Luke Schneider is a new age/ambient artist based out of Nashville, TN. His mode of expression is playing the pedal steel guitar through a couple of arrays of pedal boards outfitted with various effects and loopers. With this setup Luke is able to create textures and tones that more resemble those of synthesizers than that of guitars. Add to that the inherent slurs and slides of the instrument and what you get is an otherworldly soundscape that Luke is able to create within. Click play and chill out!
The late 80s and early 90s saw a rise in electronic music thanks to the increasing popularity of the rave scene in the UK. Alongside increased popularity of the music came the pressure to promote it as other popular music was at the time, with music videos. A big problem with this is that computers, drum machines and synthesizers do not make for compelling visuals. This led to some curious and often unfortunate decisions by video producers and bands.
808 State struck the big time first by breaking into the UK top ten in 1989. Their video solution in 1990 for “Cubik” was to pantomime as if they created the tune with traditional instruments and having exactly one friend come in the dance along.
The Prodigy was very much the poster-child act for the rise of the rave scene in mainstream England. Their 1991 single, “Everybody in the Place”, reached number 2 in the UK charts. The solution to capturing dance music in a video was to focus on the dancing, which makes a fair amount of sense. However, the fact that they felt the need to candy color every shot in post-production emphasizes the inherent boring nature of such an undertaking.
GTO didn’t fair much better with the same tactic. In fact, the severely limited cast in this video seems downright depressing and serves as a kind of emphasis of how small a scene dance music really was back in the early 90s.
The following year hardcore legends Acen are still putting the emphasis on a couple of dancers, but mix up the footage with a strange combination of archival footage and claymation. This one definitely hits closer to the tone of the tune but is still no closer to a definite answer as how to capture the spirit of music made on computers for people dancing in the dark.
Louis Cole is Los Angeles based singer-songwriter who catapulted to popularity through a Youtube video for his song “Bank Account”. Cole a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, but prefers to work outside professional studios and often writes humorous songs. He has claimed he only trying to write his own favorite songs. If you think he is stylistically similar to Thundercat you are not completely off-base, as they are close friends and collaborators. He’s given a private performance for Quincy Jones and co-writen a song with Seal. Above is a funky song about ditching perfectionism and the video is a thrill-ride of unexpected turns.
Alongside producer Prince Paul, De La Soul infused their first three albums with a lot of silliness. Their first album, “3 Feet High and Rising”, was glued together with skits involving a made-up TV game show. Their second full-length, “De La Soul is Dead”, told the tale of the album as heard by bullies who stole it off a younger kid who found it in the trash. The third album by the trio, “Buhloone Mind State”, did away with any linearity and took on a more surreal feel with the skits. Among all these albums are tracks that aren’t quite skits nor songs. This is where Prince Paul’s and De La’s creativity really shines:
This non-song from their first album sparked the first high-profile sampling lawsuit, which in turn changed the course of HipHop production for several years.
Incidentally, At the gig that landed them their recording contract with Warner Bros, The Flaming Lips played this interlude on loop for about an hour while constantly filling the venue with fog before taking the stage.
The bitterness and humor that permeates “De La Soul is Dead” comes to a ridiculous apex with this non-skit/non-song telling the tale of how a near-do-well spends his day.
The surreal vibes of “Buhloone Mind State” really takes a left turn when they put some Japanese MCs on a track. This is surely the first time Japanese raps were put on a mainstream release.
In all of examples De La and Prince Paul prove that sometimes the only way up is out!
The Specials were indeed that. Leaders of the 2 Tone and second wave ska movements, they were a multiracial, anti-racist band that found success in conservative times. Lead singer Terry Hall went on the form the bands Colourbox and Fun Boy Three. Having lifelong trauma from having been kidnapped by a paedophile ring at age 12, Hall died of pancreatic cancer last month at age 63. In addition to his ska hits, Hall also helped the new wave band The Go-Go’s hit the big time by co-penning their breakout single, “Our Lips Are Sealed” with guitarist Jane Weidlin. RIP to an original rude boy!
On February 12, 2023 David Jude Jolicoeur, aka Trugoy The Dove aka Plug 2 aka Dave, passed away at age 54. De La Soul is a constant reminder that HipHop can be more than tough guy attitude and fancy cars and jewelry. They blazed a path in the mainstream for people to be themselves and express who they are, not what other expect them to be. They have had more than their fair share of business ups and downs. Their back catalog is set to finally be widely available after years of disputes. Subsequently, YouTube doesn’t garner much, but here’s a great clip of one of their late-era classics featuring another of HipHop’s outward thinkers and gone-too-sooners: MF Doom. Rest in peace Plug 2!
“Saxophone Colossus” is one of Sonny Rollins’ finest albums and “St. Thomas” is one of the finest opening tracks of all time. Drummer Max Roach plays his kit pitch-perfect and sets the stage for Rollins to blow his head off. A masterwork by true masters!
With this tune Roxy Music not only kicked off their first album but their entire legendary career with a blaster! It sets up the general tone of the band as retro and futuristic at the same time, as well as providing jazz-like mini solos for each of the individual artists featured. To get an even better big picture view of what they were putting out there in 1972, here’s a televison performance of the same tune. Dig the primitive video synthesizer textures!
“Innervisions” is one of Stevie Wonder’s greatest artist achievements. It is a grand statement of the underprivledged class living in the United States. Wonder not only wrote and arranged every song on the album, but played nearly every musical part himself. The opening track sets the tone perfectly, a funk song song about the very real need to escape the pressures of inner city life while poor through illicit drug use.
For their first few albums Depeche Mode took great care in how they opened and closed their full lengths. The opening track would almost certainly set the tone for the proceedings and the closing track would be a heavy-duty epic. For their larger than lfe sixth album, “Music For the Masses”, they came up with possibly the best opening track of all time. Themeatically, it has more than a passing resemblance to The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man”. Photographer Anton Corbijn created a humorous/surrealistic take on the tune in the video above that is well worth clicking full screen for. Enjoy!
Al Jourgensen took his Ministry project through many different phases before ascending to indie rock legend. First it was a new wave band and then a club hit project. Working with Adrian Sherwood on his second album “Twitch” led to a more industrial sound. It wasn’t until he mixed heavy metal and rock ‘n’ roll into the mix (thanks to side project Revolting Cocks) that Jourgensen began to see significant returns on his work. While still utilizing some electronic music production style, the fourth Ministry album “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” signaled a sharp right turn into a more traditional rock sound and typifies the industrial rock sound. Here, the opening track sets the listener up for what exactly is about to go down: “We’re gonna rip this motherfucker off. We’re going to tear this motherfucker down.” Headphones definitely recommended!
Back in 1989, TV network ABC took a big chance by signing weird movie maker David Lynch to helm a one hour prime time weekly drama. The gamble paid off as the pilot episode for “Twin Peaks” scored the highest Thursday night prime time ratings for the network in four years. Twin Peaks fever broke out worldwide. This fever even reached as far as the club and rave music worlds as Moby lifted the melody for “Laura Palmer’s Theme” for his smash hit “Go”. RIP Angelo Badalamenti!
A tactic The Beatles used to deal with their massive fame was to record and send Christmas messages to members of their fan club. Between 1963 and 1969 they took time out to record Christmas wishes, skits and other silliness, as well as songs to send in leiu of writing back to the throngs of letters they received throughout the year. Here’s a bit of what they came up with in 1967, considered by many to be the most accomplished of the holiday recordings. It serves as only one of two recordings credited to all four Beatles, as well as featuring the vocals of producer George Martin. Ho Ho Ho!
In 1977 Jim Henson created a holiday special about animals, barbecue and washtubs. It’s essentially “The Gift of the Magi”, but set in Appalachia. Here’s a tune from it about enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
Alvin and The Chipmunks was an audio gimmick that has proven to stand the test of time. Ross Bagdasarian experimented with speeding up vocal tracks for the novelty hit “Witch Doctor” and parlayed this success with the creation of a three part harmony group of anthropomorphized rodents. This venture has proved profitable well into the 21st century. Here is an approximation of what the original Chipmunks’ voices sounded like. Also: Santa Claus is not real! Happy Holidaze!
Before they became the Kings of Glitch, Autechre could put together some pretty and emotive tunes. Here’s a piece of theirs from 1995 showcasing some cool, calm and downright forelorn vibes. Perfect for these dark and dreary days of late autumn here in the Northern hemisphere.
It’s Thanksgiving week once again here in the US. Time for another tune of thanks, this time from The Gladiators. In classic Jamaican style, the origins of this recording are murky. A very similiar version was recorded by Yabby You, but this one appears to be a Tony Robinson production for Virgin Records. Regardless, it’s a Roots classic. Enjoy!
We’re pleased to announce the release of Lord Dubious’ debut full length release. Entitled “Opening In”, it features eleven soundscapes written and recorded over several years. Check the video for “Singularity” below and watch out for the full album release here and on Bandcamp December 2, 2022.
Gal Costa was one of the architects of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil, which fused traditional music with the avant garde, rock and roll as well as politics. As well as being an expert interpreter of some of Brazil’s finest songwriters, she was a major writer as well. As evidenced in the song above, she was an impassioned singer and performer. Rest in peace.
Another kindly reminder to use your power to vote. We’ve got to get over before we go under!
