A wide ranging compilation of pop based music covering many tempos, much of it infused with elements of electronica.
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Desire Marea
“After the release of their debut, ‘Desire’, a record of otherworldly club music suffused with erotic vitality, the queer South African artist underwent training as a traditional Nguni spiritual healer, or sangoma, accepting the call from above to serve their earthly and ancestral communities. Their second album, On the Romance of Being, is a collective affair, with Marea stepping out from behind the laptop to front a 13-piece band culled from South Africa’s avant-garde jazz and experimental music scenes. Together, they take a leap from Desire’s digitized churn to swooning orchestral soul, dancing across the divide between flesh and spirit.” – Pitchfork
A third album ‘The Baddies of Isandlwana’ is due Nov.9, 2023.
On the Romance of Being – 2023
This video is a good segue into the second album
Desire – 2020
A sneak peak track from ‘The Baddies of Isandlwana, due Nov 2023. By this account it sounds as bombastic and powerful as anything they’ve put out. Really brings together both energies of the previous 2 albums.
IsKwé
Image Credit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved.
The Winnipeg-bred Indigenous artist IsKwé weaves her cultures in a sound that combines elements of a few different genres. The Cree/Dene and Irish IsKwé wants to shine a light on the violence against Indigenous women in Canada. Horrified by the slaying of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, and inspired by a community coming together after the tragedy, she wrote Nobody Knows, a song she hopes will encourage women to speak up. Source: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/indigenous-artist-iskw%C3%A9-shares-her-inspiration-for-music-1.4123871
Suse Milliemann
Issued quietly in the dead of 1991, Windows and Light is Suse Milleman’s only album. The synthetic, balearic album “came out of living the experience of having a mother with Alzheimer’s disease,” Milleman recalled. Recorded in her Eugene, Oregon, home on a four track, Windows achieved a remarkably polished sound with the help of producer Patrick J. Miller. Operating under the influence of Odetta, Laura Nyro, and Joni Mitchell, Suse Millemann grew up inspired to sing and play the guitar. Her early life was shaped by older brothers and sisters with records, and her grandmother, an L.A. music agent’s secretary, would send advance copies through the mail before they hit the shops. “To hear and experience that music while growing up in a small town in Southern Oregon was a HUGE gift!” Millemann wrote. – https://numerogroup.com/blogs/stories/suse-millemann-light-and-windows
Matt Berry
Matthew Charles Berry (b 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He has appeared in comedy series such as The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, and also co-created and starred in the Channel 4 sitcom Toast of London, for which he won the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. He has starred in the FX television series What We Do in the Shadows since 2019. In addition to his acting career, Berry is a prolific musician and has released nine studio albums. His most recent, The Blue Elephant, was released in May 2021.
Solstice is the kind of prog track that sounds like it came out 40 years ago. Nearly 10 minutes of bliss, divided into distinct parts, beginning with a creepy organ section that waves of cymbals slowly carry into a astral new age groove, with the last third
Leslie Winer
![Leslie Winer - Witch (1993) [1999 edition] - YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sHKsb_YZf8I/maxresdefault.jpg)
Winer began her career as a fashion model in the early 1980s after moving to New York City from Massachusetts to attend the School of Visual Arts. Designer Jean-Paul Gaultier described Winer as “the first androgynous model. She lived with American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat during her early career. Before modelling Winer met William S. Burroughs in the late ’70s and credits him with being a major mentor. Burroughs mentions his friendship with Winer in a number of interviews and books with French journalist Alain Pacadis and Burroughs’ own last book Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs. After her work brought her to London in the mid-1980s, she spent a great deal of time at Leigh Bowery’s nightclub, Taboo. It was while in London she met musicians Jah Wobble, who was a former bassist for Public Image Ltd, and Kevin Mooney, former bass player for Adam and the Ants. In 1987, she would co-write the track “Just Call Me Joe” with Sinéad O’Connor. The song would appear on O’Connor’s debut album The Lion and the Cobra, with Winer performing the backup spoken vocal. With Wobble and Mooney, she would record the album Witch in 1990. She had previously recorded a couple of 12″ singles under the name ‘©’ along with co-writer Karl Bonnie from Renegade Soundwave. She has also worked with Grace Jones. Winer was born to a teenager and handed over to her adoptive grandmother in a hospital parking lot in what was an illegal adoption involving the exchange of money.- Wikipedia
“Leslie Winer is a bit of a mystery. Before working as a well-known fashion model in New York, where she got a reputation for being “difficult to work with”, she met William Burroughs and Jean-Michel Basquiat, dropped out of the scene, and produced “Witch”, prescient album (called the grandmother of trip hop by NME). Then she seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, only to occasionally resurface doing vocals for artists like Bomb The Bass and Mekon.” – Discogs
“Musician, poet, and author Leslie Winer lives in the rural French countryside, an unassuming and almost nomadic life that gives away little of her fascinating, hidden legacy. Several memorable nuggets of trivia have long circulated about Winer: that she was the “first anondrogynous supermodel” and muse of Jean-Paul Gauthier; that she was “the Grandmother of Trip-Hop,” and an associate of William S. Burroughs. Though she has long been a name on the shelves of dedicated record collectors, Winer has kept a low profile. Her first album, Witch was recorded in London in the late ‘80s, where fashion and music intersected fluidly. Winer shared circles and studio time with musicians such as PiL bassist Jah Wobble as well as Kevin Mooney of Adam and The Ants.” Bandcamp
Big Grin Bikes Playlist
An energetic playlist I made for my cousins bike shop.
