We hear it all the time when people bring up 80's teen movies Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, blah, blah, blah. It’s like John Hughes (R.I.P.) was the only guy making teen movies with modern rock soundtracks. no offense cause I like many of his films but for me the teen 80's movie was a much more exciting experience beyond Porky's and Revenge of the Nerds.
Starting with the 80's Romeo and Juliet aka Randy and Julie in the awesome battle of skinny tie preppy new wave valleys against the hardcore hair dyed Punk Rock kids of North Hollywood...I am talking about 1983's Valley Girl. Featuring an 80's hottie (Deborah Foreman) and a pre-jerk off bad movie making Nicholas Cage this flick still holds up well as entertainment and a good look at kids and the horrible (down right disturbing!) clothes they wore of yore. While not much on sex and drugs, although we do get a E.G. Daily breast shot, this film had some fun moments and a soundtrack that bordered between some great 80's New Wave stuff (Josie Cotton, Bonnie Hayes, and Psychedelic Furs) and a bit of the downtown rock music that wasn't punk by any means (Pat Travers, Payolas, and the awesome The Plimsouls) just not the polished modern rock of say...The Knack, although I must lament that this soundtrack includes one of my personal top 5 most annoying songs Ever "Melt With You" by Modern English.
Next up is a movie that I CANNOT believe has gone unseen and underexposed for so many years! I am talking about the 1981 awesome film Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains...okay you may all scratch your heads with that dumb "What movie?" look on your pathetic mugs (I guess some of you had parents that did not let their child watch the BEST SHOW EVER...USA's Night Flight). Starring Diane Lane (and an remarkable hair style that I am shocked no one has copied), Laura Dern, members of The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Tubes (Fee Waybill in a hilarious prediction of what most bloated rockers of the late 70's early 80's would end up as...), and Ray Winestone.
The movie follows three dead end girls as they form a band and get put on a tour with two bands, one on their way up another on the downward spiral to Spinal Tap-ville. While it's kinda funny and a tad farfetched to see how the girls manipulate their way to being the top billed band via media tactics instead of talent (hmmm that sounds all too familiar) but the Joan Jett-esque way Diane Lane plays it (sexy and tough with just a hint of trashy) kinda makes you wish the Runaways movie was never made. Secondly the music kicks ass!!! There isn't much info out there about it and I am sure the re-release has came and went on a large scale, but I know the movie is available on Amazon from Rhino, but pick it up for incredible Sex-Pistols styled punk anthems like "Professionals" by both The Stains and The Looters, Waste of Time by The Stains, and "Conned Again" by The Looters written by musician Barry Ford who plays the bus driver Lawnboy. Also check out the comical opening song “I Slept in an Arcade" by Black Randy and the Metrosquad!!!
And finally just for poops and giggles I am putting up two albums by groups that were a part of some terrific soundtracks from this time as well. I will start with the Smithereens enduring album from 1986 Especially For You. While without any movie this album holds up there if you were a fan of The Replacements or R.E.M. at that time, also note it was produced by Don Dixon who worked with R.E.M. on Murmur and Reckoning. The song "Blood and Roses" was used in the out of print and memorable film Dangerously Close. If you can find a bootleg of this movie I highly suggest it, this is a really smart teen film right up there with River's Edge, WHAT? Geez didn't you people watch anything that didn't have Molly Ringwald in it? So enjoy this album as you certainly won't hear stuff as honest as this these days. And if you've got the currency word is The Smithereens will play at your house party, beat that Kid 'N Play! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LL0VJ7WA
And for our final band that was featured in an 80's teen movie I present to you The Rave Ups. Okay so at the beginning I know I cracked on Pretty in Pink but it was to prove a point. So to round it out and show no disrespect for Mr. Hughes or Ms. Ringwald I pick the album Town and Country from 1985 by The Rave Ups. In the scene where the chick brings her guy to the club to meet her friends and her guy friend the dorky one is being...blah, blah, blah. Anyway the band playing in the club is a LA via Pennsylvania band known as The Rave Ups and they played some appealing worthy rock music with a bit of twang to it, think The almighty Blasters more than say rockabilly type stuff. So here it is and as always...enjoy. http://rapidshare.com/files/142317163/PVAc0059.rar
Oh yeah this files is from another blog since i can't seem to find my file of this album and there is a password. The password for this file is PVAcblog. Sorry 'bout that.
Riddle me this...What do Billy Joel, G.Loveand the Special Sauce, Santogold, and early hardcore band Underdog have in common? The answer is Chuck Treece (born June 30, 1964) the multi-instrument playing, skateboarding, father of two who planted his roots in Philly to become not only a well rounded musician but a well rounded person all together. Disproving myths in the early 80's that blacks don't skate and to play rock music you had to grow dreads or look like a "rawker" Chuck Treece has been a person throughout my life that I have full respect for in the path he has laid. Plain and simple: Chuck Treece is a musician (and a damn good one!) NOT a rock star.
