Jeru The Damaja - Me Or The Papes

Another great Primo production. This track is definitely one of his more melodic efforts but it's still signature Premier. Other notable tracks on this album (Wrath of the Math) are 'How I'm Livin', and 'Frustrated Niggas'.

Bad Brains

I heard that Bad Brains was putting out a new album and so I thought I'd do a post about them. Bad Brains was probably the best hardcore band of all time. I condsider them to be as influential as The Clash, Ramones...all the bands that people usually cite. I've played drums in hardcore bands and it's super hard to hit the drums as hard as this guy for an entire show. This is a pretty good clip of them playing "Banned in DC". Check out their myspace for a clip of their new song which is being produced by Adam from the Beatie Boys.

Talking Heads Naive Melody

This is the best Talking Heads song there is. Check out Bernie Worrell from Parliament Funkadelic on synths in the video. Anyways...check this song and this album out.

robert wyatt shipbuilding

Robert Wyatt is amazing...This song was apparently written by Elvis Costello. If you haven't heard of Wyatt he was in the band Soft Machine and Machine Mole (Soft Machine in French). He was paralized when after a night of drinking he jumped out of a third story window. He wrote the soundtrack for the incredible film Winged Migration and did some vocals for the Bjork album Medulla. Other than this song I would highly recommend "At Last I am Free"

Don't Call it a Comeback...

Yo!
It's been a while since my last post as I haven't had very much money to go record shopping and I went on a trip to the Bahamas with my lady and her family. I'm going to try and post regularly again, starting with today's good finds.

My first stop was the Goodwill on Michigan where I found 3 Gil Scott Heron albums, a Milt Jackson Record, and a Smokey Robinson record. If you're not familiar with Gil Scott Heron, he wrote the songs "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", "Home is where the Hatred is", and "Whitey on the Moon". It's very powerful spoken word, black nationalist kind of stuff similar to the Last Poets but not as good. Milt Jackson of course is the vibraphonist from MJQ and the album "Sunflowers" that I grabbed has a few good tracks with Billy Cobham on drums and Herbie Hancock on piano.

After I left Goodwill I hit the Community thrift on edgewater and miraculously found Wu Tang - "Enter the Wu (36 Chambers)", and Boogie Down Productions - My Philosophy (12"). It's always awesome when I find records that aren't really that old like the Wu record because they are usually in pretty good shape- unfortunately this isn't the case with this record. A few of the tracks skip a little but the rest of the albums plays straight through. The BDP record was a cool surprise because I'm a big KRS-ONE fan and that's one of the few BDP songs that I actually like alot.

Usually after these two stores I call it quits but I decided to head to the Community Thrift on Edgewater because I was having pretty good luck. At this store I found Sly and the Family Stone's - "Small Talk", which has the song "Loose Booty" that's sampled in The Beastie Boys track "Shadrach". So today was probably one of the better thrift store record shopping days I've ever had. I'll post the BDP song "My Philosophy" for everyone (the two people who might read this) to check out. Def check out the lyrics in the second verse...BDP and KRS were def at the forefront of the so called "Conscious Hip Hop" Movement.
My Philosophy - Boogie Down Productions

Party Time!

The Heptones have to be one of my favorite Reggae vocal groups. Ting a Ling is probably the best example of their vocal work, but their performance on this record is great as well. I recently aquired the album Party Time produced by Lee Perry (I've been trying to get all of the Lee Perry records produced at Black Ark). This album is great, and despite the title, most of the songs are overtly political as oppossed to the love songs on Ting a Ling. To me the standout songs are Sufferers Time, Now Generation and the Bob Dylan classic I Shall be Released. Posted below is I Shall be Released.
The Heptones – I Shall be Released

Modern Jazz Quartet

I picked these two Modern Jazz Quartet records up at a local antique shop that has about 2000 records in a back room. I actually discovered MJQ my freshman year of college when my dad started giving some of his records. I took “The Last Concert” from his collection, which is a live recording of the last show in 1974 before Milt Jackson left the band. Since taking that record, I usually buy whatever MJQ record I find if the price is right (these were 3 bucks each).
What I like about MJQ and any other jazz band with a vibraphonist, is how much more relaxed a quartet sounds with a vibraphonist instead of a sax or any other horn. A quartet sounds much more brash with a horn blazing through scales compared to the smooth, chilled out sounds of a vibraphone.
These records are both pretty decent. I don’t think either one of them compares to the album on Prestige, but they are good in their own right. I’ve posted the song “Dancing” off of plastic dreams for you to check out. Make sure listen through to the end because there’s a nice little breakdown.
MJQ - Dancing

Got To Give It Up

This song is the jam! I bought this 45 today at an antique shop down the road. Jenny (my girlfriend) and I were talking, and it is not possible to hear this song and not at least want to tap your toes. Aside from the lip synching, this video is pretty awesome. Check it out and enjoy one of the best party songs ever recorded.

