general

Sweatin’ to the Indies!

5 Comments

If you’ve already been over to Gorilla vs. Bear — and chances are good that you were — you know that Chris and I are posting some good workout songs today. I was lamenting my recent laziness about getting out and getting to the gym. And with the monumental Austin trip but a mere 48 days away — not that I’m counting — I figured it was time to get in shape.

So it’s time to get to LA Fatness … ahem, I mean, Fitness. After all, I convinced myself I’d work out more if I bought an iPod Shuffle. Seemed like sound reasoning at the time. It’s light, it’ll fit in my pocket. That is, when I actually put it in my pocket and get to the gym.

As for my music, I tend to lean toward the more aggressive mode for motivation: Rage Against the Machine, Jawbox/breaker, Quicksand, etc. But I’m thinking I should change it up. I know we have a few biking bloggers — Mallie at South of Mainstream and Ryan at My Yellow Country Teeth. So let’s get some suggestions going. What tunes keep you going throughout the day or at the gym?

These are a few I’ll be listening to while I try to bench-press the bar:

sourceVictoria: Opportunistic
Heiruspecs: Something For Nothing
No Knife: Permanent For Now
RJD2: Cut Out to Fl.
Styles of Beyond: Winnetka Exit
Jimmy Eat World: You

BONUS — Come on! Push it, you Nancy boy!
DJ Radar and Puma as Four Hand Stroke: Sectorize
Queens of the Stone Age: The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret

general

Jim Mahfood

Leave a comment


No music here, but a shout-out to a good guy and and ex-Zona resident: Jim Mahfood. Jim is an independent comic-book artist with ridiculous credentials. He’s probably best known for drawing the Clerks comic book, at director Kevin Smith’s request no less.

Jim’s also responsible for the Grrl Scouts series and Stupid Comics strip in the Phoenix New Times. Music plays a huge role in Jim’s art. You’ll often see his characters wearing T-shirts pimping some of his favorite artists. When he lived in Arizona, Jim created live mural art on stage during the Bombshelter DJs’ — Radar, Z-Trip, Emile — weekly gig, a practice he continues for national acts. Recently, Jim illustrated the fold-out mural on Z-Trip’s recent major-label debut, Shifting Gears and Felt, a comic-book companion to the new album, Felt 2, by Slug and Murs.

Jim has art for sale at his Web site or at his store. Or you can drop in at your local comic book shop for his work, which combines humor, music and always some political riffing.

hip-hop

The Shapeshifters

Leave a comment


I know I’ve been on a hip-hop binge lately, but we’re all about opening minds here. Another show I’ll sadly be missing tonight is the Shapeshifters at — of all places — a Phoenix art gallery called the Paper Heart.

I clearly haven’t been keeping my ear to the hip-hop ground because I missed the Shifters’ newest release, Was Here, when it dropped last year. The eight-man crew — AWOL One, Existereo, Die, Life Rexall, Akuma, Radioinactive, Circus, and LA Jae — has been likened to the Pharcyde for its animated topics of rhyme. Like a lot of emcees and deejays — Kool Keith as Dr. Octagon, Invisibl Skratch Picklz — the Shifters are preoccupied with all things alien and extraterrestrial. And that’s not a bad thing because a little imagination goes a long way in a genre sorely lacking it. (Have you seen the schlock on MTV lately?) On Pindar, they “wouldn’t be surprised if our own president was actually a space alien … really a reptilian clone lizard.”

And if you need any proof of the Shifters’ indie cred, peep American Idle, a track that features Slug (he of Atmosphere) and Busdriver. As for the music … well, Run the Crowd has to be one of the hottest party tracks out there, and check Circuit City for a sample of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue.

The Shapeshifters: Circuit City
The Shapeshifters: Message 4 Yer Planet
The Shapeshifters: Run the Crowd

hip-hop

Hieroglyphics

3 Comments


Sadly, I’ll be missing Hieroglyphics in concert at the Clubhouse in Tempe tonight. If you ask me, Hiero — which consists of Casual, Del the Funky Homosapien, Souls of Mischief, Pep Love and producer/manager Domino — is one of the most important crews to this generation of hip-hop, and not just for its music.

Long story short, Casual and Souls (with Jive) and Del (with Elektra) all had fallings out with their labels (i.e., they were dropped). By that time, the Bay area collective had enough of a following and they started their own label: Hiero Imperium. Along with crews like Living Legends, Hiero followed the DIY ethic, proving groups could choose their own path, independent of major labels. “Control is key, and as an artist, to control your masters and have ownership is important. Each artist owns their own records,” Domino told remixmag.com.

