Had a technology plagued but otherwise solid show this Sunday. I’ve spent several hours trying to fix my rather janky recording set-up in order to present the full two hour show. I really shouldn’t complain, virtually all of the music came out perfectly fine and ultimately that’s what’s most important. There’s some brand new stuff from La Sera (fingers-crossed, they should be our guests next week!), remixes of work from Andreya Triana and Bilal (by Tokimonsta and Flying Lotus, respectively), and newish work from Ghostface Killah, Fabienne Del Sol, JayLib and others. The show features a very minor tribute to Bobby Robinson of Enjoy records fame (for a better tribute see Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com’s guest podcast here) and a major tribute to Trish Keenan of Broadcast that takes up the last half-hour + of the 2nd Hour. If you just want to hear the tribute mix by itself, I’ve updated my tribute post to Trish to include the set. Next week we’re doing all vinyl with a guest set from Music Man Miles of Breakestra + a performance/interview with La Sera!

Melting Pot on KPFK #30: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #30: Second Hour

Playlist: 1-23-2011

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Vicente Fernandez – El Rey – Linea Mecicanismo (Sony)
Charles Bradley – Why Is It So Hard? – No Time For Dreaming (Dunham/Daptone)
Fabienne Del Sol – Strange Shadows – On My Mind (Damaged Goods)
Dao Bandon – Tang Ngarn Si Nong – Sound Of Siam (Soundway)
The 5.6.7.8.’s – I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield – The 5.6.7.8.’s (Third Man Records)

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La Sera – Devils Hearts Grow Gold – 7” (Hardly Art)
The Three Degrees – Collage – Maybe (Roulette)
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound – To Love Someone – 7” (Addenda)
Martina Topley Bird – Snowman – Some Place Simple (Honest Jon’s)
Andreya Triana – Far Closer (Tokimonsta Remix) – Far Closer (Ninja Tune)

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Ghostface Killah – In The Park feat. Black Thought – Apollo Kids (Def Jam)
Treacherous Three & Spoonie Gee – The New Rap Language – 12” (Enjoy)
Captain Beefheart – Rock’n’Roll’s Evil Doll – Bluejeans & Moonbeams (Mercury)
DJ Lengua – La Jungla – Cruzando (Club Unicornio)

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Bilal – Levels (Flying Lotus Re-edit) – Levels (Plug Research)
Ananda Shankar – Metamorphosis – Ananda Shankar (Warner Bros.)
Jaylib – Louder (Blast Your Radio Theme) – Madlib’s Medicine Show No. 11 (Stones Throw)
Can – I’m So Green – Ege Bamyasi (UA)

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Tribute Set To Trish Keenan of Broadcast:

Broadcast – Unchanging Window – The Noise Made By People (Warp)
Broadcast – Before We Begin – Ha Ha Sound (Warp)
Broadcast – I Found The F – Tender Buttons (Warp)
Broadcast – The Be Colony – Broadcast & the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age (Warp)
Broadcast – Ominous Cloud – Ha Ha Sound (Warp)
Broadcast – City In Progress – The Noise Made By People (Warp)
Broadcast – Man Is Not A Bird – Ha Ha Sound (Warp)
Broadcast – Tender Buttons – Tender Buttons (Warp)
Broadcast – Come On Let’s Go – The Noise Made By People (Warp)
Broadcast – Tears In The Typing Pool – Tender Buttons (Warp)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

This past Sunday we paid tribute to Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart on Melting Pot, just a day after what would have been his 70th Birthday. As I’ve mentioned multiple times here in the last month, Beefheart was a major influence for me, and a major influence on many artists who I admire and enjoy, especially Tom Waits and The Minutemen. Having done a similar show 15+ years ago, I was mindful not to repeat the past (though I had played what remain my most favorite songs during that show, I did change about an hour of material and mixed the songs up even more), but I did make the same decision to not do this tribute chronologically. What I think this style of mix reveals is the remarkable consistency of both ideas and quality in Beefheart’s music. There are very few artists who recorded during this same period of time (1966-1982), where you’d be able to put music from the winter of their career paired with music from their spring and find that things mix as seamlessly as much of this music ultimately did. What I also found, and this may be a matter of personal taste in terms of the songs I chose, is how Beefheart’s music remained centered in the blues, even when he completely deconstructed the form. If Beefheart had just been a blues revivalist, ala Canned Heat, he likely would have had a much more financially successful career, but thankfully he was interested in pushing boundaries, even in his attempts at commerciality on The Spotlight Kid (1972), Clear Spot (1972), Unconditionally Guaranteed (1974) and Bluejeans & Moonbeams (1974).

