Lettuce

Hanging out on the Mothership yesterday left me hungry for more funk, and this time I wanted more of a mixed salad to feast on (extreme apologies for the horrible pun), so I turned to hard mutherfunkers Lettuce, and their 2002 effort: Outta Here.

Preface: the album was a reunion of sorts, as the members originally met in 1992 at the Berkeley summer music program as spry lil' lads, and with an average age of 15, the only way to take over a stage or play a succession of shows was to borrow gear, instruments, more stage time, etc. Hence "Lettuce" (as in "let us borrow your kit, let us play tomorrow night..") was born. They all went their separate ways, each finding success in various forms: Eric Krasnow and Sam Kininger are members of Soulive; Adam Deitch, born with sticks in his hand, has held the beat for Average White Band, John Scofield, The Squad, and his own side gig The Adam Deitch project whose hip hop beats backed rapper The Game; Ryan Zoidis was a founding member of the Rustic Overtones; Erick Coomes found a successful producing career in LA; Jeff Bhasker the keyboardist for drum-n-bass/soul/electronica Brooklyn outfit Kudu.

Outta Here is straight up, dead on heavy funk featuring additional work from John Scofield, trombone legend Fred Wesley, and Neil Evens from Soulive humps his B-3 for added sonic texture. The total result is tip-top, and all the talent under this tent signaled that the Book of Funk had found new prophets to spread the Gospel. Deitch, born to drumming parents, is a tight, mean little bastard on the drums. His career in funk, R+B, jazz, and hip hop drumming makes his gravy extra thick here, saturating the whole album with deep, smokey grooves while at the same time making you get up for the downstroke. Even the one cover track on the album, Herbie's "Hang up your hang-ups" from his 1975 release Man-Child, is given a fresh infusion and ripping sound.

This 10 years after the fact reunion recording was followed by a successful US and Japan tour, a live album, and the 2008 release Rage! which I've (sadly) yet to get to, but will no doubt discuss once I've become completely exhausted with Outta Here. Hasn't happened yet.

Funkadelic

Growing up I always lumped Parliament/Funkadelic into one bucket and knew it as the disco, late-70's funkified shizzz the Dr. Dre sampled. I checked it out a few times but it was (and for the most part, still is) a little too discotheque for me. I'll get my funky groove on with Parliament on the headphones, but the whole Sir Nose, weird mythology and fantasy angle turns me off as well.

At some point I realized that Funkadelic was a different animal and decided to check it out. Upon listening to the eponymous Funkadelic LP, my mind was blowed. Starts with a funky overly reverbed voice telling you that "If you lick my soul, I will suck your funky emotion", and then the drums! Thick drums in that good groove that can work with a funk jam or a grunge riff.

It was like a funkier, more bugged out Band of Gypsies. A ten minute groove on one funky rock riff but that never grows old. Head nodding music. More rock than disco.

There is a time and place for Parliament, but Funkadelic is my jam.

If you want more info, Issue 18 of the stellar magazine Wax Poetics was entirely dedicated to the Funkadelic/Parliament crew, explains their history and lineage.

Drunk and listening to "Millions Now Living Will Never Die."  Just wanted to shout it out.

I gotta git som'mo

The crazed energy that seeps out of your speakers when listening to Parliament's Live P-Funk Earth Tour, the double-album documentation of two performances in January 1977 on the West Coast (Oakland and Los Angeles), is an album I return to at least once a month, many times when faced with some task appearing far too involved to attempt while nursing a hangover.

The opening track alone, with its slightly sloppy trumpet solo paving the way for the signature sax intro for P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up), wafts up to your ears slowly and then slaps you upside the head like the fat side of a rowing oar when the crowd explodes in song. Gets you juiced, even when you still reek like a bar mat at the end of a double-shift in an Irish Pub.

One of the choice moments early on is when Bootsy, in the middle of "Dr. Funkenstein's Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication Medley", treats the crowd to an impromtu spoken-word performance while the band holds the line behind him:

There once was a man from Peru,
who went to sleep in his canoe.
He was stringin' up fish,
took out his penis,
woke up with a hand full of goo.

The whole recording is as nasty, in the pocket, bizzare and jarbled as the few remaining brain cells scrambling in the dark to find one another in George Clinton's brain, which at this point probably more closely resembles the inside of your college-days bong, or even a burnt match.

The Slow Listening Movement

Thought all you data junkies might find this interesting.

