All posts by Kevin

hip-hop

Living Legends: Legendary Music, Vol. 1

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It’s hard to imagine a more prolific crew of musicians than Living Legends, an eight-man hip-hop collective from LA and Oakland.

I like to think that I’m up on the trends, yet every time I check it seems the Legends have put out a group album or something solo. Murs’ Murray’s Revenge was one of my favorites of 2006. For the record, Living Legends are: Murs, the Grouch, Eligh, Luckyiam, Scarub, Sunspot Jonz, Asop and Bicasso. If it isn’t a Legends release, the guys are splintering and forming different combos, like 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Murs, Eligh, Scarub).

Anyway, Legendary Music, Vol. 1 features previously unreleased and soon-to-be released material (all for only $8). I had trouble deciding which track to share, but I’ve been diggin’ on the Sunspot Jonz song Purple Kush, as good as any mainstream beat … guaranteed. Or if you go to the group’s Web site, you can stream 2010 by 3MGs, which samples Nirvana’s cover of The Man Who Sold the World.

  • Living Legends (Sunspot Jonz) | Purple Kush
hip-hop, remix

Busdriver: Kill Your Employer (Daedelus remix)

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I can’t imagine the challenge of producing beats/music to keep pace with Busdriver’s autobahn-like delivery. But Daedelus has put together a remix that is assaulting (in a good way), a sonic orgy of drums and skewed tempos and time signatures.

In case you missed it, Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now) is the first single off Busdriver’s RoadKillOvercoat, due out Jan. 30 on Epitaph.
Check it out. And buckle up.

  • Busdriver | Kill Your Employer (Daedelus remix)
hip-hop, year end

Pigeon John’s Top 10 Cities to Rock Shows

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Our friends at Quannum wanted to let us in on Pigeon John’s top 10 list for 2006: Top 10 Cities to Rock Shows. I saw PJ and Busdriver in Scottsdale, which, unfortunately, did not make the list. But Tucson did. Big ups to the Old Pueblo.

This list is pretty hilarious, especially when he gives shouts out to Montana. Montana?!? OK, when Phoenix/Scottsdale is falling behind Missoula, Montana, I know we have our work cut out for us.
Be sure to check out PJ’s Pigeon John … and the Summertime Pool Party.

1. Whittier, CA
Why? All the boys look like Morrisey and all the girls look like they dropped out of heaven in the 50’s…

2. Missoula, MT
Why? Unsuspecting mountain people with huge brains and hands filled with beer mugs hug you and make you feel special.

3. Tuscon, AZ
Why? Haunted youth stroll the streets lost and amused. The prettiest sunsets on Earth and the underage drink scary amounts of Bud Lite. Busdriver and I sat back and gawked.

4. Memphis, TN
Why? The South did rise this year. Me and Slim Kid Tre drove in expecting 20 but were blown away at the hundreds of pirates that came. The girls are pretty Janis Joplins and the boys wear Gucci shoes…with no socks.

5. Colorado Springs, CO
Why? The bleek and grey industry town warms my soul. Tea and Vodka greet my hands and the people that come to the shows are thirsty for truth and will not take lies for an answer.

6. Orlando, FL
Why? The Social. The scene is young enough not to be stuck up. Flynn from LA Symphony lives there and if you’re single, this place will put you in a choke hold.

7. NYC
Why? Its the old gangster grandfather who still dates 23 year old lawyers from Sweden. You have to prove yourself … to him … but not to the transplants who slip on the NYC culture like cheap fake designer coat. … screw them.

8. Seattle, WA
Why? The city dwells in a thick history of slickness. The people will always be cooler than you without trying. Chop Suey’s the best place to play. Its small, red and filled with danger.

9. Aspen, CO
Why? The rich and homeless live together. The women wear furs as big and flowing as the sea. The mountians sing praises to their king and the shows are always solded out.

10. Sydney, Australia
Why? Oz is like a huge California. The food is good, the drinks are good. Everything is good. Jam Recordings (my Oz label), treat you like Wesley Snipes in 1995. I met great friends out there and got lounge with with guys from Silverchair at The Establishment. The 2007 black Range Sport speed fast following the silver 2007 BMW M3 through the wet street of Sydney. It was beautiful.

covers, general

Rob Dickinson covers Hush Little Baby

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Rob Dickinson, former frontman of (The) Catherine Wheel and a favorite in these parts, is returning to Arizona for a Jan. 26 show at Anderson’s Fifth Estate, where he played acoustic exactly one year ago to that date (a show I recorded – Parts I and II – though mp3s are no longer active).

That means he’s been on the road for the better portion of the past year to promote his solo debut Fresh Wine for the Horses, an album that, despite its unfortunate cover, has found a comfortable spot with me as I continue to come to grips with Catherine Wheel’s dissolution. In situations like Dickinson’s, it seems easier to cling to the nostalgia, but I’ve found Fresh Wine seriously enjoyable when I’m able to separate it from the Catherine Wheel days.

Of course, that’s hard to do when the latest issue of Filter offers a somewhat random retrospective on Catherine Wheel, including an interview with Dickinson and recollections from Tim Friese-Green (of Talk Talk and CW’s producer) and Belly’s Tanya Donelly. A nice Q&A with Dickinson offers some valuable insight:

“As I’ve been touring for my solo record, I’ve been really gobsmacked with the longevity of the music … These people have reignited my pride in what we did. We made some really good music and that’s what I remember first.”

At any rate, I swung by Dickinson’s newly designed Web site after hearing the news of his upcoming Arizona stop, and in the downloads section is an mp3 of him covering the children’s lullaby Hush Little Baby, which only seems fitting as we will be welcoming our third little niece into the world on Saturday (congrats to my bro and Linds).

For more on Dickinson, go search the Chromewaves archives, where Frank’s exhaustive work is always appreciated here. Dickinson’s site even uses some of his photos, which is just freakin’ cool.

Filter also filmed Dickinson doing an in-office performance, which is posted here.

  • Rob Dickinson | Hush Little Baby
  • Rob Dickinson | Heal (Live on WOXY Lounge Acts, 8/16/06)
hip-hop

Natural Selection 2.0

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All of a sudden, Talib Kweli is everywhere. Rappcats.com is offering a free download of Kweli’s latest release, Liberation, a nine-song collaboration with Madlib (via). Kweli also appears on Natural Selection 2.0, a digital-only compilation from Nature Sounds, which released Masta Killa’s overlooked Made in Brooklyn last year. By the looks of it, Natural Selection 2.0 puts together some great collabs, including Pete Rock with Styles P and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, among others.

Someone may string me up from their backpack here, but I’ve never been a huge Kweli guy. Something about his voice bothers me — it’s a little high-pitched and, in this case on Project Jazz, distracts from the looping horn sample.

Now, Viktor Vaughn (aka MF Doom), on the other hand, well, what can you say? He’s like butta, baby.

Buy Natural Selection 2.0 from iTunes.

  • Hell Razah, Talib Kweli, Viktor Vaughn | Project Jazz
general

Barton Carroll: Love and War

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As 2007 begins – happy new year, by the way – I’m frantically digging into the depths of my e-mail inbox (deleting all along the way) to see what I missed in 2006. One name I swore I’d come back to was Barton Carroll, if only for his connection as a former member of Crooked Fingers, the band of Eric Bachmann, whose fabulous solo LP, To the Races, I stupidly forgot among my list of favorites for 2006. (Yeah, pretty sure that qualifies as a run-on sentence.)As the title of Carroll’s record might suggest, Love & War (available on eMusic) considers the human element and emotions of war. Admittedly, you won’t see me staging anti-war protests or being terribly vocal about it, but we’re seeing a byproduct (unfortunately so) of these world events. Off the top of my head, I can think of Josh Ritter’s The Animal Years, Michel Franti’s Yell Fire, The Coup’s Pick a Bigger Weapon and Neil Young’s Living With War as thoughtful and meaningful ways of protest, and music’s ability to teach another audience to take a stance.

Where Carroll’s album fits, I’m not quite sure. But listen to Small Thing, a story about a young woman living in Berlin during Soviet occupation in 1945; it’s based on a book co-written by his mother. It’s hard not to feel engaged by a line like this:

“War sleeps deep in a man /
long after guns are gone /
he loses care for small things /
and I, I was a small thing.”

  • Barton Carroll | Small Thing
  • Barton Carroll | Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still
general, year end

Favorite album of 2006

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By the time I first saw Band of Horses this year in March, I only barely recognized their name and had little to no clue if going to that show, a last-minute decision, would even be worth it. Three live shows, a digital album and vinyl purchase later, Everything All the Time (Sub Pop) was pretty much a shoo-in as my favorite album this year.

I’m not sure I’d put it on the same pedestal as my pick from last year (The National’s Alligator), but Band of Horses bring something so needed amid the disaffected and mopey masses of indie rock: a genuine affability. Their music is as approachable as the guys are likable. A live show only supports the point. Frontman Ben Bridwell’s dude-man personality is charming and a welcome change from performers who take themselves too seriously.

Then there’s the small matter of the album, which seems an honest reflection of the group’s engaging attitude. Put simply, these are songs that are easy to like. They are not pretentious nor do they try too hard. In June, I wrote for Mars Needs Guitars that The Great Salt Lake had “a bit of grandeur in the sound.” Really, the same could be said about the entire album. Comparisons to My Morning Jacket and the Shins make sense but shouldn’t be taken too literally. Band of Horses strikes a balance between the Shins’ fragile guitar tip-toeing and MMJ’s cumbersome jamming.

When I’m sure The Funeral or The Great Salt Lake are the album’s high points, Monsters makes me rethink it all. These are big, sprawling songs, but they never threaten to burden the album with an overwrought sense of self-importance.

It’s very possible, and I’m no musician, that Everything All the Time is not a marvel of technical musicianship. But sincerity is the great equalizer. How does an album make you feel? Warm and welcome or distant and indifferent? I can’t imagine feeling more invited and comfortable than I do when I listen to this album.

Ten more albums I also really enjoyed (in no particular order):

general

Rob Crow: I Hate You, Rob Crow

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So, yeah, there’s the title to that song, the new single from Rob Crow’s solo album Living Well, due out Jan. 23 on Temporary Residence. It’s either a healthy dose of sarcasm or some serious self-reflection by Crow, frontman of Pinback and member of other assorted side projects (including the unfortunately named Goblin Cock).

Living Well is Crow’s ode to his family and the birth of his first child, his musical equivalent of a little couch time. Even if the lead single is ironically self-referential, I Hate You, Rob Crow is brilliant in its efficiency. At two minutes and nine seconds, I Hate You concentrates Crow’s knack for a sing-songy vocal hook and instant impact. And this is the “single version.” The album version apparently is 1:13.

Rob Crow | I Hate You, Rob Crow (single version) (mp4)

covers, general, vinyl

James Brown: Handful of Soul

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As previously mentioned, James Brown made eight albums for Smash Records, five of which were instrumental. Handful of Soul, released in 1966, was the fourth (via). The album features covers and originals.One of the covers is a pretty interesting take on When a Man Loves a Woman.

Even if you’ve tired of the song (thanks, Michael Bolton), Brown puts a great twist on it. Female backing singers hold down the familiar chorus, but Brown’s organ takes the place of a lead singer, almost as if he’s doing a call and response between the backing vocals and the organ.

And if my elementary research is correct, Percy Sledge came out with the song in 1966, which means Brown’s cover likely was one of the first.

James Brown (at the organ) | When a Man Loves a Woman

Also, thanks to Covert Curiosity for pointing me in the direction of this Detroit News remembrance of James Brown, which includes this great tidbit:

“There was a reason Brown’s band was so tight: Brown was known as one of the strictest bandleaders ever. He didn’t wait until the end of a show to dock someone’s pay if their shoes weren’t shined or if they played something he didn’t like.

“[Allan] Slutsky, who worked on ‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown’ with Bootsy Collins, who was a bass player for Brown, says if a trumpet player hit a bad note, Brown would dance over to the musician and, with his back to the audience, flash the fingers of both hands at the player. ‘That meant he was fining the guy $10,’ he said.”

general, samples

James Brown: The Payback

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I can’t recall the year, but if memory serves, it was the third bout between Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe. Bowe won the first, Holyfield the second. I’m watching the introductions, filled with the usual pomp of the sport, when Bowe emerges from the curtains and walks out to James Brown’s The Payback. Whoa. I really didn’t have a rooting interest in either boxer, but I can remember thinking that had to be one of the coolest (and most appropriate) song selections for the situation.

The title says it all: a down and dirty vow of revenge and payback. Released on the LP by the same name in 1973, The Payback feels more like Brown is preaching than singing. He talk-sings in fragmented bits in between the rhythmic guitar strumming and funky bass. And he employs the call-and-response tactic, name-checking trombonist Fred Wesley for emphasis: “Hit ’em Fred, hit ’em!”

The lyrical freedom Brown gives himself in the song lends to its greatness: it’s not seven minutes of structured verse-chorus-verse boredom, but a tirade of one pissed-off dude. I’d hate to be the guy who inspired this anger.

The equally testy wah-wah guitar and daunting bassline make an obvious foundation for sampling, which EPMD did extensively, though the use of it by En Vogue and L.L. Cool J (mp3s below) probably gave it more commercial appeal.

James Brown | The Payback

As sampled by …

L.L. Cool J | The Boomin’ System
En Vogue | My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)

UPDATE: Oliver at Soul Sides has started to share his thoughts – and music – of James Brown.