Bees and things

Back in a few days with a new full-length mix ... enjoy the sunshine.

Roy Ayers Ubiquity - "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" (1976)

The horror, the horror ...

Kinda lame to repost stuff that's already out there on the interweb but maybe some of you haven't been trolling MySpace for new Quiet Village joints. This is the first song of theirs I've heard that isn't on the codeine / wrong speed / "Too High to Move" axis ... the chunky riffs on "Circus of Horror" feel more like "Dirty Lovin'" by Whatever We Want labelmates Map of Africa (DJ Harvey and Rub N Tug's Thomas Bullock).

Quiet Village - "Circus of Horror"

Dollar bin diving #3

Chuck Mangione, Friends and Love (Mercury 1970)
Soft in the middle but the beginning and end of this are tuff.

Chuck Mangione - "Hill Where the Lord Hides"



Florante, Mga Tula at Awitin ni Florante (Jem 1977)
Found this Filipino folk-rock album at a Virginia Beach yard sale.

Florante - "Ibon"



Frank Comstock, Project: Comstock - Music From Outer Space (Warner Bros. 1962)
"The music of whirling satellites, brilliant galaxies, streaming comets, mysterious planets, and the eerie reaches of space in between."

Frank Comstock - "On the Dark Side of the Moon"


Elsa Popping and her Pixieland Band, Delirium in Hi-Fi (Columbia 1959)
Somehow this strange instrumental LP by composer Andre Popp and sound-effects whiz Pierre Fatosme wound up at a thrift store in the middle of nowhere in rural Oklahoma. With descriptions on the back like "Invention of False Instruments," "Unplayable and Unsingable Parts Recorded," and "Turning Voices Inside Out," how could I not pick it up? (In reality, the music doesn't quite live up to that billing as far as weirdness.)

Elsa Popping and her Pixieland Band - "La Polka du Colonel"

Night sky full of rainbows

Brightblack Morning Light, Brightblack Morning Light (Matador 2006)
Perfect album for stewing in your own juices in 98-degree weather -- no way to cool off so just embrace it and melt. The most frequent comparisons are pretty accurate, Mazzy Star or the Stones' strung-out blues phase ("I just Want to See His Face"). Aside from the Rhodes I think Brightblack's secret weapon is the drumming ... skittering patterns on "Everybody Daylight," backward looped snares on "We Share Our Blanket With the Owl" ... simplicity and repetition casts a spell, but there's more going on if you dive down deeper. Vinyl version has the non-CD track "Miwok Shapes" plus a free, password-protected digital download of the album from Matador (wish more record companies would do this).

Brightblack Morning Light - "Black Feather Wishes Rise"

People die by telling themselves fibs

Oneida, Happy New Year (Jagjaguwar 2006)
"Up With People" seems to be most ppl's fave on the new longplayer from Brooklyn's Oneida but I'm feeling the August morning haze of "The Misfit" and some of the album's quieter numbers. Happy New Year doesn't feel as huge as The Wedding (there's no "Did I Die") but it's another log on the fire for one of the more shape-shifting and inventive rock bands out there. Out on Jagjaguwar / Brah Records.

Oneida - "The Misfit"

Quick Mix Vol. 4

Here's some recent dance tracks I've been liking (similar to Vol. 3) .... aficionados have probably heard these a million times, but if you're new to the swirly, trippy "minimal" style (for want of a better term), check it out. These are all from 2006 except for the Garnier (2002). Fun fact: Total time for the mix came to exactly 33:45. Woot!

Quick Mix Vol. 4

Gui Boratto - Noronha
Jona - Learning From Making Mistakes
Cosmic Sandwich - Man in a Box (Daso Remix)
Chelonis R. Jones - Deer in the Headlights (Radioslave Remix)
Laurent Garnier - Sambou
Theo Parrish - Falling Up (Carl Craig Remix)


p.s. I'm also experimenting with new large-file hosts. This one has a couple of links to click through but not as bad as the increasingly ridiculous verification hoops on Rapidshare. Any feedback appreciated.

