Skip Spence - Oar (1969)

There are a few records that exist entirely in their own universe. Although they can be placed in the context of some sort of musical movement, they are truly unique and offer an insight into the mind of an alien. Oar is one of these records. (I've talked about similar concepts in my discussions of Sun Ra's works.)

It's hard for me to write about this, as this music exists in a world completely outside of my own experiences. Listening to it turns me into a reality tourist briefly shedding my overanalytical science perception in favor of a much looser existence based upon floating in melting martian ice caps. Layered vocal tracks, open strings, and reverb create an emergent phenomena that absolutely must be experienced. Dangerous, damaging psychedelia that is orders of magnitude trippier than even the most fuzzed out of all guitar solos.

And I can't help but compare the vocals on "Diana" to US Maple. Oops. Oh and motherfucker was in Moby Grape too. Remember that shit from back in the day?

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Marva Whitney - It's My Thing (1969)

I've already written about this record for trend-setting, paradigm-shattering web periodical Jettison Quarterly, but I really want to share it with my Primitive People. As such, here is the text that appeared in Jettison coupled with that mediafirewater.

James Brown not only had the luxury of being a complete godhead genius, he also had the luxury of being an astute talent scout, thus ensuring that he was always surrounded by the very best of the best. In this case, we’re talking about back-up singer Marva Whitney.

On this record, the ol’ J. Brown penned a bunch of tunes, and the ol’ M. Whitney took over lead vocal duties. At this point, Brown had already filtered gospel and soul through the twisted, boiling tubes and sieves of his brain in order to isolate the most essential elements. What remained was a deceptively simple structure of a few seventh chords, syncopated snare hits, and tight horn accents. When painted onto an aural canvas, these components became the quintessence of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”, as microcosms of human experience are isolated and implied recombinations open up new possibilities of existence.

A lot of these songs barely have vocal melodies, as Whitney is given free rein to improvise and embellish loosely over the minimalist grooves. Her belting, brassy voice soars unremittingly over the dancing worlds of mortals, while the band grounds the whole experience by tapping into rhythmic senses far beyond conscious control.

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Guest Mix Vol. 7 - Erik B aka Don Mattingly

Yeah for this muxtape Dr. Mario in training Mr. Erik B aka Don Mattingly aka Erik B & Don Mattingly of Brilliant Corners arrives with a right proper donk on it. This dude is overstanding the pop music scene from multiple angles at all times, enabling him to bring us things such as this Amerie remix (an already ill song based on a Meters sample) which is turned into a complete mind-melter. Fuck yeah. And that Vistoso Bosses song is catchy as fuckkkkkk, too. Anyway, Erik has some white guy rock of his own in the pipeline, first show Jan 29 competing with my white guy rock band's first show. Fortunately, like my hoes, these shows are in different area codes. Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners.

so i made this mixtape like a cassette with two sides and a fairly loose theme attached. the first side is about being a young white man channelling anxiety through powerpop and other dumb weenie music, and the second side is about being seduced by black ladies, falling in love, and then breaking their hearts i guess. aphex twin is the most natural transition between the two. its all pop music abounding in vitality, so fuck what you heard.

-erik bengtsen bka giorgio caetano

tracklisting:
1. Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill
2. Rocketship - I Love You Like The Way That I Used To
3. Toms - Sun
4. Barcelona - C64
5. The Nerves - Working Too Hard
6. Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
7. Marshall Crenshaw - There She Goes Again
8. The Ponys - I'm With You
9. The Flashing Lights - Highschool
10. Luxury - Green Hearts
11. Rivers Cuomo - Lover in the Snow
12. Aphex Twin - Flim
13. Aaliyah - Come Over (ft Tank)
14. Electrik Red - 9 to 5
15. The Diplomats - I Wanna Be Your Lady ft Cam
16. Keke Palmer - First Crush
17. Amerie - One Thing (siik rmx)
18. Candy Hill - Juicy
19. Vistoso Bosses - Delirious
20. 88 Keys - Wasting My Minutes
21. Ciara - I Don't Remember
22. T2 ft Jodie Aysha - Heartbroken (radio edit)
23. Mariah Carey - Shake it Off

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Sergei Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 in C (1921)

I gave my ex-GF the Miles Davis autobiography for her birthday because I wanted to read it, and I recently took it back for myself, also because I wanted to read it. In this autobiography, Miles refers to Prokofiev as a "bad motherfucker who was terrible" or something like that, which is absolutely, unequivocally true. This shit is fucking bad.

If you read any of these words that I write in this bloggie, you should understand by now that variation on a theme is one of my favorite things. And hearing the twists and turns that a godhead freak of nature genius like Prokofiev can weave from a single musical idea is unreal. In Andantino con Variazoni, things eventually head down a bleak, somber path before activity returns to the music; this time, the orchestra plays with the theme while the piano dances chromatically in the background. My god does that smell good.

Infinite recombinations mimic the cause and effect decision trees that we use to imagine the future.

