Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Belleruche – 270 Stories – Tru Thoughts

Belleruche – Ginger Wine

I’ve had this release from this UK group for a minute, playing several tracks on the Melting Pot radio show, but it’s only just now been released here in the states.   Belleruche are an interesting group sonically. They feature a DJ who provides most of the music, but also a live guitarist and singer. It’s a tough sound to nail down, sometimes rocking, sometimes jazzy, sometimes soulin’.  The label “Prog Soul” on their facebook page seems to be the best fit.

By far my favorite song on their new album 270 Stories is “Ginger Wine,” a real slow burner with sultry vocalizing from singer Katherine DeBoer.  Radio DJs are genetically predisposed to feature songs that mention the radio, so when Katherine constantly coos “Listen to the Radio” throughout this one, I can’t resist…and likely neither will you.

Posted on Ephemera

Giveaway: Corin Tucker Band @ the El Rey October 13th!!!

Everyone should know the name of Corin Tucker. She’s an honest to goodness pioneer in the realm of all things rock having been in two seriously influential bands, Heavens To Betsy & Sleater-Kinney. She’s also one of the best and most distinctive singers of all-time. She’s recently gotten back to playing music and is on tour with this amazing band, including one of my favorite all-time drummers, Sara Lund, formerly of Unwound. In addition to offering her new record as part of the current KPFK fundraiser, we have a few tickets to go see her at the El Rey this week in Los Angeles. Quick turnaround on these tickets, please send me a message at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com by 12noon tomorrow if you want to go!

Here’s recent video, from last week even, of the band having some fun on stage playing Sheila E’s “Glamorous Life” which strangely totally fits in a very subversive way:

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: 10/10/10 on KPFK’s Melting Pot

My part of the KPFK fundraiser began on what many hope is an auspicious date. Our fundraising yesterday wasn’t quite what I hoped, but raising funds on a show that’s been on air for less than 6 months and doesn’t really have a audience is a challenge to say the least. All I can do is try to get music that I think is amazing and hope that in playing great music week after week, people will feel like this show and this station are a valued part of their lives. Virtually all the music was available for subscribers this week, less so next week, and everyone who subscribes gets entered into my sweepstakes 20 of the best releases of 2010, 4 tickets to a show (I’ll be announcing which one this week, just waiting for confirmation) and $50 Amoeba certificate. Spent a lot of time on the music of Fela this week, feel very thankful to have this group of releases to offer. Hope you enjoy the show and remember you can pledge online to support Melting Pot and KPFK.

Melting Pot on KPFK #18: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #18: Second Hour

Playlist: 10/10/10

{opening theme} Booker T. & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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John Lennon – Power To The People – Power To The People (Capitol)
Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – If You Call – I Learned The Hard Way (Daptone)
Orgone – Cali Fever – Cali Fever (Ubiquity)

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Vieux Farka Toure – Mali – Fondo (Six Degrees)
El Guincho – Bombay – Pop Negro (Young Turks)
Broken Social Scene – Art House Directors – Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts)
Fela Kuti – Equalisation of Trouse & Pant – Opposite People/Sorrow, Tears & Blood (Knitting Factory)

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Fela Kuti – Zombie – Zombie (Knitting Factory)
Fela Kuti – No Agreement – Shuffering & Shmiling/No Agreement (Knitting Factory)

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Fela Kuti – Sorrow, Tears & Blood – Opposite People/Sorrow, Tears & Blood (Knitting Factory)
Cut Chemist – Westside – Sound Of The Police (A Stable Sound)

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Amon Tobin – A Day In My Garden – Bricolage (Ninja Tune)
DJ Shadow – Changeling – Endtroducing… (Mo Wax)

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Corin Tucker Band – Doubt – 1,000 Years (Kill Rock Stars)
Francoiz Breut – Les Jeunes Pousses – Recorded Live on KPFK (KPFK Archives)
Aloe Blacc – Brother/Good Things – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Fela Kuti – Opposite People – Opposite People/Sorrow, Tears & Blood (Knitting Factory)

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{closing theme} Dungen – Blandband – Skit I Allt (Kemado)

Posted on Ephemera

Giveaway: The Morning Benders @ The Music Box Oct. 14th

One of the brightest stars on the current indie scene, the Morning Benders will be performing in LA at the Music Box on Oct. 14th. If you’d like to go to the show, just let me know via michael[at]meltingpotblog.com before Wednesday at 12noon.

