THE TOFU HUT

16 boards? InconCEIVable!

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back like vida guerra

So I got a new home and it feels NICE.

No more dams I'll make for fish, nor fetch in firing at requiring; nor scrape trencher, nor wash dish.

Well. Maybe a little. Just for you.

Sorry to leave you dangling and sorry I can't promise it won't likely happen again before I get thoroughly situated. It'd be nice if I could get a bed soon.

On the plus side, the net is connected and I have an address that you can send me stuff at, conveniently located to the right in the sidebar.

But enough about me. How're you?

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glistening by the numbers: SIXTEEN

Stevie Wonder - "Sixteen Tons"

41: I'm oft singing this, or trying to, loving the rhythm and flow as I do, and failing so, to recall the words. This version is fantastic- soulful. Dig it. Oh.

Avi: The obvious song choice for number sixteen, but of course there's so many performers to choose from. Stevie does a great job - I especially dig the restrained tempo. My pick: Patsy Montana's answer song, "Sixteen Pounds".

Lee: Wow...I never liked this song much, but in Stevie's hands, it has a completely new meaning. Tennessee Ernie always made it sound like he was having a hard day at the gas station, but Stevie can deliver the goods. It won't become a favorite, but this version is great to hear. Stevie is also a god, although I don't know what's happened to him lately. If anyone reading this doesn't have "Innervisions" yet, go buy it now.

Jamie: A good argument for why Stevie deserved his creative freedom much earlier than he received it. Maybe the adult Stevie could have put a relevant spin on this (you could turn this into a stronger statement about being put down by the man, due to wages, race or both), but it's as absurd for teen Stevie as his appearances in the Beach Party movies.

Rosecrans: Gorgeous all the way through. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.

David: Are you sure this is Stevie Wonder? It doesn't sound like him at all. I don't really like it, either. Sorry.

An endearing track because of young Stevie's almost embarrassing stumbling. You can hear him struggling to find a style that will allow him to convey the emotion he hears so clearly in the song and when he can only make the surface bubble, he seems about to give up.

Then there's that "SAAAAINT PETAH DON'TCHA CALL ME!" breakthrough and the jig is up and another tune is in his pocket.

The "everybody hum it on me" at the end is just gravy.

Stevie's third album, "Down to Earth", with its Bill Cosby and Holland/ Dozier/Holland produced tracks and Dylan cover, has long since passed out of print. It's not Stevie's best work by a long shot, but there are quite a few high points. I'd keep an eye out at used record shops or you COULD buy a sealed copy from this guy for a c-note, but... let's just say this is why soulseek was made.
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Read this intelligent and surprisingly hard-hitting Wonder interview.

I, for one, would buy a Saadiq/Wonder album in a heartbeat.
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Visit this Stevie fansite.
So now "A Time 2 Love" is coming out in APRIL? Come ON! What's going on with this album?
Last I heard, they pulled it so that Stevie could rework a track and dedicate it to Brother Ray; at this point, I have to assume something's gone VERY wonky in the studio for this to take so damn long to emerge.
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Listen to Merle Travis' original (and controversial!) version of the song and read about the tune's history.

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B.B. King - "Sweet Sixteen" (Live)

What could be more appropriate to a prison crowd than a song about jailbait?

B's sound has never exactly had me doing cartwheels but the way he lets loose on this standard is pretty damn hard to argue with.

Buy "Live at Cook County Jail", the essential '71 B.B. concert album, from Amazon.
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Visit King's official website.
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Oh dear.

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where credit is due

O-Dub recently hooked me up with one of my holy grails: a rip of the unavailable-on-CD "Jamal Plays Jamal". Amazing stuff that, sampled by Jigga and De La to name just a pair. Much respeck, Mista Dub-san.
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Over at Sounds Are Active, you'll find a copy of the somewhat deranged hollyday album "krismus karuls".
Explore and grieve.
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New innovator on the block, Frosty Chestnuts throws down the gauntlet in the kindest of ways, granting my wish for a precious MP3 of "Jingle Dogs" but demanding that I satiate my readers taste for velveeta with a musical embarrasment, assumedly of the Christmas persuasion.

We're not one to back down from a gauntlet flung, so here's a tender morsel of gouda:

Seymour Swine - "B-B-Blue Christmas"

Guilty pleasures don't come much guiltier.

