Bear with me while I hijack my own site as a file hosting ground for another one. (Damn you, Google Pages.)
The tunes are meant to add context to a Downtown L.A. blog I'm throwing together for a class. Maybe I'll post a link later if it doesn't blow. In the meantime, enjoy my table scraps. Nothing new and exciting, though.
Gym Class Heroes — Make_Out_Club
Dyke & The Blazers—You Are My SunshineWhat a nap. Must have slept for months. Our wake-up wapatui is equal parts Baby Charles, New Mastersounds, Darondo, Marco Benevento, Cannonball Adderley and Andrew Bird.
More later.
Baby Charles - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
buy it on emusic
The New Mastersounds - Drop It Down
buy it on emusic
Darondo - Legs
buy it on emusic
Marco Benevento - Nobody Does It Better
buy it on emusic
Their best shit to date. Every. Single. Track.
Slug's flow over Ant's crate-plucked funk is a trip. But fo' free? F@$k yo mama.
You're dumb if you don't grab the whole thing, but here's a taste:
Atmosphere—Get It To Get Her
First left-coast swing since their long-overdue return to the trio. Get involved:
Rub Soulive's underrated underbelly:
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I blindly purchased the new MMW, not realizing it was a children's album. Bummer, but fortunately it's, well, a MMW children's album.
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Surely by now you've all seen Tom Cruise's inspiring scientology sermon. Thanks Tom. But how do you explain dog judo?
I may be a little late on the draw here, but check out the piece David Byrne did for Wired if you haven't already. A good read on record label business models and the future of the industry in general. Logically packaged with his equally interesting chat with Thom Yorke.
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AjiSignal is a cool new site taking a stab at localizing audioblogs. Think of it as an aggregator of the many great hometown blogs out there; plotting new music on a map, from London to Minneapolis.
Nothing new or localized about today's playlist. Just hoping to shed some soul on your Thursday. Smile, it's a short week.
Clarence Reid—Twenty-Five Miles
Buy me
The Procussions—The Introduction
Buy me
David Robinson—I'm A Carpenter
Buy me
Maceo & The Macks—Cross The Tracks
Buy me
How does one make sense of an annoying, hours-long, Amoeba voyage?
My approach: wine, cigs and a scattered bag of shit just for you. Dig it.
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Let's lead off with a little Ike Turner.
Ike was good at things. Yes, hurting women. But he also knew how to play some shit-funk guitar, tickle ivories and arrange what most of you may know as a J5 joint. Let's hear it:
Ike Turner and The Kings Of Rhythm—Getting Nasty
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Bettye Lavette with the Drive-By Truckers makes about as much sense as this (I saw him in person last week). But somehow it works. Well.
Bettye Lavette w/ Drive-By Truckers—Before The Money Came
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Clarence Reid showed up on the last post (scroll down). He now also holds the Ear Hole title for Best Album Cover.
Clarence Reid—Nobody But You Babe
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Ween. Oh, Ween. I thought they were off the junk, but the new record tells us otherwise.
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I know nothing about Robert Parker, other than that his is the best track on this disc I just bought.
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It's tough to pick a favorite from Atmosphere's new trifecta of EPs, but this is what I came up with.
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These guys are Italian.
The Link Quartet—Milwaukee Hunter
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And yes, it is raining in L.A.
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Betty Davis was married to Miles and nailing Jimi. Sounds like it, anyway.
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Guilty pleasure.
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If you've gotten this far, why not indulge with a plug: a good read on this MP3 blogosphere you are exploiting.
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Wait, here's another tight Atmosphere joint from the aforementioned EPs:
Amsterdam's Lefties Soul Connection and L.A.'s Orgone share a similar Meters-meets-John Spencer-meets-James Taylor (the cool James Taylor) sound. Chunky guitars and leathery B-3 melodies ladled over organic, head-nodding beats. See how easy it is to bullshit your way through a music review? Anyway, listen for yourself below. The two are featured intermittently in the new podcast episode, which you can dig over there somewhere -->>
Lefties Soul Connection—Chop It!
Lefties Soul Connection—Paul Newman
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Extra Credit:
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Also, hows about a shameless, unrelated plug? Just a Q&A piece on what is actually a pretty amazing project. Worth checking out.
DJ Miles Muthafuckin' Tackett. As loyal Ear Holer D-Dubs puts it, the mixtape is "dripping with funk." The previous post may reflect that.
But upon further inspection, vital details have been omitted. Take heed.*
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All The People - Cramp Your Style
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Guitarists? If you don't know Robben Ford, you should. Listening to him will make you better...or at least make you want to quit. On Truth, the virtuoso journeyman offsets a recent slew of pussy-footed releases with a few hints of grit.
Actually, it's not that edgy. But the phrasing in those fingers makes me want to sever my hand.
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Robben Ford - Nobody's Fault But Mine
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And in case you're not up on the new season of Curb...
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Bonus:
Umphrey's McGee's early material slung the Chicago band into a deep jam-band hole. But the versatile sextet's gradual prog-rock movement has hippies double-checking the bowl. Meanwhile, the more musically inclined base is grinning over the band's new set of funky, aggressive, King Crimson-tinged compositions. Expect more of this shit on their new studio album, due out in early '08.**
Umphrey's McGee - Wizard Burial Ground
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*'cuz i'm a lyrical poet. (Anyone?)
** acquired taste.
I made the very costly mistake of visiting Amoeba Records yesterday. Yes, my wallet is a little thinner, but my soul collection is much, much filthier. And you, loyal readers, shall reap the benefits.
But first, a few things I wish would cease to exist this Saturday morning:
Lou Holtz's "Pep Talk" segment
The Fighting Illini
Football announcers who can't simply call it a "ball" (e.g., "He's gotta get rid of that football"; "They're moving the football now, boy")
Pam Ward
The Dr Pepper end-zone dance spot
"Gut-check Saturday"
Hangovers
And of course, Pete Wentz
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OK, on to the grime:
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Speedometer soul clap
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Some rare RJ
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New Bamboos w/ Ohmega
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Miles Mix
Lastly, my new prized possession, DJ Miles - Funky Sole vol. 1. Miles Tackett of Breakestra fame spins some fierce old funk and soul on this mixtape. Think RJD2's "Poorboy Lover Megamix" with a bit more tempo. The disc is pretty hard to find, but you can catch his weekly gig, The Root Down, at Little Temple in Silver Lake on Thursdays. Highly recommended.
Carolyn Franklin - Deal With It
The JB's - Funky Drummer (DJ Muro Mix).mp3
Eugene Blacknell - We Got To Live Together (DJ Miles Drum Mix)
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Bonus:
Just dropping in to say say Free Burma.
Follow the link and show your support.
If you're not too familiar with what's going on over there, I suggest you do some reading. You can start with a quick article I did here.
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Also, here's the RJD2 track from Mad Men on AMC, which has become a mild obsession of mine. New episode tonight.