The Yellow Shark - Frank Zappa and the Ensemble Modern

Ahoy - new voice in the choir here. An apt way to put it, as I woke this morning with a fierce craving for some latter-day Zappa and found it with the often overlooked but excellent 1992 recording of Zappa's serious orchestral work, of many of his compositions which appear to have been composed on the Next Plane.

Reworkings of classic Zappa offerings like "Uncle Meat" and live arrangements of such outer-space nastiness like "G-Spot Tornado" - all with performance support from the Ensemble Moderne during several sold-out performances in Germany.

After a boozy night of cigarettes and dark, insidious dreams - a fine way to greet the morning during your coffee enema.

MMW Zaebos anyone?

Anybody get the MMW disc that was released on Tzadik (John Zorn's label)??

I think it's called Zaebos.

I think I need it.


Check this shit out.

Give a shout if you have this and want to trade....

Prefuse 73 - T5 Soul Sesions Volume 1

This is a few years old, but is hitting the spot big time. This is one of my fave CD's... this was a promo giveaway (limited copies) from NYC clothing store/line Triple Five Soul. Diplo did a mix as well, I think...

This is light years away from Prefuse 73 glitch hop weirdness. Just a straight up mix tap of 60's pop psych, Brazilian folk music, spiritual jazz, etc... I found this quote by the man on the internet "(It's) a small sample of what I go home and listen to. More than a traditional mixtape, I preferred to let the introspective side in and share the sounds that I play when I’m cooking dinner, just thinking, or not sitting behind an MPC and various instruments for 12 hours!"

Such a consistent vibe throughout. Mellow. Great CD to throw on and listen to all the way through when you are just cooling out.

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis

I've really been diggin' on The Assassination of Jesse James...soundtrack, by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (violinist from Dirty Three).  I don't know if this is a proper, formal soundtrack; the album says "music from the motion picture."  This is another good wintery, rainy day selection.  Very sparse instrumentation, some piano, some strings, minimalist and melodic.  I'd say this album was "haunting" if it didn't make me sound like an idiot.

I also just picked up Dig Lazarus, Dig!!!, with the Bad Seeds.  I know this made a lot of top tens at year end; a couple of listens and so far so good.  I haven't quite wrapped myself around the vibe yet, but this is the first album in a while that I want to listen to twice in a row.  It's kind of amazing how Nick Cave has transformed himself into this grand old ambassador of musical craftsmanship, and is now in the Tom Waits/David Byrne sort of pantheon - the old school guy who is constantly able to reinvent and stay way beyond relevant.

right now and generally

What's up everybody, I'm listening to Coltrane right now and drinking a beer and it feels really good. I've also been listening to the following lately:

UNKLE: War Stories

Andrew Bird: The Mysterious Production of Eggs

Holy Fuck

Kings of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak

Johnny Cash: American Recordings

Autolux: Future Perfect

... and I saw a really cool band Saturday night at the Living Room, on the Lower East Side (which one musician friend said to me was "the best stage in NYC"), Renaldo the Ensemble with Aldo Perez. Crazy circus hilarity that includes costumes, sound effects, comedic banter with the audience, mixed with Tom Waits/Nick Cave style songs with surreal lyrics like "even his goldfish are insane" (sung by a woman in a French maid outfit). 

NOMO: Ghost Rock

These guys are from Ann Arbor, and I was tipped to it by someone from Ann Arbor, so I don't know how far they've come your way. I just got it so I've only spun it a few times but it seems to touch on a lot of things most of you hold dear; Fela, Sun Ra, Congotronics, Thrill Jockey, etc., all with a subtle rock underpinning, kind of like a super modern version of Demon Fuzz. It's Good!

I Bought Records

I was over in SoHo getting my hair cut at Rocco's barbershop on Spring Street, and it was so nice out I decided to take a stroll over to Other Music and buy records:



They re-released that Muslims joint I blogged about a while back, with three extra tracks, and a free download. Two records I got came with the free download feature. I love that, throwing in the free download to sweeten the pot of buying it on vinyl. The first pressing of this is long gone, but they did the same thing to these where they shot each cover with a Magnum .44, so there are three bullet holes.



Got this joint by "The Browns" as well, on the same label as The Muslims. The little blurb said "If you are feeling that Muslims joint, you'll love this" and that was good enough for me! Cover is, uh, brown but there is some flavor inside with a photograph taped onto the inner cover to show it has that handmade TLC. It's good rock and roll...



