Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Beans - Shock City Maverick

Beans
Shock City Maverick
Warp Records 2004

Produced by David Brinkworth, Mark Pritchard

Vocals: Beans

Bass: Chicky
Fred Ones: Scratching
Sax: Joseph Yoon
Cello: Molly Schnick
and various others.

I first heard Beans as part of the dadist hip-hop outfit Antipop Consortium, and I eventually picked up the Now Soon Someday EP (really, it was pretty much an album). I was notably impressed, as this was the first new MC in a while whose lyrics were downright mindboggling in their density of both wide vocab and surrealist imagery. The sound was sharp, clean and electro-pop accessible, without being like anything else on the airwaves (which may be why this wasn't on the airwaves).

Now Shock City Maverick is a true full length follow up, and it is mostly very satisfying, with a few pedestrian tracks occasionally breaking the pace of brilliance this release keeps. The sheer tongue twisting verbage makes for even amusing reading, but when it's heard behind a backdrop of digital bump discipline, they become too-cool polemics and lexical LSD.

And in terms of sonic backdrop, this album is slick and ferocious. Stalking basslines and off-kilter flashes of various influences from fusion, avant-funk and electronica pepper each track. It even sports a catchy soundtrack for inducing urban claustrophobic panic called You're Dead, Let's Disco.

Some key tracks include Shards of Glass, Death by Sophistication and Diamond Halo Grenade


Friday, January 14, 2005

Crash landing

Spencer Dryden, drummer for Jefferson Airplane and New riders of the Purple Sage, has passed away. RIP

I still remember seeing the video for JA's White Rabbit when I was young and being completely confused by it.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Random Ranting

So as I mentioned earlier that radio would eventually start feeling the heart from Satellite radio, iut appears I did not speak soon enough, as they are already planning an ad campaign (to the budgetary tune of $28 million USD) to promote regular radio over satellite.

Does anyone else see not only the hamfisted clumsiness of this ploy, or is the irony halo too bright (the irony being the only bright thing in it)? Let's see; people move to satellite radio because they have a better granular selection of what they get to hear, and they pay to hear no advertisements. So what do the stations decide to combat them with? Change none of the programming and add more advertisements. There is a phrase for such an action - futile stupidity. The mental somnambulism in the marketing management at Clear Channel and Infinity must be endemic at this point. And to show how sincere they are, they have recruited artists like Avril Lavigne and Ludacris to do the spots. I wonder if this constitutes as a new form of Payola, so that they can get a little extra rotation in a few more markets.

Now, to be halfway fair (and that is as much as they deserve, barely) they cannot compete with satleiite in terms of price point. They cannot charge listeners directly and must rely on advertisement, but they could try to stop consolidating all the stupid damn playlists and try to address market interest in music rather than the same 12 songs browbeaten into them 12 hours a day (the other 12 being the adverts). Market interest is not straightjacketing listeners into what makes the best bottom-line sense to the record labels or to your parent company. It is, at the regional/city level, taking chances and making breaks for local talent promotion, and getting into the cycle of helping to create a local musical culture based on what people show interest in (or could show interest for were they exposed to it).

Now, onto something slightly different, but more stupid. What could be more stupid you ask? Well, it's Eminem thinking he could have affected the Presidential election if he had released his last single sooner.
I would like to provide an adequate tirade here, but I have never viewed Eminem as worth too much effort and this is no exception. In short, he is a complete imbecile with an ego and has about as tight a grasp on politics as George Bush does on a pretzel.

And for those of you who really enjoyed the recent Madvillain release, Salon has a download of a remix for Figaro

As a final note, I knew that I loved the track All Night (Don't Stop) because of the funky-ass guitar vamp that was sampled from Herbie Hancock's Hang Up Your Hang Ups, but it was only today that I finally (accidentally) found my copy of the album it came from, Man Child and it has been in loop mode all evening.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

This weeks WTFF

As a longtime fan of Killing Joke, I am generally pleased when they actually bother to reunite and do something, and certainly their 25th anniversary show next month at the Shepherds Bush Empire will probably be a fantastic event (granted, I won't be flying to the UK to see it, but still...for those that are wondering, its the 24th & 25th), and the opening act will be The Orb (which was co-founded by Killing Joke alum Youth). Apparently the shows will be filmed for a DVD release. And there is a possibility of guests, which considering their circle of followers, could be quite impressive indeed. My guesses for possibles could be Dave Grohl (who played drums on the last album), Danny Carey of Tool (who was supposed to play on the last album), or maybe they finally got Big Paul (KJ's original drummer) off his duff.

But somehow, through means I could only suspect as deeply grounded in dark forces....they will also open for the EU leg of the Motley Crue tour.

I am not....bloody...kidding.

