A little of the old, and more of the even older

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So I was having breakfast in this diner I go to and I heard an artist I hadn’t really listened to in quite some time. The guy’s name is Louis Prima. Most people younger than myself don’t know who he is. It’s understandable, considering that he’s from the Vegas limelight of the mid to late 1950’s. However, some people may remember him through more of a pop culture window. Anyone that saw Disney’s The Jungle Book may well remember King Louie. Well that voice, my friends, was that of Louis Prima’s.

Well, he was one of the first big stars in Las Vegas. We’re talking just before the Rat Pack came in and took his crowd. He would pack the Sahara’s showroom every night with this mix of risque humor and swingin’ jazz. It was like New Orleans, but wilder. He had the help of a great sax player by the name of Sam Butera, and his band, The Witnesses. Here you get a good example of the craziness of what this guy could do. Here I’ve given you guys an instrumental cover of Love of My Life (O Sole Mio) as well as a massively energetic stomper in St. Louis Blues. Definitely check this guy’s catalog out if you’re into this stuff. It’s not all this frenetic, but just imagine watching a show that this guy put on!

[Download Louis Prima – Love Of My Life (O Sole Mio)]

[Download Louis Prima – St. Louis Blues]

Next up is a track from a somewhat forgotten band from the late ’90’s. They were the Amazing Royal Crowns and they hailed from Providence, Rhode Island. When I was still living up in the Boston area, I had heard about these guys, and am pretty pissed I never got to see them live. Tons of energy like you’ve never seen, and probably never will. They’re classified as “psychobilly” and this is the first track off of their self-titled debut.

[Download The Amazing Royal Crowns – Shiverin’ In The Corner]

Yep. The obligatory message reminding you to not be a leech and go buy this stuff! If you download and not support the artist? A kitten somewhere dies. Or a limbless kid contracts a venereal disease. I dunno. Just go buy this stuff!

What Would Wil Wheaton Do?

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WWWWD

Sounds like a new version of the interwebs?

Kinda.

I’ve been thinking about how I can help inALLcaps.com get some more eyeballs. I’ve been considering branding, marketing strategies, and bumper stickers. It all comes back to Wil Wheaton.

He is an internet phenom. He is an actor and an author. He is one of the most popular bloggers/twitterers of all time. Not that I have any stats or anything to prove that, although he does have 61,158 followers on twitter. It just seems like wherever I turn, there he is. Obama’s Secretary of Geek Culture. Wil Wheaton is best known for his role in the Star Trek:The Next Generation and the movie Stand By Me..

You do know who I am talking about right?

The point is that if I could get Wil Wheaton to mention this blog…we will be known across the internet as geek approved. Which would be great not only because of the marketing coup it would be for the blog, but it would be a badge of honor being that I think Wil is very cool for being such a geek. I am a geek too, and proud of it!

Wil often posts artists/songs that his iTunes Genius/Shuffle has selected for him. Well, he posts the conversations he has with his iTunes regarding the songs. I will post a few of the tracks he’s mentioned and hopefully get him to mention us.


Here we go.

Wil says:

just realized that I *always* listen to Pink Floyd when I’m on the final edit of a writing project, but never on purpose. It just happens. 1:24 PM Feb 6th from twitterrific

@Phillyberg iTunes put Echos between Obscured by Clouds and Dark Side of the Moon. I think I saw a monolith spinning qoutside, too. 1:16 PM Feb 6th from twitterrific

[Pink Floyd – Obscured By Clouds]

[Pink Floyd – Echoes]

I love Pink Floyd. It’s not something I listen to often these days, but it was definitely the soundtrack to parts of my life that I look back fondly on today. One thing that drives me crazy though is hearing a Pink Floyd song in an iTunes shuffle. Why? well. There’s something to hearing a Pink Floyd song among its siblings on the album. I like to listen to Dark Side from beginning to end. The Wall is just better when you listen to it in order. When I hear a Pink Floyd song alone, it just seems to be missing something, namely the next song in the album.


Wil Says:

The Bends follows Obscured by Clouds very nicely, if you were wondering about that sort of thing.
2:10 PM Feb 2nd from twitterrific

Radiohead. What can I say. Bends is a great album, but let me talk about Kid A. I just read Killing Yourself to Live by Klosterman. If you have never read this book, it comes recommended from inALLcaps.com. A great book about love, death, and rock and roll. Klosterman mentions in the book how Kid A seems like the soundtrack to 9/11. That chapter itself is worth the purchase price of the book all on its own. I want to share a little line from the book that explains the point I am trying to make:

This is followed by track three, “The National Anthem.” This is when the first plane slams into the north tower at 470 mph. “The National Anthem” sounds a bit like a Morphine song. It’s a completely different direction from the first two songs on Kid A, and it’s confusing; it’s chaotic. “What’s going on?” the lyrics ask. “What’s going on?” It gets crazier and crazier, until the second plane hits the second tower (at 9:03 A.M. in reality and at 3:42 in the song).

