Musings on Hip-Hop

I'm pretty annoyed by the recent mix-tape trend in hip-hop. I mean its nice to have new stuff, sure. But most of the time the shit that comes out on mix-tapes is simply not very good. Recent mix-tapes from Wale are an example of this. Sure there are some pretty good tracks, but its full of holes. It seems like their time would be better spent focusing on actually releasing a solid album. But what do I know? I am only a white kid from the suburbs.

I finally checked out a Lil Boosie mix I had downloaded a while back yesterday, and its absolutely terrible. I'm not the least bit surprised, as the only reason I had downloaded it in the first place was because Boosie is from Baton Rouge. Being from Baton Rouge does not excuse him for the shit that is most of his music. I guess with these guys from Shreveport and Baton Rouge getting so much success with songs like "A Bay Bay" and "Wipe Me Down" it is a little too much to ask them to actually get a decent beat and throw down a decent rhyme. Oh well.

Far more worrying than a few mediocre mix-tapes is my brother's sound buds. I spent 3 hours with him playing NBA Live yesterday, and I played DJ the whole time. We listened to the entirety of "Illmatic," most of "Ready to Die," half of "36 Chambers," random Outkast, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Lupe Fiasco, and Wale. Finally after about 3 hours I threw on "Lollipop" just for a change of pace and his ears perked up. "Turn it up, this song is fucking awesome!" Oh well.

Wu-Tang Clan- C.R.E.A.M.
Notorious B.I.G.- Juicy

Verano

I'm coming back with more sounds of summer. I discovered Extraperlo of Barcelona after checking out El Guincho's myspace a few weeks ago. I'll leave the Alegranza! commentary for a little later, as much has already been said about that excellent album. But it was Extraperlo that really struck out at me. "Banyadores" mixes an old-world charm, sort of like if Zach Condon/Beirut were from Barcelona, with a sunny, almost disco vibe. However you want to describe "Banyadores," it will make you smile, and want to pack your bags and head to Barcelona.

Extraperlo- Banyadores

Hot As A Murder Weapon

Well summer has officially started, at least for the in-school crowd. As far as I am concerned there is only one true summer anthem.



Tom Tom Club- Genius of Love (live)

Steppin Out

I spend a lot of time walking. Anytime I have to get myself between my house and class, a friend's apartment, or a bar, I will most likely walk. As I have delved into funk and jazz, I have realized that there are certain artists, albums, and songs that are perfectly cut out for my strutting between learning and liquoring.

Stanton Moore is one of those artists that is perfectly cut out for the walking jam. Anytime I put on Stanton or his band, Galactic, I cannot help but get down on the walk home.

I was lucky enough to catch Stanton perform solo at Bonnaroo this past year and was blown away by how tight he and his band are. If I thought that was going to be enough Stanton for one weekend, well I was wrong. I happened to catch the encore of Galactic's late-night performance at Bonnaroo and was completely surprised. I had seen Galactic perform before, but their performance at Bonnaroo was something entirely different. Lights-out funk, that is what Galactic bring to the table every night, and if you ever get the chance to catch them, do not miss out.

Elsewhere: Off the Record- Stanton Moore (New Orleans, LA)

Stanton Moore- Ben's Blues
Stanton Moore- Stanton Hits the Bottle

Fresh Groove Muxtape #2

In the theme of my last two posts I offer up the second Fresh Groove muxtape.

Fresh Groove Muxtape #2

1. "People Condemn Whiskey"- Heartworn Highways Outtake
2. "Rebels"- Tom Petty
3. "Colorado"- Stephen Stills/Manassas
4. "Twilight Distillery"- The Minus 5
5. "Animal Shapes"- The Silver Jews
6. "LA Freeway"- Guy Clark
7. "Windfall"- Son Volt
8. "Two Angels"- The Jayhawks
9. "Six Days on the Road"- The Flying Burrito Brothers
10. "Atlantic City"- Bruce Springsteen
11. "Monument Valley"- Drive-By Truckers
12. "It's Been A Long Day"- Jim White

Porch & Roll

I feel like every single person on Earth should take at least 30 minutes out of their day and sit outside by themselves just to chill out and enjoy nature. So many people get completely wrapped up in the little, meaningless problems of their everyday lives and are never able to come-down off of those problems.

