Creations Unlimited – Corruption Is The Thing
A.C. Jones & the Atomic Aces – Oh Baby
King James Version – He’s Forever

If you’re looking for a last minute gift for that soul-inclined someone special, once again Numero group has a collection for you. Over the past several years the Numero gang have featured tracks associated with Cleveland’s Boddie Recording Co., but nothing compares to this 3 CD / 5 LP box set that compiles some of the best tracks from the over 10,000 hours of tape and 300 records that Boddie helped to bring into this world.

With this much music it’s easy to get lost, there are many many great songs, and a wide diversity of styles on this collection, from gospel funk to doo-wop soul and all manner of funky delights in between. In highlighting a couple of the standout tracks, I’ve tried just to be representative of the various sounds, but it’s lost cause with this much choice material. If you’re a enthusiastic fan of underground soul, you need to track down this collection for yourself (and be an early adopter, there’s a bonus CD or bonus LP with even MORE music for a limited number of these collections).

DJ Shadow fans will of course delight in being to hear “Corruption Is The Thing” from Creations Unlimited, who also have their scintillating instrumental (their 45 on Soul Kitchen is a two sided monster if ever there was one!) “Chrystal Illusion” also featured on this collection. “Corruption” leads off with a bit from Shadow’s “Numbers Song” but aside from that bit of sample lore, the whole song is extra tight in a heavy psych-a-funk vein ala early Funkadelic.

A.C. Jones & the Atomic Aces’, “Oh Baby,” is a #1 soul stunner with a little bit of “I’m Your Puppet” vibe at the start before the guitar and Jones’ voice come in. There’s a really amazing turn of emotion in Jones’ voice from the first line, “Sometimes I get the feeling, I want to walk right out on you,” to the next line “Then I think about your love, I just don’t know what to do,” from clear anger to a bit of confusion then with the soaring “Oh Baby” there’s acknowledgement that this woman has a hold on him that he can’t let go, that is made clear in his sigh that follows and the doubled “I Love You (You Know I Love You Baby),” line. Just extraordinary soul on display here. For lovers of sweet sweet soul numbers, “If You Don’t Think I Love You” from Frankie Pighee & the Soulettes is another track you should adore.

By far the most unique, thrilling and bizarre track comes from King James Version. “Over the top” doesn’t seem to quite describe their song “He’s Forever.” Sometimes you hear a song and it’s just difficult to believe that it is real. If someone had told me that Eddie Murphy had recorded a song for a Coming To America sequel that featured Sexual Chocolate as a gospel group I think I would believe that more than the reality of King James Version (there’s even a moment in the song where I swear someone says “That boy is good” in the background just like in the movie). King James Version was more than a band, they were performance art, with the main singers dressing up in biblical attire, hair dyed platinum blond and calling themselves Moses and Solomon. You can’t make this up…The fact that you have a religious song built off of the melody from the theme to Midnight Cowboy, a movie about a hustlin’ male prostitute, only solidifies the utter insanity. And the song is utterly insane, it sounds like no other gospel song you’ll ever hear, particularly when “Moses” sounds as if he’s going into orgasmic fits on stage while discussing the love of Jesus. Un-be-lieve-able!

Also of note, and almost as unbelievable is “Don’t Make Me Kill You,” a song that if it were performed by a man by himself would seem pretty deplorable, but sung as a duet by Angela Alexander & J.D. Saddler, the overtly murderous vibe seems a bit more humorous than it might have been otherwise. In fact when I hear the song, it almost sounds like the theme music for a Married With Children style sitcom set in the 1970s. There are so many wonderful soul nuggets on this volume it’s understandable why Numero went so big on this collection and here’s to hoping that the trend will continue as their vinyl archeology moves into a new year.

Charles Bradley – Golden Rule
Charles Bradley – I Believe In Your Love
The Menahan Street Band – I Believe In Your Love (Instrumental)

{Updated Update: Looks like Charles Bradley has moved on over to the Echoplex Sunday night!!! Update: Well, might be only one chance to see Charles Bradley since Sunset Junction appears to have been canceled…LA Peeps, you have two chances to catch Charles Bradley…for FREE one of the Getty’s “Saturdays Off The 405″  this Saturday August 27th and at the Sunset Junction festival Sunday August 28th!!!}

I’d meant to write a review of this record when it was released early early in 2011. With the recent release of the instrumental version of the LP, along with multiple performances upcoming in the LA Area from Charles Bradley, it seemed like a good time to finally give this album it’s due. As much as Aloe Blacc’s 2010 album Good Things was a very recessionary soul album, No Time For Dreaming is also a product of these specific times even though the sound is from 1960s. Though Bradley mines some of the same subjects, hard times, heartbreak & loss (particularly the death of his brother in “Heartaches & Pain”), there’s a righteousness in these songs that leans more towards optimism than depression. Whether it’s his pleading, “Got to make it right, all that I’ve done wrong” on “The Telephone Song” or on the title track, as he preaches “No time For dreaming, Go to get on up and do my thing.” Times maybe hard, but in line with James Brown’s most inspiring late 60s/70s material, Bradley wants us to get involved and get OURSELVES together. Even when things turn darker, such as on “The World” Bradley’s role is more of as a truth-teller, diagnosing the ills of the world not simply to gripe about them, but to bring to our attention the problems we experience and to get us focused on doing what we can to solve them (kinda like a musical sociologist!)