As I mentioned at the end of the show, a special note truly has to be made about the role of Beefheart’s translators in his various “Magic” bands, John French, Bill Harkleroad, Mark Boston, Gary Lucas and others, who were directly responsible for taking Beefheart’s ideas on how the music should sound and shaping them into reality. The Captain was certainly a genius, but like every other musical/artistic genius he didn’t create alone in a vacuum. Their debt to this music is often unrecognized, so I definitely wanted to acknowledge them in this tribute. I got a number of calls during the show thanking me for it and sharing Captain Beefheart stories, I’d love for that to continue here in the comments section. Two hours isn’t nearly enough time to fully honor the Captain’s memory, but I’m very grateful to have been able to do this show and hope you enjoy it.

Captain Beefheart Tribute on KPFK’s Melting Pot 1-16-2011: First Hour
Captain Beefheart Tribute on KPFK’s Melting Pot 1-16-2011: Second Hour

Captain Beefheart Tribute: 1-16-2011

{all tracks feature Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, except “Willie The Pimp” which is from the Frank Zappa album Hot Rats}

I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby – The Spotlight Kid (Reprise)
Sure ‘Nuff ‘N Yes I Do – Safe As Milk (Buddah)
On Tomorrow/Beatle Bones N’ Smokin’ Stones – Strictly Personal (Blue Thumb)
The Past Sure Is Tense – Ice Cream For Crow (Virgin)
The Smithsonian Institute Bleus (Or The Big Dig) – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight)
Dirty Blue Gene – Safe As Milk (Bonus Cuts) (Buddah)

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Ant Man Bee – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
Ashtray Heart – Doc At The Radar Station (Virgin)
Here I Am, I Always Am – The Legendary A&M Sessions (Edsel)
Click Clack – The Spotlight Kid (Reprise)
Owed T’ Alex – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (Warner Bros.)
Veteran’s Day Poppy – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)

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Willie the Pimp – Hot Rats {Frank Zappa} (Bizarre)
Electricity – Safe As Milk (Buddah)
Excerpt from Fallin’ Ditch – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
I Love You, You Big Dummy – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight)
Ella Guru – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
The Floppy Boot Stomp – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (Warner Bros.)
Captains Holiday – Bluejeans & Moonbeams (Mercury)

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The Party Of Special Things To Do – Bluejeans & Moonbeams (Mercury)
Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles – Clear Spot (Reprise)
Full Moon, Hot Sun – Unconditionally Guaranteed (Mercury)
Sugar ‘N’ Spikes – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
Tropical Hot Dog Night – Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) (Warner Bros.)
Excerpt from Pena – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
Nowadays A Woman’s Gotta Hit A Man – Clear Spot (Reprise)
One Rose That I Mean – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight)

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My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains – Clear Spot (Reprise)
I’m Glad – Safe As Milk (Buddah)
Grow Fins – The Spotlight Kid (Reprise)
Gimme Dat Harp Boy – Strictly Personal (Blue Thumb)
The Buggy Boogie Woogie – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight)
Hair Pie: Bake 2 – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)

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Moonlight On Vermont – Trout Mask Replica (Straight)
Frying Pan – The Legendary A&M Sessions (Edsel)
Ice Cream For Crow – Ice Cream For Crow (Virgin)
Dirty Blue Gene – Doc At The Radar Station (Virgin)
Lick My Decals Off, Baby – Lick My Decals Off, Baby (Straight)

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{closing theme} Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian – Ice Cream For Crow (Virgin)

Shows early on in a new year are often a little difficult to program. After you’ve done a retrospective of the prior year’s music, there’s a desire to move on to something new, but it takes time for new releases to start comin’ out. So, this first “real” show includes a couple of tracks from upcoming releases, a few from artists who should have records in 2011, and a few that slipped under my radar in 2010 or that I simply just did not play enough. One particularly interesting moment happens towards the end, when for some reason my laptop decided to play Mad Villian’s “Papermill” at a much slower speed, like it was chopped and screwed. That actually kept me from playing the Ghostface Killah track I just posted in Heavy Rotation, but everything worked out in the end. The show begins with a teaser from my set at Funky Sole on Saturday Jan. 8th. I’ll post up the full set tomorrow, along with a few pictures, but until then, enjoy yesterday’s show and remember Jan. 16th I’m doing a 2 hour tribute to Captain Beefheart!

