FmGT Retrospectives: Chris Broach

Braid was one of my favorite bands, and when they called it quits in 1999, I was sad to see them go. And while the many releases from former Braid singer/guitarist Bob Nanna (Hey Mercedes & City On Film) have been enjoyable, I've really come to love just about everything that (also former Braid singer/guitarist) Chris Broach has done.

He has put out records with varying versions of The Firebird Band, L'Spaerow, as part of Life At Sea, and is even working on a solo record. All this while running the awesome Lucid Records. It seems almost as if he is endlessly creative and never runs out of ideas.

Now, while Bob Nanna was more the straight-forward rock and roll part of Braid, Chris (in my opinion at least) added the interesting touches that made them one of a kind. He has continued that experimentalism in his post-Braid work and has mixed electronica in with his rock music. It provides a perfect, sometimes mysterious, nostalgic, and beautiful backdrop for his understated poetic lyrics and almost spoken vocal delivery.

If you aren't familiar with the work of Chris Broach, you should be. Listen up!

MP3 The Firebird Project - South Shore Drive Feel Alright EP
MP3 Braid - Circus Of The Stars Please Drive Faster 7"
MP3 The Firebird Band - Nothing Not Dance Party The Setting Sun And Its Satellites
MP3 The Firebird Band - Distance The Drive EP
MP3 L'Spaerow - Front Step City S/T
MP3 The Firebird Band - Obsessive Compulsive The City At Night

- Eric.

Eric writes about music over at the superb blog, Can You See the Sunset from the Southside? When not doing that, he's generally bitter and upset about the Chicago Cubs [like me], and pre-occupied with everything that life throws at a person [also like me]. Check his house out.

hey all

Just a quick note to let you know that FmGT Retrospectives Month will be continuing a little ways into August, as we have more posts and contributions on the way from some good peoples. Also, my computer is getting repaired, and it's kinda hard to do music criticism and essays from the public library. That being said, updates will be on the way as soon as possible. Trust me -- it'll be worth it.


Cheers,

JT.

p.s. - Silent K is busy/lazy as F*ck ^_^.

FmGT Retrospectives: R.E.M.

Radio Free Europe
R.E.M.
Murmur
I.R.S. Records : 1983
[Listen] [Buy]

Get Up
R.E.M.
Green
Warner Bros. : 1988
[Listen] [Buy]

These Days
R.E.M.
Lifes Rich Pageant
I.R.S. Records : 1986
[Listen] [Buy]

Star Me Kitten
R.E.M.
Automatic for the People
Warner Bros. : 1992
[Listen] [Buy]

Time After Time [Annelise]
R.E.M.
Reckoning
I.R.S. Records : 1984
[Listen] [Buy]

Country Feedback
R.E.M.
Out Of Time
Warner Bros. : 1991
[Listen] [Buy]

Parakeet
R.E.M.
Up
Warner Bros. : 1998
[Listen] [Buy]

E-Bow the Letter
R.E.M.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Warner Bros. : 1996
[Listen] [Buy]

1,000,000
R.E.M.
Chronic Town EP
I.R.S. Records : 1982
[Listen]

It’s a cool afternoon. July, 2006. I’m sitting inside, trying to figure out how and what I’m going to write about R.E.M. for my FMGT guest spot. Pressure. The kid we pay to mow our lawn knocks on the door. “Mind if I wash my hands?” Well, not really a kid. 18. A month away from college. “So is, like, R.E.M. your favorite band?”

“What?”

My shirt. I’m wearing an R.E.M. shirt, from their ’95 world tour. Not as if I was there – I was only 13 at the time. Bought it at Ames with 4 other R.E.M. shirts. Each out of date, each 4 bucks. There were only a handful there and I never understood how or why they had them.

“So, is like, R.E.M. your favorite band?”

Wood paneling. 1993. Dad and I are playing “World Class Leader Board Golf” on my computer. We nod our heads between EGA fairway drives to “Radio Free Europe”. Slapping my knees, tapping my feet, the song is formatted and written into permanent memory. It is his tape, but it is fated never to leave my collection.

I realize standing there in my pitifully stretched and tattered R.E.M. shirt that I have no idea how to answer that question, in the same way that I have no idea how to write my guest spot. I mean, it’s not as if I’m covering an underground act whose relationship with the world is an either/or: known or unknown. This is a group who’s been putting out singles almost as long as I’ve been alive. Then who is the audience I’m writing for?

Christmas day, 1994. R.E.M.’s Green, freshly opened and looping endless in my tape deck. I page through the instruction manual for “Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0”, waiting to be prompted for the next in a line of installation diskettes. Track 2, “Get Up”, and I’m bouncing in my chair, tossing back my head, wishing I already knew the words.

Should I do a brief write-up on the band’s history? Do I talk about the band’s formation, their years kicking around Athens? Do I focus on the characters involved, Mike, Michael, Peter, and Bill, bringing into focus the personalities that formed and influenced decades of music? The obsession with punk rock? Patti Smith? Their almost name, Cans of Piss?

Summer 1998. “These Days” on the CD-Rom, over and over. With a blue Squire Jazz Bass around my neck, I struggle to keep up with Mike, Bill, and Peter. Fingers fumbling over each other, I fail and fail again. Stop. Back. Play. Blisters on my fingers, cramps in my hands, I must some day learn to play like this.

Do I focus more on their progression as a band? Their early college radio success? Their musical progression through each album? Their rise to stardom and signing with Warner Brothers? Their record breaking $80 Million dollar deal just 8 years later? Their perilous ’95 world tour? The departure of their drummer Bill Berry? The qualities of their much debated work since?

Headphones and bedsheets, 1996. “Star Me Kitten” Rewind and play, rewind and play. I have no words for what I hear. Beauty and darkness, a goddess glowing in a floodlight, smooth and misty, unspeakable. I close my eyes. Is anybody else hearing this? Will anyone else understand the tender kneading plea “fuck me kitten?”

Everyone’s heard “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” and “Losing My Religion” and “One I Love and “Shiny Happy People”. And of course there are dozens of others that have hit the radios but didn’t make huge waves which may or may not be familiar with the average person. And then there’s oddities like “Nightswimming” which practically everyone I knew in college had on their hard drives, yet was never released as a single.

Hotel balcony, 1995. My feet kicked up on the railing and my chair leaned back against the wall, I sit overlooking a yellow empty parking lot. I came out to decide if I should break up with my girlfriend or not. My walkman hums between my hands, tucked safely in my sweatshirt pocket, winding down side A of Reckoning. Underneath the music I can hear the Atlantic Ocean and the salt water breeze that cuts across my face. The truth sets on me slow but clear: there are no problems here to find, no other place to be.

So do I pull from the hits most people know? They’re all great songs. Do I try to pull from songs I know never hit the radio, while skipping over some gems? Do I dig out live or obscure B-Sides, which are always fun but don’t represent the band at their best? Do I pull one song from each album?

The moon, 1997, from a bus window. My walkman died two hours ago. The girl I’m in love with, the seat in front of me, leans on her boyfriend. She has no idea. They have no idea; no one does. No one hears it, in the static and voices, the diesel drone. My walkman died two hours ago, but the song never stopped. Through the bus window, to the moon, I mouth the words. No one hears it. “Country Feedback.”