“Golden Rule” is perhaps the best example of this socially conscious direction in Bradley’s music. “They still keep building more prison to take our kids away, why can’t we show more love to make this a better day.” Going back to the golden rule may seem simplistic to some, but as a teacher I know first hand that the times I’ve really affected change in my students has been through some very small kindness that often leads to more significant changes down the road.

Bradley also shows himself to be a really competent romantic on the aforementioned “Telephone Song,” “I Believe In Your Love,” (which is perhaps my favorite track on this LP) “In You, I Found A Love” and “Lovin’ You Baby.” That last track, the longest on the album and also the slowest paced is particularly noteworthy for the tenderness Bradley employs early on, before building to pure passion as the song moves towards its climax propelled on by what seems like greater force applied to the rhythm along with rising horns.

Speaking of which, as much as Bradley’s vocals and lyrics deserve attention on this record, much should and has been said about the music provided by the Menahan Street Band. Of the myriad Daptone related projects I think the music produced under this title is the most satisfying. Take note again of how the music interplays with Bradley’s vocals on “Golden Rule,” the care taken into the production, like that perfectly mic’ed tambourine that gives it this slightly hollow echo-ey feel that lingers in the ear.

In terms of the music, “I Believe In Your Love” also is a standout track instrumentally. Menahan works a Hodges Brothers Hi-Records inspired sound, from the drums and the main guitar, adds washes of organ in the right channel, horns primarily in the left, little bells during the verses, and all the elements come together and just explode with sound during Bradley’s chorus. In the vocal version the interplay is damn powerful, in the instrumental version, the intricacies of the rhythm are a marvel to behold, as is the entire album.

Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 – Original Sufferhead
Fela Kuti & Egypt 80 – Power Show Pt. 1

“I want to tell you my brothers want to beat the truth, I want to knock some truth right into your heads…we must be ready to fight…find out for yourself” — Fela Kuti – “Original Sufferhead”

With so much Fela on the mind because of the “Power Show” 7 Pack we had available during KPFK’s fundraiser it seems only fitting that I spend a little time talking about this music and about the man. More than a few people shy away from Fela’s later work with his second afro-beat group Egypt 80. I think a lot of the lack of enthusiam for these later records has to do with the terrible production on several (Army Arrangement being the main culprit…the only Fela record it seems record stores generally have and it’s the one Fela record no one in their right mind should want in the original) of these later period albums. One of the great benefits of having Fela’s music reissued and remastered has been a second look at many of these later records (point in fact “Army Arrangement” is actually a fantastic album and song, now that it’s been cleaned up and all of Laswell’s studio histrionics are stripped away).

One record that really needed no remastering and stands as one of the best late period Fela records (only bested by Beast Of No Nation from 1989, which is incidentally my single favorite Fela record) is Original Sufferhead. Released in 1982, his first album with Egypt 80, “Original Sufferhead” and the flipside “Power Show” (here edited into just an instrumental version, you’ll have to get Fela’s indictment of small time officials who throw their “power” around on the full CD, which also includes International Thief Thief aka I.T.T.) have all the hallmarks of Fela’s legendary style and sound. The new group Egypt 80 lays down an intricate and funky back beat punctuated by Fela’s saxophone and organ. The mood early on is a bit playful, with the upbeat beat and Fela’s stated desire to “Sing it nice and together” before some call and response between the instruments and the singers. But eventually Fela gets down to business. He wants to bring attention to the main problems that face Africa as a continent and Nigeria in particular.

“Water, Light, Food, House,” the basic necessities of life and things that many people take for granted where these things are plentiful, such as in the US. In 1982 and here still in 2011 these things are not so plentiful in much of Africa. But, as Fela details, one by one in detail, this is not because they do not exist in Africa. Instead the water, energy and food problems of Africa are largely created because the people do not control these resources. For example, as Fela details in reference to food, where the “Big Big People” in Corporations plant food and goods such as cocoa, brown nuts and rubber which are then sold outside of Africa, but the Africans have to buy their rice from Brazil, Thailand and elsewhere instead of being able to use their own land to produce the food they need. The housing matter is a different matter as Fela says himself in the song. Housing seems more tied to the general poverty of many people in Africa, poverty that if the resources already described connected to water, energy and food were not largely taken away from Africans, either by multi-national corporations or the despotic leaders of these countries, would not exist. Africa is a rich land, but the unequal distribution of power and resources leads it to be “underdeveloped” and its people to “live like servants” and “sleep inside of dust-bins.”

Part of the reason I felt like this record in particular was a good one to highlight at this very moment is that it seems to encapsulate so much about what is going on right now in N. Africa and parts of the Middle East, where people are tired of how things have been and no longer are willing to accept their oppression at the hands of despots who continue to enrich themselves personally while leaving their people destitute. It is for this reason that Fela and Egypt 80 say “Original Sufferhead Must Go!” and the people must be able to control their own destinies. As history continues to unfold, let us hope that this vision will come to pass and the people will finally be free as Fela so longed for them to be.