Granted, as a college student, I am in a very easy position to write this. I generally have no problems, sure my bank account is empty and maybe my grades weren't exactly what I was looking for, but really I can't complain. My life is good, I have nothing to worry about for two weeks until I start my new job, and I am 20 years-old with the world ahead of me. But sometimes it takes a nice back porch decompression with a cold beer or a glass of whiskey to remember this.

So I sit out here at 2:30 in the morning with (now just a glass of water) a drink and The Minus 5 playing in the background, and I am happy because I know my life couldn't be any better. Hopefully in 5, 10, 20 years I will be able to say the same thing.

The Minus 5- Twilight Distillery
The Minus 5- All Worn Out

Echoes From the Porch Swing

When I was younger, maybe 10 or 11, so about ten years ago, I remember sitting on the beach with my family in Florida. We had a radio out there with us and my father, uncles, and grandfather were all drinking beer and listening to music. I remember my uncle picked out four cd's for that entire week-long vacation: Anodyne, A.M., Trace, and Wide Swing Tremolo.

At the time Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Wilco were names that meant absolutely nothing to me. The music didn't sound too bad, laid-back, a little twangy I guess, certainly different from whatever the New Orleans alternative-rock station was playing in those days.

Over the next few years I can remember several instances when the voices of Farrar and Tweedy would float out from the family radio. Summers visiting the family in Monroe, Louisiana were spent out on the back porch, jumping in-and-out of the swimming pool. We'd take trips together out to Destin, Florida. Inevitably there would be an evening where the family would all be sipping beers or wine out on the porch, looking out at the sea. More than once Son Volt provided the soundtrack for these scenes.

I got older and became "aware" of Wilco while sitting in a buddy of mine's car. The next time I saw him, I asked my uncle if he would burn me all of Wilco's cd's that he had. He only gave me a copy of A.M.

"Ryan, this is really the only one I like. Tweedy got into drugs or something and all his music got weird and way out there. Farrar though, that man can still write a tune," said my uncle to me, the 15-year old budding music snob.

I fell into the trap of shunning A.M. and laughing at the faltering career of Jay Farrar as I collected every Wilco album. "And to think people expected Son Volt to do better than Wilco," I would exclaim.

However, the years have passed and my feelings and opinions have changed. Much of Wilco's music has become rooted so much in time-and-place, Mandeville/Covington, Louisiana 2000-2005, that listening to Tweedy and co. just isn't the same anymore. I'll never be the same kid I was the first time I fell asleep to "Pieholden Suite" or the first time I sang along to "The Late Greats."

Over the last 6 months or so I have Son Volt gradually creep their way into my playlists and music selections. Recently, Trace and Wide Swing Tremolo have been my first choices every time I've gone to my back porch to have a beer and read a book in solitude.

This summer I will be returning to Monroe for work between semesters. I have been told how bad of an idea this is. ("You'll be getting $60 shwag" some say). But I am rather looking forward to sitting poolside with a little Jay Farrar, and maybe a cold Shiner.

Son Volt- Medicine Hat
Son Volt- Strands

Study Jams- Part 1 of 6

It is finals week here in Baton Rouge, and I have been swamped with work the last couple of weeks. To make up for the lost time I will be posting some of my favorite study jams. First up we have Nas and AZ bringing some classic NYC hip-hop. Both "Life's a Bitch" and "Rather Unique" are classic joints. The laid-back beats and killer rhymes will get you into the zone when your head is in the book. And if you want, they can also get you elevated. Probably two of my favorite hip-hop tracks of all time.

