dream map: may 2011 mix

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1. The Mighty Two - War is Over (recorded between 1974-1979; from 2002's No Bones for the Dogs)
2. Olufemi Ajasa & His Nigerian Bros - Aiye Le (from 2008's Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump
3. Funkadelic - If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Cause (from 1972's America Eats Its Young)
4. Radio Algeria - Disco Maghreb (from 2006's Radio Algeria)
5. Bardo Pond - lb. (from 2001's Dilate)
6. Spiritualized - Electricity (Live) (from 1998's Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997)
7. Sonic Youth - Reena (from 2006's Rather Ripped)
8. Phew - Dream (from 1981's Phew)
9. The Rolling Stones - That's How Strong My Love Is (from 1965's Out of Our Heads)
10. TV on the Radio - Stork and Owl (from 2008's Dear Science)

May was a particularly heavy listening month, and with the sweltering late-Summer like weather, I had to lead this mix off with some crucial dub reggae snagged from the always-quality Holy Warbles. I think I've mentioned before how reggae finally clicked with me while living in Bloomington in 2007, and "War is Over" with its reedy, emotive organ line is full of hooks, the excellent, smooth vocal that enters late, the simple syncopation of the bass-line; this may be the most memorable dub number I've ever heard.

"Aiye Le" takes that good energy and multiplies it, leading off with a melody on electric guitar joined in short order by rollicking hand percussion, and joyful call-and-response & group vocals. There's a great, almost surf-esque high-frequency guitar solo not even 90 seconds in. When the second solo rides in, you'll want to yelp along with the background vocalist.

It's undoubtable that Funkadelic produced some of the best rock-tinged RnB funk-jams of all time; "If You Don't Like the Effects, Don't Produce the Effects" is one of these, strutting along with slow-jam, sweltering sermon-like pacing. Aww shit, if you can't move to this, you just can't move. The strings here boost it to another level, almost as regal as the sassy group vocals throughout the second verse. Never has rhetorical reasoning sounded so damn sexy.

Radio Algeria is another of the great compilations from world-sound travellers Sublime Frequencies. this is the lead-track, which starts off on-fire, drum machines blazing, with some sort of tinny, eastern-sounding horn flying in on top of the mix. A quick vocal segues into a stringed-instrument solo which itself gives way to pleading vocals over some phased-out guitar which organically becomes a percussive jam...and so it goes. Being all over the place all the time is the mantra here, and it works even during sudden shifts, giving you the perspective of a dusty dial-twister marooned at a desk, on a rooftop, in a sweltering vehicle...


I want to bring back the 8x10 glossies...tired of this EPK nonsense. Black and white prints are so much classier.

Shifting gears is not normally a quality associated with Bardo Pond, their dense soundscapes usually encircling a towering riff, and piling onto it with the full, humid thrust of their attack. Here, "lb." lumbers through such a riff, vocalist Isobel Sollenberger letting the fuzz wash over her slow-paced vocals. "You make me feel like nothing." Ah, but here's a change! Three-plus minutes in, an over-filtered guitar squelch introduces a riff at double-speed, and the band enters re-energized while Sollenberger drags behind the speedboat of a riff, a smoky-voiced wake that works surprisingly well.

The new-found sense of speed carries over into "Electricity", which does not flow at the often glacial-pace of Spiritualized tunes, instead channeling a full-plumed V.U., complete with horn skronk and overdriven organ. It's a smash-and-bash affair, made even more effective by the vocal verse halfway through over just-quickening drums before the wild riff explodes back into the song. This is Spiritualized at the peak of their live powers, a release essential in any collection that will leave you in squall & thrall just like the end of this track.


Me with the wait of the entire Hall in the palm of my hand. Should've tried to look inside. This day felt particularly revelatory, something about standing in a spot so famous yet distant from my own life---and then being there in person.

