Donny Hathaway - These Songs For You, Live!

I have a few CDs in my car that I use for vocal practice, and this is one of them. That vibrato, man. This record is great because Donny comes across a bit WNUA RIP in the studio setting sometimes, so it's just right to hear him live with a bit more grit.

These recordings are culled from a few different performances, and there are plenty of goosebump moments like the excessive crowd participation on You've Got a Friend. Guaranteed to give you that full body tingle. "That feels pretty good to me, y'all." -Donny Hathaway

This version of Flying Easy is absolutely ridiculous, and completely crushes the too smooth, string-laden version on Extension of a Man. The tempo is cranked, and the drummer is laying waste with tight fill after tight fill. Seventh chords and modulation done just as well as Stevie ever did it. We've also got an extended jam version of The Ghetto to satiate all of The String Cheese Incident fans out there. So if you get here from a Google search about buying patchouli oil (because you can buy patchouli oil here for cheap, as I have overstock patchouli oil in bulk), download away.

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Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw (1982)

Yeahhhhh it's that catchy white guy rock. Anyone who has liked any of the same catchy white guy rock as me in the past (The Pointed Sticks, Buddy Holly) is gonna want to like this as well. And I've got to give credit to Erik B for getting me into this record many moons ago.

I bet that Someday, Someway sparks a flame of recognition. Hey look this song has even been performed live in concert.

The chorus is certainly the focus of these song structures, but the interesting thing is how smooth all of the transitions are. There are very few breaks or rests or abrupt shifts or anything like that. Even though the chord progression is always changing from part to part, these shifts are barely noticeable. There are also pretty active arpeggios going on all of the time that whites such as The Smiths have also used to great effect over the years. But Marshall Crenshaw, unlike Morrissey, is no bitch. You won't catch him crying about some bullshit. Just kidding, you probably will.

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Guest Mix Vol. 5 - DJ The Tornado

So stoked on this guest mix, as my knowledge of electronic music doesn't extend much past Detroit techno & Chicago acid house. Steve Adler aka DJ The Tornado is much much smarter than me at knowing about electronic music, so the fact that this guest post even exists is a wonderful learning experience for me. Also, I have been at many ragers that Tornado absolutely devastated, so this helps to fill in my mental picture of belt-slapping and Jordan jerseys. So if you have a party, what you need to do is hire the man DJ The Tornado in order to make sure that your party is a cool place to be. Links:
http://soundcloud.com/djthetornado
http://www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-The-Tornado/21263807805
myspace.com/djthetornado

I've been DJing for about nine years. Since then my tastes have evolved from spinning mostly hip-hop, funk, and house into buying primarily drum & bass and dubstep. Whenever I play out, I usually play for a long period of time and thus incorporate an amalgamation of sounds into each set. I might start out with a top 40 hip-hop banger and later go into some electro-house before finishing with dubstep, other times I blend a Young Gunz instrumental with Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" - it all depends on what you like and, more importantly, what your audience is feeling. When I was commissioned to make this mix for Primitive Future, I wanted to do two things - first, show off my skills and hopefully get booked and raise my profile. Second, I wanted to introduce the readers of Todd's blog to something new. I feel it's important to note that so many times people think that just because I play a certain kind of music out that that is all I listen to at home. As a matter of fact, I listen to music that is all across the board and love being introduced to new things. I could have easily made an ambient mix, a shoegaze mix, or something like the mixes already posted. The fear I have in posting this is that it won't be taken as seriously as traditional, band-based music because so often people think that any music with a rude bass line is meant for the clubs, or maybe the gym, but not for home listening. This is what makes putting together a studio mix extremely hard. When making a mix of any sort of "dance" music, it has to be just that - danceable. I have to contrast that with knowing that most readers of this blog will be listening to this on their MP3 players on the bus ride to and from work, not before they go out to the club (although you can do that, too).

Another layer to this is being able to put together a mix of music that is not listened to by most people. How do I introduce a genre (drum & bass) to people when it is seen as too fast, too loud, or too heavy to the general public? How do I represent a very diverse scene in a short time and leave people with the impression that this music is worth listening to and worth promoting? At the same time, how do I stay true to the genre's roots and "keep it real"? I want to play quality music that has crossover appeal. A daunting task, indeed.

