Sunday/ Steely Dan Rarities

Steely Dan - Any Major Dude
Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Live @ The Power Plant, 3/20/1974
Steely Dan. What can I say? They are one of my favorite bands of all time. My folks listened to them when I was a child, and I never stopped listening. I've seen them live a couple of times, including a very memorable evening under the stars at Poplar Creek in Chicago back in '94 - their reunion tour. I love their ability to tell such gloriously seedy, grimy and gritty stories, all of it couched in seductively recorded grooves. Legendary curmudgeons, they are my kind of people. One of my favorite things about these vast interwebs is how people who have obscure and rare recordings of bands I like are willing to share them. Just recently I came cross a recording of the Dan, live at The Power Plant, March 20th, 1974. It is fascinating hearing these songs live, played by the same band that recorded them. They are a bit rough, but they still give you a good feel for how great they were. Any Major Dude features the soulful lead vocals of Royce Jones who toured with the band for a while. Rikki Don't Lose That Number has great piano vamping - my only complaint is that the guitar solo towards the end is so far down in the mix you can barely hear it. Small quibble for such great music.

Funky Friday/ Leftfield

Bomb The Bass - Butterfingers (feat. Fujiya & Miyagi)
Plastilina Mosh - Going To Mars Bolton
The Oscillation - Gamelan Mindscape
David Byrne & Brian Eno - Poor Boy
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Sankofa
Black Devil Disco Club - For Hoped
Brazilian Girls - Good Times
Syclops - Where's Jason K
Black Affair - Sweet
Tussle - Titan
Long time no post. Yeah, I know. Last week began with a weekend road trip to Omaha, Nebraska for a wedding - woo-hoo! - and then the rest of the week just kind of slipped away. Today's selections should make up for it. New Bomb The Bass featuring Fujiya & Miyagi? Here you go then. Plastilina Mosh deliver a nice and spacy jam. The Oscillation provides some righteous post-punk riffage. Byrne & Eno have a new album out, and it is pretty great, as evidenced by Poor Boy. Sankofa is woozy Afrofunk from from an ace compilation - Lagos Shake - A Tony Allen Chop Up (cover pictured above) - of tunes Allen played drums on, some of them remixed by the likes of Diplo, Bonde do Role and Carl Craig. Black Devil delight with their trademark leftfield disco. Brazilian Girls are wacky in a good way. Syclops is Maurice Fulton and friends and is full of synthy goodness. Black Affair is Steve Mason, former frontman for The Beta Band, in full on electro pop mode. His album Pleasure Pressure Point has become a regular on the stereo, and is so refreshingly different from anything else he has done. Tussle are all about the mighty groove - feel the might beat and bass on Titan.

By Special Request/ Win

Win - You've Got The Power (Chocolate Thrills Mix)
1985
Originally posted 3/23/2006

Random/ Stormtrooper In Drag

Paul Gardiner - Stromtrooper In Drag
Featuring Gary Numan on vocals
1981

A Handful Of Covers

Travis - Killer Queen
Queen
CSS - Cannonball
The Breeders
Adele - Last Night
The Strokes
Dark Meat - Success
Iggy Pop
Bats For Lashes - A Forest
The Cure
Hot Chip - Sexual Healing
Japan - Ain't That Peculiar (Live)
Marvin Gaye
This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
Tim Buckley
It's an odds and sods assortment of tunes here; I'm not normally a big fan of Travis but I like this take on Queen. CSS does The Breeders and it is appropriately good. Adele rocks The Strokes and it's way harder than her album. Dark Meat bring their chaotic sprawl to an Iggy nugget, Bats For Lashes further spookifies The Cure and Hot Chip and Japan do Marvin Gaye. This Mortal Coil is really one of the best cover tunes ever, maybe one of the best tunes ever, and its all because of the gorgeous vocals of Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins). I defy you to not get gooseflesh listening to it...

Random

Wham! - Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do) (12" Unsocial Mix)
1982

Object 47

Wire - Circumspect
Wire - Perspex Icon
Wire are back in action with Object 47, the 47th release of their thirty year career. That's right, 30 years. After several breakups and reunions, they reconvened in 1999 and began putting out records. They were loud and raging, almost metallic with grinding riffs. The sound was relentless and dense, and was quite different from the Wire of old. I liked it OK, but it is not easy listening. After some bitter fighting Bruce Gilbert left the band in 2004. The trio's latest offering is something of a return to the sort of music they played in the late '70s and into the '80s. There are catchy riffs and witty wordplay, spiky guitars, keyboard atmosphere, and a bit of electronics. A few of the grinding riffs remain, but they don't dominate the proceedings. It actually reminds me a lot of 2007's Art Pop by Colin Newman's other band Githead. I was a big fan of that record, and it is interesting to hear it's influence on Wire. If you're a fan of the classic Wire sound of old I think you will find this to be an interesting update of that sound - a good mix of the old, tricked out for the 21st century.

Funky Friday

Poni Hoax - Antibodies
N*E*R*D - You Know What
Underworld - Boy Boy Boy (Switch Mix)
Late Of The Pier - The Bears Are Coming
Diplo & Santogold - The Guns Of Brooklyn
Stevie Wonder - Boogie On Reggae Woman
Paul McCartney & Wings - Goodnight Tonight
The Juan Maclean - Give Me Every Little Thing
Estelle Vs. The Ting Tings - Shut Up, American Boy
Yoko Ono - Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him