Here’s a little motivation courtesy of their album Big Echo, released earlier in the year, but still one of my favorite records of 2010.

Posted on Ephemera

Support KPFK & Melting Pot During Our Fall Fundraiser!

KPFK's Fall Fundraiser includes 6 Reissues from Fela Kuti

KPFK has just begun its fall fundraiser and we have some very sweet premiums for listeners of Melting Pot, which will raise funds on 10/10/10 & 10/17/10. First up for pledges of $125 is the Melting Pot 4 Pack of CDs, all brand new releases from the past month, all from artists as independent as KPFK.

The Melting Pot 4 Pack Includes:

Aloe Blacc – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Dungen – Skit I Allt (Kemado)
El Guincho – Pop Negro (Young Turks/XL)
Corin Tucker Band – 1,000 Years (Kill Rock Stars)

Melting Pot 4 Pack For KPFK's October Fundraiser

Additionally many of us at the station will be talking about this one, for a pledge of $150 to KPFK, the Fela Kuti 6 Pack of releases from 1977-1980. Knitting Factory has been reissuing Fela’s discography and these records are amongst his best.

Included in the Fela Kuti 6 Pack are the following releases:

Zombie (1976)
Upside Down (1976)/Music of Many Colours (1980)
Stalemate (1977)/Fear Not For Man (1977)
Opposite People (1977)/Sorrow, Tears and Blood (1977)
Shuffering & Shmiling (1978)/No Agreement (1977)
V.I.P. (1979)/Authority Stealing (1980)

6 Recently Reissued Classics From The King of Afrobeat Fela Kuti!

Additionally, everyone who subscribes at $10 or more during Melting Pot will be entered in a special sweepstakes just for listeners of my show. You’re going to get 20 (that’s right twenty!) of the best releases of 2010, handpicked by yours truly, 4 tickets to go and see an amazing live show (tune in Sunday to find out what the show will be!) and a $50 gift certificate for Amoeba Hollywood!!!  The winner will be drawn at the end of the fundraiser, your odds on winning are going to be frightfully good (probably 1/25)!

We’ll also have several special add-on ticket giveaways to some amazing upcoming shows, but these will only be for new subscribers to KPFK…Tune in this Sunday for your chance to win and thank you for supporting KPFK!

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Los Dinamicos – El Cacahuatero – Caytronics (1972)

Los Dinamicos – Esta Llorando El Cielo
Los Dinamicos – El Huapillon
Los Dinamicos – Prendan El Radio

This post marks my first request, more or less, here on Melting Pot. A commenter had mentioned that they dug one of the tracks from this record but couldn’t find it, so I figured I’d throw it up in a Dig Deep post. If there is ever something from one of the vinyl only shows I do on KPFK that you dig, just let me know. Not having a working library at KPFK, I really miss being able to do requests, so I’m more than happy to do them here.

I don’t know much of anything about this group. I found the record at Amoeba Hollywood in their latin section, which features a ton of obscured groups from the 1970s, in many cases on sealed vinyl. In most cases these records are filled with rancheras or sub-standard balladas, but I happened to get lucky with this on, released in 1972 on Caytronics. (I was going off of the year and this picture on the back in thinking this might be a solid LP)

These dudes do in fact look dynamic!
These dudes do in fact look dynamic!