I got this new record by "Mountains" (Thrill Jockey) on iTunes earlier this week and liked it enough to get it on vinyl, because I am a retard who doesn't have anything better to spend $15 bucks on (like my fucking mortgage). I don't know, you put the words "acoustic/electronic", "Thrill Jockey", "Vinyl", and "Limited Edition" together and it's a Pavlonian response... I'm pulling out my credit card. This is good shit, though, ambient electronic sounds with acoustic guitar, kind of like "The Monastics" but less awesome, but I'll save that for another post.




Whenever I'm over at Other Music I always like to get at least one record that I know nothing about based on cover alone. I've gotten some of my favorite records of all times that way. It feeds my gambler instinct as well, I recon. So I got this joint by "Wavves". I think I have heard of them, but no idea of the music. It is Williamsburg/Bushwick Brooklyn bug out shit, some "songs" but mostly weird noise. I like it but I won't push it on you guys.



Lastly, I got this for you Gabino! For $6.00! If you have a way to listen to it I'll send over to you tomorrow as a belated Christmas gift.

Stay up, homies.

dc looch, keeping the economy going in these troubled times...

Fucked Up -- The Chemistry of Common Life

Maybe I've been listening to too much Bon Iver, okay there's not a doubt I've been listening to too much Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, PB&J, M.Ward and lots more seriously "pretty" rock/folk lately. So when I first heard about Fucked Up (on a pitchfork best of '08 list I believe) as a punk/hardcore outfit with early smashing pumpkins-esque guitar overdubs (allegedly fu averages something silly like 70 per track) with loud/quiet/loud bossanova-era Pixies Rawk with Cookie Monster/Motorhead vocals screaming lyrics like "it's hard enough being born in the first place/why would I want to be born again?" I thought to myself holy shit! and was not disappointed.
This is my new favorite shit to rock out on a crowded f train or am otherwise in danger of like a commuter robot in a suit . Highly recommended when you need some RAWK.

Rolling Stone Top 50 of 2008

These are the top 20, I didn't want to copy the whole list and make this entry too long. I used to read RS all the time years ago, it's probably been 4 years since I looked at it until today. This list is written by more than one person; which may explain Guns n Roses and No Age being on the same list. Steve Malkmus is still making records? AC/DC?
1 | TV on the Radio: Dear Science
2 | Bob Dylan: Tell Tale Signs — The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
3 | Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III
4 | My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
5 | John Mellencamp: Life, Death, Love and Freedom
6 | Santogold: Santogold
7 | Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
8 | Beck: Modern Guilt
9 | Metallica: Death Magnetic
10 | Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
11 | Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes
12 | Guns n' Roses: Chinese Democracy
13 | Blitzen Trapper: Furr
14 | Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: Cardinology
15 | The Black Keys: Attack & Release
16 | Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
17 | B.B. King: One Kind Favor
18 | Lucinda Williams: Little Honey
19 | Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Part 1(4th World War)
20 | Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/24958695/albums_of_the_year/31

Naked Raygun

I just got a bunch of old classics from my youth (pre-california high school, like '87-'90) like Big Black, Generation X, Jesus Lizard, Dead Kennedys and this Naked Raygun joint.

Not sure if this is a great album or if it is nostalgia talking, or both, but I've been rocking this back-to-back-to-back. What a great band! Not sure if you guys are hip to them... were Naked Raygun "local" to Chicago? I thought they were pretty big.

Holler at me and I'll spread the nostalgia trip for you old schooler Chicago guys.

dc

Of Montreal-Skeletal Lamping

OK, so I'm the library trying to find that The Good, The Bad The Queen CD when I come upon this. I remember seeing something about this group in Rolling Stone in some waiting room somewhere. They were being compared to early '70s David Bowie. So I borrow it and check it out. Now, this isn't normally my thing, but I think I dig this cd. I really like the way the songs are multi-tiered and switch up tempos 2 and 3 times in a track. And the lyrics? Pretty ah...entertaining as well. After a few listens, I checked out some of their other stuff on iTunes. These guys have quite a bit of output. Does anybody have any of their other stuff they'd like to share/trade/recommend?

The Good, The Bad and The Queen

This isn't new, I think it came out a year (or two?) ago. This is a super group... Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz fame (he also runs a killer record label out of UK called Honest Jon's, I believe), the guitarist of the Verve, the bassist from the Clash (!) and fucking Tony Allen of Fela Kuti fame on drums?!?!?

Really good songs, mellow, moody, good cohesive album all over. I'm pretty sure I have seasonal affected disorder (code name: S.A.D., boo hoo hoo!) so i've been bummed out, and this has been perfect fit.