Melting Pot on KPFK #28: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #28: Second Hour

Playlist: 1-9-2011

{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Funky Sole Set:

Irene Reid – Dirty Old Man – 7” (Old Town)
Sound Foundation – Soul Foundation – Sound Foundation (Smobro)
Toni Tornado – Aposta – Toni Tornado (Odeon)
James Brown – Make It Good To Yourself – Black Caesar: Original Soundtrack (Polydor)
Franciene Thomas – I’ll Be There – 7” (Tragar)
Ray Barretto – Together – Together (Fania)
Eddie Palmieri & Harlem River Drive – Azucar – Live At Sing Sing (Roulette)

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Charles Bradley – The World Is Going Up In Flames – No Time For Dreaming (Dunham/Daptone)
Tim Maia – Compadre – Tim Maia (Polydor)
Numonics – You Lied – Groove Merchant 20 (Ubiquity)
Mansfield TYA – Sur Le Plafond – Seuls Au Bout De 23 Secondes (Vicious Circle)

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Andreya Triana – Darker Than Blue – Lost Where I Belong (Ninja Tune)
Sun Kil Moon – Church Of The Pines – Admiral Fell Promises (Caldo Verde)
Jovenes y Sexys – Suerte – Bruno EP (Poni Republic)
Chicano Batman – A Hundred Dead and Loving Souls – Recorded Live at KPFK

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Captain Beefheart – Clear Spot – Clear Spot (Reprise)
Grinderman – Mickey Mouse & the Goodbye Man – Grinderman 2 (XL)
The Black Beats – The Mod Trade – Psych Funk Sa Re Ga! (Now Again)

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The 5.6.7.8’s – Tallahassie Lassie – The 5.6.7.8’s (Third Man Records)
Yuzo Kayama – Kimi Ga Suki Dakara – All About Yuzo Kayama (Toshiba)
Sebadoh – Rebound – Bakesale (Sub Pop)
P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble – It’s Got Two and That’s Alright (Show Me The Way) – Winter Winds (Now Again)
The Avalanches – Two Hearts In ¾ Time – Since I Left You (Modular)
(Attempted play of Mad Villian…)

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Saknatee Srichiangmai – Nom Samai Mai – The Sound Of Siam (Soundway)
DJ shadow – Def Surrounds Us – 12” (Self Released)
Mad Villian – Papermill – Adult Swim Singles (Adult Swim)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Here is the final post in this week’s look back at the best music from 2010. Unlike my difficulty in choosing top records, choosing my 5 favorite songs of 2010 was relatively easy. It’s interesting how certain songs just grab onto and won’t let go, while others simply fade from memory. These are the ones that will be stuck in my mind for many years to come…share your favorite tracks of 2010 here or on our facebook page!

***Honorable Mentions: The Walkmen – “Victory,” The Strange Boys – “Between Us,” Chicano Batman – “Itotiani,” Bonobo – “El Toro,” Dungen – “Soda,” Corin Tucker Band – “Doubt,” Adam Franklin – “Carousel City,” M.I.A. – “Born Free”

5. Real Estate – “Reservoir” – Out Of Tune 7” (True Panther Sounds)

 Real Estate – Reservoir

 I happened upon Real Estate completely by chance in 2009, barely hearing some instrumental sounds through the static of KXLU’s signal. They now stand as one of my favorite contemporary indie-rock groups. In truth I could have just as easily chosen the flipside of this 7″, “Out Of Tune,” to be on this list, it’s also an amazing song, but I love “Reservoir” just a bit more for the way it seems to evoke a distinctly late summer suburban vibe that reminds me of my youth, as I mentioned in my original comments: 

Every time I hear this song from Real Estate, it makes me smile, widely. For me it’s got a very specific kind of vibe, late summer, when you’re 18 and everything in the world is full of wild promise and anxious uncertainty at the same time. I’ve loved just about everything I’ve heard from this band, but this song might just be one of my favorites of this year.

 4. Best Coast – “Boyfriend” – Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)

Best Coast – Boyfriend

Best Coast was one of the buzziest bands of 2010, but it’s clear they have their best work ahead of them. Beth Consentino of Best Coast is a very talented woman. As a songwriter she’s still got some growing to do, but she’s clearly got the goods vocally and recent performances seem to suggest that she’s barely tapped into her potential. “Boyfriend” represents a glimpse of what she’s capable of, great hooks, great sentiment, and those vocals…in my mind I swear it’s like they never stop, as if she’s employing some kind of circular breathing technique ala Roland Kirk. Gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside every time.