Syl Johnson – Soul Heaven (Is It Because I’m Black Instrumental)
Syl Johnson – I Resign
Syl Johnson – Right On

Just in time for the holidays, the Numero group has unfurled perhaps their most ambitious project yet. Dubbed the “Complete Mythology” this 4 CD/6 LP box set covers just about the entire career of a far to often overlooked soul singer Syl Johnson. The title “Mythology” is very apt, since there is a good bit of myth telling and myth-making in Syl Johnson’s career. He was born in Mississippi in the mid-1930s, claimed to be Robert Johnson’s illegitimate kid, though this seems to be a myth, primarily raised in Chicago and began in the blues scene up there with Magic Sam and Matt Guitar Murphy as good friends. Later on Syl would perform with Billy Boy Arnold and Jimmy Reed. Johnson cut at least 60 sides during his career from the early 60s to the mid 70s, recording primarily for the Twinight and Hi record labels. This collection covers music recorded from 1959 to 1971 when he left for Hi records, (if you want to pick up the story you’ll need to get the Complete Syl Johnson on Hi Records collection that was released in 2000), and then includes a few sides cut in 1976-77.

Syl Johnson as a singer, strikes me as falling somewhere in the spaces between Ronald Isley and Wilson Pickett. An interesting mix of something very sweet and smooth with something a bit rough and rusty, even in his early 1960s output. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why he never was able to achieve consistent stardom, despite several hits, “Sock It To Me,” “Different Strokes,” “Dresses Too Short” and “Is It Because I’m Black.” His legendary status, especially among those of us in the Hip-Hop generation is primarily because of two very different sessions.

Though it’s not the most sampled song in history, “Different Strokes” is one of the most distinctive samples with an intro that is instantly recognizable in a number of Golden Era tracks from the likes of The Beastie Boys, De La Soul, NWA, Public Enemy and Eric B & Rakim. What I’d never known is that the woman laughing on this track that gives it that distinctive sound, is none other than Minnie Ripperton, who at the time was a secretary at Chess Records in Chicago. It’s amazing, as soon as I knew that fact, it made perfect sense, cause who else would be capable of laughing like that.

The other reason Syl’s music has legendary status amongst a number of us is because of his landmark, though often overlooked masterpiece, “Is It Because I’m Black.” The first time I heard the song was actually Ken Boothe’s cover version. Somebody mentioned that I should hear the original, and at some point in the early 2000s I finally did (though from a vinyl reissue, I’ve never seen an original copy, generally they run $300-400). “Is It Because I’m Black” stands as one of the best in a handful of social commentary soul records from this period of time, eclipsed by Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On,” even though “Black” was released a good 13 months before Marvin’s classic. Part of what makes this record is the commentary in the title track and others such as “Concrete Reservation” and “Right On.” The song, “Is It Because I’m Black,” might just be the best song of this type from this era, touching on an often felt but rarely articulated question that forms in the minds of people of color when things do not turn out as they expect, or when someone just out right treats them wrong. Almost 40 years later, the song remains a powerful statement on the experience of racism.

But the number one thing that keeps bringing people back to this music and makes that album such a desired LP is the great feeling in Syl’s voice and the funky funky playing of his band. The band featured with Syl at this time was called the Pieces of Peace, and they more or less were the backing band for Brunswick records (another bit of Soul trivia I learned from this box set, this was the actual group playing on “Soulful Strut” which doesn’t really even feature Young or Holt). It’s that great feeling for soul that Syl and his many bands display throughout these many tracks that makes this set something truly special.

The entire package itself, especially the design, is also a truly special thing. Numero really should be proud of themselves on this one. The “Complete Mythology” took 4 years to complete and Numero really went all out, not simply remastering tracks or conducting interviews, but they even went so far as to convince one of the holders of Syl’s songwriting credits to negotiate a better royalty deal for Johnson, better than the original and scandalous 1.5 cents per unit he signed in 1959. Attention to detail is one thing, but mixing that with social justice is entirely another, and that in addition to all the magnificent music contained within, is more than enough of a reason to splurge on this big box of soul.

Now, with 80+ songs, perhaps you expected me to post more, but I’ve chosen only three to give a brief snap shot of the collection. “I Resign” is actually featured twice, in very different arrangements and spread a few years apart. The soulful sweetness of this version floors me every single time. “Right On” is a monster of a funk song, that is featured on “Is It Because I’m Black” and gives that legendary song a run for its money. I especially love how they decided not to use a cleaner take, as Syl attempts his trademark howl, and his voice cracks. He shrugs it off in the song, simply stating, “I cracked that time, but we still got a good thing…” before letting loose with his proper signature sound. The drums that close things out, remain some of my favorites of all time. Also here is “Soul Heaven” which is track that many of you will instantly recognize as the instrumental version of “Is It Because I’m Black,” though it was released on a 45 under a different artist’s name. These tracks only scratch the surface of an amazing soul singer, who, thanks to the efforts of the Numero group and countless DJs, is likely to only see his mythology grow with each passing generation.

…and since I didn’t include it with the tracks above, here is the full length version of “Is It Because I’m Black” just in case you haven’t heard it before.

Tita Lima – Só O Começo
Tita Lima – Jardim

Over the past few years several of my favorite contemporary releases have been from Brazilian artists including CeU, 3 Na Massa, Seu Jorge’s upcoming release and this new album from Tita Lima. Few musical scenes are mixing styles as seamlessly as Brazilians are these days, or to greater effect. Lima’s new album “Possibilidades” shifts and strays into a variety of musical territories, from the dub disco reggae of “Mundo Pequeno” to the bloozy funk of “Jardim”, without ever losing direction or sounding out of place.