Bob James

Aside from James Brown, Bob James is probably one of the most sampled artists in hip hop. Before his career went from fusion to entirely smooth jazz, James recorded, produced and arranged several albums for CTI. Bob James One, and Four are probably the two most well known to hip hop producers and fans of hip hop because of two of his most sampled songs, “Take me to Mardi Gras” and “Nautilus”. Steve Gadd plays drums on “Take me to Mardi Gras” (aka “Rock the Bells”) which is most famously used in Run DMC’s “Peter Piper”, LL Cool J’s “Rock the Bells”, and most recently Missy Elliott’s “Work It”. Idris Muhammed (aka the Funky Drummer), plays drums on Nautilus which has been used in Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story”, Ghostface Killah’s “Daytona 500”, Jeru the Damaja’s “My mind Spray” and chopped and cut into dozens of other jams. These two breaks are as essential to hip hop as Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache”, James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” and the Winstons’ “Amen, Brother”. Bob James deserves all the props he can get.
Bob James - Take me to Mardi Gras
Bob James - Nautilus

Otis Redding

Otis Redding is the man. I can only imagine how much more good music he would have given to us if he hadn't died. This is a great video of him singing "I've been Loving you too long...". I love when he has the band "hit him", James Brown style in the middle of the song, and the build up before he says "You were tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiied". Check it.

Bonnie Prince Billy

This is a pretty awesome cover of Bill Withers. Check it out.

Bonnie Prince Billy

I was reading the best “50 Best Albums of 2006” on PitchforkMedia.com the other day and I noticed that I hadn’t heard of half of the bands on the list. I think the biggest problem with that website is that the people that write for it only know about one type of music and that is Indie Rock/Rock. I rarely see write-ups on hip hop, neo-soul, latin music, jazz or anything else but Indie Rock. They have a very narrow scope when it comes to music and I think they intentionally praise albums that are terrible, in some kind of backwards attempt to be elitist. For example, albums like the Justin Timberlake’s album or other popular releases they constantly reference or name drop like they are the greatest things ever recorded; with the kind of sentiment like, ‘You just don’t know enough about music to get it’. It also bothers me how people treat their reviews like they are the bible, I feel like sometimes it makes people second guess their tastes because they feel embarrassed to like an album that Pitchfork only gave 4 stars, or whatever.
As I was reading the list of greatest albums of 2006, other than noticing that most of them were Indie Rock, or mediocre hip hop (such as Clipse’s “Hell Hath no Fury”), I noticed they left off Bonnie Prince Billy’s last album, “The Letting Go”. I’ve fallen out of touch with most music being made today, but Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) is definitely someone that I still follow religiously. He pulls off what so many other people fail miserably at as far as singer songwriters go, and that is incorporating folk and country tastefully without it being too hokey. I also love the lyrics which are usually very earthy, dark, and sometimes romantic. What I like about his ‘love songs’ is that they are never cheesy or predicable, the lyrics don’t all rhyme, and they keep his sort of southern gothic touch.
“The Letting Go” isn’t his best album, but it is definitely better than at least 49 of the albums on Pitchfork's list. The downfall of his last album is the female backing vocals, they just overpower his soft cooing style. If you want to hear Will Oldham’s best work, check out the albums “Master and Everyone”, “Superwolf” or “Ease on Down the Road”, and if you’d like to hear his stuff at it’s twangiest, check out his old band Palace. I wanted to post two songs by him, Untitled off of “The Letting Go”, and Daniel which is off of the collaborative album with Tortoise, “The Brave and the Bold”. I can’t find Untitled streaming anywhere on the internet to post, but it is definitely the best track on the new album. It’s a beautiful song with minimal instrumentation and ambient guitar work. Daniel is actually an Elton John cover. It’s probably one of the best covers of any song that I’ve heard. I hope you like it.
Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy - Daniel

King Jammy - Jailhouse Rock

A couple of friends turned me onto this video. Pretty good look at the dub process.

