hearsay

I’m really really loving this new Baths album, from my neighbor just down the (really really long) street in nearby Chatsworth, CA. And this video of Will Wiesenfeld performing live has me amped for his show next week. Sorry, Farrah! I might need to bail on that Beach Fossils / Here We Go Magic show…

Just about covers where we’re at (Needless to say, but I enjoy the new Broken Social Scene).

Before I even did a mix dedicated to delta blues, I was determined to do a mix of vintage soul. At the time I was obsessed with the Numero Group‘s Eccentric Soul series (I still am), and it the first pass I took at doing a soul mix was too single-sourced to merit posting. My knowledge of soul is ever expanding from a number of sources – hip-hop samples, Mississippi Records’ tape series, and good old self-motivated research – so it was just a matter of time before I felt a mix would be deserving of the month’s focus.

That said, there are some well known names on this list: O.V. Wright, Ann Peebles, and of course James Brown. James’ early recordings are insane! And not insane like him bragging about his lovemakin’ on national TV insane. But even those are mostly B-sides. This Mickey Murray track arrived by the aforementioned Mississippi Records‘ What Are These Things With Big Black Wings? tape, and to me sounds like it belongs on the Kill Bill soundtrack. The Alvin Robinson track was resurrected by Rjd2 on “Work” from his debut back in 2002. We cap it off with what is still my favorite of the Eccentric Soul tracks, the incredible “You Can’t Blame Me” by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr.

[banner image by Thomas Wrede]

July 2010 Mix
01 O.V. Wright – Everybody Knows (The River Song)
02 Lattimore Brown – I Will
03 Alvin Robinson – Something You Got
04 Betty Lavette – Let Me Down Easy
05 Ann Peebles – Trouble, Heartaches and Sadness
06 Barbara West – Anyone But You
07 James Brown – Lost Someone
08 Mickey Murray – Lonely Room
09 Helene Smith – Pain In My Heart
10 Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr – You Can’t Blame Me

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It’s honestly not my favo(u)rite song off their new album, but it is a good song all the same and I like the video of ‘day in the life’ moments from their recent US tour.

Believe it or not, I actually tried quite hard to avoid making this month’s mix too current – starting with Wanda Jackson‘s incredible haunting 1961 country/rock “Funnel of Love,” as well as including a few 90s tracks that I think are just as good now as they were 15 years ago. RIP (Gaunt frontman) Jerry Wick.

But alas, I couldn’t help myself. The Future Islands album is too good not to point out, and “Vireo’s Eye” is an example of why I like it so much. I was out of town and missed them this time around. I hope they’ll make a return trip to L.A. soon. I also really like this ETHEREA mixtape, Free ETHEREA, which has been pretty much all over the internets since April, but I first noticed it at i guess i’m floating. I also really dig this Twin Sister track which is another freebie off of their Color Your Life EP. From what I can tell, it’s gotten some good attention in the blog world but not so much on the radio world. Yet.

London rappers Roots Manuva and Tranqill round off the mix. Tranqill, over one of my favorite recent Oddisee beats, off of Oddisee’s January mixtape, Odd Winter (he’s already up to Odd Spring, if you’re curious). And judging from his recent “producer showcase” set in Chinatown, there’s bound to be a lot more good stuff coming with his name attached to it. It’s a brand!

[banner time-lapse image by Alexey Titarenko]

June 2010 Mix
01 Wanda Jackson – Funnel Of Love
02 Future Islands – Vireo’s Eye
03 The Twilight Sad – And She Would Darken The Memory
04 Twin Sister – Lady Daydream
05 Gaunt – Now
06 Autoclave – Dr. Suess
07 ETHEREA – It IS You!
08 Containe – Shy Song (or, I Want To Fuck You)
09 Oddisee feat. Tranqill – It’s Over
10 Cinematic Orchestra feat. Roots Manuva – All Things to All Men

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I can’t be the only person who grew up on Superchunk and then spent my early adulthood enamored with Les Savy Fav. (LSF lead singer) Tim mentioned last week that he sang “Precision Auto” with Superchunk at San Miguel Primavera Sound (that’s in Spain), which is like the 90s punk rock version of the Arcade Fire/David Byrne on-stage pairings of 2005.

For those who can remember back to 2007, Les Savy Fav covered “Precision Auto” at Citysol in New York. Here’s a video of the event, courtesy of bittermelodies on Youtube. Kudos to them for taking a relatively watchable video… there’s no way I would have been able to keep a steady hand while bouncing around like a maniac had I been there. And I still say that On The Mouth is my favorite Superchunk album, although I have absolutely nothing against the later releases.

Wow… just wow.

“It’s good to be back” indeed. From the sound of “Breakneck Speed,” it sounds like a return of the Tokyo Police Club that dominated indie rock music bloggery of 2006/2007, before an overly/inappropriately-produced debut LP popped their hype bubble. I like the song Alot. The video has a similar feel to the one for “Your English Is Good.” Looking forward to Champ, which comes out on 8 May. You can pre-order it from their website and get a few tracks as digital downloads, including the aforementioned track.

