Ada Richards – I’m Drunk & I’m Real High
T.L. Barrett – Like A Ship
Gospel Storytellers – Peter & John
Numero strikes gold once again (which gets me thinking, is there a more consistently inspiring independent label out there right now than this one?). This time, as part of their “Good God” series they mine funky gospel tunes, mostly it appears (I still only have a promo copy without the full notes) from the Midwest. What might at first seem an odd place to look for funky is actually the latest in many crate-digging trends (which might have been stoked by Numero’s 2006 comp. Good God!: A Gospel Funk Hymnal). Those who study black music have often noted that musicians would play secular music on Saturday night and sacred music Sunday morning, so it shouldn’t be at all surprising that gospel music in the 60s and 70s turned funky. Numero then is right on the mark with this collection and it’s immediately clear, as soon as the drums and tambourine come in on T.L. Barrett’s “Like A Ship,” why they decided to focus again on this genre.
One of the things that is quite striking about this collection is its diversity of sound. Instead of presenting a single style or sound, the collection, sonically if not thematically, is all over the map. From the righteous, clavinet heavy, disco funk of Lucy Rodgers’ “Pray A Little Longer,” the Curtis on Curtom inspired work from Little Charles on “I Thank You Lord,” Bluesier fare on Brother Samuel Cheatam’s “Troubles Of The World,” insanely funky snare and cymbal work on the Victory Travelers “I Know I’ve Been Changed” and the track I’ve included here from the Gospel Storytellers “Peter & John,” to even a track “Share Your Love With The Master” that mimics the “Memphis Soul Stew” introduction of musicians, one by one, adding to the funky mix (Also there’s The Inspirational Gospel Singers “Same Thing It Took” which sounds a bit like Marva Whitney doing gospel with the Hi records house band, check the Melting Pot Radio Hour for that track).
Maybe the best track here comes from Ada Richards, “I’m Drunk & I’m Real High,” which should come off as a bit absurd, but the delivery is so fiery and sincere that you can’t help but feel it. I am curious if Richards cut any secular records, cause when she sings “Judge me in the morning, Judge me at night, Better be sure you judge me right,” bending her notes and shifting to a, dare I say sultry, tone, my thoughts turn away from the sacred and I start thinking of very worldly double entendres.
Those kinds of contradictory emotions are at the heart of a lot of this music. This music is meant to be sacred, but to connect to audiences the musicians must make use of a decidedly profane style. I’m curious how they dealt with those contradictions, a very different set of constraints than the usual art vs. commerce arguments. But what we do have is an exceptional collection of rare and inspirational sounds, and an early entry for the best of 2010.
Here’s something new, given that I’m taking a little break from KCRW, I thought I’d do a little something here on the blog and thus…The Melting Pot Radio Hour. On this maiden webcast there are a number of records forthcoming here in 2010, including Jose James, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Broken Bells feat. James Mercer from the Shins and Dangermouse. There’s also a set that gives you a head’s up on records that will likely find there way into the “Dig Deep” section of this blog in coming weeks. Finally, I pay tribute to Willie Mitchell and Rowland S. Howard, who both recently passed away. Let me know what you think of the Melting Pot Radio Hour, slightly lo-fi, but hopefully you’ll dig it. Right click and “Save Target As” to download the program…
Charlotte Gainsbourg – La Collectioneuse – IRM [Warner]
Broken Bells – Vaporize – Broken Bells [Sony]
Jose James – Made For Love – Black Magic [Brownswood]
Quasi – Repulsion – American Gong [Kill Rock Stars]
Bei Bei & Shawn Lee – Hot Thursday – Into The Wind [Ubiquity]
The Bamboos feat. Kylie Auldist – On The Sly – 4 [Tru Thoughts]
~~~~ Break ~~~~
The Inspirational Gospel Singers – The Same Thing It Took – Good God!: Born Again Funk [Numero]
Eva Pilarová – Vazky – Eva [Supraphon]
Leigh Stephens – If You Choose To – Red Weather [Phillips]
Sugar Billy – Super Duper Love (full version) – Super Duper Love [Fast Track]
Roberto Carlos – As Curvas Da Estrada De Santos – Roberto Carlos (1969) [CBS]
Benny Sharp & the Sharpies – Music (I Like It) Part 1 – 7” [Midas]
~~~~ Break ~~~~
Willie Mitchell Tribute Set