Nas (featuring AZ)- Life's A Bitch
AZ- Rather Unique

Do You Feel Like We Do?

No, I'm not talking about Peter Frampton. I'm talking about Lucky Dube (Doo-bay). It may be hard to take him seriously at first sight, since he looks like Lenny Kravitz or one of the members of Milli Vanilli, bbut don't be fooled, this man was a badass. I first heard of Lucky Dube following his unfortunate death. Some fuckhead carjackers in South Africa killed one of the world's greatest artists for his goddamn car. What the fuck? Initially I blew Lucky Dube's music off because I hadn't really liked previous examples of South African music that I had heard. I got my first legitimate taste of Lucky Dube when I walked into a reggae/head shop in Venice Beach last month while on Spring Break. Floating out from the speakers was the smoothest, most soulful reggae music. "What is this?" I asked. "Eets Lucky Dube mon," the Rasta working the shop answered. Now, having listened to Lucky Dube all weekend, I love the man and can't understand the randomness of his death. I immediately equate him with Fela in the sense that his songs are all urgent and passionate pleas for love, equality, and less nonsense for the government. The main difference being that Fela always sounded like he was on the verge of leading a violent revolution against Obasanjo, no matter the costs. Lucky Dube approached the problems of South Africa in a much more "come together" sense. Either way, both Fela and Lucky Dube provide an example of what political music really is. Don't be fooled by the likes of will.i.am, etc. This is Serious Reggae Business.

Lucky Dube- Feel Irie
Lucky Dube- Together As One (Live)

Dubby Sunday Lunch

For all you folks gettin hiiiigh on a Sunday cause you ain't got nothin better to do, well I got a Dub treat for you. The Jahlights dubbed out version of "Right Road to Zion" is perfect to accent any Sunday praising or puffing you may be doing. Have fun dubbing, I'll be hitting the books all afternoon. Until next time, stay on the straight and narrow.

The Jahlights- Right Road to Dubland

All muxed up

So after kicking it to Weiss's muxtape a few days ago I felt the urge to assemble my own. I decided to focus on some New Orleans funk and a couple jams from Nigeria, one from Fela, the other from his son Femi. I also threw in a track from Bahamanian groovestress (is that a word?) Sylvia Hall, which besides being amazing, sounds like it could have come from the Crescent City.

Fresh Groove Mix #1

Tracklist:
1- Fela Kuti- Water No Get Enemy
2- Soul Rebels Brass Band- Let Your Mind Be Free
3- Sylvia Hall- Don't Touch That Thing
4- Soul Rebels Brass Band- Black Jukc
5- Galactic featurning Juvenile and Soul Rebels Brass Band- From the Corner to the Block
6- Soul Rebels Brass Band- Asiatic Funk
7- The Meters- Hey Pocky Way (Live)
8- The Meters- They All Asked For You (Live)
9- Rebirth Brass Band- Do Whatcha Wanna
10- Soul Rebels Brass Band- Culture in the Ghetto
11- Soul Rebels Brass Band- Santa Cruzin
12- Femi Kuti- Traitors of Africa

Rock With the Hot 8

New Orleans favorites Hot 8 Brass Band tore it up in Paris earlier this year. Check them getting funky. I will have more on the incredible story on the Hot 8 later on. For now, enjoy, and get funky.



http://www.myspace.com/hot8brassband

What What What

New updates coming soon. Stay tuned! I'm pretty swamped with finishing the semester but I'll be back up and running shortly.

Cheers!

I Get That Feeling When She Drives On By

There's a lot of really great albums coming out right now, but my ears are all tuned into 1980. Marshall Crenshaw's debut Marshall Crenshaw hearkens back to the bouncy sunshine pop-rock of the 50's and 60's. Crenshaw's music isn't anything new, but still manages to sound fresh, even after much of the conventions of his pop stylings have gone stale. Crenshaw reminds me of a happier, American version of Elvis Costello, or an updated Buddy Holly. Crenshaw's light pop is the perfect antidote to the heavy August air.