3. Gonjasufi – “Sheep” – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp)

Gonjasufi – Sheep

From a brilliantly bizarre album, comes this track where Gonjasufi appears to ruminate on the dreams of a Lion who momentarily wishes he wasn’t the King of the Jungle, but instead a meek, lowly and peaceful sheep. Production work from Gaslamp Killer expertly fits the dreamy musings, especially in the final minute when it seems that the Lion comes to his senses and fully embraces his identity. Absolutely bloody brilliant.

2. Broken Social Scene – “Sentimental X’s” – Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts)

Broken Social Scene – Sentimental X’s

Original Post

Here’s what I originally had to say about this song back in May when I first came to love it:

I love how lyrically it’s based on fairly simple phrases, but sometimes they are reversed or changed slightly which changes the overall meaning too (for example “Off and On is what we Want,” “What We Want Is Off and On,”). Something about the way it ends with the phrase “All Of You” becoming “I Love You” at times, admist that huge wash of sound, seems to capture the big message out of the LOST finale last night. Though these feelings might wash off in a day or two, this one is still likely to be a contender for song of the year come December.

6+ months later, I clearly still agree with those sentiments. I do wonder whether or not the BSS heard Deerhunter’s own lovely exercise in alliteration, “Agoraphobia,” and decided to mess around with phrases on this one. Even if its genesis was related to another song (and I have no idea if it actually is) “X’s” is more of an achievement because ever single line of the song is built on alliterations, which in some cases radically alter the potential meaning, such as when the “a friend, a friend you used to call” line loses the “to call” at the end. The song shifts from sentimental remembrances to perhaps something more sinister, at least emotionally. Nothing beats the closing 2 minutes of the song, especially that gorgeous “All of You/I Love You” ending.  Best song I’ve heard from Broken Social Scene or virtually anyone else in the last several years.

1. El Guincho – “Bombay” – Pop Negro (Young Turks)

El Guincho – Bombay

For the second time in a year, my favorite song of the year is in Spanish. My wife and I didn’t meet on the roof of a hotel in Barcelona, but if we had this is the song that would be playing and I’d try to make her stay with me as long as possible just the same way the singer wants his love to stay with him. Interestingly enough, when I played this song for my wife, she had almost the exact same vision. The song just screams sunshine, a gorgeous city beneath you and all the possibilities inherent in an uncertain but exciting future. An absolutely perfect pop song.

…and “Bombay” also wins hands down for having the most bizarre and definitely not safe for work (even in this “clean” version) video too:

All this week on Melting Pot we’ve been taking a look back at 2010’s year in music. This post covers the best (new) records that I heard last year. This tends to be the most difficult of these lists to put together. Choosing a “best” record means (at least to me) that you really have to think of the full album, from the first to the last track, and how everything works together and then stack it up against all the other records. This year I’ve had a really difficult time trying to choose between the top records I heard. Every time I thought I’d picked a #1, I’d listen to another record in this Top 5 and suddenly be convinced that now I was listening to the best record of the year. Ultimately I’ve chosen a bit of a cop-out and decided not to choose a single #1 record, but instead to declare a five way tie between these exceptional albums. All of these records are here at the top of a long list of favorites because of the special attention to style and sound they represent in very different ways. So, here you go, here’s my list of the Top 5 best new records from 2010, let me know what your favorites of 2010 were in the comments or on our facebook page!

***Honorable Mentions: Ana Tijoux – 1977 (Nacional), Aloe Blacc – Good Things (Stones Throw), Jose James – Black Magic (Brownswood), Black Keys – Brothers (Nonesuch), Bonobo – Black Sands (Ninja Tune), Polar Bear – Peepers (Leaf), Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises (Caldo Verde)

Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be – Sub Pop

Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be 

Original Post

In a year with so many solid releases from hard rockin’ bands featuring women (i.e. Best Coast, Golden Triangle, Frankie Rose & the Outs, Agent Ribbons, Fabienne Del Sol, Neverever, etc. ,etc.) this record remained at the top of that list and virtually every other. The main reason is frontwoman Dee Dee’s songwriting ability and her use of harmony combined with mountains upon mountains of fuzzy distortion. Dee Dee’s bedroom project blossomed fully into a band this past year, with help on this record from producer Richard Gottehrer. “Blissed out Buzzsaw” is the way the band describes this sound and it seems quite apt. From start to finish, this remains my favorite indie-rock record of 2010.