Al Green – Old Time Lovin’ – Let’s Stay Together [Hi Records]
Willie Mitchell – Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – 7” [Hi Records]
Ann Peebles – I Can’t Stand The Rain – Hi Times – The Hi Records R&B Years [Hi / Capitol]
Willie Mitchell – Buster Browne – Soul Serenade: The Best of Willie Mitchell [Capitol]
Syl Johnson – The Love You Left Behind – 7” [Hi Records]
Willie Mitchell – Up Hard – 7” [Hi Records]
~~~~ Break ~~~~
Rowland S. Howard Tribute Set
The Birthday Party – The Friend Catcher – Hee Haw [Mute]
The Birthday Party – Happy Birthday – The Birthday Party [Missing Link]
Crime & the City Solution – The Kentucky Click – 12” [Mute]
Crime & the City Solution – Six Bells Chime – Wings of Desire: Original Soundtrack [Elektra]
~~~~ Break ~~~~
The Boris Gardiner Happening – Melting Pot – Boris Gardiner Happening Is What’s Happening [Dynamic]
Here’s one that slipped under my radar in 2009, a new project from Geoff Barrow of Portishead, along with with Billy Fuller (Fuzz Against Junk) and Matt Williams (Team Brick). From the sound of that latest Portishead record, you might have surmised that Geoff had been listening to a lot of Neu! and Can, this project should confirm those beliefs completely. “Backwell” leads off the album and takes a little bit to develop, but it’s worth the wait.
Here’s the final post in this series, looking back at the year in the music for Melting Pot. You’d think given the 1,000s of songs heard over the course of a year that this would be the most difficult list to come up with, but for some reason there are certain songs that stick out and stick with you. What strikes me as interesting about this list is that 4 of the 5 tracks are from artists outside of the US, three from the UK and one from Venezuela. The only US track here is from a group that stopped recording roughly around the time I was born. Not sure what to think of all that…but nonetheless, here are my top 5 favorite songs heard in 2009.
***Honorable Mentions: Ocote Soul Sounds feat. Tita Lima – “Vendende Saude y Fe,” Atlas Sound – “Criminals,” Mos Def – “Quiet Dog,” Quantic Y Su Combo Barbaro – “The Dreaming Mind,” PJ Harvey & John Parish – “Black Hearted Love,” Lee Fields & the Expressions – “Do You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)”
5. 24-Carat Black – “I’ll Never Let You Go” – Gone: The Promises of Yesterday (Numero)
“Few groups build the way this group did and here that becomes especially evident on my favorite (and perhaps the best sounding) track on this collection “I’ll Never Let You Go.” I love how the rhythm just sputters and stutters along (slightly similar to the intro for “Foot Stamps” on the debut), matched by lyrics and phrasing that sound both innocent and dirty (maybe even a little dangerous?) at the same time. Then there’s the breakdown in the middle, with some blush worthy vocalizing, and the rhythm returns only to finally break loose in stunning fashion just before ending cold. I’m blown away by this track every time I hear it, especially when you compare it to the original girl group version from The Tiares.”
5+ months later, I’m still consistently blown away every time I hear this song and how all the musical elements come together. In terms of the singing I think I’ve decided that the phrasing shifts through these different emotions, innocent, salacious, obsessive, promiscuous, needy, dangerous and then some, which is what makes it such a stunner. This is the song that more than any of the other on this set really makes me hope that somehow someway there’s a back-up of that recording session soon to be found somewhere in Chicago.
4. The xx – “Crystalised” – xx (XL)
On a cursory listen, for at least the first 2 ½ minutes, this seems like just an above average pop-electro tune. On further listens, what makes the song exceptional is the constant switching of point of view between the two singers from verse to verse and chorus to chorus. Everything climaxes close to the end when they simultaneously sing both of their individual choruses, which perhaps I should see as gimmicky, but I guess I’m not as jaded with pop music as I used to think I was. Instead, it sounds like genius, as does the exhortation to go slow at the end, which matches the overall lyrical theme of the song (focused on the tension of a new relationship, the desire to give-in completely to this new love, but a equally strong concern that you might move too fast and ruin a good thing before it starts) while also serving as a rhythmic call to literally slow things down.
