Genius Mixes on iTunes

What does yours look like? Here's mine. Anyone know how "Genius" compiles mixes? I added a few Stevie Wonders and my Classic Funk mix turned into Classic R&B mix. I want my Funk mix back!

Continuing the Discourse.....

Take a couple minutes to read this thoughtful, well-written article on downloading/generation "free"/Spotify, etc, etc.

Here's another post praising Jahtari. They just keep getting better. This is a heavyweight straight outta Leipzig!!

MMM

I'm not a big turntablism guy really but Mix Master Mike is killing it on this little promo thing:



dc

Julia Holter, "Ekstasis"

I've been feeling this album, has a lot of interesting elements: classical, eastern modalties, ambient sound flourishes, pop. Definitely worth checking out.

Also, saw a band called Monogold at a rooftop party in Bushwick recently. They had a real buzz going, jaded hipsters suddenly stopped posing and grouped around to check it all out. They sound a little like Modest Mouse meets Wild Beasts, if you dig that. Their album "The Softest Glow" is on Spotify.

New Peaking Lights Joint!

You can stream the new Peaking Lights CD on this website:

http://m.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/jun/13/peaking-lights-lucifer-album-stream?cat=music&type=article

Their last one made my top three of 2011.  Haven't check this new one yet, assuming it is money.

dc

Here is a new 7" I got a few weeks ago on the Peckings label. I don't have much from them but what I've heard is top shelf reggae. Kind of a blending of old school and new school - this 45 uses the rhythm from the Maytal's 54-46. The Macka B track is great. It was released this year - proof that vital reggae is still being made.

Been listing to new and old hardcore/punk lately as well. Agnostic Front's "Victim in Pain" and "United Blood EP", Classics of Love, a weird German punk 7", strange Canadian grindcore. Also hit the public library the other day and checked out the 2010 reissue of the first 4 Off! EPs.

The library also had some Numero Group CDs. I'm way late to that party but I'm really digging the three CDs I've heard so far - Capsoul, Deep City and Prix. The CDs covers are pictures of 45s so I was instantly drawn to them.

LET'S GOOOOOOO

No posts in like 2 weeks??!?!?1

I've been listening to a a lot of Black Sabbath, got my 4 and 6 year olds on the wagon.  It's cute as hell when my 4 year old is singing the riff to N.I.B.

If you do Netflix check out the VHI "Greatest Albums" documentaries (i think that's what they are called).  The Sabbath "Paranoid" one is sweet.  I have Def Leppard "Hysteria" documentary queued up.

I'm also on a Boards of Canada jag.  I love that band so much I want to eat them.

Somebody hit me with some new new new shit, please.

dc

Solaris

UBUWEB tweeted the link to a rip of the vinyl recording of the soundtrack to Tarkovsky's Solaris last night.  I haven't really tried to navigate UBUWEB's  apparently vast pataphysical archive, but the occasional Twitter update makes for some good passive scores like this one.

You can also look at visuals and listen to a stream of the whole thing at the bottom of this page from the Archive of Andrei Tarkovsky.

Apparently this was recorded in 1972, but the site authors can't find any evidence it was actually ever put out in the USSR.  This, despite the fact that the Japanese releases' cover art claims the music is remastered from the original Russian vinyl.  I originally went after this link because I wanted to see the original Russian artwork, but alas.  The English language art is pretty badass, though.

NEW SCOOB

 

Your day just got a little bit better. The long overdue video for the lead off hit single from the "Funkiest Brothers In the Universe" LP by the infamous SCOOBIE BROTHERS. 

Feel it.

www.thescoobiebrothers.com

dc

NEXT LEVEL

A couple bands stepping things up to the next level with new albums. Beach House have been really good for a while, but their new album "Bloom" shows them continuing to get better. Honestly, I would've guessed that they would plateau by now, it was hard for me to envision them growing within the confines of how they were set up, Victoria Legrand's smoky vocals and organ and Alex Scally playing pretty much everything else. But they continue to write great songs and the hooks get stronger on each album. "Bloom" is their best one yet, the most immediately catchy one too, and the best produced, rich and vibrant. Favorite track so far: "other people".

Stepping it up even higher is Bear in Heaven on their new album "I love you, it's cool". I've listened to and liked the other albums by these guys but the new album is a huge leap forward, much better produced and overall stronger song-writing and clearer in its vision. Sounds at times to me like the first Verve album (before they were The Verve), or a more aggressive Sigur Ros. Actually it's a weird album in that I've talked to people about it and I've had friends say that they put it on to chill out to, but I like it when I'm driving or walking around, it's got a kind of vibrancy and energy, but it's not overwhelming. Maybe like the caffeine buzz from tea versus coffee. That analogy work? 

Also, not on the stepping it up tip, but check out Forma, another Brooklyn band. I think it's 3 guys on keyboards, all instrumental, kind of the Boards of Canada tip, very cool, on Spotify.

Missives from Club Med

What's up, guys?  My current project finished a single and put it up on Bandcamp.  Now we're just waiting for the Maseratis to get ferried in to our football field sized sunbathing platform in the Mediterranean, Duran Duran style. Excelsior!