No, not enough space for that. And it’s not as if I can just pick favorites either. There would be too many. Maybe only cover early R.E.M.: the IRS years before they signed to Warner Brothers. But that leaves out a lot of great material too.

Gravel road, 1999. The car’s off, but the last song played, “Parakeet” still lingers. Idle easy conversation and I recline my seat. The body next to mine, on my mind the long drive here now seems distant, abstract. A figure like the ridges that define our sky. Words drift by and I think of the radio waves slipping through us. Breath collects on glass and I look but can’t see satellites slide by, silent, blinking.

To hell with it. What I’ll do is pick a handful of tracks that’s both important to me personally and that I feel represent R.E.M. at their best, then I’ll write little narratives about each. That should work well.

Diner booth, 1997. We split a two song play on our booth’s juke box. I can’t believe they had “E-Bow the Letter” and I have to play it. I wait anxiously for the downbeat, for my friends to hear the richness, the layers, the genius that I’m sure is universally recognizable, that’s been driving me crazy since I heard it first. It doesn’t work out that way. One uninterested, the other jibes: “what’s the title of this song, ‘Slow, Painful Death?’” I learn my first lesson, quiet, defeated, about audiences.

Oh, and I can even break it up and intersperse them into some larger narrative about how hard it is to condense the band down and explain it, or my relationship to it, easily. Then I can bookend it, like some crappy creative writing exercise from school or something. Yeah. That just might work.

My bedroom, summer, 199?. Fast, moving, clean and jangley, “1,000,000” from their first release, and EP called Chronic Town. 1982, and I’m not even a year old yet. No one I know has listened to this. No one knows. Listen to these guys. I imagine large square cars, a train rolling through their town, boxcars, all on grainy faded film. They have no idea the journey they’re about to take. No one I know is listening to this. They have no idea. The journey they’re about to take and they have no idea.

“So, is like, R.E.M. your favorite band?”

The kid who mows our lawn points to my shirt with one hand and lifts a bottle of water to her mouth with the other. I forgot: not a kid, really. As she drinks, eyeing me, I answer.

“Yes.” I say. “Well, no. I mean, it’s hard to say. I mean, well, sure. Maybe. Yes."

- Roy Miller.

Roy Miller is, among other things, a writer, a musician,
an assistant manager, single, in debt, a Taco Bell addict,
male, and a resident of the state of Pennsylvania.
He hopes to some day do something that's pretty cool,
but not so cool as to take away hope that there are other
cool things left yet still to do. He recently shaved his head,
so if you see him around, tell him he's looking good.
He likes that.

Check out his take on They Might Be Giants for FmGT here.

FmGT Retrospectives: Oingo Boingo

Just as rad as the Hong Kong Cavaliers.

Honest Abe Lincoln here - from The Abraham Lincoln Logs here to talk to you about one musical group which every
American loves and celebrates: Oingo Boingo. For if you do not revel in this high-energy, up-tempo macabre rockery - can you truly call yourself an American?

This is a rhetorical question.

Take it from me - I was an American president back when that meant something and I consider Southern California quasi-ska in the 1980's to be of a historical significance equal to the signing of the declaration of independence.

Easily. Don't forget that signing was done hastily because the founding fathers were on their way to an eagle hatching party in Flagsville. That's the trifecta. That's significant.

Starting life in 1972 as a musical theatre troupe called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo the group played an eclectic range of covers in clown makeup for short art films and the gong show. The band would radically reinvent itself, led by songwriter/vocalist Danny Elfman, to become the vibrant halloween party band known to the world as Oingo Boingo. Finally, soaring too close to the sun, they shortened their name to Boingo - and disbanded a year later in 1995.

Little Guns
Oingo Boingo
Good For Your Soul
A&M Records : 1983
[Listen] [Buy]

Nothing more then pure Boingo. Peppy. Dark. Elfman bemoans the titular guns thusly: Little airplanes, with tiny bombs. Little squadrons, dropping thimbles of Napalm. They want you, you. You, you, you, you!

Wild Sex [in the working class]
Oingo Boingo
Nothing To Fear
A&M Records : 1982
[Listen] [Buy]

Simultaneously romantic and erotic. A coal-sooted human cog pines for the 5'clock whistle. The chorus punctuates the wistful song of 8 hour shifts with brief breaks for furious fun. 10 minutes - gonna get home FAST.

Not My Slave
Oingo Boingo
BOI-NGO
MCA Records : 1987
[Listen] [Buy]

I reckon a peon to Elfman's underage audience of porcelain skinned goth gorgeous and taut ska-hotties: You're missing the whole point-- you're not my little pet / Don't throw away your life-- The games not over yet /I do not own your soul--don't want you in a cage / I only want your heart to find a special place...

Perhaps not. Boingo's work is rich enough to sustain multiple interpretations. And you can dance to every one of those interpretations.

No Spill Blood
Oingo Boingo
Good For Your Soul
A&M Records : 1983
[Listen] [Buy]

For Orwell's Animal Farm. We walk on two legs not on four / To walk on four legs breaks the law / What happens when we break the law? /We all know here we go from there - to the house of pain!

Goodbye-Goodbye
Oingo Boingo
Boingo Alive
MCA Records : 1988
[Listen] [Buy]

What a rockabilly way to leave the stage: Invigorating and catchy with lyrics that fly by so fast so as to resemble speaking in tongues. Arcane sounds never understood, merely repeated - as per ritual: at top volume.

-- Honest Abe Lincoln

Honest Abe Lincoln ain't dead. Currently residing in lovely Manhattan, Abe enjoys good pizza, rare font types and tellin' us how it is [almost daily] on The Abraham Lincoln Logs. Mind his words and enjoy his tracks - so that Honest Abe doesn't have to choke a bitch.

FmGT Retrospectives: Madlib

Attack of the Tupperware Puppets
Lootpack feat. The Crate Diggas Sextet
Ill Psych Move 12"
Crate Diggas Palace Records : 1996
[Listen] [Buy]

Crate Diggin'
Lootpack
Soundpieces : Da Antidote
Stones Throw Records : 1999
[Listen] [Buy]

A.V.E.R.A.G.E. [prod. by Madlib]
Kazi
Down for the Kaz' 12"
Stones Throw Records : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Jazzcats Pt. I
Quasimoto
The Unseen
Stones Throw Records : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Slim's Return
Madlib
Shades of Blue
Blue Note Records : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

The Message
Jaylib
Champion Sound
Stones Throw Records : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

Fancy Clown [aka Pretty Blood]
Madvillain
Madvillainy
Stones Throw Records : 2004
[Listen] [Buy]

A Divine Image
Sound Directions
The Funky Side of Life
Stones Throw Records : 2005
[Listen] [Buy]

African Walk [Zamunda]
Madlib
Beat Konducta Vols. 1-2: Movie Scenes
Stones Throw Records : 2006
[Listen] [Buy]

Shortly after I first told JT that I would cover Madlib as my contribution to Retrospectives Month, I had to seriously question my own sanity. How could I possibly pay all due respect to such a talented, versatile, and prolific artist within the confines of several paragraphs and a handful of mp3s? It's somewhat difficult to define the work of a man who effortlessly transitions his style across such a wide variety of musical genres, including [but not limited to] hip-hop, soul, dance, funk, electronica, experimentalism, and jazz.