3. Jarvis Cocker – “I Never Said I Was Deep” – Further Complications (Rough Trade)
“…the crown jewel of this set, and a strong contender for “Song of the Year” has to be “I Never Said I Was Deep.” In my opinion, this quite possibly could be the best song of Jarv’s career, dropping Pulp’s “Help The Aged” from the top of the heap. This may very well be the song that they play at Jarv’s funeral, it’s a perfect crystallization of his entire ethos and after at least two dozen plays, it still almost has me in tears every time. The chorus says it all:
I never said I was deep,
But I am profoundly shallow,
My lack of knowledge is vast,
and my horizons are narrow.
I never said I was deep,
I never said that I was clever,
And if you’re waiting to find,
what’s going on in mind,
you could be waiting forever, for ever and ever.
That my friends, is bloody brilliant…”
I’ll say it again, this one is Jarv’s crowning achievement. The song he’ll ultimately be remembered for and a real anthem for this decade, particularly for those still stuck in hipsterville.
2. Adam Franklin – “Big Sur” – Spent Bullets (Second Motion)
For a song so high on this list, I actually have very little to say about “Big Sur.” Musically, it’s a no brainer why I love it so much, with all those gorgeous swirling reverbed guitars, echoed vocals and insistent drums. Lyrically, this might be the sweetest song Adam Franklin has ever written (or sung for that matter), it’s certainly one of the sweetest I’ve heard in a long time. The song makes me think of my wife and that puts a smile on my face every time I hear and sing it.
1. Jóvenes y Sexys – “Amor Platonico” – Original Music and Songs Inspired By Rudo y Cursi (Nacional)
In preparing for one of my radio shows this past summer I began skimming through the soundtrack to this (highly recommended if you haven’t seen it) film from Carlos Cuarón. It didn’t take long for me to find my way to this track from Venezuela’s Jóvenes y Sexys and it took even less time for me to be completely smitten with this song and group.
No musical crush in the last 5 years as been as great as the one I have for this group. Here (as I noted in the original post) they take a norteño from Los Tucanes de Tijuana and completely reimagine and rework it to the point where I hesitate to even call this a cover. From the layer upon layer of instrumentation, adding a new subtle element as the song moves along, to the handclaps (one of my major musical soft spots), to the unbelieveably tender and sweet phrasing from Loocila every time she sings “imposible” in the chorus, this song is pure pop perfection.
In one of my first posts on this blog, I called this song a “perfect indie-acoustic-electro pop song.” All that hyphenation is just to say that it’s very hard to classify this group and this song. Part of me doesn’t want to classify it. I hope there’s never a single genre that this band gets lumped into (and that Cheky NEVER shaves his afro). Instead, I want to them to have their own unique place, just like this song has in both my musical heart and, very deservedly, at the top of this list.
2009 was a pretty good year for me on the digging front, got a number of records that I used to own and had been kicking myself for parting ways with and got turned on to a lot of things I’d never heard of before. Unlike past years, virtually all of my time spent in record spaces was in California this year, mostly in the LA area with a couple of trips to the Bay and one further south to San Diego. Being severely under-employed I have to be very strategic about the records I get these days so there aren’t any obscenely rare records on this list, just really solid ones (though I should note that that Phil Cohran record would be on this list had I not shipped it off to Japan!).
Now, I could include recs from Ebay here,but somehow that really doesn’t qualify as a “find” to me (though I did get some brilliant records off of Ebay last year, including finally getting a copy of the debut from 24-Carat Black, Ghetto Misfortune’s Wealth, a record I’ve been passively looking out for the past 16 years!). So instead, these are the top 5 LPs or 45s I dug up at record stores in 2009…Let me know what you dug up in 2009!!!
***Honorable Mentions: Mauricio Smith – Bitter Acid [Groove Merchant, SF], Linda Jones – “Hypnotized” 45 [Bagatelle, Long Beach], Roy Brooks – The Free Slave [Amoeba, LA], Grassella Oliphant – The Grass Is Greener [Atomic, Burbank], Lafayette Afro Rock Band – Voodoounon [BAO Records, San Diego], Village Soul Choir – Cat Walk / Country Walk 45 [Bagatelle, Long Beach]
5. Lee Dorsey – A Lover Was Born / What Now My Love – Amy 7” [Records LA, LA]
A bonafide classic and one of my favorite tracks of all time…this is one of maybe 3 songs where I completely lose my shit as soon as it comes on and cut extra loose on the dance floor. Lee Dorsey backed up by the Meters and for 2 minutes and 54 seconds absolutely nothing in the world can go wrong. I’d had this song on CDs and maybe a 80s comp, but never owned a 45 of this one. Even if (I think) the blue label is a second press and it’s not in mint shape it still put a big smile on my face running into this at upstart Records LA in the fall of 2009 and getting it for the super affordable price of $4.