For the second half of the mix, I decided to slow it down a bit and focus on the dubstep sound which has slowly been gathering steam in the underground for years. It has achieved critical acclaim due to albums from producers like Burial and Benga, but has also destroyed dancefloors thanks to heavy hitters like Skream, Plastician, Caspa and Rusko. A genre which grew out of the grime, garage, and drum & bass scenes in the UK, dubstep has become more and more popular stateside in recent months, thanks to DJs like Diplo and Craze incorporating the sound in their sets. I tried to show off what I think are the best representations of dubstep - there are the deeper bits, the wicked impact tunes, more commercial tracks, and a cheeky bootleg remix - with a classic hardcore tune thrown in, strictly for the heads that know.

Some might say I take DJing too seriously, but I think anyone who is passionate about their music needs to represent their shit right.

Enjoy.

1. Sub Focus - Rock It - Ram
>>>Q Project - Ask Not VIP - Advanced
2. Dillinja - Shiners - Valve
3. Serum vs. Northern Lights - Dangerous - Zombie
4. Break - Is This What You Want? VIP - Symmetry
5. Friction & K-Tee - Set It Off - Shogun Audio
6. Commix - Justified - Metalheadz
7. Calibre - Let Me Hold You - Signature
8. Icicle - Frozen - Renegade Hardware
9. Fresh - Fantasia - Digital Sound Boy
10. Zen - Dark Em Up - Grid
11. Danny Byrd - Red Mist VIP - Hospital
>>>Hazard - Killers Don't Die - Playaz
12. Chrissy Chris & Youngman MC - Kick Snare - V
13. Chimpo - Like No Other - Contagious
14. Jakes - Rock The Bells - Hench
15. Rusko - Mr Muscle - Sub Soldiers
16. Soulja Boy feat. Lil Wayne - Turn On My Swag (Remix) - Interscope
17. DZ - Old Timers - Black Acre
18. Liquid Wicked - Dubwar (Von D VIP Mix) - Destpub
19. MRK1 - Dubelek - Contagious
20. Skream - Memories of 3rd Base - Digital Sound Boy
21. Plastician - Export - White
22. MRK1 - Borderline - Contagious
23. Deadmau5 feat. Kaskade - I Remember (Caspa Remix) - Virgin
24. Mahanee vs. Von D - S.A.G.E. - Destpub
25. Giant - Rocker - Dub Police
26. The Art of Noise - Moments In Love (Caspa Remix) - White
27. Barbarix - Low Freqz - Aquatic Lab
28. Skream - Burnin' Up - Digital Sound Boy
29. 2 Bad Mice - Bombscare - Sm:)e Communications
30. La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix) - White

*Link Removed due to Copyright Claim*
*Go here instead*

Coloured Balls - Ball Power (1973)

My friend Steve recently posted a link to the NME top 100 records of the decade list, and Fenriz recently uh "dropped" the second installment of his "Trapped Under Ice" mixtape series. These internet events have caused me to post this Coloured Balls record. See, the NME list was chock-full of rock bands like The Libertines or whatever that don't particularly rock. Now, the popularity of these bands would make sense to me if they were really catchy or something, but they're not melodic or anything either. So they're in this weird no-man's land where they have the worst of both worlds (not rocking, not having catchy melodies). Get the fuck out of here with that.

Anyway, I was listening to Fenriz's mixtape while I was pondering this, and he included Human Being of off this record, and dang does that track rock. But yeah, these are some Australian guys really playing some progged out weirdo proto-metal boogie. Now, I've expressed frustration at pentatonic scale-knowers in the past, but that is no stab at the pentatonic scale itself. When something rox or is heavy, the pentatonic scale is just as good as any other. These songs exist in a nice sweet spot between upbeat boogie and meandering prog. Actually, in the extended solo section of Something New, they make use of one of my favorite pentatonic sounds: playing pentatonic but harmonizing with thirds. See also: Supernaut intro riff & Down all the time. And also the intro to Human Being uses another one of my favorite tricks. The emphasis is on the "and," but the guitar riff starts on its own so the time signature flips in your brain when the drums come in. See also: Fight Fire With Fire. Great I love rock music woo!

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Carmike - Comin at yo Azz (1994)

At this point, it should be pretty easy for you readers to guess my favorite genres of music: late 80s/early 90s metal, 60s pop, bossa nova, Prince, and early 90s hip-hop. And yeah, shit was fucking weird in Memphis in the early 90s. You may remember me talking about this before in the infancy of this blog in this Graveyard Productions post. If you never saw that post, you should probably spend some time reading through my archives because everything I post on here seriously rules.

