163: “Just Kiddin'” and “Vision of Kali (Extended)” by Club D’elf

February 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Yes, this is my bass. Now let's play.Don’t shart, but I have a good song for you.  In fact, there are two.  Pick the one you like better, and that’s the one I mean…

It’s rare that hearing a song would create instant incontinence, but the metaphor is nearly powerful enough to convey my conviction.

You won’t ever get tired of this song.  Play it for your parents, your business associates, your children’s friends, and while you brush your teeth.

Club D’elf is responsible for the tune, from the album Now I Understand (2006).  Club D’elf is composed of too many revolving featured artists to list, but it’s led through the musical wilderness by bassist Mike Rivard.

Mike Rivard has actually had several documented cases of crapping his own pants because he plays so well at times.*  Ask him about it if you see him.  And get close to his face when you ask him about when he craps his pants because he’s so awesome.

I’ll stop typing.  Enjoy.

*Don’t look at me.  I got nothing.

Songs: Just Kiddin’, Vision of Kali (Extended)
Artist: Club D’elf
Album: Now I Understand
Label: Accurate Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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162: “Muffaletta” and “El Ritmo” by Wicked Knee

February 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Cowbell?Wicked Knee is a rolling slurry of a band concocted of:
–Billy Martin (percussion)
–Steven Bernstein (trumpet)
–Curtis Fowlkes (trombone)
–Marcus Rojas (tuba)

New Orleans is barely more New Orleans than the tunes these guys are playing.  There’s an impending EP, but in the meantime, you can listen to some tracks on MySpace, and check out the videos below on YouTube.

The first video is from Billy Martin’s “Anti-Instructional” DVD, now available, called Life on Drums which features Wicked Knee.  Billy Martin wants to teach everyone they can be an artist, regardless of their talent level.  Which is cool except if he’s encouraging truly bad, unimaginative people to start hitting things loudly.  I’m all for everybody being an artist except for if it sucks directly on or near me.  But to be honest, even then, I’m pretty patient.  Just don’t test me…

Wicked Knee’s artistry doesn’t suck at all.  In fact, it VERY doesn’t suck.  Enjoy.

Songs: Muffaletta, El Ritmo
Artist: Wicked Knee
Album: (Coming Soon)
DVD: Life on Drums (Billy Martin)
Buy from: Amazon | Amulet Records

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161: “The Creator” by Santigold

February 21, 2011 Leave a comment

She doesn't even have to lean on anything. She can do this in mid-air.New sounds.  Creating new sounds can be hard.  To some, it comes easy.

Santigold‘s stage name was formerly “Santogold,” but that was totally stupid so she changed it.

Anyway, this lady is definitely a creator.  The intro to this song is mesmerizing from the first time you hear it.  Maybe in the future it will sound passé but only because Santigold did it way back in 2008.

And now, a poem, by W.B. Yeats, from The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats. © Macmillan. Reprinted without permission, but with hopefulness.

A Drinking Song
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

Enjoy.

Song: The Creator
Artist: Santigold
Album: Santogold
Label: Downtown Recordings
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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160: “Joyful Sounds” by The Word

February 18, 2011 Leave a comment

The Word To The MotherLet’s hop in the Wayback Machine and head back to 2001, when Robert Randolph, the North Mississippi Allstars, and John Medeski teamed up to form The Word, an instrumental, gospel-inspired quintet.

Below is a video of the group performing on The Late Show with David Letterman.

It’s Friday, feels like spring in Knoxville, and life is beautiful.  Enjoy.

Song: Joyful Sounds
Artist: The Word
Album: The Word
Label: Ropeadope Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes | Ropeadope

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159: “Iceberg” by Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra (feat. Elliot Bergman)

February 14, 2011 Leave a comment

Shawn Lee can't see you.World of Funk (CD | MP3) by Shawn Lee‘s Ping Pong Orchestra drops today.  Here’s a beautiful track from the album called “Iceberg.”

Shawn Lee is the same one-man-band responsible for an album called Hooked Up Classics wherein he modernizes and funks out well-known hits from some straight up classical gangstas like Tchaikovsky and Wagner.

