Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Kurt Rosenwinkle - Enemies of Energy


Kurt Rosenwinkel
Enemies of Energy
2000 GRP/Verve

I am far from good with non-fusion jazz guitarists. I mean, everyone at least knows the biggies (Django, Charlie, Wes) plus a few others that might stand out, like Charlie Hunter and Rodney Jones. But often jazz guitar has suffered from an auditory sameness to me. Rosenwinkel is a bit of an interesting find.

He's got a good support group behind him, with Ben Street and Jeff Ballard keeping a solid pulse and Scott Kinsey adding some bold color. Mark Turner has never impressed me much as a leader, but here he fits into the overall sound well. His tenor sax is crisp. Rosenwinkel himself has an edge to him, even when playing more lilting passages. He has more of that Grant Green vibrance than the often cringe-worthy Wes Montgomery hackery that happens in jazz (Wes was brilliant, but he has been second-rate imitated into nuisance).

As of late, Kurt has been collaborating with Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Strange and Ironic

So in one of those strange moments, I found myself finding myself.

I was at Kucharo's studio today working on drum tracks with him on Warr guitar, and during a break I suggested he try listening to some Moloko. So he fires up iTunes and when he does a search it also brings up a DJ set release calld Afro Disco 2 by one David Roman. It sports a rather unique cover, namely:

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vinyl remixXXV by ^zeruch on deviantART

Of course, I mention this, because the image is mine. I [re]created it and posted it in October of 2002, where it has been ever since. Imagine my surprise, seeing as I was never asked for permission to reprint or distribute. The irony was not only finding it while randomly jamming to music, but that the image itself is a remix of sorts; it is part of a series called the Vinyl Remix, which is whereI take 12" vinyl record sleeves and use them as the foundational canvas for me painting over them.

In that case it was the album cover of the band The Teardrop Explodes (most notable for having had postmodern rock posterchild Julian Cope in it). Oddly enough, their style of cranky, psychedelic, and very arty-pop bears no resemblance to the broken-beat/nu-jazz excursions of Mr. Roman.

I have sent an email looking for some clarification, as this very well could be that he had nothing to do with it, and he could have had some guy do the cover for him, not telling him of where the source image was derived.

The funny thing is, I am known for my bias towards musicians, and have often allowed use of my work or done work for musicians for much less than I would for other clients -- sometimes for as little as a copy of whateve product the work(s) will appear on and proper accreditation on said product(s), or if they are local, guest list status for a gig or two.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

video: Staci Lattisaw and Puffy

Let's see. We have an R&B diva past her prime (Staci Lattisaw peaked with Nail it To the Wall in my opinion), a very cut and paste style video from the period, complete with big hair and loud fashion. So why do I point this one out in particular? This may be the first appearance of Puff Daddy/Diddy/Dummy, with some whacked out angular haircut and even dopier look.

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

China Crisis - Flaunt the Imperfection


China Crisis
Flaunt the Imperfection

I never really noticed CC in the 80s, and barely rememebered the name of them in the 90s, but finally saw a bargain copy of Flaunt the Imperfection and took the chance.

It is well produced pop in an vaguely arty way. They clearly like social commentary and playing with words much as guys like Cy Curnin of the Fixx and Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, but they lack the cleverness of the former and the anthemic power of the latter.

Sometimes the melodies make you think of Squeeze, sometimes Curiosity Killed the Cat, and flashes of stolen Prefab Sprout circa Two Wheels Good. And it is that kind of almost shiftlessness that makes them listenable, but I can see why they never gained a strong toehold in the US. The production is of good quality for the time, which I attribute to Steely Dan's Walter Becker at the helm.

The strong cuts are King in a Catholic Style, which starts off like a Howard Jones uptempo knock-off, and Wall of God which sports a vocal line oddly reminescent of David Byrne in his Talking Heads period. Overall, a decent slice of 1985.

Miguel Migs - 24th St Sounds


Now I have been a fan of the soulful House grooves of Miguel Migs since first encountering them with the various early Naked Music label releases. Let's face it, it is nice to know that Santa Cruz can produce more than Sarah macLachlan fans and a University with a banana slug for a mascot.

