Posted on Radio

Breakdown: September 26 on KPFK’s Melting Pot

It was hot enough to melt vinyl yesterday in Los Angeles…thankfully all my records made it safely on the air and back home for my end of the month all vinyl affair. I was also massively thankful that Chicano Batman came into the KPFK studios for a performance and interview, just about taking the entire second hour of the program. I was having such a good time I completely lost track of time and didn’t even get to play my usual closing theme from Kenny Baker for these vinyl shindigs. I also had to cut “Party Man” from the Inner Drive short, I’ll make up for that during October’s all vinyl show (tentatively featuring a guest set from Scott Craig of Records LA!), which will be on Oct. 24th instead of the end of the month, so that I can do a Halloween Special on Oct. 31st. In addition to the performance and interview from Chicano Batman (check the whole 2nd hour for that) you get some newer wax from Black Milk, Myron & E + the Soul Investigators and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and classic tracks from Charlie Musselwhite, Max Roach and an absolute stunner from Irma Thomas that leads off the show!

Melting Pot on KPFK #16: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #16: Second Hour

Playlist: 09-26-2010

{opening theme} Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot – Is What’s Happening (Dynamic)

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Irma Thomas – Coming From Behind / Wish Someone Would Care – In Between Tears (Charly
Los Dinamicos – Esta Llorando El Cielo – El Cacahuatero (Caytronics)
Charlie Musselwhite – No More Lonely Nights – Stand Back! (Vanguard)
High Society Brothers – The Devil Gives Me Everything Except What I Need – 7” (Timmion)

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Myron & E with the Soul Investigators – It’s A Shame – 7” (Timmion)
Machito – Green Onions – Machito Goes To Memphis (RCA)
Gal Costa – Divino Maravilhoso – Gal Costa (Phillips)
Gang Of Four – 5:45 – Entertainment (WB)
The Soul Investigators – On Broadway – 7” (Timmion)

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Black Milk – Welcome – 12” (Fat Beats)
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Water – Heritage EP (Choice Cuts)
Max Roach – Let Thy People Go – Lift Every Voice And Sing (Atlantic)
Freddie Roach – Drunk – My People (Prestige)

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Chicano Batman Live Performance and Interview

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The Inner Drive – Party Man – 7” (Zodiac)

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Mel Brown – The Wizard – Impulse! (1968)

Mel Brown – Swamp Feet
Mel Brown – Ode To Billie Joe
Mel Brown – African Sweets

I can’t remember exactly where I first got a copy of this record, back in the mid 1990s. I’m thinking it was either at Red, Beans & Rice or Wuxtry records. At the time I was really into jazz and was working on collecting Impulse records. The copy I used to own was super cheap, maybe $5, but it also wasn’t in particularly great shape, but I just loved the colors, design and the title. It just seemed like it might be a really great soul-jazz record. I was more than happy with the results when I finally dropped the needle on the scratchy wax and had been looking for a better conditioned copy ever since. Finally tracked down a minty one at Amoeba Hollywood and now I can share it with you.

Mel Brown was a blues guitarist, primarily, spending sometime with Johnny Otis before releasing a series of very solid albums on Impulse in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Towards the end of his stint on Impulse he became associated with Bobby “Blue” Bland. The Wizard is his best of the 6 or 7 records he cut for Impulse (though a couple tracks from 1971’s “Fifth” might be his best work). It’s got a really sensational sound, in Brown’s guitar, but especially in the percussion and drums, which I am fairly sure must be provided by “Pretty” Purdie. The production keeps things very, very punchy with a slight echo too. It’s that sound that draws you in immediately with “Ode To Billie Joe.” I’m not too big on jazz covers of “pop” tunes, but, as Frank Kofsky mentions in the notes, this is a great cover of the original, something just dying to be sampled. Also included above are “Swamp Fever” and “African Sweets” which feature some pretty samplerific drum breaks too, making this perhaps the funkiest record that was ever cut on Impulse.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

Giveaway: Dungen @ the Echoplex September 25

foto credit: Carl Abrahamsson

Of all the current bands who play styles of music clearly influenced by the 1960s, Dungen probably does it best. As I mentioned before, Dungen is one of my favorite current bands, the fact that they are not a bigger band in the US can only be chalked up to frontman Gustav Ejstes insistence to sing all of his lyrics in Swedish. They are an exceptional band on record and live as the video below from a performance at Big Sur will attest. They’ll be in Los Angeles this Saturday for the Waved Out II fest going on at the Echo & the Echoplex. Dungen headlines and will be playing in the Echoplex Saturday night. If you’d like to go courtesy of Melting Pot, drop me a line (michael[at]meltingpotblog.com) before Friday at 12noon!!!