Best Dressed Chicken in Town

I bought this record on ebay last week and I was going to wait until I got it in the mail to write about it, but the check just cleared today and it’s coming from California so it may be a while. This is an essential reggae album, it features Doctor Alimantado’s best work and some of Lee Perry’s best Black Ark work. Involved in Jamaican Djing from an early age, Alimantado named himself after his grandfather who was an English doctor. He was a prominent sound system DJ in the 70’s, and Lee Perry actually approached him after a DJ performance to record some tracks. Alimantado chose to release the record on Greensleeves when they offered to help him develop his own label (International Sounds Distrobution Association). He released a few more albums on Greensleeves into the 80’s and also released a series of dub albums titled In the Mix. I’m sharing the song “Unitone Skank”. I don’t think it’s the best song on the album, but it’s almost impossible to pick out the best song on this album. I think this song is solid and a good representation of the production (listen to the dubbing of the guitar and some of the vocals), and the album as a whole. I would also recommend checking out “I Shot the Barber” for the horn lines, and “Can’t Conquer Natty Dreadlocks”.
Dr. Alimantado - Unitone Skank
(It’s also somewhat interesting to know that while he was doing the research to trace his roots through the middle passage back to Africa Alimantado also discovered that he was a distant cousin to Marcus Garvey).

Dots and Loops

Stereolab is probably still one of the best bands around today. If you’ve never heard them, take all of the best elements from 50’s and 60’s pop, psychedelia, jazz, soul, lounge and funk and perfectly mix them into a single aesthetic and that’s Stereolab. While some of their output since Mary Hansen’s death hasn’t been as good as their prime material (Emperor Tomato, Ketchup, Dots and Loops, Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night), it is still better than 90% of the music currently being made. Posted is Brakhage off of Dots and Loops.
Brakhage by Stereolab

P.S. If you haven’t already seen it, check out this Britney Spears photoshop contest on Stereogum. I think my top three are the Blueman Group, Sloth, and Paul from Dave Letterman.

The Harder they Come

I actually got this record out of my parents’ music collection a few years ago. I'd listened to it a few times a few years ago and thought it was pretty good, but i didn't really have an ear for reggae then. I've learned alot more about the genre since then thanks to a few friends and alot of reading and record buying, and I feel like this is a decent introduction to reggae.

The film is loosely based on a Jamaican folk hero/rude boy named Rhygin and stars Jimmy Cliff. Cliff plays Ivan, a poor youth who is trying to win over a preacher's daughter, make a hit record, and make some money. He sells his record to a pushy producer (who's partner I believe is played by Leslie Kong) for 20 dollars and it doesn't sell much due to lack of promotion from the producer. With no push from the record company and no money Ivan resorts to selling marijuana and I'll leave the rest for you to see. I think my favorite scene in the film is when he gets all dressed up and goes to see the DJ play the record for the first time to mediocre reactions and he is talking to someone and says, "What you think about this record man, I think it's a hit!", to which the man replies, "Ah, it's alright".

The soundtrack is solid and claimed by many to have been one of the records that spread reggae to the United States along with Marley's 'Catch a Fire'. Before these records, most reggae singles sold in the U.K. as novelty records or solely in Jamaican record stores. While Cliff's songs on the soundtrack are good, I think some of the standout tracks are Scotty's "Draw Your Breaks", The Maytals’ "Sweet and Dandy" and their classic "Pressure Drop". My favorite track on the album has to be Desmond Dekker's "Shanty Town". The melody, guitar work and Dekker's smooth voice make this song my favorite track on the album ("Pressure Drop" definitely comes in a strong second though). Either way, all the songs serve as a decent introduction to the genre. Other albums I would recommend checking out for an introduction to reggae are Madlib's "Blunted in the Bomb Shelter", the Island records compilation "This is Reggae Vol. 2", or any of the Trojan Record compilations (Or just read this blog once and a while, I’m sure this won’t be the first post about reggae). I’ve posted Dekker’s “Shanty Town” for your enjoyment.

