I'm sure this Californian two piece are getting bored of being unable to read a write-up without a mention of Panda Bear. There you go guys, had to be said.
There's much more to it, you can find it for yourself then get yourself a physical copy of this EP from Secretly Canadian
That album cover, coud be a Tame Impala cover, some MGMT artwork, you could see it on Altered Zones or the ilk... I suppose what I'm trying to say is, that for an album out in 1971 it holds up, it looks good and most importantly the tunes are good.
Take, Hanging On An Eyelid: Beach House or even your precious Arcade Fire would love some of that slightly tropical synth styling at the start. It's a prog tune though, it know's it, it's got the quirk, it doesn't go anywhere, there's some xylophone, there's no chorus, it's a very British sound and the man has a voice that is essentially him talking out of tune.
Get your boxes at the ready because Rob and Callum are gonna tick 'em for ya. New hip hop from Wu Tang and TheManWithThreeNames, new jazz from Michael Kiwanuka, deep soul from Geater Davis, Canadians, Crunk Juice, Lindsay Buckingham covers, Music Power 100 nonsense and a tribute to Gil Scott-Heron.
Tracklisting
Gil Scott-Heron - Or Down You Fall
Wu-Tang - Only The Rugged Survive
TheManWithThreeNameS - Rollercoaster$
Thunder and Rose - White Lace and Strange
Simply Saucer - Nazi Apocalypse
Rituals - Life Saver
Eric's Trip - Secret for Julie
Michael Kiwanuka - Tell Me a Tale
Geater Davis - Wrapped Up In You
Nightlands - Trouble
Blemishes - Swoon
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - We Almost Lost Detroit
You may remember a Max B posting a few weeks back, I put up the killer African disco track Bananaticoco, killer absolute killer. Well here's a cut from his rare Spanish released LP Sex-Revolution, Possession and it's ready to spin on the same dancefloor.
Scrabbling for a tune whilst DJ'ing the other night I saw 'Hoochie Coochie Man' scribbled down on a CDR and just slotted it in. Slotted in and turned right on to a version of the Muddy Waters tune I forgot about; a cover by Dion Dimucci edited and lifted from lord knows where? The edit is just a bit of echo, a subtle bit of tinkering has gone some way.
Got the heads up on this from one of my regular blog haunts The Beat: A remix of the Harvey Arverne R'n'B track 'You're No Good', I say 'remix', but Terry put this track under the knife back in 1967 (it was only officially released in 2000), that word or concept didn't even exist back then.
From the droning synths, which at first made me think I'd left my iTunes on shuffle and it'd skipped to an iDosing track I intriguingly downloaded back when it was in the news, it moulds into a broken r'n'b soul track that makes up the best part of this 20 plus minute reworking before the drones return accompanied by a sped up tape.
Like all the best remixes it completely changes the tone and meaning of the song; like Harvey Averne is reliving an argument between him and a lover in a disjointed dream, looping things he said and she said in such a surreal manner it is both nightmarish and hypnotic.
Rob and *drum roll* Callum return to the podcast; the patented chemistry, the opening of the rambling box once again, the ill advised ranting of respected bands and the true story of where CMG has been. The War on Drugs, Bobbie Gentry, Thundercat, Nodzzz, Guards, Meyer Hawthorne and more provide your musical seasonings in this most monumental of podcasts.
Tracklisting Guards - Hear You Call Nodzzz - Heyday Past Heyday Due Radiator Girls - Eerie Body Bos Angeles - Beach Slalom Fan Modine - Through the Valley Mayer Hawthorne - Fantasy Girl Thundercat - For Love I Come Arthur Verocai - Na Boca Do Sol The War on Drugs - Baby Missiles Youth Lagoon - Cannons Bobbie Gentry - Okolona River Bottom Band
Cheers Aquarium Drunkard for pointing this collection of killer steel drum funk in my direction. Some familiar covers and some dug up gems make up a comp hotter than the hottest jerk sauce.
The tune below, taken from the comp, was ripped and used as a sample in a track by the eternally soulless, talentless, vapid, charismaless, charmless... you know who I'm talking about? Still, a killer track from a dynamite comp.
A friend and I were talking about Justin Fashanu the other day; still we can't believe that in the history of professional football, the hundreds of thousands of professional teams with the decades and decades of squads with a team of two dozen men, there has only really been ONE noted incidence of a football player having the confidence to come out as being homosexual.
The story of Justin is a fairly unsavoury one and not one I want to go into on this blog, but I do find it sad that the attitudes of some in the world's most popular sport are stuck in the dark ages.
On that note here's some disco Justin put out - Do It 'Cos You Like It - a track I picked up a few years ago and dismissed. It's only after mentioning this track to my mate that I decided to dig it back out and it's actually BETTER than I gave it credit for.
Is this good? Bit of a mess really, just some cheap drums and some 80s funk keys; I ain't seeing this is a bad thing. But it's a mess I'm trying to get my head round whether these repeated listens are even worth it.
Thoughts?
Compare and contrast. I love you Beck, man, and I know you helped on this record, but you needn't have touched it.
Off to see space-kraut-pop-drone-duo Moon Duo tonight at Corsica Studio but slightly annoyed that I'll be missing out on Sonic Boom's Spectrum at the other end of town at the Lexington. This'll have to be a happy medium soundtracking my tube ride.
Take a wee browse down this site and you'll realise I don't really listen to much 'house' music, have I discounted it or do I invest so much time in other genres that I find little time to delve into another endless pit in search of diamonds?
Bumped into this tune a few weeks ago and all it took was some Curtis Mayfield vocals to get me interested, that voice is likely butter on my toasted heart... I was gonna write some blurb as if I really knew anything about house, could say it reminds me of a certain decade in house music or a region (everyone tosses off over Chicago don't they?) without risking sounding like a simpleton, click on the tune and let that talk for you...
The confrontational heavy hip hop of Death Grips shares the air with the sinister yet breezy psych folk of These Trails, the 'kraut space garage' of The Feeling of Love, Czechoslovakian beat group Hana Ulrychová & Atlantis, the soft pop hangover cure of Harpers Bizarre, industrial post-punk experimentalists Gray and more.
Tracklisting Death Grips - Spread Eagle Cross The Block Ela Orleans - I Know The Feeling of Love - I Am Right, You Are Wrong Hana Ulrychoca & Atlantis - Don't You Break It Again Harpers Bizarre - Witchi Tai To These Trails - Psyche I & Share Your Water The Men - ( ) Gray - Wig Turn To Crime - Sunday's Cool Jimmy Cliff - Let's Dance
Infectious bit of disco carrying on from the Steel Funk vibe I've been digging.
Big hitter for Lerry Levan and the pioneering turntablists of the time.
Can't find a digital copy of this or any comp with it on, will cost you at least £40 online. If anyone knows where it can be found cheaper or whether it's on a comp, drop me a line.
House of Balloons is one of the best albums of the year, placed on your listening device and into your heart free of charge. I think you're gonna find it hard to buy a fresher debut album this year.
A new 'unofficial' video for What You Need has dropped, blogs are putting up their NSFW's and calling this racy. Maybe over the years I've become desensitised to what the internet can throw up on a simple google search. Suppose it's meant to have an air of debuached class to it; the black and white, the balloons borrowed from the album's plastic inflatable theme and a bizarre love triangle. Pretty impressive for a fan made thing though, but what impresses me the most - isn't that the guy from the hit teen sit-com City Guys?
If I could have your attention for a moment; while you finish gawping at Odd Future aimlessly jumping off speakers with skateboards, grunting to a backing track and laughing ironically at their worryingly homophobic and sexually violent lyrics - may I introduce you to KeithCharles Spacebar.
If you listened to the pod a few weeks ago (this one) you'd have already been introduced to the hazy smokey jazz of BlowinO's, well here is his latest free mixtape/album BeforeCommonEra a collection of spiritual jazz, jazz, funk and soul samples that hug the laid back flow of KeithCharles
For me this and The Weekndhave been two of the strongest albums of the last year, free albums, pointing a way to the future of black music... and boy does it need some change (I'm looking at you Black Eyed Peas).
Hey man, get yourself into Night-People records with their Spring 2011 comp (bit fashion show innit?). The Iowa label have already released tapes and wax from Dirty Beaches, Peaking Lights, EMA and more... some more is on this comp.
Quite a charming little mix of lofi, garage, electronics and novel oddities, you'll find something to to dig on this comp whatever your taste.
The melancholy bath, the harmony soak and the sugar blitz. You'll need it after your ears have rolled around in the glam rock garage dirt of King Tuff, taken a trip through Black Joe Lewis's Booty City and Madlib's Nittyville. There's more besides from Steel drum funk to sugary indie pop and loner rock to hip hop.
Tracklisting
King Tuff - Hands
Lil Daggers - King Korpze Black Lips - Modern Art
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Booty City
Madlib - What Can U Tell Me ft MED
The Dutch Rhythm and Steel Band - Funky Stuff
Other Colors - Make Your Move
Boys Choir - Stoned, Not Working
Regina - Jos Et Sa Soita
The Sea and Cake - Up On the North Shore
Crystal Stilts - Precarious Stair
Gold-Bears - Record Store
Eddie Callahan - Paper Rain
Looking for tunes for a new SPACEHIPS mix (check the mix section for previous works), Toad could find themselves on it, perhaps I won't go down this heavy psych rock blues route. Some of 'em used to be in Brainticket, they got some credentials: some long hair, some flares and some killer fur on their jackets. Puts you and your Mad Men haircut to shame doesn't it?
These tracks are from their second album Tomorrow Blue, when the songs are duds your picking up your needle and skipping, but then you got moments like Vampires, No Need, Change in Time and Fly that get ya reach for the arm to listen all over again.
