Z-Rock Hawaii

/ David James / 3 Comments

Holy Shit.

z-rockhawaii

Mindflaying collaboration between Ween and Boredoms.  If you’re even passingly familiar with either band, you’ve probably jumped out of your seat already.  It’s no gargantuan achievement; just an exciting smash up of the two groups’ extreme sensibilities, satisfying anyone remotely interested in such a project.  Scatalogical, free-associative lyricism pollinates a gritty crushing tribal punk garden, runaway train hyperactivity collides with relaxed stoner funk, and bone crunching guitar and drums fight it out under warped extraterrestrial sunny skies.

Picture a Venn diagram with Dean and Gene Ween in one circle, and Yamantaka Eye and company in the other.  The overlap, and then some, is what this album sounds like.  Turn this up loud and pay no heed to your exploding brain.

[get your paws on this via amazon or search in vain for a copy at your local record store!]

Nancy and Lee Again

/ David James / 2 Comments

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood comprised one of the most inimitable duos in pop music history. Nancy’s wise-beyond-her-years little girl voice serves as a perfect foil to Lee’s grizzled-but-tender cowboy delivery in a perfectly balanced duet of sweetness and spice. Hazlewood’s still-relevatory electro-tweaked countrified pop constructions take the entire production to the next level in this slice of coed harmonic bliss, hot and fresh after four decades.

Nancy and Lee

Their second release, Nancy & Lee Again, may not contain the iconic Some Velvet Morning (expertly covered by Slowdive) or their superb take on The Righteous Brothers‘ You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, but it’s the superior record to my ears. Here’s that cover:

nancy and lee again

The near epic Arkansas Coal (Suite) kicks off the set in dusky mysterious tones and quickly builds through an emotionally swerving narrative toward an anthemic horn blasted finale.

Mid-album highlight Down From Dover (prominently sampled by The Go! Team) is possibly the best showcase for Sinatra’s voice, a raggedly heartfelt turn which may surprise those who know her as a too-cool chanteuse from These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ or Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down). Capped off by the deliciously playful conversation of Got It Together Again, we’re privy to these final words:

Nancy: “I wish everybody would be quiet, and nice.”
Lee: “Yeah, and don’t throw rocks.”
“Yeah.”
“And don’t shoot guns.”
“Right.”
“And come home safe.”
“Right”
“Because we miss ya.”

This intimate exchange gives me a chill right down my spine. It’s exemplary of the whole album, an experience not unlike listening in on two sweetly adoring old friends as they sing like they’re the only ones who can hear, only for each other. We’re just lucky it was caught on tape.

[pick this right up on original vinyl at amazon (!!! yes!!!) or get it digitally via 7digital, as it’s not issued on CD. or you can get the excellent Fairy Tales & Fantasies collection, compiling almost every good track they recorded]

Tim Exile – Listening Tree

/ David James / 2 Comments

Tim Exile creates slamming dance-inclined tracks by pulling at the threads of several electronic movements and stitching them together into an inclusive parachute – escalating, enveloping, exhilerating high altitude drops over an expansive oscillating environment.  Listening Tree is a galaxy-surfing warp drive pop electronica extravaganza.

Tim_Exile_Listening_Tree_Warp_Records

Pouring the excitement of peak-era big beat into a swirling dervish of glitchy textured electronica and experimental hiphop madness, it’s difficult to pin down; which is perfectly acceptable, as head nodding, dancing, or driving too rapidly take precedence over silly genre name games.  The stunning percussion and breathtaking tone shifts keep a heightened mood throughout, unrelenting in its seductive energy.  Undeniably futuristic laser-guided synth lines and cavernous bass manipulations consistently serve up hook after wacked-out hook, while vocals on several of the tracks create an immediacy many of Exile’s peers lack, though they’re never so prominent as to overshadow the jawdropping sonic adventurism.  It’s basically the whole package.  This album hits on several important fronts and then takes the listener back to bed at the end of the night.