Starting in the early 80's with his band Mcshred/Mcrad Chuck came to my attention not through music but as a professional skateboarder popping up on the cover of Thrasher Magazine in 1984's May issue with a Layback Slide photographed by none other than the great Glen E. Friedman (if you don't know who this guy is please go perform oral on a hot curling iron RIGHT NOW!!!). Later I first heard Mcshred on the Thrasher Magazine Skate Rock Vol.4 performing an early version of the song Mcshred and Taz (also two of the best songs on this album) and went back to get vol. 2 of the Thrasher Skate Rock series to hear, as Mcrad, the songs Prevent This Tragedy and Tomorrow Headlines alongside songs by well known punk bands like T.S.O.L, Big Boys, The Faction, And Free Beer (feat. former pro skater Tommy Guerrero). On a side note one early Saturday morning while sleeping at a friend’s house we were awoken by Santa Cruz pro skater Greg Agulair if it was cool to skate the backyard half-pipe and of course we said yes. Along with Greg were two companions one a female and the other was CHUCK FU*&ING TREECE!!! I was so excited but of course my friends at the time didn't really know who he was...later on that same friend's punk band covered Mcrad's Weakness in 1993!!!
Then in 1988 when then Skateboard giant Powell-Peralta released the epic video Public Domain to introduce the world to guys like Ray Barbee, Chet Thomas, and Steve Siaz the music for the legendary song Weakness blasts through the TV speakers along with a newly amped up version of the song Mcshred. Ushering in a sound dubbed Skate Rock, a more melodic hybrid of punk and hardcore, Mcrad did a lot better with this style than most core punk/hardcore bands who changed their sound in the late 80's. (Gang Green and Dag Nasty are two that come to mind and let's not forget the last album by SS Decontrol!!!!)
While Mcrad's first album (Absence of Sanity) was released in 1987 or, 1988 depending on when your record store finally ordered the damn thing, was somewhat of an underground classic Chuck Treece began forging a solid reputation as a go to man for artists as varied as Billy Joel, Yes! that's his bass line on the hit song River of Dreams, The Goats, State Property, King Britt, Ben Arnold, Philly's Stiffed on their 2003 ep Sex Sells (feat. the vocals of the soon to be awesome Santogold aka Santi White), and playing on the G.Love and the Special Sauce Classic 1997's Yeah, It's That Easy (He received credit for the song Slipped Away (Ballad of Lauretha Vaird). Releasing two later albums by Mcrad 2007's FDR and a split with The Frontside 5 in 2009 Chuck is not just a studio musician but a man who still makes his own music.
Still skateboarding after all these years (he's that old dude you kiddies see at FDR in Philly!!!) Chuck Treece got married and is a proud father able to support his family doin what makes him happy and not losing the reasons he started all this at the core. Two get an idea of how awesome Chuck Treece is pick up both albums from Mcrad "Absence of Sanity" and "FDR" as well as the classic first Underdog album from 1989 "The Vanishing Point". For a broader idea of Chuck Treece's skill look for his lone solo album so far "Dreamin'" from 1991.
I recently got the chance to ask Chuck Treece a few questions just to see what the man is up to, his friendship w/ Ray Barbee and skateboarding and he was great enough to take the time to respond so here's a quick few words with Chuck Treece along with some albums the man likes, a video of Ray Barbee, MIKE WATT!!!, and Chuck Treece jamming, and some Mcrad treats for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!!!
1. 5 albums that would sum up your musical influences? (More if needed)
BAD BRAINS-ROIR SESSIONS
BAND OF GYPSIES LIVE
JIMI HENDRIX ELECTRIC LADY LAND
CLASH GIVE EM ENOUGH ROPE
CLINT EASTWOOD and GENERAL SAINT any selection from them
BOB MARLEY UPRISING
2. Your first intro to hardcore/punk music?
First intro into punk rock was listening to all kinds of music at an early age...punk rock embraces all styles of music...most of the bands I look up to started out a blues bands...that means they were understanding and connecting their dreams to a sense of rock and roll...the energy can always be aggressive or not so aggressive which embraces the youthful or more mature events in music...
3. You were actually a sponsored skateboarder at one point correct? Any sponsors now?
yep I have been sponsored since my senior year in high school 82..i am sponsored by robot guts,6 kids skateboards, bull and bear, ace trucks, projects sk8.FDR SK8 PARK and ALTER ST.
4. 5 albums you would have loved to be a part of? (Like bitches brew, double nickels on a dime, etc.)
ALL BLACK SABBATH RECORDS. and PINK FLOYD....
5. in a way you helped create one of the longest standing bands/names that started skate rock/punk being you were involved in the early thrasher tape series and the inclusion of weakness in public domain a song that has lasted nearly 20 years any interesting tales of that time in your life?