That being said, this one does not bubble as consistently. The basslines are less compelling, and the Rhodes vamps sometimes appear to be on autopilot, even though they still sound great. What sells this 2cd set is the mix session of disc two, where you get a real build up and release feel instead of the discrete cuts laid out in a rather staid manner of disc one.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Mel B - Word Up

Melanie Brown is not capable of properly covering a Cameo song, even if she performs it looking like the love child of Larry Blackmon and Jean Beuvoir. To her credit though, her version is not as bad as the one let loose upon us by Korn.

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Akufen - My Way


Akufen is one of the monikers employed by Canadian Mark LeClair, and My Way was my first experience with what seems to be getting referred to as microsampling, which seems to excite hipsters as interesting in and of itself. It isn't, no matter how many times you ramble about Deck the House being the centerpiece track of this album. It strikes me as well within the bounds of Plunderphonics, although as rendered by someone with severe ADD.

What is interesting is that he appears to have quite an ear for what he does with microsampling, which is to say he makes glitchy, yet fluid sound constructs from bits of across-the-band radio, shortwave and whatever else he is able to acquire as a sound foundation to deconstruct and lay over spartan house loops. Helped by some masterful mixing/panning technique, this record is a sleeper hit in the making. Repeated listens are necessary.

The album skates around minimalist house ideas, hints at dubwise, and alludes to some of the same dense atmospherics of Ben Watt, Leftfield, Adrian Sherwood and Wally Badarou.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Finding the Last Exit

Last Exit was one of those supergroups destined to never be really known until after their demise as to how insanely powerful avant-jazz and no-wave made as bedmates. With a backline of Bill Laswell and Ronald Shannon Jackson, serrating guitarist Sonny Sharrock (most known in the popular eye as the composer of the Space Ghost, Coast to Coast theme) and squonk supplied by saxophone wrestler Peter Brotzmann. Dissonant, pulsing, and ranging from the cacophonic to the schitzophrenic, this is pure force.

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Friday, September 15, 2006

Shovel Chestnuts in my path....

When I first heard De La Soul, I knew something was up. This 7 minute EPK film from 1989 shows them launching one of the most creative careers in hip-hop.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Raising (the profile of) Arizona

So, the latest indie addition to music documentaries is High and Dry, about the music scene in Tuscon. I found out about this looking for what ever happened to the Machines of Loving Grace, which I had wrongfully assumed was a NYC or LA based outfit. Apparently groups like Giant Sand and Supersuckers also call the desert oasis home.

To quote: HIGH AND DRY pays tribute to the influential and eclectic community of musicians that has emerged from Tucson, Arizona over the past 20 years. Through performances and interviews, the documentary captures the struggle of one small town's big music scene.

It even has its own myvapidspace page.

In Geosynchronous Orbit and Looking Dapper

In celebration of a resurrected Good Looking Organization, I have been listening largely to a nonstop mix of the first five LTJ Bukem-helmed Earth compilations (as well as Volume 7, but the rest I need to find in the stacks).

While I discovered LTJ's efforts shortly after Goldie and Roni Size, it was he that really bridged my love of 70s funk and soul with a jungle consciousness that has never stopped appealling. GLO, along with its sister label Looking Good and the various sub-boutique imprints all had a consistent level of quality, both in terms of the music and in the overall packaging. Nookie, Makoto*, Artemis, Blame, Tayla, Big Bud (sometimes with the late Weldon Irvine), Blue Mar Ten, PHD & the Funky Technician, Doc Scott, and the Amalgamation of Soundz among so many others.

* especially the almost straight acid jazz cut (with Lori Fine on vocals) currently in my ears: You're Divine.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

A Positive Infestation


So, after finally scoring the latest by the adventurous collective, Bugz in the Attic, Back in the Doghouse, I have to say...oh, yes.

Broken Beat meets classic 80's funk and soul. The most delicious tweaked out synth bass since Me'Shell N'degeocello made her solo debut, and a full bodyrock dancefloor beat assault.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Groove Collective - People People Music Music


Ever since I discovered a used copy of Groove Collective's debut (a radio promo actually that I got in a bargain bin before the actual street release date), I knew these guy were true playas...of music. Deeply informed by every jazz, soul, funk, afro-beat, electronic and hip hop variation that can be transmuted and mixed to make the movement of butts occur and ears perk up. They have produced a steady stream of albums that are technically ambitious but never for the sake of perfunctory action. These guys play for the crowd, and the crowd wants what their name implies.

