Tuesday, November 02, 2004
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glistening by the numbers: SEVEN
Count Bass D - "Seven Years"
41: Smile. At that spoken bit at the start. Love it mon. Rest of it's like Funkadelic, 'cept this is better. Love the rhymes at times. Also, 'tis rather catchy and intrancing. Can't talk now son, me dancing.
Avi: Great use of oboe on the backing track and an excellent posi message. I don't think I've ever heard a hip-hop love song sound so meaningful and touching. Or many other love songs for that matter - It's not often you hear an ode to marriage and child-rearing. It's certainly not a typical subject matter in the rock n' roll canon.
Lee: There are only a handful of rap/hip hop artists I can listen to. De La Soul, Grandmaster Flash, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, and even then I don't have all the albums by each. This did nothing for me. The backing track was ok, but something else needed to happen - the groove needed to go somewhere, or add something to it to make it fresh. I mostly concentrate on the music and barely listen to lyrics most of the time, so rap-wise this was pretty forgettable, although not offensive.
Rosecrans: Bang-up all around. Makes me wish I owned a convertible so I could play it while riding. Is there enough Sade in hip-hop? Big no. The vocal's not Sade, but why aren't people going nuts to sample her? I'd like to see more Sade in everything, politics, fashion, literature. The world could do with more Sade.
David: This really reminds me of Camp Lo, which certainly isn't a bad thing.
I found Count Bass D in college with his EP, "Art 4 Sale". The fella is a once-from-Tennessee backpack rapper with ties to MF Doom and the B-Boys; his songs are conscious stuff with real musical insight and moments of religious meaning and street philosophy.
This particular track is powered by an oboe hook, an ethereal female croon and a great Harder They Come sample. I strongly recommend that if this pushes your buttons you go get more; dude's got skills.
Buy "Dwight Spitz", the Count's last major release from Amazon.
I'd suggest you go to the man himself but his personal site is pretty much sold out of everything. Speaking of which:
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Visit Count's official site.
Plenty there to read and listen to.
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Read this interview with the Count.
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"Unlocking the secrets of the French and Indian War"
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Patsy Cline - "Seven Lonely Days"
Seems like I complain a whole bunch about not seeing any country music blogs out there but it's rare that I make any offerings in the genre, so here's a classic cut from the queen of the cowgals.
There were a WHOLE BUNCH of good options for seven songs; it's a tune-acious number. The most obvious would've been any one of the hot remix versions of Prince's "7" but the purple one has already locked down number nine. All of which is just my way of saying that The Kid will get his just due; be patient.
Buy "The Patsy Cline Story", her greatest hits collection, from Amazon.
Pretty indisputible classics.
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Explore the obscenely dense "Patsified!" fansite.
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Read the story of the making of "Crazy".
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Meeting the Neighbors
Bumrocks is less a musicblog and more of a freeform, rotating mixtape. I generally disapprove in a scowly, old man way of sites that post music without any information about the artist or a link to buy the album but Bumrocks eccentric and eclectic tastes make for a googly scavenger hunt with each new batch of tunage.
BR offers life to some extremely esoteric and unlikely music, hurly burly-ed together in a most surprising manner; recent offerings include tracks from Sir Mixalot, the MC5, Ennio Moricone and Os Mutantes.
Bum it up, fellas.
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Bumrocks is the deafmute mp3 blog, mainly posting damage in a disco/italo/punkrock/darkwave/homemade/art/psych style. Our first post went up April 2004.
Where did the name of your blog originate from?
Bummmy tracks without a home. Our favorite noises are ones that don't quite fit into a particular form, that come from an artist's own place -- bedroom space boogie, christiane f. street life, naked and speaking with the trees or whatever.
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What are the criteria you judge a song by to decide if it's post-worthy?
Usually it is things we're listening to right now. Sometimes it's things we think are important. Maybe it's something that can rock a party. Mostly it's only things we love.
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What do you do for kicks when you're not posting?
When the site misses a day or 2 it's usually because the waves have been good. Haven't figured out yet how to post during the upcoming "bumrocks surfs nicaragua" tour.
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Do you have a favorite music critic?
Although our tastes don't always match, I think julian cope is rad. I also like reading whatever is posted at Optimo.
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Do you consider yourself a "music journalist"?
No. But still, I think that we (like anyone) are laying down our idea of what music can/should be.
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What was the last track you heard that really changed your life?
I saw The Cramps play live when I was 15 years old. I could not believe what I was seeing. Lux did a 25 minute solo Surfin Bird performance that, in a way, permanently altered the way I thought about most things.
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Describe the space you do your writing in.
Unfortunately it looks like a set from THX-1138... with a water cooler.