MY main goal with Mcrad was to take what I learned from my musical family also my family and friends in skateboarding. I wanted give that era and time the best anthem I could...I didn’t know what I was doing I was doing at that time, what I knew how to do was to live my rolling on 4 wheels and singing a melody in my mind..Philadelphia streets created weakness, i was the vessel for it....MCRAD was the place for that song and the movement for skateboarding to be created from....sounds all over the place but that’s how we did things at that time...Mcrad was just one side on how many great times we had in skateboarding and we are still have great times...
6. What made you change the band name from Mcshred to Mcrad?
mcshred came about w my friends who I skated with...Dicken Greene, Dave and Jason franks...Mcrad and mcshred were thought up by Greg from Husker Du while they were in Philly...it was another all over the place moment..People start talking and bringing positive energy to conversation and good ideals are created...we were so pumped...that happened at Jeff Jenkins house in west Philly...Jeff was a good friend and a great promoter of shows and radio at Drexel univ..WKDU
7. What are your kids listening too? And what of it drives you nuts?
My kids listen to music...all types of music...they also play music and love music for their own satisfaction...I love listening to young ears...it keeps me vibrant.
8. Do your kids know how cool dad REALLY is?
I think my kids see me as dad...they have a respect for whatever I do, however I am dad to them and I have to support my family as dad/chuck and I am happy with that...soon I will by grandpa and still young at heart on my skateboard and music....
9. Albums that make a good skate session?
albums that make a good skate session albums that are good for skate sessions are left up to the people in that session...I used to sk8 to reggae all the time and most skaters didn’t get it..Now everyone listens to reggae...I think skateboarding sessions create music when yer listening to music...so many great records that I have listened to skating Tom Groholski’s ramp...from joy division to Metallica...great times
10. What hip hop do you like?
hip hop with a great story and great music...right now I have been working with FREDDY FOX...I have been re learning what hip hop is....it’s seems like hip hop loves to be music more than just being hip hop....
11. This one is a tad lame but project of your own you are proud of and a collaborative/sideman project you are proud of?
I am proud of all my collab’s...I learn from all music and people inside of music...then I learn from family and such. All makes it worthwhile...I am in a great respect for a positive life thru collab’n in the arts...
12. Favorite skate video (and public domain is not an option! lol)
Fav sk8 video would be that crazy vid that Spike Jonze was involved with...thing blow’n up and all...real good things for kids and people to check...so many good videos..Stacy Peralta is still the most interesting when it comes to sk8 videos...he changed skateboarding forever...
13. Considering you guys are friends now and everything has Ray Barbee ever thanked you for making his first part in a skate video so dope by making the weakness/mcshred song? LOL!!! But how cool is that? You both were so to speak on the rise and it was your songs that introduced him to the skate world?
Ray Barbee has always shown gratitude and good times for all in skateboarding...we have BLK TOP and his tours together...so stoked that I know Ray...he’s a good person...
14. And of course what do you have coming up next? Where can we hear more chuck treece? Any thank you's?
NEVER ENDING DOMINANT FORCE is the next MCRAD/TREECE LP...it’s a new lp with a bunch of songs and recording thru the years...my love for what I call creative creation...it’s my only religion...skateboarding has kept me so close to music and I feel blessed to have my first knee scrape at 13 turn into the biggest event in my life..
I RIDE A SKATEBOARD......
13 TO 46
And moving forward...
Thanx and big ups to Buddah at ROBOT GUTS...we are striving to look after the art side of skateboarding/life for all types of people who like life. It is the most art that skateboarding will see.
Treece/Buddah ROBUT GUTS SF/PHL. TREECE/MCRAD/CHADWICK ST PRODUCTIONS/MEDIA BUREAU/BULL n BEAR PHL 2010 till done.
I'm keeping it short and simple. Clutch and Big Business are two great American bands that are fun and heavy. Here are two of the best from each band. Enjoy.
Well I ended up with damn virus and had to shut it down for a minute to get my computer back. And dammit if it don't feel good. Speaking of feelin' good i've got three beautiful albums worth of feel good music. First we'll start with a new album I heard straight from France. Yup I said it too...I don't really like many artists from (trying to avoid being a bigot here...) France!!! But this guy has more soul that all of detroit circa 68! Ladies and gentlemen Mr. Day from Lyon,France of the French jazz combo Metropolitan Jazz Affair, the main singer in The Dynamics, known for his Electro-Soul records released on indie label Rotax, as well as his superb featurings on productions by Boozoo Bajou, Patchworks and Mr President !. Mr. Day has been releasing a few singles starting with Soul On Wax (Favorite Recordings 2007) since 2007. Here is the first full length Small Fry featuring a more flushed out version of the aformentioned Soul On Wax. This will keep you groovin' through the warm Summer days like there is an oil slick under your feet. I dare you to not bounce your booty to the smashing "Get you point over". While the Curtis Mayfield influence is pretty obvious there's an abundance of great soul musings here including a down ass sexy soul rendition of the T.Rex classic "Bang-A-Gong". With styles ranging from Marvin Gaye to OhioPlayers to a song that wouldh've been at home on a Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson album. (Album closer "Both Sides") If this doesn't get you feeling good...check your pulse. You're probably dead!