Brazil 1972

Milton Nascimento / Lo Borges, Clube da Esquina (EMI-Odeon 1972)
Sprawling and beautiful album from Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges. Twenty-one tracks without a throw-away -- one of my favorites on the album ("Saidas e Bandeiras No. 1") is a 45-second interlude. Put this on during a summer rainstorm, throw open your windows and soak it all in.

Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - "Tudo Que Voce Podia Ser"

Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - "Trem de Doido"

There are other worlds ...

Sun Ra, Lanquidity (Philly Jazz 1978)
One of the funkier (as opposed to freakier) transmissions from Saturn.

Sun Ra - "Twin Stars of Thence"



Stark Reality, Now (Stones Throw 2003)
Mutant funky jazz combo on overdrive, led by vibraphonist Monty Stark. Originally released in 1970 and resurrected by Stones Throw.

Stark Reality - "Dreams"



Robin Kenyatta, Girl From Martinique (ECM 1973)
My copy of this record is crackly and staticky with a warped and water-damaged cover, but it just adds to the music's strange aura. Abstract playing lurches effortlessly into a groove and back out into shapelessness.

Robin Kenyatta - "Girl From Martinique"

Wouldn't you miss me?

RIP Syd Barrett, thanks for leaving us so much to remember you by.

Syd Barrett - "No Good Trying"

Pink Floyd - "Scarecrow"



"Woke up this morning with the blues three different ways" .... I was remiss in not marking the passing of Johnny Jenkins, the Otis Redding guitarist who influenced Hendrix and created Ton-Ton Macoute!, one of the nastiest blues-funk burners this side of Electric Mud.

Johnny Jenkins - "Leaving Trunk"

Straight to audio

'68 Comeback, Monsieur Jeffrey Evans and His '68 Comeback 2x7" (Sympathy for the Record Industry 1995)
Lo-fi triple guitar blues attack from the land of Memphis. I think some Oblivians are in the mix on this one too.

'68 Comeback - "Bending Like a Willow Tree"



From Tennessee back to Ohio .... these guys were raw rock 'n' roll, Ron House's sneer slicing against slabs of guitar that got even bigger on Straight to Video (Anyway 1997) -- paradoxically more hi-fi than 1995's major label Bait and Switch on American Recordings.

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - "You Can't Kill Stupid"

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - "Outside My Scene"

Friday night special

The Swingin' Neckbreakers, Live for Buzz (Telstar 1993)
The only band I ever saw play at CBGB's, oddly enough.

The Swingin' Neckbreakers - "Live for Buzz"

Budget rock showcase

For a while in the '90s I ate slept and breathed garage rock, but my attention has gone off in other directions .... if you know some current records in this style that are killer, leave em in the comments. More to come in a subsequent post (including some Thomas Jefferson Slave Apts. for the guy who wanted "more Cleveland") ....



Oblivians, Popular Favorites (Crypt 1996)

Oblivians - "The Leather"

Oblivians - "Strong Come On"



The Mummies, Never Been Caught (Telstar 1992)

The Mummies - "Stronger Than Dirt"

The Mummies - "The Frisko Freeze"



Supercharger, Supercharger (Radio X 1991/Estrus 1997)
The Mummies LP told me to dig up Supercharger because it "fucking rules over this crap." So I did ....

Supercharger - "Zodiac"

Supercharger - "You Put the Hex on Me"

Hot

No time to post since I'm working all weekend :((

In the meantime check out Hot Pepper, a mix by Sami Koivikko that's available for free download. For fans of Ewan Pearson's Sci Fi Hi Fi or M.A.N.D.Y.'s Body Language.

Edit: Well it turns out this isn't as new as I thought -- it's from 2005. But I just heard about it! And it's still free!