Archive for the 'Music Appreciation' Category

You and Me
Stevie Wonder
My Cherie Amour, 1969

I was putting the full court press on a lot of my friends to come to the WONDER-Full™ party this year and at the last minute (when I was eating a burrito across the street from the Hammerstein) I got nervous that I might be overselling it. I got there pretty early (9:30, doors opened at 9:00) and was surprised to find out that the event was in the actual ballroom (”Hammerstein Ballroom”) on the 7th floor, not in the concert venue on the first floor. I was quite a shift from last year’s all concrete warehouse setting. The ballroom featured carpeting and an expansive wedding-style wood cube dance floor that was placed in the middle for the occasion.

As usual Keistar/Spinna/Bobbito brought in their own sound which, in my estimation, has been really heavy on treble for the last two years. I brought 8 pairs of earplugs for friends after Ben was so kind as to save me the morning-after-ear-ringing last year.

There were maybe 100 people there when I got there and a quarter of them were already dancing (mostly alone on the huge almost empty dance floor) and I felt better about my campaign already, remember how serious the Wonder-Full crowd is about dancing. By 11:15, the entire dancefloor was full but the real treat came around 1:00 a.m. when Stevie showed up. There was a commotion as he (and his daughter Aisha and the rest of his entourage) walked along the side of the ballroom making there way to the front and very quickly, what had been a free-moving dance party turned into a uni-directional cell-phone-camera wielding semi-reverent mass.

That picture doesn’t do justice to the number of recording devices being used. As has been pointed out on other blogs, people seemed so consumed with trying to capture the moment that a lot of them seemed to forget to be in it. After endorsing Barack Obama and mentioning that the party was a month late (it’s traditionally been within a week of his birthday, May 13th) among other things, he sang “That Girl,” “Uptight (Everything’s All Right),” “Superstition,” and “Do I Do” more or less a capella with intense crowd participation.

He left the stage after that but came back 10 or 15 minutes later to just sit down and hang out. The funny thing was, people couldn’t handle it. Everyone rushed back up to the front and starting taking pictures…of Stevie sitting…and it went on for a while. It was a little silly. Someone asked me “why is he just sitting there?” to which I more or less replied “he’s hanging out, the real question is, why are we just standing here?” Just when people finally went back to dancing, Spinna played “Master Blaster” and Stevie got up and sang with it [insert rush-to-stage part 3]. Then talked about Syreeta (his first wife) who died in 2004. Then he left (for 15 seconds) and Spinna played “Isn’t She Lovely” (written for Aisha) which he came back and sang for her.

I thought I would post this song, one of my favorite Stevie album cuts, as a tribute to the party and his concert at Jones Beach which I saw last night. This song is also on my Music For My Funeral list. As it says on that page and it worth repeating, “You and Me” is not to be confused with the (also awesome) better known and more predictably sentimental “You and I” from Talking Book. “You and Me” instantly makes me picture sunshine and hills. It’s very much a “closing credits” song and therefore perfect for the list.

>> right-click –> here to download the 192 kbps version [3.7 MB] and here for the 320 kbps version [6.2 MB].

By Your Side (Cottonbelly Remix)
Sade
X Amounts of Niceness, 2004

Cottonbelly is an alias of Stuart Matthewman, the saxophone and guitar player for Sade (”Sade” the band), member of Sweetback and part-producer, part-songwriter, and musician for Maxwell’s three studio albums (among other things I’m sure).

Someone enthusiastically requested this song from me a couple years back and I didn’t have it/know it. Then he told me it was on Red Hot + Riot (see this post for info on the Red Hot series) which I owned and I almost wanted to tell him that he was wrong (I thought the whole album was Fela covers). Of course he was right and the song more than lived up to his effusive recommendation.

I don’t know the history of this mix; “By Your Side” came out in 2000 but I don’t see any mention of this mix until Red Hot + Riot in 2002. I wonder if he made it specifically for that compilation. This remix changes the vibe of the song more than I would have believed possible. The original is one of the most overly pleasant poppy things that Sade have ever done (and we all love them, but they are not the most musically complex to start with). He made the tempo a third faster and integrated the vocals perfectly with samples from Fela’s “Who No Know Go Know” and Tony Allen’s (wikipedia, myspace) “Jealousy.”

The version on Red Hot + Riot is 4:40 but I posted the version on this Cottobelly compilation I picked up at Amoeba during my last trip to San Francisco because apparently, at 7:16, it’s the full version that I didn’t know existed until just now.