Rather Ripped is one of my favorite records of the last five years, and though it may be ridiculed, my favorite SY record. How'd that happen? This record is one untouchable riff after another, very few effects or noise getting in the way. "But that's not the point of a Sonic Youth record!" Well...yeah, but these aren't normal riffs, they're still skewed, solo'd over, layered, de-tuned. "Reena" begins with a Daydream Nation-esque riff, which takes a while to unfurl itself, like a flag stretching out in a brisk wind. They barrel through it, roll through a feverish bridge, and end by driving it into the ground in a high-frequency jam.

Phew's "Dream" is my one nod to kraut on this mix...a Japanese vocalist backed by Can's rhythm section, produced by Conny Plank. The record itself is a melange of no-wave, alternately dance-y and haunting. "Dream" is a piano ballad, melancholy for sure, backed by interference from Plank's studio wizardry, electronics weaving in-and-out lending texture to the occasionally delayed-out chords. Some guitar-notes slide in, an eerie coda to a beautiful song. No translation needed.


Understated cover for Phew's self-titled record. Lost classic?

Otis Redding may have done it (not-quite) first, but the Stones' take on "That's How Strong My Love Is" is without fault. Jagger here is the star, pleading in the half-yowl, half-talk style he was busily perfecting on 1965's Out of Our Heads. The band ramps up momentarily, dropping down to a whisper before roaring back, letting Mick howl over the top, while they carry things into the red, a scorching ballad.

I often forget about Dear Science which replaced manic energy of TV on the Radio's most successful singles with a sound largely built on restraint. Looking & listening back, it's still an extremely strong record. Upon release of their newest effort Nine Types of Light, I feel like "Stork and Owl" is a great indicator of their direction, a song built on tons of little touches. At the beginning, the glitch-heavy slam of a beat, and vocal loops of "ahhhhs" and "ohhhhs" build tension that mounts with the inclusion of plucking strings. The chorus, with it's almost-falsetto lead vox, is a release, less glitch and more strings, and floats into the next verse with a string melody and cluster of delayed-out synth notes. They do this slow-build so well...I can forgive them for not writing another "Wolf Like Me." This is studied pop, emotionally heavy, and exceptionally beautiful at the end, vocals harmonizing with swelling strings, the beat finally tumbled off the cliff leaving just the void and those plaintive vocal loops.

floating somewhere above: april 2011 mix

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1. Cluster - Hollywood (from 1974's Zuckerzeit)
2. Liliental - Wattwurm (from 1978's Liliental)
3. Ash Ra Tempel - Light Look at Your Sun (from 1972's Schwingungen)
4. Don Cherry - Mali Doussn'Gouni (from 1973's Relativity Suite)
5. The Feelies - Original Love (from 1980's Crazy Rhythms)
6. Songs: Ohia - Coxcomb Red (from 2000's The Lioness)
7. Jackie-O-Motherfucker - Bone Saw (from 2003's Wow!/The Magick Fire Music)
8. Times New Viking - Teen Drama (from 2008's Rip It Off)
9. Archers of Loaf - Fabricoh (from 1995's Vee Vee)
10. Jackie Bernard - Jah Jah Way (from 2005's V/A: Studio One Roots 2)

I spent April meandering out of yet another Kraut phase, evidenced here by the first three tracks. Cluster's "Hollywood" is a melodic take on their most accessible work, Zuckerzeit, which was really a combination of solo efforts on the part of Moebius and Roedelius. Unlike the abstract soundscapes of I and II, here melody and rhythm abound, proving that yes, machines can be fun! Liliental's "Wattwurm" is a watered-down version of this, on a record with a slightly island/world pastiche filtered through German jazz/prog-heads. This track crawls along in an oddly satisfying way, continually toeing the line of being too fey, never quite stepping across.


Contrary to what this picture implies, machines can sound fun! Also, cool little article about the passing of Max Matthews, arguably the origin of computer-based music composition.