Los Dinamicos were a big group, with a horn section and a organ player as the lead soloist. Most of the tracks on the album are cumbias, a few are decent, virtually all feature the singer throwing out choice phrases like “Si Senor!” “Asi!” “Rico!” “Que Barbaro!” and “Con Los Dinamicos A Gozar!” “El Huapillon” has a nice kind of latin soul pseudo-breakdown (in that the same rhythm keeps going in the background) with the horns and the organ about midway, “Prendan El Radio” has a very boogaloo-ish handclap section too.

My fave on the record, and the track that sparked this request (also one that the dudes in Chicano Batman were digging on when they came to KPFK) is a ballada with a big beat “Esta Lloranda El Cielo.” The song begins with this downright spooky organ before the guitars and percussion slide in. Vocals are predicatably over the top, but man I do love that sound.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Black Milk – Album Of The Year – Fat Beats

Black Milk – Deadly Medley (feat. Royce Da 5’9″ and Elzhi)

You might think the title of this record was straight Hip-Hop 101 braggadocio, but instead, as best I can gather, it’s simply meant to represent the album as a single year in the life of Detroit MC Black Milk. Black Milk has changed things up from record to record, this one produced with a fair amount of live instrumentation. To my ears, based off of the year so far in Hip-Hop, the title might indeed refer to more than just the last 365 days in Black Milk’s life.  This one just might be the best Hip-Hop record of 2010.

Posted on Radio

Be Our Guest: Francoiz Breut on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Francoiz Breut performs at KPFK

Francoiz Breut on KPFK’s Melting Pot: 10-3-2010 (Recorded 9-29-2010)

Francoiz Breut has been for sometime now one of my favorite singers, in any language. I’ve been a fan of her’s since first hearing 2000’s Vingt à Trente Mille Jours while at KALX in Berkeley. I’d always hoped to get a chance to interview her and tape a live session, but figured she’d never make it out to the states. I was surprised and immensely thankful to receive an e-mail from singer Marianne Dissard a couple weeks ago asking whether or not I’d be interested in interviewing Francoiz and taping a live session before her performance in LA on Oct. 5th (this show has since been moved from the now closed Echo Curio to Echo Park guitar shop The Fretted Frog, Oct. 5th at 8pm, cover = $10).

Francoiz Breut at KPFK

The interview covers the experience of performing for fans who often don’t understand your lyrics, her first foray into writing her own lyrics and a bit about the creative process, not only as a musician but also as an illustrator. Big thanks to Marianne Dissard for not only setting everything up, but especially for translating English to French and back again!

During our session Francoiz performed four songs, all from her most recent record “A L’aveuglette,” they are (in order of performance) “L’etincelle Ou La Contrainte Du Feu,” “A L’aveuglette,” “2013” and “Les Jeunes Pousses,” which remains one of my favorite songs of this decade. Special thanks to Stan Misraje from KPFK for doing such an exceptional job with the sound.

Francoiz Breut & Marianne Dissard with KPFK's Michael Barnes
Francoiz Breut and Marianne Dissard with KPFK's Michael Barnes
Posted on Radio

Breakdown: October 3rd on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Really had a lot of fun putting together this week’s show. Things start out rockin’ with one of my favorite records, The Flamin’ Groovies “Flamingo” and keep on a rockin’ for most of the first half, including new tracks from Frankie Rose & the Outs, Fabienne Del Sol, and Real Estate. From there things go all over the place with more newness from El Guincho, Laetitia Sadier, Flying Lotus, DarkStar, Belleruche, and Black Milk. The star of the show is Francoiz Breut, who came in earlier in the week to perform a couple of songs and do an interview with yours truly which takes up most of the second hour of the program. Thanks to interpreting from Marianne Dissard my inability to speak French only slightly got in the way of a very nice interview and a knockout performance. Enjoy!