This one is cooler than a polar bear’s toenails.  Enjoy.

And Happy Valentine’s Day / Monday.

Song: Iceberg
Artist: Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
Album: World of Funk
Label: Ubiquity
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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158: “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” by PM Dawn

February 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Shhh. Whisper. We're really close.Spandau Ballet created one of the most epic slow dance songs of the 1980’s called “True” (1983).

PM Dawn pimped the melody out, with “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” from Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991).

Enjoy.

6th Grade Slow Dance Instructions (for a boy)

Put your hands on her hips.
Rock your hips side to side in a reasonably rhythmic fashion.
But slow and cool, jack.
Her hips should be moving in roughly the same reasonably rhythmic fashion.
Be aware of where you are directing your breath, especially if you have stank mouth.
You’re growing armpit hair now, kid.
You’re ready.

Song: Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Artist: PM Dawn
Album: Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience
Label: Gee Street / V2 Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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157: “Fullness Of Wind (Variation On ‘The Canon In D Major’ By Johann Pachelbel)” by Brian Eno

February 9, 2011 Leave a comment

Throw some food at Brian Eno.Here’s what Wikipedia’s good for: Brian Eno’s full name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno.

Hell yes, Wikipedia.

Eno strongly believes in pushing the boundaries of people’s perception of music and sounds.  His work ranges from the absurd to the sublime.  Here’s one of the latter.

From the album Discreet Music (1975), this one of three variations on Pachelbel’s Canon in D is the most beautiful to my ears.

Open up your ear holes and let this one in.  Enjoy.

Song: Fullness of Wind (Variation on ‘The Canon in D Major’ by Johann Pachelbel)
Artist: Brian Eno
Album: Discreet Music
Label: CAROLINE ASTRALWERKS
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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156: “Waited Up” by The Samples

February 7, 2011 Leave a comment

1989 Lassez-faire hair.These guys were on the first H.O.R.D.E. tour, which was organized by Blues Traveler in 1992.

The Samples were formed in Boulder, CO in 1987, and got their name from their tendency to subsist on grocery store samples in the band’s early days when they were without funds for nutrients.

This is a good one you can keep in rotation.  Enjoy.

Song: Waited Up
Artist: The Samples
Album: The Samples
Label: What Are Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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155: “Bus Stop No 5” by The New Mastersounds

February 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Great Britain is bringin' the funk, aw yeah.It is only after years of grueling training in the funk arts that a band can master the kind of swagger it takes to pull off a truly great funk song.  And so it is that with the confidence of a steely-eyed warrior, this quartet lays down their masterful grooves.  Hm, perhaps I’m taking liberties.  They actually look baked.  But you can tell they practice.

And no, this is not a recording from the 70’s, despite its nostalgic aromas. The New Mastersounds are a contemporary outfit from Leeds, England.

It’s from the album 102% (2006).  Getcha some.

Gone and enjoy, now.

Song: Bus Stop No 5
Artist: The New Mastersounds
Album: 102%
Label: One Note Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes | One Note Records

Filed under Funk / Soul Tagged with , , , ,

154: “I Only Know (What I Know Now)” by James Blake

February 3, 2011 Leave a comment

Normal Joe, Otherworldly Sounds.Here’s some wild new music from a young man named James Blake.

This is not the U.S. tennis player, but a British electronic composer.  His debut studio album is dropping in the UK this month.

And in unrelated, supplemental news: Learn about an effect you’ve likely never heard of, even though you can probably name several people, perhaps even individuals just feet away from you now, who illustrate the effect quite well, from Wikipedia:

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to appreciate their mistakes. The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their own abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority. This leads to the situation in which less competent people rate their own ability higher than more competent people. It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence. Competent individuals falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding.

Constantly re-evaluate your perception of reality.  But be sure to enjoy.

Song: I Only Know (What I Know Now)
Artist: James Blake
Album: Klavierwerke EP
Label: R&S Records
Buy from: Amazon | iTunes

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