Ash Ra Tempel's "Light Look at Your Sun" starts with a pastoral, plucked acoustic, whispering like a spring thaw---naturally, things get heavy, and out of the storm wails a lightning bolt of a solo. Yeah, it's your standard dynamic change recently appropriated by any band wishing to adhere to the worst-named subgenre ever (I'm talking about you, post-rock); but it comes across here as bluesy and static-filled, a sense of unease filling the wide swaths of nothingness that comprise the majority of the song. In the same way, Don Cherry's "Mali Doussn'Gouni" evolves from a simple shaker rhythm into rapidly chanted gibberish, musical in its atonality. Of course, leading directly out of that is a fantastically colored cornet solo--a collision of a blank-ethnic rhythm & vocal with equally borderless, piercing jazz.


The fantastically quilted Don Cherry album cover for Relativity Suite. If you have a spare $150 lying around, you're welcome to purchase this gem for me.

I'm not sure what hole I've been living in (oh, wait...that's right), but I hadn't heard The Feelies till April, when I happened upon some recent re-issues. Kinda like the Talking Heads on speed, guitars and drums buzzing around, with a vocalist who generally overpowers anything else going on (though not to David Byrne's extent). Don't be fooled by their Vampire Weekend-cover, which only proves that everything old is new again. "Original Love" is a thin slice of early-80s new-wave/punk that is about as chunky & poppy as they get on Crazy Rhythms. Not that I'm complaining... Solid as well is "Coxcomb Red," which devastates with its simplicity of chords, its insistent rhythm, and above all else, lyrics that hit like hammers. Jason Molina always has a penchant for emotionally invested anti-pop, but this spare arrangement of voice & acoustic may rise above all other of his fine examples. Just a stunning achievement of focus, this song has purpose.


Songs: Ohia - "Coxcomb Red"

"Bone Saw" is an arid neo-desert instrumental, slow-moving in a very deliberate way---indicative of the Jackie-O Motherfucker controlled improvisation mindset. This really reminds me of Neil Young's score for the Jim Jarmusch Western movie, Dead Man. It gets a little more fleshed out, adding meat to Neil's bones. Times New Viking's "Teen Drama" cuts through the heady jams like a knife, albeit a pitted, rusty, anthemic blade. I hesitated to even put anything from Rip It Off on this mix, since my relationship with this record is hate/love, with an emphasis on the former. The sheer volume, everything levelled so that it comes across as superheated & painful; is usually too much to bear. But that pop hook, that plaintive riff that lies at the center of "Teen Drama", it's too much to deny; as are the boy/girl harmonies that reside in the blown-out chorus. This is pop at its most painful, and it's a song I keep going back to.


The halcyon 90s...back before you had to cultivate an image in addition to your music. The Archers recently reunited for a tour, by the way.

Archers of Loaf's "Fabricoh" pulls back from the edges, just an dirty alt-rock standard with a one-note bridge. Eric Bachmann's next-best sing-along to all-time classic "Web in Front," the coda here will have you on the balls of your feet whether you mean to or not. The mix closes with "Jah Jah Way." Roots reggae always excels at its simplest, and this Jackie Bernard number is sublime genius, simple enough to sing, bouncy but not too fast, perfect for the creeping humidity levels of the Midwest. Simply a groove that cannot be denied.

music diary project, day four, five, & six

Friday, April 8th
Another quiet day, despite receiving another Reckless mailorder during the week.

(3:30p) Flying Saucer Attack - New Lands
I seriously cannot get enough Flying Saucer Attack lately---to the point where I went and filled in their discography via mail-ordering used discs. Here, leader David Pearce's vision has never been so loud-yet-hushed. Massed clouds of distortion float just above the surface; a stunning achievement in avant-garde pop.


Make no mistake, this is pop. Mellow, acoustic slow jam cloaked in gritty disguise, thick coat of static.

(7:00p) First half of my March mix.
Heading to the beginning of a bro-down with former roommates/current compadres Andy & Tyler...I was driving Amelia's car across town on one of the nicest days of the year, I couldn't help but try out my tape-dubbed copy of this mix. I already wrote about it at the above link...so check it out there.

Saturday, April 9th
Woke up early on a friend's house, and drove through thick sheets of rain back home to look for a suit for a wedding with my younger brother. Later in the day, post-tacos, were rejoined by friends, spun some jams while finishing the last of my Yuengling haul (Black & Tan, of course) from the Florida Christmas roadtrip. In-between, viewed the cult-classic (and by cult, I mean an estimated 10 people around the globe) Norm MacDonald vehicle, Dirty Work.