Throughout it all there are the vocals and presence of Tita Lima, at times playful yet cautionary, as on the lone song in English, “Smile,” or damn sensual on “Ciranda” and, despite abrupt changes in tempo and tone, “Só O Começo,” easily my favorite song in this set. Lima’s voice and the musicians continually take things in unexpected places on “Possibilades,” including a reworking of the track she cut with Ocote Soul Sounds in 2009, and one of my absolute favorite songs in recent memory, “Vendendo Saude E Fé,” into a tougher, heavier, though still very funky, piece.

Perhaps these masterful musical mashups should be expected from musicians whose country has such a rich legacy, especially with the veneration of the Tropicália movement in recent years (incidentally Lima’s father actually played bass for Os Mutantes), but it is refreshing to hear artists like Tita Lima take chances with their music, mixing together their disparate influences into something that is both novel and familiar, original and classic.

As an added treat, here’s the video for one of the album’s other standout tracks, “Mundo Pequeno”:

Apple & the Three Oranges – Curse Upon The World
L.A. Bare Faxx – Super Cool Brother

When the first two volumes of Luv ‘n’ Haight’s Bay Area Funk collections came out, a DJ friend of mine remarked dismissively, “they haven’t even scratched the surface.” At the time I thought that was a bit of a harsh assessment, but now I realize that it just means that there is indeed a mountain of funky gold waiting to be dug up in California. This new collection from Now-Again/Jazzman, put together by Jazzman Gerald and Malcolm Catto, gets even deeper into the vinyl archeology of rock solid funk from the Golden State.

At 21 total tracks, it is indeed quite a motherlode with a wide variety of sounds, from dance floor burners like “The Honeydripper,” and “Smokin’ Tidbits” to the super cool but cautionary “Super Cool Brother,” and “What Goes Around Comes Around” or the righteous, just let it all hang out, get loose and get together vibes of “All Bundled Into One,” “I Who Have Nothing (Am Somebody),” and the “North Richmond Breakaway.” There’s even a bit of the slightly bizarre and psychedelic in Billy Larkin & the Delegates’ “Funky Fire” and the 4th Coming’s “Cruisin’ Down Sunset.”

What’s especially interesting to me about many of the tracks on this collection is how instead of a single or specific sound (something you can hear on the more label specific Eccentric Soul series), many of the songs represent a mish-mash of soul style, a trait that’s likely because of the migratory nature of CA’s population, particularly its African-Americans. It’s pretty clearly heard in many of my favorite tracks on this comp., including Rhon Silva’s “Get It Right” with its funky drums straight out of an Eddie Bo NOLA production matched with some Memphis blues styled guitar (though according to the singer, it’s supposed to be “Hippie-style” and “psychedelic for the Haight-Ashbury”), or the straight country funk for the city in Leon Gardner’s “Farm Song.”

Perhaps best exemplifying this “soul stew” dynamic, and also probably the best track on this collection, is Apple & the Three Oranges’ stomper “Curse Upon The World.” New Orleans is all over this one, from the special and particular way “Curse” is phrased to the massively tight drumming coming from Edward “Apple” Nelson. Apparently that group recorded at least an additional 8 sides and Now-Again is thankfully working on releasing them in the near future. It’s a dynamite sound and, like so many of these obscured artists, one that deserves to be heard.

Way back in the 1990s when these types of compilations started coming out, I was convinced it meant that the original 45s/LPs on the collections would decrease in value. My thinking was something along the lines of, “now that everyone could hear the song why would anyone be willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for rare funky?” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead I think, especially because of the more recent injection of Serato and other “Digital DJ” technology into the culture, these collections work to continually raise the value of the originals by showing just how special they are. For students of crate-digging it also provides a serious tutorial on what to search for when you’re digging deep looking for lost gold, as well as giving old-timers 20+ reasons to take another look at all those 45s they’ve been keeping in storage.

Polar Bear – Peepers
Polar Bear – All Here

I’m in the middle of grading in the last two weeks of the semester, so this one is more brief that perhaps the record deserves. This record has been out for the better part of two months, but I only just received it a week ago. Polar Bear is a UK collective of musicians, which I think represents the best in truly “modern” jazz, though it’s very easy to hesitate calling them a jazz band at all. They don’t have a single sound, sometimes they are funky (as on “Happy For You,” “Bap Bap Bap,” and the title track), sometimes a bit dissonant (“Drunken Pharoah”), sometimes wholly dissonant (“Scream” which I wish was a bit longer than just 30 seconds), but always interesting.

Though they are from the UK, drummer and leader Sebastian Rochford clearly has a little bit of New Orleans in him, with his very expressive style in drumming and always with a healthy amount of soul. That is definitely on display in the title track “Peepers” which begins with a drum pattern that has “Honky Tonk Women,” written all over it, before launching into a mid-tempo vamp with some nice sputtering horn work and some interesting tempo changes.

However, it’s the closer “All Here” that is truly a revelation for me. The slower tempo should bring a sense of melancholy, but it doesn’t, at least not for my ears. Perhaps it’s in the bright and airy notes from the saxophone solos, but it feels more like coming home after a long day to the one you love and all the warmth and comfort that you share. Just a marvelous experience to close out a thoroughly enjoyable record. Here’s to hoping that the gents in Polar Bear make their way out to the States at some point in the near future.