Melting Pot on KPFK #17: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #17: Second Hour

Playlist: 10-3-2010

{opening theme} Booker T. & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)

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Flamin’ Groovies – Gonna Rock Tonight – Flamngo (Kama Sutra)
The Black Lips – Take My Heart – 200 Million Thousand (Vice)
Frankie Rose & the Outs – Don’t Tread – Frankie Rose & the Outs (Slumberland)
Fabienne Del Sol – I Feel So Blue – On My Mind (Damaged Goods)
Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love – Write About Love (Matador)
Orgone – Cruel Intentions – Killion Vaults (Ubiquity)

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Real Estate – Reservoir – Out Of Tune 7” (True Panther Sounds)
Versus – Into Blue – On The Ones & Threes (Merge)
Belleruche – Fuzz Face – 270 Stories (Tru Thoughts)
Ceu – Sonambulo – Vagarosa (Six Degrees)
Laetitia Sadier – One Million Year Trip – The Trip (Drag City)
Jacky Chalard – L’agonie – Je Suis Vivant, Mais J’ai Peur De Gilbert Deflez (Finders Keepers)

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The Morning Benders – Outlaw Blues – Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute To Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home (Reimagine)
DJ Shadow – I’ve Been Trying – The New Futility 12” (Self-released)
Darkstar – Gold – 12” (Hyperdub)
El Guincho – Ghetto Facil – Pop Negro (Young Turks)
Black Milk – Deadly Medley feat. Royce Da 5’9” and Elzhi – Record Of The Year (Fat Beats)
Flying Lotus – Clay – Pattern + Grid World (Warp)

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Francoiz Breut – Mots Croises – A l’aveuglette (T-rec)
Francoiz Breut – Performance and Interview at the KPFK Studios

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Francoiz Breut – Mouhoir De Poche- A l’aveuglette (Groove Attack)
Marianne Dissard – Flashback – L’entreduex (Self Released)
Nico – Little Sister – Chelsea Girls (Verve)
Aloe Blacc – Femme Fatale – Good Things (Stones Throw)

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{closing theme} Dungen – C. Visar Vagen – Tio Batar (Kemado)

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Freddie King – Getting Ready… – Shelter (1971)

"Going Down" is one of the baddest songs ever...just ask Kenny "F***in'" Powers!

Freddie King – Going Down
Freddie King – Palace Of The King
Freddie King – Keys To The Highway

With the return of Eastbound & Down, and the return of its dysfunctional anti-hero Kenny Powers, it makes good sense to post up this album from Freddie King. “Eastbound” uses the opening of King’s “Going Down” to great effect (as if the show wasn’t cool enough on the merits of Danny McBride’s work as “KFP”, Wayne Kramer of the MC5 is the music director!) in the opening credits and seeing it there reminded me of what a powerful and distinctive song it truly is.

Of the three “Kings” of the blues, Freddie King is probably the most underrated, producing a few hits (“Hideaway” perhaps the biggest), but never reaching quite the same heights as B.B & Albert King. But sweet Jesus, Holy Christ almighty did he and the crew hit the ball way out of the park with “Going Down” on this album, his debut for Leon Russell’s Shelter Records in 1971.

Under the direction of Don Nix and Russell, King fronts a band that includes Donald “Duck” Dunn from Booker T & the MGs and two drummers on virtually all tracks, for that extra bit of bottom. I’m not sure I’ve heard a better, more driving, funkier blues song in my life than “Going Down”. There is simply no way to control the head nodding that this song produces driven by those twin drummers, that furious pounding on the piano by Russell, that underlining fuzz and those cutting notes from Freddie King. Back in the early 1990s when I used to host a blues show on Album 88 called “Crossroads” this was one of the few tracks that I simply had to play every couple of months, its just such a monster of a track, it needs to be heard and heard as loud as possible.