Next is two classics that will fit right along with Mr. Day for your listening pleasure. Starting with 1993's Plantation Lullabies from songstress extrodinare Meshell Ndegeocello (Maverick 1993). This funky journey was nominated for three grammys and still holds it's weight over the entire so called neo-soul movement of that era. Free your mind and your ass WILL follow indeed.
And the final album of the funky three belongs to one Mr. Beck Hansen and the 1999 Grammy nominated album "Midnight Vultures". Starting with great opener "Sexx Laws" Beck takes on an ambitious audio andventure of funky sweaty sexx that would make 80's Prince and David Bowie (Modern Love singing, YoungAmericans Bowie...not Scary Monsters Bowie. Not much to say about it Beck puts it down and that is all ye need know.
"Let's burn the White House, but let's build a Green House.." - Wavy Gravy
Okay I am going to make this quick and simple. These people made great music. And all these people made great live albums that shoud be heard should be heard and supported. Enjoy.
A must hear is Ray Charles joining Aretha on stage for Spirit in the Dark. But basically she crushed the stage in a front of a mostly hippie/rock oriented audience with a combo of originals and covers proving at the time she was at the top of her game and worthy of the title Queen of Soul.
Earth,Wind, and Fire were studio masters when the released this astounding live set. Every song grooves so powerful you wonder if they were having fun or had something to prove...not even Parleiment mad a live album like this.
I am gonna keep this very simple. Kice ...of course is serious on the mic!!! Hailing from New Jersey the first solo artist signed to Mr. Len's (of Company Flow) Smacks label dropped two insane albums of hip hop. If you have the Murs 3:16 movie Walk Like A Man and its soundtrack then you have heard his song "Miracles". Kice...of course dropped My Experience in 2005 and blew me away with his flow, rhymes, and beat selection. Not a moment of my time was wasted on this album with standout tracks like "My Style" (my personal favorite!!!), Cruise, and opener "From The Inside" Kice...of course can't loose!!! This is a total classic!!! Listen and learn.
Also I decided to let y'all sukafaces hear the second album from Kice...of course the 2008 release Passion of Kice. Still bringing the grown ass man's hip hop on this one Kice...of course proved that My Experience wasn't a fluke in any way, shape, or form. Standouts on this album for me were "Legend", "Music Is My High", and "neM (Men Backwards)" but every cut is worth its weight in gold. So next time you see a flyer with this brother on the bill go see him. If you see a single or hear about a new release I’d advise you to go and get it with the quickness cause these days dudes like Kice...of course are coming and going due to the lack of interest in an artist who can say words like integrity and mean it!!! If you like dudes like Rasco or Krondon then your gonna become a huge fan of Kice...of course. Enjoy!!!
Awww The Bay Area a stretch of land going from San Francisco, Vallejo, Oakland, Richmond, and surrounding area heading south to Palo Alto, Fremont, San Jose, and yeah we can even give Morgan Hill and Gilroy some love as the cut of line. Home to some of the most diverse and serious Hip Hop music ever.
Check the resume. The upper West Coast of Hip hop is home to some of the most supreme that have blessed the mic and altered the game. Del the Funky Homosapien and the whole Hieroglyphics crew (Souls of Mischief, Casual, Pep Love, etc.), Too Short, Living Legends (Murs, Grouch, Eligh, Asop (not Aesop Rock!!!), Luckyiam., Sunspot Jonez, Bicasso, etc.), Digital Underground, E-40, Mac Mall, Mac Dre (R.I.P.), Quannum (although they began from more up North in Davis, Ca they still made their music mark in areas like SF and Oakland.), the list goes on forever. Where do you think Snoop got most of his lingo from like fasheezy/fashizzle?
So to highlight a bit of the Bay Area flavor I thought these four albums would give an idea of the wide range that goes on out here. Starting with a pioneer, a legend I am talking about the one and only Todd Shaw aka Too Short and his first major label debut, remember this is the later home to Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake, Jive Records 1987's "Born to Mack".
Hot of the success of his final underground album,1986's Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated, Jive Records signed what was at the time the nastiest man one man rapper (ONE MAN...they were called 2 Live CREW!!!! not one man crew!!!) with his use of profanity and sex. While almost primitive sounding it was one of the first West Coast albums to really showcase that bump of the Roland 808 drum machine that would later become the main ingredient in many rap albums to follow. Seriously forget Freaky Tales and go straight to Dope Fiend Beat to REALLY get yo Bay Area on!!! With its slow and deep bass sound you could almost see the seeds of Screw Music beginning to bubble under the surface. While lyrically not Too Short's best album this album bridges the gap between a young boy that just is talking nasty into a mic and the grown ass man that was teaching us pimpin' back when a certain dogg was just a puppy.