[check up on Tim at his myspace while snagging Listening Tree at bleep or amazon, which sells cd, digital and vinyl issues]

Fela Kuti

/ David James / 2 Comments

Fela Kuti is a supernatural being.  An extraterrestrial.  A god.  A politically charged, female-fueled rhythm machine.  He basically invented what we know as afrobeat.  He challenged the deadly authority of Nigeria’s oppressive government through song and action, and paid a price for it.  He popularized and reinvented jazz in Africa, then brought the explosive results to the West.  He was a visionary, a revolutionary, a womanizer, a pioneer, a king… a bad ass mother fucker.

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Most of his music was released in single and 12″ form, and the majority of his tracks were 10+ minute floor pounding epics.  Thus when being reissued, most of the originals were combined on CD, with it’s longer running time; which brings me to Expensive Shit + He Miss Road.  The impossible nature of selecting a favorite Kuti track or album led me to sharing, as an introduction, the release which I simply have listened to most often.  The tracks here are simply some of the most addictive numbers in his catalogue.  Aside from the two title tracks, we have Water No Get Enemy, Monday Morning in Lagos, and It’s No Possible – all long form, mercilessly energetic pieces designed to kickstart brains and shake asses at the same time.  Most Kuti songs follow a formula of intense rhythm buildup, chanted or sung culturally incisive lyrics, a beat explosion, and an extended hypnotic ending.  The sound itself begs no description; it just is.  Those who have listened know; those who have not are missing out on some fiercely energetic hip-shaking deep groove jams.  The stories behind the songs’ genesis are often intriguing enough for a small book, Expensive Shit in particular, so be sure to read up on them.  It not only aids in the enjoyment of the tracks (as if these masterpieces needed help to be enjoyed) but provides some insight into the man and his tumultuous life.

Just give this a try, especially if you’re completely new to it – in such a case, I promise no less than the most interesting thing you’ve heard all week/month/year.  Open your ears and prepare for spastic motion, mental and physical.  This is only the beginning.

[purchase the groundbeaking combo at cduniverse, wrasserecords, or the always-reliable amazon]

Sujinho

/ David James / 2 Comments

Jackson Conti is an exotically beautiful collaboration between producer extraordinaire Otis Jackson Jr. (aka Madlib) and Azymuth drummer Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti which began when Jackson took a trip to Brazil and fell in love with the sounds of the country’s funky jazz and bossa nova, with a particular interest in Mamão’s band.

KSR024CD

Unapologetically deep into it’s alluringly exotic sound, both artists dive into the project with abandon, creating an environment marginally detached from anything Madlib‘s been involved with yet, including most of his jazz-centric Yesterday’s New Quintet material (excepting, of course, the few Jackson Conti-titled tracks on the YNQ compilation album Yesterday’s Universe).  It’s straight up pure old school Brazilian jazz, with the same feel that Conti’s been pounding out for over 30 years – with enough intricate production flourishes and head-nodding polyrhythmic tones that let us in on the fact that it’s, in fact, a very modern record.  It’s truly impossible to describe exactly what this feels like if you’re not familiar with the sounds, so I’ll leave it at this:  if you want a relaxed but intense jazzy tropical vibe to get lost in for days, give this a try.  It’s habit forming in the best way.  As a huge Madlib fan, I must admit that despite it’s esoteric nature and loose connection to any of his other work, Sujinho is near the top of my favorite records by the prolific artist.

[snap this up at undergroundhiphop if you’re cool, or go to amazon.. or grab the import version right here]

Guilty Not Guilty 2

/ David James / 1 Comment

album-doot-doot

This track is pure 80’s fizzy pop majesty.  I can never get enough of it.  Ever.

And a little background information:  Freur died only to be reborn, with members Rick Smith and Karl Hyde, as Underworld.  Although the former band is nearly unrelated, musically, this song certainly displays their ability to craft an earbending single.  Spin it!

Pharoah Sanders – Karma

/ David James / 6 Comments

Pharoah Sanders - Karma

Pharoah Sanders may be regarded as, without reservation, one of the greatest modern jazz musicians. His saxophone has graced the heights of recorded music, including his work with John Coltrane on the revolutionary freakout Ascension and Alice Coltrane‘s spiritual jazz masterpieces. He’s played with nearly every major jazz artist you love and he’s appeared on more records than you own. Probably.

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