Bonus treat, here’s the video for the title track off their brand new record “Skit I Allt”:

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Bertrand Belin – Hyper Nuit – Cinq7/Wagram

Bertrand Belin – Nord De Tout

I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever to post some kind words about this record ever since I received an advance copy all the way back in July. Bertrand Belin is a French singer songwriter with some interesting sonic sensibilities. For the most part his sound (in terms of both the music and his vocals) is fairly reminiscent of recent work from Bill Callahan of Smog or at times Calexico (perhaps minus the horns), but something strange and a bit unexpected always seems to happen in the arrangements for these tracks on this his third full-length record “Hyper Nuit”.

“Nord de Tout” remains my favorite track, with this slow moving laconic beat on the drums, atmospheric phrasing from piano and guitars that for the most part roll through their notes for the entire song. About mid way through, all of the sudden, some woodwinds (or maybe mellotron/keyboards mimicing woodwinds) pipe up for a bit before fading back into the mix and things return back to main theme, which is interrupted again near the very end by twin guitars that seem to come out of nowhere but never wreck the mood. Beautiful work from one of my favorite contemporary international releases of the year.

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: September 19 on KPFK’s Melting Pot

This week’s show begins with a song in loving honor to my grandmother who’s 85th birthday was Sunday, as well as my brother whose 43rd birthday would have been the same day. The Swan Silvertones are perhaps the greatest gospel vocal group of all-time. They remain a favorite of my grandmother’s and it seemed a fitting choice to begin things. That first set also features a song from an Atlanta group I miss dearly, Smoke, defunct for over 10 years now since frontman Benjamin’s passing. The song “Pretend” was originally released on 7″ and along with their song “Hank Aaron” is one of the few tracks from my college years that can almost bring me to tears.

We stayed mellow and contemplative for a bit in the beginning of the show, but eventually moved all over the place with new music Sun Kil Moon, Dungen, Axel Krygier, Betty & the Werewolves, Bilal, Belleruche, local favorites Chicano Batman (who will be our guest during next week’s all vinyl affair!) and Warpaint covering David Bowie.

This week we also had the third installment of “Side Dishes” with Oliver Wang of Soul-sides.com, at the start of the second hour. Playlists should be up tomorrow.

Melting Pot on KPFK #15: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #15: Second Hour

Playlist: 9-19-2010

{opening theme} Booker T. & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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The Swan Silvertones – Amazing Grace – Get Right with the Swan Silvertones (Archives Alive)
Sun Kil Moon – Half Moon Bay – Admiral Fell Promises (Caldo Verde)
Smoke – Pretend – 7” (Colossal)
The Walkmen – Stranded – Lisbon (Fat Possum)
The Naked Angels – Toccata For Truck – The Naked Angels: Original Soundtrack (Straight)

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Dungen – Nasta Sommar – Skit I Allt (Kemado)
Belleruche – Ginger Wine – 270 Stories (Tru Thoughts)
Bilal – All Matter – Airtight’s Revenge (Plug Research)
Axel Krygier – Campo De Marte – Pesebre (Crammed Discs)
Chicano Batman – It’s A Baloon – Chicano Batman (Unicornio)
Dungen – Blandband – Skit I Allt (Kemado)

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El Guincho – Soca Del Eclipse – Pop Negro (Young Turks)
J-Rocc – Play This Too – Play This (One) 12” (Stones Throw)
Wganda Kenya – El Lobo – Palenque Palenque (Soundway)
Cut Chemist – West Side (excerpt) – Sound Of The Police (A Stable Sound)

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Side Dishes: September 2010 w/ Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com