Oakland California is the home to many thought processes amongst them is the Black Panther of Hip Hop known as Paris. Released in 1990 “The Devil Made Me Do It” on Tommy Boy Records was the final nail in the coffin of what was known as Militant Rap pioneered by Public Enemy. Minus Professor Griff's “Pawns In the Game” no other album that didn't have Chuck D or a song written by Ice Cube or Ice T scared the establishment the way this one did. The title track being banned from MTV was no real shocker but the fact it didn't stop the album from reaching in the Billboard 200 topping at number 41 said something.
If Public Enemy was the Dead Kennedy’s in terms of political issues and using satire (geez listen to 911 is a joke again!!!) then Paris was The Exploited, about a subtle as a using a sledgehammer to the face to prove a point. While he spoke of things that effected black youth in a broader way than say N.W.A. which was more accessible to everyone, his Black Nationalist ideology was a tad hard to take serious. Later his style would be lampooned by movies like CB4 and Fear of a Black Hat. Paris was a precursor to rappers like Dead Prez and Immortal Technique that would come and give the powers that be and ourselves the firm bitch slap we need every now and then. His second album Sleeping with the Enemy from 1992 and its Bush Sr. assassination implying cover that WOULD NEVER HAVE MADE IT OFF THE PRESS THESE DAYS!!!! insured Paris would never have another major label release again although he still makes some decent records still. That entire aside The Devil Made Me Do It is a great window into a time period when a young man not only said fuck the police but fuck the government! Preach brother!
Everyone knows the song "I Got Five On It" from Oakland California duo the Luniz. If you don't than you need to pull your head out of your ass and hop to it cause with it's Club Nouveau sampling " Why You Treat Me So Bad" beat and infectious hook it will get you off yo ass even if you're not high. But many of y'all slept on Luniz second album 1997's Lunitik Muzik. While a big departure from the Bay sound prevailent on the first time out this one went as far as to squash beefs (Funkin' Ova Nuthin' feat Too Short), add humor (My Babby Mamma, 20 Blunts A Day), do Weird Al type parodies (Is It Kool?, Handcuff Yo Hoes), but in the middle of the East Coast/West Coast virus have a cameo from a East Coast Hip Hop artist,the funk doctor himself, Redman (Hypnotize). Nuff said.
And what would the bay be without a little something different than the usual burger and fries? We're talking about the land of Hieroglyphics and another crew that changed Bay Area Hip Hop, or at least your perception of what the Yay was like. I am talking about Mystik Journeymen from the collective Living Legends. In 1999 the duo of BFAP aka Sunspot Jonez and PSC aka Luckyiam.psc aka Luckyiam released an album (Black Sands Ov Eternia) that wasn't just two dudes rapping about how dope they were but rather a critique and journey through what it was like to be a young struggling artist at the height of the P-Diddy-glitzy skullduggery going on at the time. At the time this album was a blessing, gaining the Mysik Journeymen and Living Legends as a whole a larger audience, but later a curse as no album by the duo was as well crafted and caused many to wonder if the group peaked, even though solo project from both Sunspot Jonez and Luckyiam have all been top notch. Black Sands Ov Eternia also contained a song that would plague the Living Legends live sets for YEARS!!! The great posse cut "Mercury Rising". It is a perfect intro into the world of the Living Legends but if you've been in the know for a while you as sick of hearing it as they probably are of playing it...well maybe.
Elsewhere you'll find great tracks about faith in ones self, self reflection and the everyday things humans think about when at a crossroads in life. And these two chose the right paths indeed. If you think Kanye West is deep then you have the personality of a roof shingle and this isn't the album for you.
Jazz. An American form of music created in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. Well that's the laymen’s term for a music that has been misunderstood and misinterpreted for the last 20 years. Jazz music is a fashion that because it draws influences and instruments from cultures and nations of all kinds can be termed as the world's music, with diversities like Classical, Rock, Funk, and Latin influences.
Now I know artists such as Kenny G and Boney James would be considered Jazz music and yes they are, in the same way that say um Insane Clown Posse is considered rap music, bastardizations of an ever evolving musical style. Seriously most have no idea what Jazz sounds like outside of Miles Davis's seminal "Kind Of Blue" which is like a Jazz for dummies, but if only all music cliff notes sounded so damn righteous!!! But the music has many assorted sounds, styles, and players in the game.
