Geekin' out

Let's take a break from the "A" section of my iTunes to hear one that popped up in the car the other day that I quite like.



Not too sure who this Smoove guy is but I can tell you from the pictures on his site, he's a ripe old geezer. Seriously, like creepy old. Makes some funky shit though. I really dig the lyrics in this one, although there are some extremely British references and you have to be a pretty huge music geek to know why the line "Keb Darge buys his vinyl from me/As if" is funny. I, of course, fit that description to a T...

Smoove - As If (ysi)

... although I'm really far, far past the point of caring if I'm a geek or not... which as we all know makes me extremely cool... Take me down to Paradox City! See? That joke was geeky as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck...

Everbody Hates Barack

So Barack Obama has been President for a year now and he must feel like the title character of that Chris Rock sitcom. Dude is really getting it from both ends these days! The far right hates him because he's black a Nazi Communist Baby-Killing Terrorist who Hates America and the far left hates him because he's a Pandering Centrist Weenie who Doesn't Like To Play Basketball With Girls. Damn. Luckily most of us sane people think he's doing a fucking awesome job despite the fact that he has to deal with the bunch of corrupt, self-serving idiots that comprise Congress, and that the people who complain about the basketball thing have obviously never watched the Chinese water torture of sporting that is a WNBA game. So keep up the good work, sir. We got your back...



And hey, here's some good old-fashioned Bush-era government mistrust in the form of shuffling beats and blazing horn charts, courtesy of Antibalas, who are kind of the elder statesmen of the current crop of excellent American Afrobeat ensembles...

Antibalas - Government Magic (ysi)

Seriously, Liberals... before you start getting on my man Barry's case because he hasn't cured cancer, ended all war or won the World Series for the Cubs yet... just remember how shitty things were just one short year and a day ago... and shut the fuck up and let the man work. Toodles...

The Art of Blakey

Because I like to keep it cutting edge, up-to-the-minute and "Ripped From The Headlines!"... here's another 50-year-old record...



... because I can't believe I've never given Art Blakey any love! I mean, he's only the most famous Jazz drummer ever and I, you know, claim to like Jazz and stuff. So finally here he is on an early one ('56 to be exact) with a no-name group... some schlubs called Byrd, Mobley and Silver.

Art Blakey - Late Show (ysi)

But then again, the Jazz Messengers were known as a place where big-time playas got their start... here's a completely different group being awesome 3 years later...



Check the full list of Blakey proteges on the Wiki page as I can't be arsed to copy and paste it here. It's quite impressive...

Post #750

Hey look, it's post #750! Normally I like to do mixes for such milestones, but as you may remember, my iTunes is all 'asploded. So let's just proceed as normal...



Like most white people, I went pretty nuts for Buena Vista Social Club when it came out. Seriously, I challenge you to find one white person who doesn't have that album. I kinda still hate Ry Cooder and his stupid kid and his stupid slide guitar though. Seriously, I want to punch him in the face every single time I hear the damn thing in that movie. But hey, I'll give him credit where it's due, and he certainly opened my eyes to Cuban music and here's some O.G. styles right here. I don't know too much about Arsenio Rodriguez that I didn't learn from Jose Rizo, so I will present you these two facts. He played the tres, which is a guitar, and he was blind from getting kicked in the head by a donkey. How's that for some bullshit?

Arsenio Rodriguez - Devuelveme La Ilusion (ysi)

STICK THAT SLIDE GUITAR WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE, RY COODER! (And by that I mean up your ass).

Adolph don't dance.

It's been a while since House Music Friday has featured a proper vocal. Let's fix that...



Alexi Delano... born in Chile, raised in Sweden, lives in New York (that sounds like fun, huh?)... has been around both the world and the scene for quite some time, making fine House and Techno musics for a good 15 years now. Here's probably my favorite track of his... out of the ones I've heard, of course... because I really haven't been able to form an opinion on the ones I haven't. I know that doesn't stop some people, but I am NOT SOME PEOPLE...

ADNY - Life (ft. Doreen Youngblood) (ysi)

Sorry for the all caps there. Had a bit of a seizure. Anyhoo, bonus points for that one if you like congas. But really, who doesn't like congas? Oh wait, I know who. Hitler. Have a great weekend...

Everything's all 'asploded...

So... last week something quite apocalyptic happened. The library file in my iTunes got raped by drunken gremlins fatally corrupted. What that means is it has to be rebuilt, manually. This is a process which will hopefully be finished by... well, I hope it's finished before 2012 comes and I'm fleeing for some big spaceship with John Cusack. The result of this is that you will see a certain alphabetical progression to the bands picked by the shuffle over the next few million posts or so. Starting with the numbers, no less...



3 Foot People is one of the many aliases of the man also know as Freddie Cruger or Red Astaire, a maker of many funky beats for feets. On this one, he gets his skank on with the help of Reggae singer Desmond Foster who must be pretty easy to spot in a crowd in Sweden. Just sayin'...

3 Foot People - Simply Fresh (ft. Desmond Foster (ysi)

I am kinda stoked for that movie though, especially the part where L.A. literally falls into the ocean...



I hope I'm out of town when that really happens... :P

In praise of Ramshacklelacrity

Super-obscure Afro-Funk? You got it!



Like Mr. Burns, I'm a big fan of old-timey sayings and words. Like "ramshackle". What an awesome word that nobody ever uses. But it's a word that describes a quality of African Funk that I've decided is one of the reasons I'm so into it. Some of these recordings are pretty darn ramshackle. These people weren't glossy pros working in fancy studios with all sorts of high-falutin' doo-dads and thingamajigs. They didn't have the luxury of digital editing, mulitrack flim-flammery and other assorted studio witchcraft. Nope, they just had their band, maybe one mic and one of them recording doohickeys. They went in, they played their song and Bob's yer uncle. But the rawness, the RAMSHACKLENESS of these recordings is what makes them so pure and raw and awesome... and funky as all git out. Like this joint by lesser known Nigerian artist Segun Bucknor. Dig it...

Segun Bucknor - Dye Dye (ysi)

Pretty much played live, ya know? Imperfections all over the place, ya dig? And quite amazing, ya heard?

Bizarre Beats and Gratuitous Profanity

Here's some very out there shit for you...



I don't think I've ever had a harder time trying to figure out the tag for a post than I have with this Dorian Concept record here. It's that fuckin' out there. So naturally I settled on IDM, because I am lazy and will use meaningless genre terms despite my rant yesterday. I'm a bundle of contradictions wrapped inside a paradox and shoved up a ferret's ass. Yes, this record is as weird as that last sentence. And kinda amazing. It's a young kid from Austria (Yep, I'm old enough to call 24-year-olds kids. Pass the Geritol!) who can program the shit out of some shit, let me tell ya. To wit...

Dorian Concept - Color Sexist (ysi)

BUT! It turns out the guy is also a borderline amazing keyboard player, too. Peep this live vid in a much more organic, jazzy vibe...



Sorry about the two minutes of dudes speaking German in the middle. Um, well I'm not sorry to Germans, obviously, but to everyone else...

Return of the Crank

So yeah, I took another week off without mentioning it beforehand. Sorry 'bout that. Let's just forget it ever happened, 'kay?

(I hope no one sees me eating this hot dog while blogging... mmmmmm, mustard...)



Some people refer to Chicago band Tortoise "post-rock", but that is about the single stupidest term for a made-up genre of music that I have ever heard. Seriously, what the fuck is that supposed to mean? "After" Rock? Then that would encompass, I dunno, everything that came after Rock, except that we still have Rock, so how can there be a "post" yet. Seriously, don't ever use that term around me. I'll cut you. I'll cut you bad. Anyhoo, Tortoise are a bit unclassifiable... and there's nothing wrong with that. They play instrumental stuff, some of which is more Rock-y and some of which is more funky. We, of course, like them best when they are funky. To wit...

Tortoise - Gigantes (ysi)

See, I always come back good 'n' ornery after a week off. I'll just throw in a "Fuck Animal Collective" while I'm at it. That always feels good...

She said, "Eat it!"...

All I gotta say is the type of parents who would name their kid Falcon... you know what I mean? Anyhoo...



Here's another one of those house tracks with a whole bunch of people involved... first we have Marshall Jefferson, the "Godfather of House" representing Chicago. He's the one doing the talking. Then we have Noosa Heads, a couple of German Techno heads, on the beats. Finally Salt City Orchestra, a team of Brits largely responsible for much of Paper Recordings output, on the remix. It all adds up to a bona fide House classic...

Marshall Jefferson vs. Noosa Heads - Mushrooms (Salt City Orchestra Remix) (ysi)

Unfortunately all of my jokes are in a ballon flying 7,000 feet above Denver right now.... have a great weekend...