Come on over, baby

Super Eagles, Viva Super Eagles (Decca 1969)
First track below by this Gambian group, "Love's a Real Thing," lent its name to the Luaka Bop collection I posted about a few days ago. These guys mixed traditional African music with their own genius take on American soul.

Super Eagles - "Love's a Real Thing"

Super Eagles - "Don't Do That To Me"

Shows ....

Boris and SunnO))) tonight at Avalon ... Boris' Pink now out in the U.S. on Southern Lord. "Farewell" isn't the most representative song off Pink but it's a nice blast of MBV / Jesu-inspired shoegazey metal.

Boris - "Farewell"



A free one - Super Furry Animals, Dead Meadow and Andy Votel this Friday 6/2 at the South Street Seaport ....

Dead Meadow - "Dusty Nothing"

Rolled gold

Further, Grimes Golden EP (Fingerpaint 1994)
Not really sure what made me dive into my little-explored 10" stacks for this slack-rock artifact but Further's disintegrated summersongs are good complement for the humid haze that's settled in over nyc this weekend. Teenage Fanclub-esque pop buried in static and fuzz.

Further - "Teenage Soul"

Further - "California Bummer"

Music like dirt

I try not to ambulance-chase every musician who dies and post their stuff, cuz I think it's a little crass .... but when a legend like Desmond Dekker goes, it'd be wrong not to take notice. Credited with the first international reggae hit for "Israelites," his catalog is full of soulful, melodic, brilliant tunes like "007" (used in The Harder They Come), "Intensified Festival 68" (written for an annual Jamaican music competition, which he won), "Pickney Gal," "Rude Boy Train" ....

At first I was bummed that his own official website still says "TO BOOK DESMOND DEKKER CLICK HERE," until I realized how cool it was that after 40 years he was still touring, with dates scheduled all summer. Some reports are saying he died onstage during a soundcheck, likely of a heart attack. RIP.

Edit: That last bit turned out not to be accurate, Dekker passed away at home. Here is the New York Times obit.


Rockin' Steady: The Best of Desmond Dekker (Rhino 1992) [Buy it]

Desmond Dekker - "Intensified Festival 68"

Desmond Dekker - "Pickney Gal"



The Harder They Come Soundtrack (Mango 1972)

Desmond Dekker - "007 (Shanty Town)"

Get on the funk train

BT Express, Non-Stop (Roadshow 1975)
I slightly prefer their harder funk but the key words on the back of this LP are: Special thanks to Tom Moulton for his disco mix. I'm coveting that new Soul Jazz collection but I haven't sprung for it yet.

BT Express - "Peace Pipe"



Tim Sweeney edit of Garage classic on secret squirrel re-edit 12" put out by igetrvng. Both sides are amazing, get the vinyl.

The Flying Squad - "Trip One"



Secret squirrel pt. 2 -- you'll just have to listen through the intro to this DJ Spun re-edit before you get to the vocals and hear whodunnit (the original track, that is). Total bumrocks / rub N tug vibe on this one.

DJ Spun - "Late ..."

Dance your troubles away

Back in the Wax Poetics "Mingering Mike" issue I found out that Scientist was still around, and had moved to the States .... now I find out he's got new tricks! The dub master (see: "King Tubby's Answer" from the 1996 comp. Dub in the Roots Tradition) pumps up William Onyeabor's "Body and Soul," an obscure Afro-disco track from the '70s, with some lurching, raggedy drums. Hot. This single was put out (in 2002 apparently) by the same guys behind the Afrodisiac Sound System bootlegs ....

William Onyeabor - "Body and Soul (Scientist Remix)"

Scientist - "King Tubby's Answer"


Luaka Bop's Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa brought some more Onyeabor to light last year with this righteous psychedelic groove from Lagos, Nigeria:

William Onyeabor - "Better Change Your Mind"

Them again?

Them, Featuring Van Morrison (Parrot 1972)
I already did a track off this recently but I can't get enough of this album. Van Morrison stripped back to a pure garage-soul belter, backed with trash can drumming and raw guitar. "Here Comes the Night" almost sounds like bubblegum at times, but you really feel the chorus. Aww, here it comes ...

Them - "Here Comes the Night"

Them - "Out of Sight"

Join the celebration

I feel like I've been posting too many '80s records lately .... but what can I say, I keep coming across the electro and it's sounding good these days .... !



Warp 9, No Man Is an Island 12" (Prism 1984)
Fair warning: For a dub version there's a lot of vocals on this, on a par with "Celebration"-era Kool & the Gang / Debarge "Rhythm of the Night" type R&B. For me: Not a dealbreaker!

Warp 9 - "No Man Is an Island (Dub Version)"



Johnny Dynell, Rhythm of Love 12" (Pow Wow 1986)
Another Larry Levan mix ....