To confound matters even further, Madlib has a way of challenging his fanbase to "catch him if they can" by recording under a number of different aliases. His birth name is Otis Jackson, Jr., but in the musical realm he's been identified as not only Madlib, but Quasimoto, Monk Hughes [& The Outer Realm], The Young Jazz Rebels, Malik Flavors, Sound Directions, Beat Conductor, DJ Rels, Madlib Invazion, Russel Jenkins, Beat Konducta, Morgan Adams III, Ahmad Miller, Yesterday's New Quintet [YNQ], The Joe McDuphrey [Experience], DJ Lord Such, The Loop Digga, and maybe one or two others that I can't recall at this moment.

In addition to these solo projects, he's also been a member of quite a few groups/duos, such as The Likwit Crew, Lootpack, Jaylib, Madvillain, and The Crate Diggas Sextet. His skills as DJ/MC/producer have also been showcased on collaborations with a myriad of other musical artists, including The Alkaholiks, Declaime (aka Dudley Perkins), King Britt, Kazi, Peanut Butter Wolf, Vast Aire, Oh No (his younger brother), Living Legends, and De La Soul.

Hopefully that gives you some idea of how much self-restraint it required to stay within the boundaries of a single post.

Admittedly, I tend to gravitate towards Madlib's hip-hop efforts more than any of the other genres he's explored throughout his career. I have great respect for his abstract jazz compositions, for example, but I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't rather flip a Lootpack record than something by YNQ practically any day of the week.

In making my song selections, this particular bias played a definitive role, so understand that this exploration of his discography is rather biased and filtered through the subjectivity of my own musical lens. I had originally thought about posting mostly bootlegs and rarities, but ultimately, that approach didn't seem appropriate for general consumption.

I am hoping to peak some interest in the population who hasn't yet been captured since the "Madlib Invazion" first began in the early 1990s. For this reason, I decided to mainly focus on joints that are readily accessible for purchase and/or further exploration of his catalogue. If you happen to be a Madlib maniac like myself, I apologize if these offerings seem a bit elementary. Feel free to contact me via Souled On if there's something specific that I can help you find.

As for the tracks that I selected, the first is "Attack of the Tupperware Puppets". This song was first released in 1996 as a B-side joint on Lootpack's Ill Psych Move 12" single. It was credited to The Crate Diggas Sextet, which consisted of Madlib, DJ Romes, Wildchild, Declaime, Godz Gift, and Oh No. The track was later released [in 2004] on Lootpack's LP The Lost Tapes.

Since Lootpack's material served as my personal introduction to Madlib's work, I decided to also include another one of their tracks. "Crate Diggin'" was one of my favorite joints on Soundpieces: Da Antidote, an LP the group released in 1999. The whole album is incredibly solid, but this particular track is somewhat of an anthem for those of us who spend much of our time and money gettin' dusty in dingy little record stores across the globe.

When I was first introduced to "A.V.E.R.A.G.E." by Kazi, I wasn't aware that Madlib produced it. The track came out on Stones Throw in 2000, as one of three cuts on the Down for the Kaz 12" single. I never owned this record, but became familiar with the song by way of a mixtape that a friend made for me. Later, he didn't remember what the hell it was, and no one that I played it for knew anything about it either. My curiosity was finally laid to rest when I came across the song on Fat Beats Compilation Vol. 1 the following year. As far as I'm concerned, this track continues to stand out as a shining example of Madlib's exemplary production skills.

Also in the year 2000, Madlib released his first LP under the name of his freaky little alter ego, Quasimoto. This album was called The Unseen, and I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to put it on a list of the top twenty underground hip-hop albums of all time. For some, Quasi's helium-infused intonation was a bit too much to bear, but for whatever reason, I always appreciated it's eccentricities without hesitation. "Jazzcats Pt. 1" is one of the joints I've kept in heaviest rotation over the years. It does much in the way of foreshadowing some of Madlib's future musical efforts in that it truly exemplifies his affinity for, and fascination with, the world of jazz.

One of the finest examples of his foray into various perspectives on jazz came in 2003, with the release of Shades of Blue. This record is the result of Blue Note Record's invitation for him to remake various classics from their expansive catalogue of recordings. Madlib used several different aliases on the project, most of which were associated with the fictitious names he'd created for the members of Yesterday's New Quintet. "Slim's Return" was one of the singles that was released from the album, featuring vibes by Ahmad Miller and scratches by DJ Lord Such, both of whom are Madlib himself.

Having long been a fan of the late MC/ producer Jay Dee (aka J Dilla), I had very high hopes for his collaborative efforts with Madlib. Perhaps these great expectations ultimately led to a bit of disappointment when Jaylib's Champion Sound was released in 2003. Don't get me wrong---a few of the tracks on this album are stellar, but mostly, I think of this project as not being quite as great as the sum of its parts. In my opinion, the greatest Jaylib track was "The Message", which was released prior to Champion Sound, on the Stones Throw Summer 2002 12" EP. This tribute to the classic joint by Grandmaster Flash features Madlib flexing his mic skills over one of my favorite Dilla beats.

Madvillain, Madlib's collaboration with MF Doom, was another project I anxiously awaited prior to its release. Madvillainy hit the shelves in 2004, but like most albums in recent years, it leaked onto the internets quite a while before its official release. The song "Fancy Clown" was called "Pretty Blood" on the earlier bootleg version, and I immediately put the track on heavy rotation at the crib. The way that Madlib flipped the sample from ZZ Hill's "That Ain't the Way You Make Love" has always impressed me, and Doom entertains on the track [as his alter ego Viktor Vaughn] by telling a rather twisted tale of infidelity. If you aren't familiar with this joint, you'll have to listen for yourself to find out exactly who's messing around with Vik's woman. Genius.

In 2005, Otis blessed us with the first full-length Sound Directions LP, The Funkier Side of Life. I have a special fondness for "A Divine Image", his cover version of a track by the legendary David Axelrod. Axelrod's discography has been absolutely essential to the foundation and evolution of hip-hop music, and I would encourage the unfamiliar to seek out his work whenever and wherever you can.

Earlier this year, Madlib released The Beat Konducta Vols. 1-2: Movie Scenes, an album featuring 35 tracks of instrumental excellence. Once again, it was difficult for me to select a single track from this LP, but at this very moment, "African Walk (Zamunda)" is playing on repeat inside my head. So be it then...

With any luck, this course in Madlib 101 will encourage you to further your education. Thanks for tuning in....

- Scholar.

Scholar runs the peerless crate digging blog Souled On... [which is worth your time]. In addition to this, Scholar keeps busy doing the hard work so we don't have to.

FmGT Retrospectives: Lindstrom & Prins Thomas

Zueri [Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Nordic Flavour remix]
Tosca
12"
G-stone : 2006
[Listen] [Buy]

A Little Ease [Lindstrom & Prins Thomas remix]
Brennan Green
12"
Chinatown : 2006
[Listen] [Buy]

Kontroll
Six Cups of Rebell
arp she said 12"
Feedelity : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

A Blast of Loser [MJS 9406 mix]
Lindstrom
Feedelity Remix Vol. 1
Feedelity : 2006
[Listen] [Buy]

Pole Vaulter's Delight
Major Swellings (Prins Thomas)
Major Swellings
Noid : 2005
[Listen]

Feel AM
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
Lindstrom & Prins
Eskimo : 2005
[Listen] [Buy]

Lindstrom and his slightly less photogenic mate, Prins Thomas, are probably seen as substance-abuse torchbearers around their Norwegian hometown. The duo's live show is an orgy of strobe lights, oil projections and other trippy flourishes that immediately invites every listener in the room to turn on, tune in and drop out. In an interview for magazine "Der Sturm", they talked about their real and humble goal:

"We want to make music people want to fuck to... fuck long and well too".

