Tune of the Week: The Last Poets
While exactly who The Last Poets are varies depending on whom you speak to, one thing is clear: they are pro-Black, anti-establishment and proto-Hip Hop.
Tune of the Week: Marshall Allen Turns 100
When the almighty Sun Ra departed this planet in 1993, multi-instrumentalist Marshall Allen took over leading the world renown Sun Ra Arkestra. Having joined the band in 1958, Allen knew the repertoire inside and out. In the last ten years the band has seen an even greater amount of fame and notoriety. They continue to to record regularly and tour extensively. This week found Marshall Allen turning 100, proof positive that music can help keep you young. All hail the interstellar maestro!
Tune of the Week: Ol' Dirty Bastard
After the blockbusting success of Wu-Tang Clan’s debut album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), a flurry of record deals were signed for the individual members. The first to get one of these deals was producer RZA’s cousin, Russel Tyrone Jones or as the RZA deemed him: the Ol’ Dirty Bastard. ODB’s release, “Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version”, is a much a psychological study as an album. At turns unpredicatable, aggressive, uneven, disturbing and hilarious Dirt McGirt’s full length is a heady classic for the ages. Pitchfork has a modern day review up, filled with lots of quality insight.
Tune(s) of the Week: RIP Steve Albini
It’s hard to imagine a bigger figure in the late 80s and 90s indie rock scene than Steve Albini. Steve was many things: an engineer, a studio owner, a provocateur, a pragmatist, a guitar player, a writer, a cook, a prankster, an editor, a mentor and a sage. Above all, he was a down to earth, unpretentious Chicago guy.
His first band, Big Black, was considered to be crucial listening amongst noisey/dark rock aficiandos. His guitar tone was similar to his physical appearance and personality: wiry and abrasive.
His third band, Shellac, was a no-nonsense power trio:
His approach to recording bands was similar to his personal expression: direct and raw. Most famously his mix of Nirvana’s “In Utero” album was rejected by their label. His recordings and mixes were not only clear and concise, but gave you a sense of being in the room with the artists.
Steve Albini was one of one and can never be replaced. Rest in Power!
Tune(s) of the Week: Al Jourgensen in the Session in the Bathroom
Throughout the 80s Al Jourgensen made huge strides in electronic music. Starting out with Ministry as a synth-pop group for a major label to taking industrial dance music and the Wax Trax! label to dizzying heights, Al was seemingly an unstoppable force. During this astronomical climb came some curious collaborations and along with those some wild stories of Al’s demeanor, particularly when it came to do weird stuff in the studio bathroom The second Ministry album found Jourgensen working with UK reggae and samping whiz Adrian Sherwood:
Fellow Jourgensen related musician Luc Van Acker later told of Al’s bathroom shenanigans:
“I was in London at Southern Studios when Al was mixing Ministry with Adrian Sherwood, and Al would go to the toilet and copy down the studio settings Adrian used for his effects on toilet paper and put them in his trousers. When we got back to the hotel Al would take all this toilet paper out of his trousers and shout numbers at me, like ‘37, 43’ and I would take notes. But Al would not remember what those numbers were for anymore. I still have this notebook full of the numbers of Adrian’s settings. Al was an absolute big fan of Adrian Sherwood, and they were really good friends. But of course Adrian Sherwood was not so happy Al started to use all his tricks.”
In 1987 Jourgensen had the opportunity to collaborate with straight-edge punker Ian McKaye and form the project Pailhead.
Once again, Al took to the studio bathroom to act like a weirdo:
“I was a little nervous about working with Ian, who is this real straight-edge icon. He doesn’t drink or do drugs. I didn’t know how we’d get along. I had a stash of cocaine and heroin that I had been doing and I kind of couldn’t stop… I didn’t want Ian to know I was doing drugs because I had heard he was really pompous, so I told him I had a bladder problem. Then I’d go to the bathroom, shoot up or snort, and come out either sniffing or with blood trickling down my arm. After about the 10th time I came out of the bathroom with white circles under my nose, Ian said, “Dude, I know what you’re doing. It’s okay. Do what you have to do. Just don’t lie to me about it.” I thought that was so cool of him.”
So, if you ever find yourself faced with a studio session with Mr. Jourgensen and the bathroom door is locked, assume the worst!
Tune of the Week: Clifford Brown and Max Roach
One of the great tragedies of jazz is the untimely death of the great trumpet player Clifford Brown. In his early twenties he was a member of one of the most famous iterations of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His quintet with Max Roach set the bebop world on its head. In four years he made an indelible impression on the jazz world and died in a car crash at the tender age of 25. RIP.
Tune of the Week: Laibach on The Beatles
In 1988 the Slovenian/Yugoslavic band Laibach recorded a subversive version of The Beatles final full length release, “Let It Be”. Unsurprisingly, there are some curious moments in the world clashing project. However, the dissent band’s take on John Lennon’s “Across the Universe” may trump the original in terms of sheer beauty!
Tune of the Week: Original Hamster
Original Hamster is the brainchild of Santiago, Chile based artist Vicente Sanfuentes. This moniker always Sanfuentes the ability to cover well known songs in curious and hilarious ways. Here he mashes and mangles up a sweet Paul McCartney ode he wrote for his dog.
Tune of the Week: Don Drummond
As an original member of The Skatalites trombonist Don Drummond is one of the cornerstones of Jamaican popular music. Drummond was taught at the Alpha Boys’ School, a Catholic boarding school for wayward youths. In addition to learning trades kids could also learn to play music there. Many of the main musicians in the Kingston studios during the development of ska, rocksteady and reggae were taught there. Drummond’s life was cut short in tragic fashion at the ripe age of 36 with a tale of murder, madness and possilbe institutional neglect. Despite the darkness surrounding his life’s end, the music Don Drummond left behind is sweet as evidenced by this groovy cha-cha styled number.
Tune of the Week: Georgia Anne Muldrow
Georgia Anne Muldrow exemplifies Black Excellence. She is a singer/songwriter/MC/producer. She strives for social justice as well as creative freedom. She makes rap songs and funk songs and r ‘n’ b songs. She excels at singing, rapping, drum programming and synthesizing. She is prolific and inspring. Rock on, Georgia!
Tune of the Week: RIP Dexter Romweber
Dexter Romweber was a true rock ‘n’ roller. He devoted to the form of the music, playing mostly covers of long forgotten songs played on ancient jukeboxes. He adhered to the form’s inherent lack of perfection and played with wild abandon on his electric guitar. His band, The Flat Duo Jets, made a barnburning appearance in the documentary “Athens, GA” in the early 80s, but didn’t put out a record until much later. Hype and glory were never the emphasis, only the rocking and the rolling. He passed away on February 16 of this year and joined the great jam in the sky. RIP Dex!
Tune of the Week: RIP Damo Suzuki
The experimental vocalist Damo Suzuki has passed away. Suzuki’s impromptu vocal stylings have helped the band Can come into worldwide prominence. In his later years Suzuki toured extensively, even through sickness, almost always playing with unique bands put together with whomever was available for the gig. Going all the way back to 1973, here we can hear him with Can going at full strength. Rest in power, Damo!
Tune of the Week: Jeff Mills on the 909
Jeff Mills is a legendary Detroit Techno producer and DJ. His DJ performances often include multiple decks and a Roland TR-909 drum machine. Here Mills demonstrates his ability to program the machine on the fly in a way that comes off very much like a performance. Amazing!
Tune of the Week: Acid Tracks
In North America, electronic music was pioneered by Black artists. In Chicago, DJs utilized bits of gear designed by Roland as accompaniment to more traditional instruments to craft a new subgenre of music: Acid House. Acid Tracks is regarded as a cornerstone of which the entire subgenre was formed. If you’re curious about more of this squelchy music, check Ed DMX’s recommendations here.
Tune of the Week: Macka B
Macka B is a UK vocalist who performs in a “singjay” style- part deejaying (rapping) and part singing. He got his first recording break working with producer Mad Professor at Ariwa Studios. These days he is best known for his two healthy eating Youtube series, “Wha Me Eat Wednesdays” and “Medical Mondays” where he promotes healthy eating by making up acapella songs about different natural ingredients and their benefits. Here Macka exults the joys of playing reggae music on 7” vinyl, which is a prevalent attitude here at Spacey King HQ!
Tune of the Week: Compton Meets The Blues
Here’s a bit of a weird one from 1993. M.C. Chile’ is obviously inspired by NWA (Eazy-E, in particular) and I assume Koncrete Jungo supplies the pedestrian beat. The whole thing is seen over by blues musician Swamp Dogg, putting in blues guitar licks and a little bit of funk. The internet does not have a whole lot o be say about this curious release. Given the questionable quality of the production it seems appropriate, but the streetwise lyrics of this tune still ring true over 30 years later.
Tune of the Week: Kanga Roo
After releasing a couple of albums of textbook Power Pop, Memphis’ Big Star were set to implode. Both inintal albums were critical hits but poor distribution led to commercial failure. One by one, each member ended up leaving. Ardent Studios owner John Fry continued to believe in singer-songwriter Alex Chilton and gave him keys to the studio. Hopped up on booze and downers, Chilton and his girlfriend would go to the studio late at night and record. After one late night session, legendary musician-producer Jim Dickinson showed up with a challenge by Alex and finish a track he had begun recording the night before. Up to the challenge, Dickinson pulled out all the stops and the result is one of Big Star’s most ethereal and unhinged songs. RIP Alex and Jim.
Tune of the Week: Trans Europa Express
Here’s the icey title track to Kraftwerk’s sixth album, “Trans Europe Express”. The traveling theme first presented on their epic “Autobahn”, this tune eludes to travel by train. The proto-industrial vibes are continued on the next track on the album, “Metal on Metal”:
These tunes very much exemplify the band’s evolution towards more syncopated and proto-techno output that would come in the proceeding years.
Tune of the Week: Malcolm X No Sell Out
Keith LeBlanc is a drummer and producer who has been on the scene for many of the 20th Century’s most notable musics. He was a session musician for the Sugarhill Gang at the beginning of recorded HipHop. He also a session musician connected to producer Adrian Sherwood at a time when he was producing both UK reggae and Industrial music, including working on Nine Inch Nails’ seminal first album “Pretty Hate Machine”. After hearing Grandmaster Flash mix together breakbeats and spoken word, LeBlanc recorded this funky tribute to Malcolm X. Utilizing bits from various speeches, LeBlanc provided the Industrial Dance scene a blueprint for a style that would transform club music in the late 80s and early 90s.
Tune of the Week: King Crimson in the Red
After forming King Crimson in 1968 Robert Fripp had gone through multiple line-ups of varying size. By 1974 Fripp had settled on a quartet. While diminutive in size, the 1972-75 incarnation of the band was one of the most intense musically. Featuring bassist and singer John Wetton, Bill Bruford on drums and multi-instrumentalist David Cross the streamlined King Crimson was able to enter into heavy metal/jazz territory in their infamous live performances. The title of their final studio recording, “Red”, is suggestive of over-driven audio signal, but also appropriate for the level and intensity of the musicianship. Buckle up for this one!