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Is there any genre of music that you dismiss out of hand?
I don't really feel reggae, ska, ragga or whatever. Also pretty much anything before 1960, anything people call roots music and anything which uses the adjective "lounge".
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Who's the most overlooked genius in the music industry?
I think Holger Czukay is a largely unrecognized pioneer. Obviously his work with Can, but also check out any of his solo things.
Afrika Bambaataa is finally getting his props for real. I think he should be remembered as one of the major artists of our time.
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Are you much of a dancer?
I can pogo to just about anything.
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What was the greatest motivation for you to create your site?
Reading about particular music but not being able to hear it or buy it. And then there was stumbling across someone's fan site of disco music. This guy posted full mp3's from classic and not so classic 12"s, and would have 30 or so files available for download at any one time. That site is not around anymore, and I can't remember it's name, but it just seemed like a total discovery at the time.
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Can you recommend a few other musicblogs?
We would like to thank ALL the sites that link to Bumrocks, especially tofu hut, totally fuzzy, the suburbs are killing us,never came home,radio babylon and an idiots guide to dreaming.
No love at all to those mp3 search sites that jack links and bypass the host page.
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What are a few bands that you enjoy listening to that might surprise your readers?
Although this is not reflected on Bumrocks, we totally love hiphop and rap. Not the indie kind, and lately, the crunkier the better.
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Are you a proud member of the iPod Nation?
I always pack it when I travel. As a way to swap files and music with friends it can't be beat. In case you don't already know it, Bruno is the unsung hero of file sharing.
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How difficult is it to maintain the site?
It's pretty easy. I think the decision not to have to write about each post has made the site possible.
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What's a good story about how one of the tracks that made it up on your blog got there?
The best is when tracks are contributed by listeners. Leigh had been looking for a particular song he had seen on Countdown (old music tv show in Australia) when he was young. He finally ID'd the artist and found the 7" in a op shop. He sent in "I Love 'lectric Motors" -- a song promoting electric powered cars 20 years before Hollywood started half-heartedly plugging in.
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Do you have a message for youngsters who'd like to start their own musicblog?
Post every day. Post better music.
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Has meeting with an artist ever left you feeling tongue tied?
Running into (literally) Joey Ramone at LAX.
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Often, a mondegreen can be more satisfying than a song's intended meaning. Do you have a particular personal misinterpretation of a tune that you prefer to the god's honest lyrics?
We think mistaken lyrics are nearly always better than the real thing. Although you can't really make up something much better than Dre singing, "Roses really smell like poo-oo-oo".
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Drop on by betterPropaganda and pick out a track to hype.
Afrika Bambaataa - "Got That Vibe"
Tomorrow, we'll get Scissorkicked. Stay tuned.
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spiffy
The eagle-eyed among you may have noted that the FOREVER BURGEONING blogroll has undergone revamping number one zillion. Say hello to all of our new additions and be _sure_ to peek in on the following gleaming homes of promise:
STICKERSHOCK is what happens when the big boys get in the pool. Ya'll play nice; no splashin'.
Orchard Lounge offers a fine selection of ephemera and timelessness.
The Louisiana funk leaking out of Home of the Groove is enough to knock the fleas off a dog.
Locust Street takes us WAY back to 1945 for a musical tour of a world most of us have only read about in... oh, the bible maybe?
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Mr. Boyle has started hosting the GWP vid on his own site, so hurry over and check it out if you haven't already.
David Boyle - "George W. Pussy Video"
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Speaking of things political, there's a lovely collection of fellows who are mobilizing the mp3blog medium as a means to remind all you folks to get out and vote.
While I'm glad that they're doing this, I have to think that if any of you out there in Americaland are so braindead that you need ME to remind you to get out and do your part for Democracy, you're probably better off not voting.
Also, this is a nonpartisan coalition and, truth be told, I'd rather you didn't vote if you were going to vote for Bush. Honestly, I'm simply not mentally prepared to deal with four more years of this insanity. F'r crissakes, this administration is gung-ho for crazy copyright protection and prosecution of intellectual copyright infringement with JAIL SENTENCES. So if you're reading this, you're probably a criminal in their eyes. Lord knows this is the LEAST of their damnable crimes but it's a reasonable place to start.
Anyway. Here we are. I'm genuinely frightened as to what this day will bring. I gotta get to bed soon so that I can try to get to the polls early enough that I can get in before I have to spend my whole day waiting tables. Not that my New York vote counts for anything. Even in the farcical scheme of things, my say is even MORE worthless because I've chosen (understandably) to surround myself with like minded people. Go figure THAT one out.
In any case I have faith in the intelligence of the American people. We can't not elect this guy TWICE.
See you on the other side, red rover.