Dum Dum Girls will be one of my favorite acts of 2010!

Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La
Dum Dum Girls – Blank Girl

It might be easy to dismiss Dum Dum Girls as late-comers to the recent “Girls In The Garage” revival including Brooklynites, the Vivian Girls and Golden Triangle and Cali based groups like Best Coast. A quick buzz-through of the 11 tracks that make up their full-length debut “I Will Be” might not inspire much in the “I-tunes” preview trained ears of many listeners, they play fast, they play slow…there’s lots of fuzzy guitars. But if you ignore this record and this band, you are missing one of the absolute best albums of the year.

As far as I can tell, from articles and interviews, Dum Dum Girls appears to have started as more of a conceptual, bedroom project for lead singer/guitarist Dee Dee. In time she found the rest of her girls, including Frankie Rose, former drummer for Vivian Girls and began to perform live in addition to recording cassettes and 7″‘s. I first heard Dum Dum Girls on Michael Stock’s excellent “Part-Time Punks” weekly radio show on KXLU. Stock is often excited, but he was extra-excited to play music from a 7″ from the group, and with good reason.

For me, what separates this band from other similar sounding acts are the melodies and harmonies at work in the exceptional instrument that is Dee Dee’s voice. In the midst of those post-punky/surf rock drums and the mountains of guitar fuzz there is a unbelievable strength and sweetness. Dee Dee’s vocals sometimes insistently cut through the noise, sometimes they float over it, other times they’re front and center and just plain lovely, as on the slower tracks “Rest Of Our Lives” and “Baby Don’t Go.” Dee Dee is the vocalist that back in the 1990s I’d always hoped Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill would be, committed to an aesthetic and a sound, but she never makes the mistake of sounding too girly or cutesy just for effect. She sings like a woman of extreme confidence, powerful and strong at times, but aware of the beauty that comes from a subtle change in phrasing and tone.

As good a singer as she is, she’s also a great songwriter with a real knack for hooks and harmony. “I Will Be,” and the single “Jail La La” are definite standouts, but virtually ever song has a moment of borderline pop genius from the “Someone Tell My Baby, Or Else He Won’t Go Out And Save Me” of “Jail La La” or the “My Baby’s Better Than You (Yes He Is!)” line that takes over 1/2 way through “Everybody’s Out,” to the way “It Only Takes One Night” shifts from the singing of the title to Dee Dee’s pleading “Don’t Forget Me” and especially the little mini song cycle of everlasting loving, “Rest Of Our Lives,” “Yours Alone” and “Blank Girl” with the last one actually featuring Dee Dee’s husband Brandon Welchez from the Crocodiles in a duet.

“I Will Be” is a really exceptional debut full-length. A rare underground rock record that begs to be listened to completely and repeatedly so that the full subtleties of the songs can present themselves to the listener. Everytime I hear it there’s some new element I hadn’t noticed before and that’s rare for an album that doesn’t feature a single song longer than 4 minutes and is less than 30 minutes in total length. It is also only one of the many qualities that have made this record one of my favorites of 2010.

As an extra treat, here’s a couple of videos of the group performing live at South By Southwest (via Pitchfork TV). As good as the album was, I’m really excited to see what this band will record in the next year or so…

Dum Dum Girls – Catholicked

Dum Dum Girls – Play With Fire (Rolling Stones Cover)

Elder Beck – Rock And Roll Sermon
Rev. Roger L. Worthy & Sister Bonnie Woodstock – Get Back Satan
Lula Collins – Help Me

{Update: For O-Dub’s take on this comp. and Numero’s Born Again Funk collection check on both Soul-Sides.com and NPR}

By divine intervention I received this collection of gospel music in the mail back in January, but I’ve only now really listened to the whole thing. At 3 CDs, each with over 25 tracks and clocking in at over 4 total hours of listening time, there is a lot of music to digest in this set. Personally, I think this music might have been better served as 3 separate volumes released over a certain period of time, instead of a single set. I can understand why they might have wanted to release all of these at the same time, but it is a truly overwhelming collection.

As overwhelming as it is in terms of volume, it’s twice as overwhelming in terms of quality. Virtually every major tradition in 20th century African-American spiritual music is evident here and there are many many glorious tracks on this compilation. To my ears, the best songs tend to be from the 1950s and early 1960s, generally in an early rock’n’roll vein or based off more of an electric blues tradition. Perhaps the single most noteworthy song on here was recorded in 1956 by Elder Beck and is simply and very accurately titled “Rock And Roll Sermon.” Believe me when I say, this “Rock And Roll Sermon” is so unbelievable it just has to be heard. As compiler Mike McGonigal implies in the notes, you really have to wonder if everyone involved, from Elder Beck to the musicians to the congregation, realized that they were rocking as hard as any of those “damned” Rock’n’rollers ever had.

In fact, the group, especially the guitarist, rocks so hard that you could be excused for believing that the music was later edited in just to throw things completely over-the-top. If rock bands used samplers the way Hip-Hop musicians do, they would have a field day with this song and all of its great lines on the evils of Rock’n’Roll. My favorite exchange happens towards the end when Elder Beck begins channeling Bill Haley only to flip the script in an unexpected (though given the theme of the song, perhaps expected) way.

