November 19th, 2009
Montreal Dubstep ambassador Komodo knows how to have a good time. The promoter and host of the city’s best bass music night, Komodo Dubs, is an infectious whirlwind of energy behind the decks–bouncing, swaying and generally acting like a one man cheerleader for Croydon’s musical offspring in the land of plaid shirts and bad indie bands. Taking the stage at Montreal’s SAT club/art-space with a sampler full of new material, Komodo’s spaced-out take on Dubstep was more live performance than DJ set, punctuated by live subbass courtesy of the man’s trademark didgeridoo and a fantastic interpretive dance piece by an uncredited artiste seemingly ripped straight out of 19th century opium dream. If all this sounds gimmicky on paper, rest assured that when powered by government-funded subwoofers (viva la socialism) and a Redman approved-blunt full of berry-blaster, the fusion of traditional Australian instrumentation, London-dread and Holy-Ghost dancing proved that a “DJ set” could be as theatrical and visually arresting as any other live performance. By the time the dancer took her bow, the crowd was almost too mesmerized to bounce to the high-energy riddims that ended the set. Almost.
Bravely named 19-year-old London headliner Sukh Knight on the other hand went straight for the jugular, attacking the crowd with a relentless barrage of skanking, high-energy half-step for the majority of his 90+ minutes on stage. Built mostly out of his own tracks including the devastatingly heavy Ganja (twice reloaded) and the Doggystyle sampling “Beneath your Blouse”, Sukh’s set was an exemplary demonstration of 2009 Dubstep at its best. Admittedly inspired by 90’s rap alums Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the kid’s material is equal part menace and aggression, well suited for both head nodding and bouncing. Though electronic music’s chin-stroking set occasionally bemoans Dubstep’s current direction, it’s hard to argue with a packed room full of people losing their minds to the music, particularly when at least half of those people were straight dime pieces. Besides, the night’s biggest reaction may well have gone to the delirious tune “Sweet Shop: by Doctor P, a funky mix of acid house, D&B and wobble that proves that the genre’s multiple directions can not only coexist but also recombine into something even fresher and more exciting.
Download:
MP3: Sukh Knight – “Ganja Dub”
MP3: Sukh Knight-”Knight Life”
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November 18th, 2009
The label says “featuring Aarya,” but you’d be forgiven for mistaking the digitized vocalist on Guido’s newest A-side “Beautiful Complication” for yet another sheet of synths layered into the mix. Taking Autotune&B to its logical conclusion, the Bristol Wunderkind’s blend of early experimental Timbaland, Rave music euphoria and Dubstep heaviness smoothes over any roughness inherent in the track. The results practically negate the lyrical drama: this is seduction music for the medicated generation with production so shiny it should come with it’s own Pen & Pixel cover and Hype Williams video. With so many producers retreating to predictable Garage rhythms when faced with the onslaught of filthy half-step tunes now dominating the scene, it’s encouraging to see the Bristol kids finding a third way forward, keeping the swinging heaviness but saturating the high end with musical neon and much needed femininity.
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November 2nd, 2009
Sach O can’t stop partying.
When it came to vocalists, Reggae fans became increasingly open-minded in the 1970’s. From weirdo toasters to Rastafarian firebrands, Jamaican audiences quickly embraced the unique voices that followed Reggae’s creative boom leaving a number of wonderful Rocksteady acts in the dust. Thankfully, not all soul-influenced groups faded into the sunset–many persisted and found success, bridging their earlier romantic approach with the rebellious spirit of the times, resulting in powerful, gospel-like paeans to Jah and sufferer’s odes to Jamaican life. Of these groups, few were as successful as the legendary Heptones whose collaborations with maverick genius Lee “Scratch” Perry stand as some of the finest Jamaican music ever recorded.
Like the Temptations teaming up with Norman Whitfield, The Heptones’ work with Perry is a daring fusion of pure soul and psychedelic weirdness. Known for velvety voices that would have been just as comfortable belting out ballads in Detroit or Memphis as rockers in Kingston, the Heptones weren’t obvious candidates for the Upsetter’s avant-garde production. Thankfully, what could have been a total mess instead feels like the best of both worlds on Party Time!–a record that merges the group’s perfect pitch with Scratch’s bubbling soundscapes.