DEATH
“Formed in 1971, DEATH were a trio of Detroit-based, African-American brothers who temporarily set aside their Motown roots for steam-rolling proto-punk after checking out an Alice Cooper concert– had their chops down pat. During their original, five-year lifespan, Death didn’t make many waves. A self-released 7”-single, “Keep on Knocking” b/w “Politicians in My Eyes”, was the group’s only official release. It quickly faded into the record collector-ether. But listening now, the music sounds visionary– a missing link between MC5 and the hardcore punk of the early 1980s. The songs are performed at blistering speed, burbling over with bad attitude.” Pitchfork
Politicians in my Eyes Live
Album version is a lot faster – 1975
Amazing laidback rework by Black Pumas
A great documentary of the band, and their roots.
we may bicker and fight
but there really is no left and right.
cause were so much more than black and white
were all on the same bus,
not you, not me, but us.
i walk through the forest on my tip toes
In one hand a sword the other a rose
for no one knows the river like I do
no one slips through the glistening ferns
so true can you feel the vibe
feel myself blending
into another tribe
let loose
but the smoke still lingers
running my fingers through the tall grass
everything we pass
comes back around
we follow the sky
back to the ground
New York
I want to live in New York City
I want to jog along a grey river
under a grey sky
and love no one
i want live in a box up in the air
and look out at the rain against the window
and feel nothing
i will only wear white clothes
and keep my hair short
and my body fit
I will own a small clean pet
i will be content
suspended in a matrix of crackling wires
the honk of horns and the squeal of tires
the sparks of light that fly from it all
buildings are like trees that cannot fall
I follow the path along the riverbank
under the bridge of living ghosts
lost in a crystal maze
I can see it, but I feel no pain
for the broken machines all around
some people don’t want to be found
don’t want to see the clouds disappear
sometimes I can feel the city
a hungry animal that eats its young
whos faces sprout up years later
on the heads of flowers
that line the banks of the Hudson River
the evening sun still echoing off their skin
golden shards slicing the water
hands like cups
hold the things they never owned
finding their own path home
Jeremy Dutcher
A classically trained operatic tenor and member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Jeremy first did music studies in Halifax before taking a chance to work in the archives at the Canadian Museum of History, painstakingly transcribing Wolastoq songs from 1907 wax cylinders. “Many of the songs I’d never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast was suppressed by the Canadian Government’s Indian Act.” Jeremy heard ancestral voices singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik generations ago. As he listened to each recording, he felt his own musical impulses stirring from deep within. Long days at the archives turned into long nights at the piano, feeling out melodies and phrases, deep in dialogue with the voices of his ancestors. These “collaborative”compositions, collected together on his debut LP Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, are like nothing you’ve ever heard. Delicate, sublime vocal melodies ring out atop piano lines that cascade through a vibrant range of emotions. The anguish and joy of the past erupt fervently into the present through Jeremy’s bold approach to composition and raw, affective performances enhanced by his outstanding tenor techniques. “I’m doing this work because there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left,” he says. “It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.”- jeremydutcher.com
https://youtu.be/XQ4VCYu2j54
Kalabrese
Image: Mutek
https://youtu.be/-CjMUPFBs5w
it is autumn in the valley of the conifers
the forest floor is sprinkled with rust
like a universe someone forgot
broken chains of nature
line the roads that lead us
to a signal burning deep in the night
it always tells us to stay in this fight
Ndidi O
Two-time Juno nominated Ndidi O is a larger than life figure, a force of nature with a voice that sounds and feels like a long lost friend. Hailing from the wilds of Burns Lake, British Columbia she found her voice in the “open mic ‘” scene in New York, discovered her sound in the heart of Toronto’s blues and folk scene, fine tuned her live show across Europe and has now finally settled for the moment back on the west coast where her latest album “These Days” was made. – http://ndidio.ca/
Fantastic Negrito
Image: V2 Records
Don’t forget to click full screen, it greatly amplifies the experience!
Fantastic Negrito (Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, born 1968) the incarnation of a musician who is reborn after going through a lot of awful shit. In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy. Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, who lost it all, and somehow managed to find his way back. Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, he was hit with an intense culture shock. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day, living in the heart of one of the wildest, most infamous, most vibrant black communities in the nation. Shit was extra real in Oakland. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, but he was also caught up in street shit.
This went on for several years until a near death encounter with masked gunmen. After that, Negrito packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. It didn’t take long for Negrito to find himself entrenched in the Hollywood lifestyle; “clubs and bitches and bullshit politics that have nothing to do with great music.” Negrito signed a million dollar deal at Interscope, and soon after that, creative death.The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap ruled the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. He was infected by the constant emphasis on ‘what would sell’; which looks, hooks and gimmicks would attract an audience. He lost all sense of himself. The songs stopped coming to him, so he sold all his shit and quit.
In 1999, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that left him in a coma. His muscles atrophied while bedridden and he had to go through months of gruelling physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Though he rehabbed intensely for several years, the damage was permanent. In 2009 he released his debut full-length album The Last Days of Oakland, which was immediately met with critical acclaim. Negrito’s music also caught the attention of Chris Cornell, who invited Negrito to tour with him, first in Europe, then North America, and finally with Cornell’s legendary supergroup Temple of the Dog. The unconventional pairing won over fans and critics everywhere. From there Negrito went on to play major festivals and tour extensively throughout Europe and North America. But none of this has been about awards or acclaim or validation. Negrito chased those before — and it nearly killed him.