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Betty & the Werewolves – David Cassidy – Tea Time Favourites (Damaged Goods)
Aloe Blacc – Green Lights – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Orgone – Done Deal – Killion Vaults (Ubiquity)
Blonde Redhead – My Plants Are Dead – Penny Sparkle (4ad)
The XX – Stars – XX (XL)
Salsoul Orchestra – Magic Bird Of Fire (Fire Bird Suite) – Walter Gibbons – Jungle Music: Mixed With Love: Essential & Unrelased Remixes 1976-1986 (Strut)

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War Paint – Ashes To Ashes – We Were So Turned On: A Tribute To David Bowie (Manimal Vinyl)
Davie Bowie – 1984 – Diamond Dogs (Virgin)
Fabienne Del Sol – On My Mind – On My Mind (Damaged Goods)

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

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra – Chariots Of The Gods?: Original Soundtrack – Polydor (1974)

Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra – Returning To The Stars
Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra – Popular Myth and Destruction of Sodom
Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra – Valley Of The Gods
Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra – Stars and Rockets/Gods from Strange Planets

If you have ever wondered what kind of music David Axelrod and Ennio Morricone would have made, circa 1970, if they made it into a studio after taking massive amounts of acid…look no further than this tripped-out soundtrack from the Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra.

“Chariots Of The Gods” is a mostly discredited piece of historical analysis that claims that aliens are responsible for much of the ancient world’s science, technology and religion. The ideas didn’t carry much weight in the 1960s when they were introduced, but it was intriguing enough for some Germans to get together and produce a documentary based off of the book. In the US this film was later released as “In Search of Ancient Astronauts,” but to my knowledge the soundtrack always carries the original name. This soundtrack originally was released in 1970, along with the original film, as two long themes spread out over two sides. This particular version is the 1974 edition, that instead of presenting the music as long-form pieces, cuts them up into little bite size tracks, which may be frustrating in reference to the original spirit of this music, but does make it much easier to quickly find the better moments in this score.

The first time I came across the LP was at Groove Merchant, Cool Chris played me about 20 seconds of a song and I was hooked. At the time I don’t think I fully appreciated the rest of the record and I vaguely remember trading it for something else within a month of getting it. More recently I dug this copy up at Atomic, sealed for $5. After a couple of failed attempts to trade it, all based off of my original feeling that it wasn’t all that, I decided to unseal the record and really consider whether or not I should get rid of it. Having a few years away from it and being in a much different musical mind set gave me a totally different impression of these sounds and I now think it’s one of my best finds of the year (especially at the price).

Many of the songs recycle a couple of themes, as is often the case with soundtrack records. The better tracks have one of two elements, both of which I really really dig. On the one hand you get tracks like “Returning To The Stars” with these very punchy and crisp drums paired with lush strings, horns and wordless voices. The sound is totally fitting for a film about space travel, since it has a very flighty vibe to it.

On the other hand, many of these tracks will include very odd or bizarre embellishments and at times some real 100% freakouts. The best example of this is the ticking time bomb that is “Popular Myth and Destruction of Sodom” the song begins as if you’re located in some kind of strange alien paradise surrounded by singing children, there’s something that’s whimsical about it for sure, but also it’s a bit off-putting, like something is just not quite right with this situation. Suddenly, just after the 30 second mark, it’s as if you’re under attack (perhaps from “space invaders”??? couldn’t resist) and you’re on the run from massive drums, screams and waves of fuzz guitar and before you’ve even had a chance to comprehend what has just happened to your ears, it’s all over. “Valley Of The Gods,” “Stars & Rockets” and “Gods From Strange Planets” (here the latter two are included together on the same track), similarly includes all these strange elements into a wild strings, drums and horns break-fest.

Though I know a fair amount of producers use this soundtrack for beats, taking small elements and choping them into their own musical collages, I really hope more people openly rework elements of this soundtrack into something new. All it may require is taking a deeper look at your local record store’s soundtrack bin, you never know when you might find a true gem like this for a steal of a price.