This is another record whose sounds make me physically uncomfortable (see also: Godflesh - Streetcleaner, Whitehouse). The lo-fi, washed out production, and strangely affected vocal delivery and doubling create a total psychological immersion similar to the most primitive black metal. Hooks are barely intelligible, stuttering chopped up phrases with the moaning of the damned in the background. The vision required to create this sort of horrific sonic gestalt is astonishing.

Also, I usually skip the "Dedications" track, but I just noticed that he says "That solo tape gonna be hittin they ass in the face," which is really funny.

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Guest Mix Vol. 4 - Joaquín Chávez

One of the things about touring with bands is that you meet a lot of people. Now, I am not much of a "people-meeter," but sometimes you really end up being surprised by how much you have in common with a total stranger. I met Joaquin in Albuquerque, and it quickly became clear to me that we are both dudes with a "music problem." As such, I'm really stoked to present this cross-section of JC's music brain. Besides, he has a Burt Bacharach tattoo, so you know he's doing something right. Joaquín posts records at Never Get to Heaven, does whatever happens on Tumblr here, and plays hateful, frowning riffs with Dead Hours and Excruciation. A Burt Bacharach tattoo! How great is that!

When Todd asked if I would be willing to contribute a guest mix, I couldn't have been more into the idea. There is no other blog for which I have more respect. As I sat down to string this thing together, my dilemma was not unlike Andys. Do I flex nuts so that Todd and his readers know what a sick guy I am? Do I let the blog world know what a nerd I am by putting the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody"* on a mix fifteen times? Well, after scrapping a few initial ideas and possibly saving myself some embarrassment by nixing a couple of tracks, I decided to just keep it simple. Here is a mix of songs that, along with the weather, have assisted in making sure the molecules in my body move a little less rapidly. And although that might make me a little less punk rock, considering that as I put this mix together my roommate is probably busy smashing mirrors, listening to the Total Abuse demo in his room, after all the rage summer brings, it's nice to stop and smell the string arrangements. Enjoy.

*Phil Spector's production only, for the record.

01. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
02. El Chicano - Sabor A Mi
03. Joan Of Arc - I Love A Woman (Who Loves Me)
04. Big Star - Morpha Too
05. Shop Assistants - She Said
06. Dionne Warwick - Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets
07. Fergus & Geronimo - Glistening Smiles
08. Sebadoh - Got It
09. The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year
10. The Velvet Underground & Nico - I'll Be Your Mirror
11. Blake Babies - Girl In A Box
12. The Lemonheads - Hannah & Gabi
13. Electric Light Orchestra - One Summer Dream
14. The Beach Boys - Unreleased Pet Sounds Backgrounds
15. Stevie Wonder - Knocks Me Off My Feet

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Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896)

I, Todd Niefzsche, love music about Nietzsche, whether it be lo-fi basement black metal or high art tone poem. Guess which one this is. The music leave plenty of space for narrative, which my mind fills with tales of me hanging out with Bono, and then I ask him what he's doing later and if he wants to come over and watch Youtube videos. Then we do a youtube search for "funny dog."

The best section is Der Genesende (The Convalescent) which has a variation on the theme from the introduction as the musical driving force while fast tempos and flutes whirl around leading to one of the most crushing moments in music as the intro theme is restated. Actually, I'm going to rip off that first variation for future Like Rats material, so be on the lookout for that.

Also, if you weren't gonna download this, it's the 2001 theme, idiot. Come on now. Load it down.

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Dead Can Dance - Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987)

I think that it's impossible to describe Dead Can Dance's music without sounding like some Enya-ass Putumayo mom bullshit. Because yeah they totally combine aspects of wide varieties of "world music" with Medieval European folk melodies! And it all kind of comes together in a Gothish post-punk way that will tickle your inner fat Wiccan girl!

But what matters is that these melodies are fucking gorgeous. My stomach hurts when I listen to this band because it's so, so beautiful. See, that's an interesting thing about certain kinds of transcendent beauty. No matter how much I listen to Dead Can Dance, there is always something not quite obtainable about the experience that fills me with longing. My own existence lacks in comparison to the music, but I can't figure out what I'm missing. Now imagine that I wrote the previous few sentences about Heather Graham.

Lisa Gerrard's powerful, powerful, powerful and haunting voice takes over for the second half of this record, existing over layers of percussion and counterpoint. These sounds are unmistakably deep, dark purple in my head, and I feel like I'm collapsing into an endless pit of color and velvet texture as I listen. The fullness of the tones and instrumentation, the elegance of the voice-leading and arrangement, and the expressiveness of the vocal performances make this required listening for anyone who has considered liking music.