The Hiero brand — stamped by the famous three-eyed logo — has expanded, with members of Souls branching out into solo efforts. Del remains one of the most sought-after guest spots: Check Handsome Boy Modeling School and the first Gorillaz album for proof. The extended Hiero family now includes Encore, Z-Man and Goapele.

I’ve seen these guys so many times and it never gets old. You won’t see a shortage of their music on this site. So many songs to choose from. When I get really ambitious, I’m going to digitize some cassettes of freestyles I own by Hiero. For now, we’ll break you in. Enjoy the selections.

Hiero crew: Burnt (which Web site says “introduced the world to the Hiero Crew.”)

Del and Dinosaur Jr.: Missing Link (from Judgment Night soundtrack; only an emcee like Del can rock it with Dino Jr.)

Souls of Mischief: Unseen Hand (digitized from Hiero Oldies tape)

Casual (w/Del and Xzibit): Three Emcees (from Beats & Lyrics comp.; yeah, Mr. X to the Z did some hot shite before Pimp My Ride.)

Pep Love: After Dark (from Third Eye Vision)

live

Sufjan’s got spirit … how ’bout you?

13 Comments

OK. I’m sold. I like Sufjan. I really, really like him.

Monday night’s Sufjan Stevens show at Marquee Theatre in Tempe wasn’t just a concert; it was a spectacle. The whole Illinoisemakers shtick wasn’t a put-on: Sufjan and Co. come dressed in full Illinois cheerleading regalia. If there are concept albums, this is a concept concert. Sufjan himself likened it to a pep rally.

The opener was an ode to the 50 states, a roll call of sorts. The chorus: “The 50 states / pack your bags/ it’s never too late.” A few songs were preceded by well-rehearsed cheers, pom-poms and all.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
“Gimme an ‘I’!”
There was, of course, music. The arrangements were really quite wonderful. An array of instruments — trumpet, trombone, xylophone, banjo — fleshed out the presentation. I was most impressed by how his voice — ever precious on record — held up in a pretty large theater. He hit those high notes (think the “oh my god” refrain on John Wayne Gacy Jr.) with nary a problem. His backup singers bolstered the cause. Liz Janes, who opened, was a part of the group.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Liz Janes (a cutie) is in the middle.

Sufjan is really quite personable on stage. He didn’t stray far from the new album, although he took a “detour” to Detroit to play Sister, from Seven Swans. He followed that (if memory serves) with John Wayne Gacy, one of my favorite tracks on the new album. The imagery of the song, combined with his vocals, really held the audience quite still. Again, I can’t get past how his voice carries so well.

He broke the mellow mood in funny fashion: “We’re going to lift your spirits. That part of the set reminds me of midseason, where we’ve lost about three games in a row. We’re gonna win the next couple.” He could have been a cheerleader in a previous life.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Sufjan gets down.
As you might guess, they played all the biggies off Illinois: Man of Metropolis, Jacksonville, Chicago (another fave), Casimir Pulaski Day. And, of course, Come On! Feel the Illinoise! — their “theme song.”

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
“I pledge allegiance … ”
The encore included a cover (I guess you’d call it) of the Star-Spangled Banner: a folksy twist on our national anthem. The crowd ate it up. Sufjan seemed genuinely appreciative of the audience, saying he “feels like we’re in a stadium. We feel like Bon Jovi.”

I truly was impressed. Where so many times you plop down money to see someone sterilely strum through their catalog, this felt more like a show, a feast on the senses.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
“I love your blog this much.”
To cap it off, the Illinoisemakers attempted the human pyramid “for the first time ever.”
Check it out:

1 2
Can’t wait for that Arizona album …

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

hip-hop

Apsci (Quannum)

Leave a comment

Without a doubt, Quannum Projects has been at the forefront of pushing progressive hip-hop, and it’s great to see how the collective — anchored by DJ Shadow, Blackalicious and Latyrx — has expanded. Admittedly, I’ve been slow to keep up with the label’s latest roster additions. Apsci, a husband-wife duo of vocalist Dana Diaz-Tutaan and emcee Raphael LaMotta, is the label’s newest project. The album, Thanks for Asking, is the epitome of the Quannum spirit: keeping true to the basics of hip-hop but at the same time pushing it in different directions. Apsci brilliantly incorporates an electronic feel to the vocals of Diaz-Tutaan and raps of LaMotta, and they do it without potentially scaring off the more traditional hip-hop fans. Guest spots include Mr. Lif (the Perceptionists) and VURSATYLE of Lifesavas (also of the Quannum clan).

