Depeche Mode’s 2023 album “Memento Mori” serves as the band’s pandemic album as well as tribute to their fallen member Andy Fletcher. The title of the album loosely translates as “remember that you must die” and sets the dark tone appropriately. Back in 1986 they said that “death is everywhere” and nearly twenty years later, that proves to be the case literally. “People are Good” is ironically titled, with the lyrics dealing with losing the fight to cynicism in dealing with the rest of humanity. The provocative video does a good job of subverting expectations. “Keep fooling yourself…”
It’s hard to talk about the history of Jamaican popular music without mentioning The Ethiopians. Their 1967 hit “Train to Skaville” heralded in the Rocksteady era. Here they are in all their early Reggae glory with a fantastic ganja tune. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em and stay red!
Here in the northern hemisphere darkening times are upon us once again, and not just politcally. Here is a pretty piece of guitar work from Bill Bartlett and the Country Paupers. It served as the b-side to their only single, “Chicken Squawk”.
Here’s another spooky season favorite: the closing track from Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ominous masterpiece, “Tinderbox”. This track seems literally Gothic in the ornately intertwining patterns of the instruments. The opening track, “Cities in Dust”, gets all the fame but Siouxsie’s entreat here to take a walk with her by the sea ends the album with a particularly sinister tone.
Here’s a spookytime favorite from the media mavens Greater Than One. Definitely a track best played in the late night hours in the dark very loud!
This is a story about a little song no one believed in that became a hit for two individual artists. “Der Kommissar” was originally written by Robert Ponger for Reinhold Bilgeri who rejected it. Ponger took it to Falco who re-worked it into a pseudo-rap in 1981. Flaco did not really think it was single worthy, as the chorus was heavily influenced by Rick James’ smash “Super Freak”. His record label thought better and it became Falco’s first hit in multiple countries.
in 1982, one-time prog rock band After the Fire was reinventing themselves to fit in the New Wave scene. They decided to cover “Der Kommissar” with what I assume to be radically different lyrics in English:
This proved to be a big hit for the band, hitting the top 5 in the US. However, this success came too late as the band had already broken up after several years of lineup and stylistic changes. Their record company begged them to come back, at least to tour off the success of the single, to no avail. In fact, the band had sold off the instrumental track to singer Laura Branigan:
The song no one seemed to believe in much had surprising longevity. It also helped bring to life some textbook ridiculous 80s videos!
The TONTO was a monstrous synthesizer created by Malcom Cecil and Robert Margouleff in the early 70s. Modern-day Eurorack modular setups make this looks VERY inefficient, but this is what it took to get multi-timbrality back in the day. Here’s a clip of the beast in action with “Fifth Beatle” Billy Preston behind the keys.
Back in the early 60s in the UK the cultural influence of the Windrush Generation was in full swing. One of the consequences of this was an appreciation for the rebelious sounds coming from Jamaica among underprivileged white youth. Thus, skinhead reggae culture was born. This culture is alive and well in the 21st century, often intersecting with hardcore punk. One of the more prominent producers of this brand of reggae was Joe Mansano. Many of Joe’s singles featured the trombonist Rico Rodriguez, a graduate of the Alpha Boys School in Kingston. This school was for wayward boys and was run by a bunch of nuns. It also pumped out a disproportionate amount of artists who went on to create what is broadly known as reggae, even in the England!
Hermeto Pascoal was a Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He composed for and performed with Miles Davis, which brought his unique talents to an international audience. Here’s an overview of his musical life:
In 1969 German keyboardist Ingfried Hoffmann recorded a number of tunes covering or inspired by the Memphis r’n’b sound. Utilizing the certified funky Hammond B-3 organ, Hoffmann created music that would sound completely relevant amongst all the neo-funk bands of today. These tunes were marketed under the band name Memphis Black and went on to become sought after in the UK’s Northern Soul scene. Dig!
Here’s a little experiment with a seemingly terrible idea: put three genius bandleaders in the same room and make some music together. By the time Money Jungle was recorded in 1962, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach were all successful composers, musicians and bandleaders. What could go wrong? The tension apparently hit a threshold after recording this tune, leading Mingus to storm out of the studio with bass in hand. Ellington caught him at the elevator and successfully talked him back into the session. While to can often bust pipes, pressure can also create diamonds. All the awkwardness was worth it in the long run. This album has gone on to inspire a great deal of future musicians.
Daptone Records has been the A1 source of the retro soul movement for decades. Before that was Desco Records. Desco tried to pass off their newly created wares as actual archive recordings newly unearthed. One of the finest records they produced was by the afrobeat loving Daktaris. Featuring future members of Antibalas, the album cover claims that it was “recorded in Nigeria”. However, the scam inherent to this group is simply stated by reading the name of the above tune backwards. Yojne!
Senor Coconut is one of seemingly endless aliases of electronic musician Uwe Schmidt. After moving to Santiago, Chile in the mid-90s Schmidt became enamored with Latin rhythms and set up this alias as a means to explore this new fascination, as well as pay tribute to some of his favorite musicians. On his second full length outing, “El Baile Aleman”, Coconut pays homage to Kraftwerk. Senor Schmidt displays in fine style that not all intricately programmed electronic music needs to be earnest. (Oh yeah, and this was made all on an MPC!)
“Boys and Girls”, the debut album by Alabama Shakes, is a masterclass in saturation. Everything is LOUD, as things in a rock record should be! Through the distortion, Brittany Howard’s inspiring words cut through. The live version slaps, as well:
It’s hard to think of many more TV show themes as instantly memorable as “The X-Fiies” theme. I know people who have never seen the show recognize it. RIP Mark Snow. Here’s a clip of him talking about the origin of the tune:
Deadbeat is a Berlin-based Canadian musician who makes multiple types of dub-derived music. Here he mixes hiphop, reggae and ambient to great effect. Perfect for those hot summer days that call for moments of being as still as possible.
7FO is an Osaka-based electronic musician. He keeps his identity private, so there is very little information to be found regarding the artist. His sound is based in ambient and dub and sounds decidedly Japanese. Sit still and vibe out!
Hailing from Austin, Gary Clark Jr. is the heir-apparent of Texas Blues. His studio recordings find him mixing up his blues stylings with R’n’B and HipHop, but in a live setting he is the most electrifying blues guitarist since Stevie Ray Vaughn. Just when you think the first solo is mean, the second solo he takes rips your whole face off!
It is arguable that David Bowie had a creatively tough time in the 1980s. After making big waves in the rock scene throughout the 70s, the turn of the decade saw him leaning less towards innovating and more towards entertaining. His first album of the decade, “Let’s Dance” saw him relying heavily on producer Nile Rodgers. While it produced monster hits, the deep cuts were lacking much of the creativity that made his previous albums so great. The follow-up release to this massive success was “Tonight”, a massive flop. One of the highlights of this venture was the lead-off track, “Loving the Alien”, a rare glimpse into Bowie’s anti-religious beliefs. The video is perhaps one of the most creative things to come out of the period. Band members and sets were modeled off of surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico’s works.