Needless to say, they had me at hello.

In and around Norway, Hans Peter Lindstrom is considered to be a giant among men, pioneer of the contemporary cosmic scene [whatever that means] and one of the most talented and respected producers and remixers in the dance scene. In 2003 he joined forces with remix-champ Prins Thomas, after remixing each other countless times and they've been working together since then.

First, I'm offering you their remix of "Zueri" by Tosca. To be honest, I've never heard the original one so I don't have a comparison point for it, but I'd like to think the former is not as good as this one. The hand of Prins Thomas is more latent on the remix as he's the one in the duo with the ear for sultry downtempo tunes while Lindstrom is more focused on trance. The song is downright sexy, sounding both retro and future gazing and respecting the original sound of Tosca's music.

Their remix of Brennan Green is a cosmic jewel of sorts, ethereal and slinky enough to provide you a perfect summer soundtrack. Once again, Prins Thomas' fingers are the clue to the remix, moving it away from the disco craze and inviting you to play it at your bedroom.

One of their best tracks and the one that suggest the route they'd be taking for their self-titled debut together is probably, "Kontrol [The Organ Grinder's Breakdown]", from their Arp She Said EP and for which they changed their alias to "Six Cups of Rebel". A nice slow-burner with rewards for the attentive ears.

Next comes an absolutely stunning 10 minute Mongolian Jet Set 9406 remix, for Lindstrom's "A Blast of Loser" that will be featured on the new Feedelity's [label owned by lindstrom] Remixed 12". The original one doesn't do wonders for me but this remix takes the cosmic vibe of the original and pushes it to the boundaries of trance and italo disco creating something oddly compelling yet queasy.

The best work Prins Thomas has released lately has to be his Major Swellings LP, a corny porn soundtrack full of dark disco funk that invites you to play it either on the dancefloor, in your bedroom or alone, while watching porn movies in mute [haven't tried the latter, but I imagine it works].

My last offering of the day comes from Lindstrom and Prins Thomas' self titled debut on eskimo records. While originally released November 2005, the album was published later this year on the UK and the states and I only had chance of purchasing it some months ago on a trip to Finland. The album is promising if a bit long in places and predictably counts with the sparkling production you'd come to expect from these two. The album at points seem to continue the duo's neverending tribute to Moroder and italo disco while at others it seems like it's trying to channel Air's Moon Safari to the cosmic scenario. "Feeling AM "is a perfect example of the later, as lush instrumentation and arpeggiated synths take over for a nice early morning anthem. I've used the album in foreplay and in bed and it has made wonders for me, hope it works for you and your couple.

That said, I think I'll head right now to receive my old but necessary RCA dose. Have a nice weekend. Moka out.

- Moka

Moka is excellent at what she does. Check her superb, heavily-visited mp3 palace, Motel de Moka, out at www.mookamotel.blogspot.com

FmGT Retrospectives: The Gories

Hey Hey, We’re the Gories
The Gories
I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’
New Rose: 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

Thunderbird ESQ
The Gories
I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’
New Rose: 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

Chick Inn
The Gories
I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’
New Rose: 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

I Think I’ve Had It
The Gories
House Rockin’
Wanghead With Lips: 1989
[Listen] [Buy]

You Make It Move
The Gories
I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’
New Rose: 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

Feral
The Gories
House Rockin’
Wanghead With Lips: 1989
[Listen] [Buy]

Sister Ann
The Gories
House Rockin’
Wanghead With Lips: 1989
[Listen] [Buy]

Charm Bag
The Gories
House Rockin’
Wanghead With Lips: 1989
[Listen] [Buy]

"What's happening in Detroit right now is entirely influenced by what [Mick Collins’] band The Gories were doing over a decade ago.”
– Detroit musician/producer Matthew Smith [Outrageous Cherry]

I would not be an asset to your rock band. Sure, I can do a thing or two on the piano and play the same six chords as everyone who ever picked up a guitar to impress that cute punk boy or girl next door in your freshman dorm, but when it comes down to it, I got nothin’.

Maybe this is why I love Detroit garage punk pioneers The Gories so much. When Mick Collins, Peggy O’Neill and Dan Kroha put the band together in 1986, none of them knew how to play an instrument. But through divine (or devilish) intervention, they picked up two guitars and a set of drums and kicked out a sound like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins with his hand stuck in a punch press – loud, gritty, messy, and flowing with the blood of rock and roll.

The Gories’ influence is undeniable. Although they were only together from 1986 to 1993 and put out three albums: House Rockin’, I Know You Fine, But How You Doin’ [re-released by Crypt Records in 1995 as I Know You Be House Rockin’] and Outta Here, they single-handedly managed to spark a rock revival in Detroit that spawned the likes of The Hentchmen, The Detroit Cobras and a little group called The White Stripes, just to name a very few.

The tracks posted here will get you started. If you like ‘em [and baby, I know you will], be sure to check out The Demolition Doll Rods [Dan Kroha’s current band] or any of Mick Collins’ projects [Black Top, King Sound Quartet, The Screws and the amazing Dirt Bombs, who, by the way, are playing on a boat in the Hudson this summer in NYC. Not to be missed!]

- Tori Turner.

Tori lives and works in New York City, and knows more about music than most of you. And yes, she knows her name rhymes with "Gories". Kinda.

FmGT Retrospectives: They Might Be Giants

It is my job to get you to take what these men do seriously.

They’ll Need A Crane
They Might Be Giants
Lincoln
Restless-Bar/None : 1989
[Listen] [Buy]

Till My Head Falls Off
They Might Be Giants
Factory Showroom
Elektra : 1996
[Listen] [Buy]

Dirt Bike
They Might Be Giants
John Henry
Elektra : 1994
[Listen] [Buy]

Museum of Idiots
They Might Be Giants
The Spine
Zoe : 2004
[Listen] [Buy]

She’s an Angel
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
Restless-Bar/None : 1986
[Listen] [Buy]

Guitar [The Lion Sleeps Tonight]
They Might Be Giants
Apollo 18
Elektra : 1992
[Listen] [Buy]

Istanbul [Not Constantinople] - live
They Might Be Giants
Severe Tire Damage
Restless : 1998
[Listen] [Buy]

AKA Driver
They Might Be Giants
John Henry
Elektra : 1994
[Listen] [Buy]

I Can Hear You
They Might Be Giants
Factory Showroom
Elektra : 1996
[Listen] [Buy]

I have a theory. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who have heard of They Might Be Giants, and those who haven’t. And of those who have, there are again two kinds: people who know of them as that weird band that did that Particle Man song (or that “you’re not the boss of me” song), and people who didn’t get laid much in high school. I should know. Everyone in my D&D campaigns had much respect for John and John.

