Archive for August 2007
The Yard will present a Brooklyn Backyard Barbeque to benefit Farm Aid, featuring a live lineup of local bands, silk-screening and family farm food on Sunday, August 26, beginning at 3 PM, at The Yard, 388-400 Carroll Street in Brooklyn.
Musical performances will include: Old Springs Pike, The Press, She Keeps Bees, Alana Amram and the Rough Gems, and a special performance by DJ Steve Aoki. Sweet Deliverance (ed. note: for this reason, I am officially jealous of anyone who goes)will provide organically grown, homemade barbeque and farm fresh food.
Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised over $30 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the current system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
DATE: Sunday, August 26
PLACE: The Yard
388-400 Carroll Street
Brooklyn, New York
TIME: Doors open at 3pm
TICKETS: $10
Advance tickets available at www.ticketweb.com
The death of Max Roach, the innovative master percussionist whose transformations and excursions changed jazz music forever, is felt very heavily here at Loudersoft. His accomplishments are nearly unequaled in the world of modern music; his work was instrumental in the construction of the bebop movement which, if you didn’t know, is widely considered the dominant form of modern jazz among purists. The breathtaking rhythms of post-World War II’s uptown New York City jazz revolution are reflected in every measure, and in the howl of his timing you can hear the foundation that Max Roach laid. The house that Max built is something that a lot of music listeners may take for granted; but then again, how many who have come through have altered music to form a new standard?
It’s not just about Max Roach the drummer, either. Perhaps equally as important as his work in music was his reputation as a fearless innovator. The manner in which he approached his work and the obstacles of his life let people know that they were dealing with the best. His mere presence, it was often said, demanded the respect and admiration of those around him because he carried himself with the distinction of who and what he was. He walked the talk and challenged you to do the very same; he did not settle for things to be second best.
Max Roach, thank you for all the wonderful music that you have given us. I have a date with The Quintet’s Jazz At Massey Hall so I can remember you to the rafters.
I wander into The Buccaneer, known to many as “Memphis’s favorite hipster dive bar”, from time to time on a whim, usually right around show time. Normally, they just have a great jukebox playing an outrageous selection of punk, classic country and classic rock — imagine hearing Black Sabbath followed by Johnny Cash followed by The Oblivians. That’s good enough for me, but bands travelling through Memphis can occasion to end up there. It has a good sound system and the room is really small, so you can hear the band (although you can’t move if it’s packed).
Anyways, the last two nights I’ve been treated to two excellent shows from two very different bands. The first was a band from Fayetteville, Arkansas called (rather oddly) Memphis Pencils. This six-piece outfit who all hail from that university town are clearly influenced by bands like Belle & Sebastian, Okkervil River, Elliott Smith and a bunch of other names I can’t quite bring myself to drop right now. These kids gave a performance that was filled with endearing charms and sweet melodies. Their first EP, Crayon Jewels was hand painted and drawn and given to me to listen to. It’s quite lovely, I think you’ll agree. All the songs are available to download from their MySpace page for free, so I will post up a couple of my faves — “Un Dandy Dia” and “Keep It Simple, Sartre”.
Memphis Pencils - Un Dandy Dia
Memphis Pencils - Keep It Simple, Sartre
The following night, I wander in and see a band setting up. There are people coming in by small clusters. In the crowd, I notice Ben Nichols and Roy Berry from Lucero, a sign that the show will probably be pretty good. I had no idea I was in store for a tour-de-force performance from up-and-comers American Aquarium from Raleigh, N.C. With an impassioned vocal delivery from vocalist/guitarist B.J. Barham that recalls a nascent stateside Shane McGowan combined with the band’s incredibly gifted songwriting, the music of American Aquarium contain a series of clues which provide a southern parallel to the northern working anthems of Bruce Springsteen. If you love American rock and roll music, you will find it hard not to be immediately taken by American Aquarium. They have an album called Antique Hearts which is well worth getting. Their next recording was done with the magical Greg Elkins and (among other things) features backing vocals from the inimitable Caitlin Cary. Check out this gorgeous live performance of “Road To Nowhere”, then go visit them on MySpace to hear more songs.
Why don’t y’all come take a visit inside the secret catacombs of the Dap-Studio with me?
OK.
I remember hearing this track as the basis for a Jurassic 5 track a few years back and being totally hooked. It’s not a complicated chorus, but the groove laid down in it is so funky and dynamic, it’s hard not to get sucked in. I guess that when this song first appeared in 1973, it sounded like the first cut I have up (sorry for the 64k version, I couldn’t find one any better). As the a-side of the 45, it came all in one piece. It seems spare and monaural on purpose, a band with a great song struggling to be out there and be heard. I gather from what I was able to read out there that it was remixed and reissued on 7″ the following year. The 1974 version is even funkier, splitting the song into two parts, adding funktastic horns and screaming synthesizers to what was already a damn funky track. Check it out for yourselves.
