Thursday, May 13, 2004
glisten stew
Anonymous Singers - "Histe Up the John B. Sail"
This traditional sea shanty is best known to the modern listener as the Beach Boys hit "Sloop John B."
Brief inappropriate confession time: I simply don't get the Beach Boys and it's not for lack of trying. What is it about Pet Sounds that makes everybody so damn smile-y? I must be missing a West Coast music gene or something. Certainly it suffers a bit from commercial overload ("now why do I want an orange soda?") but I know too many people who consider them gods to overlook the appeal.
Still. Over my head.
Not so for this track tho'! So real you can taste the salt on the air.
Purchase "Deep River of Song: Bahamas 1935 - Chanteys and Anthems from Andros and Cat Island" direct from Rounder Records
You'll be eatin' fish tonight.
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Here's a ton of information on the many variations of this song. Midi tracks, even!
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Once more: Just the Czechs this time.
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The Fairfield Four - "Standing in the Safety Zone"
Their signature song.
The Fairfield are another group that I grew up with; my pops was somewhat instrumental in getting the band reunited in 1980 and I spent many a formative hour listening to this stuff.
That "clanka-lanka-lanka" rhythm has its roots in the sound of trains on the tracks. "Clanka-Lanka" was also the name of the label my dad worked with in the eighties; I think I still have a Clanka-Lanka T-shirt around here somewhere. Pretty dope.
Difficult to believe this is solely acapella, no?
In many ways, going to concerts to hear performers at this level of artistic and musical excellence has spoiled me. I need to get out and see some more live stuff soon, get back down to earth and maybe write some concert reviews for the Hut.
Any recommendations? Tickets, maybe?
A Fairfield article for "No Depression"
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Deacon James Hill's obit
I saw him perform many a time and visited him on his sick bed. He was a good friend to my father and as strong a vocalist and a man as I ever met.
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Purchase "Standing in the Safety Zone: 1946 to 1949" from Roots and Rhythm records.
This album is published by P-Vine, a Japanese label that has an astonishing array of reissued gospel, bluegrass, jazz, rock... you name it.
A P-Vine imprint is always a good sign, plus they're RIAA safe.
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Tech 9ine - "Freak"
Tech always seems just on the cusp of escaping the backpack ghetto; one "Slow Jams" duet away from heavy MTV rotation. Rumour had it he was gonna guest on an Em track, but no official word yet.
His constant flirtation with the mainstream has been awfully well documented, including his relationship with Quincy Jones and misadventures in big label signings.
Bottom line is that son can flat out FLOW. This particular track is an unreleased outtake that never got a pressing because of (you guessed it) sample clearance problems. Any child of the eighties will instantly recognize "Darling Nikki"; this almost made it into a bonus purple glisten day, but I think Tech can carry his own shit, right?
"When I was in high school I would wake up in the morning and after I took a shower I'd put on a non-lubricated condom 'cause it could be on at any hour" is a helluva mouthful but 9ine makes it all railgun buttery.
Can anybody with an MP3 editor tell me what that backmasking part says?
Buy 9's "Anghellic" from Amazon
Hella good album. High points include "Einstein", "This Ring", and "Twisted".
Plenty of other good material floatin' around on that disc; highly recommended.
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Tech N9ne's home on the net
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The "React" interview
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The Orlons - "Big Girls Don't Cry"
Here's an interesting little cover of the Four Seasons/Frankie Valli hit that I like better than EITHER of those two.
The Orlons are the originators of "The Wah-Watusi". And that's all I have to say about that.
Purchase "The Orlons: All Their Hits and More" from Dead Dog Records
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A brief history of the Orlons
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This little green man will do the watusi for you.
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musicblog clicky
Again, sorry if these are all old news; I'm still playing ketchup.
Circuit Benders is a strange duck: modded electronic toys that are then used to produce electroglitchy tracks.
Speak and Math gets down, ya'll.
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Remember Zia, from our first mix CD review? The chica who played the CD at the London gym and cleared the house? Well she's back, in pog form, with Never Came Home.
Seems like Z has exhausted her bandwidth for this month, but those of you on the ball managed to cop that new Elephant Man and Sean Paul, right? Somebody fund this girl; she's fun to read.
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James over at Moistworks is really running the genre gamut; but with special attention to ska, quality hip hop and mashup material, he's rapidly pedalled to the front of the pack. A real find and a new addition to my forever expanding daily clicks.
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Kittytext is true to the title: the text is as (or more) important and entertaining than the tunes, which is always welcome.
Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Bill Evans and the Streets? Now that's my kind of dinner party!
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Listen Closer indulges my interest in the new Nelly Furtado (to great effect; why this girl is being written off by pop40radio as a onehitwonder confuses the hell out of me) and I appreciate the followup linkage to sales sites.
(Brief words of advice: Those of you with new musicblogs should consider AT LEAST linking to a purchase option of the album in question. Seems only fair, in my eyes.)
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Where the heck has Radio Babylon been hiding? Hustle over and snap up the bushel and a peck of Bjork rarities while they last and then see what else you can scare up.
Get in on the ground floor; this is bound to blow up shortly.
spiffy
Four spins later, I'll say that "Van Lear Rose" is worth a buy, if only for 'Portland, Oregon' and 'Little Red Shoes', both of which are beautiful.
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I _BADLY_ need to update the sidebar. I'm maybe fifty links out the loop. Be patient; I'm hustling.
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More people of excellent taste single out the Hut for accolades, but not cash donation. What's wrong with you people?
Ah well, here's a prop list: senses working overtime (another mp3blog aggregator; these are becoming a genre all their own. This one's got a nice clean interface and a friendly writing style), Utility Fog Blog ("a weapon of mass destruction related program activity"), De Schulpjes (We love the Dutch!), Byron Crawford.com (media madness, soon to sidebar jump), rockcriticslinks (hey ya'll; I'm a ROCK CRITIC!), headphones save lives (proudly ushering in the New Gyromantic Era with open
Thanks one and all.
gotham
Man, what a poor day I picked for a run! I showed up at the reservoir at three o' clock and apres moi le deluge as th' frogs say. Ended up running something like four miles in POURING rain on a trail flooded at least ankle deep throughout. Interesting, but not the sort of thing you'd like to do on a regular basis, ya know?
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How I knew I was back in New York: returning to my temp. crash pad in Chelsea Friday night, I saw a cute dwarf in a halter top stumbling out of a corner bar.
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How I REALLY knew I was back in New York: said cute dwarf proceeded to spray the sidewalk with a copious technicolor yawn. Lotta puke for a little woman, but that's the city for you. Everybody's reaching higher.
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Hey now, I know that it's only been a day, but where's my barrage of job offers?
C'mon folks, we both knew I was just in it for the money. Time to put up or shut up and get this boy into the ranks of the Paul Harveys, the Rush Limbaughs, the Elvis Mitchells. I'm hot to assemble my media empire!
Or you know, an internship or a secretary gig. Whatever. But time's a-wastin'! Who've I gotta give a foot massage to to get an interview around here?