Minutemen

I have a set list from a Minutemen show from the Hoosier Ballroom in Indianapolis from sometime in '87 (I think) the summer of 85.  It keeps falling off the wall & down behind my amps, which makes it a pain in the ass to dig out.  I keep thinking I need to get it framed, or something, but a framed set list seems really cheesy, especially a framed set list from a punk band, and even more so if that band is a bunch of flannel populists like the Minutemen.  Suppose it's worth it to preserve the thing, though.

So anyway, I've decided to recreate that set.  Here it is, in the order that they wrote it down all those years ago.  Enjoy.

Wood, Wire and Wind

In case you missed this mix on the Iron Leg Blog from a few years ago, go get it STAT because it's one of my fave mixes of all times.

Sincerely,

D-Nice

Will Sessions

OOOOOOOOooooEEEEE sookie sookie now!

I’m really really feeling Will Sessions, this 5-piece out of Detroit.  They are very much in the vein of The Breakestra, The El Michael Affair, etc. if y’all are feeling that.

They did an album that’s on Spotify covering all the tracks from Nas “Illmatic” that I listened to on back to back to back to back repeat today.  They have a newer one out called "Kindred: a Tribute to the Pioneers of Jazz Fusion” that is more elusive online, which I will be on the lookout for on vinyl or even (gasp) getting on iTunes.  Check these YouTube joints out of them live:

  

God damn!  I love how the drummer has a snare, kick, hi hat and ride/crash.  Boom.   Also really feeling the percussionist/sampler role.  I guess there's nothing too revolutionary going on here, but these guys HAVE IT.  I am really feeling this.

Here’s some other stuff:

  

Feel it!

dc

Z-Trip Beastie Boys Mega Mix

This is naaaaaaaasty.

http://ztrip.bandcamp.com/album/z-trip-presents-all-access-a-beastie-boys-megamix

dc

Robert Nesta Marley

Lively up yourself and go see the documentary "Marley"
Sure, it's almost three hours long but it's about BOB MARLEY. Seen?
Enjoy the music, learn stuff about him you never knew...

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/marley/

Adam Yauch, RIP

This is really sad...

dc

Belated Record Store Day Post...

I know it's late, but I did indeed find a score on Record Store Day....
That's the first Godspeed You Black Emperor! EP
"Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada"
One of my favorite pieces of recorded music, especially the A-side "Moya"

Jana Hunter - Carrion EP

This is an awesome record I've listened to a lot, super mellow singer / songwriter type stuff.  Just realized it's on Spotify so if you get down like that I recommend adding it to your playlists or checking it out.

DC

Bohren & der Club of Gore

Been feeling this big time, late night drinking/brooding music, doom/ambient/jazz. Heavy, sinister and beautiful.

Have always been a big fan of the Art of Noise.


^^^
Word!!






Got the 7"s this weekend and Let It Bleed today. Records, yay!

Garage Sale Season

Got these LP's for 5/$1.00 at a garage sale, everything for $2.00 even:

Big score was this Steve Reich 4 LP box set that is pretty awesome. Vinyl is clean but the box is pretty chewed up. Literally. Looks like the lady's dog got a hold of it.

Got this Philip Glass box set as well.

TWO copies of this John Hassell "Fourth World" joint! Maybe I can flip one for $10.00 on eBay?

This set off my spidey sense for some reason.

A bunch of other shit that probably sucks but at 20 cents a record you have to gamble. The Steve Reich was the score though, this is a really nice record. Maybe its on Spotify? Stay strong, true believers.

dc

Unholy Crap

From the Glowing Raw site:

"

Farewell to Glowing Raw

Dear friends,

Due to the increasingly hostile online file-sharing landscape, and the recent takedown of nearly all my Mediafire links in the wake of the Megaupload catastrophe, I have decided to cease posting on Glowing Raw.  I have been doing this for nearly five years now, and feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do: share the music I love with thousands of people, and spread the word about many great bands that have been unfairly marginalized in today's musical economy.

It has been great sharing so much music with you over the years, and hearing back from many of you about records that made an impact.  I feel proud of this site, and never imagined that so many people would come to use it as a resource.  Thank you for reading, and listening. 

If you have anything you want to say to me, please email me at glowingrawrecords@gmail.com.  If I begin a new project or website, you'll be sure to hear about it.

Alex"

Holy Crap!

Death Grips is on a major label!  They were signed to Epic by L.A. Reid!

Can't wait to hear this.

Record Store Day

Merry Record Store Day! I can't make it into the city to see Black Dice and Fourtet DJ at Other Music and to buy some limited edition swag to sell on eBay... But i did hit up my local spot for the cause:

Sunday Morning Jazz Stacks:



I swore I would never buy another reggae record, yet here we are...



This Leo Smith LP on ECM looks interesting, and a BB King record for $1.00



Anyone else into Record Store Day? Any scores?

Stay up, playazzzz.

dc

Wackie's Rhythm Force

It's what I'm listening to right now.

How about you?

dc

Ace Records

After a few months of seeking out 12"s and LPs, I went back to 7"s this past weekend. I picked up a ton of great new 45s to keep me satisfied for at least a week or two - a great Little Walter record on Checker, an alternate Argo label 7" I hadn't seen and a few new Chess sides as well - including another alternate label layout from them I didn't have in my collection - being some of the highlights.

There are two records on Ace that immediately rose to the top of the stack. One being Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clown's "Rocking Pnemonia" 7" and the other being Frankie Ford with Huey Smith doing "Sea Cruise." These are some seriously rocking late 50s rock & roll from New Orleans. Smoking! You can hear the huge influence these kind of records had on the formation of ska - just fabulously relentless driving beats. The B-side to Sea Cruise, "Roberta," swings like crazy.





I had one 7" on Ace Records previously - Jimmy Clanton of "Venus in Blue Jeans" fame doing a slower tempo track called "Just a Dream." I liked it enough to remember the label and am glad I did.



Ace Records is now a buy on sight, no questions asked label for me.

Sun Araw Vs. The Congos

I'm clearly a fan of the FRKWYS series put out by RVNG Records, who are "pairing contemporary artists and their progenitors by way of remix, reinterpretation, and original collaboration."

The latest collab is between one of my personal faves Sun Araw with reggae legends The Congos (!!!). Also along for the ride is M. Geddes Gengras, not sure what his deal is, but google searches show him as LA-based weirdo noise maker.

The music is truly smack dab in the middle between contemporary weirdness and nyabingi roots reggae. The whole thing was recorded very holistically, Sun Araw and Gengras went to Jamaica and recorded with the Congos in their studio. Let's just say they were keeping it real.

If you know me, you know I had to get the super limited edition (70 copies made with first 20 given away to friends) version on vinyl, which also came with a DVD showing the making of the album, which was interesting and also pretty inspiring.




It also came with a digital download, so if you are interested hit me up and I'll dropbox it to you, which is super easy to do and free. Peer to peer music sharing for life, yo.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

dc

Sandy Bull

I was introduced to John Fahey by my old friend/boss J R Reed, who ran the Karma Records store that I (and Clark too!) worked.  Before Fahey got the hipster seal of approval from Byron Coley and Thurston Moore, he was a cult figure largely dismissed by punkers and noise heads as acoustic folky shit, and by many folkies as too simplistic and repetitive.  I remember specifically one guitarist who commented that Fahey was "okay, but his guitar work is too primitive, and his songs aren't complex or interesting".  I would contest the second point, but a lot of his recordings (leaving aside some late 60's/early 70's recordings where he was playing frequently and at the top of his game) don't demonstrate a level of guitar aptitude that would normally justify solo guitar records.

Why bring up Fahey in a Sandy Bull review?  In the first place, for better or for worse, John Fahey has defined American solo guitar music since his rise in the sixties, to the point that he has become THE post punk figurehead in that sub-genre.  It's not even that Fahey is all that popular outside the musician's community, and lord knows if there is a manual on how NOT to be a rock star, he wrote it . . . but given his influence on musicians from Leo Kottke to Jack Rose and beyond, and the obvious debt that many who do solo guitar music owe him, it is Fahey more than anyone else who currently defines the genre.

More on point, the comparison highlights the issues that I have with most of what I've heard from Sandy Bull. Anyone who has heard any of Sandy Bull's work knows that above all he was pretty badass on a variety of strings.  On this record alone, he gives good reckoning on bass, electric and acoustic guitars, pedal steel, and (above all) oud . . . often playing along with pre-recorded tracks he laid down and played back on a reel-to-reel four track visible in the back cover photo.  None of this ever sounds cheesy, as it so easily could; and neither does the co-billed Rhythm Ace first-generation drum machine.  Throughout, Bull's playing is simultaneously in the pocket and imaginative, and he pulls of an unusual trick of playing fresh and avoiding cliches while never playing a wrong note.  Indeed, Sandy Bull is exactly what my guitar playing friend wanted John Fahey to be.

The problem is that, while the stringwork is first rate, this album falls short as music: it always sound more like a really impressive guitar demo than finished music.  One song, "Love is Forever", has Bull delivering horrible lyrics in a horrible singing voice, rendering the song completely unlistenable in spite of some good backing tracks.  The other songs, while not travesties like "Love is Forever", are pretty mundane.  Only the first song, an almost eight minute workout on the oud, really catches the ear.  But here again, I think Bull falls short compared to Fahey: when Fahey did old blues or folk classics, he transformed them, made them his.  Bull's oud work, while exceptional, comes of as an earnest attempt to emulate masters such as Hamza El Din.  And, unfortunately, as good as it may be, I will always reach for my Hamza El Din records if I want to hear the oud.

It's not a bad thing to strut your chops on solo guitar records, but it always should be subservient to the musical vision.  Leo Kottke approached Fahey-style American Primitive guitar with monster chops, and he would occasionally whip them out, but he rarely let them get in the way.  Richard Bishop (who, of all current musicians working the solo guitar tip, probably owes the least to Fahey) also sublimates his chops to the music.  With Sandy Bull, it seems he believes that chops are music.  And he is mistaken.

The album is worth listening to.  You may even listen to it more than once.  But for me, at least, it's not sticking.