Jun. 14 Glasgow, UK @ SECC Jun. 15 - Manchester, UK @ MEN Jun. 17 - Cardiff, UK @ Int'l Arena Jun. 18 - Birmingham, UK @ NEC Jun. 19 - Wembley, UK @ Arena
www.motley.com

It just makes no sense (or deeply ironic sense) that you would put a trio of schitzophrenic, deathly earnest, raging, anarcho-apocalyptic gloom-metal industrialists open for a quartet of happy-go-lucky groupie-banging, smack-addled, tattoed frat boys. About the only thing they share in common is their mutual appreciation for chemicals.


Monday, January 10, 2005

Not so spicy anymore...

So Melanie Brown (aka Mel B) formerly of that highly venerated musical powerhouse the Spice Girls, is apparently writing a tell all about her Spicy-life. Apparently she considers it a catharsis. I, of course think it's more of a cash in since her post Spice career has been tepid at best. A respectable solo album that sold less than respectably, some wranglings with the tabloids, and an acting career that took off like a dodo tells me she is taking one last stab at celebrity before falling fully into obscurum.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Arto Lindsay - Invoke

Arto Lindsay
Invoke
Righteous Babe Records 2002

Personnel
Arto Lindsay - vocals, guitars
Melvin Gibbs - bass, guitars, synths, programming
Peter Scherer - keyboards
Vinicius Cantuaria - guitar, vocals
+ a stack of others

Produced by Arto Lindsay, Melvin Gibbs, Berna Ceppas

Arto Lindsay is a Brazilian born but cut his teeth on the Lower East side of NY in avant garde circle in such noisy outfits as DNA, as well as sessions with John Zorn and the Lounge Lizards. Over time he has tried -and often successfully- mixes his skewed Tropicalismo musical heritage with experimental adventures. He could be described as Tom Ze and David Bryne writing a tribute album for Alvin Ayler with Caetano Veloso producing. He understands melody and rhythm and how to break them down without losing oneself into total chaos. This album acrries in that tradition.

This album is mostly in the slow side of midtempo, with tracks not quite being drones, but regularly swinging softly from almost downtempo to just under the speed limit bossa, using arrangements that take a lot of segues. There are hints of Henry Threadgill in the variation in sounds, but lacks the cacophonic density, which in this case is to its benefit. Arto's simple, elegant melodies (Beija-me for example) are probably not suited to thick and busy brass and drum rampages. He does use a fair mix of acoustic and electronic elements to fill things out. Cantuaria's guitar work is refined but not lifeless, and the use of strings, pads of unobtrusive synths, and various percussion flourishes establishes that the album is not a staid, orthodox affair.

Arto's co-conspirator in his project Ambitious Lovers, Peter Scherer, is also in tow, as is AL contributor Melvin Gibbs. The result is that Invoke does not stray too far from AL's penchant for being well mixed and paced. It is not the best work he has done (and if you are very partisan to his very noisy early work, you may be disappointed altogether) but this is a pretty damn good collection of tunes for the random laid back evening with friends, or for catching live (should you be fortunate enough to have Arto touring in your area).


You might like thius is you like:

Caetano Veloso - Estrangeiro
Tom Ze - any
David Byrne - Rei Momo
Lenine - Falange Canibal

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Poor Babies...

So apparently Ashlee Simpson was booed at the Orange Bowl. Oh the tragedy. Now for something more important (actually almost anything is more important than Ashlee Simpson).

It seems everyones favorite trustbuster since Teddy Roosevelt, Eliot Spitzer, is now after Payola, and it has quite a few people (like Clear Channel and Infinity) heading for higher ground. This should be amusing. What bothers me is that part of the complaint is from those that were largely marginalized, the independents, because they feel that radio programmers will now tighten up even further, "...tight radio playlists are unlikely to improve anytime soon. While indie promoters are often seen as dubious, they did have a knack for getting new acts their break on FM radio. That's why some industry insiders worry that station programmers may soon become even less adventurous in choosing which songs get tapped for rotation on FM stations' heavily guarded playlists."

Why would they do that? I would think they would be (should be?) smart enough to understand their own markets and adjust accordingly.
Maybe it is the fixation to find the mega-jumbo-uber star that they skip on the possible benefits of building a regional market that is incredibly strong and vibrant. If you look at the history of radio markets that grew their own very distinct personas, they were related to hotbeds of musical activity, and radio stations that were open to them made great connections with future superstars (i.e. KOME in the Bay Area, which for a time had one of the most visible brands imagineable; so much so that I found KOME stickers in surrounding states). Homogeneity only works for the CLear Channels because their bureaucracy wants to streamline to cater to their bottom line, but I really do not see that as the most beneficial at the local level for stations that do not want to start losing their business to things like satellite radio.

For those that do not take satellite radio seriously, just remember the big 3 broadcatsers on TV didn't take cable seriously in the beginning either, and now that observation has been shown to be a little short sighted. People are will to pay for good content tailored (or open) to their interests, rather than some master playlist generated from the heart of blandness. I've heard early indiciations that satellite radio shows some of the early inventiveness that made FM radio in the 70s become so titanic -- openness, variety, and a strong feedback llop with its subscribers.

We'll see I suppose.

