hearsay

“Music Man” Murray Gershenz is featured in the L.A. Times this morning. Somewhat of a local legend*, the documentary produced for Record Store Day by the Documentary Channel and NPR. L.A. Review of Books also took a visit to his store recently to talk about his collection.

*Despite the L.A. Times obliviousness to the geography of South L.A., Murray’s store is in Baldwin Village, not West Adams. West Adams is East of Crenshaw.

Seriously. The song is pretty, but as a video it’s like the animated gif store called and they’re running out of you.

I had such a strong affinity for early delta blues, it really took me a while to warm up to post-war rhythm & blues. My natural snobbish instinct was to agree with Son House’s rant in Festival!. And I still do think that he’s right. It’s not the BLUSE. Upbeat, with rhythm and energy… Call it jump blues if you want, but for so many days, it’s what keeps me going.

[FYI - that's Little Walter on the cover]

April 2012 Mix – “So Many Days”

01 Elmore James – Sax-Only Boogie (1952)
02 Slim Harpo – Buzz Me Babe (1960)
03 Joe Tex – I Want To Have A Talk With You (1957)
04 Red Calhoun’s Orchestra – I Want To Know (1952)
05 Cecil Gant – I Gotta Gal (1948)
06 Little Junior Parker – Mystery Train (1953)
07 Katie Webster – Sea Of Love (1960)
08 Junior Wells – I’ll Get You Too (1963)
09 Ramblin’ Hi Harris – Trying To Call My Baby (1956)
10 Little Walter – I Got To Go (1963)
11 Guitar Slim – Certainly All (1953)
12 Geraint Watkins – Only A Rose (2003)
13 Lazy Lester – Sad City Blues (1962)
14 The Otis Rush Blues Band – Rock (1966)
15 Johnny Otis – You Got Me Cryin (1956)
16 Clarence Locksley – Nowhere To Go (1954)
17 Lowell Fulson – Wee Hours in the Morning (1948)
18 Mable John – Who Wouldn’t Love a Man Like That (1960)
19 Guitar Nubbit – Laura (1965)
20 Clyde McPhatter – Lovey Dovey (1959)
21 Joe Johnson – Alimonia Blues (1958)
22 Percy Mayfield – Nightmare (1950)
23 Ralph Willis – So Many Days (1946)
24 John Lee Hooker – I’m Wanderin’ (1960)

: MIX ZIP FILE :

(Streamable version of mix)

I got the opportunity a couple weeks ago to see M. Ward in an intimate studio setting at Apogee Studio in Santa Monica, hosted by KCRW as part of their Berkeley Street Studio Sessions. With a capacity of 150, the studio is probably the best venue I have ever witnessed live music at: the sound was excellent, and you had no choice but to have a great up-close view. M. Ward was fantastic, with an excellent backing that included a pedal steel guitar (a weakness of mine). He started off with a few older tracks… I remember at least “Poison Cup” and “Requiem,” before he started debuting a number of tracks from his upcoming A Wasteland Companion.

I should take an aside to admit that, a full 6 years ago, annoyed and grouchy from missing an opening act at a Spaceland show because I had not realized that the event had been sponsored by KCRW and would thus be well attended, I wrote this. I still understand the sentiment that I had, but I need to admit it was misplaced towards KCRW instead of 1) myself, 2) the venue, and 3) a selection of the concertgoers. I suppose this is a weak attempt at a retraction/apology, but I wanted to take a moment to say that KCRW, although I don’t enjoy everything they play or promote, is a solid organization that provides a great service to Los Angeles, and that is a positive force for music here; and the M. Ward show that they organized helped to remind me of that.

Besides the incredible setting, the highlight of the night may have been hearing the first single off A Wasteland Companion, “Primitive Girl”:

It sounded great when performed by Ward and his companions. I’ll admit that my first thought was whether it was a cover of James’ “Laid” (I had a few drinks in me by the time he played it late in the set), but I think it is a great homage to “Laid” that has a very early-90s feel to it. If his performance was any indication (and I fully expect it to be), I’ll be listening to a lot of the new one come one month from now. It can currently be streamed on NPR’s website HERE.

Like the title says. A mix for a friend. Bachelorette, Antwon, Grimes, and a bunch of songs that have either already made it on to monthly mixes, or probably will be in the near future. Stream it on 8tracks: http://8tracks.com/topomodesto/mix-for-lena

[cover art by Moebius (AKA Jean Giraud)]

New DMV heat from a compilation featuring commentary and tracks from Mello Music artists, Oddisee, Apollo Brown, yU, and Gensu Dean. Don’t miss the other freebie from Oddisee either, “Slow It Down.”