Marshall Crenshaw- There She Goes Again
Marshall Crenshaw- Cynical Girl

**

Fresh Links:

-Aquarium Drunkard posts some amazing Flying Burrito Brothers and offers a post on T. Rex, who I have been digging lately

-Benn Loxo Du Taccu is truly amazing, here he offers up yet another gem from Africa

-Discobelle has a remix of the worst song of the summer, which actually makes it sound decent, and another great remix

-Funky 16 Corners continues to floor me, this time with Stones covers

-Happy Birthday Soul Sides

-Weiss posts on Wild Style, which I had never heard of until now, I have been watching the documentary NY 77: The Coolest Year In Hell all week, and it talks about the birth of hip hop and guys like Grandmaster Caz and Grandmaster Flash as well as the grafitti culture, so Weiss's post was a gift and an eye-opener

-The excellent Car Stereo (Wars) are about to release an album and were featured on both Stereogum and Gorilla vs Bear

-And finally, Stylus has the top 10 alt-country records not by Uncle Tupelo... uh, where's the Whiskeytown?

Soaps, Powder, and All That Other Shit

The Last Waltz, one of my all-time favorite movies was on tv this morning when I woke up. I really can't think of anything more pleasant when waking up than the pairing of The Band and The Staples Singers on the song, "The Weight." I had the pleasure of seeing Mavis Staples sing "The Weight" on the Sunday of Bonnaroo, and I was blown away by the power of her voice.

Neil Young's performance of the song "Helpless" with Joni Mitchell and The Band reminded me of a Whiskeytown cover of the song that I love. Whiskeytown opened up a 1998 show in Eugene, Oregon with a hilarious cover of "Helpless," but the lyrics of the song were changed so that the whole song was about a laundromat in North Ontario and doing laundry. Ryan Adams fucking around doesn't always yield great results, but Whiskeytown's cover of "Helpess" is excellent.

Neil Young with The Band and Joni Mitchell- Helpless
Whiskeytown- Helpless

Beneath the Bebop Moon, I Wanna Croon

Well I moved back to my hous in Baton Rouge a few days ago, thank God. Just being back causes me to be 100 times lazier, thus explaining the lack of posts lately.

I caught couple of concerts over the weekend, and neither really lived up to my hopes, but that's not to say that they were bad.

Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk played The Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge last Friday night. I saw Girl Talk at Bonnaroo and had an incredible time, so I was looking forward to this one for a while. Unfortunately I drank entirely too much before the show and was way too fucked up and really don't remember much from the actual concert. I still remember the Bonnaroo performance vividly, and if it wasn't for that, I'd be mad for not remembering much of the show. Oh well.

I went Sunday night to see Neko Case at The Republic in New Orleans. It probably would have been one of the best shows I had ever been to if it wouldn't have been for the fucking insanity of traffic on I-10 going into New Orleans Sunday night. You'd think traffic would be a breeze at 8:30 or 9:00 on a Sunday evening, but no, they were doing road work and all traffic was merged into one lane. We didn't realize what was going on until too late and ended up missing the first hour of Neko's set and only caught the last 45 or so minutes. Despite that, Neko was absolutely wonderful. Her voice is absolutely enchanting. I've seen few performers as fixating on stage as Neko Case. Her backing band, led by Jon Rauhouse, and backing singer Kelli Hogan were hardly outshone. The band's sound was clinically precise, and their sound filled the club better than any band I've seen in a venue that small (with the exception of My Morning Jacket). Despite the disaster of missing the first hour, the Neko Case show was excellent.

I first listened to T. Rex's Electric Warrior back in February. For whatever reason it didn't really catch my ear. I put on "Hot Love" earlier today though, and all of the sudden it clicked. I've now listened to Electric Warrior all the way through three times in a row. Its funny how sometimes music works like that.