4. Eva Pilarová– EVA – Supraphon [Groove Merchant, SF]
Going to Groove Merchant might not qualify as digging, it’s more like all the diggin’ has been done by Cool Chris and you just get to bask in the glory of all the rare funky he brings to the store. I got lucky with this one, from this Czech artist, perhaps her debut. ½ the album is poppy stuff I don’t particularly care for, but then there are these pop/psych/beat gems that are to die for. I’ll definitely be doing a proper “Dig Deep” on this one in the not so distant future.
3. The Inner Drive – Party Man / Smell The Funk – Zodiac 7” [Records LA, LA]
Another find at Records LA from early on when they were still bringing out the boxes and boxes of 45s that are currently at the store. One of my devices for weeding down the countless 45s that I’ve never heard into a manageable pile to listen to is to focus on interesting labels, band names or song titles. This group nailed all three criteria and though I picked up rarer 45s that day (namely that Vibrations 45 I sold on Ebay for close to $80), this one just hits the spot. Later I remembered that Matthew Africa (another helpful device in terms of choosing what 45s to get is to pay attention to Matthew’s blog) had a stellar post on the Inner Drive, which is part of the reason I don’t think I’ll be posting this in a 7” edition of Dig Deep, but I’ll go ahead and post the best theme song material I heard this year, “Party Man.”
2. Byron Lee & the Dragonaires – Rock Steady ‘ 67 – BRA [Beat Swap Meet, LA]
If memory serves correctly I got this off a dealer at the Beat Swap Meet for $10 as the day’s festivities were closing down. Since then, I haven’t seen a copy for under $100. I’ve already said quite a bit about this gem, so I’ll just close by saying that “It’s Oily and it’s sweet”!
1. Yuzo Kayama & the Launchers – All About Yuzo Kayama – Toshiba [Bagatelle Records, Long Beach]
Another record that I almost feel bad for paying so little for (almost, I said, almost). One of the rare times that Bagatelle’s owner seemed stumped, understandable since everything is in Japanese, but still clearly he hadn’t listened to it, cause I can’t imagine this being on the floor of any quality store for less than $50. Like the Eva record above, ½ is 60s schmaltzy pop with strings and girl background singers, the rest is gritty rock’n’roll. One of my most prized finds cause now it gets me focused on sounds that I never would have even thought existed prior to diggin’ this up.
As I implied in yesterday’s post, 2009’s new releases left me wanting. There were some very good records, there always are, but as a year’s worth of music, this was the easiest time I’ve had in putting together my “Best of 2009” show on KCRW out of the last three years. No tough decisions at all, which means there weren’t a lot of records that really grabbed me (this was especially true of the “big” records of the year from Animal Collective and Phoenix). But, as I said above, there were still some very good records and below is my list of the Top 5 New Releases of 2009…Let me know what you think of these and what your favorite records were!
***Honorable mentions: Hope Sandoval – Through The Devil Softly (Nettwerk), Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (4AD), Mos Def – The Ecstatic (Downtown), CéU– Vagarosa (Six Degrees), Quantic – Tradition In Transition (Tru Thoughts)
Having performed with Mos Def, Tony Allen and recently becoming integrated into the Gorillaz collective (at least that’s what I heard), HBE is no longer a hidden gem, playing in subway stations across the country. This debut stands as the formal coming out party for these 8 sons of Phil Cohran, and their unique blend of brass band, post-bop jazz & Hip-Hop sensibilities. Strangely, as good as this record is, with guest work from master drummers Malcolm Catto and Tony Allen, I think this record would have been even better with the group’s regular drummer. We’ll have to wait for the next one on that, but this one is a helluva debut.