This sounds nice at office-volume but is a whole other beast when played at body shaking-bass levels.

>> right-click –> here to download the 192 kbps version [5.2 MB] and here for the 320 kbps version.

I Ain’t Got Nothing
The Temptations
All Directions, 1972

This album was best known for “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” but there are some other great songs on it as well, including a cover of Isaac Hayes’
“Do You Thing” from the Shaft Soundtrack that came out a year before, and this song. This album also contains the surprising “Run Charlie Run” — as in “Run Charlie run, the niggas is comin’!” (snippet). I guess they felt like they needed to up the ante after their less incendiary 1969 song “Message From a Black Man.”

“I Ain’t Got Nothing” is one of those songs that is totally ridiculous and undermines itself at every turn, yet still somehow achieves the desired effect, in the case, being sad. It would be perfect for a Will Ferrell movie.

You know, every house has a door and every room has a floor
Every fence has a gate and every beast has a mate
Everybody, everybody’s got something but me…I ain’t got nothing

Every stove has a fire and every car has a tire
Every fish has a bowl and every shoe has a sole
Everybody, everybody’s got something but me…I ain’t got nothing

Now I don’t care about politics and things across the see
All I want, all I want to do is love, and have somebody love me

I need, I need somebody

Every lion has a den and every little pig has a its pen
Every road has a way and they tell me every dog has its day
Everybody, everybody’s got something but me

I ain’t got nothing
I ain’t got nothing
Oh no…

(repeat)

>> right-click –> here to download the 192 kbps version [5.2 MB] and here for the 320 kbps version [8.6 MB].

Volans (Parachute Dub)
Slouch
Travels: Rarities and Rereleases (Master Copies), 2008

I wanted to give a highlight to my friend Ian who recently released two EPs through his snocap myspace music store. This track is from “Travels: Rarities and Rereleases” (the top album image). The bottom image is of “Labor” the other EP.

I met Ian through myspace when he was first moving to NYC two summers ago. I never approve a friend request from an artist on myspace without making sure their music is at least decent. To this day, I think Ian is the only artist I’ve ever learned of directly through myspace that I makes me feel like being on myspace is worthwhile for that reason.

It was hard to pick which song to post, I’ve only gotten a chance to listen through the EPs once so far. I don’t know if it comes through from what I post on this blog but my musical taste often leans towards the cinematic and brooding and Ian is a master of cinematic and brooding. I know he samples a ton and I honestly don’t know how he is able to make his songs so cohesive with so many disparate layers.

He’ll be performing tonight at the Out of Sequence party at Karma Lounge and at the release party for these two EPs which will be on June 14 at the next installment of his monthly SyncTank party with DJ Kuma.

By the way, he’s also a great graphic designer, he did the covers himself (click to enlarge for detail).

>> right-click –> here to download “Volans (Parachute Dub)” [12.4 MB]

Bleeding Together (DJ Eli Remix)
Dissent
Wide Hive 12 Inch, 2003

I played a Barack Obama Fundraiser last night at this swanky new place called Hudson Terrace on the far west side. This was one of the songs I pulled to play but I didn’t get to it. It was actually hard to know what to play. It definitely didn’t have the “rally” vibe, it was more of a business attire fundraiser. I tried to avoid being sucked into the upscale vibe of the place and I ended playing everything from “Impeach the President” (Honeydrippers) to “Superstar” (Lupe Fiasco) to Pharoahe Monch’s version of “Welcome to the Terrordome” to “Let’s Get Blown” (Snoop Dogg) to “A Chance For Peace” (Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes) to the “Barack Obama” song by Cocoa Tea (thanks to RikRok for that one, if you haven’t heard it - check it out). I managed to make it all work.

The Ahn Trio and Mingus Dynasty also donated their services to the fundraiser and gave great performances. Recommended. The Ahn Trio’s website is really impressive.

This track isn’t overtly political but the line “we are all alone…together / not all-together alone” seemed to fit with Obama’s overall message. I’ve never heard the original version of this song but I have the feeling this quiet little remix kicks its ass.

>> right-click –> here to download the 192 kbps version [10.6 MB] and here for the 320 kbps version [17.5 MB]

We Are One
The Hot 8 Brass Band
Rock With the Hot 8 Brass Band, 2007

This song is a cover of a Maze featuring Frankie Beverly song from 1983. It’s an unlikely choice for a brass band but the harmonies sound so lovely with that instrumentation.