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Dungen – Skit I Allt – Kemado

Dungen – Blandband

There are few contemporary bands out there currently that I find more satisfying than Sweden’s Dungen. Gustav Ejstes’ approach to making music has such an incredible attention to sound (very much like a Hip-Hop producer) that I hesitate to call it “neo-psych”. The first time I heard a Dungen track was on Matthew Africa’s radio show on KALX, and I was convinced it was some super rare material from the late 60s he’d dug up. When I heard the same song (the instrumental “C. Visar Vagen” which serves as my closing theme music on my radio show) in Amoeba later that week I was able to find out that in fact it came from this group and their album “Tio Batar,” one of my faves of 2007. 2008’s “4” picked up where “Tio Batar” left off and was once again one of my ten favorite records of the year.

On first listen to “Skit I Allt” (which means something to the effect of “Fuck it All” or “Fuck Everything”, a great sentiment, but a little problematic for the FCC even in Swedish) I’ll admit that I was initially disappointed. The material didn’t jump out at me in quite the same fashion as the two prior releases. But during a road trip I listened to all three albums back to back and discovered that of the three, “Skit I Allt” had the strongest songs and proved to be the most cohesive and enjoyable listen from start to finish of the bunch. Some of this could be related to the sentiment behind the title, but it must also be related to the fact that this record features the regular touring members of the band much more prominently than in past recordings, which were primarily Ejstes on all variety of instrumentation. The instrumental “Blandband” (which translates as “Mixtape” from Swedish) is my chosen representative from the album, which features some bright piano work along with break-neck paced drums, floating flute and guitar and simply irresistible hand claps. I can gaurantee with 100% certainty that not only will this record be on my year end list of the best releases, but that this track in particular will be the closing theme for my “Best of 2010” show on KPFK’s Melting Pot.

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com on Melting Pot!!!

I was out of town this past week, but thankfully Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com was able to fill-in for me. Oliver and I used to host programs at KALX Berkeley and I’ve been trying to get him back on the air since I moved down to LA. There was a bit of an audio glitch that caused much of the final 40 minutes of audio to not come through, but you still 80+ minutes of top shelf material from one of the best DJs around. I can guarantee Oliver will be back filling in at some point in the near future, and of course there’s “Side Dishes” which should be back this week.

Oliver Wang fills in on KPFK’s Melting Pot

For Oliver’s breakdown and the playlist for the full show click here

Posted on Dig Deep

Dig Deep: Donato – A Bad Donato – Blue Thumb (1970)

Joao Donato – Straight Jacket
Joao Donato – Malandro
Joao Donato – Lunar Tune

I’m about to jet to a secret location for a little bit of well deserved vacation, but I wanted to make sure to get my weekly “Dig Deep” post up before I go.

The first time I ran into this record was at Groove Merchant, it was one of my choice records that I ended up selling back to Cool Chris back in 2004 during my big wedding sell-off. Since then I’d been on the lookout for a “reasonably” priced copy and finally tracked it down over at Atomic in Burbank (though I did have to trade a copy of Perez Prado’s “Latin Hustle” to get this one, I’m more than happy to have it back in my collection).


The owner there was saying that one of the guys who worked on this record had been in the store recently and mentioned that the “real” Donato was more like the picture on the back than the picture on the front…I’m not sure really, but the important thing is Donato was not playing around on this record. It’s one of the few I’ve come across where every single track is a winner, a psychedelic mix of brazilian percussion + soul jazz that doesn’t really sound like anything else from this period I can think of. Super duper deepness…

And with that, I’m out until mid-week, next week…However, be sure to definitely tune into the radio show this Sunday on KPFK, filling in for me will be Oliver Wang of Soul-Sides.com!!!

Cheers,

Michael

Posted on Ephemera

In Heavy Rotation: Versus – On The Ones and Threes – Merge

Versus – Erstwhile

August was such a whirlwind of a month that somehow I failed to mention one of the happier developments of the summer, the release of new music from Versus! “Secret Swingers” remains perhaps my favorite Indie-rock record of the 1990s, and as fan of the band I’d been enduring rumours of reunions for years, until video began to emerge in 2008. “On The Ones & Threes” represents the first new record from the Baluyut Bros. + Fontaine Toups in something like 10 years, and the band doesn’t disappoint this long time fan with this new music. “Erstwhile” is maybe the best track on this new collection of songs, beginning with a sample-ready slow tempo drum beat and plaintive vocals from Ms. Toups, before things get a bit more epic towards the middle when Richard joins in to sing his verses. Here’s to hoping the partnership will last longer this time around and that there’s even more music to come.