(via the inimitable april winchell, who's been on this musicblog shizz since the jump off. Recognize.)
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Speaking of Giftmas, I've been considering begging my discerning and deeppocketed listener/readers to pony up a little and get th' Hut a lil' somethinsomethin... like, say, some DDRAM for the machine or a decent set of headphones... but then I decided we should try and do some alms for the needy.

I've been GREATLY enjoying (and been horrified by) Jon's Jail Journal and would like to give something back to him. So if you're feeling in the giving spirit, use the money you'll save on gifts for your friends and drop him a card or Amazon him a book or find a company that will send a tape of music directly (Jon's not allowed to have CDs) to the poor fellow at:

Shaun Attwood ADC#187160
ASPC-Lewis,Morey 2-D-2,P.O. Box 3300,Buckeye, AZ 85326, USA

And, alright if you MUST get me something, how about a jar of double lollies?

I like those darn thangs.

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idol thoughts: Larry King eat your heart out

Who do you suppose they'll put on the stamp: fat Missy or skinny Missy?
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Is there any connection to be made between the ancient tradition of carrying a gold obol in the mouth so that you have the fee to pay the ferryman to Hell and the wearing of gold fronts?
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If you're going to make a song about Angelina Jolie's tit-tays shouldn't you pronounce her name correctly?
"And how could I forget Ashlee Simpson?"
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At the end of every track, wouldn't it be spectacular if all the members of G-Unit and Terror Squad just looked at one another and did the Muppet Nod? You know the one: where all the muppets affect that terribly self-satisfied pose and start bobbling their heads around like spastic woodpeckers? Now imagine Dipset doing it. Beautiful.

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our man in the field

The Infamous Davey Boyle fires off musketballs into a sea of red:

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Dear Fo-To:

As previously promised, I am enclosing another track for you and your audience. This "hip-hop" song, "The Rapping of the Christ", while humorous in tone, is also meant as a serious piece of Christian appreciation. You see, Jesus must have been a great Aramaic rapper. Certainly if He spoke the "Word of God" would He not Himself have been the Greatest MC? Logically speaking, how could it be otherwise? Herein follows the word of the Lord:

David Boyle - "The Rapping of the Christ"

Lyrics to "The Rapping" can be found here. I am seriously thinking of making a video for it, though I may have difficulty doing so before Xmas.

Tell me if the MP3 sounds normal to you. Or rather, tell me if it sounds _too_ abnormal. I haven't heard this in months and listening to it recently, something sounded maybe a little off. Maybe the computer terminal I was at has a bad sound system... or maybe the whole song is off!

I am not trying to create a "David Boyle Glut" on the Hut; but it _is_ the holiday season and this should complement the "Hanukkah" theme I heard in the Brandwein klezmer tune you posted.

It occurred to me while walking home in the snow late last night that I don't think the Hut has what every musicblog should ideally have: a * * *THEME SONG* * *. I doubt I could finish one before, say, the end of January. What you would want to do with it after it's done is another question. Anyway, I will see what I can doo(-wop).

Ed. Note: David is hard at work composing this opus; any others who'd like to make a Tofu Theme are hereby exhorted to join in!

And now, the news:

Here's the scary story of P. Diddy visiting the White House and making nicey-nice with W. This reminded me of the end of "1984", where the broken Winston Smith learned to love Big Brother.

The title of this MTV article on the event puts it nicely: "P. Diddy Gets White House Tour From The Bushes, Tells Them, 'Nice House'.

I thought you might want to see this CNN article, as much for the crying Eddie Van Halen photo as anything: "'Dimebag' Memorial Draws Thousands". Poor guy.

Lastly, from this Guardian piece:

"...What Bauman describes as a "matter-of-fact efficiency" was facilitated by the perverted use of Schubert, Strauss and Bach; to help the Holocaust's perpetrators believe not only that they were doing nothing wrong, but something noble... No wonder, then, that the abuse of music is still with us. Pop songs were played before the massacres in Rwanda. Former British detainees at Guantanamo Bay claim that strobe lighting and loudly amplified Eminem songs were pumped into the rooms where they were held."

That's our thought for the day.

Cordially,

David

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Please note that while the Tofu Hut does not necessarily agree with all of David Boyle's politics, we are enamoured with his exuberance and almost irrationally crafted leaps of sonic (il)logic.