On this release they move back a bit to the furious acid jazz styled dancefloor funk, but still move forward with tracks like the broken beat and baritone sax fusillade of Set Up, the retro-soul in the vocal cut What If, and the channelling of Feli Kuti like high-life vibe in DFU (fans of Fela, Tony Allen and Antibalas take note). It is all there and all sonically delicious and aurally nutricious. There is a more than respectable take on the Herbie Hancock standard Speak Like a Child as well, and the spacey late night slow jam Outermost.

There is something to be said for a band like GC that really isn't anything other than a great groove band; it is not straightahead, it is not acid jazz, funk, neo-soul, broken beat, disco, or anything else. It pulls from all those styles the same core sense of groove and fluid pulse that makes for serious headknodding and smiles all around.

So pick up People People, Music Music...then go pick up everything else, starting with the debut and work your way up.

As an aside, the Missus and I caught Groove Collective live a few years ago in SF (they broke the place down to atoms), and at one point I met GC drummer/co-founder Genji Siraisi and asked him about GC side project the Repercussions, as I was unable to find a copy of their second LP, which was a Japan-only release. His repsonse was that even he didn't have a copy of it anymore. So if anyone reading this knows how to get a copy, I have money and a desire to acquire.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group - Live



Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live

This is a live collection documenting the tour subsequent to the timeless Beck release Wired, and at its best, it builds on the muscular, peerless power of that period of Beck's output, even if it ocasionally trips over itself. The backing band is of course led by ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer, but otherwise not as interesting as past Beck sidemen like drummers Richard Bailey and Narada Michael Walden (another Mahavishnu alum).

The opener is Freeway Jam, and it is a juicy piece of jazz-rock, with an almost southern tweak to it in spots. Lots of furious playing, but none of it aimless. In other spots, songs seem to reflect various motifs; funk vamps reminiscent of Stevie Wonder (who wrote for Beck the classic Superstitious but ended up recording it himself at his managers request) and staccato peaks of crisp melody lines, delta blues snarl (especially on She's A Woman) and some incendiary fusion shredding. While Beck's expressiveness has improved over the years, the truth is he seems to have been born into music with a fully developed and highly resolute musical persona. Even when the material is not his best, his personal contributions in performance are very much up to snuff.

About the only weak spots are the few vocals (Jan...stick to the ivories wouldja? Thanks), the one notable exception being the vocoder on Full Moon Boogie, which just skates through pretty cleanly, as does the aggro electric violin by Steve Kindler. I think my favorite track right now is the long and involved madness of Darkness/Earth in Search of the Sun, which is a mutant piece of electrified chamber-fusion that builds a slow but relentless climb to fruition. The Hendrix meets Mahvishnu blues-freakdown of closer Blue Wind is also memorable.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Ice Magazine R.I.P.

In a bit of sad news, Ice Magazine, the lo-fi but high-quality music trade rag, is der kerplonk as of March.

Bad Brains live at CBGB's


In the early 80s DC Jahcore (yes, i made that term up because I figured I needed to join the trend of naming every band its own genre with a prefix before *core. Although at least in the case of the Bad Brains, the fact that they kind of are their own genre is actually generally accepted, no matter what moniker you put on it) band Bad Brains recorded 3 nights of their sonic maelstrom at CBGB's. I have learned from that great place Ropeadope that the footage of those shows is finally getting official DVD release.

MVD is the actual company releasing it, and the order page is here. It has many of tracks I consider essential, such as Big Take Over, Coptic Times, and The Meek Shall Inherit. I just wish Sailin' On was there.

There really is nothing like a fusion of jazz-chops with Rastafarianism and DC Hardcore at a velocity and intensity that runs hotter than the surface of Mercury.

Nelly Furtado - The Grass is Green



Nelly Furtado
The Grass is Green

Well, since she is now back and the darling of the TRL set once more, let's take a look at Nelly Furtado. Or rather at one of her older, singles, because at this point you can't get anyone to shut up about her current album (which I like, but I think is weaker than her sophomore album, Folklore).

The Grass is Green was a decent enough release, but the magic of this single is the B-sides, in this case 2 non-lp version cuts...well, one is magic, the other is a bit of a parlor trick. My Love Goes Deeper is a soulful, mellow track that would have been better than the version that ended up on the actual album. Party on the other hand, sounds more like a good quality demo, but falls a bit short of the mark (especially the inane breathy bits about 4 minutes into the cut).

