Monday, February 19, 2007
Polk Miller picture courtesy of Richmond, Virginia: Then and Now
glisten
The Old South Quartette - Pussy Cat Rag (Broadway 5031, 1928)
Polk Miller and The Old South Quartette - Rise and Shine (Edison + Edison Germany, Standard 10333; 1909)
Polk Miller and The Old South Quartette - Old Time Religion (Edison + Edison Germany, Standard 10332; 1909)
The Old South Quartette - Bohunkus and Josephus (aka Tobias and Keechungus) (Broadway 5031, 1928)
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"Who the hell are Polk Miller and His Old South Quartette?" - Robert Christgau
One of the benefits of growing up with a music historian as a father is that I was exposed as a stripling to a wealth of music that would otherwise (until the relatively young age of the Internet) be utterly out of reach. I listened to many songs for many years at a tender age that, secreted away by scarcity and lack of public interest, I have never yet heard again since I moved out of the family home. It is with great excitement that I discovered, perhaps some twenty years after my last listening, Ken Flaherty's reissue of the complete works of Polk Miller and The Old South Quartette, 'Music of The Old South'. The disc is a remarkable time capsule of fine Southern gospel, ragtime and proto-blues from the birth of recording, but it is the story of Polk Miller, how these songs came to be recorded and the history of The Old South Quartette that compels me to post this music today.
Polk Miller was born on a Virginia plantation in 1844 to a wealthy, slave-owning family. As a child, he learned to play the banjo from slaves and immediately began amassing a collection of black vernacular music to add to his playing repertoire. Polk was something of a prodigy whose skill at mimicry and performance was noteworthy even at a young age; an pre-Civil War diary account from adjoining Augusta County (found at the Virginia Valley Digital Archives) holds a sixteen year Miller up as an exemplar, stating that another white imitator's "beaming face and banjo music and 'darkey' songs could not be excelled by Polk Miller himself." Miller's willingness to embrace certain readily available elements of black American culture apparently set him apart from other, less artful imitators of the time; his ability to vocally and musically blend into a black band is evident in the extant recordings.
Miller joined the Confederate Army during wartime and served as an artillery private. After the war, he founded a pharmacy in Richmond and went on to create a successful company devoted to nostrums and remedies for domestic animals which he named Sergeant, after his hunting dog, Sergeant (Sergeant's continues on today as a popular pet food and medicine corporation, though they're understandably cagey about Miller's Confederate background). Late in his middle age, Polk was a respected Southern gentleman and a prominent businessman, but a restless interest in entertaining would not quit him. In 1892, Polk handed off control of his business to his son and took to the road to began performing full time, exhibiting an act comprised of banjo picking, singing and the revisionist rose-colored retelling of an Antebellum Eden.
The liner notes to Flaherty's reissue CD tell the story of these stage exploits and Miller's intentions better than I can; hereafter follows an edited excerpt:
During the 1890's Miller performed alone, appearing at reunions, business conventions, literary association meetings... He often gave benefits for Confederate benevolent organizations and monument committees. Miller recreated the black slave characters of his nostalgic youth with banjo tunes, dialect stories and lecture, without resorting to farce or blackface make-up... (his) stage presentation was too sincere for minstrelsy and too rich in music to be considered a lecture. (Miller was) quoted in the Greensboro, Georgia Herald-Journal: "If there was anything that my mother used to whip me for when I was a boy, it was for talking like a nigger and I haven't quit talking like him yet."Apparently, Miller's drive for what he likely saw as authenticity forced him to recognize that a solo act could only replicate a limited amount of the black vernacular musical catalogue. Somewhere between 1899 and 1903, Miller took the surprising step of hiring a black vocal quartet to perform onstage with him; creating what may have been the first integrated touring production of the 1900's dedicated to the performance of black music. The addition of the singers, dubbed by Miller as 'The Old South Quartette', was well received critically; again, from the reissue's notes:
Miller saw himself as an apologist for slavery. In his lecture he avowed: "It has been my aim to vindicate the slave-holding class against the charge of cruelty and inhumanity to the Negro of the old time". Miller was quoted... in a detailed review that appeared in The Atlanta Constitution: "There is no more comparison between the 'Sarvant Marster,' [sic] ever gentle, ever faithful, ever true, contented and happy old Virginia plantation Negro and the impudent, loud-mouthed, discontented, head educated and heart neglected young Negro of today than there is between the high-toned, honorable refined gentleman and public citizen Chauncey M Depew and the brazen-faced coarse blackguard and public nuisance, John L. Sullivan..."
When Miller made his pronouncements, neither his language or his philosophy was outside of the mainstream. Racial stereotyping and racist slang were commonly used in mainstream American newspapers and magazines. While Miller was touring the southern states, delivering this deprecating, dehumanizing message, the lynching of blacks in the South reached epidemic proportions; a lynching was taking place roughly every second day."
A review in the Bristol, Tennessee Courier offered...favorable assessment: "They look like field hands and sing like Carusos. Their music is like nothing else on the platform, for they sing the old songs as the old time Negro sang before the War and not like Negroes trying to demonstrate how much like white folks Negroes can sing".In 1909, Miller and The O.S.Q. recorded seven 'sides' (though cylinders don't technically have sides) for Edison Records. Miller appears to have been something more of a special guest on these cuts than a leader; he sings on only four tracks and is clearly willing to allow the quartet the bulk of the attention. These cylinders apparently sold quite well but are most noteworthy as historic milestones; as the CD reissue's liners point out, "few if any biracial vocal recordings of comparable American vernacular music were heard again until the rock and roll era."
Extant documentation provides depressingly little information about the members of Polk Miller's quartet or insight into Miller's treatment of them. Miller claimed to have employed, "about twenty men in all, I reckon, since I first began to use a Negro quartette... I never discharged one of them for a fault, but they had to give up for other reasons," such as illness and "throat trouble." "It was always troublesome to break in new men, but if a Negro had any music in him - and the most of them have - it didn't take them long to catch on."
Racist times would call to an end for this sort of lop-sided camaraderie. In 1912, Miller disbanded the O.S.Q., citing audience resistance and harassment in a Richmond Journal newspaper article:
There is a deep seated, cruel and foolish prejudice in the North... a thing which I have never been able to account for (since they brought troubles upon both the whites and blacks in the South), against the Negro as a race of people. Perhaps the "bad nigger" that left here for the good of his country and went North is responsible for it all, but they visit upon the entire Negro race the hatred which we have only for the bad ones. Some of the Northern towns which wanted me would write, "We are exceedingly anxious to have you, but our people don't want The Quartette, as our people do not like Negroes..."For the following year, Miller continued to perform his act with another accompanist: a white Confederate veteran named Tom Booker. Booker was a banjo player and friend of Miller's; together they toured for a short while with a similar program to the one Polk performed with The Old South Quartette under the name 'Two Old Confederates'. Polk Miller died in 1913 and was buried at Hollywood Cemetery.
There is a certain class of whites in the South, whose ancestors never owned Negroes and who never enjoyed as I did the kind ministrations of the old Negro mammies and Uncle Toms of Antebellum days. This class of people made it very uncomfortable for my Negroes. My solicitude for the comfort of my men, and many times for the safety of them in going from the halls to their quarters, worried me very much and unfitted me for my work... this fact, with the inborn dislike of the Negro on the part of the hoodlum element, intensified my troubles when on the road and in some places I had to call on the Police force to guard my men.