Julius Brockington & The Magic Force - This Feeling (1973 Version)
Julius Brockington & The Magic Force - This Feeling (Freedom) (Pt. 1)
Julius Brockington & The Magic Force - This Feeling (Freedom) (Pt. 2)
Man, I’m slow on the uptake on occasion. Everybody has blogged about Calvin Harris’ epic electro-disco CD I Created Disco, and everyone hyped me on it so much that I didn’t really give it any credit for being good. Then I started to realize that I’d been hearing touches of it everywhere — “Acceptable In The ’80s” was on a mixtape someone gave me, then my friend Joe from Each Note Secure kept dropping these hints about how awesome it was. Like the nay-saying poo-poo making indie cone squabs I tell people I can’t stand (you know, the kind who you mention a band to and, even though they’ve never heard the band, they go, “Wow, yeah their music sucks”), I glassed this release so hard for no reason and I admit it. Now, I’m hopelessly addicted. It’s so much fun, it might be illegal somewhere.
Sure, it sounds a bit like LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk and awesome house music and some other stuff, but every track on the record is so banging that I can’t sleep on it or on Calvin any longer. Calvin Harris is a bit of a ginger beard as well, not unlike yours truly, which should be the suffice-if-to-say hook for me. He’s just finished a new album for perennial-reinventor Kylie Minogue and I, for one, can’t wait to hear it.
Calvin, if you’re out there, grant us an interview will you, lad? Or, you know, just come kick it with us.
Calvin Harris - Merrymaking At My Place (Mr. Oizo Remix)
Don’t be a squareknob! Get your hands on I Created Disco by clicking here to buy it from Amazon!
Loudersoft joins millions of music fans in mourning at the loss of Tony Wilson, the man who founded Factory Records and the Hacienda Nightclub. The BBC is reporting that he passed away from complications relating to cancer at the age of 57. Among the notable careers Mr. Wilson helped to launch are those of Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays.
BBC journalist Kristan Deconinck sought advice from him in the early 1980s on how to launch an independent record label shortly after Wilson had started Factory records.
“He couldn’t have been more helpful and more patient,” Kristan said.
“He inspired me - and countless others - to have a go if you believed in something.
“That in itself is a great legacy, apart from the vision he had with his label, his shows, his attitude - his contribution to a new culture.
“When I later met him, I found him far more amenable than scurrilous rumours had led me to believe and my esteem for the guy never diminished.”
Tony’s visionary genius was loosely detailed in the film 24 Hour Party People but I think never did justice to the true legacy he has left behind. The Manchester music scene and truly the world of British music has lost a unique and precious benefactor today.
Ok, so you love Amy Winehouse? You’ve been playing “Rehab” over and over again and trying to find something that equates with what she does in modern times and you’re lost. You’ve been asking friends and you’re lost to the core. Okay, brothers and sisters, it’s time to wake up because you’ve been sleeping.
If you don’t follow the dirty details about music, you might still not know about Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and how they’ve been tearing it up doing classic soul since like….forever. You want to see the best live soul review ever? If you guessed Amy Winehouse, you’d be wrong because well…she’s going to be on the DL for a little while from a reported OD. Besides which, her backing band for that tour has been…well, The Dap-Kings. Even if you love Amy Winehouse’s sweet soulful voice and style, you gotta know that she came by it honestly and, furthermore, the foundation is Miss Sharon Jones. Referred to as “The Female James Brown” and “Soul Sister #1″ (hailing from Augusta, Georgia just like the late Soul Brother #1), her music and performance can say things that I can’t. I love you Sharon Jones, and I can’t wait until I see you again.
The new Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings album, entitled 100 Days, 100 Nights drops on October 2nd. You’d better get in line and get ready to get down with the rest of us. Here’s a couple of numbers to tide you over, one from that forthcoming release and one from a 7″ vinyl release earlier this year entitled “I’m Not Gonna Cry”.
If you can’t wait, you can still pick up her 2005 album, Naturally, a peerless recording filled with classic soul barnburners.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I’m Not Gonna Cry
You can pre-order 100 Days, 100 Nights from Amazon by clicking here.
Once upon a time there was Senior and Senior was all alone making music. Then came Junior and Junior was making music all alone. Then Junior met Senior and made Junior Senior. They make music that is fun. They make music that is happy. They got everyone to move their feet and feel united. They wanted to get get get to know n-know know you better better , baby. They played festivals and raves and parties and nightclubs and picnics and barbeques and shindigs and afterparties and whatever else you had in mind for many many moons. They were still happy and fun, but apparently they weren’t exactly happening here in the United States.
That’s all changed.
Now, to coincide with the August 14th stateside release of their much-adored 2005 album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo, a special 7 song EP entitled “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” will come right alongside with your purchase. This track won’t be on it, but you should buy it anyways because Junior Senior are fun. You need fun in your life don’t you?
To the windows, to the walls, y’all.
Junior Senior vs. Lil’ Jon - Can I Get Low
Get your hands on this heated up release of Hey Hey My My Yo Yo by clicking here to purchase from Amazon.
Junior Senior On Tour:
08/10 New Orleans, LA - Ryko Convention (Tipitina’s Uptown)
08/11 Boston, MA - Middle East
08/13 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
08/15 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy
08/16 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