[Radiohead – The National Anthem]

Relisten to the album after reading this chapter, and that album will haunt you every time you hear it.

Alright. How ’bout one more!

Wil says:

iTunes: Psst…Maneater Me: [:whispers:] I know, right? iTunes: Are you going to dance around and sing it? Me: Maybe a little. Both: Squee!
12:09 PM Jan 16th from twitterrific

I am not gonna say anything disparaging about Hall and Oates. I’m into a lot of the same things Wil is into. I like Hall and Oates just fine. Dancing and singing…to Maneater… PASS.

I did find it coincidental that a certain hot blonde I know experienced her first crush on Wil Wheaton. Of all the TigerBeat pinups, she chose Wil Wheaton. I always identified with Wil, but let me reiterate that I would never squee if Hall & Oates came on my iTunes. Maybe that’s why she likes me more than Wil.

Do Wil and me a solid, and buy the albums from the bands we mentioned above.

The dirtier the sound the best I breathe

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The Manchester Orchestra has friends. Good God do they have friends. I’ve never felt that I could come anywhere near writing a decent blog post about this amazing band from Georgia, but the premier release from their upcoming Mean Everything to Nothing album moved me like no other recorded track of theirs ever has.

[The Manchester Orchestra- I’ve Got Friends]

Mookie and I discovered them together when we were researching the bands that were sharing the bill on Brand New’s tour back in early 07. When I found their website, my exact words were, “this is the most independent indie band” or something to that effect. We’ve been able to experience them live several times in a handful of cities since then and each performance has been an event we’ll never forget.

In the last few years, members of The Manchester Orchestra have managed to start their own label (speaking of having friends, they sign and work with only bands who are friends – TALENTED friends), tour with incredible bands, perform at prestigious music festivals, inspire new artists, oh… and arrive at legal age.

Regarding this period of time since the band formed, they say it’s been “an absolute whirlwind of experience and life lessons most people wouldn’t learn until they are 30.”

A few of us here have experienced more pain and loss, but also more joy and miracles, than anyone should by the time they are 30. And we still manage to be turned inside out by the music and lyrics of The Manchester Orchestra.

Look, I don’t know what the fuck this particular song is about, but it gets me. It just kills me. They know how to perform the slow, smoldering build. All elements of the sound deliver to you the heart, soul, blood, and sweat of all its contributors.

Andy Hull has used lyrics inspired by odd dreams, by confusion or confirmation of a relationship with God, and everything in between. For me personally, it gives a voice to everything that has run through my head recently and lays out a mise en place for all of the people we have in our lives and the purpose they serve, whether altruistic or selfish. And it helps me distill all of the bullshit down to the most important and compelling reasons to go forward, to breathe, to strengthen your dedication to your priorities.

If that didn’t make any sense then tough for you. It makes just as much sense as the lyrics of the song.

To lighten the mood let me confess that the first time I ever sat behind the drum kit for Guitar Hero World Tour, I channeled Manchester’s Jeremiah Edmond, of all the great drummers there ever were. It’s true.

The Manchester Orchestra is hands down one of the greatest things to happen to music. That’s all there is to say. No other witty uberblogger music expert bullshit.
The new album hits April 21. I will remind you.

Bringin’ about some classic house….again.

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Yeah, I know. It’s more “techno”, as some people like to call it. Well, there actually is a difference between “techno” and “house”. House music is much more sample heavy, and is usually at a much slower pace than what’s traditionally called “techno”. Not to mention, it’s many times – and I don’t mean this as a slight towards techno – much more uplifting and soulful. That’s just the long and short of it. Well, I yanked out a few more of my old house records and have recorded them as mp3s on my hard drive, and am now sharing them with you.

As you’ll see, a lot of these are based heavily around old samples. The first one takes a few riffs from an old disco cut. Which one? Well, Patrice Rushen‘s “Haven’t You Heard” is the cut. Rushen is best known for being ripped off for that garbage Will Smith track that was the theme for Men In Black. Seriously. That song was awful. The original was just that – original. Will Smith is now a scientologist. I think there’s a connection.

