Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.
Whether recording as Wooden Wand, under his own name or with others, I've long made a point to keep up with most everything James Jackson Toth has a hand in. Next week sees the release of the deluxe edition of Wooden Wand's 2011 become a member or log in.
There are so many facets to Scott Walker's public persona that it's difficult to mention his music without delving into a lengthy aside. It's not just that his career has spanned more than four decades, or that he's had success both within a group and solo, it's that his work truly spans the creative spectrum - ranging from radio friendly pop music (The Walker Brothers) to the dark, dissonant and grating compositions of become a member or log in.
Next month sees the stateside release of volume two of Jazzman Records' Spritual Jazz series. Like volume one, the set once again highlights under-appreciated 'esoteric, modal and deep jazz' - only here the sole emphasis is on Europe. We'll dig in deeper in May, but today I want to re-introduce . . .
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Here's one slated for a mixtape I've been woodshedding the past month, Dorothy Ashby's "Soul Vibrations" - the first track off her 1968 LP, Afro-Harping. Fuseless, the track explodes right out of the gate. Propelled by a funky bottom comprised of an unrelenting bassline and syncopated percussion, within seconds otherworldly theremin and flutes drop in, soon followed by Ashby's harp. With roots firmly entrenched in . . .
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In October 1966 Rita Lee and brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias walked on stage for the first time as Os Mutantes to perform on a Brazilian TV show. In hindsight, it was a momentous occasion. Several months later they became involved with the Tropicî¡lia Movement, performing with Gilberto Gil at the 1967 Brazilian Popular Music Festival and recorded “Panis et Circenses” for the Tropicî¡lia album manifesto. In 1968, with arrangements by become a member or log in.
(Volume 12 of Clifton’s Corner. Every other week on the blog Clifton Weaver, aka DJ Soft Touch, shares some of his favorite spins, old and new, in the worlds of soul, r&b, funk, psych and beyond.)
Much maligned and . . .
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Roy Ayers -- Jazz-funk pioneer, vibraphonist and soulman. My Spotify playlist for Rhino this week pays tribute the man via twenty tracks, hand selected, spanning Ayers' discography including material unearthed in 2004 found on the Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings collection. Track selection and notes become a member or log in.
Saturday night (4/14) Aquarium Drunkard Presents Damien Jurado w/ Peter Wolf Crier at the Bootleg Theater in L.A. We’re giving away three pairs of tickets to AD readers (you can also purchase tickets become a member or log in.
Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.
SIRIUS 240: Jean Michel Bernard - Generique Stephane ++ The Soft Pack - Fences ++ Zig Zags - Scavenger ++ The Bellys - Chow Chow ++ Lantern - Bleed Me Dry ++ The Orwells - Under The Flowers ++ Fidlar - Wait For The Man ++ The Black Lips - Katrina ++ The Almighty Defenders - Bow Down And Die ++ Alex Chilton - Jumpin' Jack Flash ++ The Dirtbombs - If You . . .
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Sometimes things begin with a phone call, or a name that you’ve heard on a few separate occasions, or something half-remembered you may have scribbled in a notebook. At least that's how it began for me with Hiss Golden Messenger, the project of one M.C. Taylor, whose tunes came to hypnotize me this past winter.
I didn’t know much about Taylor, and I’ve tried to keep it that way. His songs were so beautiful and mysterious I didn’t want to know anything else about them. Like John Fahey’s Blind Joe Death, they seemed to come from a different era, pulled out of the dust. As it turns out, Taylor is something of a folklorist, himself, and Fahey hovers over him just like he’s transfixed anyone who’s interested in the American musical past.
Taylor’s recordings from his 2009 album Bad Debt are dark and distant, like a ghost from Robert Johnson’s single microphone Dallas hotel room recording session in 1937. Just a voice and an acoustic guitar–his right strumming hand coming up hard on the offbeat like the snare drum in a country-rock song. Stories of sin and redemption–or, in Taylor’s own words, stories “about my God: That is, whether I have one, and whether there is a place for me in this world.”
Bad Debt was originally released on the tiny Black Maps label. The more-produced Poor Moon, featuring a few of the same songs with fuller arrangements, was issued last year on the equally obscure Bachelors of Paradise label. Poor Moon is set for a larger release by Tompkins Square on April 17th, a label that specializes mostly in archival recordings and instrumental music, though they too seem to have also fallen under the spell of Taylor’s songs.
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Brand new makeout jam from White Denim. Propers to Gorilla vs Bear.
MP3: White Denim :: Get Back To Love (Street Joy)
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Friday night, sparked by a conversation discussing LA music over the past few decades, a friend mentioned the Rain Parade - which of course ultimately led to the Paisley Underground. Prior to my setting up camp in Los Angeles ten years ago I was only scantly familiar with Rain Parade and the host of other mid-late 80s bands that made up the Paisley Underground's cohesive whole. As collective music scenes go - working backwards, detached by 15 years . . .
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Not a lot has changed stylistically since Gentleman Jesse and His Men released their 2008 self-titled debut - and that's a good thing. In the four years between the debut and the new LP, Leaving . . .
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Alright, enough of the pretty. Switching gears, this has been scratching that Royal Trux itch of late - say, if paired with Spacemen 3's Forged Prescriptions and the Velvet Underground's '67 Gymnasium bootleg. The three tracks below hail from the reissue of the Philadelphia based Lantern's second cassette release, Burned Youth. The . . .
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I originally caught wind of Nolan Porter's "If I Could Only Be Sure" via the cover that kicks off Paul Weller's 2004 album, Studio 150. This, the single version, was released as a 7" on ABC Records in 1972. Cut in Los Angeles, the track boasts some tall session players: former members of Zappa's Mothers Of Invention Roy Estrada (bass), Jimmy Carl Black (drums), and Lowell George (guitar). As . . .
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