Monday, January 03, 2005

Screaming Headless Torsos - Live!

Screaming Headless Torsos - Live!
Videoarts Music/Discovery 1996 (Japan Only)
Fuzelicious Morsels 2001 (Reissue with exact same track listing except tracks 1 and 3 are swapped in order)

Personnel:

Dave "Fuze" Fiuczynski - fretted and fretless guitars
Deam Bowman - vox populi (vocals)
Fima Ephron - Bass
Gene Lake - drums
Daniel Sadownick - Percussion

Produced by Fuze and Chris Kelly

SHT are one of the most badass motherfunking bands you have never heard. Well, almost never. Their debut album from 1995 appeared initially to critical acclaim for its seemingly unorthodox blend of P-Funk groove, Zappa level anarchy, and King Crimson styled improvisations mixing the pathologically complex with atonal rampages and a beat section that could level whole city blocks to rubble in a few measures. Throw in a vocalist who was traversing blues growling with scatting and yodelling, and you had something definately off the beaten path. Hell, there was no path to be found.

Because of this, they were obviously destined for obscurity. No band this good gets big on its own, especially if it is clear its participants have absolutely no intention of deviating from their own program to cater to the masses.

I had initially picked them up because of their connection to another NY outfit, Lost Tribe, which was a jazz fusion powerhouse that brought the genre closer to its roots in experimentation and ballsy performance instead of soft-focus missing-a-pair elevator music. Fima Ephrom was doubling up in SHT and I had heard of JoJo and Fuze through their work on Lunar Crush with John Medeski of Medeski, Martin and Wood (yes, I know, they sound more like an accounting form than a jazz organ trio) and Fuze had also sessioned on the debut Me'Shell N'degeocello album.

I figured when no other material seemed forthcoming that the band had called it a day. Then a few years back I found the Japanese release of this album in a used bin for less than 20 bucks. I was completely floored. Here was a band that sounded quite good on a studio album but was damn frightening on stage. JoJo had given way to Gene Lake (also a long time Me'Shell alum and whose adherents include Carter Beauford of Dave Matthews Band), who had just the same level of technical aplomb but added a heft akin to switching from a Humvee to a Peterbilt. If you like really original music that grows on you over repeat listens, you must go buy this.

Here is a band that pokes fun of the music industry in songs like Vinnie , covers -with volcanic power- Miles Davis's Blue In Green and Jazz is the Teacher, Funk is the Preacher by James 'Blood' Ulmer, composes out-there funk jams about basketball star Darryl Dawkins (a player noted for his own eccentricities)* and does shift-on-a-dime alternating current freakdown on Kermes Macabre.

They have a barroom brawl beating of a rhythm section and Fuze revels in throwing curve balls almost every chance he gets; chugging wah-wah rhythm work gives in to gargantuan riffs and into jarring solos and delicate segues. Sadownick fills out the sound with a panoply of percussion noises, and Bowman just does what he does. He is arguably the most difficult to get but you eventually do get him (For those that don't like vocals, there is a instrumental version of this band that has released one album -also on Fuzelicious Morsels- called...surprisingly....The Headless Torsos).

You might like this if you like:

Parliament - Maggot Brain
Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffitti
Yohimbe Bros - Front End Lifter
Primus - Frizzle Fry

* Dawkins liked to blast into his slam dunks and destroy backboards, he named his dunks, and he claimed to be from the panet Lovetron but still has the NBA record for number of personal fouls. He was nicknamed Chocolate Thunder. beats the hell out of me...I like Soccer anyway.

Saturday, January 01, 2005

2004 to 2005

So let us keep this somewhat brief. 2004 was great for seeing and hearing fantastic new material from Vernon Reid, Madvillian, Tack>>Head, Little Axe, Marillion, Dizzee Rascal, Natasha Bedingfield, Miles Davis (ok, it was a reissue, but it had so much unreleased material it was damn new to all of us). We saw the unfortunate passing of John Peel and the unfortunate finding of Ashlee Simpson. We saw a wardrobe malfunction that wasn't and a moment when Howard Stern showed some real class instead of just ass.

Here are 20 songs to start 2005 with:

Miles Davis - Mademoiselle Mabry
Chris Whitley - Narcotic Prayer
Bill Laswell/Sacred Sound - Jerusalem
Tack>>Head - Mind and Movement
Natasha Bedingfield - I'm A Bomb
Brand New Heavies - Boogie
Rush - Vapor Trail
Marillion - Ocean Cloud
Steve Coleman & Five Elements - Verifiable Pedagogy
King Crimson - Eyes Wide Open
Bourgeois Tagg - Waiting For the Worm to Turn
Gerling - Dust Me Selecta
Goapele - Closer
Me'Shell N'degeocello - Love Song #1
Un-Cut - Midnight (Marcus Intalex and St Files Remix)
Lamb - Gabriel (Si Beggs Remix)
Tears For Fears - Call Me Mellow
David Sylvian - Blemish
Salif Keita - Papa
Prince - Sign O' The Times