Funky Friday With An Electro Pioneer



I've been on kind of an electronic binge around here lately so I'm sticking with that theme for today's post. Jack Dangers has been making electronic music for some 20 years now, most famously as Meat Beat Manifesto. I've been a huge fan for years, from the industrial flavored early years to the breakthrough records - Satyricon and Subliminal Sandwich, right up to last year's ...In Dub, a great set of reworks from 1992's RUOK?. The man has been a huge influence on electronica over the years, and in my opinion doesn't get half of the attention or the accolades he deserves. This week brought the newest MBM release, At The Center. It's on Thirsty Ear Records, a label that has risen to prominence over the last couple of years as home to some bright young talent in the modern jazz scene. They have also encouraged their artists to experiment musically with some of today's electronic talents - the "Blue Series" of recordings. There have been collaborations with Spring Heel Jack and DJ Spooky, and now Jack Dangers. Here he collaborates with Craig Taborn (grand piano, Fender Rhodes and assorted other keys), flautist Peter Gordon and drummer extraordinaire Dave King (a Minneapolis native who plays in jazz bands Happy Apple and The Bad Plus and also plays in low key electro-pop act Halloween, Alaska). The end result is a fusion of the dubtastic electronic grooves of MBM and some very cool modern jazz licks. It's tight and pretty damn funky, and there are also a couple of more experimental pieces on the record. Here are a couple of tracks that stand out to me - Flute Thang features, yes, flutes. And some pretty fat beats. Musica Classica is more of the same but filled out with some very lovely piano playing. Jack is also taking Meat Beat out on the road here in the US for the first time in 7 years, where he'll be joined by Consolidated's Mark Pistel, drummer Lynn Farmer and audio visual dude Ben Stokes. All the dates are listed here. Go and see 'em - I have 2 or 3 times over the years and they don't disappoint!

V.S.O.B. - Oxbow Lakes



The focus of today's edition of Very Special Old Beats is the 1995 single Oxbow Lakes (from the Orbus Terrarum LP) by those masters of tripped out atmospherics The Orb. It's amazing to think that this is 10 years old already. I love it's almost classical melody, gorgeously pounded out on a piano. It's watery, layered beats and reverb and echo all carry me blissfully away. A Guy Called Gerald's Oxbow Lakes (Everglades Mix) loses most of that gorgeous melody but adds the seductive diva coo-ed "heys" and his depth charge sonics and junglist beats that bounce and pan around your head. Carl Craig's Oxbow Lakes (Psychic Pals Family Wealth Plan Mix) takes it in a Kraftwerkian electro direction, with house-y beats and buzzing synths. Thankfully he has the sense to keep that melody and about half way through it he drops it in - I love it!

Lost Classics Of The Brazilian Post-Punk Era



My favorite record in the world right now is this absolutely enormous compilation of Brazilian post punk music from 1982 to 1988 entitled Não Wave. Featuring a handful of bands from São Paolo, it floored me the first time I listened to it. Here is a scene that was as vital as it's counterparts in the UK & New York No Wave scenes - the same edgy, art-rock meets funk, but shot through Brazilian culture - lyrics in Portuguese, the polyrhythms of Brazilian percussion, and lots of cuica. It's been a real blast trying to spot the influences of these bands - Talking Heads, PIL, The Slits, ESG, A Certain Ratio, Joy Division & New Order and on and on and on... I really cannot recommend this collection enough. Here are a couple of tracks to sample -

Ira! - Lá Fora Pode Até Morrer

Akira S & As Garotas Que Erraram feat. Holger Czukay - Sobre As Pernas

Then today when I was at the record shop I came across a new compilation from the great Soul Jazz label called The Sexual Life Of The Savages which is another look at same São Paolo scene! Turns out the Akira S tune posted today is on this too - I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm sure you'll be reading and hearing about it on these pages soon!