So here are three albums by prominent Jazz musicians that will give you a broader foresight of what the music can be. No there is no Miles, Thelonious, or Coltrane that would be too easy now wouldn't it? Kinda like going on Celebrity Rehab to promote your new book that further ruins an already shattered family name for the sake of getting more drug money to keep yourself relevant in another ten years, McKenzie Phillips do you hear me????. But rather guys who are more of a musician’s type man, meaning if you ever read the credits on your albums these names would pop up on alot of stuff you have heard about knucklehead.
Now don't get it twisted these albums do not represent the full spectrum of Jazz music, but are some model examples of the possibilities of Jazz and well frankly their just good music lint licker! I mean you could just go ahead and listen to dudes who think from the elevator stylings of Kenny G but it would be like eating Olive Garden instead of an authentic Italian restaurant.
First up we have the 1976 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner "Fly with the Wind". His ninth with label Milestone Records and 21st overall. With this album McCoy Tyner and producer Orrin Keepnews added a string section to the arrangements to flush out a more complete sound. The band itself was packed with greats of the point in time such Billy Cobham, Hubert Laws, and Ron Carter but the addition of the orchestra was the missing link in a series of great Tyner albums' (Atlantis 1974 on Milestone Records, Trident 1975 on Milestone Records). Great track is the powerful thump of "Salvadore de Samba" but each track will find its way into your ears and stay there.
Next up we have the 1960 album that further pushed your endurance for sound tolerance and mental stability long before Bill Laswell, John Zorn, or Merzbow, "Free Jazz" by Ornette Colman. Now I could try and explain this on to you but it would be like trying to explain the Big Bang Theory, how the pyramids were built, and why people watch Harry Potter movies in one sentence. But to keep things in a technical aspect let me just show you what wikipedia.org has to say about this album that is not for the weak of heart and if you make it through the journey your ears will never be the same.
From wikipedia.org "Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation is an album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, recorded in 1960. The original release embodied a painting by Jackson Pollock, on the front of the cover, and its title gave the name for the whole free jazz movement. It involves two separate quartets, one to each stereo channel; the rhythm sections play simultaneously, and though there is a succession of solos as is usual in jazz, they are peppered with freeform commentaries by the other horns that often turn into full-scale collective improvisation. The pre-composed material is a series of brief, dissonant fanfares for the horns which serve as interludes between solos. Not least among the album's achievements was that it was the first LP-length improvisation, nearly forty minutes in length, which was unheard of at the time". For myself I think of this as a class to take after you have experienced and understand something like Miles Davis' monster work "Bitches Brew".
And last we have the 1977 album by Jazz Drummer great Roy Haynes. Once again unless you are serious about your Jazz or a drummer you probably haven't heard this name but have heard his work on albums from McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, and Sonny Rollins. Roy Haynes is a power house on this being his 16th album as a bandleader. His band including such luminaries of the time like John Klemmer, Bobby Hutcherson, Stanley Cowell, and Ron Carter do a good job of keeping up Roy Haynes unique rhythmic approach. I recommend the track "Quiet Fire" with its Cuban-Salsa rhythms and the way Roy Haynes beats the skins authority. "Now go forth and preach the gospel"- Tony Wilson
Well it's been an interesting few days. We saw that the Grammy’s still can't find a good album if it came up and smacked them on the head, seriously Kings of Leon should have had a been nominated for album of the year but at least they won for song of the year so I should pick my battles better...well maybe. And we have learned that Senator's probably get more "on the side ass" than most athletes and rock stars.
But enough of the hogwash and let's get on with it. Since February is Black History Month I thought it would be good to start off with a album that kicks ass and from a band of brothas from LA that were on the forefront of the 90's alt movement (Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Primus) I am talking about a band that mixed Ska, Punk, Metal, and Reggae and did it right. A band that and I quote Bassist John Norwood Fisher "Live we are tighter than a mosquitoes ass!” I am talking about the mighty Fishbone and their grand opus from 1991 The Reality of My Surroundings.
For their third album Fishbone pulled no punches in the subject matter from, childhood hijinks to the debilitation of their city streets, and in the music. Everything from spoken word type tracks to the full on fun fury of songs like "Pressure", and the down home funk on songs like "So Many Millions". While the album was loved by fans and critics alike, scoring high ratings even in crappy ass Entertainment Weekly!!!, I felt it was overshadowed later that year by the monster "Blood Sugar Sex Magic" from, Fishbone buddies, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
So for my first BHM posting I give you Fishbone's The Reality of My Surroundings produced by David Kahn (Sublime) and Dave Jerden (Jane's Addiction, Alice In Chains, Social Distortion, etc)...along with this is am posting a live show from 1999 at The Boulder Theater showcasing these guys after the first band change with members drummer Philip "Fish" Fisher, guitarist John Bigham, and guitarist Kendall Jones left the band, starting the first in a cast of rotating players that more than likely hurt the creative process of the band a little. Still it's a tight performance with songs from all the albums up till that time. Enjoy!