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Guest Mix Vol. 3 - Bo Lueders

Bo Lueders, purveyor of internet wisdom at www.bosxe.com and highly active stage presence in Harms Way and Convicted (RIP), has been kind enough to do a guest mix for your mind. Harm's Way, who kind of sound like Bolt Thrower (this is cool), are currently out for a few days with Rise & Fall (also cool). Their LP "Reality Approaches" is one of the better things to be released in 2009, regardless of whether I know them as people or not. Anyway, Bo has provided us with some quintessential late October jams, so load it down.

I am a huge fan of shuffle when it comes to listening to music. The only problem is I end up shuffling between maybe 10-15 bands and have a hard time getting new music into my library. Add the fact that it's October to that mix, and I end up with a pretty limited play list. October for me has always been Misfits month, I listen to the entire collection on shuffle pretty exclusively; so when Todd asked me to do a mix-up I was actually a little troubled to put some diversity into my list. So I decided to with a “semi-obvious” mix-up, meaning not “Halloween” but another creepy Misfits song instead.

I ended up finishing it with only 2 Misfits songs and 1 Danzig song, out of 13, so for me that's an accomplishment. (Now that I think about it though “Thirteen” is a Danzig song that Cash covered… dam it) It was also an eye opener reading both Andy and Steve's mix-ups, especially Steve's, because I can honestly say I have never heard a single band on his list (yet). That, of course, is the beauty of these mix-ups and music in general.
So here you go, enjoy my take on the fall mix-up:

1. Theme For a Jackal (Static Age version) - The Misfits
2. Still Ill (1984 s/t version) - The Smiths
3. Two Minutes to Midnight - Iron Maiden
4. Walking On the Moon - The Police
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica
6. It's Not Up To You - Björk
7. Montana - Rocky Votolato
8. Am I Demon? - Danzig
9. Cough/Cool - The Misfits
10. Dechristianize - Vital Remains
11. Bark at the Moon - Ozzy Osborn
12. Behind the Crooked Cross - Slayer
13. Thirteen - Johnny Cash

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Asphyx - The Rack (1991)

This record fills me with nostalgia. As a teenager, I was an angsty idiot mired in spazzy post-hardcore and metalcore. However, as I searched out bands with crazier riffs, I ended up digging into the death metal underground of the late 80s and early 90s. Initially, the poor production and lack of stupid guy heaviness confused me. However, as I read more and listened more, it became clear to me that my worldview was sorely, severely lacking. The upside to this disillusionment was a sense of wonder and excitement as a whole new existence came out of the fog of teen depression.

I can remember the confusion I felt at these raw, sloppy European sounds that were recorded in an era that I thought was entirely dominated by grunge Q101 radio rock. The title of the intro track, "The Quest of Absurdity," immediately spoke to my existential pinings. Still, my initial reaction was "these guys are just playing power chords and they're not even that good at their instruments." I kept checking in, though, and, probably around the time that I "got" Darkthrone, I "got" Asphyx, and the towering monolithic structures created by guys sloppily playing power chords permanently cast a shadow over my consciousness. Listen to the outro riff on "The Rack" until this makes sense to you, too.

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Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July (1980)

If you're anything like me, you regularly worship at the genius altar of Stevie Wonder's early 70s output. And if you're not doing that, you need to leave because I don't even like you. Walk away from the computer and stab your eardrums with a pencil because you fucked up. Since everyone still reading already has all of those records, I'm posting up Hotter Than July which falls outside of the Wonder canon, but is still obviously the work of a complete godhead genius.

Definitely fewer ii-V-I's than in the past, as the feel of this record is a bit less jazzy and a bit more all over the place. Stevie's forays into Reggae and disco-tinged sounds aren't gimmicky or po-mo or anything annoying like that. This shouldn't be surprising, given the plethora of hits Stevie wrote for other artists of varying styles.

You know if I were a normal person, I would say something like "the vocal performances on this record make me want to drink acid and never sing again!" Instead, they make me get really competitive with Stevie Wonder and say to myself "if Stevie Wonder can do this, why can't I?" This is an insane pipe dream, but I am just trying to be honest.

Also, notice the nod to "Rocket Love" in GZA's "Cold World." Wu-Tang Clan: men of impeccable taste.

