If you have ever heard reference to The Philadelphia Sound with regard to soul music or heard of the production team of Gumble and Huff – this is the definitive example of that genre. Despite the name of the group, the real star here was Teddy Pendergrass. He had a deep soulful voice with just a touch of sandpaper. The music was soul with a touch of disco. Big arrangements – Gumble and Huff were not afraid of using an orchestra to sweeten the sound.
The huge hit here was “Wake Up Everybody,” which young audiences might recognize from the recent John Legend and the Roots cover.
I bought a reissue on CD a few years ago and played it to death. I recently hit a garage sale and found what is likely a 1975 original vinyl edition in reasonable shape for $1.00 (thank goodness for the Nitty Gritty Record Cleaning machine). And dig that cover – that is worth it alone even if the album was in poor condition.
The night was a pure celebration of music – not fame and fortune. I was an awkward witness of a wonderful scene. I am of an age that I could be the dad of most of the audience. A man with no real hip hop aesthetic beyond the contact high from my son pwelbs. He turned me on to MaLLy, a TC MC, who he added to one of his mix tapes in 2008. I met MaLLy a few months ago at the Twin Cities Music Brunch and I was impressed by his combination of sincerity, hustle and grace.
I have never been to an album release party. I felt like I tripped into a single generation family reunion. The love in the room was palpable. There was a true sense of joy at accomplishment of shipping the album.
The party was started and held together by DJ Jimmy2times who I found outstanding.
The opening act was 925ve who define the phrase don’t judge a book by its cover. Next was The Tribe and Big Cats who define the phrase “a hard act to follow.”
Finally the main event. MaLLy stormed the stage to an adoring crowd and spit “The Last Greatest…” and a few items from “Free on the 15th.” MaLLy gave an energetic performance, but I felt sonically the performance did not live up to the album. I am not sure if that can be avoided in a bunker like the 7th Street Entry where the acoustics rival the decor for which is shittier. But overall the night was a big success: a full house, a celebration of a new release and a celebration of homemade hip-hop. A genuine sense of fellowship and community filled the room.
As an old veteran of rock and roll shows I have not quite figured out hip hop – it sounds great on record but leaves me underwhelmed live. I suppose my era’s singer/songwriter on a stool with a guitar would be equally baffling to the hip hop crowd as their MC and DJ is to me.
My son, who lives in Chicago, always helps me be aware of Minnesota nice. A couple of anecdotes:
- The young man sitting next to me politely asked me if I minded marijuana smoke before sparking up – not wanting to invade my space.
- A drunk young woman wondered why a guy like me was a show like this (I think she was worried I was some kind of creep). She was visibly relieved (and slightly impressed) when I explained MaLLy was a friend of my son and I was just there to show some support.
In the fall of 2001 I had fallen in love with a no name vocalist who did a cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” on a Charlie Hunter album – a little more than a year later that no name vocalist had blown up as Norah Jones.
When Norah Jones’ debut came out in 2002 I was pumped (I did not make the connection to the Charlie Hunter album). I had read the pre-release hype: a 22-year-old vocalist and pianist, daughter of Ravi Shankar, Blue Note, raised in Texas (but with a New York state of mind), produced by Arif Mardin – not quite jazz, not quite folk, but sophisticated pop. I bought it the day it was released and I was completely enamored and listened to it for months. It took a while for the album to take hold of the pop world, but when it did it was a monster.
Unfortunately Norah’s next releases never quite hit me the same. They were good, but not great. But then she would tease with amazing cameos – Willie Nelson (sure that make sense), Foo Fighters (really?), The OutKast (odd), and a lark masquerading as an indie-rock band (El Madmo). Last year she teased even more with a few cuts on Danger Mouse’s Rome. Her dalliances were more fun than her career.
Earlier this year I heard she was going to do a full album with Danger Mouse. It arrived this past week and it is her best release since her debut. Danger Mouse has a light touch here – a bit of spaghetti western, spacy folk, and mellowed 80s new wave. All the songs are co-written by Danger Mouse and Norah. Lyrically is lightly spiteful – which fits Norah’s sultry voice and image perfect. This is music you can easily have on as background music, but your can also dial in an enjoy it front and center. This is a new sound for Norah, but not out of character – it sounds totally authentic.
As a side note: the cover art warns you that this is going to be something new. After years of tasteful photos for her covers she goes for naughty/gaudy. See this New York Times feature on the cover.
I have to admit I am not much of a hip hop fan. But you can’t be a pop music fan and not appreciate the Beastie Boys. I went on a bike ride today and listened to Paul’s Boutique and Ill Communication – true masterpieces in modern pop music. The Beasties are true originals – they took hip hop mainstream by mixing their punk and slacker aesthetic with an emerging genre (hip hop). In the process they managed to create a hall of fame career – not bad for clowns. In simple terms they ROCK. RIP Adam.
One of my favorite albums of the last 15 years is the Billy Bragg/Wilco collaboration Mermaid Avenue. The fact the songs were based on the notebook lyrics of Woody Guthrie was cool, but what I really enjoyed was that it was just a plain great performance.
So when I heard that Jay Farrar (who has an obvious connection with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy) was mining those same notebooks I was excited to check it out.
I purchased the deluxe edition that had two CDs (back in February – sorry just getting to this review now). Usually the second CD is nothing special, but on this release I think I prefer the second CD over the first. I have always been a Jay Farrar fan, whether it was Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt or solo. His work on this album does not disappoint. I am also a big My Morning Jacket fan and similarly the Yim Yames stuff does not disappoint. I have no idea who Will Johnson and Anders Parker are – but there is not a bad cut across two CDs – so I guess I like those guys too.
Overall the album has a kind of early R.E.M. feel – folk-rock. The lyrics sound completely contemporary despite their origin . I think this completely holds its own to Mermaid Avenue. Woody Guthrie was a true American music icon – if he was only remembered for his songs, he would be amazing, but his disciples (Dylan, Springsteen, etc.) put him is a truly iconic category. The fact that contemporary musicians can take his fragmented lyrics and be inspired to turn then into folk-rock masterpieces is the ultimate tribute.
I first heard about the Secret Stash label in my local paper the StarTribune. I was intrigued, but I let it pass. On Record Store Day 2012 at the Electric Fetus the guys from Secret Stash were spinning some of their stuff and it sounded great. I went home and looked at the Secret Stash website and this release caught my interest. Unfortunately the vinyl release was no longer available, so I headed over to emusic and downloaded it from there.
If I had only 5 recordings to take to a deserted island, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue would be one of the five. I have been listening to the album for 30 plus years and it never ceases to amaze me. If someone asks to be introduced to jazz, I always suggest Kind of Blue. Most of its songs have become jazz standards.
The original recording always had a wonderfully funky syncopation and so it is not a surprise that the reggae rhythm works and does not come off as a gimmick.
I am not sure why, but this release reminds me of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I guess the reggae interpretation brings out that smokey and spacy ambiance.
The back story is that a music professor from NYU, who was infatuated with Jamaican musicians, put this session together in 1981. The professor, Jeremy Taylor, passed away shortly after this recording and it remained unreleased until the guys at Secret Stash released it in 2009.
I have not had a chance to explore the rest of the Secret Stash catalog, but if this is representative, then I have some fun ahead of me. This is an outstanding release and highly recommended. Whether a jazz head, a reggae aficionado, or hip hop beat lover this album will stir your soul. An absolute gem.
I found this gem while waiting my turn at the Electric Fetus on Record Store Day. This is lite-jazz before it got too lite. Browne is a trumpeter with production by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen.
There is a fine line between slick and slop. This rides the slick side. This is tasteful slow groove jazz funk. In the right samplers hands there are some righteous beats here. Despite the lite jazz genre Browne plays a powerful horn. His tone is magnificent. I love the slow groove of this album – this is after midnight, two sheets to the wind music.
The bass is amazing. Marcus Miller knows how to groove in the most subtle way. Miller’s funk is so low-key, but so grooving. It is no surprise that a couple of years later Miles Davis would grab him.
This was Tom Browne’s debut. Within a year he would have a major R&B hit with “Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.).” Listen to this album and you can hear the hit coming.
I have been hearing the buzz about the Punch Brothers for a couple of months now. I did hear one of their songs on the Hunger Games soundtrack, but it did not blow me away. The Punch Brothers had all the right buzz for me: Americana, alt-country, bluegrass fusion, etc. So finally I got around to listening to it and I was blown away.
First of all this is not some kind of Mumford and Sons wannabe band – this is totally original stuff making Mumford pikers. Yes there is bluegrass instrumentation, but this is very clever pop music. This is reminds me of when Wilco went from mere cool alt-country band to pop genius with Summer Teeth. It does not sound like Summer Teeth – it is just that kind of gigantic leap.
I was absently mindedly listening to the album on the elliptical when I heard 11th cut. Wow this sounds like a bluegrass freak-out inspired by Radiohead. Then, wait a second, I know this song. I pull out my iPod to peek, holy shit! This is a cover of Kid A. Totally inspired. It made Kid A sound as revolutionary as the first time I heard it in 2000. Only in 200o my pea brain was devastated, now I was elevated.
Bravo Punch Brothers – you have a new fan.
I celebrated Record Store Day at the Electric Fetus and Fifth Element. My bride and I started the day at the Electric Fetus. We arrived about 8:45 AM in anticipation of doors opening at 9:00. The Fetus was giving out numbers for the exclusive selections and we were numbers 191 and 192. Shortly after 9:00 we were in the door to a festive atmosphere.
The Fetus had a good system to allocate the rare and special Record Store Day booty, but unfortunately it looked like it was going to be a couple hour wait before I would get my chance. But no worry – what better place to waste a couple of hours than hanging out at the Fetus.
My bride wandered about the gift side and I wandered the music side. I found a couple of used CDs and a couple of used LPs and she found some t-shirts and gifts. We both made a couple of new friends. It was an amazing positive vibe. I chatted with the dad of the band who was doing an in store appearance. I chatted with the guys from Secret Stash Records who were DJing.
The vibe was incredibly cool. My wife chatted with another record widow and she had an extra number and we upped ourselves to 171. We now had a couple of extra numbers. We chatted it up with another patron who was in the high three hundreds. My wife gave him one of our extra numbers – his response was “I love you.” We saved him at least an hour. When it was finally my turn my wife found a dejected young man in the high four-hundreds. She asked him “How much do you love me?” He did not know how to respond and she handed him one of our numbers – he was stunned.
We walked out a couple hundred short with a bag full of t-shirts, CDs, LPs, 7 inches, and miscellaneous freebies.
Our next stop was Fifth Element with our guests the whysowhite band. We got to hear MaLLy spit. We walked out another hundred short. Another great vibe.
So how cool is it that young and old gather together to celebrate the joy of music and celebrate the great institution of the independent record store? We met great people, we bought rare vinyl, made new friends and we heard great live music.
The download has not killed off the joy of retail.
I can’t think of anything more thrilling than seeing a tight young band hungry as wolves. whysowhite, a Chicago band, road tripped from Chicago to Minneapolis today after a sold-out gig in their home town to play a sparse crowd at a University of Minnesota Spring Jam outdoor frat party. Despite a small crowd, a cold night, and scant sleep, whysowhite worked the crowd into a thermonuclear sweat and performed like they were on the main stage at Lollapalooza with a crowd of 25K.
The band mixes rock, funk and hip-hop into an amazingly satisfying stew. They have three great vocalist who are spitting raps one second and singing falsetto the next. They are great musicians and great performers. They perform mostly originals, but spice it up with delightfully surprising covers (Leo Sayer and Outkast).
This is a band deserving of a break – they have it all – great songs, great arrangements, great performance skills and most of all a genuine rock and roll heart. Good luck boys!
PS – these boys are at the point in their career where they are warming up for other performers – too bad for the headliner, you don’t want to follow this act!
Axl's Catch Groove 