Posted on Radio

Be Our Guest: The Gories on KPFK’s Melting Pot

The Gories on KPFK’s Melting Pot: September 5, 2010

Still finding it a little hard to believe that I got a chance to interview Mick Collins, Dan Kroha and Peg O’Neill of the Gories. Some of it I’m sure is because I never thought the Gories would get back together, but once I heard they had and were playing in LA, I just never thought this interview was actually going to happen…but it did and here’s the audio to prove it. We talk about how the band got back together, how the Gories originally formed and a few other choice stories including one about recording in Memphis with Alex Chilton.

Posted on Radio

Breakdown: September 5th on KPFK’s Melting Pot

Today’s show was notable for one big major reason, Dan, Mick & Peg of the Gories showed up at the KPFK studios and we had a 30 minute interview about the band, from the early moments playing around in Detroit to these recent reunion shows they’ve been doing (Still a chance to win tickets to the Sept. 8th show here in LA, see the post below!). This is one of my favorite interviews of all time, even though I barely ask any questions, basically, I just sat there and had the three of them trade stories. In the show there’s also new music from Dungen, Fabienne Del Sol, Aloe Blacc, Pollyn feat. Freddie Gibbs and classic material from the Minutemen, Marianne Faithful and more.

Melting Pot on KPFK #14: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #14: Second Hour

Playlist: 09-05-2010

{opening theme} Booker T. & the MGs – Melting Pot – 7” (Stax)

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The Minutemen – This Ain’t No Picnic – Double Nickels On The Dime (SST)
Daddy Cleanhead & the Chuck Higgins Band – Something’s Going On In My Room – Lost & Found (BBE)
Fabienne Del Sol – Ce Jour La – On My Mind (Damaged Goods)
Terry Stafford – Try My World Little Girl – Dr. Goldfoot & the Girl Bombs: Original Soundtrack (Tower)
The Pepper Pots – Young Girl – Now! (Black Pepper)

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Aloe Blacc – Life So Hard – Good Things (Stones Throw)
Franciene Thomas – Too Beautiful To Be Good – 7” (Tragar)
Chicano Batman – Itotiani – Chicano Batman (Unicornio)
Marianne Faithful – If I Never Get To Love You – Marianne Faithful (London)
The Clientele – Tonight – Bonfires On The Heath (Merge)

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Bertrand Belin – Y’en A-t-il – Hyper Nuit (Cinq7/Wagram)
Belle & Sebastian – Stars Of Track & Field – BBC Sessions (Matador)
Flamin’ Groovies – I Saw Her – Shake Some Action (Sire)
Uppers International – Neriba Lanchina – Afro-Beat Airways (Analog Africa)
Cut Chemist – Addis to Adidas – Sound Of The Police (A stable Sound/Soul Kitchen)
Joao Donato – Lunar Tune – A Bad Donato (Blue Thumb)

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Interview with the Gories
The Gories – Nitroglycerine – I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’ (Crypt)
Interview with the Gories

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The Gories – Thunderbird ESQ – I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’ (Crypt)
The Black Angels – Bad Vibrations – Phospene Dream (Blue Horizon)
Beak – Backwell – Beak> (Invada)
Pollyn feat. Freddie Gibbs – Falling Out Of Place – Shake Out The Other Way EP (Self-Released)
Dungen – Brallor – Skit I Allt (Mexican Summer)

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

Posted on Ephemera

Giveaway: The Gories @ the Echo September 8th!!!

{Congrats to ticket winners Roger P. and Eric L. who get to see the Legendary Gories!!!}

One of the single most influential garage bands of all time, Detroit’s legendary The Gories have reunited and are playing a couple of shows here in Los Angeles, tonight Sept. 5th at Spaceland and Sept. 8 at the Echo. I have one pair of tickets for some lucky bastard out there (though I will be giving away more pairs on the radio show later today), let me know how bad you want to see the Gories at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com

In case you needed an introduction or a reminder, here’s a classic…

Here they are reunited from July 2010: