April 29, 2018 - Helios - Suns That Circling Go (2004)

A friend introduced me to the music of ambient artist Helios (Keith Kenniff) a few years ago, while I was fighting off a cold and feeling exhausted. It was the album called Eingya, from 2006. I recall really enjoying a piece called Dragonfly Across an Ancient Sky. I checked into more from Helios after that. My current favorite track is called Suns That Circling Go, from his first album, Unomia.

It begins with solar winds trailing stardust into the eternal darkness of time and space. Or
It begins with a beacon in the middle of an ocean, sending strange energy into the cosmos, where it is received by an observatory and patterns are revealed.
The vibrations and frequencies of suns doing what they do, wheat waves on a field, in some other corner of the universe.
It expresses a certain isolation, at an unfathomable distance, something incomprehensible.

It also contains a gritty raw distortion: a dense curtain of motes in a sunbeam, a dryer working at the other end of a very large basement.

There is a slight metallic tone at 0:31, and at 1:36 there is little tap, like on a plastic tub, pretty faint. What's it all about?

April 28, 2018 Music from Bandcamp #17

Bancedamp

1) Sandwalker - PieRreF (Rome, Italy)

Waves crashing against the sand, little sounds popping all about, seagulls in the sky. Keyboards sound very 70s Doctor Who.

2) Skybridge - Orange Generator (Sydney, Australia)

Large vehicle moving slowly across the horizon. Various sounds hovering in space, scratchy, humming, whooshing.

3) Out of the Wilderness - The Como Mamas (Como, Mississippi)

I had to look up Como, MS, on Wikipedia. Small town, population 1,310, an isolated rural area. Powerful singing, great organ, piano, guitar. Got my feet tapping.

April 27, 2018 - Bill Fay - I Hear You Calling (1971)

I Hear You Calling is a sad willow tree of a song, skinny branches sway in the breeze, surrounding the trunk like a shaggy bowl cut, guarding a delicate heart. A cymbal tap tap taps, which is the only complaint I have (stop tapping so much!). Bill Fay's voice is filled with pathos. He hears a voice calling from the riverbank. He wonders if it's the messiah coming for him. He sings, all my time is lying on the factory floor. He's never had much time for himself and he feels it all slipping away. It's a pensive and melancholy tune, pulls at the heart.

The music is complementary. Ray Russell comes in on guitar at 0:55, delicately picking out notes that comfort with a twinkle. Bill Fay plays piano with simple grace. The overall style and mood reminds me of Kermit the Frog and It's Not Easy Bein' Green. Why wonder?

Bill Fay released this song in 1971 on his album Time of the Last Persecution. He disappeared from music after that (plus his label dropped him), and he felt like he had been completely forgotten, lost in the mists of time. Then in the late 90s, he was surprised to learn that his first two albums were being reissued. Given a second chance, he has since released two or three newer albums that have received high praise.

April 25, 2018 - Galaxia - La Noticia (1971)

Hoy presento una canción de España por Galaxia llamada La Noticia.
Today I present a song from Spain by Galaxy called The News...it's a song about how cool The News were before they started hanging around Huey Lewis. You know, back when they were singing about the moon.

According to the liner notes from the compilation Andergraun Vibrations!, Galaxia were an "Andalusian band...from the beautiful Sevilla city, home also of one of the most important Spanish underground bands, the legendary Smash." And, of course, flamenco!*

La Noticia opens with a sustained high D on electric guitar (you could go and have a bite and you'd still be hearing that one), held aloft by shimmering cymbals and pulsating bass. After ten seconds, the wah wah starts running on fumes, so the flamenco hand-clappers, los palmeros, enter the scene to provide encouragement. At 0:25, the music begins to speak to itself, organ comes in at 0:36, I think there are probably some castanets in there, then the tempo picks up at 0:42, and awayeeayy we go. Whatever Spanish I can hear through all the vowel stretches doesn't help me figure out the entire meaning of the song. Hey man, all that matters is it sounds cool. Psychedelic Sevilla!

At the end of the liner notes about Galaxia, the author wrote: "sadly, one of their members lost his head and can be seen today around Sevilla walking semi-naked and talking to the cars." That is sad. Makes me think of Skip Spence.

*(Note to self: why haven't you looked into this legendary band Smash?)








  

April 23, 2018 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head (~1964)

A few years ago, I watched an amazing documentary called Rejoice & Shout, a history of gospel music. It featured great performances by such artists as the Staple Singers, the Dixie Hummingbirds, and the Swan Silvertones. All incredible, but I was completely knocked out by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I had never heard of her. She was singing Down by the Riverside and playing an electric guitar that was all raw and distorted, and she had a presence that was truly awesome.

So, I searched for more of her music and found a video from that same performance that floored me even more. It's called Up Above My Head and it is really something. It begins with Sister Rosetta Tharpe singing and playing her guitar, accompanied by piano. I love her various expressions, at times serious, serene, joyful, just mesmerizing. At 0:21, she is joined behind her by a choir, who clap in time to the rhythm. At 1:24 she begins to solo, and I'm hearing Chuck Berry and classic blues guitarists in there. At 1:38 she says let's do that again, and whoa! check out that Jimi Hendrix-like move she makes at 1:46, one hand bending the strings, the other hand tossing off an aside. Brilliant.

She has been cited as an influence by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Aretha Franklin. Johnny Cash said she was his favorite singer when he was a child. She has been referred to as the Godmother of Rock n Roll. I am so glad I found out about her, better late than never!



  

April 22, 2018 - Scientist - Babylon Fight Dub (1977)

Scientist, whose real name is Hopeton Overton Brown, has mixed a ton ;) of dub music. At a young age, he learned about electronics from his father, who was a TV repairman (and had an awesome set of tools). He began to work on recording equipment for various producers and was hired on by King Tubby to work in his studio. He soon learned how to operate the mixing desk, and by the time he was 16, Scientist was turning songs into little dub masterpieces, saturated with lots of echo and delay. His sobriquet originated when King Tubby, so impressed by his skills, remarked "Damn, this little boy must be a scientist." His first proper album was issued in 1980, and he continues to record, produce, and design electronic equipment to this day.

He recorded Babylon Fight Dub when he was just 17. It was eventually released in 1996 on the excellent Blood and Fire compilation Dub in the Roots Tradition. It displays classic elements of dub: drums crackle and pop with electricity, the bass anchors the guy wire, and the vocals and piano vibrate and echo across the soundscape.

April 21, 2018 Music from Bandcamp #16

Bandcamp #16

1) Welcome Home - Freed Worms (location not listed)

Gentle acoustic intro, multi-tracked guitar, hand percussion. Nice chord changes.

2) Polluted - Wild Mohicans (Portland, Oregon)

Hey, I've stumbled upon a local group! Promising start, guitars, drums ramp things up. Intense one chord romp. Vocals in at 1:09, no printed lyrics, pissed off about something. Sounds kind of like he's singing about all the stuff he has to deal with - living, drugs, work, etc. Guitars rule. Interesting time shift around 2:40.

3) Lapis Philosophorum - Junior Bruce (De Land, Florida)

The title translates to philosopher's stone. Cool. Oh yeah, low frequency bass and guitars. The lyrics are great. Nice rhythm. Vocals have that yell/growl sound, just what I would expect. I like the music, it has a sweet groove. The middle section after 2:05 has a very nice vibe to it, the guitar solo has a great phaser/flange thing going on. Good stuff. Wah wah towards the end.

April 19, 2018 - The Gladiators - Know Yourself Mankind (1976)

I love this song, first and foremost, because of the lyric (and sweet harmonies on) this is 1976...that line is a bizarrely never-ending source of fascination for me. Although I've listened to this song countless times, I am still occasionally caught off guard by the year. I know it's 1976, but my mind plays Loki and encourages me to hear a different 70s year (except for 1970 because it doesn't fit the rhythm. I tend to go for 1977, because of Star Wars and Close Encounters and being 10 years old and seeing the world as one big cartoon).

When the Gladiators recorded Know Yourself Mankind, it was 1976, and they were singing about the situation in Jamaica: Our beautiful country have turned into battlefield. They were saying, come on people, it's 1976 after all, can't we have peace?

Well, it's now 2018, forty-two years later, and we (still) don't want no more war.  But there is still war. So much war. Enough already.

April 17, 2018 - Silver Apples - Oscillations (1968)

I'm sure I read about Silver Apples before I ever heard them, likely in Wire magazine or some book about electronic music. The group formed in New York during the late 60s. They were a duo: Simeon, who played an instrument of his own creation of synthesizers and oscillators (called "The Simeon"), and Dan Taylor on drums. In 1997, Silver Apples toured the United States, and I saw them in Portland at EJ's Tavern. I bought their CD as well, which combined their two early albums, Silver Apples (1968) and Contact (1969).

Oscillations is their signature piece, a pulsating, ethereal brew of synth sounds and drums swirling all around. The lyrics are like an accompanying technical document that attempts to put the sprawling soundscape into words. The vocals are delivered with controlled precision, frequently rising to a tense duet as though struggling to keep the mechanical beast from stampeding off into space.

April 15, 2018 - The Specials - Gangsters (1979)

In 1964, Jamaican singer Prince Buster released a single called Al Capone and cashed in on the fascination Jamaican society had at the time with the famous gangster and American gangster and outlaw films in general. Fifteen years later, British group the Specials, aka The Special AKA, took parts of that song and turned it into a hit single called Gangsters.

Prince Buster's song opened with squealing tires and a voice saying Al Capone guns don't argue. In the opening seconds of Gangsters, we hear the same squealing tires, and one of The Specials says Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue, a reference to their former manager. Musically, the opening 0:12 of Gangsters is a main motif from Al Capone.

The vocals are covered in a shadowy reverb that heightens the gloom that one who is living in gangster time would feel, a world of tapped phones, false accusations, and people who use the law to commit crime. The music bounds along as somberly as it can on a typically upbeat ska rhythm. Here and there, between the words, little guitar and organ licks dance like a coven of doom around a bonfire. At 1:18 the guitar takes an extended solo. I hear shades of Joe Meek in Gangsters, like Night of the Vampire or Johnny Remember Me. I think he would have liked this song.

April 14, 2018 Music from Bandcamp #15

good morning, bandcamperinos

1) That Shit - Sad Numbers (Sacramento, California)

Wish the lyrics were included, I am having a hard time understanding them. lol, I can hear the spoken word part at 1:43: I didn't know what else to do baby...I like this song, especially because it's so laid back, without a lot of mucking about with editing and stuff. A 'take me as I am' song. Record it and send it out into the world.

2) dip - Dame Pyro (Ohio, New York)

Minimalist rap, old school vinyl scratchiness, basic backing track, I can only understand some of the words.

3) Signals - Mundi (Kansas City, Kansas)

More minimalism, drums, repetitive keyboard motif, keys/bass synchronous pattern. A bell.

April 13, 2018 - Elvis Phuong - Kho Tang Cua Chung Ta (1971?)

Elvis Phuong is just one of many Vietnamese crooners who were influenced by the King of Rock n Roll, Elvis Presley. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, he moved to Paris, and later to Orange County, California. In 1998, he moved back to Vietnam, where he continues to perform to sold out audiences.

Kho Tang Cua Chung Ta is taken from the Sublime Frequencies double album compilation, Saigon Rock & Soul, Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968-1974. It is a light pop tune with a catchy melody that creates a wistful nostalgic atmosphere. It features a basic backing track of rhythm guitar, organ, and drums.

I used google to translate the lyrics:

Kho tàng của chúng ta                                            Our treasures

Tôi chia em trọn kho tàng.                                      I share the treasure.
Tôi chia anh trọn kho tàng.                                     I divided the treasure.
Niềm quý mến nhau là xâu chuỗi mầu,                  The favorite is the color string,
Buồng tim yêu thương là châu báu.                        Heart chambers are precious.

Kim cương đây là môi cười.                                   Diamonds are laughing lips.
Tôi xin chia phần cho người.                                  I would like to share with you.
Từng ánh mắt vui, từng câu ấm lòng,        Each eye is happy, each sentence warm heart,
Từng câu yêu thương hằn trên môi.                        Every word of love on the lips.

Ta sẽ chia kho tàng,                                                 I will divide the treasure,
tình yêu cho anh em cùng dòng máu.                      love for brothers with blood.
Ta sẽ chia kho tàng,                                                 I will divide the treasure,
tình thương cho khắp quê hương.                            love for the whole country.

Tôi xin mua lại căm thù.                                          I would like to buy back hatred.
Tôi xin mua lại lao tù.                                              I will buy the prison.
Bằng những cánh hoa cài trên áo người.                Buy the petals on the shirt.
Bằng đôi tay non còn rướm máu.                            With bloody hands.

Tôi dâng anh vạn chân tình.                                    I offer him sincerely.
Tôi dâng em trọn tim mình.                                     I offer you all my heart.
Đời sống sẽ vui dù ta có nghèo.                              Life will be happy even if we are poor.
Người vui ta cùng vui theo.                                     People are happy with me.

April 11, 2018 - The Panthers - Malkaus (1967?)

Malkaus begins with thirty seconds of a sustained keyboard chord accompanied by the groans of a man with possible stomach issues. The recording engineer needs to think fast, this poor guy obviously can't continue the session in his current state. At 0:32, he calls out take over Panthers!

Thankfully, the Panthers are ready and waiting with their instruments. They start up with a variation on Last Train to Clarksville, and are soon chugging away on a simple instrumental of surf organ and spidery guitar patterns. As for the meaning of Malkaus, all I could find was that it's a first name.

It is the first track on the sweet compilation, Pakistan: Folk and Pop Instrumentals 1966-1976. It's an album of similar pop surf organ tunes, many of which contain middle eastern/Pakistani touches while also displaying an influence of the rock and pop coming out of the UK and the US. You can read a cool interview with the Panthers here.

April 9, 2018 - Louie and The Lovers - Royal Oakie (1970)

Louie and the Lovers were four Mexican-American high school students from the small agricultural community of Prunedale, California. They spent their time listening to groups like Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Byrds, writing their own songs, and playing local gigs. They attracted the attention of Tex-Mex legend Doug Sahm, who was so taken by them that he agreed to produce their legendary first and only album, Rise.

Royal Oakie is a rollicking roots rock tune about a swimming hole where people gather to party and have a good time. It has that straightforward 4/4 CCR quality to it. Lead singer Louie Ortega has a twang in his voice that's like a lower and smoother John Fogerty crossed with Willie Nelson (?)...kind of a nasal sound, sometimes it makes me think of Ethel Merman (weird, huh?), like when he sings wine at 0:50. Maybe you can think of a better example. The chorus is a fun singalong that makes me wish I were hanging out at Royal Oakie pond with these guys.

April 8, 2018 Music from Bandcamp #14

And awayeeeayeeayy we go!

1) End of a Sitcom - Disco Teen '66 (New Haven, Connecticut)

Wait, is this Blur? The lead singer makes me think of Damon Albarn. It's a sweet little pop tune, I love the surf/soap opera organ, and I like the guitar tone during the solo.

2) Death to the Goddess of Drought & Barren Land - Even Gods Can Die (San Jose, California)

These guys describe themselves as "a post-rock, post-metal instrumentals band." I have no idea what that means. Post-U2? Post cereal? Kind of like I have no idea when people order long coffee drinks: I'll take a skinny grande double mocha espresso cappuccino gelato pinnochio....but not as complicated. I mean, yes I kind of know what it means, I've heard lots of music like this, but I don't want to think about the labels too much. Great drumming. Whoa, I really love the final two seconds. Intense!

3) The Other Side of 25 - Hello Rainey (Chicago, Illinois)

Wait 'til you get to 50. Hmmm, I can't go for this (no can do).









  

April 7, 2018 - The Knickerbockers - Lies (1965)

I've never cared for the word Knickerbocker. It sounds vaguely silly, like Gnip Gnop or snickerdoodle, but if you say it enough times the two CK phonograms make it unwieldy and annoying, like a large, oddly-shaped piece of beige luggage. Its actual meaning, according to dictionary.com, is "a descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York" and "an inhabitant of New York."