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Formicide - Demo I (1987)

A mid-paced thrash riff with cool syncopated emphasis is a beautiful thing, and as such, this demo tape is fucking beautiful. If you are into something like Nuclear Assault, then you are gonna want to download this. If you are a fan of playing a riff over a fast thrash beat, then dropping it to half time and switching the tremolo picking to down-picked palm muting, then you are gonna want to download this. If you sit around in a trailer camp listening to Anthrax, then you are gonna want to download this. Also, there are Halford wails.

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African Brothers Band - Me Poma (1984)

Yeah it's that catchy West African highlife rock. It's tough to find a lot of the output of this band here in Chicago, Illinois, so if any of my dear readers have hidden stockpiles of African Brothers digital files, please leave a comment or send an e-mail. Here is a discography that makes my ears ache for all of the songs I have never heard.

These songs are busy with syncopated percussion filling out the not-quite polyrhythmic feel that flirts with that three against four. Guitars dance around major chords in intervallic progressions with plenty of room for improvisation. Nana Kwame Ampandu has an almost matter-of-fact delivery for both verses and call-and response choruses, and the catchiest parts of the songs are often instrumental statements made by the horn section or the keyboard as introductions or as sort of a transition between vocal parts and solo sections. Speaking of which, some of the effects-laden keyboard and guitar tones take on a cosmic psychedelic atmosphere, like the little chirping UFO floating throughout the title track nailing the upbeats for you.

TIME TO GO TO THE DENTIST WISH ME LUCK.

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Guest Mix Vol. 6 - Adam Could Die Tomorrow

The internet is oversaturated with music blogs, and you can find just about anything you're looking for using Google's blogsearch. However, most of these blogs have very poor internal quality control, and their backlogs are clogged with the plaque of boring, derivative records that no one in their right mind would ever want to actually listen to. What I'm saying is that it takes quite a bit to make it into my own personal reading list, and I Could Die Tomorrow is one of the select few. Adam and co. really get it done over there by having great taste and running a smooth operation. Pretty much anything goes as long as it rules. If you like what I'm doing, you will like what they are doing. Thanks, Adam, for doing this cool guest mix, and thanks for putting Trouble Funk on it.

When I make mixes for someone (usually friends, but sometimes babes), I tend to abandon any sort of coherence or theme and just bludgeon the listener with whatever it is I think they’ll like, songs that remind me of them, or just shit I’ve been listening to lately, so that’s just what I’m going to provide for you, the distinguished reader of Primitive Future.

My mixes tend to not only be disjointed affairs, but also overly-long and, therefore, potentially annoying; my mixes are practically a representation of myself. The shit has got to have hardcore, shoegaze, sludge, twee pop, noise, funk (or Go-Go for all you D.C. natives!), black metal, hip-hop, and random, obscuro shit. This guarantees that the listener will enjoy at least one song on the mix and will, hopefully, hangout with lonely Adam.

For this super guest mix, I’ve included “When You Smile” by bedroom pop masters Veronica Lake. What does this mean? Let’s just say that if I make you a mix without this song, you ain’t shit. But don’t fret, Primitive Future reader, you are shit and I have included it for you. I care. You’ll probably hate it, but oh well. FTW.

Lastly, I would just like to apologize for forcing you to have to sit through my uninteresting narcissism. I’ll just end this here, though, because this write-up is played out like the Jheri Curl.

-Adam

p.s. Thanks, Todd, for giving me the privilege of doing this! It was fun.

1. Ramleh - Pit Bull
2. Warhead - Fight With No Fear
3. The Charlottes - Are You Happy Now?
4. Sutcliffe Jügend - Falklands National
5. Iron Cross - Psycho Skin
6. Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric?
7. Grief - Virus
8. Brenda Hutchinson - Me And My Rhythm Box
9. Kristallnacht - For Resurrection Of Our Movement
10. The Cherry Smash - Nowhere Generation
11. Trouble Funk - Hey Fellas
12. Jupiter Sun - Violet Intertwine
13. Brain Handle - Cold Pavement
14. Talk Talk - John Cope
15. Wale - The Perfect Plan
16. Medicine - Sweet Explosion
17. Deep Wound - Time To Stand
18. Veronica Lake - When You Smile
19. Disco Inferno - Footprints In Snow

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Originoo Gunn Clappaz - Da Storm (1996)

I looked at the "Boot Camp Clik" label over on the left there, and I was surprised to only see a little "1" in parentheses next to it. This is something that must change. ORIGINOO GUNN CLAPPAZ 2 DA RESKEW. Yeah with that gritty New York sound that I love.

Beatminerz provide stark, understated production. The arpeggios in "Gunn Clapp" take me to a better place, and "Danjer" reminds me of the dungeon music in some sort of Secret of Mana-ass video game. Oh yeah and notice the shared sample in "Da Storm" and the Dr. Octagon intro. Short post this week, so rest your eyes with some seltzer water and pumpernickel bread.

What's up what's up, what's up what's up what's up.

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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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