If you missed this the first time, check it out again, really great album.

dc

Just listened to the Sound Opinions Podcast. This week they've interviewed the good people at the label Numero Group. Good stories on how they put those Eccentric Soul comps together. Check it out. And thanks DC for putting me up on those a few years ago.

Clara Rockmore and Tallest Man on Earth

DC gave me like 8 gigs of avant-electronic stuff, which was a really good hook-up. A lot of it is weird vintage stuff, early experimentation with electronics, some of it pretty accessible and melodic actually. I've been listening to this Clara Rockmore album a lot, 2 songs, each about 25 minutes long. I thought it was vocals and piano but then DC pointed out that it is actually a theremin and a piano. If you don't know what a theremin is (which I didn't) check it out on youtube, it is pretty cool. Clara Rockmore was a Lithuanian violin prodigy but due to some malady resulting from malnutrition she couldn't play the violin at some point. She met the guy who was developing the theremin and helped him perfect the instrument. It is spooky the way when you listen closely it sounds like a human voice, and her control is amazing. The music is dark and sounds classical, great for late at night with a last drink.

I'm also listening to Tallest Man on Earth, a folk singer from Sweden. The guy sounds just like Bob Dylan when you first listen, and while that impression lingers he definitely stands up on his own, really worth checking out.

UO - Exit the Dragon

A criminally overlooked almost-masterpiece, or just a great 70-twinged rock album, or probably a bit of both..... I couldnt get into this when it first came out; probably guilty of buying into all the shitty reviews it got, but looking back this album seriously owns. Its out of print now, so look around for this some time in the clearance bin at your local record store, because it could be the best $1.99 you spent in a long time! Or if you already own it, dust it off and give it another shot, b/c "Exit the Dragon" is definitely a slow grower..... either way, you gotta give UO props for doing the glam rock shit when everyone was flying the flannel and listening to "Tad". Theyll probably be remembered as a one-hit wonder from the 90s, but these dudes seriously had it there for a while...

Dead Man - Euphoria

I've been listening to this record for a few days now.  The internet tells me it came out in March, and I wish I realized that then, because I could have been listening to its retro proggy goodness all this time.  When I refer to proggy goodness I mean it in the early seventies krautrock kind of way, not the Dream Theatre Berkelee College sort of way.  You should check it out.  You can listen to a bunch of tracks on their myspace page >>>  http://www.myspace.com/deadmansweden

that very same page says they'll be playing in Brooklyn at a place called Union Pool on Thursday for you New Yorkers.    

Psychic Ills "Mirror Eye"

I got the new Psychic Ills joint, "Mirror Eye". Who even knew there was a new Psychic Ills CD?

It kind of sucks, though. Their album "Dins" (great album you need) was combo of weirdo sound passages grounded with solid rock/psych jams with over-effected vocals that were cool. This one is just weirdo stoner droney bugg out with no real rock to speak of and no vocals at all.

I mean, i'd take it for free to listen to it once or twice, but not worth $7.99 of your hard earned money on iTunes. Or rather, wasn't worth $7.99 of MY hard earned money on iTunes.

D-Nice

Blood Bank

The new Bon Iver EP, Blood Bank, is about what you would expect--dark, poetic, starkly beautiful, perfect winter music. I like what the critic at Pitchfork wrote about the first line of the title track--"I met you at the blood bank/we were looking at the bags"--about how that is the kind of line an aspiring novelist spends his career searching for. This guy has moments like that throughout, but in particular in that song, taking the idea of our blood hanging in rows of bags, how they are all the same color, and makes it into a meditation on identiy. I saw Bon Iver in December at Town Hall and he's got such an adoring following and he is a funny, gawky down-to-earth guy from Wisconsin who happens to write killer songs. DC, you will like it because he messes around auto-tunes on his voice, which is mainly found in mainstream hip-hop, your fav genre.

Squarepusher's redemption songs

For those like me who are disappointed with Squarepusher's last LP:

He's released a couple of EPs that are great. Really great. They're both on Warp Records, I believe.

Venus No. 17 - reminiscent of the darkness of Feed Me Weird Things and the uberprogramming genius of Go Plastic. I would put it up there with Squarepusher's best work so far.

and

Numbers Lucent - harkens back to the rave/techno influences of Hard Normal Daddy, but not nearly as cheesy.

Don't count out Mr. Jenkinson yet!

For GY!BE fans...

looking for some dark, slow, brooding post-rock?

Check out Eternal Return by This Is Your Captain Speaking.
Not as life-changing as GY!BE, but definitely worth listening to.

I am listening to...

