Archive for the 'Music Appreciation' Category

Heather
Billy Cobham (wikipedia)
Crosswinds, 1974
Atlantic Records

iTunes | amazon mp3s | CD

I played “93 ‘Til Infinity” a couple months back and my friend Jackie Sommer (of Analog Soul) came up to me and said that phrase I love to hear: ” You know what this samples right?” I didn’t and she told me it was Billy Cobham’s “Heather” which, of course, it turned out I already owned but hadn’t gotten around to listen to yet. I immediately went home and recorded it and then while catching up on the moovmnt blog last week, I came across this track from Black Spade (who I’ve featured before) which also uses “Heather” but in a mood much closer to the original.

The Black Spade track doesn’t hold together as a complete song (in my opinion) but I heart the first 1:10, especially:

it’s the history of our misery that’s keeping me from trying to succeed again, breathe again, love again, pray again, stay again, stay a friend.

The title track “Crosswind” was also sampled for a Golden Era hip hop track.

Songs are available for two weeks.

All The Way Around
Marvin Gaye (wikipedia)
I Want You, 1976
Tamla/Motown
iTunes | amazon mp3s | CD

Wow, how did I miss the song the first time(s) through? I was revisiting this album and this song just blew me away. I was more aggressive this month and played it as the last song of the night at I Love Vinyl.

Shouts to Leon Ware and Arthur ‘T-Boy’ Ross for writing this song, although I will say, for me this song is all about the music; the lyrics could be substituted with “da dee da” and I probably wouldn’t like it any less. My attention is always pulled to the sublime background harmonies in the left channel starting at :46. The interplay between the backgrounds and lead is really well done. The tough part about following the lyrics is that they are not only happening at different times, they are also (often) different words.

I just read the lyrics because I realized I didn’t really even know what the song is about. This one is a gem:

angel though you’re promiscuous i don’t mind a bit cause you’re still the greatest lay even when you’re miles away

Songs are available for two weeks.

Feather
Little Dragon
Machine Dreams, 2009
Peace Frog
iTunes | Amazon MP3s | CD

Gothenburg, Sweden based Little Dragon (who I’ve written about before) just played their second show at Le Poisson Rouge supporting their new Machine Drums album, released in September (the other show was in July, before it came out). I missed the first one but got to see this one and it was really good. “Feather” was a highlight. They really stretched the song out and I was hoping it wouldn’t end. They could have seriously played the song for a half hour and I would have been happy. The song really enveloped the room and the echo-ey wood clap sound (that first at happens at :25) was way more pronounced and so pleasing. Even though they inserted an extended instrumental section into the live performance, I could never quite predict exactly when the clap was going to happen.

I didn’t realize until right now (although it does ring bells, I’m sure someone told me) that Yukimi Nagano, Little Dragon’s lead singer sang vocals on several Koop songs, including “Bright Nights” (iTunes link), one of my favorites.

Bonus download: “Fortune (AFTA-1 Remix)” (you can probably find it here).

Songs are available for two weeks.

Ghost featuring Phase One
Probe DMS
Life Is A Movie, 2010
DMS Country Recordings

My friend Probe just posted a link on facebook to this great track from his new album. Downloading it is going to work a little different than usual. To download it you need to go his bandcamp site and enter your email address (you can preview it before entering your email address to be sent a download link). I assume you will then be added to his email list for updates. I could post the track on my server but I want him to get as much exposure as possible and he is someone you want to be updated on. He’s a great producer, MC and recording engineer (hit him up if you need some affordable studio time) and is also part of the CVees and Spymusic.

This song is hilarious to me, it’s that “I’m a star at the party” type of rap (like Ghostface on Mark Ronson’s “Ooh Wee”) but most of the references are his British electronic/broken beat producer friends.

“Headed to the bar I bumped into Vigo, oh shit this nigga threw on Kaidi & Dego”

“She the type to eat tofu and listen to Domu”

[You can download the song for free by going to this page.]

Creepin’ (In My Dreams)
Tamiko Jones
7″ Single, 1975
Arista Records

Another gem from the 45 vaults. This is Tamiko Jones’ sultry cover of the Stevie Wonder classic that came out the year before. I don’t know much about her, I’ve had her song “Let It Flow” (which came out a year after this record) on my shopping list for years.

Songs are available for two weeks.

(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt. 1
(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Pt. 2
Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
7″ Single, 1972
GSF Records

This is another gem from the recently borrowed trove of 45s. I knew of Joe Quarterman and this song but only had the slightly contrived “South City Allstars Vs. Joe Quarterman” reworking of it and his “The Way They Do My Life” which is similar but not quite as dynamic.

Pt. 2 is definitely going on my list of tracks for the next I Love Vinyl party. I love that the first vocals you here (:33) are in the middle of a guitar solo and distorted and that when the “real” vocals come (back) in at 1:14 it’s a verse and not the (more likely) chorus.

My favorite part of Part 1 is the unlikely squelchy guitar chord @ 2:05.

Songs are available for two weeks.

Intimate Friends
Eddie Kendricks
7″ Single, 1977
Motown Records

We scheduled set times at the last I Love Vinyl party until 3:30 a.m. and after that it was sort of a free for all. This is the song I wanted to end the party with, but I didn’t elbow my way to the turntable in time.

Does anyone know the where this song first came out? This 45 says it’s from his “At His Best” compilation but it doesn’t seem to have come out before that. Is it one of those age-old “tack some new studio material onto a greatest hits so that the people who have every album still have to buy it” things? Well, if so, this was a great song to do it with, although, putting it out on 45 would sort of defeat the purpose.

Common (Immenslope, actually) sampled this on “A Penny For My Thoughts,” his first song on his first album in 1992, when he was Common Sense…before he tamed his flow.

Songs are available for two weeks.

Go On With Your Bad Self
Consumer Rapport
7″ Single, 1975
Wing and a Prayer Record Co.

Kid tested. Big Daddy Kane approved. We want that old pimp sh#% too!

The first time I heard this 45 was an extremely gratifying experience. It was one of those sounds that had taken up permanent residence in my brain ever since I heard it on “Big Daddy’s Theme” in 1989. But like so many sounds from my junior high years – a time when I didn’t care about the details of music, it took me a while to remember exactly where it was from.

So, my question is: who is Tone (of “Yo Tone, play me some old pimp sh#%”)? The credits say the track was produced by Kane and the other major players were Mister Cee, Scoob and Scrap (obviously), Marley Marl and Easy Mo Bee.

There doesn’t seem to be that much out there on Consumer Rapport. Discogs.com has a bunch of variations of singles that all have the A-Side of this 45, “Ease on Down the Road.” No albums. Anyone know anything about them?

Songs are available for two weeks.

Ask Me
Ecstasy, Passion & Pain
7″ Single, 1974
Roulette Records

This is another gem from the new borrowed 45 stash. I posted Danny Krivit’s edit of this song early last year but was unfamiliar with the original until just now.

I don’t know that much about what is “disco’s first super group” according to their bio on discogs.com but there are some interesting facts mentioned like that the group was a self-contained band. Barbara Gaskins, the leader singer and writer of this and most of their songs, played guitar. Also fairly uncommon at the time (and still), the group’s drummer (Althea “Cookie” Smith) was female. Blue Note recording artist Ronnie Foster (best known to the hip hop generation as the artist behind “Mystic Brew” which was sampled for “Electric Relaxation”) was also part of the group for a time.

The rinky-dinky intro (not included in Danny Krivit’s edit) is somewhat surprising considering how driven the rest of the song is.

Songs are available for two weeks.