In addition to badly needing a reminder of just how exceptional “Going Down” is, I was also reaquainted with a couple of other funky tracks from this LP. “Palace Of The King” sounds almost like a Funkadelic production from the same era, with upbeat rhythm punctuated by the fuzz guitar as Freddie runs down a story of how much the world loves his blues, but no place is quite like home in Texas. “Keys To The Highway” has a slower tempo, but remains heavy thanks to those twin drums and those slicing guitar lines from King.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Radio

Francoiz Breut @ KPFK + US Tour Dates

Francoiz Breut @ KPFK

{Update: Due to the untimely closing of Echo Curio, the Los Angeles performance on Oct. 5th has been moved to 8pm at the Fretted Frog in Echo Park}

Earlier today I taped a session with one of my favorite singers (even though I don’t speak French, I still “feel” everything she sings) Francoiz Breut at KPFK, which we’ll be broadcasting this Sunday on Melting Pot (and archiving here on the blog thereafter). I wanted post a little something just in case any of you are in the cities that Francoiz will be touring (especially Bay Area peeps!) before she comes back down here to LA for one of her last shows on this all too brief tour. This is actually the first time Francoiz has done a multi-city tour of the US, so catch her while you can, along with the equally talented Marianne Dissard. “Les Jounes Pousses” was one of four songs Francoiz and her guitarist Stephane performed today. This mix is a little raw, but I think it has a very disarming quality to it, as if it were recorded by happenstance late one night amongst friends, clearly (based off of the howl after the first verse) under a full moon.

Francoiz Breut – Les Jeunes Pousses (Recorded Live At KPFK)

Francoiz Breut & Marianne Dissard US Tour 2010

Sept. 29th @ Steynberg Gallery – San Luis Obispo, CA
Sept. 30th @ Hotel Utah – San Francisco, CA
Oct. 1st @ Sam Bond’s Garage – Eugene, OR
Oct. 2nd @ Lola’s Room – Portland, OR
Oct. 3rd @ Triple Door – Seattle, WA
Oct. 5th @ Originally scheduled for Echo Curio, Moved to the Fretted Frog – Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 6th @ Trunk Space – Phoenix, AZ
Oct. 7th @ Raven Café – Prescott, AZ

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Laetitia Sadier – The Trip – Drag City

Laetitia Sadier – Un Soir, Un Chien

I’ve had the French on my mind a lot this week, with one of my favorite French singers, Francoiz Breut, making her way to Los Angeles. Recently another favored daughter of France released new music, Laetitia Sadier, with a solo record on Drag City titled the Trip. Sadier, like Breut, is one of those artists that can virtually do no wrong in my book. It’s not just talent, it’s also the fact that they make very good choices in terms of representing themselves in their music. For long-time fans of Stereolab or Sadier’s side project Monade, this solo album mines similar enough territory. One of the more interesting sonic excursions on the new disc is “Un Soir, Un Chien,” which finds Sadier lovingly crooning and talking in French over a surprisingly funky mid-tempo electro disco beat.

Posted on Radio

Be Our Guest: Chicano Batman on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Chicano Batman perform live on KPFK's Melting Pot!

This past Sunday I had the distinct pleasure of spending almost an hour with Los Angeles’ very own Chicano Batman. Bardo, Eduardo & Gabriel did a 25+ minute acoustic set and then came into the studio with me to chat about the band and music in general.

(From L to R) Eduardo, Gabriel & Bardo of Chicano Batman at KPFK

Chicano Batman released an album earlier in the year on Club Unicornio that’s one of the best independent releases of 2010 from an LA artist. Their style draws upon 1970s Chicano/Latino music as well as Tropicalia and Soul, whipped into a unique and inspiring mix. For this set, they went all acoustic, playing 4 songs live, featuring Bardo & Eduardo on guitars and vocals with Gabriel on percussion and vocals. I’m already looking forward to bringing them back in the not too distant future with the full set up including that righteous casio keyboard featured on the LP, a couple of tracks of which are featured during this set, “La Samaona” and “Itotiani”.

Chicano Batman on Melting Pot 09-26-10: Performance
Chicano Batman on Melting Pot 09-26-10: Interview

Here’s some video that the boys shot of them performing the song “Pomegranate Tree” live at KPFK during this show: