Category Archives: vinyl

vinyl

Steady, As She Goes (acoustic version)

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For some reason, I’ve had pretty excellent luck lately digging around for vinyl. Last week, I found two different 12″ singles of Persephone’s Bees’ Nice Day with about four remixes of the song (to be posted soon).

Then before the Soul Position show on Wednesday I hit Zia in Tempe. That Zia store keeps 7″ vinyl in crates on the floor (do you see what I do for you?). Anyway, they had a new Raconteurs 7″ single for the acoustic version of Steady, As She Goes b/w (backed with … thanks Eric!) Call it a Day, which is on the forthcoming album Broken Boy Soldiers. Go to this Amazon link for the CD (no, I’m not making any commission on it) and you can also check out streaming video of two tracks live from Irving Plaza in New York.


But I have one question: I have the first Steady, As She Goes 7″ which has a letter “A” on the sleeve and the labels of the record. This one has a “C,” which leads me to believe I’m missing “B.” Does anyone have a clue about this lettering system?

Anyway, here’s the acoustic version of Steady, converted from the 7″. This version was the free download last week at iTunes, but Apple puts those files in a straitjacket and handcuffs. Whatever, vinyl sounds better and it’s fresh out of the shrinkwrap, too.

I do like the vibe of this version: a little looser and there’s some laughing (hey, we’re rock stars! this is fun, weeeee!) near the end. Even better, I love the rhythm/tempo change from the verse to the chorus on this version. A little more bluesy.

The Raconteurs | Steady, As She Goes (acoustic)

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

The Streets: “Don’t Mug Yourself” remixes

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So, you all know The Streets (aka Mike Skinner) has a new album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, due out for release in the coming weeks; clearly, I’m not in the business of breaking news here.
Anyway, I’m going back to his first LP, Original Pirate Material, for this post. On a recent record-shopping excursion, I plucked a 12″ single for Don’t Mug Yourself that includes the instrumental, acapella and three remixes. Hey, when you’re good, you’re good.


Two of the remixes (the Big$hot and Jammer mixes) are pretty much instrumental reworkings that have more of a dance club feel, thought I sort of like the Jammer mix. The Fusion Remix maintains the lyrical content with a bit of a slower-paced beat.

The Streets | Don’t Mug Yourself (Fusion Remix)
The Streets | Don’t Mug Yourself (Big$hot Remix)
The Streets | Don’t Mug Yourself (Jammer Remix)

covers, general, vinyl

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

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By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be in a car somewhere on the Interstate 10, nothing but desolate desert … and the Flying J truck stop in Ehrenberg, Ariz., for some Wendy’s, on the way to Los Angeles. For a six-hour car drive, I don’t get to Calif. as much as I should. So I’m looking forward to my three days there.

The highlight of the trip is Wednesday’s show with The National and Talkdemonic. Cannot wait. After reading Ryan’s recap of the Chicago show and Frank’s review of the Toronto show, I’m even more excited for this sold-out event.

We’ll also be seeing my sister-in-law June, who is very much pregnant. Due to pop next month. So here’s a Talkdemonic song off the new one, Beat Romantic, for her – and our soon-to-be nephew.

Talkdemonic | Junesong

My boy Royce has promised he’ll be posting while I’m gone … so there will be no interruptions of your regularly scheduled programming.

Also …

I absolutely forgot to recap my haul from Saturday’s record swap meet in Phoenix. I was having little luck finding much: I picked up Inxs Kick on 12″ and a live Marvin Gaye album.

I decided to hit one last table. The lady was super nice and said all LPs were $4 or three for $10. She told me the 45s (two boxes worth) were 50 cents apiece. So I snag the Rolling Stones’ Out of Our Heads and the Cream Disraeli Gears on 12″. Need that third one, right? So I go back and find the Who, Live at Leeds. Not only is the record in decent shape, the cover opens up like a folder and contains paperwork with typed lyric sheets and other odd, record label stationery and such. The woman couldn’t believe I found it and says it books for $50-$70. I immediately feel awful, telling her she should take it back. But she insists that I found it so I should have it in the three for $10 deal under the condition I don’t resell it. Done.

As for the 45s, I snagged a bunch of Michael Jacksons for the jukebox at home. The gems were a Capitol 45 (orange vinyl!) of Blind Melon’s No Rain and an REM 45 for The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite with a ridculously cool cover on the b-side of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.


Here it is, converted from vinyl.

REM | The Lion Sleeps Tonight

vinyl

The Raconteurs “Store Bought Bones”

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It’s no surprise that just about everyone else beat me to the punch on The Raconteurs. But I actually bought the 7″ single last night for a cool $2.99. I must say: Steady, As She Goes (buy it at iTunes) deserves to be listened through headphones.

I know Jack White is kinda the brand name of this project, but I’m excited for this album more for the presence of Brendan Benson and the Greenhornes, who provide a tight and muscular rhythm section. And the guitar work on Store Bought Bones is all loose and bluesy. As my boy Chris has said several times, the full-length has top five best-of potential for 2006.

Rest assured, this was a conversion from the 7″ vinyl and not a rip from the group’s site or MySpace.

The Raconteurs | Store Bought Bones

hip-hop, vinyl

Sunday Grab Bag: Jeru “Ya Playin’ Yaself”

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My boy K over at Analog Giant gave me a little shite last week for lackin’ in the hip-hop department. So I’m comin’ correct today with one of my favorite 12″ singles from the vinyl department: Jeru the Damaja’s Ya Playin’ Yaself.

For anyone tired of the commercialism and self-congratulatory path some rap has taken, this is your anthem. Jeru calls out the material and superficial traps of the game:

“Knowledge, wisdom, understanding /
like King Solomon’s wealth /
You’re a playa but only because you be playin’ yaself”

For me, this song (1996) was bold because Jeru takes a stand and draws a line in the sand about … well … keepin’ it real.

Jeru the Damaja | Ya Playin’ Yaself
Jeru the Damaja | Ya Playin’ Yaself (acapella)

(Ripped from 12″ single, Payday Records, 1996 … even better, it still has the $4.99 price tag from Fat Beats on it, which means I bought it on my first and only trip to NYC when I was in college.)

hip-hop, vinyl

Sunday Grab Bag: R.I.P. Jay Dee

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Roger Erickson/Stones Throw
Sad news in the world of hip-hop that I first found out at Analog Giant: Producer Jay Dee (aka J-Dilla) died Friday of kidney failure (Detroit Free Press story). He was only 32.

Without even knowing, you probably have heard something by Jay Dee, even if you just listened to a sliver of hip-hop. He was a member of A Tribe Called Quest’s production team the Ummah, and he’s worked with artists like De La Soul, the Roots and Common. Stones Throw lists his extensive resume.

My knowledge of Jay Dee (born James Yancey) is fairly limited. But his name is, quietly, everywhere in my collection, especially on vinyl b-side remixes. Also check Stones Throw’s J-Dilla page for links to praiseworthy reviews of his latest Donuts, released just last week.

For more on Jay Dee, I highly recommend:

Here’s a few remix cuts culled from my collection.
Jay Dee/J-Dilla: 1974-2006, R.I.P.

De La Soul | Stakes is High (remix by Jay Dee)
From Itzsoweezee 12″ single; De La, Mos Def and Truth Enola on one track.

The Pharcyde | Y? (Be Like That) (Jay Dee remix)
From Drop 12″ single; a great example of Jay Dee keeping the flavor of the original but coloring it with a stuttering bass line and more pronounced backing vocals.

The Pharcyde | Runnin’ (Jay Dee Remix)
From Drop 12″ single; a cooled-out mix of one of my favorite Pharcyde tracks.

remix, vinyl

Remix Week: Soul Coughing, circa 1994

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Today’s remix selection comes from a choice 12″ promo single I’ve been holding onto for years, just for a special moment like this.

If you’ve listened to any of Mike Doughty’s solo material (buy Haughty Melodic here), it’s pretty apparent he took off in another direction from his Soul Coughing days. And that’s fine, and it probably was a necessary departure for his creative health.

Still, Soul Coughing was it in the ’90s: progressive instrumentally, and scatterbrained but somehow thought-provoking lyrically. Doughty’s role of misunderstood genius played brilliantly off the band’s synth-driven, orchestrated cacophony (did I just use the word “cacophony”?).

Anyway, these remixes of Sugar Free Jazz (original on Ruby Vroom) only expand on the experimental musical leanings of a great (if not overlooked) band of the ’90s.



Soul Coughing | Sugar Free Jazz (Sugar Cane Jungle Mix)*
Soul Coughing | Sugar Free Jazz (Cane Field Mix)**

* – Remixed by Mad Professor and Dougie Digital.
** – Remixed by Mad Professor.

Elsewhere …On Jan. 17, Bloc Party is releasing a DVD, God Bless Bloc Party, which contains a one-hour documentary filmed around the group’s second U.S. tour and live
performance footage from their June 2005 shows at the El Ray Theater
in Los Angeles and July 2005 at a festival in Belfort, France.

Check Vice Records for the latest news. A link for the trailer wasn’t working; hopefully this will be corrected shortly. You might check out Vice’s blog for a Two More Years remix by MSTRKRFT.

vinyl

James Brown’s “Funky Drummer”

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I’m feeling honored and humbled to discover that I’ve been linked on the blog roll of the terrific Soul Sides, one of the pioneers of the mp3 blogging game. Naturally, it got me digging through some vinyl, mostly the 45 stash, where I’ve collected a bit of James Brown.

Chances are, if you’ve listened to even a scant bit of hip-hop, you’ve heard James Brown’s Funky Drummer in some form or fashion. I’m not going out on a limb by saying it’s probably the most-sampled drum loop. The Wikipedia entry for Funky Drummer has a listing of some (but not all) of the hip-hop songs that copped this beat. Most notable are Eric B. and Rakim’s Lyrics of Fury and four tracks apiece by Public Enemy and Run-DMC. Hell, LL Cool J used it (at least) twice for two tracks on Mama Said Knock You Out.

I was surprised to see some tracks that I didn’t know used the loop or was just too dense to put two and two together. Others simply frightened me (Exhibit A: Vanilla Ice, Stop That Train).

For the record, that funky drummer is Clyde Stubblefield. Get a few clips of him playing at Drummer World.


James Brown | Funky Drummer (Part 1)
James Brown | Funky Drummer (Part 2)
From King Records 45.
(note: These were likely meant to be played as a continuous track, hence the abrupt fadeouts.)
James Brown | Funky Drummer (Bonus Beat Reprise)
From In the Jungle Groove, PolyGram Records, 1986.

Sampled by (among others) …
LL Cool J | Mama Said Knock You Out
Nas | Get Down

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

Flashback Friday: The Nonce

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a flashback, and this one is special. The Nonce was probably one of the most criminally overlooked hip-hop acts of the ’90s. For proof, check out All Music’s two-sentence bio on the LA-based duo that also lists the genre as rock.

Plus, there’s a scarcity of information about The Nonce on the net. The Broke BBoys had a nice post about ’em in January, including the hazy details of member Yusef Afloat’s death in May 2000.

The Nonce opened for the Roots in Phoenix in 1995.
I ate up everything The Nonce put out; sadly their only full-length was World Ultimate, on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. Comparisons to A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets aren’t entirely off, but not totally accurate either. I think The Nonce’s style was a little more streetwise, evidenced in the single Mix Tapes, about sellin’ mixes on the street corner. That song has one of the deepest, dopest basslines … and that chorus: “I used to sell mix tapes, but now I’m an emcee / I got the rhymes and beats / I used to rock them tapes.”

Found this promo single in Tucson; trust me, I’m not an “A-list DJ.”
The Nonce | Mix Tapes
The Nonce | Bus Stops
The Nonce | Mix Tapes (1926 Sunday Night Remix)
(From Mix Tapes The Remixes blue vinyl 12″)
The Nonce | Turnin’ It Out

vinyl

An ’80s treat

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Before I get to the music, I gotta give some love to Ryan, who took the time to post a Q&A with this clown.

So, last night, I hit Half-Price Books while the wife was browsing Target. A fair trade, I’d say. Anyway, they just bought a huge stash of 45s. Fifty cents apiece — gold mine! I got some gems, including M.C. Hammer Turn This Mutha Out, Michael Jackson Bad and Cheap Trick Don’t Be Cruel (with picture sleeve).

But, really, the greatest find of the evening was Tony Basil’s Mickey … (wait for it) .. IN SPANISH. I couldn’t wait any longer to share.


(For those who care, this is the turntable I’m using in my conversions.)

Toni Basil | Mickey