Now, as he looks around, sees the world going on a similar journey…especially America. This is a man who knows what it looks like to drive off a cliff. “As a society we are so divided, we are so entrenched in our ideology, we won’t budge for common sense,” says Negrito. “We worship celebrities and billionaires, while people work harder than they ever worked, and make less money. Our children are being gunned down in school shootings and we seem numb to it! We’ve got militarized police shooting first instead of protecting and serving. Nazis in the streets. Families torn apart by deportation. A tiny 1% getting richer while people sleep underneath freeways and overpasses in my hometown of Oakland. Home ownership and education seem out of reach. This is not the American Dream.” America has lost its way, and now we are paying the price. Fantastic Negrito’s new album, Please Don’t Be Dead, is about what comes next. – Bio from Fantastic Negrito homepage
Fantastic Negritos debut full-length album, The Last Days of Oakland
https://youtu.be/HahZvGaaWHU
2022’s White Jesus Black Problems
High Plains Drifter
winter has come early to the high desert
as I ride a 1948 Black Shadow through mesa country.
a dusting of fresh snow has settled
on this two lane highway to anywhere
a pale sun is propped up by honeycombs of expiring crystal
along the edge of the road dried seeds and animal bones
tumble into one another
in a mutually gratifying cycle older than man himself.
all around me the sky is filled with red iron clouds,
they are snagged on saguaro cactus,
their pastel oxide bleeds into the atmosphere
as they tug free and continue drifting
across the glassy lens of the earth.
out in space the stars move into formation
the outline of my spirit animal guiding me through my falls.
but this is the place, out here on the open road,
this is where you find your Juliette Lewis,
your long legged carnival gypsy with the turquoise bandana.
where your job, your asshole boss, and your screaming kids
and my god, all those bills, all quietly fade into the crisp desert air.
the sun has dropped behind the mountains
a housewife is standing on the porch.
he was a horrible father, she mutters to the kids,
re-ties her housecoat and shuffles them back inside.
the road makes everything numb, it makes other pain bearable.
but soon deep cold sets in, so I pull over and make a fire,
the juniper smoke filling my senses, swirling together
I lean back against a boulder,
wrapped in a Plains Indian blanket from Crazy Crow Traders
and stare deep into the embers for some sort of sign,
a bottle of whisky slowly sliding from my hand.
I don’t know how much time has passed
but I wake up cold, in the pale light of dawn.
I look over and see doll parts strewn across the road,
a turquoise bandana hangs from the handlebars of my motorcycle.
a cold wind pours in from the east
quickly blowing away the ashes
and the gravel eyed savages which follow me in my dreams
I shake myself awake and stumble to my feet
pulling my jacket tightly around my chest.
lifting a leg over my bike,
I give it a good kick as it roars to life,
and like the high plains drifter that I am, I just keep riding.
purple gas streams from my tailpipe up into the eternal.
esoteric thoughts whistle through my mind
as I ride down a road through space and time
I look in my mirror
and see the fire burning behind me
and hope to god those devils will never find me
on the weekend I hear people racing out on the highway
I keep telling myself they have ordinary lives
that they live and work in boxes
but i can see the flames from the tailpipes light up the sky
i can hear those V8 engines revving high
pushing the needle far to the right
smoke and purple gas illuminate the night
emanating liquor and a checkered past
the smell of burning rubber by the underpass
we all leave a trail of black smoke everywhere we go
spinning our tires, lost in the afterglow
driving backwards down the wrong road
flying past the stars
flash like the lights of oncoming cars
galactic atom smashers
the back to the cave party crashers
dancing in a dust of plastic and metal
two hands clasped, white like our bones
high five as we nose dive
in the sweetest ride we’ve ever known
its time let go of the star wheel
its time to travel by feel
out on the promenade
life is just a drive through
I tell myself the star racers will die in boxes too
Will Evans
image: supermassiveshop.com
Will Evans has spent the last decade as the primary songwriter and frontman for the New England based Roots Rock outfit Barefoot Truth. After four albums he embarked on his solo journey – and has since released three additional full-length albums. His most recent album “Rise” features deeply personal topics of humanity, compassion, and a reflection of the current political times. A lifelong surfer and environmentalist, his songs speak to the importance of connecting with and protecting the earth. At a time when many are looking for words of inspiration and reassurance, “Rise” delivers a collection of socially conscious songs filled with messages of love, possibility, and inclusion. In his live performances, Will displays a technical mastery of live-looping skills to showcase his background in percussion mixed with layers of acoustic guitar and soulful vocals. Will has shared the stage with many top artists including Crosby & Nash, Grace Potter, Bruce Hornsby, Rusted Root, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Trevor Hall, Nahko, Xavier Rudd, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ryan Montbleau, Railroad Earth and members of Dispatch.
Im living half in the spirit world
I realized it a long time ago
looking back I could see the moss grow
through the mist
over mountains of snow
I kept these arrows, this broken bow
a sword seller
peddles his metal
but I drift by unseen
obscured by the fog and the dream
this assortment of visions
that shriek through the night
like kites behind me
tumbling in and out of each other
like sparrows, they darken the autumn sky.
