If you hit up our party in Austin last Thursday you likely noted the man spinning records between sets: Ryan Wilson, aka DJ Sir Pall McCartney. Every 30 minutes for seven hours he cued up the good shit. This one was a personal favorite, Neal Creque's feel-good "Whatcha Wanna Do, Do It," off 1973's Sextet & The Hand of Time. Go ahead. Do it.
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(Volume 11 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.)
“Well...I got a woman, way over town . . .
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It’s been said that, “Hidden treasures bear the greatest riches” and in my opinion, this quote is more applicable than ever. On the surface, it looks like there is a dearth of quality music. The charts have never been more vapid and TV contests have reduced musical art to a game show. But fear not, dear readers, all is not lost. For those willing to dig deeper, there is a treasure trove of great music being produced and released right now.
A while back I wrote about the song “Look Around The Corner” by Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro and since then, I’ve been privileged to hear the entire album of the same name. In fact, I haven’t stopped listening. Soulful pop, a la The 5th Dimension, with the Latin backing of the Combo Barbaro, and topped with Alice Russell’s flawless vocals is an instantly addicting aural combination. As well as the excellent “Look Around The Corner,” other stand out tracks are a cover of Caston & Majors “I’ll Keep My Light In My Window,” a Latin re-imagining of Pentangle’s “Traveling Song,” and the Motown-ish “Magdalena.” Not only is the record stunning but Quantic, Alice Russell, et al can deliver live. Two one-take performances on YouTube demonstrate the live prowess of these musicians.
Another exceptional artist, just outside of the mainstream, is Robert Glasper. Part of a new vanguard of jazz musicians, the pianist and record producer has just released his fourth LP, Black Radio, on the revived Blue Note label. I’m relatively new to his music and only became aware of him through internet buzz over his cover of Nirvana’s “Smell Like Teen Spirit.” Intrigued, I watched his performance on Letterman. Joined by Lupe Fiasco and Bilal, Glasper proved that America’s classical music was still very much alive. Despite the efforts of some musicians to codify (calcify?) the form and keep it frozen in time, Robert Glasper has brought the music into the 21st century and made it relevant to the hip-hop generation.
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One of the more interesting traditions of country music has been its professional stagecraft. More than just about any other style of modern music, there's a sense that the performers approach their craft in a workmanlike manner. The same goes in the studio - a feel of slick veneer and presentation. When the 'alt-country' movement erupted in the late 80s, it did so in the wake of punk's clarion call of authenticity-above-all-else and since bands like Uncle Tupelo were just as influenced by Roy Acuff as Black Flag, it created an interesting clash of cultures. The type of stage and studio craft celebrated by country music just didn't fly in the face of sneering, judgmental listeners raised to question the cred of any music that sounded that well done.
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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 237: Jean Michel Bernard — Generique Stephane ++ X - The Once Over Twice ++ The Gories — Hey, Hey We’re The Gories ++ Canarios — Trying So Hard ++ The Arrows — Blue’s Theme ++ Screaming Lord Sutch — Flashing Lights ++ Alex Chilton - Jumpin' Jack Flash ++ Thee Headcoats — Diddy Wah Diddy ++ The Pebbles — We Love The Beatles . . .
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Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen’s first studio release since 2004’s Dear Heather, sets a new paragraph in what has been an exhilarating late chapter in a lengthy career. After breaking with his management following an ugly legal battle that left him essentially penniless, Cohen embarked on a lengthy tour, selling out arenas throughout Europe and his native Canada. Though always revered among his fellow songwriters--his work has been covered by everyone from Willie Nelson to Antony to Jonathan Richman . . .
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Howlin Rain burned through L.A. a few weeks back in the midst of their Winter tour in support of their latest LP, The Russian Wilds. Visceral in execution, it was one of the best shows I've seen this year. HR's Ethan Miller put together the following compilation for us - a seven track companion of tour highlights. Get on it after the jump, and if you're in Austin this week for SXSW, do yourself a favor and check out the new material live.
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John Coltrane's favorite vocalist, Andy Bey made his name in the 60s and 70s honing his chops with the likes of Gary Bartz and Horace Silver. Tall company. Bey's 1998 album, Shades of Bey, is comprised of interpretive covers including a dark reading of Nick Drake's "become a member or log in.
I wrote about this 7" a few years back - UK artist Kindness taking on the mats' "Swinging Party." Completely reinvented, the track ditches its original lounge vibe and comes off like a lost David Byrne cover. Full-length debut, World, You Need a Change of Mind, is out later this month.
MP3: Kindness :: Swinging Party
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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 236: Jean Michel Bernard - Generique Stephane ++ Yaphet Kotto - Have You Ever Seen The Blues ++ Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band - Stay Away ++ Willis Earl Beal - Take Me Away ++ JD And The Evil's Dynamite - Beer (So Nice) Right On ++ Bo Diddley - I Don't Like You ++ Alex Chilton - Jumpin . . .
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Monday night (3/12) Aquarium Drunkard Presents Girls w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans. We’re giving away three pairs of tickets to AD readers (you can also purchase tickets here). To enter for a pair, leave a comment below with your favorite late night watering hole in . . .
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Those of you who follow my radio show are well aware of my love of this short lived, 70s, Indian psych-rock outfit. As their sole release (the long out-of-print Obsession) was never released on CD, one had to put together, piecemeal, a sort of Atomic Forest anthology via bit-torrent, Youtube, etc. The results were hardly perfect. But here's the good news - Now Again Records have since corrected the situation with their 2012 reissue of Obession, a comprehensive retrospective of Atomic Forest's . . .
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Lee Fields new record, Faithful Man, is out a week from today (March 13th) on Truth & Soul Records. If you're in Austin next week, Fields (along with his band the Expressions) will be gigging at the Aquarium Drunkard party on Thursday afternoon. Details/RSVP
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Actor/producer/musician Yaphet Kotto laid down this dark slice of soul in 1968 via the Chisa label. Proto-rap in its delivery, "Have You Ever Seen The Blues" rides the cymbals like Max Roach, all percussive piano with Kotto spitting lines like "..and all the while visions of suicide were boogalooin' in your head and you was thinking how you might as well be dead." And then shit gets real.
Sourced from a 45 picked up for ten cents, the track was part of our 2010 . . .
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Last December the Numero Group issued the three disc set Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland Ohio; a collection that at 58 tracks spans roughly 15 years of the Ohio label's output. In terms of tone, imagine a hyper-localized version of Nuggets - only one that instead of garage rock concerns itself with the secret history of 60s/70s R&B, Soul and Gospel. In other words, the kind of collection Numero Group has both . . .
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