Transition

I apologize for the delayed absence, but I assure you, I have been busy…we built a fucking beach in our backyard: fire pit, gazebo, misters, sand & everything! Also, school is about to start, and I am picking up an extra class this fall, so these short-form posts may be more often than not. I started this blog to be about the music, so I suppose I don’t need to explain, but the writing has been good exercise (and fun), so I will continue some long-form posts as well. It’s all a progressive evolution, dig? And now, I think there is a fresh green bowl for me to hit somewhere…

Joe Cool

from the LP Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown TV Specials, released: 2007, recorded: 1976




I grew up watching the Peanuts crew at every holiday and Snoopy was my unabashed favorite; for real, all those characters were spot on. This was Snoopy’s soundtrack when he was moonlighting as Joe Cool, as heard in the school election TV special.

Fat of the Land

from the LP Flesh, J & J Records, 1983




Uber-experimentalists, this couple self-produced a bevy of electronic-based material in the early ‘80s, a surprising amount of it totally listenable.

Toots

from the LP Funky Kingston, Dragon Records, 1973




The master, the original, still performing and singing his ass off after all these years, Toots Hibbert is the living & breathing soul of reggae music!

Red Skies

the LP Shuttered Room, MCA Records, 1982




I’m a total sucker for ‘80s-era songs that drip with nuclear-war-paranoia, and The Fixx practically made this the running theme of their career.

25 Miles

from the LP 25 Miles, Motown Records, 1969




I first remember hearing this in the film Adventures in Babysitting, loved it ever since, wild-eyed Motown soul at its very best.

Paperchase

from the 12” single, Magnificent Butcher Productions, 1996




Chinese-American trio that met while attending Penn State, these cats have a smooth flow, fresh beats, and a timeless message with this, their debut single.

You Can't Hide (Your Love From Me)

from the 12” single, Mango Records, 1983




Mixed by none other than much-loved and legendary DJ and producer Larry Levan, this funky burner never fails to get my feet moving.

Metal Fingers in My Body

from the LP Avant Hard, Mute Records, 1999




Arty indie rockers that I don’t really like that much else from, maybe a couple other tracks, but this song absolutely kills it; the breakdown that starts at about 2 minutes in is sooooooo EVIL!

Suspect Device

from the 7” single, Rigid Digit Records, 1979




Irish punk band that really worked the hell out of minor chords and odd melodies, almost proto-hardcore, but a little too late.

Chill or Be Chilled

from the LP Mysterious Pony, My Pal God Records, 2000




Warm organic textures and easy-going breaks, the duo from Chi-town really shine on this whole album; look out for the phatty switch-up at 1:57---the sleigh-bells put you in a trance!

High Voltage

from the LP High Voltage, ATCO Records, 1976




This is where it all started for the Aussie cock-rockers that never gave up; along with Motorhead, one of the only rock bands that punk rockers were “allowed” to enjoy openly.

Blue Skies & Alibis

from the LP This Is…Gracious!, Phillips Records, 1971




Far out British prog rock led by the frenzied Mellotron and keyboards of one Martin Kitcat---highly drugged-out tunes to be found all across the album.

2:37 a.m.

from the LP All Young in the Soul, Darla Records, 1998




Neo-psych-rockers from Philly, they do what they do really well, and give the entire Elephant 6 camp a run for their money in the process.

Increase the Sound

from the 7” single, 4AD Records, 1987




Sometimes a song comes along that appeals to such a broad array of individuals that its influence upon future musicians is practically assured to be both wide-ranging and direct; ‘nuff said!

Sesame's Treet

from the 12” single, Suburban Base Records, 1992




One of the first rave anthems I remember, looping the theme to Sesame Street beneath some wicked breakbeats---dig the phat spliff in Oscar’s hand on the cover!

Southern Woman

from the LP A New Life, Capricorn Records, 1974




South Carolina-based Southern rockers with a jazz-flute twist, the MTB were but one stop in a long line of family-based units that churned out highly proficient swamp rock in the ‘70s.

You've Got That Something

from the LP Logg, Salsoul Records, 1981



Leroy Burgess has one of the most respected, recognizable voices in modern funk & soul, and his collaborations with producer Patrick Adams have generated some of the catchiest grooves in the business; their connection goes back as far as 1971, when Burgess was singing in the renowned trio Black Ivory and Adams served as their manager and all-around mentor. Mr. Burgess, vocally known for his tendency to really cut loose and “put some stank on it”, fronted no less than 8 of Adams’ projects, Logg being one of the more successful outfits---and the group’s name gave them a perfect excuse to be lewdly gratuitous with the cover photo! All the telling Adams-elements are here: other-worldly synthesizers, lush 3-part backing harmonies, cowbell and that relentless four-to-the-floor beat which predicted the coming of house music.