They Might Be Giants started in the mid eighties as some guitars, a drum machine, and two Johns from Brooklyn. Often supplementing their tracks with the odd keyboard sample or slick accordion squeeze, they managed to create a sound that ranged from sweet to quirky to strange. Even in their later work as they added a backing band, through the crush of distorted guitar and wicked rhythm you can hear a quality straining through. Maybe not an instrument in the mix or one particular sound per-se, but you know instantly and subconsciously that whatever you’re listening to isn’t the kind of thing you’re going to hear on the PA at AE or Hollister.

So yes, They Might Be Giants = strange. Quirky. Intellectual. Odd. They use weird instruments. They write songs about nightlights and dead painters and James K. Polk. If you’ve heard of They Might Be Giants, you know these things. And if you’ve ever rolled two d-20 for a saving throw, you may love these things. But you, neck-beard, are not my target audience.

Brave reader, I will not parade in front of you a handful of wacky off the wall oddities to be buried and forgotten on your hard drives, only to embarrass you when they pop up in random at your dance party. No sirs and madams, I will not provide quirky comedy tracks to sit idle, lulled from the darkness only to stave off boredom when you and your friends are high on a lazy winter afternoon. No, my dear companions. That would be too easy, and we have come too far for this. I want to give you aural gifts: gems, jewels, show you proof that They Might Be Giants is more than puns and accordions; that they can and have made music worthy of your ears. Maestro! Press play!

I have included for you both old and new. "She’s an Angel" and "They’ll Need a Crane" are drawn from TMBG’s first and second albums respectively and reflect their early sound. While one is vulnerable and the other more detached, both have a sweetness and earnestness that is frequently found in their early work. Also, both are catchy as hell, and I wonder: if not for all the accordions, synth sounds, and nasal vocals, would They have landed more radio play?

"Till My Head Falls Off" is lyrically one of the best written songs I know of. Cinematic in its description of an old man struggling against his age, it contains one of my favorite verses:

Hitting every pocket in my shirt, pants, and overcoat/I’m hitting them again but I don’t know where I put my notes/Clearing my throat and gripping the lectern I smile and face my audience/Clearing his throat and smiling with his hands on the bathroom sink.

That wonderful perspective shift between lines three and four… it’s literary. I can practically see it. In my head.

"Dirt Bike" and "AKA Driver" are tracks from the album John Henry, TMBG’s first recorded with a “band”. This gave their songs a thicker and more traditional sound and caused many a member of geekdom to cry that They had sold out. "AKA Driver" is one of my favorite rocking TMBG songs, and as for "Dirt Bike": I don’t claim to understand what the hell it’s about. All I know is this mellow tune gets me in the brain pan and chills me out every play. If this is the sound of selling out, then I say right on.

"Guitar" is from the album Apollo 18, which directly preceded "John Henry". Though they didn’t have their backing band in place yet, you can definitely hear the development in their instrumentation and production since their first two albums. Definitely a quirky track. Maybe too much so for my purposes. Still, one of my favorites. I remember being 14 and having a crush, sight unseen, with the owner of that ice cool female voice that quotes “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” She could whisper in my ear anytime.

"Museum of Idiots", with its upbeat carousel waltz paired with tonight show horn-section combined with John’s cheerily sung dark imagery is a recipe for my favorite track off of TMBG’s latest studio effort.

This version of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is live and kicking. You may recognize this song. Along with the song "Particle Man", it was featured in the cartoon Tiny Toon Adventures. Both came from the album Flood, which was their most successful seller, and features another popular tune that almost made this list, "Birdhouse in your Soul". If you haven’t heard it, check it out.

And finally we have "I Can Hear You", recorded on an Edison Wax Cylinder. “Now wait”, you might say, “you promised me no gimmicky tracks.” I assure you, my choice to include this song was no choice at all. This easily ranks as one of TMBG’s most poetic tracks, juxtaposing modern cultural cliché’s against late 1800’s technology, it simultaneously nods towards technological progress traveled and towards the equalizing transience and absurdity of that very notion.

And this is They Might Be Giants at their best. Quirky, yes, but sincere. Maybe that’s why so many of us quiet kids with neck beards liked them.

- Roy Miller.

Roy Miller is, among other things, a writer, a musician, an assistant
manager, single, in debt, a Taco Bell addict, male, and a resident of
the state of Pennsylvania. He hopes to someday do something that's
pretty cool, but not so cool as to take away hope that there are other
cool things left yet still to do. He recently shaved his head, so if
you see him around, tell him he's looking good. He likes that.

FmGT Retrospectives: "Funhouse" by Iggy Pop & The Stooges

Loose [live]
The Birthday Party
John Peel Sessions
Varese Sarabande : 2001
[Listen] [Buy]

TV Eye
Radio Birdman
Radios Appear [overseas version]
Trafalgar Records : 1978
[Listen]

Dirt
Screeching Weasel
Thank You Very Little
Panic Button/Lookout! : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

I Feel Alright [aka "1970"]
The Damned
Damned Damned Damned
Teldec : 1977
[Listen] [Buy]

1970
Mission of Burma
The Horrible Truth About Burma
New Rose Records : 1985
[Listen] [Buy]

Funhouse [live]
The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs
Live on KXLU
Triple X Entertainment : 1999
[Listen] [Buy]

Down with Technology [Team 9 vs. the Stooges vs. Daft Punk]
Team 9
[Listen]

The Stooges' second album, Funhouse, was remastered and reissued last year with a bonus disc of outtakes from the original sessions. The reunited Stooges performed the Funhouse album at All Tomorrow's Parties last year.

Funhouse was a giant leap in musicianship from the first Stooges album. Both Henry Rollins and Jack White have called it the greatest album ever made. Ron Asheton cranks out raw, hypnotic riffs, often in counterpoint to the rhythms of his brother Scott and bassist Dave Alexander. Iggy drives the group into a frenzy with his primal growls and howls, barking out instructions to the band as they play the songs live in the studio. Steve Mackay's sax pushes the Stooges into uncharted spaces where the blues, rock and jazz converge. The album was recorded live in the studio, with the band taking on one song each day, recording dozens of versions of each track [all of which were collected by Rhino Handmade in a six CD set that quickly went out of print.]

The original album has seven tracks, the last of which is a free jazz workout called LA Blues. You can't really "cover" something that unstructured, but I found covers of the first six tracks.

For your own Funhouse cover album, first go to Swervedriver.com for their live medley of "Down in the Street" and "TV Eye". It's an audience recording; the guy who yells "No Way!" when he recognizes the opening riff gets out of earshot quickly. Swervedriver was born out of a band called Shake Appeal, whose name [like the names of two other bands here] came from a Stooges song.

Nick Cave's unhinged baritone owed a great deal to Iggy, as did Cave's stage presence during the years that the Birthday Party terrorized audiences. Here's "Loose" from a Peel Session. Alejandro Escovedo and his pals in Buick MacKane covered this one too, but Tracey Pew's elastic bass playing is hard to beat.

Radio Birdman took their name from the Stooges song, "1970". [The lyric was borrowed by Iggy from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me".] Deniz Tek speeds up the classic "TV Eye" riff until it's almost wound too tight. Rob Younger is one of the greatest living punk singers, and owes Iggy a stylistic debt as well. Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton joined Rob Younger and Deniz Tek in a post-Birdman band called the New Race. Radio Birdman recently reunited, and a new album and US tour are scheduled for August. Ron Asheton, Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Mark Arm and Steve Shelley covered "TV Eye" [under the band name the Wylde Rattz] on the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack; you can buy that at iTunes.