Rock’n’Roll all night long, Rock…
One O’clock Rock, Two o’ clock Rock,
Three O’ clock Rock, Four o’ clock Rock,
Five o’ clock Roll,
Roll into the patrol wagon, Roll in before the judge,
Rollin’ out the courthouse, Rollin’ into the penintentrary,
Rollin’ into the electric chair, Rollin’ out to the undertaker.
(Screams) Ahhh! Rock’n’roll!

As I said, it’s so unbelievable, it just has to be heard. Another standout is “Get Back Satan” from the Rev. Roger L. Worthy & his sister Bonnie Woodstock. This song was recorded in 1965, but it sounds as if it comes from a much earlier period of time with Worthy & Woodstock singing in unison accompanied by an electric guitar with an eerie amount of reverb. It’s exactly the kind of song I fully expect Holly Golightly, in her latest incarnation along with the Brokeoffs, to be covering in the near future.

For those of you into Gospel Funk, there are plenty of choices here too. Lula Collins’ “Help Me” from 1973, is a track that could have just as easily ended up on obscure Tennesee funk comp. by itself. Aside from some relatively minimal religious references, it is easy to take this song on very secular terms. That’s a more difficult task with a song like “Telephone In My Bosom,” from the Amazing Farmer Singers of Chicago. While the sound has a bit of Sly & Funkadelic, the lyrics keep you focused on the sacred, which is, after all, the true point of this music. You can appreciate it simply on its sonic merits, because it’s very funky, it rocks, it swings, is deeply soulful or just has a certain sound. But it’s very important to understand the context this music was recorded and to remember that even at its most rockin’ it remains sacred music.

It’s the sacred character I’d argue that sets many of these performances above the standard fare produced in similar times. There’s a feeling in these performances that is shared in other sacred musics, but not as readily found in more secular, popular sounds (except not surprisingly when artists come from the Church, i.e. Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway, etc, etc, etc.). However you want to appreciate this music, what’s most important is that you DO experience it. Regardless of your own religious belief or feeling, this music is deserving of your attention and your ears will be richly rewarded once you delve into this fine set.

2nd album from versatile vocalist José James

José James – Code
James – The Greater Good

{Update: José James recently came to LA and performed on Morning Becomes Eclectic at KCRW…You are very welcome}

Just in time for Valentine’s Day we have a new record, all about L.O.V.E., from vocalist José James. I’ve been listening to this new record from James for well over a month now, trying to figure out why I don’t like it as much as the first record. That’s not to say that Black Magic isn’t a very good record, it certainly is. If it wasn’t a good record, I wouldn’t even bother posting about it (cause really at this point in the game, who wants to read about the shit I DON’T want to hear).

As a sophomore release, it is a very solid record and one that by the end of the year might even be in my Top 10. However, James’ debut, The Dreamer, is one of my fave records of this decade, a nothing short of stunning debut for a jazz vocalist. So while it might have been that anything that James released would never surpass that album, what’s been nagging me about this record didn’t seem to be about the usual sophomore jinx.

It also didn’t seem to be about the change of direction on Black Magic. Here James is no longer interested in just showing off his jazz chops and he streches out and into a variety of genres, including multiple tracks produced by Flying Lotus (such as “Code” posted above). Though I prefer James’ jazz work, I don’t begrudge him showing off his versatility, so that wasn’t it either.

The answer finally hit me about 20 minutes into washing dishes earlier today (where I generally reach most of my epiphanies), the issue is the use of repetition, but only in certain ways. When it’s repetition based around a theme, as on “Code” or “Love Conversation” the sun shines through. On other tracks such as “Made For Love” or “Lay You Down” the use of the exact same phrases repeated again and again gives James’ vocals a conventional sound that seemed to escape them with virtually everything else of his I’d heard up to this point.

As with his debut, virtually all of these tracks are ruminations on Love, though here James’ seems focused more on a momentary seduction instead of something more everlasting, which I suppose fits the more “contemporary” sounds of this album and more contemporary attitudes around love. I’m hopeful that soon enough James, with that impossibly smooth baritone, will get back to producing music that is not only timely, but truly timeless. As it stands, Black Magic is a nice portrait of an artist growing into his own as a performer and a solid addition to the musical landscape of 2010.

Good God!

Ada Richards – I’m Drunk & I’m Real High
T.L. Barrett – Like A Ship
Gospel Storytellers – Peter & John

Numero strikes gold once again (which gets me thinking, is there a more consistently inspiring independent label out there right now than this one?). This time, as part of their “Good God” series they mine funky gospel tunes, mostly it appears (I still only have a promo copy without the full notes) from the Midwest. What might at first seem an odd place to look for funky is actually the latest in many crate-digging trends (which might have been stoked by Numero’s 2006 comp. Good God!: A Gospel Funk Hymnal). Those who study black music have often noted that musicians would play secular music on Saturday night and sacred music Sunday morning, so it shouldn’t be at all surprising that gospel music in the 60s and 70s turned funky. Numero then is right on the mark with this collection and it’s immediately clear, as soon as the drums and tambourine come in on T.L. Barrett’s “Like A Ship,” why they decided to focus again on this genre.