Johnny Dynell - "Rhythm of Love (Garage Dub)"

Just because we are small

Mash, Somebody's Property 12" (Glasgow Underground 2006)
Nah it's not a mash-up, it's DJ Mash from Glasgow with a track that merges stripped-down ESG punkfunk with a vocal from some spooked-sounding lil' chorus kids. The B-side's remix by Zones has more of a tech-y, Kompakt feel and there's also a dub version.

Mash - "Somebody's Property"



While I was walking around my neighborhood on Sunday enjoying my hangover, the shuffle dealt me up the perfect soundtrack.

Burning Spear - "Marcus Children Suffer"

Laid back

Bill Conti, Rocky: Original Motion Picture Score (Capitol 1977)
Dan-o suggested I put this one up, for the summery heat-hazy atmosphere and the "Summer Madness" rising synth line. Great track. It's also the B-side to "Gonna Fly Now" on 45 if you run across that one.

Bill Conti - "Reflections"



Francoise Hardy, Star (Peters International 1977)
Much of this album is devoted to Hardy's acoustic French folk, but the more complicated arrangement and instrumentation on "Enregistrement," written by Serge Gainsbourg, gives it that trademark proto-Stereolab vibe.

Francoise Hardy - "Enregistrement"


Speaking of Serge, I recently ran across this great footage of "Requiem Pour Un Con," first posted a few months ago on the Monkeyfunk blog. YouTube is the best. Edit: Oops, it seems Serge is gone ....

I don't mind playing your funky game

Rahsaan Roland Kirk, The Case of the 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color (Atlantic 1975)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - "Freaks for the Festival"



Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers, Saffron and Soul (Prestige 1967)

Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers - "Aye Ma Ma"



Christine McVie, The Legendary Christine Perfect Album (Sire 1976)

Christine McVie - "And That's Saying a Lot"

Christine McVie - "I Want You"

Hypnotized minds

Them, Featuring Van Morrison (Parrot 1972)
Van Morrison's pre-fame outfit gets menacing on this mellow psych dagger.

Them - "One Two Brown Eyes"



Million Tongues Festival (Bastet 2004)
Two Million Tongues already came out late last year so obviously I've got some catching up to do. Here's some drone from the Acid Mother and some raw garage destruction from the festival curator, Plastic Crimewave.

Kawabata Makoto w/ Kinski - "Untitled Space"

Plastic Crimewave Sound - "Caged Fire Theme"



Japanese garage psych recorded live in '77 ... obvious precursor to Yura Yura Teikoku and others ... massive ...

Les Rallizes Denude - "Track 1 / Disc 2"

Back in action ...

... after an awesome weekend of travel that saw my best friend since the sixth grade get married and my Derby pick, Barbaro, romp by six and a half lengths. To everyone I saw in Illinois and St. Louis -- it was great hangin' out. Here's one for the Kentucky Derby crew (I'll be back soon!) and one for Joe and Cathy on their Jamaica honeymoon.

Pavement - "Kentucky Cocktail"

The Upsetters - "I Caught You"

P.S. I re-upped the T.I. and Riko tracks down below, check 'em out if you got shut out by the bandwidth problem. I'm also working on uploading some of the older mixes as Rapidshares.

Mix of the month - Lose Body Control

Electro hip house post punk party jams, mixed on vinyl in about three takes. 60 min., 69MB.

Lose Body Control

Chromatics - Nite
!!! - Hello? Is This Thing On? (Thomas & Eric's Rub n Tug Throwdown)
Cover Girls - Show Me (Heartthrob Mix)
Neurotic Drum Band - We're Gonna Rock New York
Todd Terje - Italian Stallion
Tiga - Good as Gold
Jump - Funkatarium
CLS - Can You Feel It (Blizzard Mix)
Fast Eddie - Yo Yo Get Funky
Missy vs. M.A.N.D.Y. - Lose Body Control
George Kranz - Din Daa Daa
Tussle - I'm an Indian Too
Jungle Brothers - I'll House You
Chambers Brothers - New Generation

Grime's not dead

Great one by Riko from Roll Deep's free-for-the-internet mixtape Creeper Vol. 2, found via Mudd Up via Logan Sama. The backing track almost sounds like Alan Braxe ... !

Riko - "War Mi Like That"

Come'n get it

T.I., King (Grand Hustle 2006) [Buy it]
"Rubber Band Man" put T.I. on my radar a couple years ago, but I sure didn't see this one coming -- King has been at the top of my iPod playlist for the last two weeks. You've probably already heard "What You Know" (at least on the ATL commercial), with its huge, oversaturated synths, and the love jam "Why You Wanna" is the second single. I'm going with this Swizz Beats banger -- someone should make this their at-bat music, for real. Love the way those echoing handclaps blast in on the second verse.

T.I. - "Get It"