We also enjoy the idea of Diddy in Champagne Room 101, getting his face gnawed on by Cheney-visaged rats.

Vote AND Die, you pompous, washed-up asshole.

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spiffy

"László Hortobágyi‘s music is fiction and reality at the same time. He creates musical worlds in which we can rediscover ourselves, just to forget ourselves all over again. The essence of his music is that the 20th century was not culturally influenced by the Occident, but from the Orient instead.
Just imagine that the Western and Asian polyphony had united, such as, for example, baroque organ music with phrases of Indian Ragas. A harpsichord player performing Northern Indian sitar music on his polyphonic instrument supported by a psychedelic reggae bass. Or an orthodox Slavic church choir was to sing in a classic Indian "Dhrupad" style, in the course of which repetitive gamelan music utilized compositions of Indian ragas during an electronic rock concert in Java.
He is pursuing these questions in the institute he founded in 1980 in Budapest, the "Gáyan Uttejak Society", which is equipped with a unique Indian and Asian music archive. Not belonging to any real genre, this music should transport our fantasy to more exciting cultural fusions in virtual realities. This music is an exciting challenge for the musical scientist; and a drug for those that want to relax."
- Erdenklang Music

Intrigued? Check out Hortobágyi‘s site for dozens and dozens of sample tracks.

(Thanks to Katya from Oddio Overplay for unearthing this one; she finds all us Charlie Bucket-types the nicest sorts of Golden Tickets.)
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Forgive me if I'm late to the party on this one, but all my other Machead iPod junkies should leaf through Apple's spectacular user created iPod app downloads.

Loads of fun and free accessories and demos. Make your iPod into a pocket bartender, a cookbook (vegan version also available), a bible, a PDA, a foreign language phrasebook, a copy of the constitution... but what I'd be most excited about is this program that FINALLY allows you to find and destroy duplicate tracks on your iPod and iTunes, something I've been in desparate need of for almost a year now.

I've can't testdrive these as they're all Mac specific; anybody wanna spin 'em around the block and report back?
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What's cooler than a U2 iPod? Diptheria.

But what's cooler than diptheria? A Negativland iPod.

Good luck finding it; Ebay turned tail and ran.

Meanwhile, if a midnight pod from colorware appears in my stocking, I may turn Catholic. Alert the Pope.
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Looking to kill a few hours with a cleverly designed advertisement? Look no further than What's That Song? It's a Delicious Viral!
("a label that's unstable / choppin' bliggy on the table)
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Shhhh.
She's just -too- cute, ain't she?
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Regulators? MOUNT UP.
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It's Just a Plant.
You know. For kids.
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Mathematical Patterns in African-American Hairstyles
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It's rare that I highlight a specific downloadable song out amongst the hundreds of musicblogs but Jazz and Conversation's Nina Simone cover of "I Put a Spell on You" is really something special. A normally subversive artist subverting a novelty subversion? META!

Also, zip over to Honey Where You Been and snap up his lovely collection of Gee's Bend gospel afore it slips down the drain.

Hustle kid, HUSTLE!
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DO YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN CONTEST WITH STAUNCH-OSITY OF MY NO-NONSENSE CRITERIA?
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For Robin: Wallpaper From the 70's.
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Sharp eyed devils may have noted that the vaunted sidebar has been reupdated yet again. Here's a few newcomers especially worthy of exploration:

Deep Soul Junkie enters the soulsides ring and holds his own.

Mangos and Mandolins offers world music of all stripes.

Only one week old, lil' Breaking Ranks has already dropped bhangra, Maxi Priest, a massive dj set and Egyptian shaabi. Can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring.

You say you want a revolution? trrill keeps it trill... well, in an fat lady way. Kudos to the former opacodex kid for founding a musicblog site specifically for "Florid Passages from Queer Opera Zealots."

One Track Minds steps up with more fresh thinking: "girl" and "boy" offer alternate perspectives on old vinyl cuts and then get dinner and a movie... with SEXY results!

And, again, I'm still enjoying angels 20 and blow up doll. Checkemout.
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Gem Sweater Be Thy Name has a muthafuckin' BAND, now.

In my book, that's a sign of the apocalypse.

For reals tho': "Gold Pants" IS pretty dope.