"Dirt" is performed here in a radio session by Screeching Weasel. Ben Weasel's vocals, as well as the music, are quite faithful to the original. Depeche Mode did an interesting, but less faithful cover of "Dirt", which you can also hear on iTunes.

"1970" [also known as "I Feel Alright"] was covered by the Damned on their first album, and by Mission of Burma on "The Horrible Truth about Burma." GBH covered it too. The alternate take of "1970" on the Funhouse reissue extends the closing riff, rolling and breaking like a wave with Mackay's sax screaming alongside Iggy for several minutes longer than the version released on vinyl. The Damned's version is from a 1978 live date with the two guitar lineup [Brian James and Lu Edmonds].

"Funhouse" is performed by The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, whose band name also comes from a Stooges lyric. This track is 14 glorious minutes long. There is a stunning but highly abrasive live version of "Funhouse" by the Birthday Party, which you can buy at iTunes.

As a bonus, check out this mashup of "Down in the Street" vs. Daft Punk's "Technologic" by Team 9.

Thirty five years later, people are still taking inspiration from Funhouse.

- Jon Manyjars.

[Visit Jon's blog UNDERNEATHICA at www.underneathica.blogspot.com]

FmGT Retrospectives: Sonic Youth

The Burning Spear
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Neutral [NYC] : 1982
[Listen] [Buy]

Making The Nature Scene
Sonic Youth
Confusion Is Sex
Neutral : 1983
[Listen] [Buy]

In The Kingdom #19
Sonic Youth
E.V.O.L.
Blast First : 1986
[Listen] [Buy]

Pipeline/Kill Time
Sonic Youth
Sister
Blast First : 1987
[Listen] [Buy]

Candle
Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
Blast First : 1988
[Listen] [Buy]

Eric's Trip
Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
Blast First : 1988
[Listen] [Buy]

My Friend Goo
Sonic Youth
Goo
Geffen : 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

Disappearer
Sonic Youth
Goo
Geffen : 1990
[Listen] [Buy]

Skip Tracer
Sonic Youth
Washing Machine
Geffen : 1995
[Listen] [Buy]

Sunday
Sonic Youth
A Thousand Leaves
Geffen : 1998
[Listen] [Buy]

Rain On Tin
Sonic Youth
Murray Street
Geffen : 2002
[Listen] [Buy]

Unmade Bed
Sonic Youth
Sonic Nurse
Geffen : 2004
[Listen] [Buy]

Incinerate
Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped
Geffen : 2006
[Listen] [Buy]

[SY Official Site] [SY Song Database]

"Alternative music hasn't died. Maybe it has in the major-label world, but it's
gone back underground. And if anything, it's like we're taking the name back."
- Kim Gordon

Sonic Youth is:
Thurston Moore: vocals, guitars
Kim Gordon: vocals, bass
Lee Ranaldo: guitars, vocals, organs
Steve Shelley: drums

Quiet, it is not. I'm here this evening to rock yer fucking socks off with the grandparents of noise rock, the well-known, much-beloved aging art schoolers who inspired untold thousands of bands to dust off their whammy bars and power tools to create new sounds and textures across the world.

"The Burning Spear" announced their lofty intentions to the world; from that opening drum crash, those single bass drum/cymbal hits undercut by the off-kilter guitar strumming growing ever louder before breaking into a dance beat and fiercely jagged bass line, the line in the sand was drawn. The first lyric on this, their first release, 1982's Sonic Youth, echoed their intentions. Even the lyrics to that song:

I'm not afraid to say I'm scared
In my bed I'm deep in prayer
I trust the speed I love the fear
The music comes
The burning spear

show their attitude, their willingness to push the sonic landscape further than most acts at the time had dared to do. Hyperbole aside, their bold cuts and innovative arrangements were a sight to behold. Formed amid a difficult financial time for all its members [although the original drummer on this EP, Richard Edson, did leave music behind for a reasonable acting career; you may remember him from Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise and the classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off], their music was colored initially [and in what would later become a punkish trademark] by their cheap, inexpensive equipment. The first innovation entailed jamming drumsticks and screwdrivers under particular frets, adding extra tension to the strings and pulling the band into a universe of weird, unheard tunings that gave their music a mysterious sound.

As Michael Azzerad wrote in his book Our Band Could Be Your Life:
"Bang a drumstick on a cheap Japanese Stratocaster copy in the right tuning, crank the amplifier to within an inch of its life, and it will sound like church bells."

The effect was startling, and their experimentation continued to the point where as their momentum grew, this heavily "cheap" sound became the norm. Greasy, highly-distorted wails of guitar [I'm sure Wolfmother have heard a few of their LPs] were supplemented with Kim Gordon's deep, rumbling, persistent basslines and Steve Shelley's aggressive rhythmic style.

My favourite SY songs almost always involved the songwriting skills of Lee Ranaldo - although the band maintained a democratic writing style, whereby each album had songs written by different band members [it wouldn't take you long to flick on an album and guess who wrote which songs, distinct as their respective styles were], Lee's song always grabbed me more than the others. His lyricism was heavily influenced by the beat poets, casting vivid, stream-of-consciousness stories of drug-addled nights and surreal stories from their tours, and when backed by his frantic arrangements, it was hard not to get sucked in. "In the Kingdom #19", "Pipeline/Kill Time", "Eric's Trip" and "Skip Tracer" are all perfect examples.

On the other hand, Thurston Moore's compositions, while still full of the wild-eyed enthusiasm and manic dissonance that was Sonic Youth, found more comfort in melody than Gordon, Ranaldo or Shelley put together. "Candle" begins with a gentle, warm guitar hook that gets gradually darker in tone, before it slides into a backbeat [the guitar strums drop on the 2/4] and then into full-on rock. His vocals are distant in the mix, overshadowed by Kim's bass and the dueling guitars of Moore and Ranaldo, but on the whole, it has a swagger. That album, Daydream Nation, recently found a home in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, accompanied by this assessment:

"On Daydream Nation, their breakthrough album, the group’s forays into outright noise always return to melodic songs that employ hypnotic arpeggios, driving punk rock rhythmic figures and furious gales of guitar-based noise. Bassist Kim Gordon’s haunting vocals and edgy lyrics add additional depth to the numbers she sings."

Other tracks I picked by Thurston have a similar unmistakable quality: "Disappearer" is rich with the dual guitars once more, and a melody/beat that gets even the most shoegazing member of the audience into some form of subdued dance.

Kim is also represented here: her tracks "Making the Nature Scene" and "My Friend Goo" tend more towards the dissonant end of the SY scale [making her the perfect counterpoint to husband Thurston's melodies], spitting aggressive, strong lyrics against her featured fuzzed-up bass, all other things taking a backseat to her dominance. "Making the Nature Scene" features her, the vocals heavily echoed [as if on a soapbox?], the heavy guitars relegated to sinister high-speed, low-end strumming, with the occasional distorted chord or screeching, open-ended "solo". Full of stage presence [and a beauty found in other 80s female rockers] and passion, Kim's compositions rock harder than perhaps any others. From that, "My Friend Goo" is more playful and grungy, complete with backing drawl from J. Mascis [of Dinosaur Jr.].