In its plural form, it is men's trousers, a professional basketball team, and a mid-60s one-hit wonder. The Knickerbockers were actually from New Jersey (yo, what's the difference, capiche?), but their song Lies had everyone assuming they were from Liverpool, England.

Stickershocker!

Lies is, arguably, the greatest imitation of John Lennon and the Beatles ever recorded.  It sounds like something from With the Beatles or A Hard Day's Night. And it wasn't a cheap knockoff, either; they weren't plagiarizing pickerlockers, no! It was a great, original song in its own right. The music is fun and exciting from start to finish and the vocal harmonies are perfect. The guitar solo at 1:24 is the only part of the tune that doesn't seem 100% Beatles. It's either Kinks or Who, or perhaps it's just pure American garage rock.

April 5, 2018 - The Offs - Why Boy? (1984)

Many years back, a co-worker asked me if I was familiar with a band called The Offs. I was not, and when I eventually got around to listening to them, I was impressed. Their only album was 1984's First Record (cover art by Jean-Michel Basquiat), a great hybrid of R&B, ska and reggae. To me they sounded British, but they were from San Francisco and, later, New York.

Why Boy? has a great horn section and clean slashing Miss You guitars. Lead singer Don Vinil acrobatically delivers the lyrics with great panache and precision, singing about getting hassled by people everywhere he goes. At 1:23 he gets into this phenomenal "push down pull up" section for about fifteen seconds.

Tragically, Don Vinil died of a heroin overdose in 1983, and the lights were turned off on the Offs.

April 3, 2018 - Wilson Pickett - Soul Dance Number Three (1967)

Spring is here and it's time to dance! Wilson Pickett has been kind enough to join us, and he is going to show us a few of the moves popular with today's teens:

1) The Boogaloo - you know that one don't you (not to be confused with the Electric Boogaloo)
2) The Skate - lookee here baby
3) The Shingaling - the whole wide world is doing (wait, the link indicates that the Shing-a-ling was the same as the Boogaloo...hey, what are you trying to pull on us, Wilson).

Wilson's favorite is Soul Dance Number Three - the Shingaling. He says you heard about it ain't ya? And oh I like that one. I love it when his voice gets all shredded and husky on side to side at 1:59. During the song, Wilson says Lord have mercy seven times. He's burning up. It's 1967, and the Twist is a distant memory.

For some reason I have conjured an image of Roosevelt Franklin teaching these dances to his muppet classmates at Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School, dancing all around the room. Now I'm wishing that Wilson Pickett had attended Wilson Pickett Elementary School.

April 1, 2018 - Krzysztof Klenczon/Trzy Korony - Spotkanie z diablem

Hey, once again here is our old friend Krsytof Kryzsztof Krzysztof Klenczon (it usually takes me about two minutes to type his name correctly), of Czerwone Gitary. This time around, we are returning to the album he made with the fellas in Trzy Korony, in particular a tune called Spotkanie z diablem (Meeting With the Devil). I don't suppose Van Halen recorded Running With the Devil as a follow up to the meeting, hmm? And then Mostly Crue did that Shout at the Devil song, and so on and so on (check the card catalogue: went down to Georgia, Sympathy for, Christmas with, Friend of).

Similar to this classic song, we begin with a dark and stormy night. One can't expect to meet the devil on a sunny morning, can one? After 0:15, the electric guitars bop on through the rain and announce themselves. K comes in at 0:39, his voice strong and clear...'yes, excuse me, I have a ten o'clock appointment with Lou Siffer.' K is told to wait, but he becomes perturbed and raises his voice at 1:00. 'Sir, please relax. Mr. Siffer will see you shortly.' That's the devil's receptionist.

1:13, K says 'Forgive me, but I am concerned because I made this appointment months ago, and we made a deal, and where the hell is he?!' Receptionist says, ' yes sir, exactly.' yuck yuck. The music fades out at 2:20, and K enters into the meeting, as the storm continues unabated.