Yeasayer!

I have been meaning to post about this because it is so good. It is from the amazing website I was turned on to by the good chaps over at APT called La Blogotheque. When I first heard Yeasayer it was the song 2080 which is all electronic and totally different than what they do in this video. I thought 2080 was a cool song but after seeing this video I really like and respect these guys. This song is soulful and moving and the fact that they are singing in some french subway is very cool too. Here is the video I refer to:

#87.1 - YEASAYER - No need to worry / Redcave
by lablogotheque

and here is the song2080 by them.


*Also, La Blogotheque recently posted another great video from The Black Lips (who came out with one of my favorite albums of 2007) Check that out too, (but don't think this is the way the album sounds cause that is dirty garage rock).here.

Peace

Jazzy

Umm. One of the things I love about being Puerto Rican is that we are responsible for such good music. And that our culture encourages and expects that I, or anyone descended from the Island, use "we" when we talk about anything or anyone who is Boricua (the Taino name for the island). Anyway, Willie Colon is Puerto Rican. and he was a pioneer in latin music. If you want to learn a lot about him go to this website. (you'll also learn a lot about Hector Lavoe as well, another Puerto Rican product). So I wanted to post this song for everyone to check out. It is just so good. Willie plays the trombone and he was instrumental in bringing the trombone out into the forefront of latin music groups. He was also influenced in a big way by jazz music from the States (amongst many influences he assimilated). I hate to call this Latin Jazz, it's more direct about its folk music influences, it's a lot rootsier than what Latin Jazz usually brings to mind. It has an edge to it. These guys were just homies in the streets, getting loose and jamming together and before they knew it they were huge. They were even a fad for a while, (see the Boogaloo craze). Take a listen and definitely buy a lot of Willie Colon (especially the stuff with Hector Lavoe on vocals). Anyway, pick an instrument and follow it for a while and then change to another one. It's really amazing. My favorite on this track is the Timbales

Hector Lavoe-Jazzy

Que disfruten!

Peace

Andre 3000 and LCD Soundsystem

Andre 3000 drops some nasty verses on this track from Big Boi that also features Raekwon. It's called Royal Flush, but damn! Listen to Dre's verse, it kills. I mean seriously this dude is no joke! More than your average rapper.

Royal Flush-Big Boi (Featuring Andre 3000 and Raekwon)



And to show my schizo listening, here is a new track from Mr. James Murphy, who's Sound of Silver was one of the best albums of last year and everything he has come out with has been really, really good..From the soundtrack to the movie "21".

LCD Soundsystem-Big Ideas (from 21 movie soundtrack)

enjoy!

Paz

Some International Flavor- Buraka Som Sistema and more

These guys are the shizz....been diggin this and Villa Diamante. First, meet Buraka Som Sistema....From their record label page (Modular Records)

Buraka Som Sistema materializes a new sound of Lisbon and the most recent Portuguese-speaking dance music bomb, kuduro. Kuduro is dance music from Angola, which pulses through the hometown of Buraka Som Sistema, Lisbon. However at its heart,Buraka Som Sistema is dance music, raw and pure.It is the meeting point for Portuguese Lil'John and Riot with Angolan producer Conductor, trying to make techno but being far far from Detroit. Joining BSS from Angola is Petty, an MC Lil'John remarks as having a voice which embodies the real Kuduro tradition. Another of the contributors to BSS is Kalaf, just about the most recognizable male voice of Portuguese modernity. Together as Buraka Som SIstema they make party, and they make it fun, and visceral, and intense and joyous, like an explosion of good times.

(Peep MIA showing up in here)



And then there is Villa Diamante A new type of music, called either Nueva Cumbia or Digital Cumbia. Downloaded a mashup done by him and love it. From Argentina, here is what it says on his MySpace page..."His style toes the line among hip hop, mash ups, mtv culture with shades of techno." check it out yourself. Here is where I got the free download of the mashup album

11.Villa Diamante vs Gaby Bex (Coolie Dance riddim) (mp3)

15.Villa Diamante - Mariana Baraj vs Q tip(mp3)

Enjoy!

Peace

Basia Bulat

I have to do a quick hit post here about Basia Bulat (pronounced Basha). Canadian lady who has a great set of pipes. The song "In The Night" has been stuck in my head for months and just haven't gotten around to it. Really catchy fun stuff. Both this song and "Snakes and Ladders" are on my mythical tops of 2007 songs list. Enjoy


Basia Bulat-In The Night (From Oh My Darling on Rough Trade)


Here is the video, which is great (My son loves it)




Peace

Tina Brooks and forgotten Gems

I have listened to a lot of jazz. (Warning, Geeky Jazz Post) Seriously, like too much. Mostly from before the 70's and especially late 30's to 50's early 60's. I have heard several good albums and recordings from after that time, but I guess I just keep finding stuff that I really enjoy in the stuff before 1970ish. My taste runs like this, if this means anything to you:

Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives and Sevens especially)

Lots of various small group swing like early Benny Goodman Jack Teagarden, Basie, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Bix Beiderbecke, Bud Freeman, Teddy Wilson, Ellington,

Charlie Parker

Miles Davis

Sonny Rollins

Thelonious Monk

John Coltrane – Pre -Impulse

Lee Morgan


Everything else I listen to is pretty much inspired by the stuff these guys inspired and pioneered.
Anyway. Isn't it crazy how much music is just misplaced in all the cracks left by the seismic reactions caused by artists like the above mentioned. Music that is really good and just forgotten about or never really noticed at the time. Still, though this music survived. People kept preserving it because they heard it and they knew this deserved to be kept, in pristine conditions, master tapes locked away. One of my very favorite examples of this is Tina Brooks. When some jazz fans read some liner notes that mentioned these recordings they demanded that it be issued. And it eventually was. Thank Goodness! He seems to be another casualty of Drug Addiction but who knows? There's not much recorded about him. This from the Mosaic box set:

... The album was titled Back To The Tracks and given the catalog number 4052. It's cover appeared on inner sleves, and it was listed in Blue Note catalogs for a time. Yet the album was never issued. This is one of about a dozen such instances in Blue Note's history. Yet a fourth Tina Brooks album was recorded in 1961. It was edited and sequenced for release. It too was not issued.


I got this music by buying the Tina Brooks out of print mosaic 5 lp box off of eBay, but it has since been reissued on cd. Given the juicy Rudy Van Gelder Blue Note series treatment. I will leave you with a quote from Robert Palmer about Tina Brooks' music,

“What remains is the music, and whether it was made by John Coltrane or by Tina Brooks, or by some guy who changed a dozen peoples' lives and never recorded at all, as long as it has the depth of insight that men who probe their own souls sometimes find there and offer up to us as a miracle, or simply as a gift, it is music to be treasured. There is a lof of music in this world, but of this music, there will never be enough. “

Enjoy this stress free, and with a clear mind and just listen, truly listen....

Tina Brooks-The Blues and I

What are some of your lost gems? Let me know about them if you like in the comments.

Peace

Ooh, check this out...New Breeders

I am a big music fan, in case you haven't noticed. And I love lots of music. What kind of music do I like? Good music. In my opinion, there is a lot of good music. And while I think I am a little more snobbish than I should or would like to be, I am still open-minded. This is one that my snobbery instinct tells me to just write off, but the Pixies were sooo good...I remember when The Breeders album came out how cool the whole concept was (cool rock and roll girl from the pixies gets her own band together and rocks out). I got turned off at the time from them, mainly because Cannonball, their big single from that album was played on mtv and on the radio ad nauseum. That was back before I stopped listening to radio (aside from college radio and some public radio). But I always did love that song. Anyway, The Breeders have a new album coming out and here is a song from it. I think it sounds pretty tight, and very fun. Nothing Dylanesque or anything, but I still think Kim Deal is the shizzz..(That's her above)

The Breeders-Bang On

And here is the infamous...

The Breeders-Cannonball (Sorry, my copy has a tiny skip somewhere)

In other news, The Black Keyes have some newness...have a listen over at Stereogum.

Peace

New Velvet Underground!!! (Honest)

Velvet Underground-The Gymnasium, NYC

The only available live stuff from 1967 and it has only just become available in literally the last few days. Recorded just after the release of The Velvet Underground And Nico and featuring the debut performance of Sister Ray (19 mins long) and the *previously unheard* song I'm Not A Young Man Any More. This is raw, loose and slightly out of control, so great. Enjoy! (And pass it on, don't know how long the link will be good for)

Peace

High Fever Blues

 

Last night Mr. Corey Harris came through our frozen tundra of a state. He is class of '91 from Bates University and Lewiston got blessed with a free show by a great blues and roots guitarist and songwriter. I got lucky and got 3 tickets and then one thing led to another and I had 2 extra tix. (Yes I am that popular). Anyway my man Mr. T came through and we hustled up to Lewiston half assed and just barely made it by the 7:30 deadline to pick up the tickets or else. After using some Jedi mind tricks, Mr. T found the Olin Arts Center, we strolled in to an amazingly intimate 300 person venue all specially engineered for sound. We got so hooked up. He played blues, reggae, some african influenced, beautiful instrumental guitar pieces, and basically just took us to the river. It was at times folky as well, with some protest songs of his own, usually in the reggae idiom. I highly recommend Mr. Corey Harris' music and also check out his role in the blues documentary he did, Feel like Going Home. (produced by Martin Scorsese).

High Fever Blues (solo version)

clip from the film "Feel Like Going Home"


Peace