"Sunday", lifted off A Thousand Leaves, was a weird single of sorts [I wish I could find the music video, featuring Macaulay Culkin making out with his then-girlfriend, a dancer on Broadway] that even got them on Letterman, and does kinda live up to what you might expect. It's a slow burner, but a perfect SY song.

From there, as the band moved into the new era [where they welcomed Chicago producer and fellow sound nut Jim O'Rourke into the band for a couple of years before parting ways], songwriting became more of a group act. Tracks from Murray Street, Sonic Nurse and new album Rather Ripped round out this exploration, showing their mellower side [but yet also their lack of fear in "rocking out"], and their continuing desire to push further. ["Rain on Tin" is almost 8 minutes of gorgeous noodling. Trust me. Oh, and "Unmade Bed" is still on heavy rotation over here, some 2 years later.]

The band's sound has changed considerably over time, certainly an evolution not helped by the theft of their touring van [complete with all their specialized equipment, honed and perfected over 2 full decades of work] on July 4, 1999, but it gave them a new perspective, and a new desire. While some of their earlier work may never be recaptured in a live performance with all-new tools, it is still well-preserved in time, a testament to their endurance and influence in what might be the most egotistical, flavour-of-the-month genre of music: the rock world. Time is fleeting for most "It" bands, but Sonic Youth remain on top, no matter what.

I can only hope that this post has done justice to one of my favourite bands of all-time.

[There wasn't enough space for me to do SY justice: lost from this post were the Ciccone Youth 1986 LP The Whitey Album, which included an insane cover of Madonna's "Into the Groove" which I will post here regardless, several avant-garde releases on their own SYR label, one of which paid homage to 20th century composers like Cornelius Cardew, Steve Reich, John Cage and Christian Wolff, a collaboration between Kim Gordon and DJ Olive, a session with The Ex, an album of compositions to accompany silent films by Stan Brakhage, and two movie soundtracks. Oh, and a procession of stellar solo albums by Lee Ranaldo -- personal favourite: Amarillo Ramp [Songs for Robert Smithson] -- and Thurston Moore. But hey, it gives you an idea of just how experimental Sonic Youth were, are, and always will be.]

FmGT Retrospectives : Hybrid

Silent K with the mighty Mike Truman & Chris Healings [circa 2003]
[They are really tall. I am 5'8".]

If I Survive
Hybrid
Wide Angle
Kinetic Records / Distinctive Breaks : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Finished Symphony
Hybrid
Wide Angle
Kinetic Records / Distinctive Breaks : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Sinequanon
Hybrid
Wide Angle
Kinetic Records / Distinctive Breaks : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Theme from the Wide Angle
Hybrid
Wide Angle
Kinetic Records / Distinctive Breaks : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Higher than a Skyscraper
Hybrid
Morning Sci-Fi
Distinctive Breaks : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

I'm Still Awake
Hybrid
Morning Sci-Fi
Distinctive Breaks : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

True to Form
Hybrid
Morning Sci-Fi
Distinctive Breaks : 2003
[Listen] [Buy]

Bad Girl [Hybrid Remix]
DJ Rap
Remix & Additional Production By...
Distinctive Breaks : 2001
[Listen] [Buy]

Bodyrock [Hybrid Remix]
Moby
Remix & Additional Production By...
Distinctive Breaks : 2001
[Listen] [Buy]

Running Down the Way Up
Bt & Hybrid
Movement in Still Live [UK edition]
Net Fx : 1999
[Listen] [Buy]

Prologue [Hybrid Remix]
Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayu-Mi-X V.2
Avex Trax : 2000
[Listen] [Buy]

Summertime [Hybrid Remix]
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Old School vs. New School
Jive Electro : 1998
[Listen] [Buy]

Heart's Desire
Hybrid
Scores
Unreleased
Listen track removed at artist's request

Just for Today
Hybrid [Featuring Kirsty Hawkshaw & Harry Gregson Williams]
I Choose Noise
Distinctive Breaks : 2006
[Listen] [Buy it this September]

[We] "want to make music that will last... something that isn't disposable, something that people will want to listen to over and over again." -- Lee Mullin

"It doesn't matter if you're hardcore or even the mildest fan of electronic music, Hybrid is a group that should not be missed" -- Silent K

Midway through mainstream trance revival of 1998 - 2000, I began to grow a little tired of the "UN-ce UN-ce UN-ce" beat. And so I made sure to do a good deal of random CD purchases, which I've found to be a great way to discover new tunes [that's how I discovered Jamiroquai]. And so one day as I was wandering around in Sound Garden in Armory Square, I picked up a compilation entitled Trance Global Nation 2. And I was exposed for the first time to one of my favorite musical acts, Hybrid. There was something of a boom taking place in the dance music scene at that point in time. Hybrid was lucky enough to initially ride that wave to reach intial recognition, but like all good artists, they evolved with the times and the technology, and in doing so have remained in my top five.

Pulling back the curtain on the Hybrid machine reveals Mike Truman & Chris Healings, a duo from Swansea, Wales. As producers [blenders, remixers and composers], they have an unparalelled finesse with orchestrated melodies and fresh breakbeat goodness. Theirs is a sound that's deeply rooted in dark sexy basslines, live string instrumentation, and beats manufactured on a microscopic level. They transcend the novelty-sound of the typical dancefloor to a level of Intelligent Dance Music that's danceable, cinematic and, at moments, spiritual.

Hybrid released their debut album, Wide Angle, in 1999 [UK]/2000 [US] featuring collaborations with the 90+ piece Russian Federal Orchestra and the 20+ piece Russian Hermitage Orchestra. Interestingly, vocals on some tracks [hosted: If I Survive] belong to a David Lynch talent scout turned singer, Julee Cruise. Exclusive to Wide Angle is Hybrid's third member, programmer and mixer, Lee Mullin, who left to persue other projects following the album's release. Praise for Wide Angle was so widespread that Moby immediately offered them the opener spot on his worldwide tour promoting his album Play. In my honest opinion, Moby should have been opening for them - and he probably will if the breaks scene continues to grow as it has within the past five years. Wide Angle was soon re-released as Wider Angle with a bonus CD of remix material, well worth the price.

The duo followed up their debut with Remix & Additional Production By... in 2001. This release is but a small sampling from their vast catalogue of remixes. This release is mixed as a progressive session [and that's why some of the tracks hosted today from this album appear to start mid-song]. Artists that have requested the Hybrid-remix treatment range from Andreas Johnson to Future Sound of London to Filter. This is a testament to how widespread and broad their fanbase has become as well as to the high level of their production quality.

At the time of Hybrid's next release, there were a lot of decent artists in the world of electronic music, many of whom would release great material and then drop off the ear of the earth. Refusing to leave the sub-spotlight, 2003 saw the release of Hybrid's Morning Sci-Fi, another seamless fusion of electronic experimentation and cinematic live instrumentation- with just the right amount of rock. The album's title, Morning Sci-Fi, is a name that Chris associated with that twilight point in the morning before sunrise, where the light can still be seen breaking over the horizon, it was his time of Morning Sci-Fi, and they were often hard at work until at least this time in the morning working on the album - and so the name stuck. With the same high level of quality featured in Wide Angle, they pull it off again, blasting a soundscape that's just as unique, but this time around it's a bit darker. The most noteworthy collaboration featured on this album is New Order's Pete Hook, adding his signature [and completely bitchin'] bass to the track True to Form.