One of the things that is quite striking about this collection is its diversity of sound. Instead of presenting a single style or sound, the collection, sonically if not thematically, is all over the map. From the righteous, clavinet heavy, disco funk of Lucy Rodgers’ “Pray A Little Longer,” the Curtis on Curtom inspired work from Little Charles on “I Thank You Lord,” Bluesier fare on Brother Samuel Cheatam’s “Troubles Of The World,” insanely funky snare and cymbal work on the Victory Travelers “I Know I’ve Been Changed” and the track I’ve included here from the Gospel Storytellers “Peter & John,” to even a track “Share Your Love With The Master” that mimics the “Memphis Soul Stew” introduction of musicians, one by one, adding to the funky mix (Also there’s The Inspirational Gospel Singers “Same Thing It Took” which sounds a bit like Marva Whitney doing gospel with the Hi records house band, check the Melting Pot Radio Hour for that track).

Maybe the best track here comes from Ada Richards, “I’m Drunk & I’m Real High,” which should come off as a bit absurd, but the delivery is so fiery and sincere that you can’t help but feel it. I am curious if Richards cut any secular records, cause when she sings “Judge me in the morning, Judge me at night, Better be sure you judge me right,” bending her notes and shifting to a, dare I say sultry, tone, my thoughts turn away from the sacred and I start thinking of very worldly double entendres.

Those kinds of contradictory emotions are at the heart of a lot of this music. This music is meant to be sacred, but to connect to audiences the musicians must make use of a decidedly profane style. I’m curious how they dealt with those contradictions, a very different set of constraints than the usual art vs. commerce arguments. But what we do have is an exceptional collection of rare and inspirational sounds, and an early entry for the best of 2010.

40th Anniversary Edition!!!

King Crimson – I Talk To The Wind (Studio Run Through)
King Crimson – Epitaph (Backing Track)

This holiday season, musical nerd that I am, I was able to splurge and pick up the 5 CD anniversary edition of a classic LP, King Crimson’s debut from 1969, In The Court of the Crimson King. I first heard King Crimson on a “sick” day from middle school watching MTV’s Closet Classics. They played a live version, probably from Beat Club, of the group performing “Larks Tongues in Aspic” and I was floored, I’d never heard anything so simultaneously beautiful and ferocious, maybe still haven’t. When I started buying cassettes (this was the late 1980s after all), beginning appropriately enough with A Young Person’s Guide To King Crimson and then to the studio releases, I found that there were different versions of the songs, so King Crimson was also my introduction to the “alternate take,” and “alternate mix,” and probably the reason I take such joy from finding subtle differences in different recordings, performances or mixes.

This expanded edition (there are also 2cd versions available) features virtually every possible edition of this album. There’s a new 2009 mix (with a thankfully “edited” version of “Moonchild,” chopping out a full 3 minutes of noodling that I always found incongruent with the mood of the piece), the previously highly touted 2004 mix, a mix from a original pink label Island records 1st pressing (from Fripp’s own private collection no less), a promo mix culled from vinyl for US DJs, single mixes and a slew of unreleased studio and live recordings. It’s a pretty overwhelming batch of tuneage given that the original album only had 5 songs to choose from, but something that is geared towards Crimso-fanaticos only. Personally, I’m a little disappointed that there wasn’t more from the “Morgan Studios” sessions with Tony Clark, from what appears to be the recreated master list from those sessions, it seems the group recorded a version of “Tomorrow’s People,” probably the best track from Crimson off-shoot McDonald & Giles (which I’ll have to feature sometime in 2010). All we have from that session is a blistering instrumental version of “21st Century Schizoid Man,” that makes you wonder what the band heard that made them want to scrap this session and take over production themselves.

Speaking of instrumentals, based on the amount of instrumental “backing” tracks to make it on this set, I’m curious if Fripp is courting producers to sample and remix Crimson’s work. It’s hard not to hear those possibilities on “Epitaph” or “I Talk To The Wind,” especially the studio run-through, with that unique drum sound from Michael Giles. More likely, the inclusion of the many instrumentals were designed to place a focus on the musicianship of the players. Having the instrumental backing track of “21st Century Schozoid Man,” a trio recording featuring Giles, Fripp & Lake, definitely shows how clearly locked in they were even though the group in this incarnation was together for less than a year in total, and had spent even less time together when they began recording. They nailed this backing track on the first take and hearing it this way was a revelation for me, from Fripp’s solos to the fact that Giles was using a double bass drum set, something that at least to my ears was obscured in the final mix.

You also get to feel a bit of the fire that this band produced with the inclusion of live material from Hyde Park and the Fillmore, in addition to a couple of recordings from Peel Sessions the group did. Also included are extensive notes, in some cases from Robert Fripp’s personal journal, on the rise and fall of the band. Those notes helped me to understand better what I had always found to be a strange thing, how Ian McDonald could go from being in King Crimson to Foreigner, but part of the reason that it appears he gave for leaving the band was the “dark” overtones of the music and a personal need to make sunnier music. There’s also an interesting article that connects the business side of Crimson to the larger trends in the music industry. All in all a fine collection and the type of thing that a “40th Anniversary Edition” should be all about.