Funktastic Breaks



Today's tracks are a couple of current hits from Amerie and Nicole Wray. Two beautiful r'n'b divas (look out for the videos - they are gorgeous), they are riding hit singles that are variations of the theme that Beyoncé brought us with Crazy In Love - classic vintage funk stylings, sparse percussive breakbeats, and plenty of attitude. Amerie's 1 Thing (Remix featuring Jay-Z) definitely follows that earlier blueprint, but roughs it up even further - I love the grittiness of the music on this tune, and the beats are fierce. This is a remix of the tune that features a cameo rap from Jay-Z. Nicole Wray's If I Was Your Girlfriend is much smoother, though similarly sparse in it's construction. Instead of a James Brown vibe it's got more of a Shaft thing going on, especially with those wacka-wacka guitar riffs. I really dig these tunes - get your groove on.

Funky Friday With Nobody And Everything Else



Here's a bit of low key funkiness from one-man (Elvin Estela) band Nobody. His new LP on Plug Research is called And Everything Else. Featuring collaborations with Prefuse 73, Mia Doi Todd, rapper Xololanxinco and a few others, it fits into the leftfield, backpacker folktronica hip hop thing (enough genres in there for you?). The difference here is the addition of sunny, west coast pop flavor and a hefty dose of psychedelia. Wake Up And Smell The Millenium is definitely on the funkier side of things with it's big breakbeats. It also rocks the hell out of some harpsichord riffs which not too many hip hop tracks do - I'm all for more harpsichord. The more psychedelic pop side of Nobody is well represented by the great cover of the Flaming Lips track What Is The Light? (taken from their own psychedelic pop masterpiece The Soft Bulletin). Voiced by Chris Gunst and Farmer Dave Scher from Beachwood Sparks, it's a beauty of a cover that still manages to get a little funky with it's beats. I bought this without having heard anything by Nobody before and have been very pleased with it's lush, sleepy head nodding goodness. A big thumbs up.

V.S.O.B. - Very Special Old Beats



The lads over at Empire State Human and Headphone Sex have been posting some slammin' electronic beats (both old and new school) over the last few weeks, and it's got me digging through stuff to get in on the action. 10 years ago Rising High Records put out the compilation pictured above - dodgy title for sure, but some killer tunes from RHC and Plavka, The Black Dog, Air Liquide, Ride (remixed by Portishead) and several tunes either by or remixed by Wagon Christ. Here are a couple of those Wagon Christ moments ...

His "Me Too" remix of Project One's Cheeba '95 - I Like to Smoke Marijuana is a seriously booming junglist ode to the finer pleasures of the fragrant herb and it's meditative properties. One of my personal favorite jungle tracks.

Wagon Christ's Reedin' (Redone) is a remix of a tune from the classic Throbbing Pouch album. I love the jazzy vibe - woozy horns and reeds, swanky vibraphones, all slowly building up and falling back down again.

Sorry For Laughing



Released (and then re-released with 4 bonus tracks) last year in Europe, Nouvelle Vague's self titled LP finally got a US release a couple of weeks ago courtesy of Luaka Bop Records. For those of you who don't know, it's a set of new wave classics (songs by Depeche Mode, Dead Kennedys, The Undertones and more) done in a smoky, bossa nova jazz style. It's helmed by Marc Collins (Ollano, Volga Select, Suburbia) and Oliver Libaux, and includes the vocals of several different chanteuses. It's fabulous of course, and now that it's domestic there's no excuse for US readers to not go and get it! The US release also contains the bonus tracks, minus the version of the Flock Of Seagulls gem Wishing (If I Had A Photograph) which is one of the Euro release bonus tracks but failed to make the US record for some reason. I was very happy to see that this reissue includes this snazzy version of the Josef K classic Sorry For Laughing. Too bad I didn't have this when I posted the original & Propaganda's version last October!

Remastered Antmusic Part 3



Last year Columbia Records began reissuing the Adam & The Ants back catalogue, starting with the first 3 LPs. The entire process has been guided by Marco Pirroni, guitarist and co-writer for so much of Adam's career. They are beautifully packaged, and all contain a wealth of bonus material. I posted a couple of tunes from Dirk Wears White Sox and Kings Of The Wild Frontier last year. The final 3 albums are now available, either for purchase individually or packaged together in a lovely box (pictured above), with room to fit the first 3 CDs too. The key with buying the box is that you get a bonus disc full of never before released stuff - demos and the like. I personally passed on the box - I don't think I need a remastered copy of Strip - but a co-worker of mine bought it so I got to peruse it's loveliness - and it is lovely. I did however pick up a copy of Friend Or Foe, and today's tunes are taken from the bonus material. Most of the bonus stuff is the demos for the records, and they are often a fascinating listen, stripped of all the big tribal percussion and production. I particularly enjoy these two - Goody Two Shoes (Demo) with it's simple drum machine, and a much scruffier sounding Place In The Country (Demo). If you are a fan of any of this old Antmusic you would be well advised to invest in a couple of these reissues - they're fantastic. Anf if you are a real Antmusic geek, you've got to get the box.

I Started A Dance Craze Based On My Anxieties



Mark Oliver Everett, AKA Eels is an emotional alchemist - he is an ace at taking human misery and turning it into audio gold. His latest LP is a double disc sackful of woes called Blinking Lights And Other Revelations. It's a fascinating listen, full of scruffy pop gems that are all based on the unhappy things that have happened in E's life over the years. It has it's hit-or-miss moments, but overall it's a pretty memorable set of tunes. I mean, who else is going to write an uptempo, goofy groovin' rocker like Going Fetal? The title of this post is a line from the lyrics - very amusing words they are too. Also of interest is the featuring of Tom Waits, who is credited with "weeping" and also namechecked in the lyrics.

Funky Friday With Lyrics Born




Today brings a couple of cool hip hop tunes from Lyrics Born. He recently released Same !@#$ Different Day, a set of 8 remixes and five new songs. I'm loving the groove of I Changed My Mind (Stereo MC's Rattlesnake Mix). The backing track is typically Stereo MC's - repetitive, uptempo, smooth and very funky. I think that Lyrics' laid back, blue-sy flow on this track is a good fit for the Stereo MC's style. The album comes with a DVD which has a very cool Shynola video for this track as well as a couple of other vids and some live performances. Remix packages are usually not so great but I'd give this one a thumbs up - I'm especially digging Pack Up Remix with it's hard ass beats and energized raps from KRS-One and Evidence.

Lyrics also makes a guest appearance on the new DJ Z-Trip record Shifting Gears. The Get Down has a great old skool feel to it - the electro beats, the vocoders, the party-going-on-in-the-background. Old skool is definitely what the Z-Trip album is musically all about, and it features other raps from Chuck D, Murs & Supernatural, and Aceyalone and Mystic. All in all it's a pretty entertaining listen, altho' I'm not really feeling the Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) collabo.

A '90s Obscurity



Eggstone - a Swedish trio, formed in the late '80s. Their 94` LP Somersault contains a quirky blend of twee pop (which has been kind of a recurrent theme around here this week), American indie pop (think Pixies), British indie pop (think XTC or Blur) and the kind of softer stuff Kings Of Convenience excel at. The Dog is built on a great set of angular riffs, the chorus is hugely catchy, and I really enjoy the xylophone versus guitar solo thing at the end. This screams hit to me, but alas, not so. The rest of the album is equally melodic and entertaining.

Loopy Psychedelic Electro Pop



Of Montreal - Oslo In The Summertime
A crusty, lo-fi hippy hoppy beat coupled with springy, lush electronics. Wonderfully multi-tracked vocals. Funny lyrics about summertime life in Oslo. A chorus that sounds like it's being sung by muppet chickens. A dash of twee pop. It's all of that, and a really fun listen to boot. The rest of the album The Sunlandic Twins is equally entertaining and diverse in it's scope, taking in sunny power pop, much psychedelia, disco and electro and even a bit of new wave. I've been very surprised at how much I'm actually digging this album.