....Black Moth Super Rainbow. No joke.

Love and Rockets "Earth Sun Moon"

I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my main man Matt Varnish, who turned his back on the WWALT blog because I think deep down inside he doesn't think he's cool enough (even though this is the guy who won a freaking Grammy for Chili Peppers Album cover?! Anyway...) Shouting this out to Matt Varnish because I distinctly remember rocking out to the cassette of this on the boom box in his basement in 8th grade, putting stickers on our OG Powell Peralta boards.

Great record that stands the test of time, I feel. Love and Rockets are the guys in Bauhaus minus Peter Murphy. They had a pretty solid career in the late 80's/early 90's. They had some MTV hits.

This record is the jam with solid rock #'s on the A-side (including "Buzz Bin" clip of the week or whatever the fuck it was called back then, "No New Tale To Tell"), but it's the flip that really does it for me now. This is just like Jane's Addiction "Ritual De Habitual" for me... I had both of them on cassette, and I basically wore out the A-side when i was a kid (rewinding, remember rewinding?) listening to all the rock jams, and then subsequently found both on vinyl as an adult, and wore out the B-side of the record checking out only the mellow introspective jams.

Since I'm blabbing anyway, can I nominate Side-B Ritual De Lo Habitual as one of the best sides to an album ever in the history of time?

Anyway, Love and Rockets "Earth Sun Moon", an old school classic.

TJ River, JKP, Gabino, Halterlein... any of your motherfuckers still down for this blog? It takes a village to raise a blog.

dc

The Empyrean - John Frusciante

When I was but a lad in northwestern Connecticut I found Red Hot Chili Peppers oddly appealing and different from the classic rock that I was weened on.  Also, I liked the rock 'n roll tennis commercials they did on TV with Andre Agassi - "Hit the ball as loud as you can!"

My dearly departed uncle knew I liked this band and saved an article about them in Rolling Stone so I could read it.  This must have been when Mothers Milk was just released because the article was focused on new guy, John Frusciante.  In the article he talked about his influences, and he mentioned how excited he was because Maggot Brain had recently been released on CD or something like that.  Because of that line in the interview, my uncle "lent" me his copy of Maggot Brain on vinyl.  I'm not really a vinyl guy, but I'm happy to have this nugget.  Anyway, I'm reminded of this touching tale because upon listening to the first track on John Frusciante's newest offering "The Empyrean" all I could think about was Maggot Brain, and it's pretty awesome.  After the opening track, the jury is still out.  It's very polished, and it sounds good.  There are obviously amazing guitar parts and sounds, including masterfully reverby wah parts.  Unlike some critics, I like John's singing voice.  Also, Flea plays some sweet bass parts.  I'm not sure how into the songs I am, though.  I've listened to it twice threes times thus far, and none of them are sticking with me (with the exception of the Maggot Brain sounding one).  I think that the songs may be missing the geniusy stylistic hooks that I've come to expect from the man.  I have a feeling it will grow on me as I become familiar with the concept behind this concept album.  I really want to like it.  I have a deep affinity for John.  I even bought most of those solo records he put out a few years ago even though I don't listen to all of them.  I'm just glad he exists and that he does what he does, especially considering the fact that there are so many whom I wish would stop doing what they do altogether.  

Does that sound negative?  I like it, don't get me wrong.  It is totally worth checking out, but I guess I expected a masterpiece.  I wanted to like it more.    

Yawning Man: Vista Point

I remember watching these dudes play at the mall when I was in high school. I didn't really get it, now I do. They have been around since 1986 in some form or another.
3 piece instrumental surf/Spaghetti Western rock. There is the familiar heavy reverb guitar sound, but I don't really hear many recycled Dick Dale or Ventures riffs here. Lookout for Theremin on one of the tracks. Vista Point has 14 tracks, they combined their two releases into one disc. This is not the "stoner rock" the southern Califonia desert is known for. The drummer played in QOTSA and bassist Mario Lalli is a damn good guitar player in his other band Fatso Jetson. This track reminds me of El Ten Eleven. Check out the slow dirge of Manolete. You gotta love a track named Sony Bono Memorial Freeway!

Jack Rose

Also listening to Jack Rose today, American guitarist, someone you'll like if you're into the James Blackshaw, John Fahey thing--open tunings, experimentation. Some of the stuff he does is folk sounding ("Kensington Blues", is one album), and it's cool, but the really hip stuff is on "Raag Manifestos" and "Opium Music", where an eastern, foreboding sound dominates, more sitar than acoustic guitar.