It’s seems a bit off to include what is essentially a mix-tape on the “Best of 2009,” but Edan’s Echo Party is so much more than a mix. Everything is so seamlessly integrated that you’d be forgiven for not realizing how much Edan has manipulated and added, but it’s a marvel when fully understood. In time I feel this mix will join Double Dee & Stenski’s Lesson(s), Grandmaster Flash’s “Adventures” and Cut Chemist & DJ Shadow’s Brain Freeze as the definitive examples of Turntablist art.
3. Adam Franklin – Spent Bullets – Second Motion
My long standing relationship with Swervedriver perhaps clouds my judgment on this one, but initially Adam Franklin’s Spent Bullets was a record I fully expected to be mediocre at best. I consider the first two Swervedriver records to be amongst the best of 1990s rock, output since then has been, to put it kindly, less than inspired. Cleary, Franklin was energized and inspired after the Swervedriver reunion concerts, because this record is full of well-crafted songs. However, he doesn’t attempt to recreate the past, aside from the relatively sprightly opener “Surge” all the songs are hazy and lazy (and I mean “lazy” in the best possible way here) instead of that pulsating and driving sound Swervedriver was known for. I was never able to convince others to play this record more, but it found a happy home in my car and was on repeat for months, another reason for its high placement on this list. Spent Bullets was the record I listened to most in 2009.
2. The xx – xx –XL
Comprised of South London teenagers, this band came out of nowhere to release one of the most universally praised and universally enjoyed records of 2009. Processed beats, shimmering guitars, breathy and sultry boy/girl vocalists, the xx have a sound that fits snugly in multiple genres and with multiple types of people. It’s a sound that at times seems routed in the past and at others seems firmly apart of the new millennia. On record it’s amazing, judging from live video I’ve seen, it’s less exhilarating in person. At first I thought this band completely lacked stage presence, but then I heard that we’re supposed to be calling this “Nu-Gaze” as in “Neo-Shoe gaze” and if that’s the case, I’ll chalk up their lack of movement to fierce adherence to aesthetics. Regardless of how they look or the way they play, they made some lovely pop music for 2009 and I’m really excited to see what this group produces as its members mature. Now if only I can remember to call them “ex ex” instead of “double X”…
Bradford Cox could have made another very insular, largely avant-garde side project record, but instead he made indie-rock perfection. In a year filled with so-so recordings, Logos stands out as presenting an artist who’s interested in creating music that is accessibly experimental. Cox plays with sound and song structure, but draws you in, instead of keeping you at a distance with avant-garde noodlery. Guest work from Noah Lennox of Animal Collective and Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab highlighted Cox’s abilities all the more, “Walkabout” and “Quick Canal” merged their guests into Cox’s world, retaining parts of their sounds but only on Cox’s sonic terms. Logos stands as one of the few seminal records of 2009, one that I’m sure I’ll be enjoying well into the next decade.
This first full week of 2010, I’m taking a look back at 2009. This one is the first of four lists coming your way. 2009 was one of the few years where I was as excited about reissued material as I was brand new original works. Quality music was dug up all over the place, from classic albums getting swanky new editions to obscure musicians from all over the globe. Below are my Top 5 reissues of 2009 (with links to prior considerations on this blog), let me know what reissues you checked out last year!
***Honorable Mentions: Panama 3 (Soundway), Spiritual Jazz (Jazzman/Now-Again), Sensacional Soul, Vol. 2 (Vampi-Soul), Black Rio, Vol. 2 (Strut), Serge Gainsbourg – Historie De Melody Nelson (Light In The Attic)
5. Mulatu Astatke – New York – Addis – London: The Story of Ethio-Jazz 1965-1975 – Strut
Mulatu’s music has been on a variety of comps, (particularly the legendary Ethiopiques series) and even a Jarmusch soundtrack, but never before has it been brought together in such a comprehensive manner. The unique “ethio-funk” is great, but expected, what is particularly interesting about this set are the Afro-Latin tracks (presumably recorded in New York, or inspired by Mulatu’s time there). Required listening for those who like to dig deep.
4. Si Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba, Vol. 2 – Waxing Deep
While not as much of a revelation as the original volume, over time, I think this set actually is better. You can check the original post for my favorite tracks, but all the rest could have easily been posted here, case in point this track from Los Barba.
3. King Crimson – In The Court of The Crimson King – DGC
At 5 CDs (or 2CD sets for the less adventureous), there’s so much new material that this set might overwhelm. The nuance and beauty of all the alternate takes, instrumental run-throughs and live tracks adds depth to a record that was already a classic.
2. Orchestre Poly-Rhytmo De Cotnou – Vol. 2 Echos Hypnotiques: From The Vaults of Albarika Store 1969-1979 – Analog Africa
I’ve already said quite a bit about this comp., here let me just add that if you STILL do not own a copy of this collection, your International Funky card has been hereby revoked…
1. 24-Carat Black – Gone: The Promises of Yesterday – Numero
I still find it hard to fathom that this music was just sitting on a shelf for damn near 35 years. Any number of small things could have happened to have these tracks remain undiscovered and forever lost. Thankfully they were found and this lost 2nd album from 24-Carat Black is just as exceptional as their debut. A stunning release and so very necessary.
Here it is, my rundown of my favorite records of 2009. Expect a few more posts in this breakdown category after the new year begins (Fave Songs + Fave Records Dug Up). Playlist will come in the new year as well. This one should be archived for some time, so enjoy the tunes of 2009. Thanks so much for checking out Melting Pot in 2009, I promise bigger and better things for 2010.
I had the distinct pleasure of guest hosting one of the iconic shows in radio, Morning Becomes Eclectic. Especially nice since I’m taking a hiatus away from KCRW during January and most of February. Includes some 2010 releases still upcoming including Vampire Weekend, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Laura Veirs and Numero’s Born Again Funk collection. Not sure how long this will be archived, I have a copy I might throw up here if it disappears from the website. Playlist after the new year…
King Crimson – I Talk To The Wind (Studio Run Through)
King Crimson – Epitaph (Backing Track)
This holiday season, musical nerd that I am, I was able to splurge and pick up the 5 CD anniversary edition of a classic LP, King Crimson’s debut from 1969, In The Court of the Crimson King. I first heard King Crimson on a “sick” day from middle school watching MTV’s Closet Classics. They played a live version, probably from Beat Club, of the group performing “Larks Tongues in Aspic” and I was floored, I’d never heard anything so simultaneously beautiful and ferocious, maybe still haven’t. When I started buying cassettes (this was the late 1980s after all), beginning appropriately enough with A Young Person’s Guide To King Crimson and then to the studio releases, I found that there were different versions of the songs, so King Crimson was also my introduction to the “alternate take,” and “alternate mix,” and probably the reason I take such joy from finding subtle differences in different recordings, performances or mixes.
This expanded edition (there are also 2cd versions available) features virtually every possible edition of this album. There’s a new 2009 mix (with a thankfully “edited” version of “Moonchild,” chopping out a full 3 minutes of noodling that I always found incongruent with the mood of the piece), the previously highly touted 2004 mix, a mix from a original pink label Island records 1st pressing (from Fripp’s own private collection no less), a promo mix culled from vinyl for US DJs, single mixes and a slew of unreleased studio and live recordings. It’s a pretty overwhelming batch of tuneage given that the original album only had 5 songs to choose from, but something that is geared towards Crimso-fanaticos only. Personally, I’m a little disappointed that there wasn’t more from the “Morgan Studios” sessions with Tony Clark, from what appears to be the recreated master list from those sessions, it seems the group recorded a version of “Tomorrow’s People,” probably the best track from Crimson off-shoot McDonald & Giles (which I’ll have to feature sometime in 2010). All we have from that session is a blistering instrumental version of “21st Century Schizoid Man,” that makes you wonder what the band heard that made them want to scrap this session and take over production themselves.
Speaking of instrumentals, based on the amount of instrumental “backing” tracks to make it on this set, I’m curious if Fripp is courting producers to sample and remix Crimson’s work. It’s hard not to hear those possibilities on “Epitaph” or “I Talk To The Wind,” especially the studio run-through, with that unique drum sound from Michael Giles. More likely, the inclusion of the many instrumentals were designed to place a focus on the musicianship of the players. Having the instrumental backing track of “21st Century Schozoid Man,” a trio recording featuring Giles, Fripp & Lake, definitely shows how clearly locked in they were even though the group in this incarnation was together for less than a year in total, and had spent even less time together when they began recording. They nailed this backing track on the first take and hearing it this way was a revelation for me, from Fripp’s solos to the fact that Giles was using a double bass drum set, something that at least to my ears was obscured in the final mix.