I love the magic in my mind
the worlds I can fly to, and leave behind
but it never stops the craving
for the friend I’ll never find.
we lost each other as children do
a mile became ten
and then, a hundred
I counted the distance
the path now filled with leaves
like symbols of the bond we shared
swimming at the lake
hot summer hair
i wrote it all down
even back then
i could feel the change
changes we must make
when we feel we cannot breathe
so when dark clouds rolled in
it may have just been me
building a storm to break the ropes
that anchored me to this silly world
for so long I have sought connections that were pure energy
sticky plasma threads
with no vessel to distort their meanings
i wish to interact like the earth and rain
i am mesmerized by its inky legs streaming down from the skies
the interplay with the forest
as animals seek shelter
slipping through glistening ferns
back to their dry dens
so i hang here in the mist,
this island child, kissed by danger
on a path that wanders
past strangers that no one else can see
my atomic structure dries with the passage of time
my bones break down and become lighter
and one day the world will close it eyes on me
but on a stormy night look out your window.
and you might see
a blonde haired boy way up in the trees
riding in the wind, a keeper of keys
Dance of the Gypsies 2017 (Dedicated to Sunday Dennis, Gemma Higgins and Dazy Drake, 3 beautiful souls gone too soon)
the voices are a little softer
the trails a little quieter this summer
in this particular place
the shady east side of Vancouver Island
and the mossy rocks in between
that despite the cruel winds of fate
still sparkle as they crack
three beautiful gypsies danced their last dance
now a banjo plays by itself
a glass of wine is lifted from a beach wood coffee table
a hand with no body draws a picture of petals
falling from a flower
they are like memories, caught on a summer breeze
drifting down onto the forest floor
i try to catch them, like it could bring you back.
animals lead me to a place deep in the woods
where huckleberries ripen in the filtered light
somewhere you loved to go when you were strong
there used to be more sun when you were here
or maybe the trees have grown
but I will safeguard this space for you
I will come to appreciate
the dry fir needles stuck under my shirt
because it is nothing
like the changing seasons
that always return
I will too, and we will learn
to laugh again, to forget the pain
and the distance between us
I saw you standing in the moonlight
watched as you climbed out the bedroom window
you dipped your foot in the starry sky
before anyone could stop you
or say goodbye,
but i try to find my own way to honour your spirit
i climb a trail up to the bluffs
and look down the coastline
i imagine you taking a new form
swimming with whales in the blue water
creeping up the straight
already deep in the mystery
I thought I felt your presence early one morning
i walked out to the garden and saw footsteps in the dew
the wind was blowing the leaves from the trees
but this time
this time I did not try and pick them up
I made no attempt to hold onto the final moments
you were pulled apart too soon
I could see that
you were still standing
in the light of the moon
dancing on a silver thread
you turned your head my way
one last time
and laughed your special laugh
just for me
soar free soar high
sweet children of the sky
down here below
we burn a fire and let you go
I love this town when the sun goes down
I love long shadows
and the golden light reflecting off windows
you don’t see that at noon
I love the way the people move
the spice of evening air
following them as they walk past cafes
they walk through a haze of rising smoke
and bricks that fade and crack
as people keep walking past
a child grows old and dies
a tree loses its leaves
everything always changes
around the light
Just a rap Im working on..
I came down from the sky
my birth was monumental
earth shattering, like lava from a vent hole
I wasn’t planned but nothing’s accidental
beauty comes from strife
lean in and let the wind blow
let this whole universe tear me apart
true lessons come from the heart
towards the sunrise I’m still standing
sometimes falling but landing on my feet
I walk these tired streets
unknown to the unknown
still soul searching
don’t know when I’ll come home
the dreams of last night are still tangled in my hair
but they are disappearing like a blue crystal
that melts as the minutes pass
I roll over, trying to find that place
but like lambs in a spring meadow
they have slipped into the wilderness
I always wake up here
under the waterfall
hands reaching out through the mist
I walk back through the forest
but only weeds cling to my feet
the flowers fade in the sun
seeds crack in the morning heat
and a new dream has begun
I had this funky beat in my head last night and decided to write some lyrics for it…
i’m gonna write a verse for you
i don’t know what else to do
cause you’re up in to the blue
i said tears, cant cry enough
cant make the rain stop when I’m feeling rough
gotta move on, from this town of pain
but circles in my life
bring me back here again
what it is, i don’t know,
people dying and I gotta move slow,
but what I know, is nothing lasts,
cant escape it even if you drive fast
through city streets, down country roads
in the end were all carrying the same load
in different ways
Flute of the Moon
there are lessons the trees and the wind cannot teach
but im never gonna die like a raver on the beach
when the fog rolls in like a smoke machine
when the record stops, ill still do my thing
off in the distance a lighthouse beams
fishermen out on boats, real people
fix lines and set traps
we dance as the light flashes past us
but don’t always see the rocks that lie ahead
so we hold our travel companions close
in the depths of this west coast mist
we hold them like they are everything, because they are
I wanted to be there with each and every one of you
like when we were young, and the moon came out
and you played the flute and we didn’t sleep
I wanted to collect huckleberries with you in the damp forest
I wanted to write my name next to yours
in the storybooks of our lives
wanted to draw my face into the photographs
so we could laugh years later
but i had to withdraw, like when i went into the mountains
i found a cave and bones
I thought I had died many years earlier in a place like that
but it was only loneliness
I had become.
a blade of grass away from it all,
and you looked for me
you followed my tears to a lake
i felt hollow there, like a plant
sucking nutrients through a reed.
like a bullfrog,
my eyes barely cresting the surface.
Skyward is my Home
I hold a key
but I don’t know what its for
down this musty corridor
lost on mossy forest floors
I see blackbirds rise behind me
settle in the place between
the dirt and stars aligning
making nests inside my dream
cancel all my day jobs
Im gone for good
this time Im sure
through this heavy wooden door
forward spirit carry me
there is no fanfare needed
skyward is my home
settled in the milky stream
a conscious mind that keeps expanding
take care and wear it well
you look so hard but I can tell
youre eyes are still closed
you wont remember me
not from the inside
but maybe that’s not what you seek
all just a fairy tale
i see icy faces pale
down down down i go
owls are watching
cannot turn the head of sunshine
flowers cannot see me grow
inside like a new life
wrote this letter so you’d know
i saw an opening
there was warmth and light between
it was calling me
misty mountains follow me
cancel all my remedies
lost in scented memories
hungry from the winters freeze
fruit has fallen from the trees
birds still follow
spread and close like time
behind me, like a friend
always there at the end
Child of the Storm 2017
lifes passage is a storm
that weighs heavy on my bow
and I cant believe
where these broken seas
have taken me now
I wake and find you are gone
I awake and find I’m alone in the dawn
old man got lost in the woods
writing his books
did him no good in the end
it’s my friend in the forest
could you come clear
ill drink from you now
a broken heart
like a ship falls apart without love
but stills sails on
and weeps for you now
each and every day
the light will never be the same
your reflection
is always fading
but I still cant stop comparing
every thing to when you were here
every touch to when I held you near
lost in a sailors dream
don’t know what it means
under a yellow moon
and a cool breeze
drifting in my boat
tied myself up in ropes again
this solitary game I play
like the feel of drowning
and just getting away
I hold myself under water
to see what makes me strong
longer each time
until the bubbles disappear
I saw myself as a little boy
he was right there by my side
i held him in the aquamarine bath
he had eyes of pearls
and only saw the beauty in this world
Ive been round the world twice
died in the fighting rains
celebrated mother
and her hands full of jewels.
I walked out of the most perfect picture,
a surrogate remained
but no one noticed the scratches on the frame.
I was content there
happy in my mineral bath
with no reason to leave
but one night out of the blue
I jumped on a freight train
I always wanted to see the Midwest
I always wanted to make certain of that
we long for things, and we can’t put them down
until its all we can think about
I wasn’t born that night
under the travellers moon
but was woken up to something I had forgotten
so long ago I don’t know if it was ever there
or if I just filled in the spaces
but it matters little now as I rattle along the tracks
oil and dust settle in the creases of my skin
but it feels good
like it is balancing an existence so predetermined.
we live like we are playing board games
can see so many steps ahead the anticipation is lost
this moment is the only chance I have to let that all go
because nothing lasts
even a black locomotive steaming through the night
can only conceal me for so long
and soon I am gathered up inside a glass ball
carried over alpine meadows back north
the geese are returning too
I can see the grime from the box car smeared across their feathers
Black Lands
I walk black lands
I’m casting stones
I have no friends
but that’s ok, cause I wanna be alone
I walk on broken bones
past the things I’ve done
I see them gently fade
into the dust of the setting sun
cross these broken tracks
down where the berries grow
I wrote one last song
but I never found a way to let you know
only summertime takes it slow
nods her head as I pass
she walks on the singing wind
holds my memories in a coloured glass
catches coloured rain
a thousand faces dance
and then never dance again
only spirit water left
picking up these tired dolls
i long for tired dreams
and no electricity
i long for a quiet stream
trickling beside me
Black Lands
I walk black lands
I’m casting stones
I have no friends
but that’s ok, cause I wanna be alone
I walk on broken bones
past the things I’ve done
I see them gently fade
into the dust of the setting sun
cross these broken tracks
down where the berries grow
I wrote one last song
but I never found a way to let you know
only summertime takes it slow
nods her head as I pass
she walks on the singing wind
holds my memories in a coloured glass
catches coloured rain
a thousand faces dance
and then never dance again
only spirit water left
picking up these tired dolls
i long for tired dreams
and no electricity
i long for a quiet stream
trickling beside me
-Blue Times-
blue skies and wind chimes
tornados and end times
white shirt on the clothesline
falls upon the ground
one last time before I go
for the bells have started ringing
from here to Mexico
the women are all singing
theres a goat child whose bleeds in the street
he wears the mask of a circus performer
the feral children take his lead
they fall with him into the deep grass
the dark stain of medicine
smeared across their foreheads
the strong brew of forest magic
drifting through the air
i cant get enough of these blue times
nothing hurts more than the safe line
will always make hay when the wind blows
and the campfire glows
and the crickets lose their minds
thats when ill be fine
Keyhole View 2015
through the window I watch the mechanical world
snarl and belch like an angry beast,
its synthetic blood glistening
as it pumps through the veins of this city
but after a life in the woods, I like the bustle
it is energetic, alive
from time to time I yearn for the simple life again
to return to my cabin on the island
but it never twinkled as much as it did in my dreams
could never quite find a way to make that little shack stay up
I woke one night, glistening with sweat
I saw the scales of dead fish
shining in the moonlight
and a great sickness in the ocean.
childish as the day we were born
lost as the animals around us
running and panting in the summer haze
we close our eyes
only listen to the voices that live inside this dream
thanks us for our patience
tells us there’s still time to wake up
please stay on the line
as I unpack all the versions of myself from my mind
in one version I waited on the beach until the sun went down
then walked toward the forest and
past the owl that only looks back and
that woman in the well
I learned the lessons of deer and salmon
and other wise creatures
they embody the secrets I longed for
but my thoughts are always stretched,
trying to find balance.
from my suburban trappings
I imagine the inlets of my youth
at night I sometime wake to find myself in the backyard
searching for that secret trail back to my childhood home
scouring the bushes for that keyhole view
sometimes I pretend the car headlights are fishing boats
the intersections turn into coves of twinkling lanterns
where fishermen and their prey take shelter in the bay
until the storms have passed
the moon rises, the men drink on their boats
and even the fish relax.
and then someone honks
and yells “get the hell out of the way asshole!”