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Exuma - I (1970)

My friends have been making some pretty great mixes about the changing of the seasons. But you know what? Fuck that romanticized bullshit I'm fucking cold. As soon as the temperature drops below seventy degrees, my hands fucking hurt all of the time because I have skinny-ass ET fingers. As such, here's some of that Bahamas doo-wah-nanny rainy summertime voodoo music.

The Exuma mystique is certainly interesting, but an over-reliance on narrative in music reviews is annoying to me so internet search that shit if you're curious. Let's talk about songs:

What we have here are a collection of blues/folk songs based around Exuma's throat-shredding vocals and consistently strumming acoustic guitar. Layers of percussion and sound effects and back-up choirs keep this far from a minimalist affair, despite the stripped-down nature of the song-writing. I just posted a record with bird sounds that was "quirky," but this record with bird sounds is "otherworldly." Choruses take on a hypnotic, chanting feel as layers converge onto a theme and Exuma's raving ad-libs soar over the din. Percussive layering, as on the beginning of "Junkanoo," as well as a healthy voodoo presence identifies this music as hailing from the Caribbean rhythmic melting pot. But really, no matter how much I soak in the humidity of "The Obeah Man" I'm still freezing.

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Guest Mix Vol. 2: Stephen C. Kane

Steve Kane is one of the funniest people that I know, and also the biggest Cold Cave fan I know. I'm pretty excited to be posting his mix here, as Steve has a lot of specialized musical knowledge that is very different than mine, and I enjoy new things. Steve has cornered the market on internet endeavors with the name Harsh Distractions, with his internet radio show on Tuesdays from 7-9pm CST at www.fearlessradio.com and his music blog Harsh Distractions. Did you click all of those links? Let's go, Steve:

Somewhere between the brutally humid summers and the arctic winters is a brief flirtation with a temperate climate where, for about two weeks of the entire year, the weather in Chicago is absolutely perfect. Without reiterating too much of what Andy said, autumn is my favorite time of year. It's easy to get nostalgic about fall because I associate so many things I love with this time of year. Namely, the music that reminds me of cooler evenings, new semesters, drinking hot coffee on rainy afternoons, sweaters, and pumpkin flavored everything. This isn't a mix of my favorite fall weather songs of all time, but rather a mix of old favorites and new songs that fit into the mood of the season. Hopefully you agree.

Tracklist:

1. Cold Cave - Love Comes Close
2. Seam - Get Higher
3. Desolation Wilderness - Boardwalk Theme
4. King Khan & The Shrines - Welfare Bread
5. Calypso - Casually Sad Mercedes
6. Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday
7. The Chamber Strings - Everyday Is Christmas
8. Hum - Why I Like The Robins
9. Grouper - Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping
10. Black Tambourine - Black Car
11. The Love Language - Sparxxx
12. Gliss - Morning Light
13. Alcian Blue - See You Shine
14. The Clientele - (I Want You) More Than Eve
15. The House Of Love - Sulphur
16. (Smog) - I Was a Stranger
17. Vampire Weekend - Campus
18. The Radio Dept. - Always A Relief

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Brigitte Fontaine - Brigitte Fontaine Est... (1970)

My posts have been testosterone heavy recently, which makes sense as I am a guy who loves working out. However, in the interest of fulfilling quotas, here is a Brigitte Fontaine record.

Many of the other internet reviews that I've found of this album focus on the "quirkiness" of the sounds texturing these songs (Bird calls! Glockenspiels!). And hey, in a way opposite of dumb Pitchfork bands, these extra things are actually pretty cool. However, the actually interesting part is, no surprise, the songs themselves. . Le Beau Cancer is a wonderful pop song, with an instrumental hook that my subconscious is almost always humming. The way that the phrases of Une Fois Mais Pas Deux leave tension in the vocal line then resolve with a rest and a chord change is a blessing to my earthly existence. And hey, it's got something in common with one of my favorite France Gall songs, too!

There are certainly parallels to be drawn between Tropicalia and this brand of French pop. Something about expertly crafted pop songs with plenty of space behind the vocal melody for an abundance of idiosyncrasies, that, while prevalent, are not distracting from the elegance of the song. You know, all of these flavors and hooks and implied key modulations actually create some sort of world for me. Maybe it makes me feel like I am into steampunk and goggles on my head and full-length jackets and shit like that? Maybe. Come fly away with me and Brigitte F, and Brigitte B in our airship. Brigitte Bardot: the original Steam Punk.

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