted. I've already heard some amazing amazing stuff, but I will relax about too many posts, assuming most of you guys don't really care one way or the other about Mehmet Ovek's inspired rendition of Roman Oyun Havasi or Tavas Zeybek.

Colin Wilkie and Shirley Hart

I found this album a while back while blog surfing for music. It's pretty amazing. Starts off as a 7.5, but after a listen or two it sinks in and works up to 9 status. It's like Pentangle meets Pharaoh Sanders or something. Very unique. Recommended.

dc

Shaolin Death Squad: Intelligent Design

Melodic Prog Rock from Denton, TX. Not as much virtuosity as Rush or Dream Theatre. There is the familiar shifting time signatures of prog, but stylistically they go all over the place a bit more. The drummer plays in King Diamond and they definitley have a theatrical aspect with the masks, costumes ect.

This disc is from 2006 and has 9 songs ranging from the 3 minute appropriately titled "Radio Feeler" to Choreographer Of Fate that is 8 minutes. While there are some metal riffs and double bass fills, I wouldn't call this a "metal" band. There are a lot of slower keyboard passages and the vocals go from heavy metal growls to melodic Mr. Bungle style in the same song! Live they cover a Danny Elfman tune, not sure where to put that, regarding style. They have a track with vocoder as well.

Below is the artist description. Clearly an element of goof to the whole thing. When a Manchu conspiracy to overthrow the Ming dynasty is thwarted by a group of Shaolin disciples and patriots, a fierce battle to defend the life of the King ensues, with deadly results. Put down the Animal Collective for one day, and rock tha f!@# out!

Pink Mountaintops

This is Rootless' favorite album ever, even more than Phoenix, Ryan Adams and MGMT.

dc

Luna Tigerlily

No, that is not the name of the new Jack White side project...

Not music-related but wanted to take a second to shout out my main man and Blog member Gabino who just had his third baby, named Luna Tigerlily Saavedra. Everybody is happy and healthy. Congrats, bro!

dc

Help!

My BitZipper free subscription has expired. Has anyone actually bought it? Is it working ok before I take the plunge?

Heavy Meeeeeeetal!

Ator sent this link to me a long time ago. Is there really a band called Wiccan Guidance Counselor?
http://www.comicvsaudience.net/images/flow_heavymetal.jpg

Lightning Bolt + Mudboy

Three Armed Chippendale, originally uploaded by jimturbert.

I just saw them in a place the size of a high school bathroom. It was loud and totally sick. Brian Chippendale warned a guy in the front to put ear plugs in or he would be "decimated." A guy who calls himself Mudboy opened up. He was interesting. I think he may take acid. Also, he might play dungeons and dragons a lot. His character would be a druid. A druid with a synthesizer and theatrical lighting. I had never heard of him before the show, so I checked out his myspace, but I dismissed him very quickly. That said, he won me over live, not because of his amazing songs, but because it was so freaking weird. He blends pleasant sounding synthesized tones with what appear to be nature recordings, and then he starts chanting and yelling about "the pig" and throwing babies in a hole. It's totally worth checking him out live just for the "what the fuck?" factor.

Mudboy!, originally uploaded by jimturbert.