May is going to be busy...

We have 4 bands playing in May. Young Love is an up-and-coming act signed to Island, and the others are 3 very fantastic bands from NYC. The pop music never ends...

It's been a long time comin'

The last post on here was my birthday, over a month ago. I guess I have just been far too busy to comprehend doing anything of the writing type, even though I have been writing some songs here and there. L.X. Remington and I are going to record some tunes sometime, make some DIY cd releases, give 'em out to people, have fun with it, etc. I've been listening to so many inspiring artists lately that my head and heart are getting into this band thing. Jens Lekman, Loney, Dear, Antony & The Johnsons, Robyn Hitchcock, Richard Hawley (his Coles Corner LP is just breathtaking) and Kings Of Convenience. Working band name is The Rafters. I've always wanted to use that name, and now I may get the chance. One song I wrote, "Chamonix Soul", I am especially proud of:

From the lights shut off downtown To the vacancies on Shelley Road This town’s locked in winter’s grasp

Made a college rock comp last night...Reivers, Too Much Joy, Primitives, Icicle Works, Robyn, Church, REM, Replacements, Pere Ubu, etc. Good mix.

The live music schedule coming up in Hartford is going to be ace: Young Love, The Picture, The Gaskets, etc. Middle Distance Runner were mega last weekend. What a bunch of swell guys they were, nice, prompt, tight on stage, fun afterwards. All bands should be this cool, no headswelling with this lot. I do enough egomaniacal things myself...

Until next time, and hopefully not too much later...cheers!

As I grow older, other things die

I've been busy lately, so that means I am lousy in getting back to people when they call, write, et cetera. So, today I see this e-mail from my good friend Anthony out in Seattle:

Hey man,
What's up? How come you never return calls anymore? I've been trying to call you to see what you've been up to and I also wanted to let you know I went to Fla for Xmas and found out both ALL Book & Records closed & Craig (from Craig's Collectibles) passed away. I wasn't sure if you knew. I understand you are the King of Conn. Clubs now. Give me a call.

TTYL
Anthony

What a shot in the soul, and I am not talking about the unreturned phone calls bit. You see, today, I turn 34 years old, along with Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Iggy & The Stooges' Raw Power, and a host of other records released in 1973. When I have birthdays, at least lately it seems, I reminisce about the old days, especially with music. I am instantly transformed back to that goofy 17 year old Palm Beach Gardens High School kid with the James t-shirt. You know...the one with the flower. I remember how vivid the days were when I went to Sound Splash on Northlake Blvd., with Matt and John playing Blake Babies records, or the new Dinosaur Jr. major label debut release, whatever. It was exciting, so I relive the days by visiting, and re-buying, some of these old records. When Anthony stated that All Books & Records closed up shop in the above e-mail, well, that crushed me for the time being. I was all set to go to Florida for the holidays this coming December, and I've been thinkng that I was going to drop a couple hundred bucks on some old vinyl and cd singles. All Books & Records had a great selection of UK indie singles, including lots of Madchester-era stuff, famous and obscure. I commented here earlier this month, on Hartford Courant rock music critic Eric Danton's Sound Check blog, about mom and pops going by the wayside. Well, here's another one to add to the list. Don't even get me started on Yesterday & Today Records in Miami Beach. They closed up about 12 years ago and I have been depressed and emotionally wrecked ever since. That's for another, possibly multi-part, entry later on.

R.I.P. All Books & Records. I pissed a lot of money away there, and loved every minute of it.

Shit Robot, shite speed

It's Friday, I am at home, didn't go out sans dinner with my wife Sara and her dad, and I am actually enjoying my laziness at home this evening. All I have been doing is ripping some .wav files of some 12"s I have rec'd as promos from labels. That way, see, I can listen to them at work and in the car and be prepared with what sounds will come out when I play the wax next weekend at Shag Frenzy. Tonight, so far, it's been an all-DFA ripping session, 'cos I got me hands on a pile of wax courtesy of those Astralwerks cats who distribute the DFA shit in North America.