[Download Daddy’s Favourite – I Feel Good Things For You]

The next track is also sample heavy, and pretty blatantly so. However, it can be done tastefully, and I think this is one example of it being done so. It received a lot of play from the DJ crews that ran shit back 10-12 years ago, and it was featured on practically every dance compilation you could think of. The sample in Sex-O-Sonique’s “I Thought It Was You” is pretty straight-forward. It was Herbie Hancock‘s tune of the same name. It took me forever to find this, by the way. My records are an absolute mess! This particular version is the Salt City Orchestra remix, and it’s a killer. Enjoy it! A video featuring the original is right after it.

[Download Sex-O-Sonique – I Thought It Was You (SCO remix)]

Here’s another old dancefloor killer that was released on Azuli back in 1999. It’s a stomper of a cut by a group that used some oftentimes obscure disco samples for their cuts, and this one was no different. They used a sample from the track “Le Spank” by Le Pamplemousse for their track “I Like The Sounds”, and used if quite effectively. The Studio 45 track is below, and I’ve given you all a video with the sample there, to boot.

[Download Studio 45 – I Like The Sounds]

Last for this week is an old Deep Dish remix. This track was released way back in 1996. Yes, for some readers, that seems like a long time ago. Or it just says the guy writing this is nearing his mid-30’s and reminiscing like a foolish old man. When I was your age….well, I was your age. Most likely could drink a fair number of you under the table back then, also. Just ask George, here. He’s seen me at my “finest” on a few occasions.

Well, I had problems finding this track in particular. It’s Gusto’s “Disco’s Revenge”, and this remix in particular is, in essence, an extended version of the remix featured on the original release by Manifesto back in ’96. A full four and a half minutes longer, to be precise. Well, this also has a pretty loopy sample, and it’s of Harvey Mason’s “Groovin’ You”. Yeah, bet you didn’t think you’d learn shit today when you read my inane post, eh? Well, you did. So you’re that much smarter for it. And knowing is half the battle. Or some stupid G.I. Joe-like slogan. I hated G.I. Joe. You’d see millions of shots and lasers get fired off, yet no one got hit. Seriously? That was lame. Even when I was ten, I wanted to see blood and guts. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyhow, here’s Deep Dish’s remix of Gusto’s “Disco’s Revenge”.

[Download Gusto – Disco’s Revenge (Deep Dish remix)]

At this point, my hands are cramped, and considering it’s a whopping TEN degrees outside as I type this out, I’m somehow pretty damn cold, too. Even still, I have the energy to tell you all to go out and buy some of this stuff. I worked hard to get this all up for you! So go get it and help these folks out!

It’s only then you’ll hear the sirens…

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Oh thank god for the band Kid, You’ll Move Mountains. I was worried I was not going to be inspired by anything to write about for my Monday post.

I checked our email account looking for something, anything…

Saw a submission by the band with the interesting name, and hoped I could judge a book by it’s cover.

I suppose I can.

From the bands one sheet (a one sheet is a short summary of a thing, in this case a quick bio of the band.):

Combining each musician’s unique background, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains draws heavily upon Nate Lanthrum’s shotgun drumming, while also incorporating Wills’ ambient, effects-laden guitars and Andrew Lanthrum’s jitterbug bass lines. Yet much of the band’s haunting songs rest on the vocal interplay of [Jim] Hanke and Nina Lanthrum.

The alternating singers sashay through dark tales of love and loss, avoiding the temptation of call-and-response verses that would have left Hanke singing the salty to his female counterpart’s sweet. Instead, the vocalists share the emotional burdens, each voicing stories of looming autumn days that turn to the dead of winter, before each also sings of the hopefulness of spring.

The idea of having two vocalists in a band is not new. Straylight Run was a band that made it work well, although they have since had a reworking of their line-up and no longer have two vocalists.

Usually though, the two vocalists confuses me. It seems disjointed and disconcerting. KYMM seems to put it together well. Might also be the fact that they just rock. The music is fantastic. Fresh and vibrant.

But listen to Wives’ Tale to get the taste of these two vocalists working it out. It’s fantastic.

[Kid, You’ll Move Mountains – Wives’ Tale]

Something old, something new
Something soiled, something used
Shake the rice out of your shoes
Hang the dress like you did the noose

I love Nina’s voice, and then Hanke’s growl comes in to put a finer point on it.

Take a look at Nina, she’s adorable. Start professing your love now, I am sure she ends up being a hot commodity with the assured increase in popularity this band will surely see in the coming months.

I might just be biased though, “you’ll” is one of my FAVORITE contractions.

Buy the album directly from the artists. It’s only seven bucks. That’s better than a gov’t bailout plan!

Tell Nina inALLcaps sent ya’.

[Editors Note: Doh. I should remember to do more research before hitting the PUBLISH button. Nina is married. To the drummer. Drummers get all the hot chicks. If you are thinking of learning an instrument, remember my advice. Thanks.]

Animals Collecting Album totals…..

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So Animal Collective recently released a new album! Yes, these weird folksy guys are releasing some more strange tunes. I have yet to take a good, long listen to their new album Merriweather Post Pavillion, but I am sure it will be sort of an extension of their last album, Strawberry Jam. I say that meaning there should be an obvious directional difference with some of the tracks, and from the little I’ve heard, it’s adding more of the spacey kitsch that made Panda Bear‘s Person Pitch such a fantastic album. And yes, the album cover is very trippy.

Well, this post is a departure from the recent long-winded stuff I’ve written lately. I’m simply giving you the first single – “My Girls” – off of the album, but also a nicely done remix that Dave Wrangler submitted my way (as well as practically every blog out there!). If I had a gig now? I’d have no qualms droppin’ this track in a house set, and have every reason to believe practically any sort of crowd would like it. This is a super DJ-friendly remix that sounds very clean and crisp. It’s one I highly suggest you guys grab from here.

The original is very spacey, and brings thoughts of the Beach Boys, circa Pet Sounds, when Brian Wilson was trying practically any drug shoved in front of him. The only complaint I have with this song is that it builds to a point, and just sort of hangs there before ending rather abruptly. Otherwise, this is a great tune. So enjoy, boys and girls!

[Download Animal Collective – My Girls]

[Download Animal Collective – My Girls (Dave Wrangler remix)]

And yes, I expect you to buy the album! With groups like this that are lesser known, it’s that much more important to help them out with a purchase. If not through us, then buy something while at their shows! That’s even more kickass. I’d probably even give you a hug. A boney, pale, Irish, drunken hug. Which really just means either I’d pass out on your lawn or start a fight with a barstool. Either way, you’re entertained.

Oh, that was supposed to be a secret!

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I learned recently that Dwight Howard, center and power forward for the Orlando Magic, sings Beyonce songs while he’s at the free throw line. It’s funny that this giant man pumps himself up and gets focused signing Beyonce, but well…let him explain it (From ESPN’s PTI):

“Ya’ all heard about that? Oh, that was supposed to be a secret!” Howard said. “Like when I’m at the free throw line I try to keep my mind off everything and I might just up there and start singing like …”

(singing) ‘I’m a single lady, I’m a single lady’ … And sometimes I might make it! It happens. I get up there and I might sing Beyonce. I don’t know why, out of all the artists, I’m supposed to be like, (makes menacing noises), like Jay-Z, or Kanye or Lil Wayne, or someone towards those lines, but I’m singing Beyonce … If I have to sing Beyonce to make a couple of free throws, I’m gonna keep doing it.”

Love it!

What would you sing if you were at the free throw line and needed to get focused? My choice would be any song off the Ignition album put out by The Offspring around October 1992.

Why? The music is fast and edgy. I tend to get more focused with a little anger.

Just listening to it gets my heart beating faster. I was telling someone recently that this album makes me wanna drive very fast. Listen to the song Session and imagine you gotta get across town, weaving in and out of cars on the road. /shiver YES!

[The Offspring – Session]

The Offspring have a booty load of albums, all worth picking up. But Ignition is the best. CASE CLOSED.

BUY SOME OFFSPRING RIGHT FUCKING NOW

The smoke that rises separate from the fire

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Is this all you ever wanted
is this all you’ll ever need
Don’t you know I’m not a martyr
but you’re making me bleed

This song belongs on the radio. But I’m not going to start another diatribe on that. Besides, it’s only a matter of moments before the day arrives that saying something belongs on the radio is taken as an insult. Just look at what passes for popular music. I wouldn’t want my paid advertising butting up against a lame BuckCherry or Hoobastank track either. No wonder Clear Channel laid off over 1000 employees this week.

The boys at Winston Audio seem to agree with me. So I will take back what I said about getting this song on the radio. Just now, Dan D made a comment to me about how he’d rather have people hear about music from somewhere other than a “homogenous radio station that overplays everything.” I didn’t even expect to get a quote like that in my blog post today. What a roll I’ve been on lately with the way my posts have been fluently spilling out and fluidly syncing with life’s happenstances. (Unfortunately the painkillers that life’s happenstances have forced me to be on today may have ended my fluency streak. Sorry, lovelies.)

Not that it’s all about me; although their upcoming album, The Red Rhythm, does have a track called Hey Ann… But, I’ve spent some time wondering who could ever produce the strong sound Sparta delivered and I’ve been a little lost since their disbanding. Listening to The Red Rhythm reminds me not only of how I would feel listening to Porcelain or Threes, but it also has the strength in sound and build that Soundgarden had. I really tried hard to refrain from making the comparison that I assume-and I’m not even going to run a google search to verify-everyone else has made between Soundgarden and Winston Audio. But since I did, I will say that lead singer Dan DeWitt’s voice is just as strong if not stronger than Cornell’s. It’s a sound like this that makes me all warm inside. Take a listen to “Martyr.”

[Winston Audio – Martyr]

Despite Dan’s claim that he reserves his rage for the road, there is definitely a strong emotional charge coming through in these tracks. Track three, Keeping it Down, has a sound that reminds me of Eddie Vedder’s passion. Vedder, by the way, is one of the artists the band says they’d love to collaborate with. Good choice my friends. Speaking of collaboration, Favorite Gentlemen label head Andy Hull lends his voice to the track. Check out a live video of the song:

So what’s with the name? You’re going to love this: think of the way that smoke curls from the end of a cigarette (such as a Winston.) Just as the smoke constantly changes, twisting, turning, and then becoming part of the air… Winston Audio sees music in the same way. The music on this upcoming release, which is the band’s first LP, gets progressively stronger as each track plays. This is a fabulous album to set the tone for 2009. It’s so real, and soulful, and it flows well.

Winston Audio The Red Rhythm comes out February 10. This is one worth a visit to the record store, so mark it on your calendar. In the meantime, watch the label’s site for tour dates and more info on the band.

You ain’t gonna miss your water until your well runs dry…

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I spend a lot of time at Daytrotter.  It’s a great site.  Probably once you discover them, you might never come back to our silly little blog.  It’s what every music blog strives to be, at least in part.

Read this from their site:

There are so many music/entertainment websites that copy one another, scrambling so fast to “discover” or present something new to the world. And just because you get there first, it doesn’t really make you an explorer. We did poke a stars and stripes into the moon, but we could always see it. We knew it was there. It wasn’t new. We can always come along and say we did, saw, heard something first, but we’re never right. What Daytrotter is attempting to do is to not kid around with you and tell you that we found something that you never knew existed. We are going to contribute to the musical landscape, not just toss it around like a used book or a stolen pick-up line. We’re going to give you something that you truly have never heard. We are not giving you songs from someone you love’s record album, thereby stealing from someone you love. We’re giving you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands.

Yeah.  They kick ass.  Make it a site you visit often.

I was listening to the session TK Webb & the Visions did on daytrotter the other day.

WHAT?!?

You haven’t heard of TK Webb & the Visions?

um.

Ok. Real quick…

[TK Webb & The Visions – 1,000 Horns]

The CD is great. Not overly compressed, so it’s a pleasure to listen to. If you love psychedelic bluesy guitar rock, I suggest looking into them further.

(We Now Return You to Our Regular Program Already in Progress)

While I was listening to those, I discovered yet another bad ass site being advertised on Daytrotters site. 

Wolfgang’s Vault is a place you can listen to the greatest live music of all time in full concert format. They even have an iPhone app so that you can easily listen to these live concerts from anywhere you are.  I have been listening to some amazing Bob Marley concerts.  
They way Marley and the Wailers build and build during the set is mind bending.  Please, go check out wolfgangsvault and check out all the amazing music there.

Martin Luther King, Jr., remembered through music!

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A quick tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., today. In 2002, Trax Records released a 12″ that featured a remix of the Mr. Fingers classic “Can You Feel It?” that has much of MLK’s “I Have A Dream Speech” overlaying this mellow, yet uplifting classic. So for today, just enjoy the track. I have also posted a video someone made using the song.

Remember what King stood for, today! Do a good deed in unsolicited fashion. Volunteer! Give to a charity you feel close to. If you give of yourself, you’d be quite surprised how good you feel afterwards. And work to help bring the ideas of equality to our country. As long as anyone suffers, we can always improve to give everyone the same rights and chances of everyone else.

[Download Mr. Fingers – Can You Feel It? (MLK mix)]

And for this one, please do buy the music! No funny messages or anything. I think buying this song sends a very real message about the passion you share with us about what this great man stood for.