Television

from the LP Adolescent Sex, Ariola Hansa Records, 1978



It’s always difficult to try picking apart why one band’s brilliance can make them superstars, while another’s complex intellect and vision dooms them to the sidelines; in the case of Japan, who formed a few years before the punk situation but didn’t release their first album until a few years after, I don’t think the critics ever really knew what to do with them initially. Their time sweating it out on the club circuit served these guys very well: the rhythm section of Mick Karn (bass) and Steve Jansen (drums) are tight as fuck here, Rob Dean wails on guitar and Rich Barbieri adds just the right touch of keys & electronics. Singer and primary songwriter David Sylvain is an unsung hero, too smart and artistic for his own good probably, but a sharp genius no less when he croons, “…they throw shit in your face, and you still come up smiling; you've got nothing to believe in, the diverse, the young and the breathing…but it's all you want, all you want…nocturnal television, your fucking television…”

Life On Mars

from the LP Life On Mars, Philadelphia International Records, 1976



Taking a more smooth & velvety approach to jazz-funk, Philly’s own Dexter Wansel enjoyed moderate success in the ‘70s and early ‘80s as an in-house arranger & songwriter for the PIR label, as well as gracing us with a few spaced-out albums of his own, where he can be found rocking the keyboards. He was “discovered” by the famous Philly-based record production crew of Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff while still a member of the underground funk-rock outfit Yellow Sunshine, and he was promptly brought into the studio, helping to forge what has become known as the “Philly Sound” or “Philly Soul”. This track exemplifies their ambitions well: sumptuous string, brass & synthesizer arrangements, fat breaks, and one fierce funkapotomous of a bassline! In honor of yesterday’s 40^th anniversary of the moon landing; if we keep fucking up down here, we will have to go farther still…

The Devil's Dancer

from the cassette New Mexico, self-released, 1982



The recent obsession with all things ‘80s has dredged up a number of brilliant releases from that era which went unnoticed back then, many of them having been out of print since around the moment they were released; to be honest, just because something is “long lost” doesn’t mean it was necessarily good in the first place, and in fact, many of the dregs from spent scenes & trends are dregs for a reason. That being said, the duo known as Oppenheimer Analysis (Andy Oppenheimer & Martin Lloyd) were a particularly sweet find amidst all the rubble, and they absolutely should have been huge! The songs on this, their only tape, straddle the line between coldwave and synth pop and the melodies are some of the most infectious from that decade; apparently they played a number of shows around London and Brighton in ’82 and ’83, with their demo tape even getting a review in Melody Maker.

What Does Your Soul Look Like

from the 12” single, Mo Wax Records, 1994



Amassing an assortment of records, so mammoth in size & scope that it would make most collectors cower and moan in convulsed envy, was only the first step on Josh Davis’s (a.k.a. DJ Shadow) path to sampladelic superstardom; in the years that followed this, his first major release as a solo artist, Shadow’s work became something of a holy grail for beatfreaks and breakheads alike. Here he builds the track around a looped sample from none other than the Alex Parsons Project and their space-prog track “Nucleus”; this slow, drugged-out style of instrumental hip-hop-ish beats was dubbed “trip hop” by the music press, but that term is now generally loathed and admonished by the same people who created it---go figure. Shadow’s cred is majorly bolstered due to the fact that he has forgone untold millions of dollars in advertising, only permitting his music to be used once, for the stellar indie documentary about homelessness, Dark Days.

The Glittering Prizes

from the LP …And Don’t the Kids Just Love It, Rough Trade Records, 1980



Materializing out of the later-day punk scene in England, Dan Treacy and his schoolmate Ed Ball managed to quietly and awkwardly help develop what would broadly become known as indie rock (more specifically, the entire jangle-pop-c86-brigade of indie rock) under the name Television Personalities. Their lysergically skewed brand of fast & fey rock music didn’t sound like much else going on at the time, gaining them both a dyed-in-the-wool fanbase and consistent name-dropping as being a major influence from the indie elite which were to follow in their footsteps. Treacy’s achingly stereotypical twee-British singing and his biting wit are infamous, and they certainly permeate this number about humanity’s fixation upon materialism and success, “…in the past I always tried, but I never got amongst the glittering prizes; I put it down to confidence, or something trendy, like an emotional complex…”