No written record of what became of The Old South Quartette has been discovered, but in 1928, a band of the same name reappeared in a studio in Long Island to record seven more sides on the QRS label. While neither the names of the "twenty men" who comprised the original Quartette nor the '28 incarnation are known, pictures of both groups and the unmistakable similarity of sound suggest that, even though almost two decades had passed since their last recording session, some of the same members and/or management connect the two groups. No documentation remains to suggest that the group toured. They would never record under The Old South Quartette name again.
Ultimately, what are we to make of Polk Miller? He attempted to popularize and legitimize black vernacular music decades before it was acceptable to do so, but he also openly longed for the days of slavery. To the best of his ability, Polk tried to bring black culture before white audiences as honestly as he could, but all of his efforts are badly marred in the contemporary eye by dint of his unmistakable paternalistic racism. Miller toured with a black band at a time when associating with blacks as contemporaries was potentially punishable by beating or hanging, but he seems to have viewed them (at least in public) as interchangeable inferiors. Miller is a difficult man to understand by today's standards and his legacy is not simply summed up. I can only suggest you listen to the songs I have posted today and try to enjoy the music without prejudice. It is a sentiment that both Polk Miller and the regrettably anonymous members of the Old South Quartette would undoubtedly have hoped for.
The gentleman above is a member of the 1928 iteration of The Old South Quartette.
His name is unknown.
Photo courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University Library Digital Collection
about the music on the page...
Two of the songs from today's post hail from the 1909 recordings: 'Rise and Shine' and 'The Old Time Religion'. Miller sings lead on both tracks; 'Rise' also features his excellent banjo accompaniment. 'Rise and Shine' is performed here as a bouncy, upbeat spiritual; 'Old Time Religion' is sung entirely a capella and is a more nuanced and deeply moving take on the gospel classic.
The two tracks taken from the 1928 Old South Quartette recordings are joyous musical novelties. 'Bohunkus and Josephus', set to the tune of 'Auld Lang Syne', is a silly anecdote told in call and response that neatly showcases the band's considerable skill at choral harmony.
Of the four of these, 'Pussy Cat Rag' is the one that still speaks to me most, both now and back when I first heard it as a child. The Quartette's minimal guitar accompaniment buoys up their astonishing vocal theatrics; also note the song's almost imperceptible but rousing tempo increase. 'Pussy Cat Rag' is a meowing, barking train with a now-and-forever place in my favorite songs of all time.
Cover of a tobacco tin, circa early 1900's
Picture courtesy of Banjo On My Knee, an excellent resource for all things banjo
The liner notes I've extensively quoted from above come from the pen of my father, ethnomusicologist and occasional Tofu Hut contributor Doug Seroff. Pops and his writing partner Lynn Abbott have just published their second book on the history of black American music, Ragged But Right: Black Traveling Shows, 'Coon Songs,' and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. The volume boasts a gorgeous cover, designed by fellow ragtime-geek Chris Ware.
I was lucky enough to see galleys of 'Ragged' and found it to be a compelling and fascinating read. The bulk of the research for this book comes from literally years of poring over microfiche prints of turn-of-the-century black newspapers such as The Indianapolis Freeman and The Chicago Defender. It's work that has simply not been done before and it yields a bountiful trove of untold stories about the history of (to quote the introduction) "musical comedy productions, band and minstrel companies in the circus sideshow annex and itinerant tented minstrel shows" at the birth of the twentieth century. Over the course of 350+ pages, 'Ragged' painstakingly details how a generation of forgotten black artists set the stage for the birth of modern American music. The work is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of exceedingly rare illustrations and photos, most of them out of print or unpublished until now.
'Ragged But Right' is available on Amazon at the prohibitive academic price of 75 bucks, but I would strongly recommend it as a necessary read and an unprecedented exploration of overlooked musical history to librarians, anyone with deep pockets and a love for a moving story and any folks who make their living in music industry or criticism; I guarantee that you will come away with a completely new understanding on the role and meaning of minstrelsy.
tell me more about it...
Buy the wonderful new Polk Miller and The Old Southern Quartette collection, direct from Ken Flaherty.
A Lucullan feast for the eyes and the ears, the disc comes sumptuously packaged in a 78 shaped (die cut with spindle hole!), heavy-stock paper, twenty-five page booklet peppered liberally with pictures and documents culled from Miller's own scrapbooks, analysis of the music and a lengthy, heavily annotated essay about Miller and The O.S.Q., finished with a lovely parchment belly band.
The disc itself includes the band's complete recorded output (both with Miller and from the 1928 session) in amazingly crisp and clean transfers; no small feat when you bear in mind that high quality copies of these recordings are at a premium. As if that weren't enough, Flaherty has also overseen the digital remastering of the entirety of the '09 sessions and added these seven cleaned-up tracks as a bonus on the tail end of the album. The clarity of these remasters is a wonder; unburdened by surface noise and hiss, you can really appreciate the artistry of the performances. For comparison's sake, compare the remastered version of 'Rise and Shine' that I have posted above with an unremastered version of the same song. I think you'll agree that the improvement is impressive.
At the moment, the disc and its accompanying book are available ONLY directly through Ken. A burp on Google's part ("polk miller" doesn't lead to "polkmiller") makes it difficult to find the reissue through the common search methods; if you find yourself enjoying this music, help bring some attention to this labor of love by lighting the off ramp to his door and driving some web traffic his way with a link or two.
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Itunes, eMusic and Amazon have little or nothing to offer from Polk Miller, but if you happen to have a gramophone around the house you may want to bid on this original Edison Cylinder of 'Laughing Song'.
Ebay also lists a 1929 edition of Polk Miller's Dog Care book, with a cover comprised of this fantastic portrait of Polk with his loyal pooch.
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Edison cylinders, for all their scratchy sound and anachronistic content, do have one very good thing in their favor: they're all in the public domain. That means that, obscure as Polk and The O.S.Q are, most of the band's recorded music is thankfully available via Internet archives.
You can listen to and download mp3s of five of Polk Miller and The O.S.Q's songs thanks to The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at The University of CA, Santa Barbara .
Some of this music deserves a bit of commentary and linkage:
- 'The Bonnie Blue Flag' is an odd bit of lasting ephemera; it may be the most complete extant recorded version of the unofficial Confederate anthem performed by a Confederate veteran... backed by a black vocal quartet, no less! You can also download a healthy handful of other Civil War nostalgia cylinder recordings here, courtesy of The Missouri Civil War Museum.
- 'Laughing Song' (aka 'Oysters and Wine at 2AM') is part of an eponymous tradition of non sequitur-laden songs whose chorus is comprised of laughter. Here's a bit of spirited discussion about laughing songs over at The Mudcat Cafe and a memorable sheet music cover for a laughing song by recording pioneer George W. Johnson. Just for good measure, I'll throw in a collection of laughing songs from Archive.org and a video of a contemporary Chinese laughing song by the Malaysian pop group Four Golden Princess.
- 'The Watermelon Party' is a "coon song", a once popular genre with an ugly nomenclature taken from the million-selling turn-of-the-century phenomenon 'All Coons Look Alike To Me' by Ernest Hogan. Mark Twain, a fan and vocal proponent of Miller's work, singled out this song for particular praise, saying "I think that Polk Miller and his wonderful four is about the only thing the country can furnish that is originally and utterly American. Possibly it can furnish something more enjoyable , but I must doubt it until I forget that musical earthquake, 'The Watermelon Party'."