This album came out on Louisiana Red Hot Records 6 months before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (with less appealing cover art). According to a poorly written press release on the Tru Thoughts website (the label that re-released the album), they were “inundated with thousands of enquiries about” the Hot 8’s version of “Sexual Healing.” These two sentence are particularly vexing:

After the hurricane the label never fully recovered and the track was pushed underground until it was brought to the attention of Tru Thoughts A&R Robert Luis when Quantic started dropping it in his DJ sets. People have been swapping CDRs and MP3s to get hold of the track ever since and it has received a remarkable response from DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Rob Da Bank and Coldcut getting in touch with Tru Thoughts eager to get hold of their own copy.

Wait, ever since what? It sounds like they are saying that these go from being underground to mainstream by merely entering the consciousness of Robert Luis. Tru Thoughts released “500 exclusive copies” of the single in October 2007 (although they can’t be that “exclusive” as the album came out two weeks later). I first heard this song in a Daz-I-Kue DJ set at Winter Music Conference in March of 2007 so it seems the swapping was in full effect many months before the Tru Thoughts release. I guess what is more likely is that he was leaking the mp3 to high profile djs but they should just say that.

Anyway, the music is great so who cares about everything else.

>> songs are available for two weeks [15.5 MB]

You Can Leave, But It’s Going To Cost You
Marvin Gaye
Here, My Dear, 1978

When I was first trying to get into soul albums, I seem to remember that every online review I would read of this album was really negative; at the same time, people I would talk to would always rave about it. I tried to find some of the bad reviews just now and they seem to have disappeared, which is nice - it seems to getting it’s due, apparently it was even included in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. What I didn’t know is that when the album came out “it was panned by consumers and critics alike” according to the Here, My Dear wikipedia page. Thinking of the current era bad reviews as lazy regurgitative journalism makes more sense to me than imagining someone sitting down with the album outside of the context of what was expected of Marvin in 1978 and still thinking it’s bad.

You can read more on wikipedia but this album has one of the more interesting back stories of any album ever. Marvin and Anna Gordy (Motown Records founder Berry Gordy’s older sister) were in the process of getting divorced because, among other things, Marvin was carrying on a public relationship with another woman who he had two children with during his marriage to Anna. He was low on cash because he’d been living the rock star lifestyle so the judge awarded a large portion of his next album’s royalties to Anna. This happened before he made the album so “Here, My Dear” is what ensued - one of the most literal albums ever. Apparently, Anna actually considered sueing him for invasion of privacy because the album revealed so much.

I remember like it was yesterday, we were over Gwen’s
And was trying one more time to make amends
Oh yes we was
Suddenly it occurred to me, it did not matter
Whether I was mad at her
Or she was made at me
Nah, babe, understanding my condition
I must surely be a-wishing
And a-hoping to be free

Some say “you can leave but it’s going to cost”
She said “yeah, you can leave but it’s going to cost you dearly”

Dusty Groove is selling this album for $6.99!

>> songs are available for two weeks 192 kbps [7.7 MB] or 320 kbps [12.8 MB]

Only One
Joan Armatrading
Walking Under Ladders, 1981

I’m going to switch it up this week. This is a tender, hazy, folky, simple piece of bliss. Warning: this is not going to sound good on work computer speakers combined with the hustle and bustle of an office. This song is best enjoyed in the quiet confines of your home late at night…on non-computer speakers, although I guess no one has stereos anymore, right?

This is from my pretty large folk collection that almost never makes it out of my apartment. I have 12 Joan Armatrading albums (you could call me a big fan). This album has two great songs on it (this one and “The Weakness In Me”) but I would actually recommend starting with Show Some Emotion (1977), followed by Bring Back The Night (1975) (which is apparently not available on cd!) and her self-titled album (1976), if you’re into the more mellow 70’s folk sound. In the 80’s she started using more electric guitar and developed a slightly more aggressive sound.

This song is actually not very representative of her style. Most of her 70’s work features her on acoustic guitar (with no synthesizers) and her songs incorporate elements of blues, reggae and jazz. That doesn’t sound so noteworthy now but she was a bit of a pioneer in the early/mid 70’s. She grew up in Birmingham, England (she was born in Saint Kitts in the West Indies) and she was, to quote 100 Great Black Britons: “first black female singer/songwriter to gain prominence on the British music scene.” She didn’t get “big” in the US until her 1980 Me Myself I album but her records sold enough here that I was able to find them somewhat easily so I think her impact was not only felt in England.