The Dead South, a gold rush vibing four-piece acoustic set from Saskatchewan, infuse the genre’s traditional trappings with an air of frontier recklessness, whiskey breakfasts and grizzled tin-pan showmanship. Their sound, build on a taut configuration of cello, mandolin, banjo and guitar, speeds like a train past polite definitions of acoustic music into the grittier, rowdier spaces of the bluegrass world. – from: thedeadsouth.com
Dub Techno Playlist- Dub Techno is a sub genre of techno that combines minimalist techno beats with elements of dub music, including its production techniques and cultural influences. In the early 1990s, producers Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus formed Basic Channel, a duo credited for defining dub techno. In addition to making the presence of minimalism commonplace in the techno scene, they also incorporated delay effects that were recurrent in dub music. They then formed the label Chain Reaction; while still releasing the same type of dub-infused techno that Basic Channel created, such as the track “Cyan I” by Monolake, the label also distributed techno without dub elements, such as Continuous Mode’s “Direct Out / Direct Drive”.[2] Regardless, what Thump writer Josh Baines described as a “thawing of ice as a sonic aesthetic” that was present in Basic Channel’s works before Chain Reaction still remained in all recordings issued under the label. Another label, Rhythm & Sound, was started by Oswald and Ernestus, and focused strictly on dub techno unlike Chain Reaction. The works of Rhythm & Sound featured representations of the sound system culture of Jamaica, the country where dub was formed, as well as authentic elements of the roots of dub. According to Baines, this type of dub techno was “the kind of smoked out dub that’s an approximate aural recreation of the effect that incredibly potent marijuana has on the brain” and “a haunting, haunted, tripped out site of memorial exploration” where “Everything sounds half-remembered, half-there, half-real.” Wikipedia
https://soundcloud.com/solarphenomenarecords/sets/solar09-fluxion-strands
Fronted by vocalist Lalin St. Juste, The Seshen is a seven piece band based from San Francisco. Mixing live and electronic elements and taking influence from eclectic sources including psychedelia, hip-hop, pop, R&B, West African music, dub, and indie rock, they create beat-driven compositions with a strong emotional core. -Tru Thoughts Records.
Heres a 7 track playlist with some stunning animation and live performances. To cycle through the songs use the Youtube controls in the bottom left of the screen
Since having moved to Cape Town in 2007, Jumping Back Slash has released a slew of music including 13 self released EPs along with releases on the likes of Pollinate, Loose Squares, Enchufada and Cotch International. With a sound that fuses South African influences such as gqom with a grimey and dark sonic palette he has worked with the artist such as Spoek Mathambo, Okmalumkoolkat, Fantasma, Batuk, Omo Frenchie and Loui Lvndn as a producer/ co-producer and mixing engineer – Red Bull Academy
Inner City Outer Space Present: Sound of Suid Tronica Jumping Back Slash – UK born but South African based since 2007, JBS captivates his audience with his high-energy, hypnotic and penetrating sounds which veers towards Gqom and a darker, grimier and more stripped down sonic palette. Having grown up in the 90s London rave scene, JBS got in touch with South African kwaito and house music when he arrived in Cape Town and has since released music with labels: Pollinate, Loose Squares, Enchufada and Cotch International as well 13 self-released EPs. Having collaborated on productions with local artists such a Hlasko, Nonku Phiri, Shane Cooper, Umlilo, Jackie Queens, Spoek Mathambo and Eve Rakow to name a few. With a heavyweight catalogue of music that has garnered support from international acts Auntie Flo, Esa and Mervin Granger, Scratcha DVA, Mosca, DJ Simbad, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Alexander Nut, LV, Chrissy Murderbot, Jackmaster, Teki Latex, Falty DL and Benji B to name a few. A philosopher of great brilliance, Gareth reminded us of his prowess as he laid down this bold and beautiful set. – Youtube
Born in Scotland in 1951 Jesse Rae is an unashamed champion of Scottish culture and independence. In the 1970s Rae moved to the USA securing work in the New York stock exchange to fund his stay. Through work in Cleveland and Los Angeles studios, he became acquainted with several leading soul and funk artists, including Roger Troutman, Bernie Worrell and Nairobi Sailcat from the Parliament/Funkadelic tribe. In 1981 he worked with Worrell as part of the eccentric P-Funk offshoot Space Cadets. Rae has since become a respected director, partially through the need for video and audio tapes to support his live appearances. In 1996, he became the first musician to release an entire album over the Internet. As well as vocals, he also plays the bass and keyboards.
Bit of a weird glitch at the beginning but I haven’t been able to locate a better version.
12” single release from 1984. Awesome P Funk vibe, with a crazy change up. Wait for it!
Inside Out is a great example of his often campy pop funk brand of music. Kind of cheesy, but I think its at least partially intentional. The highlight of this track for me is definitely that funky slap bass.
The Lass That Made The Bed Tae Me- Jesse Rae & The Robinson Brothers adaptation of the Robert Burns poem to funk.
This was his only hit, and a minor one at that, reaching number 65 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Its not normally the kind of music I would listen to, but you have to take in the whole package of the Claymore caricature to really appreciate Jesse Rae.
A live clip of Over the Sea. 2011 so he would be 60 years old in this. Pretty good energy!
He also featured on vocals on 70’s Cleveland psych rock band Granicus.
MEUTE is a marching band from Hamburg, Germany. Comprising of a dozen brass and percussion players, their sound primarily comes from adapting their new breed of brass band music to cover tracks by house and techno artists .
Meute (full concert ) – Live @ festival Yeah! 2017
Formed in 2005, FM Belfast is an Icelandic indie dance/electro pop band.
leftfield house & techno London via Sydney
Nosaj Thing
Brisa Roché is a California born musician who resides in France. She has performed folk, garage, psyche-pop, soul and electronica. She started with The Chase in 2005. She is most associated with pop and jazz music. Wiki. Heres a playlist of some studio tracks as well as some great live clips. Click top left corner to expand the list.
Electro & Indie Pop – My Soundcloud playlist containing all pop related music. It varies from laid back indie pop to high energy electro pop.
Taken from the new album ‘Shake The Shudder’, out 19 May on Warp.
London-based singer Leo Kalyan impressed people with his debut EP Silver Linings. In the time since then he has been working to perfect the finishing touches on his follow up, Outside In. On “Silhouette” Kalyan showcases his vocal range as this is the first time he has really made his training in Indian classical singing the focal point. Kalyan learned the skills of this classical singing which blends Hinduism and Islam by a Hindu Brahmin priest.
For Outside In Kalyan dives deeper into the issues that leave him feeling like an outsider. As a gay man growing up Muslim between London and Lahore, it hasn’t exactly been easy for him to find his perfect fit. However, rather than dwelling on the negative, Kalyan transforms those feelings into lyrics for his forthcoming EP with hopes that it will resonate with someone feeling just lost on the outside as he once was. – (Article by Pigeons & Planes)
The minimal dub-techno landscapes that Jacob Long makes as Earthen Sea carry a sense of refinement and grace. Each element of his Kranky debut is radiant. It’s rare to have any vocals appear on of the fog-enshrouded landscapes that Jacob Long devises as Earthen Sea. But earlier this month, Long cleared out his hard drive with A Serious Thing, a nine-track compilation of tracks recorded in the past three years (with all proceeds going to the International Refugee Assistance Project, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and the National Lawyers Guild). Less than a minute in, the voice of firebrand gay Harlem intellectual James Baldwin emerges from the mists and speaks of the crucial role of dreamers in their respective societies. “The poets (by which I mean all artists) are finally the only people who know the truth about us,” Baldwin said. “Soldiers don’t, statesmen don’t, priests don’t, union leaders don’t. Only the poets.” And while there are no words and no voices that appear on An Act of Love, Long’s debut for Kranky, that poet’s search for an undeniable truth powers the eight breathtaking tracks that appear here. A hardcore veteran who’s played in D.C. bands like Amalgamation and Black Eyes, Long later played bass in the adventurous punk act Mi Ami. Over time, that trio mutated from art-rock towards the sounds of Chicago house and Jamaican dub, soon splintering into three separate electronic acts: drummer Damon Palermobecame Magic Touch and guitarist Daniel Martin-McCormick became Ital. Long himself took the foundations of dub as the starting point for his next iteration, Earthen Sea. Much like the godfathers of minimal techno—Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, Vladislav Delay circa Multila, the entire Chain Reaction roster—Long realized there was sublimity to be had in endless reverb, delay, and its sonic residue. And with 2014’s Mirage, released on Martin-McCormick’s Lovers Rock label, Earthen Sea’s aesthetic solidified. An Act of Love is a continuation of that effort, though there’s a feeling of refinement and awareness that gives each element here a heightened radiance. Even in the buzzing static and air organ chords that comprise beatless opener “The Present Mist,” there’s a sense of grace, of deep breaths being drawn musically that makes it standout from other ambient noise of its ilk. Earthen Sea makes minimal dub techno, but while Long’s components are suggestive of dance music—especially the 707 that drives most of the tracks—the context for each programmed hit seems to not be a packed club. Rather, Earthen Sea could soundtrack a depopulated metropolis, each beat bouncing off of concrete. A squelchy kick drives “About That Time” and other elements wash in: a canned clap, a tapped ride cymbal, a piano line as contemplative and sonorous as that of Harold Budd. But underneath all of that is a gloriously slow swell of white noise, which rises and falls like an incoming tide and is mesmerizing in and of itself. -Pitchfork
my Soundcloud glitch playlist..