In listening to this anniversary edition and thinking about the music to follow, it’s interesting to me that for a record that all but ushered in “progressive rock” the music is actually rather pastoral. Really much of that moniker comes down to “21st Century Schizoid Man,” their most well known song and a crazed mixed of rock and avant-garde jazz. “I Talk To The Wind,” “Moonchild,” “Epitaph,” and “In The Court of the Crimson King” sound nothing like that track and had it not been included (an impossibility of course), we’d have a very different impression of the band. There are other records from King Crimson that I enjoy more, or at least that contain more cherished songs for me, but as a total package, it’s hard not to argue that this record is the one that rules them all, the boxed set, simply cements the legend.

Orchestre Poly-Ryhtmo De Cotonou – Malin Kpon O
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Ma Dou Sou Nou Mio
Orchestre Poly-Ryhtmo de Cotonou – Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me

This was originally going to be just a little highlight of this record, but I just had too much to say and wanted to share just a bit more. 2009 has been a very good year for reissued/uncovered funk from all over the world. One of the best collections is this volume from Analog Africa, featuring this mostly obscured but mighty band from Benin and covering recordings made from 1969-1979 for the Albarika Store label.  The first volume of music from this group, released just last year, was really very solid, but I can’t express to you just how fantastic this collection is.

This group just gets in the pocket like nobody’s business, and while it seems almost blasphemous to say, they might have been even better than Fela’s Africa 70. Part of the reason I feel that way is the diversity of sounds, tempos and rhythms this group employs. All of these are front and center on “Malin Kpon O.” With it’s opening wash of organ and creeping funk throughout, this one is nothing short of a monster. It’s exactly the kind of song that would start an obsessive crate digging quest, which is precisely what happened to Analog Africa’s founder once he got a hold of this track 5 or 6 years ago.

However, my personal favorite remains “Ma Dou Sou Nou Mio,” an upbeat burner of a song, with wild, just wild I tell you, organ and guitar lines/solos before turning things over to some massively funky drums. Midway through that break, the drummer shifts the rhythm subtly and in that moment the song switches from sounding distinctly African to sounding more like upbeat funk from Texas or someplace else in the US in the early 1970s. Just an insanely funky track.

Then there’s “Noude Ma Gnin Tche De Me” which shows this group could rock out with the best of ‘em too. Really I could go on and on cause there are nothing but winners on this comp. from the Cymande in Africa opener “Se Ba Ho,” to upbeat strutters like “Me Ve Wa Se” and “Ahouli Vou Yelli,“ to slow cookers like the super duper heavy “Gan Tche Kpo.”

Apparently Analog Africa has over 500 songs from this group they are working on compiling in forthcoming years, including unreleased material, which is just astounding. If the quality keeps up like this, they will have significantly rewritten the history of African music and also re-energized a ton of crate-diggers.

Atlas Sound – Logos
Atlas Sound – Criminals

Let me just add my voice to the chorus currently singing the praises of the freakishly skinny (produced by Marfan Syndrome, which I only learned about today 1/8/10), but also freakishly talented Bradford Cox and his new record under the Atlas Sound alias, Logos. Much of the attention placed on this record is focused on the exceptional guest work, with Noah Lennox of Animal Collective on the first single “Walkabout” and Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab on the album’s magnum opus “Quick Canal.” The whole record is really worthy of serious acclaim, in fact it was bloody difficult just choosing two tracks to include here, always the sign of an great record, from this diverse group of songs, which move effortlessly from sublime and dreamy to rockin’ yet creepy and even a couple that are borderline funky.

One of the things that I find particularly charming about Cox is the way he often sings, as he does on this record on “Attic Lights” and “Criminals,” like he really doesn’t want to sing. It’s as if there’s anything other than singing he’d be interested in doing, but sing away he does. It’s a detached style, but it never feels like he’s distant or removed, in fact it has the strange effect of making it all sound much more intimate, though I honestly have no idea why.

As I’ve noted elsewhere, his songwriting style and themes are also simultaneously perplexing and alluring. Case in point, the opening lines in “Criminal,”

This criminal walked into my room,
He asked me, ‘why do you live this way,’
‘Think of all you could have…what I would take.’

We could just take this literally, i.e. that a criminal breaks into the Cox household and is so disappointed in the way Mr. Cox lives that he berates him for not being more successful. That imagery in and of itself should garner enough inspiration for an indie-drama or short film. Even if we don’t take it too literally, we’re still left with a “criminal” who appears to be interested in building the subject up only to steal from him in the end. Sounds like a metaphor for fame or perhaps more specifically the hangers on that come just before or just after fame, or maybe it’s a twisted take on love.  The pseudo chorus of “You think that I don’t know” only adds to the mystery of a song with so many levels of brilliance.

You should expect this one to rate highly on my year end list of the top records of 2009, (which I’ll have to start getting to work on any day now…). It’s definitely the best indie rock record of the year, just a year after Deerhunter’s Microcastle made it’s own case for the very same honor.

Yes, Vol. 2 is for you and it's just as good as Vol. 1

Mirtha y Raul – El Sueño De Andría
Grupo Monumental – Tremendo Tremendo

Back in 2007, out of seemingly nowhere, Canadian record label Waxing Deep released the first volume of Si Para Usted, featuring some extraordinarily rare (especially for us here in the States, what with the embargo and all) Cuban music from the 1960s and 1970s. That release was nothing short of a revelation, since these hybrid forms just really hadn’t been heard widely and were almost non-existent in our collective funky conscience. This second volume, in what is thankfully now a series, had some very big shoes to fill, and I’m happy to say it’s largely on par with the original. (more…)