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Posted in Reggae, Diggin' in the Digital Crates, Sach O | 2 Comments »
October 20th, 2009
With Jeff holding down all things Low End and Brainfeeder, I’ve quietly become obsessed with the work of Dayve Hawk AKA Memory Tapes AKA Memory Cassette AKA Weird Tapes AKA Dangerdoom (err…). Madlibesque affinity for alter-egos aside, Hawk’s take on dream-pop defies the reductive signifiers foisted on the latest batch of indie-influenced electronic musicians (or is it electronic-influenced indie musicians?) Forgoing obvious nostalgia, summery vibes and all things “chill”, Walk Me Home stands out for its refusal to conform to the elements that have ”Glo-fi” pegged as the next trip-Hop: a musical genre lauded by taste-makers one minute and mocked the next. Merging the scrappy fidelity of early techno, sounds and chords of cheap synthesized movie scores and all-out fun of Acid House, the track makes a strong case for continuing to listen now that the leaves are falling and beach parties have made way for Haunted Houses.
Download:
MP3: Memory Tapes - Walk Me home [Via Z-Share]
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October 17th, 2009
I don’t think one ever needs an excuse to post an Al Green song, but just in case: it’s Saturday morning. There. Music nerds take note: Howard Grimes’ drumming flips from a syncopated break on the intro to a driving soul beat in the verses and back to a slow-and-low breakdown for the choruses. Who says Soul musicians can’t get their prog on?
Download:
MP3: Al Green - Stay with me Forever
Posted in Sach O | 3 Comments »
October 13th, 2009
Sach O never joined the Psychic Friends Network.
Paper Mache
Dionne Warwick built her career by flipping the conventions of easy listening and infusing them with soul and passion but it’s still shocking to hear her weary, resigned kiss-off to the 60’s consumer culture she was supposed to embody. While the hippies were raging from the outside, Dionne takes an insider’s look at modern culture’s failure to offer anything of substance to the people whose lives it was supposed to enrich. Years after punk dulled our ears to the electric guitar, it’s still shocking to hear this kind of stuff over xylophones and accordions.
Wives and Lovers
Opening with off-kilter ¾ jazz drumming, “Wives and Lovers” is Dionne getting to play bad girl, threatening a housewife that she’ll steal her man right from under her. On one hand, the whole thing feels like a period piece to modern ears but on the other, just how many R&B singers are singing about the exact same thing with a few extra slang words in 2009?
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October 12th, 2009
Sach O would have totally hit that back in the 60’s.
When it comes to pop music idolatry and indie cred name-dropping, composer Burt Bacharach, lyricist Hal David and singer Dionne Warwick are simultaneously too conservative and too radical to get theirs. They didn’t rock the pop world like The Beatles, waste-away in an acid fueled nightmare like Brian Wilson or produce the Ramones at gunpoint like Phil Spector; so for second-generation flower children and fist-shaking punks, the trio weren’t the first choice in the stylistic-revival lottery. Taken on their own terms however, the Bacharach/David/Warwick alliance was remarkably prescient: their producer-singer format would go on to become the de-facto standard in black pop and their chamber music orchestration would find a home with everyone from twee kids to psychedelic soul artists. Or put another way: how many groups do YOU know that can claim influence on Timbaland and Aaliyah, Belle & Sebastian, Isaac Hayes AND Stevie Wonder in equal measure? These days, Bacharach and David get occasional props, be it Austin Powers shout-outs or band nerds conspiring to bring back string sections but truthfully, they would just be a forgotten (if remarkably talented) 60’s songwriting team if it weren’t for their secret weapon: Dionne Warwick.
Paving the way for every black vocalist who’s tried her hand at the pop charts, a quick look at Warwick’s career reads like a how-to guide to contemporary success. She couldn’t belt them out like Aretha or play teenager like Dianna but Dionne’s take on swinging-sixties pop was equal parts seduction and heartbreak. Combined with her image as a sophisticated black woman, that seduction was something that couldn’t be discounted in an era where inter-racial relationships were still verboten. Before James Brown came out and said that he was black and proud, Warwick was making strides for racial equality by being the sultriest singer on the pop charts, race be damned. Whitney, Mariah and Beyonce all owe their stardom to the post Brill-building pop that Warwick recorded with her producers.