You also get to feel a bit of the fire that this band produced with the inclusion of live material from Hyde Park and the Fillmore, in addition to a couple of recordings from Peel Sessions the group did. Also included are extensive notes, in some cases from Robert Fripp’s personal journal, on the rise and fall of the band. Those notes helped me to understand better what I had always found to be a strange thing, how Ian McDonald could go from being in King Crimson to Foreigner, but part of the reason that it appears he gave for leaving the band was the “dark” overtones of the music and a personal need to make sunnier music. There’s also an interesting article that connects the business side of Crimson to the larger trends in the music industry. All in all a fine collection and the type of thing that a “40th Anniversary Edition” should be all about.
In listening to this anniversary edition and thinking about the music to follow, it’s interesting to me that for a record that all but ushered in “progressive rock” the music is actually rather pastoral. Really much of that moniker comes down to “21st Century Schizoid Man,” their most well known song and a crazed mixed of rock and avant-garde jazz. “I Talk To The Wind,” “Moonchild,” “Epitaph,” and “In The Court of the Crimson King” sound nothing like that track and had it not been included (an impossibility of course), we’d have a very different impression of the band. There are other records from King Crimson that I enjoy more, or at least that contain more cherished songs for me, but as a total package, it’s hard not to argue that this record is the one that rules them all, the boxed set, simply cements the legend.
Since hearing this band on KXLU the other day while driving on an uncharacteristically low traffic day in Los Angeles, I’ve been addicted to their lo-fi indie pop rhythms. Real Estate hails from New Jersey, and reminds me of a cross between the Velvet Underground and American Analog Set, or more specifically, what the grandkids of the VU and the AMANSET’s cousins would sound like playing in a suburban cul-de-sac ’round about midnight.
Been so focused on grading and the holiday season, forgot to mention this is one of my last show’s for a couple of months as I take a little break from KCRW. I’ll likely put together some mixes for this blog, but this show and next week’s two shows (I’m guest hosting for Morning Becomes Eclectic in addition to my Best of 2009 show next Wednesday) will be it until February. Enjoy the show, especially the big long set of King Crimson in the second hour from the 40th anniversary edition of their classic record In The Court of the Crimson King (review comin’ soon).
Black Pearl – Cold Sweat
Black Pearl – Uptown
Black Pearl – People Get Ready
Might revise this tomorrow, but wanted to get something up tonight before my radio show at KCRW. Best I can gather, Black Pearl was a Los Angeles based group, who put out a couple of records in the rock’n’soul vein (the other being a self-titled record on Atlantic with some really great artwork). They were led by B.B. Fieldings and featured not one, or two but three…count ’em up, three guitarists (or four if you include the bass player).
Recorded live at the Fillmore West in Frisco in 1968, this record is fairly highly prized because of a pretty solid breakdown in “Cold Sweat.” Overall the record is a solid showcase for the group and for Fieldings’ sincere appreciation of black music. “Cold Sweat” shows off the best parts of the group, solid groove, nice and funky, mostly based off the James Brown original, but with other bits thrown in, particularly at the breakdown as B.B. calls out each member of the band “Memphis Soul Stew” style beginning with the drummer who he implores to do it “dirty” and “nasty”.
“Uptown” is similar in style and feeling to “Cold Sweat,” though with some “mildly” racist essentialism associated with white folks going to the “darker” side of town to let it all hang out, though I think B.B.’s sincerity makes it seem more endearing (especially when he’s talking about soul food) than totally ignorant (A fine line admittedly, and maybe it’s just me, but since I’ve been doing cultural studies research on race and representation, I feel like I hear this trope a lot in the 50s and 60s).
B.B. certainly was attempting to do his part to bridge the Soul / Hippie divide, this especially comes out during his version of “People Get Ready” which contains these pearls of wisdom towards the end.
What the fuck good is it to live
if you don’t know what you’re alive for,
So I ask you,
I ain’t talkin’ hippy talk,
and I ain’t talkin’ freak talk,
I’m talkin’ bout life,
I’m talkin’ about the way it was,
the way it is and the way it always will be…
Not much else to say other than that…enjoy the music.