El Guincho – Pop Negro – Young Turks

El Guincho – FM Tan Sexy

When this album first came out I didn’t think too highly of it. It took my absolute love affair with “Bombay” (more on that later) to get me to listen to this album more than the initial run through. I think part of the reason I initially wasn’t that impressed with Pop Negro is because of how different it is from Alegranza, the previous album by El Guincho. That one had this absurdist quality to the samples that made it unique and distinct. It seemed at first listen that here El Guincho was attempting to just craft a more mainstream version of his sound, perhaps (and this was seriously my first thought when I heard “Novias”) to garner more money from the commercials and films that LA music supervisors would “place” his songs into. It took a couple of trips from home to work (Pasadena to Long Beach, roughly a 45min to 1hr drive) for me to fully appreciate this record. I mistook significant growth in song writing ability and clarity of musical vision with misguided commercial aspirations, but thankfully I came to my senses. Now, whenever this album is playing, and not just the fantastic lead track “Bombay” but virtually every single other track, I swear it gets a little brighter outside. It’s like sunlight is trapped within these notes and when the songs play it just bursts out. With all the tracks taken together, the album sounds like the best party that has ever been thrown, and this is very much by careful design. Throwing an exceptional party captured into sound is no easy feat. El Guincho really took great care with this record, as evidenced by his endearingly nerdy “influenced by” notes on his website, and there is no other place it belongs than as one of the best records of 2010.

Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma – Warp

Flying Lotus – Arkestry

Flying Lotus is one of a handful of electronic artists who have a distinct and completely recognizable sound, so much so that within seconds you know it is FlyLo production (as evidenced by his guest work in 2010 on Andreya Triana, Jose James & Gonjasufi’s records). The fact that he continues to move far beyond that signature sound is a testament to the talent that exists within the mind and heart of Mr. Ellison. Here on Cosmogramma he adds finely textured strings, clearly feeling inspired by his “auntie” Alice Coltrane, and more explicitly jazz inflected samples and aesthetics into what is an even deeper, more expansive and thrilling collection of music than his previous album Los Angeles. At the time I thought that record was the perfect album to drive around LA in the early morning hours, this one trumps it significantly.

Dungen – Skit I Allt – Kemado

Dungen – Min Enda Vän

Original Post

This was another record that on first listen I was not particularly impressed with. Being a massive fan of Dungen, I was hotly anticipating this release. When it arrived, I thought it was solid, but there were no songs that stood out. I was ranking it behind Dungen’s previous records, 2007’s Tio Batar and 2008’s IV. In a similar fashion to the El Guincho record, it was during a trip down to Long Beach that I actually compared the three records and surprisingly found that not only is Skit I Allt the most cohesive and consistent of the last three releases from Dungen, it also turned out to be the most enjoyable listen for me. Few records in recent memory have had so much epic sounding material as this release. Part of the appeal of Dungen is the incredible attention to sound that Gustav Ejstes and crew bring out, especially on the drums. Also part of the appeal is the fact that clearly this is a group that enjoys making music together. Some of that is wrapped up in the title. I’m really surprised that not once have I said the album title on the air. Since “Skit I Allt” means “Fuck It All” in Swedish, I’d be in violation of FCC regulations (which cover “foreign” languages in the same way they cover English). But the “fuck it all” here is more of a celebratory exclamation than a nihilistic resignation, and that was most welcome in 2010.

Gonjasufi – A Sufi & A Killer – Warp

Gonjasufi – DedNd

Original Post

A Sufi & A Killer certainly was the most interesting and challenging release I heard in 2010, a wild mix of psych, trip/hip-hop, stoner rock, punk and middle eastern music courtesy of Gonjasufi & Gaslamp Killer (with a few assists from Flying Lotus and others). The album doesn’t even sound like reality. It sounds like a fever dream brought about from being in the desert too long. Everything is distorted, pushed far into the red. Similar to his live sets at venues like Low End Theory, Gaslamp Killer’s production choices are truly eclectic and inspiring, mining material from all over the globe from the 1960s/1970s and creating something truly distinct. If this record had just been instrumental it STILL might have ended up on this list, but thankfully it also includes vocals from Gonjasufi. Gonjasufi’s voice is at times grating, sometimes a bit menacing, at other times comforting or even loving on a few tracks. It’s pretty extraordinary how flexible that instrument is. It’s no small feat to go from sounding like a male version of Billie Holiday, and then become HR from Bad Brain’s little brother and later morph into someone’s irate grandfather, but Gonjasufi accomplishes that and more. Fascinating talent all around involved here.