Don Rickles, in the finest comedy cameo known to man. Did I mention bit roles for Chris Farley, Chevy Chase, John Goodman? A veritable smorgasbord.

(8:30a) Second half of my March mix.

(4:00p) Yo la Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
What else can I say about this record that hasn't been said? Yes, it's their masterpiece (though I firmly believe And Nothing... and Electr-o-Pura are close rivals); yes, it flirts with many subgenres (long feedback-pieces, jazz-inflected pop, unabashed alt-guitar worship, strummy acoustic Neil Young-esque pieces, clattering organ drone, percussion-oriented RnB/funk-lite...); yes it is funny, warm, emotionally involved, witty...damn. I just got a used vinyl of this, complete with the humorous faux-Matador releases. Where else did you think Condo Fucks came from?

(5:00p) Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
I didn't really get into Young till my mid-20s. Unlike many of my peers, I never remember my parents listening to him, probably due to the fact that they were teenagers in the mid-60s, and by the time Young was a mega-star, I'm pretty sure my parents had stopped buying records, trying instead to buy groceries for two young kids. This record is plaintive, and well-spoken (excepting the awful record cover); I feel like the acoustic/electric dichotomy between Side A and Side B work really well with this record. Partial to the acoustic side, lately.


Pure-voiced live version of "Sugar Mountain", complete with frequency-cutting, glorious harmonica.

(10:30p) the Rolling Stones - Goat's Head Soup
By this time, we'd downed the Yuengling, walked out into the dusk for a sixer of Coors Banquet tallboys (something very satisfying about the name of that beer), and returned to chew the fat about early musical experiences. Before heading out to the watering hole down the street, my buzzed brain needed some get-up/wake-up vibes, and Goat's Head Soup never disappoints. My second favorite Stones record, and one that is overlooked despite its plenitude of squelchy riffs, blown-out vocals, all the while exuding grime, sex, and excess. If you don't know it, you should!

Sunday, April 10th

(10:30a) Al Green - Greatest Hits
A tradition at Bloomington's Tracks, perhaps not started by record-shilling associate Mike H., though he certainly instructed me in the Ways. Tracks opened early on Sundays...earlier than any other non-breakfast or worship-serving place. The law of the land was that you had to at least break-in the morning with the Reverend...Al Green. Can't go wrong with most of his hits collections, one of which we would bust out with regularity. Some of the best memories of the store are coming in with a slight hangover, riding my bike under the Spring-canopied streets, and propping the door open, blasting the Reverend to the Canaanites in the street while the breeze mingled and cut-through the constant haze of Nag Champa. Almost makes me wistful for bygone days.


Not on Greatest Hits, but one of my lesser-known favorites. And yes, Al Green was an attempt to rectify the hangover induced by Saturday night's booze banquet.

(2:40p) Various Artists - Studio Roots 2
Another fine, fine compilation from the folks at Soul Jazz. This record connects to another Bloomington spring memory. At some point at tracks, I began digging into the equally-fantastic Trojan compilations, which the manager had burned copies of sitting in the promo drawer. Still in "professional musician" mode, I had bought with my meager savings (and help from my parents) a used VW Passat Wagon, with which I could cart around all my gear AND my P.A. system. Before that car shit the bed, I enjoyed a brief spring with the windows down and my first ever in-car CD-player. With the crabapples and dogwoods in full, fragrant bloom, I drove over to the Secretly Canadian warehouse to pick up some used CD sleeves to recycle for the Everything, Now! hand-painted Bible Universe edition, blasting the Trojan Dub compilation the whole time. It was the year's first near-70-degree day, and reggae had finally clicked. Sometimes understanding art is all about having a context in which to experience it fully; being young, enjoying warm weather, and thinking about upcoming artistic endeavours...I was not yet of the world, instead, I was floating somewhere above. Every Spring since, when warm weather first comes 'round the bend, I know it's reggae season again.