She gave the season-opening concert at Celebrate Brooklyn four or five years ago and I had a similar experience to when i first went to the Wonder-Full party; songs that seemed to only exist in my living were suddenly interrupted by the applause of 1000 people after their recognition of the first few chords.

I love this photo of her from the inner-LP-sleeve (click it to see the whole thing).

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [5.7 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [9.5 MB]

This Is Your Life
Commodores
Caught In The Act, 1975

I had to take it back to the shag carpet classics this week. This is the Lionel Richie ballad that started it all. The Commodores first album was basically all uptempo funk. This album, their second, is mostly funk as well, “Slippery When Wet” was a #1 R&B hit, and although this song didn’t do as well, it clearly outclasses the other ballad that was written by the whole group. There are exceptions, but it wouldn’t unfair to generalize and say that each album after this featured (at least) one Lionel Richie-penned ballad which was the biggest hit and that the songs got progressively more mainstream (”Easy” (Like Sunday Morning), “Three Times a Lady” and country-goodness of “Sail On”). This of course, lead up to his leaving the group to pursue his very pop-friendly solo career.

But that’s not the part worth dwelling on. The first few ballads are so good! I couldn’t decide to whether to post this or “Just To Be Close To You” (and let’s not forget about “Sweet Love”). I like this song more, but Lionel’s preacher-ish spoken intro on “Just To Be Close To You” (”I found that material things…I thought had so much val-ya [value], did really have any val-ya at all…”) is slightly shocking if you don’t already know it. When I realized this is song didn’t make the “The Best Of The Commodores, The Millennium Collection” and that their 1978 Greatest Hits only has the radio edit with 2:29 of the song cut off, that made my mind up for me.

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [8.2 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [13.5 MB]

The World (Going Up In Flames)
Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band
7″ Single, 2007

This song is kind of a masterpiece. I’ve only had it for a few days but this isn’t one of those songs you come to appreciate after time. This song gets in your face a little bit; that slightly sour upright piano (sounding just like the piano on this track 40 years earlier) has moved into my brain and set up shop.

I honestly don’t know how they (Daptone Records out of Brooklyn, as well as Truth & Soul) are able to keep making such amazing soul. For those unfamiliar, that release year is correct, it’s not a reissue, this song was recorded in 2007. They have all of the right ingredients - analog studios, older black singers etc. - but there’s no young Isaac Hayes and David Porter as a songwriting staff (although I guess they weren’t famous when Stax came on the scene either). It just seems like they could have just as easily compiled the formula and not produced the results. I have to give credit where its due.

I was searching for an image of this 45 online and found a great-looking blog of vinyl recordings that I hadn’t seen before. When I pulled the image down, I realized by the way it was titled that it was from my favorite online store, Dusty Groove. When I went there I realized that the author didn’t only borrow the image, but also most of the review! That’s a personal affront to me as a music blogger!

Dusty Groove’s review:

Scorching raw soul from Charles Bradley — backed by the tight Menahan Street Band! “World (Is Going Up In Flames)” might be the best track yet from Bradley — an incredible groover with a heavy theme — but the apocalypse never sounded so sweet! The groove is raw and emotive, given a deeper feel thanks to some piano in the mix — with a rubbery bass line and backing vocals by the Gospel Queens! The flip “Heartaches And Pain” is another emotional workout — and has the feel of a lost southern soul scorcher, but with funkier bassline and drums! Amazing stuff!

“Dusty Nuggets’” “review”:

Scorching raw soul from Charles Bradley, a funk legend backed by the unbelievably-retro sounding Menahan Street Band. “This World (Is Going Up In Flames)” might be the best track yet from Bradley. (Which is saying a lot, because his prior 45 with the Bullets, “This Love Ain’t Big Enough for the Two of Us,” was explosive.) The groove is raw and emotive, given a deeper feel thanks to some piano in the mix, with a rubbery bass line and backing vocals by the Gospel Queens. As Charles bares down with his first wrenching moan, it is clear that this is not going to be a record made of empty gestures.

Come on homie!

>> songs are available for two weeks (192 kbps) [4.8 MB]
>> songs are available for two weeks (320 kbps) [8.0 MB]