Properties of Propaganda
Lemon Meringue
Pray to the Junkiemaker
A Selection
Ma & Pa
Just Allow
Give it Up
Sunless Saturday
Bonin' in the Boneyard
VTTLOTFDGF
When Problems Arise
I Wish I had a Date
Cholly
Housework
Question of Life
Skankin' to the Beat
UGLY
Beergut
Behavior Control Technician
Swim
Jah Jah on the Telephone
Lyin' Ass Bitch
Party at Ground Zero
"The fact of the matter is that popular music is one of the industries of the country. It's all Completely tied up with capitalism. It's stupid to seperate it. That's an illusory seperation."
Paul Simon 1975
Last night I was listening to one of my favorite albums of all time and decided to share it. 1991 was an interesting for me. I tried acid for my first time that summer and after doing the usual stuff one would do on acid (watched Pink Floyd The Wall, bugged out on this interesting ashtray, spat out words of wisdom that probably didn't mean crap) I stumbled upon The Wonder Stuff cassette (YES I SAID CASSETTE!!!) for their third album Never Loved Elvis (Thanks for leaving it Bill!).
From beginning to end this album had everything I was looking for at that moment the music was unique and had a feel that wasn't really coming out in music from other English bands I indulged in at the time. Miles Hunt the bands lead singer/guitarist is clever in his choice of words but doesn't go over your head. Backed by Malcolm Treece, Martin Gilks, Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones, and Martin Bell the band created an album perfect for many moments in live and years later it hasn't lost t any of it's energy to me.
Starting with "Mission Drive" all the way to the end this is one of those albums that you can listen to from beginning to end without being annoyed or wanting to switch to the next song. None sound the same and each has its own personality. If you don't find yourself singing along to "Size of a Cow" then check your pulse or go get a q-tip jerky.
At the time The Wonder Stuff was not as well received in the States as other English bands at the time (The Cure, Siouxie and the Banshees, The Charlatans UK, etc.) but had a great reception in their homeland charting at #3 in the UK. After the bands next album "Construction for the Modern Idiot" they split for various reasons and key members Martin Gilkes and Rob "The Bass Thing" Jones died, Gilkes from a motorcycle accident in 2006 and Jones from heart complications in 1993. Later to be reformed with Hunt and Treece being the only original members reformed and began touring and recording again, and I highly recommend picking up any of the new albums and catching them on tour if you get the chance.
Since the 20 anniversary of The Wonder Stuff's second album, the first-rate, HUP I decided to share this album with you as well. If you like these I urge you to pick up the 20th anniversary of their first album, "Eight Legged Groove Machine" and the newer albums. And let's not forget the interesting solo albums created by Miles Hunt as they are all well crafted and do not tread on what is an amazing catalogue. Now I do warn these albums are, for lack of a better term, "British-y" and for me the first time I had ever heard the word "shite".
As I’m writing this I remembered someone I knew in high school stole Miles Hunt's distortion pedal from a show when they came to the states with Siouxie and the Banshees. I would have loved to see the look on his face when the roadies told him about that one. I will just step up and make a formal apology to "Milo" for the behavior of my fellow yanks. Enjoy.
Okay now when it comes to hip hop music I have one thing to say. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE RADIO!!! Unless you are 11 yrs. old none of it should make any sense to you. Seriously what the heck is with dudes like Gucci Mane, Soldier boy (and if you have ever seen people try and do that stupid dance in clubs you would piss your pants laughing like my friend Jason and I have many times...thanks idiots), Nicki Minaj, Plies, and Hurricane Chris (this is only a few there's plenty more on the shitlist!!!). Not only does these hacks ruin the music but their albums are just boo boo the content is all the same nothing else is being expressed just my chain, my chick, my car. Furthermore what the hell are they saying? Seriously what the hell are the lyrics to that Superman song?
So what makes a good hip hop album? Well plain and simple an album you can actually listen to all the way through and not just the one damn song from the radio, which is crushing alot of other types of music as well (The Killers I’ve got my eye on you!!!). I mean really don't we all miss the days when you didn't just like one song on the record you listened to them all. Granted there is a few new cats that can do the job right but you sure as shit are not gonna see 'em on video channels or the radio. So today I felt I would share three albums that pass the test with flying colors.
First up we have the 1994 album from Extra Prolific "Like it Should Be". Consisting of rapper Snupe and Mike G. (although he didn't rhyme on the album and only produced one beat)these two came from Texas to hook up with Oakland crew Hieroglyphics (known for Del and Souls Of Mischief) to make what was the last of the crews Jive Records series before going independent. This was a slept piece of work from the rhymes to the beats it had a nationwide feel of hip hop at the time. From the Too Short-sounding opener "Brown Sugar" to the Grover Washington Jr. sampling "First Sermon", which definitely has more of a laid back east coast A Tribe Called Quest groove it delivers but don't mistake it Extra Prolific was not biting these styles. Not a single song is wasted and the topics are as diverse as domestic violence, church, and getting ass. Not much was heard from Extra Prolific after this album except a few singles and a shelved album that was later released by Hieroglyphics long after Extra Prolific left the crew. Rumor has it Snupe returned and is now rapping in a Christian -faith rap group he formed. Enjoy.