: Oddisee – Slow It Down : (left-click)

Whenever there is a new music streaming service that starts up, the first thing I wax philosophic about is how the character of hand-crafted music selections is lost when music is selected by algorithm. In addition to self-motivated discovery, I grew up in a time where I could listen to radio stations like WFMU and WFUV. I could get the sense of the personality of each DJ, understand where I stood next to their music tastes, and let their selections transform my own tastes.

I just discovered the music mixtape site, 8tracks:

At 8tracks, we feel that there’s something unique and compelling in handcrafted programming — as with traditional radio in the 1970s, the mixtape in the 1980s and DJ culture in the 1990s. One individual — the DJ — knows music well and introduces a set of listeners to it. This does not require an on-demand experience, and in fact, typically precedes it, as listeners discover and acquire those tracks they enjoy.

I think it is a fantastic approach. 8tracks is playing by the books, and using those rules as the framework for a (hopefully) sustainable service. I like the idea of numerous personality-centered DJs to choose from for streaming music. And so rather than just complain about the shortcomings of Pandora or Spotify, I’m going to be a part of an alternative solution.

Mixes from the last year are up for your cloud-based streaming convenience. Check me out HERE.

I very nearly kept with the themed mixes of vintage tunes, but thought, “No, it’s just not fair to everyone…” I know you (like, both of you) count on me for new music, as well as the old, so I needed to bring it this month. And there’s still a good serving of old stuff, but hopefully enough things with “2011″ in the year category to make this feel relevant if the last few months have felt dated. If you don’t enjoy Paul Brunelle’s take on country, or Opus 3′s cover of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again;” you’re not invited. But for the rest of you, it’s playtime.

[cover image from "Postcards From Home" by Sam Harris]

March 2012 Mix – “Playtime”

01 Paul Brunelle et Ses Troubadours du Far-West – Le Train Qui Siffle (1960)
02 The Dogs – We Don’t Have To Do Anything (2011)
03 Handsome Furs – Talking Hotel Arbat Blues (2009)
04 Jessica Jalbert – Stupid Hollow (2011)
05 Foreign Born – Lion’s Share (2009)
06 Smog – In The Pines (2005)
07 Johnny Burnette – My Love You’re A Stranger (1956)
08 Wendy Rene – The Same Guy (1964)
09 Juan Vicente Torrealba – Chipolenado (1971)
10 Holiday – Ace Tone (1995)
11 Tracy Sheed – Circles (2001)
12 Alias – The Answer (2008)
13 Youth Lagoon – Afternoon (2011)
14 Ramblin’ Hi Harris – I Haven’t Got A Home (1956)
15 Belisario López – Desde Que Te Conocí (1940)
16 Young Man – Playtime (2010)
17 The Feelies – Loveless Love (1980)
18 Caveman – Thankful (2011)
19 Syl Johnson – Half A Love (1964)
20 Pure X – Back Where I Began (2011)
21 Opus 3 – Otra Vez Solo (Gilbert O’Sullivan cover) (197?)

: MIX ZIP FILE :

(Streamable version of mix)

I know I’m late on this month’s mix… This was to be on one of the mix options that are in the works.

Just over a week ago Kirby Ferguson released the final installment of his “Everything is a Remix” series. The 4 videos are each about 10 minutes long, and explore the concept of “intellectual property” from a number of angles. Part 1 talks about covering, reworking, sampling, and remixing in music. Part 2 deals with re-appropriation and genre in film. Part 3 discusses the technological evolution of the graphical interface in personal computers.

The themes come to a head in Part 4, which explores the legal aspect of copyrights, patents, and creation of the concept of permanent “intellectual property.” Having strong opinions myself (that probably are outside of the conventional norm) about the negative impact that an aggressive legal definition of ownership of ideas has on our society as a whole, this is probably the most interesting and convincing part from the series. I think that the case is made pretty convincingly that the entities that benefit from current definitions of intellectual property are many; but they are only rarely the original authors, the development of creative ideas, or society as a whole. Ferguson points to the concept of the “common good” as being a meme that is referenced in the Copyright Act and Patent Act (not to mention the U.S. Constitution), and one that needs to challenge the meme of “intellectual property” as a positive influence in society.

Ferguson’s documentary series is very much in the lineage of Adam Curtis‘ thought-provoking documentaries for BBC (if you haven’t seen them, I highly recommend checking them out on HERE, on Google Video, or Netflix), and as such the soundtrack is pretty enjoyable on its own. Keeping with the theme of remixing and building on ideas, the series is fully sourced. I’m looking forward to his next project as well.

: Everything is a Remix video series :