SHIT ROBOT Wrong Galaxy/Triumph 12"
HOT CHIP Over And Over Remixes 12"
THE JUAN MACLEAN Love Is In The Air Remixes 12"

Now, this is strange. Whilst looking for some info on Shit Robot, I came across a review that said this:

The latest release from DFA's ever virile stud-farm, Shit Robot (aka Marcus Lambkin) certainly knows his Carl Craig - with this mislabeled 12" (it says 33rpm... it isn't) harking back to his 69 days.

I recorded this at 33rpm like the label says, and, I swear, it sounded ok. I'm going to go back and see what it's like at 45rpm. Strange, right? Someone is full of shit, them or me...or maybe this record actually sounds ok at either speed. *time elapsed.....* OK, this record sounds stupid at 45rpm. These reviewers are complete and utter fools.

Watching how the other half lives

One of the best memories of my first deejay gig, The Foundation in West Palm Beach, FL, is the first time I heard "Human Nature" by Gary Clail/On-U Sound System. It's a wonderful piano-laden baggy house stomper, not unlike a Mondays track, but with social and political statements. Gary Clail/On-U Sound System was basically Clail "toasting", Adrian Sherwood producing, and members from Tackhead and Dub Syndicate playing the tunes. The LP Emotional Hooligan is a welcome addition to anyone well-versed in dub, funk, house or all three. But the real standout is "Human Nature", mixed by a young Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne. and released on Oakenfold's, at the time newly-formed, Perfecto Records label. DJ Messiah played it one night and I was just sucked into the beats, the words, the pianos, et cetera. Criminally forgotten in most dance music circles, especially here in the States, but every once in a while it will pop up on some compilation to capture the era or some deejay mix who just knows what a great banger it was/is/will always be. If you can locate a copy of it, grab it. Essential rhythm and commentary.


GARY CLAIL/ON-U SOUND SYSTEM Emotional Hooligan (Perfecto/RCA, 1991) buy used here

Loving The Orb is easy because they're beautiful

So, the deal is this: I am sitting here at the office, busy as all hell because it's a new year and I have a new assignment to go along with my old one, and The Orb is soothing me right into lighthearted happiness and bliss. If The Orb's chief resident Dr. Alex Patterson is indeed a real doctor (I really have no clue), then he is the master physician to write a prescription to chill out. Hearing The Orb's ambient house live classic double album Live 93 on headphones while trying to collate, fabricate, extricate and deviate is something of a godsend for, what is turning out to be, a long 4 day workweek.
The voice samples are catchy and fun, from Martin Luther King and U-Roy to Rickie Lee Jones (on the classic "Little Fluffy Clouds") and Minnie Riperton. Riperton's "Loving You" hit from the 1970's is sampled on "A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld", arguably their signature cut, as well as their debut single, which ends Live 93 on a 18'52" journey into, well, the Ultraworld. Patterson, who has done Orb collaborations with the likes of Steve Hillage (System 7, ex-Gong), Jimmy Cauty (ex-KLF, ex-Space) and Thomas Fehlmann, leads us all into the countryside rave setting without the Vicks or the glowsticks. Rather, you just sit there, staring at the night sky, gazing at the stars, and wondering what it all means. It's simple, really. According to The Orb, it means relax.

THE ORB Live 93 (Intermodo/Island, 1993)
Criminally out of print in the US, but used copies can be found here.

Want Ad Women

All day long, and I mean all day, I have had the classic #1 single "Want Ads" in my head. I woke up this morning, and I just had the desire to hear it, so I went through my collection and grabbed some Capitol best of compilation I hadn't listened to in years. It's such good Detroit soul, but they were no Motown act. They were signed to Holland/Dozier/Holland's Hot Wax label, which was set up upon the famed writing/production team's exit from the aforementioned Motown Records. Honey Cone had a song here and there that charted, but never topped "Want Ads", which has been sampled a few times as of late by people who just know. Next step for me is getting Soulful Sugar: The Complete Hot Wax Recordings, because having a 10-track best of just ain't enough soul when it comes to Honey Cone.