Apsci: Tirade Highway
Apsci: See That? (feat. Mr. Lif)

Uncategorized

Loose ends

Leave a comment

Just a few items to wrap up from the weekend:

… My recent excursion to Tucson consisted mostly of shopping for vinyl. But I did pick up one CD: a Barsuk Records compilation called Treats, which includes a dub version of Death Cab for Cutie’s We Laugh Indoors. (How far behind am I on this, eh?) Anyway, from what I can gather, the track was included on the single for I Was a Kaleidoscope. I’ll tie this mp3 into the release of Death Cab’s new DVD Drive Well, Sleep Carefully, available for $20 at Barsuk here.

Death Cab: We Laugh Indoors (dub)

… It’s not often I pay much attention to the multitude of ads pleading for my cursor when I hit Pitchfork. But one caught my eye on Sunday for the Scott Amendola Band. I recognize Amendola mostly from his days as the drummer for Charlie Hunter, that fine eight-string jazz guitar player. Anyway, Amendola’s band has a new CD out called Believe. What’s interesting to note is that Nels Cline plays guitar and lap steel guitar (one of my favorite instruments to hear) on the album. Cline, as you might know, is also playing with this liltle band called Wilco. Anyway, there sample clips here are worth checking out. I’ve always found this brand of jazz a nice change of pace, even if traditionalists scoff at it.

… The baseball trading deadline was sort of anticlimactic, though the Cubs did well to pry Matt Lawton — finally, a legitimate leadoff man — from the Pirates for only Jody Gerut. I’m just glad they didn’t sell off the farm or pull through on the proposed Aramis Ramirez for Bill Mueller-Manny Ramirez deal. Besides, Kerry Wood and Nomar Garciaparra are coming back this week.

… Sufjan Stevens tonight at Marquee Theatre in Tempe. I’m so there.

… What I’ll be missing Tuesday night because of work … sigh: Hieroglyphics at the Clubhouse in Tempe.

… What I’ll be missing Wednesday night because of work … sigh: The Shapeshifters at the Paper Heart gallery in Phoenix for only 5 bills. If you’re a hip-hop fan, you need to check out the Shapeshifters album Shapeshifters Was Here. (There will be Shapeshifters music here this week.)

general

Morphine

2 Comments

I was looking through some old concert ticket stubs (yeah, I’m a pack rat), thinking of summer concerts of days past. I came across an August 1, 1999, show for Soul Coughing at Stubb’s in Austin. At the time, I was a sportswriting intern at the Austin American-Statesman.I’ll always remember the show because a) I saw Soul Coughing; and b) Morphine was on the bill. But, sadly, about a month earlier, Mark Sandman passed away on stage of a heart attack at a concert in Rome. He was only 47.

Clearly, the news of his death wasn’t on par with someone like a John Lennon; however, I was (still am) totally into Morphine. That band was doing things musically that few — if any — were: Billy Conway on drums, Dana Colley on saxophone and Sandman playing a homemade two-string bass. It was sometimes amazing what they were able to coax out of such minimal instrumentation. The low-end vibes were downright (dare I say it?) sexy. For proof, check Cure For Pain, the group’s sophomore — and breakthrough — album.

Colley and Conway went on to form the Twinemen, a fine outfit but, frankly, it was hard not to think that Sandman should still be around. A box set — Sandbox — came out last year, with two discs of Sandman material compiled by Colley and Conway, plus a DVD. (I have yet to purchase.)

So, here’s to remembering Morphine:

Cure for Pain (audio stripped from enhanced video on Bootleg Detroit; song performed live at The Montreux Jazz Festival in 1995)
Pulled Over the Car (from B-Sides and Otherwise; originally from Japanese CD release of Yes)
Thursday (from Cure for Pain; listen to the bass!)
Potion(from Like Swimming; listen to the sax!)

vinyl

45 Selections of the Week

7 Comments

Being on a singer/songwriter kick last week with the Richard Buckner/Anders Parker and Brendan Benson shows, I plucked these two well-known tracks from the 45 jukebox collection. When I took on the 45 stash from my dad, I was hoping to turn up more Bob Dylan. Alas, Like a Rolling Stone single was the only one of the lot. No matter, it’s a fine track. And according to this Calgary Sun story, July 24 was the 40th anniversary of the song’s appearance on rock charts. Rolling Stone recently named it the greatest song of all time in a list of 500. Here’s a brief history of the tune.

The second choice is Jim Croce, of whom I admittedly have little knowledge except that he kept turning up in my dad’s music collection when I was young. As my tastes matured, I was patient enough to sit down and listen. And enjoy. My research tells me the opening piano bars of Bad, Bad Leroy Brown were lifted from Bobby Darin’s Queen of the Hop, which also resides in the 45 stash. It’s included for comparison’s sake.

(Note: Songs are recorded from turntable into computer using Audio Hijack Pro. Recordings are then edited/filtered/toiled over using Audacity.)