Biography
A singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist — with an emphasis on the latter — Farao paints hypnotic electronic-acoustic soundscapes that are at once rooted in approachable folk, off-kilter orchestral rock, and spaced-out electronica, with the underlying tone of a storm brewing. Farao is the performance alias of Kari Jahnsen (Hella Better Dancer, Anna Lean & the Orchids), who was born and raised in rural Valdres, Norway. She relocated to Oslo before writing and recording her eponymous debut EP in Reykjavik, Iceland. Also partly recorded in London, England with Mike Lindsay of experimental acid folk combo Tunng, the indie folk/electronic Farao EP was issued via Something Nothing Records in 2014. With Jahnsen newly operating out of London and Berlin, Farao’s debut full-length, Til It’s All Forgotten, was released in September 2015 on Arts & Crafts in North America and Full Time Hobby in Europe. Produced by Lindsay and mixed by Grammy winner Andrew Scheps (Adele, Lady Gaga, Hozier), it offered a more percussive, indie rock sound still governed by ethereal vocals, a diverse instrument palette, and a cloudy atmosphere. ~ Marcy Donelson
Notwist’s latest offering “Superheroes, Ghostvillains + Stuff” features 16 tracks and was recorded on Dec. 16, 2015 on the second of three wonderful nights at the fabulous UT Connewitz in Leipzig. The album was released Oct. 14/2016 as a digital only release from Sub Pop Records.
Robert Henke is an artist working in the fields of audiovisual installation, music and performance. He was born 1969 in Munich, Germany, and lives in Berlin. Coming from a strong engineering background, Henke is fascinated by the beauty of technical objects and developing his own instruments and algorithms is an integral part of his creative process. His materials are computer generated sound and images, field recordings, photography and light; transformed, re-arranged and modulated by mathematical rules, real time interaction and controlled random operations. Robert Henke’s work has a particular focus on the exploration of spaces, both virtual and physical. Many of his works use multiple channels of audio or are specifically conceived for unique locations and their individual properties. For the past few years, he has been exploring the artistic usage of high power lasers in his installations and performances. The results include music on the edge of contemporary club culture, surround sound concerts, compositions in the tradition of academic computer music, photography, audiovisual installations, sound art and publicly available software. His long term musical project Monolake, founded in 1995, became one of the key icons of a new electronic club music culture emerging in Berlin after the fall of the Wall. Robert Henke is also one of the main creators of the music software Ableton Live, which since its invention in 1999 became the standard tool for electronic music production and completely redefined the performance practice of electronic music. He writes and lectures about sound and the creative use of computers and held teaching positions at the Berlin University of the Arts, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, and the Studio National des Arts Contemporains – Le Fresnoy in Lille, France.
Although I have this under Folktronica its a pretty hard album to define. You will find some modern classical compositions as well.
Australian-born composer and producer living and working in England, making eclectic music that often combines live instrumental performance with technology, location recordings and found sounds. Signed artist with Bigo & Twigetti.- Soundcloud
Some nice chill floaty dub…..
Dani Siciliano is an American singer. She has worked with Matthew Herbert on several of his projects including the albums Around the House, Bodily Functions and Scale. Most of these songs are from her third album, that was released June 2016.
A few of my favourite Sixto Rodriguez remixes..
Melt Yourself Down are a London based band who incorporate elements of North African musical styles, punk, jazz and funk.
Hard to describe Jack Pattern, but elements of deep house, downtempo, & indie electronica seem present.
a playlist of soul, nu soul, r&b
https://soundcloud.com/rutabaga/sets/soul
Shawn Lee
Shawn Lee (b 1963) is an American musician, producer, video game composer and multi-instrumentalist, who now lives in London, England. As Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra, Lee has released 10 albums on US label Ubiquity Records. The different styles and genres his music takes you through is quite incredible. From psychedelic rock, to funk, fuzzed out tabla beats and hip hop, he’s a guy who cant sit still with one thing for too long. Heres a playlist of some of my favourite tracks.
Jona-Sidetracking is an album of drifting cerebral minimal idm.
I would describe Timbolettis music as balkan house and swing
https://soundcloud.com/rutabaga/sets/timboletti
Tim Maia, THE Brazilian Funk Soul Godfather was the real thing. His 1970 debut album introduced his audacious talent, as well as North American soul and funk musical influences, forever changing Brazilian popular music. His legendary appetites sought out carnal AND spiritual fulfillment in equal measure. He bought 100 hits of LSD and handed them out to the staff of his record label.
Andreas Söderström
South African singer Sannie Fox, and her psych-rock band Machineri
https://soundcloud.com/rutabaga/sets/sannie-fox
Charles Stuart-Piano/Soul/Funk
Charles Stuart is a multi-talented musician, singer and songwriter who, drawing on his british/dominican heritage and his love of old soul/reggae/funk, creates snapshots of London life, armed with his sly and subversive wit to deliver a soulful dub, folk, experimental, groovy kind of leftfield pop.Stuart began writing music at 11 when a piano was donated “that somebody didn’t want. So I started teaching myself a few chords here and there… I’d learn one chord and write four songs around that. I’d learn another chord to go with it and write another 10 songs around those…”Being part of large family Stuart was exposed to every kind of music and you can hear this eclectic fusion of these influences in his writing. “My brother Paul was into jazz funk so I got to hear The Crusaders, Roy Ayers and Steely Dan. Another brother Peter was into the Human League and Two Tone stuff. My sister was into lovers rock, people like Carole Thompson, Janet Kay…I’d got into Scritti Politi, Duran Duran and rap and hip-hop was starting to filter in. It was amazing to have all this stuff going on.”Stuart mainly plays keyboards, but also uses a range of vintage synths and effects pedals, as well as guitars and drum machine/samplers to build his arrangements. He brings this flexibility to his live performances, whether accompanying himself solo on piano, or triggering loops and effects in duos and trios to working with a full band.