Shanty Town by Desmond Dekker

Don't Change Your Love

The first time I recognized the drums in the song I was in 2nd grade and I heard Naughty by Natures', "Hip Hop Hooray". I didn't know too much about hip hop and sampling then, all I knew was that that snare drum sounded amazing. This easily recognizable break has been used by almost everyone; Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, De la Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and the list goes on. Five Stairsteps are a pretty solid band in their own right, other than this song, you've probably heard the songs "Oooh Baby, Baby" and "O-o-h Child". This song, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, starts off with the break and leads into lush production complete with full horn line and strings. Other than the break, I think my favorite things about this song have to be the bassline and the bridge with the horn solo. I read somewhere that James Gadson from Charles Wrights band played on "O-o-h Child" and possibly this song but when I researched it, I couldn't find anything to confirm this. Either way, whoever played drums on this track has a monster left hand.
Don't Change Your Love

James Brown

This post is dedicated to James Brown. Though his personality and character are often questioned, (namely for his drug addiction, underpaying and even fining his band and beating his wife) there is no denying the quality of his body of work. From his early soul balads to his deep funk, his work has proved to be some of the most timeless music ever written. He is probably one of the most sampled artists of all time and one of the founders of the hip hope movement. Even the acts that he produced have created some of the most memorable music and samples of the 60's and early 70's, namely Lyn Collins' "Think", Marva Whitney's "It's my Thing" and "Unwind Yourself". There is not enough I can say about his music, and if you've only heard the hits, I would definately check out his heavier funk numbers, they are probably his best work. Linked is what I consider one of his best songs "Get up, get into it, get involved". I hope everyone realizes how important he was and what an incredible legacy he left behind. Check out this month's Wax Poetics magazine for more info on JB.

Get up, Get into it, Get Involved pt. 1

First Post.

This is the first post of my hopefully long running blog relating to music. I’m a recently graduated college student living in Orlando, Florida right now. I was an English Lit student and hoped to get a teaching job out of college, but after substitute teaching for a while and applying for a few full time positions I realized I didn’t want to teach. I really only know a lot about a few things…drums, records, music, and literature. So, I figure with the knowledge that I have of the above I should be able to make happy living writing or doing something related to music. I think my ideal job would be scoring films and choosing the music for their soundtracks.

I do a lot of thrift shopping for records because I don’t really have very much money to spend on record store or ebay prices. When I do have the time and money to watch an ebay auction I really do prefer buying things that way. I feel it’s more convenient and I don’t have to dig through 300 dirty and moldy classical and Christian records to find what I want. I also like seeing what other people are interested in and if they bid on the records I do. However, I do like finding a good chunk of records at a thrift store for a quarter a piece. I’ve learned to be pretty patient. I know I’m not gonna find a Beatles Butcher Block, Skull Snaps, or Rickey Calloway all of the time, but sometimes I find pretty good stuff just being patient and going through everything. Some of the things I’ve found lately are the Question Mark and the Mysterians full length, “Groove Grease” by Jimmy Mcgriff, a few Lee Dorsey records and a Mickey and the Soul Generation funk 45.

Anyway, The majority of this blog may just be about records I find at thrift stores, or records that I’ve been playing a lot lately at the house. Some days I just wake up and there is a specific record that I want to hear right away. The other day I got up and the instant I stood up I wanted to hear 7 and 7 by Love. You know when you get in a certain mood and start playing records of one genre you just want to play them all? Well, I just started playing all of the 60’s psychedelic stuff that I had and then I got into garage records and all kinds of different things out and then by the end of my frenzy I had about 20 records scattered all around my turntable.

I listen to almost every genre. I grew up listening to classic rock and oldies with my parents. My aunt occasionally would play drums along to some of the Motown classics, but other than that I mostly grew up on classic rock. When I was a teenager I became heavily involved in the punk rock scene and I also began listening to classic 90’s hip hop like Gang Star, Common Sense, Tribe and others. Most of the hip hop I heard was in skateboarding videos and things like that. Of course, when I came to college I became interested in listening to and collecting just about every genre especially funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, indie rock, and in the last few years roots reggae. This blog will be pretty well rounded in terms of what music I choose to write about. Some of the artists will be contemporary and some will be a little bit older. I feel like there are very few contemporary artists worth writing about so if there is someone on here who is newer odds are they are someone I feel still produces genuine, sincere, thought provoking music.

So we’ll see how this blog goes, I hope to have a decent amount of people reading it. I also hope that I can turn people onto new music. I think that introducing music into people’s lives or having new music introduced into your own is totally refreshing, especially if you get turned onto a completely new genre, record label or sound. I am completely open to all sorts of opinions and will take criticisms and responses seriously. I realize I don’t know everything about music and I love learning about music just as much as I like teaching people about it. I hope that this becomes a blog that you frequent and tell your friends and family about. I especially hope that you enjoy learning about the music that I love and want to share with you.
Zach Callahan.