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

John Abercrombie - Night


It starts with a cluster of dirge like notes, almost Depeche Mode in character, but then traverses some ECM filter and becomes some kind of floaty jazz chords inflected with kind of a strange Reggae structure, which i guess is why the cut is called Ethereggae. It is actually the weakest track here, and the sole songwriting credit by Jan Hammer. It simply gets a little too off into the cheesy keyboard sounds (this was after all, recorded in 1984, right around when he was getting rady to score the Miami Vice theme). Oddly enough, the rest of his playing on the album is subdued and much more tasteful and supportive of the material.

The title track is appropriately named. The whole vibe is nocturnal, and this carries throughout much of the rest of the tracks. Quiet without being lightweight, there is a bounce in Jack DeJohnette's drumming and Abercrombie just plays every note with a mature aplomb. His tone is not apeing Wes Montgomery, nor is it cloying in the way Pat Matheny gets on some of his more straightahead releases. It is often sparse in terms of notes, but the space is filled with the resonance and ringing clarity of his rather distinct tone. The album closes with the one Abercrombie uptempo composition, 4 On 1, which is just a bunch of horses bolting out the gate. Bebop frenzy timekeeping with scalar runs by Ambercrombie and bursts of bth clean and contorted notes by saxman Michael Brecker and Hammer on organ (or a synth organ that sounds respectable).

This is not the best thing John Abercrombie has done, but it has some inspired moments worth investigating for both the jazz guitarist muso and the casual laid back jazz listener.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Jhelisa


It is rare when I find a soul artist whose material makes little to no flaws, but Jhelisa Anderson is one of them. The first time I heard her I didn't even know it was her, as I first heard her as a semi-anonymous vocalist with the techno frontiersmen The Shamen, namely on their big splash statesite, Boss Drum. *

Her own work is notably removed from the acid-house dance music of the Shamen, and I discovered her outright in the early 90s on one of the Dorado label compilations of which I am almost sure it was either the song Friendly Pressure or Sally's Knockin' At Your Door.

In any event the woman clearly draws from both her family tree (daddy is James Brown band stalwart Bobby Byrd), and the various soul movements from the acid-jazz/neo-soul camps, as well as delta blues, rare groove and folk. She has a new album out, that wa almost washed out with Hurricane Katrina, and she is touring. Go...see...her. If you can't, here are some video clips and links to give you an idea:

This first one is very impressive, as I loved the jungle electronica of Inner City Life when I first heard it by Goldie (one of the first jungle/drum n bass singles I ever picked up), and here it is fully reworked into a jazz invocation, with the Re:Jazz collective;

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The next is simple, links to her myspace presence, and her new album EPK and miscellaneous info.

* of note, she has also done session work with big stars like Bryan Ferry and Bjork. And for you trivial pursuit people, she is the sister of Carleen Anderson, who sang on the seminal Young Disciples album Road to Freedom and briefly did a stint with the Brand New Heavies, as well as solo and session work. Both are the daughters of vocalist Vicki Anderson and James Brown band stalwart Bobby Byrd.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Jazz is the Teacher, Funk is the Preacher

...and throw in the kitchen sink, and call them the Punk-Funk All-stars.

What happens when you mix the following elements:

Vernon Reid (Living Colour, Decoding Society, Yohombe Bros.)
Joseph Bowie (Defunkt, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, Yusuf Lateef, the Contortions)
Melvin Gibbs (Decoding Society, Rollins Band, John Zorn, Caetano Veloso)
Ronald Shannon Jackson (Decoding Society, Ornette Coleman, Power Tools)
and guest James "Blood" Ulmer

?

You get some pretty amazing stuff played on tour. It is busy, growling, ecstatic, and fun.

Having heard some of the live footage from their July performance at a festival in Amsterdam, I have to say that this is a ridiculously muscular and noisy outfit doing some refreshingly uncontrived material. It borrows from the back catalogs of all its members, and the result is stuff that collides Tony Williams Lifetime and Ornette Coleman's PrimeTime, No Wave with No Regard for Rules, deep Delta blues with wide floods of post-punk derived cacophonic mayhem.

There are two shows on dbtree.org

Friday, September 01, 2006

Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell

This was the video/song that introduced me to Love and Rockets (and which I worked back to Bauhaus eventually, but not before also seeing and hearing Peter Murphy for the first time via his Cuts You Up single release). I recently saw the Bauhaus Gotham DVD and have to say...pretty impressive, in a morose and overly macabre way.