Extra Prolific "Like It Should Be"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V61033BK
Next is the debut from L.A. lyricist extraordinaire RASS KASS "Soul on Ice". Now this great album from 1996 was something to hear and hasn't lost a bit of its power since then. I am not gonna ramble on about it too much cause if you listen to it you'll understand why this is one of my all time favorite rap albums ever. Tracks to not be missed are the opener "On Earth As It Is...", "Nature of the Threat", and the closer "Ordo Abchao (Out of Order Chaos)". Rass Kass is still doing his thing and I highly recommend picking up any of his newer mix tapes, even if it's just to hear him diss L.A. rapper The Game or his second release "Rassassination". Enjoy.
RASS KASS "Soul On Ice" 1996
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5IF18VS0
Last is the second album from Def Squad gunner Keith Murray "Enigma" from 1996 as well. This one is Mr. Keith Murray doing what he does best, being a beast on the microphone. The production was handled by Erick Sermon (EPMD) and The Ummah (Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest and future beatmaster Jay Dee RI.P. of Slum Village) which at the time was like the equalivalent of having Kanye West and Just Blaze produce your album. No one is like him and no one will be look for his new project with Cannibus cause the first single is pure heat and don't sleep on his other masterpiece The Most Beautifulest Thing In this World. Enjoy.
Keith Murray "Enigma"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7FPHCWKA
"music has mellowed out to the point where most of just bores me, and i'm not a snob either i just can't forget what i know."
-H.Rollins 1994
Welcome. Greetings. Blah blah blah. Well here it is folks Contrapuntal Composition two words that mean one thing...Music. And that's what this is all about all types’ punk, jazz, pop, metal, sludge, doom, hip-hop, and all in between. I have spent my life, and an assload of money, in the pursuit of music that makes me smile and at various times have shared it with others through mix tapes and at one point in my life I even made newsletters with my own time and money. So why a blog? Well its alot easier to share what I’ve bought and found and love with others. Hopefully you will find the music placed here as interesting and fun as I do and support the artists by buying other albums and merch or going to shows.
We're gonna start with two terrific punk albums from bands in my favorite place, the Bay Area!!! First we have the Krupted Peasant Farmers from San Jose California. These guys hung out in the heart of South San Jose right off Henderson Dr., home of a really great half pipe I skated many times, and were one of the first bands from our area that had their shit together and wrote and made albums of great punk with humorous political messages ranging from legalization of weed to teen promiscuity. Here is a great starter for anyone of how awesome KPF is, I believe the album was called Everything Seems Okay, I no longer have the case and the writing wore off the tape a long time ago. The sound quality is a little sub par but hey it was home recorded on a either a four or eight track recorder so bare with me and enjoy. But make no mistake these guys have done alot from European tours to being on many worldwide compilations including a Sesame Street cover comp feat. Barenaked Ladies!!! But do not expect some rinky dinky garage band of pubescent whiny kid suff. Also you may wanna check out another great SJ band PTL (Preachers That Lie) as they did many shows with KPF and shared similar styles. Enjoy.
Next up is Fuel. No not the lame 90's rock band that sang about something in the dudes hands!!! But a great band from San Francisco that many people dubbed "Fuelgazi". This is a little misleading if you ask me they always gave me more of a Samiam-Hot Water Music sound. Very intelligent personal politic lyrics mixed with an aggressive mix of dual vocalists, improvised guitar playing and an extremely tight and complex rhythm section. Check the double bass on "Habit". This album collects their main album "Monuments of Excess" from 1990 as well as several cuts from EP's and Splits done w other bands. The band split up and not much has really been heard from the members since but if you would like to see what a few members are up to check out singer/guitar player Jim Allison's blog at http://thebandformerlyknownasfuel.com/ or Drummer Jeff Stofan at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=47709854 and say hello. Enjoy.
This blog was created to display classic music long forgotten and stuff that may be a little difficult to find these days along with select new bands that I feel are worth supporting. Although I may talk about an artist and their music I might post a live show from them instead of an album or both who knows...
If you own copyrights to any of the music posted here please send me notice and i will remove it.
If there is something you were looking for or wondering about please feel free to ask...but that doesn't mean i will post it.
Also folks don't forget to support the artist by coming to the shows and purchasing merchandise and other great albums...
Well besides spending countless hours listening to and searching for new bands and old ones that slipped through my fingers (I once spent 8 hours in a record store and was late for my dinner date!!) I go to shows, movies, read, and think of ways we can eliminate the legions of talent less shrubs that plague our world through stupid paparazzi tactics...