T. Rex- Hot Love
T. Rex- Mambo Moon

Got A Box Full of Letters

Yesterday I mentioned Wilco's debut album A.M. It seems like people either love or hate A.M. I know people who think everything after A.M. is druggy crap, and people who barely even acknowledge that A.M. exists as an album. Rarely is A.M. ever judged fairly. Too many people expect to hear either Uncle Tupelo or the Wilco of the Summerteeth/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot days.

A.M. was the first Wilco album I ever heard, and I really liked it. It didn't blow my mind, but it was still really good. It certainly had nothing that compared with the first time I ever heard "A Shot In the Arm" or "Poor Places," but as an album it was still very strong.

A.M. is not an album that is going to blow your mind over and over again, but it really isn't supposed to be. There's a few duds ("It's Just That Simple") but the album rebounds with undeniably catchy country-rock. "Box Full of Letters" and "Pick Up the Change" caught my attention immediately. Both are examples of a precise merging of pop rock and country, something that Jeff Tweedy began to do in the later days of Uncle Tupelo.

Wilco- Pick Up the Change
Wilco- Dash 7

The Summers Here Are Hot

It wasn't until last summer that I really jumped into alt-country/Americana/whatever. I had been a fan of Wilco for a few years, but besides A.M., I had never went back into Jeff Tweedy's past songwriting. At the beginning of last summer though, alt-country really clicked for me. Immediately I ate up as much Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and Jayhawks as I could.

Last summer I worked in the kitchen of a local restaurant, and for the most part the radio in the back was playing either classic rock or club rap. Now classic rock was cool with me, that's what I had cut my teeth on, but the club shit annoyed the fuck out of me. When the nights were closing down though, or when the afternoon came and business slowed down, I took over the radio.

For me closing time always meant playing "The Long Cut," "Gun," and "Chickamauga" as loud as was tolerable. At the end of the night I wanted something to push me all the way to the end (a 12-14 hour day was not uncommon). The afternoons were sleepy time though.

My co-workers always hated my afternoon stuff. Sometimes it was folky acoustic Dylan, but most of the time it was Whiskeytown. The kitchen manager once complained "I feel like I'm in the high hills of Tennessee" as Faithless Street played in the background. The days were long, and incredibly hot, and became increasingly defined by Whiskeytown songs. When "16 Days" came on I would sing the number of days of work I had left in place of 16, and I always felt Ryan Adams's loneliness in "Black Arrow, Bleeding Heart" and "Desperate Ain't Lonely." For whatever reason though, it was the Ryan Adams-Phil Wandscher collaboration "Factory Girl" that became my defining song for the long afternoons. "O the summers here are hot, and all she seems to do is work and sleep and wish that she was still with you."

Man, that was my summer, and it sucked. Thankfully this summer was a lot easier. Today was my last Monday of work, and Friday is my last day until I move back.

The songs below can be found on the Faithless Street reissue. For more Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown info check out Answering Bell.

Whiskeytown- 16 Days
Whiskeytown- Factory Girl

Sunday Selections

Today we have some sweet soul from Etta James.

Etta James- Tell Momma
Etta James- You Got It

Funky Rebels

Few bands come to get down like the Soul Rebels Brass Band. The New Orleans jazz/funk/hip hop group has been entertaining the city for over a decade now at clubs, house parties, and festivals. Soul Rebels are self-releasing their latest album, No Place Like Home. Their 1995 album Let Your Mind Be Free has been a staple of the weekend cd rotation at my house for 12 years now, and more recently, has become a regular on my mixes. Ultimately what is music for? To entertain and to enjoy. Few bands are as entertaining or as enjoyable as Soul Rebels.

Soul Rebels Brass Band- Santa Cruzin'
Soul Rebels Brass Band- Culture In the Ghetto
Soul Rebels Brass Band- Flowing and Flying