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Posted in Diggin' in the Digital Crates, Sach O | 6 Comments »
October 2nd, 2009
I’ve been vaguely obsessed wit this song for the past few days. While the E6 collective were too-often deified (and later written off) as 60’s revivalists, their best work managed to transcend their Wilson/Lennon/McCartney fetishes to reach altogether weirder and more experimental territory. “Black Foliage Animation” from which California Demise originates is the perfect example: a sprawling 27 track opus full of noise collages, brilliant pop songs and subtle recurring themes; it defies conscious understanding (and review) working best on a primordial level, preferably one reached through copious drug use.
A decade’s end list’s worth of bands have consciously tried to “advance pop music” in the 00’s but the results have often been forced or uninteresting for anyone without horn-rimmed glasses. The Olivias somehow managed to make music far weirder than the average Art-history degree toting New York band while somehow keeping things inviting and tuneful. Placed smack-dab in the middle of their most daunting album, California demise starts off as a riffy Horse-with-no-name aping strummer before exploding into a fuzzed out acid-fueled Southern-Gothic poem about pyromaniac saints and nocturnal angels. There are horns, guitar solos and the best use of an accordion this decade by a non-Colin Meloy affiliated band. And that’s before the disorienting breakdown, return to the original melody and intentional digital skip (can you catch it?).
Download:
MP3: Olivia Tremor Control - California Demise
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September 29th, 2009
Possibly my favorite Ghostface track of all time. “In the Rain (Wise)” first appeared on the Canadian edition of Supreme Clientele and I’ve always thought of it as part of that classic. The is the joint where Ghost perfected that “rhyme all over a soul song” idea that’s become a signature part of his style, absolutely BODYING the Dramatics’ psychedelic soul classic ”In the Rain”. Building on the original’s theme of heartbreak, Ghost pens a heart-wrenching dedication to a friend/mentor delivered in the kind of dusted-New York 5%er poetry that arguably made him the best writer of his era. But the miraculous part is the flow: Ghost spits so vivid that even if you’d never heard rap before, the urgency and pain in his voice paint the whole picture. This is the morning after “Impossible”.
Download:
MP3: Ghostface Killah - Wise (In the Rain)
Posted in Sach O | 5 Comments »
September 28th, 2009
Sach O’s R&B dick is on Thursdays (II).
If you think about it, Raekwon The Chef and Ghostface Killah just dropped a bizarro-world Speakerboxxx/Love Below on us highlighting the extremes of their respective personalities. While Rae spent the past few years crafting the thuggish if reflective narratives of Cuban Linx II, Ghost has been working on “his R&B album”– a purportedly more mature offering that he’s been hinting at ever since the promo run for Pretty Toney. The timing couldn’t have been better. While The Big Doe Rehab featured its share of highlights, it was also the first Ghostface album to feel like…just another Ghostface album. A well-versed fan of Dennis Coles is well aware of the man’s ear for classic soul and R&B guest spots and a return to the knowledge kicked earlier in Ghost’s career could be invigorating after a few years of crack rap. However, the same prospect of an R&B album also raises the specter of 14 “Back like that’s”: compromised label-pleasing songs that do more to highlight Def Jam’s R&B roster than Ghostface’s talent behind the mic. So what do we get, dope or dog food?
A little of both. As a whole, The Wizard of Poetry succeeds but it’s also impossible to listen to without the nagging doubt that it was compromised by poor A&Ring and industry constraints. The emceeing is never at fault and Ghost nails practically every verse on the album with the incredibly raunchy Stapleton Sex and the classic long-form storytelling rhyme on Guesthouse alone proving that he’s still the most consistently excellent MC in his age group. When paired with the right singer and hook such as Raheem DeVaughn on “Do Over,” a brilliant slice of soul that should have gotten the 7+ minute extended Isaac Hayes treatment, Ghost’s emotional rhymes mesh perfectly with the guest vocals making it clear that he’s just as adept on smooth tip as he is bagging crack with Rae. But while the rhymes remain stellar and the highlights rank with Ghost’s best, the proceedings are occasionally derailed by cheap production and budget-brand crooners.
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