The Document Records reissue of Polk Miller and The O.S.Q's collected works is out-of-print in America but the label's UK site offers a pair of Old Southern Quartette tracks for download: 'Oh What He's Done For Me' and a musical take on the the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem 'When De Corn Pone's Hot'.
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Here's a contemporary take on Miller: Jerusalem Mournin', all Moby'd out.
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Download a .pdf of a beautifully preserved program from Polk Miller's touring show, one of the many historical documents reproduced in its entirety in the Flaherty reissue.
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Read a brief, informative essay on Polk Miller and The O.S.Q. from Victrola and 78 Journal by music journalist Jas Obrecht.
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Read a lengthy example of Polk's somewhat vile pre-Emancipation nostalgia, quoted within a lengthy and didactic 1899 memorial for a Richmond doctor.
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Historian Tim Brooks' book Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919 features a full chapter devoted to Polk Miller and his accompanying, Grammy-winning two CD-set includes a Miller/O.S.Q track.
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The Edison Speaking Phonograph Company Myspace offers 19th century wonders on 21st century stationery.
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A Tofu Tip of th' Hat to Locust Street and an especially deep bow to Tinfoil, who helped with the remaster of the original cylinders for Ken Flaherty's project.
Tinfoil is a must to explore for anyone with an ear for the sepia tone; in addition to a considerable archive of free music and loads of information, essays and vintage illustrations, they also sell reasonably priced 24-track year-by-year cylinder CD compiliations.
sorry to have been away last week
Doing research and writing this post ended up requiring a lot more thought and time than I originally budgeted. I should be back on my self-enforced "at-least-once-a-week" schedule from here on in.
Given the sweat I put in on this sucker, any comment on it would be greatly appreciated.
Labels: favorites, music, old timey
Monday, February 05, 2007
"an engagingly surreal stage presence who carries the audience along with his misguided enthusiasm"
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glisten
Reggie Watts and Yungchen Lhamo - 'Pieces'
I've seen performance artist/vocal acrobat/Andy Kaufman award-winning stand-up comedian Reggie Watts perform live three times now and each show has been completely different and completely engaging. Watts' stuff is groundbreaking and non-sequitur filled; his stage persona is random and simultaneously ren-fair emo geeky and spine chillingly soulful.
Today's selection is a more restrained look for Reggie: a duet with talented Tibetan songstress Yungchen Lhamo. 'World In Transition' hails from the recently released album Antibabel, a four-track EP of vocal worldbeat jazz. The music is crafted more for instrument than for voice; Yungchen sings something close to an erhu's part and Reggie beatboxes drums and sings bass and auxilliary strings.
It's been a lovely and enjoyable album for me to relax with for the past week, though it's hardly indicative of Reggie's broader body of work.... so, since I've already got your attention, let's take a closer look at this up-and-coming performer.
Reggie's diverse schtick blends obtuse comedy, beatbox, singing, electronic sampling and improv in a way that's more difficult to explain than it is to show, so why not just explore this video collection of essential Watt-ages before you read further? I can pretty much guarantee you'll be blown away.
- 'Out of Control' - Five minutes of awesome freestyle multi-tracking.
- 'I'm Scrotor' - The best song about a tiny genital-tugging robot you'll hear today.
- Freestyle with Curt Weiss - Riffing on 'War Pigs'
- Live at The Jazz Cafe in London - A nine minute best-of compilation guaranteed to tickle and confuse; featuring the family favorite 'What About Blowjobs'
Buy Antibabel from Poptech.
Fifteen bucks puts it on your stereo. You can even count it as a charitable deduction; the entire purchase price of the album is donated to Machik Inc. "a non-governmental, non-profit organization whose mission is to support innovative strategies that promote the sustainable development and strengthening of local communities in the Himalayan region and neighboring areas".
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Visit Reggie Watts online or at his myspace.
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Reggie's very pro-taping which leads to him linking to an extensive collection of downloadable material both through his own site and on archive.org, which offers solo shows and full-length concerts with his sometime collaborators Soulive and rock/rnb project Maktub... lots of great stuff to explore!
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My New York peeps can see Reggie live next Sunday, February 11 at Comix.
Reggie's recently relocated to NYC and this is his second gig at Comix; he's definitely deserving of an obsessive fan following. Get on the bandwagon early and you get lollipops!
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Visit Yungchen Lhamo's official page, realworld records site and her myspace.
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Read this interview with Yungchen.
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Check out some Yungchen Youtube.
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If you want more beatbox in your life, you should also seek and find Rahzel and Kenny Muhammad; if you're digging the multi-track human orchestra thang, go scope Dokaka and Kid Beyond.
clicky
George Washington's Rules of Civility clearly state "Let your Recreations be Manfull not Sinfull" so I'm going to skip telling you how much I enjoyed Puppy Bowl III and just note instead that while I do love the black man and I do have love for Peyton, I still think Addai shoulda got MVP.
Props also to Prince's spectacular halftime; easily the best since Elvis Presto.
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Becky's Broccoli and Banana Label Collection is very... extensive.
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Looking for new and quality audioblog linkage to explore?
Hut recommendations go to Spabelo-Hi for random oddness and interesting weirdity and Country Universe for a selection of C-Pop WMAs.
On the myspace tip, give a peek to mashup dj emancipator, one-armed Spanish guitarist Andres Godoy and boobie-immortalizer Walt C.
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I love Katamari and I love kids drawing comics, so both together is a no-brainer.
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For a little while, I was seriously considering getting into World of Warcraft, but my girlfriend put her foot down.
While that may mark me as whipped, at least it's stopped me from ever writing anything like this: "I was completely justified in letting your girlfriend know you were flirting with Menah. You think I ruined your life? Well as my idol Obi-Wan Kenobi put it in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, "You have done that yourself." I can't stand !!@@*#%s like you who think you can run around seducing all of the fair skinned Night Elven maidens after you get home from kissing your Mormon girlfriend on the park bench. Somebody has to stand up for the little woman. Unluckily for you, that someone turned out to be me."
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"Squirrel Melts. You MUST try them."
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Running From Camera guy is an international man of mystery.
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I got a letter asking me to astroturf for Melvin Van Peebles and I bit hard on that watermelon. Nice MP3s!
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Mark Leung's Complete College Saga is forty minutes long and (if the image of Aeris dying breaks your widdle heart) undoubtedly worth every second.
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Almost twelve thousand youtube music videos and no Sam Cooke?
They do list Vitalic's Poney though, so I guess all's forgiven.
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Oh so touched to discover flying toaster screensaver lives; I missed it so.
For PC and Mac!
Monday, January 29, 2007
time-tested and mother approved
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glisten
Alex Lilly and Colorforms - 'Nothing Can Come Between Us'
Alex Lilly - 'But For You'
I've been called a lot of dirty names in my time, but the one that always sticks in my craw is "tastemaker". It's a silly buzzword that's piggybacked the mp3blog/audioblog zeitgeist for the sole purpose of being tossed around by PR hacks trying to justify to their bosses why they should fly a nineteen year old kid out to Austin. Basically, you're assumed to be a tastemaker if you're web savvy enough to hyperlink to Stereogum and reach a larger audience than the average community college newspaper. Having done this myself for a few years and clocking in over a million visitors, I guess I fit the profile; but, dig: whose taste am I making here? Are the kids falling over themselves to get Orioles box sets? Or Hugh Mundell reissues? Sure, I'll occasionally I hit a sweet spot with a Lady SOV or a Feist but, by and large, I'm perfectly happy to just unearth decade-old jewels rather than get into the astigmatic, hype-filled and overcrowded business of starmaking. It quantifies what (for me) is a job done out of love in the wee hours of the morning into a commodifiable resource to be vacuum packed as salable product endorsement from and for that all-important 18-24 year old demographic. The reality is much less glossy and opportunistic: I just want people to have a chance to enjoy music that I think is great as much as I do.
Now that I've made that cranky grampa rant, I'd like to break my own rule just this once and ask that all the label execs, web marketing kids, talent bookers and otherwise empowered types who keep telling me that I am a tastemaker pay attention and listen closely when I tell you: go find Alex Lilly and sign her. Please.
Based out of California, Alex currently backs up and occasionally opens for likewise excellent indiepop (if Blue Note can really be considered indie) faves The Bird and the Bee; your best bet to see her live right now is to go to a Bird + Bee show. One part Komeda, one part Nellie McKay and one part all her own; Lilly, both on her own and with her band Colorforms, has been an obsessively listenable pleasure for months now. In a crowded field of sometimes-electronic chanteuse/auteurs (see also Bjork, Cibelle, Colleen, Psapp, etc), Lilly's subversive songwriting, patient composition and impressive production announce an artist to be reckoned with. Her songs are pendulous, simple and lovely; as ripe and promising as a first date's end-of-night kiss.
Of the two tracks I have up today, 'Nothing Can Come Between Us' is the one I recommend the most highly; it was one of my favorite singles of 2006. 'But For You' is included more as a fan rarity; it's not available anywhere else on the web.
tell me more about it...
Visit Alex Lilly and Colorforms criminally undertravelled mySpace pages; both feature numerous full length track downloads.
I'd most strongly recommend giving a listen to 'Who Loves You Now' and 'Green and White Stripes' but they're all worth the download time. Go get 'em.
Like now.
I'll wait here for you.
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Watch the video for 'Nothing Can Come Between Us'.
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Colorforms had their heyday in the less attention-deficit 80's, but they're still hangin' on. If you need a solid dose of nostalgia, there's only about a zillion web-oriented dress-up doll/colorform stylee sites to fake it on... or you could ebay anything from Buck Rogers to Bravestarr.
clicky
'Check On Estelle', the Estelle Getty Workout Video with Beyonce accompaniment.
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Lindsay Wagner convinces Sasquatch not to kill John Saxon, courtesy Six Million Dollar Man Central.
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In an unlikely (but successful) attempt to appeal to my loves for both ghost ridin' and Werner Herzog, I give you 'Even Ghost Riders Started Small'.
Courtesy of the new, but imminently watchable, Pinglewood.
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In the Studio with Rick Rubin and Ray Stevens: "As most people know, I'm currently producing my way through the alphabet..."
Travis and Jonathan continue their brilliant stranglehold on America's windpipe. Or funny bone. Or funny pipe.
They're good, is what I'm getting at.
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"Girls charged with conspiring to kill classmates, Oprah"
It's hardly an original sentiment, but I do feel compelled to point out that if I had come of age in the current culture of fear, I almost certainly would've done some jail time.
Picture me in high school: black trenchcoat, pushead t-shirt, a drawstring Canadian Club bag of d20s and an afro-mullet, talking shit about Mortal Kombat and H.R. Giger day in and day out? Juvie bait for these sad times, no doubt.
I remember one of my best friends in high school once dialed in a bomb threat (from inside the building, even) to avoid taking a final exam. Not only was he never caught, it worked! Went on to join the military, as I recall... good times, good times.
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Koffins for Kids
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Now that Crime Mob has sampled Haddaway, everyone should prepare for inevitable remixes of 'Rock Me Amadeus' and 'Rappin' Duke' before '07 is finished.
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Strictly for my Final Fantasy homies: College Saga is 40 minutes and worth every second.
Friday, January 26, 2007
"cool, cute and culturally correct," to say nothing of their skill with alliteration
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Sorry to find you so very late in the week; between a busy concert and work schedule, I barely have any time for writing.
My hope for the future (fingers crossed) is to attempt a regular schedule of two posts weekly... or at least one if real life proves difficult to schedule around.
Be patient and keep checkin' in; I'm just getting comfortable back in the saddle again.
But you don't want to hear all this, you want some music.
And do I got a winner for you!
glisten
The Yoshida Brothers - 'Kodo' (Hishou Version)
The Yoshida Brothers - 'Erghen Diado'
Hokkaido Prefecture prodigies The Yoshida Brothers were heralded as far back as 2000 as the next best bet to break out of the narrow world music ghetto and storm U.S. radio, but it's taken six years to bring them into the living rooms of middle-class America. The song that's done it is the "Inside the Sun" remix to the strident, caffeinated 'Kodo'; a galloping shamisen duel souped up with a progression of boom-bap drum loops, drifting string echoes and an insistent bassline. It's an East-Meets-West dancefloor hit with the easy grace of a 21st century samurai, but instead of promoting Bushido, the track is being used to sell seventh-generation video game systems; the 'Kodo' remix is the theme to Nintendo's TV ads for the Wii. Perhaps it is only appropriate that The Yoshida Brothers should find a greater audience in a phenomenally popular export; blending cultures is a great deal of what the band is all about.
The twentysomething Yoshida Brothers, Ryoichiro and Kenichi, both play the shamisen, a three-stringed lute covered in animal skin (the Brothers prefer dog, for its resonant sound) played with a ginkgo leaf-shaped pick that resembles nothing so much as an ice scraper. You may recognize the shamisen's unique twang as the background instrument du jour for many a late night chop-socky b-film punch-em-up; you can listen to a sample here.
Shamisen has long been viewed in Japan as an instrument for the elderly or the disabled; an old man playing shamisen in the street has the same connotations to an Easterner that a fellow with dark glasses and a cup full of pencils might have to a Westerner. The Brothers have striven to change that image and they've been quite successful; in their home country, they regularly play to sold out houses.
The Yoshidas' tastes have, in the past, been primarily fusion-driven; their songs show the influence of jazz, flamenco, blues and, most prominently, rock and roll. Such experimentation breaks new ground for an instrument that has been an unchanging part of traditional Japanese culture for over four hundred years; the Brothers willingness to mix new genres and approaches to the underutilized and highly codified shamisen repertoire has been no small part of what's brought the duo into the public eye.
Out of maturation, curiosity or some combination of the two, The Yoshida Brothers appear to be returning to a more antiquated performance style; their latest project eschews the additional instrumentation and electronic assistance prevalent in their previous recordings in favor of the more rigorously dictated form and old-fashioned composition of tsugaru-shamisen standards. If the Brothers end up turning their back on the rock-shamisen fusion that they've helped pioneer it may not bode well for their crossover appeal, but it may prove artistically vital to their long-term career. The pair are technical wizards and endlessly clever; given strict boundaries, one suspects they may be able to make more out of less.
The tracks offered on the Hut today show the two different sides of The Yoshidas; the original 'Kodo' (from the II album is a speedy and arch sneer of a song; this revised version from the Brothers' forthcoming album, Hishou, is slightly less rushed; the pitch of the central theme has been shifted down a notch. The result is a song that's more grounded than the original, more assured and rustic in both sound and spirit.
'Erghen Diado', from the III album, finds The Yoshidas engaging in their love for fusion and esoteric exploration; the song is a cover of a classic Bulgarian folk tune notably performed by Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares from their memorable 1990 eponymous disc. The unlikely marriage of Balkan orchestration and traditional Japanese instruments is hardly intuitive, but it works; the eerie and dissonant shamisen offers a new twist on the otherworldly 'mystere' once provided by the Bulgarian vocal choir. The end result defies classification and, if put on repeat, loops endlessly in a oddly beautiful dance between Japanese sounds and Bulgarian sensibilities.
tell me more about it...
Visit The Yoshida Brothers' official site and their media-saturated myspace page.
The Brothers' label, Domo Records, has really bought into the sharing principle, which means that you can listen to a whole bunch of Yoshida tunage before you buy; but let's assume that you've heard enough and it's time to break out the pocketbook.
Amazon has the Brothers' first three major label stateside releases available at reasonable prices; iTunes does too.
In addition to the II album, eMusic also offers advance access to the soon-to-be-released fourth album, the trad-throwback collection Hishou.
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Here's the obligatory YouTube gallery of Yoshida goodness:
- 'Rising', live and as an elaborate music video
Listen to and download more tracks from The Brothers here:
- 'Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix)' (aka, the Wii remix)
- 'Storm' (courtesy of Feed Me Good Tunes).
Listen to the inevitable NPR thought piece.
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New York area readers can catch The Yoshidas at their thus-far only-announced East Coast stop, on February 20th at Joe's Pub. I'll be there with bells on; let me know if you're coming and I'll look you up in the crowd.
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Play a virtual shamisen and tune a real one.
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Obviously, The Yoshidas aren't the only active shamisen artists by any means; one of my other faves is a gentleman by the name of Hiromitsu Agatsuma, who I was lucky enough to see live last year at The Japan Society of New York City.
Agatsuma is also well known for his rock-shamisen stylings; I recommend checking out this impressive three part A&E 'Breakfast with the Arts' interview/performance as an excellent introduction to the man's work. You can also watch him holding his own in a duet alongside the "king of tsugaru-shamisen", Shin'ichi Kinoshita.
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Those of you particularly drawn to the rock-fusion shamisen sound may be interested in listening to music from the East coast band God of Shamisen.
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Read this extensive interview (with heavy hyperlinking and numerous sound samples) with tsugaru-shamisen legend Yamada Chisato.
It's a fascinating tale of one of the last wandering shamisen performers; Yamada's father traded a bale of rice for his son's first instrument in the early 1930's.
clicky
Deadwood: Wildstyle
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D4L's 'Tatted Up' is really great for about five listens. Try and avoid that sixth time and you'll be all good.
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YO GABBA GABBA! seems like either a hip hop Teletubbies or Wonder Showzen without the thick, abominable layer of nihilistic hate; in other words, it looks awesome.
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The only thing more cute than gratuitous anthropomorphism and robot kitties is an entire alphabet of baby animals.
The puma is killing me.
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Kiefer Sutherland sez: "We started torturing him around 11 o'clock at night, and, by two o'clock in the morning, we had set him on fire in the parking lot. We got up the next day and there was just this puddle of wax. His clothes didn't burn, which I thought was pretty cool..."
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Lil' Bone claims that Kronic 187's mom is bionic.
Mr. 187 is also an allegedly fuckin' Canadian motherfucker.
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Sulfur Hexafluoride is six times heavier than air
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Props to the always brilliant and fascinating Elisabeth Vincentelli for pointing out this fireball-hot '71 Ike + Tina live 'Proud Mary' video (which bookends nicely with 'Nutbush City Limits') and this thirty woman choral cover of Kate Bush's 'Wuthering Heights'.
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New Order on Baywatch
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? (aka Rudy Martinez) of ? and The Mysterians recently lost his home and several of his beloved pets in a horrible fire; if you can afford to offer a few bucks to help him rebuild, it would surely be a mitzvah.
Hopeful Hut thoughts go out to Question Mark.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
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glisten
Amy Winehouse - 'Love Is a Losing Game' (Acoustic)
My American readers may not know Amy Winehouse yet, but they will soon. Her first shot at the U.S. market will start in a few months, but Winehouse's sophomore effort, Back to Black, is already the current number one album in the UK, where she's become a notorious tabloid fixture for her profligacy with wine and weed, her fluctuating weight and her willingness to speak her mind.
That stuff is low-key rockstar drama for New York, though; the question is if the girl can sing. The answer is an emphatic yes: the little Cockney-voiced white girl with the piercings and the crazy hair can more than sing; she can SANG and with a deep, rich soul that fairly evokes comparison to Mary J. and Sharon Jones.
As much as Winehouse's voice beguiles, it is her talent as a songwriter that announces her as a talent to be reckoned with. At least four of the tracks she's penned for her new album have the crystal ring of instant vintage: the first single, 'Rehab', which casually namechecks and rhymes Ray (Charles) and Hathaway (comma, Donny); the foul mouthed kiss-off 'Me and Mister Jones'; the cannabis-etiquette primer 'Addicted' and the album-titled, Phil Spector-esque heartbreaker 'Back to Black' will likely be covered a dozen times apiece before the end of the decade.
Winehouse's producers also acquit themselves admirably on Black; Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi's throwback-to-the-future Fauxtown stylings sidle up so cozy against Amy's gutsy crooning that it's difficult to imagine one without the other. It's at least partially due to the addition of Ronson and Remi's contributions that Back to Black is such a step up from Winehouse's first album, the uneven (and, as of late, somewhat disowned) Frank.
I had opportunity to watch two sets of Amy live on Tuesday and I was pretty impressed. Teetering on six inch heels, wrapped in a too-tight minidress with her ratty beehive slowly unravelling, Winehouse put on a lovely pair of shows before a celeb heavy audience (Jay Z, Dr. John, Mos Def, Nona Hendryx and Citizen Cope) attending. Her hellion reputation proved entirely inaccurate in this instant; the venue's staff found her unassuming, upbeat, easy to work with... and very, very nervous. Several heavily poured amaretto sours and an hour of stage time later, most of that nervousness had simmered off and left behind a firebrand less inclined to second guessing and a second set that far outshone the first.
Backed by a hot NYC tour band that she couldn't have spent more than a few hours rehearsing with, Winehouse gave full-throated attack to the whole of her album, showing a passion for the stage that shone through her perfunctory jitters. "I have a message to my label, all the Universal people in the house", she exclaimed near the end of the show. "Put me on tour. I want to tour for the whole year." Here's hoping they take her up on her offer; if she comes to your town, check her out.
The track I've put on offer today affords a view of Winehouse's softer side; this one-take acoustic version of her slow dance ballad 'Love Is a Losing Game' shows Amy in a restrained and introspective light. Her vulnerability and emotional commitment are on full display here; it puts me in the mind of Feist's demo of Mushaboom, all sitting-by-the-hotel-air-conditioner with-a-guitar-and-a-tape-recorder intimate.
It's lovely stuff, though not totally indicative of Winehouse's sound; there's plenty of listenable links below if you'd like to try something a bit more representative.
tell me more about it...
'Back to Black' is due out stateside in March; if you can't wait for your Winehouse fix, you've sadly only got a few options.
iTunes is going to block American buyers and eMusic has never heard of her, so your current mainstream legal downloading opportunities are slim and none.
Amazon is offering the import for the not-so-bargain price of thirty-five bucks; your best bet now is to try eBay, where you should be able to find a copy for roughly twenty bucks postage paid.
Can I take this opportunity to point out that there's no goddamn reason why legally purchasing extant music that you enjoy this should be so difficult and expensive? Record execs and AR folks (who are generally amongst the first who want to exploit the internet for it's wacky "viral" qualities and its "tastemaking" music blogs) need to realize that putting walls around content is the FASTEST way to encourage piracy and to discourage critical excitement about an album when it's finally released locally. I understand that the way you've done business in the past involves hard on-sale dates and rolling out publicity plans, but if the media is available and the medium to transmit it is already in place; all you're doing now is frustrating heads that wanna see this up and running so's they can recommend it to their friends. Doesn't anybody remember what happened to MIA? Or Annie? Serve it up while it's hot and you'll capitalize on global heat; let it sit and you lose the people who already got burnt out on the import months in advance.
Alright, rant's over. I'd use this space to link to a pre-order site, but as I can't seem to find one...
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Visit Amy's official and myspace sites, both with very loud autoloading music... in the case of the myspace, three different autoloaded tracks.
More proof of the music industry being on the cutting-edge with its innovative use of internet technology.
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As always, there's plenty more to read and explore on the vast blagoshfere over at Hype Machine, where Amy is clearly reaching quick critical mass; those of you more prone to trust certified professionals for your criticism ("don't try this subtle metaphor at home") should stick a nose in on "the new metacritic for singles," Critical Metrics.
Full disclosure dept: Anthony at Hype Machine is a bro and my girlfriend works for CM, but they both run excellent services that I would recommend even if I didn't know them. So there.
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Listen to the oh-so-nice Hot Chip remix of 'Rehab'.
It's not quite as great as the album version, but it's a pleasant tonic to the original's gin.
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"I admire men who don't take anything seriously, like... Sammy Davis Jr, who treated all that racism like water off a duck's back. He was like, 'Fuck it, I've got music.' That's how I feel."
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This being 2007, I imagine you all prefer your new-fangled YouTube to downloads these days.
I'll have you know that in my day, we were lucky to get a "now buffering ... 85%" message on our realplayer. I used to have to walk three miles to get to the nearest hotspot, nowadays you just turn on your router and BAM, there it is.
Kids these days.
Anyways, here's some media featuring a few of Amy's finest moments:
- 'You Know I'm No Good' from Back to Black (sans Ghost)
- 'You Know I'm No Good' from More Fish (with Ghost)
The Ghostface connection is an interesting and oddly apt one; both artists have a penchant for lifting soul classics wholesale and remaking them in their own image. For Ghost, that means rapping over minimally altered versions of The Delfonics 'La La La Means I Love You', Dr. Buzzard's 'Sunshower' and The Stylistics 'You're a Big Girl Now' on (respectively) 'Holla', 'Ghost Showers' and 'Big Girl'; for Winehouse, it's brazenly lifting Tammy and Marvin's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' and The Impressions' 'I've Been Trying' for 'Tears Dry on Their Own' and 'He Can Only Hold Her'.
If executed even the slightest bit clumsily, this sort of theft would be embarrassing; amazingly, both Ghost and Winehouse are fully capable of pilfering and in some ways improving (or at least equalling) the original in the retelling. It's a hell of a high wire act and that much more impressive when they pull it off.
- 'Tenderly' and 'Rehab', Live on Jools Holland
- 'Back to Black', Live from Bloomsbury Theatre
- ...and of course, the infamous drunk-off-her-ass live television duet of 'Beat It' with Charlotte Church, which is just some breathtakingly cool, punk-ass attitude, legend-in-the-making shit.
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Three interviews with Amy, one circa Frank, one more recent (Nov. 06) long form radio talk with some live performance and one where she carves, minces and kisses meat.
The girl's got a hardworking publicist.
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You know you've really made it when...
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Ink artist Michael Arthur, Joe's Pub's resident Hirschfeld, sat in on Winehouse's soundcheck; he offers, in addition to some lovely sketches, his wry observations on the launching of a new talent here.
clicky
Perhaps the best use of a YTMND ever: Garfield is Dead, in which the execrable Jim Davis shows his true, sadistic colors.
This explains so much.
If that sad revelation is harshing your buzz, come back to a better world with a quick round of Five Card Nancy... er, Three Card Garfield, rather.
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I can't stop picking up the yellow stones
Best excuse to destroy your scanner, EVAR.
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Do you ghost ride the whip?
Yeah yeah; I know this is totally 2006 and I'm crazy late to the party, but what can I say: it ain't really a New York thing yet and I don't watch Pimp My Ride.
If you're lame like me and are new to this phenomenon, I recommend starting with this best/worst of compilation, moving on to this jawdropping video of Mistah Fab ghost riding the shortbus on 24's and finish up with this Vice City-esque Shot Poppin' Cop Ghost Ride.
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Okay, so by now you're probably thinking, what could be more awesomely batshit wreckless than dancing alongside a driverless moving car?
Would you believe sandal skating with three of your friends on the highway while hanging out the passenger side?
Seriously, that's some next level shit right there.
For some reason, the fact that their hazard lights are on just kills me. Like that's going to be their defense: "Well officer, we WERE trying to be careful..."
Also: dude grinding one foot on the pickup at 1:04? Jackie Chan called, he told me to tell you he wouldn't do that.
I salute you, gentlemen.
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Best Sepultura cover band you'll see today.
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The inimitable children's author Daniel Pinkwater is putting up chapters of his new book, The Neddiad, onto the web once a week. It's a great read, so stop by and give it a perusal, then pick up a paper copy in April.
an open request
I'm currently working on a new project that would require the aid of a classroom of junior high age kids.
If you or any of your friends working in the field of adolescent education would be interested in discussing getting involved with The Tofu Hut for some music listening and reviewing in front of an audience of literally thousands, please contact me at forksclovetofu AT gmail dot com for more information.
I very much look forward to hearing from you!
Monday, July 24, 2006
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glisten: The Return of the deadly D. Bo
David Boyle - DaVinci's Ho
Imagine my surprise when our prodigal son and once and future king David Boyle dropped a line to let me know he was getting back into business. Somewhat edited communique follows:
How are you? Have been very busy myself, sorry; but here it is, my new single. You can find the lyrics online at my website. The song itself is based on the 1978 hit 'Get Off' by Foxy.
Despite any (un)intentional vocal styling resemblances to Jerry Lewis, I really think that you can't fault the idea, lyrics or backing track. And who could argue with the rap portion... "Lindsay Locust", indeed! I'm also kind of proud of "Dan Brown, D.Bro made so much Ludacris dough / He proud he got Da Vinci's Ho in every area code, like a pimp-o". You can consider this to be a quasi-sequel to "Rapping of the Christ", if you will.
David also made the point that he'd like to see if the market could handle a D.Bo. single or possibly even a disc. How about it, folks? Anybody interested in ponying up a few sheckels? Drop the D. Bo. a line at his website and let him know.
tell me more about it...
Visit David's site for audio and video for the inimitable 'George W. Pussy' and much more.
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Read this article on 'George W. Pussy' from The Boston Phoenix.
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Check out a few of David's past appearances
Explore the finer points of D. Bo's political stance over at his political blog.
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blah blah pop singles blah blah
I've gotten myself into the position of doing occasional scritchity-scratching for Stylus; mostly to keep me plugged into what's what on the worldwidepop airwaves. Here's a recent dose of weekly snarkiness, along with youtube links where you can see the video and make up your own mind.
Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous Girl
'Promiscuous Girl' is promising enough at first; the hook and the drums are engaging and obsessive, but that chorus is SO CLUNKY it scuttles the song entirely. There's none of the payoff that I expect from a Timbaland track; it just gets boring, awkward and weak. If I didn't know better, I'd have pegged this as one of Will.I.Am's bland-ass beats. On the plus side, a newly bulked up Timbo seems to have put some muscle to his flow too; generally the weakest part of his own songs, Tim now sounds a dead ringer for Bubba Sparxxx. Speaking of soundalikes, ambition is rarely so bald as Nelly makes it here; as hard as Furtado is biting her style, Gwen Stefani should be getting royalties. 'Promiscuous Girl' sounds like half a song to me; more's the pity that it's poised to become this year's 'My Humps'. I really hope Tim's comes with more in the tank next time.
Sandi Thom - I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)
Proving yet again that I'll bite hard on any hook that packs a pretty voice, tambourines, foot stomps and hand claps; I regret to inform that I actually like this lamentable bit of misguided, vapid nonsense. This is not to say that I'm unaware that you could go mad picking out all the inaccuracies, fallacies and out-and-out bullshit from betwixt the teeth of the "impressionistic" lyrics. This is not to say that I think that this internet wunderkind's aughties 'For Dummies' rendition of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' has serious staying power. This is not to justify the existance of the most empty-headed "don't it make ya think?" folk anthem since 'Ironic'. But the pretty voice! The tambourine! THOSE HAND CLAPS!
Maybe if we get her a ghostwriter?
Cassie - Me & You
Cassie is Bad Boy's entry into the race for the next Ciara and her first single, a minimalist pop come-on masquerading as bubble-crunk, makes a reasonable case that there may be room for another princess at the top of the game. Cassie opts for a coy purr rather that showcasing any range or virtuosity, but that seems appropriate on a song as stripped down as 'Me & You'. Its innocuous, its got good bass and its absurdly simple hook doesn't get tired. At the same time, there's not much that sets this apart from the crowd; the whiff of plastic and lack of personality makes 'Me & You' less of a piece of art and more of an ad for the second single. Anyways, it's hardly fair to blame hamburger for not tasting like steak; this zipless fuck of a song is short, sweet, unmemorable, appetizing and tailor-made for the Summer. Be on the lookout for it booming from the back of a jeep near you before the end of the month.
Prince - Fury
3121 has been one of the nicest surprises of 2006; a solid album from an icon who had lately seemed to have tired of making music. Though nothing else on 3121 is nearly as good as Prince's leadoff single, 'Black Sweat,' there are still another couple of "at his best" cuts: the mid-80's throwback title track '3121', the silly-but-fun 'Lolita' and 'Incense and Candles,' a slinky, vocoder-heavy quiet-storm ballad that would've been a more natural follow up to 'Sweat'. The rest of the album vascillates between corny, disposible and mediocre with flashes of brilliance; it's this last that best describes 'Fury'. A little bit Vegas and a little bit rock and roll, 'Fury' takes a simple theme and whips it into a froth of excellent but aimless guitar solos and overzealous kickline synths. It's too ungainly and dense a song to quite take flight, but there are undeniable moments; when Prince segues into the chorus with a growling squeal of "Who's the guilty one / When there ain't no judge or jury", you'd swear he was twenty again. It's not quite a hit, but 'Fury' is done with such mastery and ease that you can't help but be impressed... even if you're not much interested.
Silvia Nott - Congratulations
Nott is the Bizarro-Bjork: a self-obsessed, uninhibited, nutty Icelandic nymph with a closet full of oddball costumes; but utterly lacking in gravitas and depth. And did I mention that she doesn't even really exist? 'Congratulations,' Iceland's maligned entry into Eurovision, isn't much more than a little girl singing 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' in front of the closet mirror with a Magic Mike, so OF COURSE it's kinda great. Less interesting is the tongue-in-cheek Velveeta production, the blatant judge pandering and the lack of a hook. Actually, there's the question of a lack of a SONG; still, how many tracks can boast a moment when the singer calls God on the telephone in a Betty Boop voice to declare that she's "saving the world"? 'Congratulations' wants to be enjoyed ironically, which means it's great for the first three listens. Past that, you're on your own.
Labels: david boyle, music, stylus
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
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glisten: Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka
Hirokazu Tanaka - Title Theme (from Kid Icarus)
Hirokazu Tanaka - Reapettes' Theme (from Kid Icarus)
Hirokazu Tanaka - Stage One Theme (from Kid Icarus)
Hirokazu Tanaka is one of a small band of mostly Japanese music writers active in the mid to late 1980's who are to music what Wesley Morse was to art; which is to say, anonymous but prolific producers of populist entertainment that was reproduced and enjoyed literally millions of times.
Tanaka was a video game sound engineer and composer for Nintendo from 1980 to the end of the nineties. These days, Tanaka works as the President of Creatures, Inc, which shares the Pokemon trademark with Nintendo; but in his heyday, 'Hip' was responsible for some of the most memorable tunes and jingles of his generation.
Tanaka is probably best known for his work on the soundtracks to Kid Icarus and Metroid. Both games were scored in 1986, but they sound drastically different; Icarus is tinny, light and sugary where Metroid is dark, dense and foreboding. Both are wonders of minimalist composition and still pretty damned exciting to listen to. Nostalgia sweetens this cocktail considerably, but I'd be willing to recommend these short pieces even to the most video-game illiterate. At heart, they are beautiful and addictive themes with a direct view to an twelve year old Tofu Boy enrapt before the TV screen, playing with power.
Ah, the tender sounds of the good ol' daze. Enjoy!
Hirokazu Tanaka - Samus Aran Appears (from Metroid)
Hirokazu Tanaka - Title Theme (from Metroid)
Hirokazu Tanaka - Brinstar Theme (from Metroid)
tell me more about it...
Buy Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 from Play-Asia.com, delivered to your door for $25 American.
This remarkable Japan-only collection of video game music and sounds expanded to three volumes; this first disc offers a collection of simply essential Nintendo-phile tunage and loads of Tanaka tracks. the complete themes and effects to Ice Climber, Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Super Mario and Kid Icarus are only the start of this pricey (but easily obtainable via P2P) compendium. Highly recommended, no matter how you get it.
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Read this Gamasutra interview with Hirokazu Tanaka.
Well worth the registration; Gamasutra articles and interviews are indispensible to the curious gamer.
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Explore lengthy fansites for both Metroid and Kid Icarus (some tunage in that last one).
If you're feeling a desire for playing these games again coursing through your veins, why not watch these tool-assisted speed run for Metroid and Kid Icarus?
It's the next best thing to holding the controller... if you were some sort of cyborg freak.
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Download these lovely desktops for Kid Icarus and Metroid from Desktop Gaming.
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Listen to dozens of takes/remixes/mashes of Tanaka's work over at OverClocked Remix.
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Metroid Metal recasts Tanaka's soundtrack as a metal masterpiece.
Try this at home!
Labels: music
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
"blood flowin’ folk ballads with no sound explanation"
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glisten: malcolm holcombe
Malcolm Holcombe - Cathy's Creek from I Never Heard You Knockin'
Malcolm Holcombe - Sparrows and Sparrows from Not Forgotten
If you (like me) are pissed off to discover that Tom Waits' '06 tour is taking place all but entirely South of the Mason/Dixon, here's salve for thea t wound: today's Hut offers the work of another folk/rock musician whose ragged and raw blues should help you while away the longer hours.
Malcolm Holcombe is a rural North Carolinian who writes and sings some of the most heartfelt and honest folk mountain music you'll hear. He is a kind and gentle man in person, a hell of a good listen on tape (his '05 disc I Never Heard You Knockin' was one of my last year's favorites) and a focused, glorious whirlwind on the stage. He's also a tetch eccentric; at live shows, he'll squeal, growl, violently shake his head and walk aimlessly in circles with his back to the crowd. None of this comes off as strained or hokey; Malcolm seems more like a man who's spent many an hour alone in a room, playing music for his own edification.
I've just gotten a copy of Not Forgotten, Malcolm's newest album and while I've only listened it through two or three times, my initial response is that it sounds much more self-assured and lighter than any of Holcombe's prior work. I look forward to having it sink in over the next few days as I play it into the ground.
Here's a sample track from that new album and a high point from the aforementioned '05 disc for you to try out. Keep an eye out for Malcolm to support the album with some shows; if he gigs anywhere near you, don't miss it.
tell me more about it...
Buy any of Malcolm's last three albums direct from Village Records.
Holcombe's first album is available at Amazon.
eMusic comes up empty, but iTunes has A Hundred Lies if you'd rather go digital.
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Visit Malcolm's official website.
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Watch Malcolm perform 'The Station' live, complete with trademark grunts, face shaking and head bobbin'.
Please ignore the fucknut intro. "Evolved Hillbilly," my Aunt Fanny.
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Reporters who sit down with Malcolm seem to often come away befuddled and amused, insinuating either that he's a cryptic hayseed or some sort of a savant. Truth is, he's just plain folks but I guess that's enough to confuse some.
If you'd like to fly-on-the-wall somebody a bit more on-the-ball talking with Holcombe about his influences and interests, I recommend you read this lengthy and informative interview from puremusic.
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Listen to (and download) the title track from Malcolm's new album from his myspace page.
You can also grab my favorite Holcombe track, the haunting Kiss Me When I'm Sleepin',from (stop-me-before-I-shill-again) the ever-lovin' Joe's Pub music repository.
Best for last: Candace Corrigan's The Nashville Nobody Knows podcasted a half hour interview/overview of Malcolm's work last year; you can listen to/download that here.
Labels: music
Monday, July 10, 2006
"...the future of cabaret, if cabaret knows what's good for it."
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glisten: theo bleckmann
Theo Bleckmann - Teacher's Pet
Theo Bleckmann - Chim Chim Cheree
Theo Bleckmann is a New-York-by-way-of-Germany composer/performer whose work tends toward the novel. Bleckmann's latest project is a collaboration with Japanese composer/pianist Fumio Yasuda titled 'Las Vegas Rhapsody'. The album celebrates Vegas' centennial with a collection of showtunes and standards performed in an odd mix of styles. Equal parts transgressively avant garde, respectfully traditional and puckishly inventive, 'Las Vegas Rhapsody' is great fun and obsessively listenable; it's been on heavy repeat for me since I glommed a copy.
I was lucky enough to see Bleckmann and Yasuda perform the album live last month at a lovely show that featured a four piece string orchestra fronted by Todd Reynolds. Theo's magnetism, sheer showmanship and flat-out amazing vocalizations are deeply impressive. As much as I love him though, your milage may vary: a couple of curiosity seekers left the show cackling and mimicking Theo's falsetto riffs and, even as I write this, I just received an e-mail from an unenthusiastic test listener who found him relentlessly jangly and flat. Still, I daresay it's a fair guess that if your tastes vascillate 'twixt the odd and the button down (as mine tend to), he'll wow you.
'Teachers Pet' features a barbershop quartet of Bleckmanns supporting a solo Bleckmann, managing an effect that (much like the original song) deftly straddles the line between coy and creepy. 'Chim Chim Cheree', a personal favorite of mine, allows a showcase for Theo's more experimental chirruping and yodels over the yearning strings. Both tracks feel artistically abundant, emotionally engaging and fascinatingly aspirant; Bleckmann reaches, strains and finds fresh, undiscovered meat in these chestnuts.
tell me more about it...
You can buy 'Las Vegas Rhapsody' direct from the publisher, Winter + Winter, but the Americans in the audience will likely find it easier and cheaper to go through Amazon.
Unfortunately, the album isn't available for download at iTunes or eMusic, but clicking on those links will reveal a host of other Bleckmann-ia that those august institutions _do_ carry; so give them a peek.
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Visit Theo's official website.
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Read this brief interview with Bleckmann and listen to the accompanying sound samples from a few of his other projects.
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Listen to a pair of other tracks from 'Las Vegas Rhapsody' on the "my-other-blog-is-my-job"Joe's Pub website.
Shill, shill, shill.
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a sad plea
Y'all still out there? Lord knows my posting has grown sadly erratic, but the hit count continues to turn, so I can hear you breathing. Drop a note in the comments; I'm gettin' lonely out here and I need encouragement to keep this idiot machine a'chuggin'.
Labels: music
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
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glisten - Lucky 13 Pt. 11: Familiar Melodies, New Songs
Both of today's tracks feature sounds that'll likely sound familiar; the first tastes a bit like (the very much contemporary) Coasters 'Yakkety Yak'; the second is a dead-ringer for Sam Cooke's 'Wonderful World'... only it predates that classic by a good two years.
The Cadillacs - Peek-A-Boo
THe Harlem based band The Cadillacs are probably best known today for their mid-50's hit "Speedoo" (as in, "They often call me..."). 'Peek-A-Boo' was a success upon its release, climbing up to #28 on the pop charts and #20 on R+B; it also represented their sole foray into the British market prior to reissue. It may likely have seen some play in the Burlesques of the day, making this an rnb strip club throw-back of the elder variety. 'Get Low' it ain't; but you should still be able to shake it to this silly little doo-wop wonder without shame.
tell me more about it...
Neither iTunes nor eMusic offers much to speak of but you can buy a twelve dollar single disc best of for The Cadillacs from either Amazon or direct from Rhino. If you've a taste for this Lucky 13 stuff and a few extra bucks in your wallet though, why not supersize it for ten bucks more and get the three disc, mostly complete Cadillacs: For Collectors Only box set?
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Read this enthusiastic, multi-part biography of The Cadillacs.
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Everything you ever wanted to know about Cadillacs, but didn't have the cash to ask.
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Listen to a snippet of'Peek-A-Boo's B-Side, the even catchier 'Lolita'.
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Funny thing about somethin' as easy as peekaboo: no matter how simple it sounds, there's always someone who's gotta go and make it look hard.
The Travelers with Lou Rawls - I'll Always Be In Love With You
Formed in the 1930's, The Travelers AKA The Pilgrim Travelers kept touring and performing up until 1960. 'I'll Always Be In Love With You' finds the band at the end of its storied career giving a leg up to their newest frontman, a young Lou Rawls. Rawls and Sam Cooke were good friends and Cooke was intimately familiar with The Travelers; it's not too far fetched to imagine Cooke appropriating elements of this song to craft 'Wonderful World', one of the most loved and best known RnB songs of the past century. Of course, the pretty sing-song melody that 'Wonderful World' and 'I'll Always Be In Love' share is likely a bit older than either than of these, but doggoned if I can think of any songs that predates it off the top of my head. Any of ya'll got any ideas?
To the best of my knowledge, this little rarity has never been reissued (in fact, it's obscure enough that I had to reference this Keen records discography just to date the track) but seeing as this is a title that's more or less googleproof; I welcome correction on this point. Any Lou Rawls fans out there wanna school me?
tell me more about it...
Visit Lou Rawls official website.
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Listen to more Lou Rawls and The Pilgrim Travelers at this admirable Lou Rawls obit post over at the always admirable The B Side.
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Read more about the history of The Pilgrim Travelers.