“What is that? You made that, right?”

Or maybe Huell Howser if you live in California… I think they (+ Sufjan) sound great. The background vocals are very necessary. Matt Berninger really goes all out, hollering vocals towards the end. I still think it is pretty cool to hear a song with a chorus of, “I don’t have the drugs to sort it out” on national TV.

It’s one of those months where I really don’t have time to properly write up the mix, but let’s see what I can do here in the next couple of minutes. Basically as soon as I heard “An Apology,” I knew that Future Islands would find a way onto a mix. “Beach Foam” goes back to their 2008 album, Wave Like Home. I am on pins and needles for their new album, In Evening Air, which comes out on May 4th. The other song off that they’ve leaked is “Tin Man,” which from what I can understand of the lyrics is brilliant take on heartbreak, told through an appropriation of The Wizard of Oz’s most robot-like persona. You’d have to be a fool… or at least an older brother traveling to see you little sister’s graduation, to miss their L.A. shows 5/21 + 5/22 at Sync Space and The Smell, respectively.

The other thing that runs through this mix is that for some reason there are a bunch of demos. Among those, Fluffy Lumbers‘ “Cruisers,” which I owe to Catbirdseat, as well as 80s garage rock band, The Mosquitos. Did I mention that this Underwater Peoples label has some really good acts? I didn’t? Well, Liam the Younger is off of their latest $5 mix that is completely worthwhile. And you better listen to that whole Liam track, because if you only listen for 2 1/2 minutes, you basically miss the song.

Last year Hudson Bell put up a album outtake cover of a Dead Milkmen song, which I promptly ganked off of Soundcloud. Apparently it is just one of many songs I wish I had gotten a chance to hear them play live that they never will again. I absolutely love these guys, and can’t figure out why, with them only being a few hours away in the bay area, I still haven’t seen them live. They never seem to tour. Come to L.A. Please.

By the way, after repeated requests from friends, I’m finally adding a simple zip file download of the mix since it is so annoying to download one-by-one.

[banner image from the amazing 4-D ultrasound images by National Geographic]

May 2010 Mix
01 Future Islands – Beach Foam
02 Fluffy Lumbers – Cruisers (Demo)
03 The Mosquitos – Darn Well (Demo)
04 Fashawn – The Healer
05 Alias – Fame Game
06 C.R.A.C. Knuckles – Love Don’t
07 Hudson Bell – Two Feet Off The Ground (Dead Milkmen cover)
08 Apollo Ghosts – Land of the Morning Calm
09 >Moss of Aura – Shallow
10 Liam the Younger – Please See

New:
: MIX ZIP FILE :

I am saddened by the loss of Gang Starr MC, Keith Elam AKA Guru, to a battle with cancer Monday. And while I think that his memory should be for his life’s work, contribution to hip-hop and culture as a whole, I am troubled by the letter that was purported to be his final message to family and fans. If Guru was indeed in a coma since February until his passing, the letter would seem an obvious forgery. There are 5 other points in the letter that I find hard to swallow:

“I do not wish my ex-DJ to have anything to do with my name likeness, events tributes etc. connected in anyway to my situation including any use of my name or circumstance for any reason and I have instructed my lawyers to enforce this. I had nothing to do with him in life for over 7 years and want nothing to do with him in death.”

1. That someone on their deathbed would harbor such hate for their collaborator and partner of many years.

“The work I have done with Solar represents a legacy far beyond its time and is my most creative and experimental to date. I hope that our music will receive the attention it deserves as it is some of the best work I have done and represents some of the best years of my life.”

2. That someone would spend their last address to their fans and family trying to convince people that their recent work eclipses their life’s accomplishments – to advertise for posthumous work.

Solar, Solar, Solar…

3. That someone would essentially write the conclusion of their life about another person: mentioning Solar 8 times in the letter saying goodbye is nothing but an unwelcome pop-up ad.

“I, Guru, am writing this letter”

4. Does anyone above the age of 4 start off a letter like this?

“Solar has my life story and is well informed on my family situation, as well as the real reason for separating from my ex-DJ.”

5. That someone would leave a portion of their life story untold on their deathbed, content to have it told through another person. If Guru had any interest in the public being made aware of a beef between him and Premier, he would have laid it out here, not left it to be filtered through another person.

All in all, I am convinced the letter is a fake. Had I not given Guru the benefit of the doubt, I would be forced to view him at the time of his passing as a petty and unbalanced individual. I refuse to do so, particularly in light of the obvious red herrings in this untimely and dishonest forgery. The Elam family deserves better. DJ Premier deserves better. And most of all, Guru deserves better than the slander that Solar has perpetrated against his memory. It is time for Solar to come clean.

LINK: Guru tribute by Mister Cee on Hot 97