Continuing the tradition of giving other artists' work the "Hybrid-remix treatment," 2004 saw the release of Hybrid's first ever mix compilation disc, officially sanctioned by Distinctive's Y4K series. The release features cuts from the likes of Forme [a.k.a. Richard File, 1/2 of the current UNKLE configuration] and the almighty [and all broken up] Orbital. The duo was also in the studio producing tracks for films such as Denzel Washington's Man on Fire as well as creating tracks specifically for commercial use [not selling out, just spreading the goodies around]. Many of these tracks can be found on the [underground/bootleg/fan made/white label] album simply titled Scores.

Hybrid has easily become one of my favorite acts in the world of electronic music. This title was further secured in 2003 when I had the pleasure of meeting Mike & Chris after sitting in on interview that they had done on Sirius Satellite Radio. It was an amazing experience to be able to chill in the same room with these guys that I had idolized [as fans do] and watch the interview, while being fully aware of their carreers and understanding everything that they were talking about. It was the convergence of everything in my world, surely a once in a lifetime experience. Excited as I was however, I didn't want to overstep my boundaries as a fan - I figured, these guys are probably tired and wouldn't really be interested in chatting it up with some guy from the marketing department [me]. But, after the interview was done they both popped up from their chairs and looked like they were in desperate need of something new to focus their attention on. So I engaged them, you know, just small talk "how's NYC treating you?" and the like. After shooting the shit with two gods for a few minutes, it was them that asked me if I wanted to take a picture with them[!] and hence the image above. I couldn't have fathomed these guys being nicer to a fan - but they topped it off by tossing me on the VIP list for their performance that evening. Meeting them was an incredible pleasure- and what better forum to communicate my appreciation? Thanks Mike, thanks Chris, you seriously made this fan's day. I'm still giddy just thinking about it 2.5 years later.

Calming down from my recollection of rubbing elbows with the duo- I couldn't be more excited for their forthcoming third album, entitled I Choose Noise - due out in September. This album promises to deliver more of what everyone can only call "that Hybrid sound." One track from the album, Just For Today, has been released for free download on Hybrid's official website. It features a collaboration with world famous film score producer Harry Gregson Williams [notably credited for the soundscapes behind The Rock - and more importantly, Metal Gear Solid 2 & Metal Gear Solid 3][!!!] and vocals by Kirsty Hawkshaw, whose beautiful voice has accompanied Hybrid's work in the past [see today's hosted track, Running Down the Way Up]. If this is any indication of the quality of the next album, then we are in for quite a treat [as oposed to that J5/Dave Mathews crap, which actually didn't turn out too bad as long as you skip over that one track].

If you've never heard of Hybrid before today, then I hope that I've turned you on to something new. If you already knew about them before, then I trust that I've rekindled your interest. Please support the artists by purchasing their albums and, if you can, by going to their shows.

FeedmeGoodTunes Retrospectives month continues in the next day [or so] with some more sweet beats to quicken your step or to smoothe your chill session. And now a word from our spons...wait, we're Ad-Free! (]^_^[).

Stay tuned. -- Silent K

FmGT Retrospectives: Meat Puppets

Saturday Morning
Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
SST Records : 1982
[Listen] [Buy]

We're Here
Meat Puppets
II
SST Records : 1984
[Listen] [Buy]

Out in the Gardener
Meat Puppets
In a Car 7"
SST Records : 1985
[Listen]

Two Rivers
Meat Puppets
Up on the Sun
SST Records : 1985
[Listen] [Buy]

Hot Pink
Meat Puppets
Up on the Sun
SST Records : 1985
[Listen] [Buy]

Other Kinds of Love
Meat Puppets
Out My Way
SST Records : 1986
[Listen] [Buy]

Sexy Music
Meat Puppets
Huevos
SST Records : 1987
[Listen] [Buy]

Mirage
Meat Puppets
Mirage
SST Records : 1987
[Listen] [Buy]

Backwater
Meat Puppets
Too High to Die
London Records : 1994
[Listen] [Buy]

Flipside Magazine : What’s your biggest influence in music?
Curt Kirkwood : Mommy. My mommy made me what i am.
Derrick Bostrom : My mommy’s heart beat.
- Interview in Flipside Magazine, 1982

"Don't start talking about how thing's gonna change
You know we don't believe you, we think you're deranged
Just give us your money and tell us we're swell
We'll play some tunes for you and then go to hell"
- Saturday Morning [Meat Puppets - 1982]

"It's not okay to tip the glass
don't make a noise or shed a tear
you're not the only one that's you
things have changed, now we are here"
- We're Here [II - 1984]

Meat Puppets are:
Curt Kirkwood - guitars, vocals
Derrick Bostrom - drums
Cris Kirkwood - bass, vocals

Before I'd ever really spun a beaten-up copy of Up on the Sun at my friend's house, I remember hearing an anecdote about the Meat Puppets, about [I think] Curt Kirkwood, anchor and chief noisemaker for the Arizona psychedelic rockabilly mess that was the Meat Puppets.

As it goes from the top of my head, Curt was lost in the Arizona desert somewhere outside of Flagstaff [every bit as insane and misunderstood as my old friend Eric had witnessed while traveling across the southwest] as night began to fall. Curt, beginning to feel the chill of another frigid night amid the tumbleweed, spied what seemed to be a large patchwork blanket sticking out of a sand dune, and while thanking his own good luck compared to someone else's misfortune at losing a rug in the desert, he wrapped himself up in it and settled down for the night. When he woke the next morning, he found that he was not in fact huddled within the plush folds of a rug, but the half-eaten corpse of a dead wolf.

Peyote and acid can do that to a person.

That story stuck out, and I never ever cared to verify any truth behind it, not even now as I plough back through their short-lived, effervescent career lost amid the 80s music landscape.

Their music was as innovative as it got back then; when the hip-hop generation considers its kings of invention, one thinks of Grandmaster Flash's homemade sound systems or Lee "Scratch" Perry's recording studios in Kingston, known as the Black Ark; if you're a pop impresario, the Beatles' popularization of overdubbing and playing tracks in reverse caught your attention. The Meat Puppets' creation didn't lie in the mechanics of sound or the circuitry that propelled it. It was more their approach to creating songs, born from drug-heavy sun-scorched days in the southwest, the fusing of punk, bubblegum pop, rockabilly and country that, when coupled with Curt Kirkwood's elliptical, double-sided lyrics, became a major source of inspiration across the board.

It seems kinda sad that their most famous moment came via Kurt Cobain, having been covered a couple of times on Nirvana: Unplugged in New York and on a t-shirt he wore in a famous picture not long before his death. However, the Meat Puppets turned a lot of heads with their infectious enthusiasm for the stage and music.

Only fitting that they should appear here on these pages, in the sadly-abbreviated playlist that I present.

1. Saturday Morning
Coming from one of the essential American hardcore albums on the 80s, this track dives and swings through a boozy, bluesy groove underpinned by Cris' rolling basslines, until it implodes at [0:34] into absolute chaos. This lit the blue touchpaper underneath the controlled insanity that the Meat Puppets would become.
2. We're Here
The first Meat Pups' track I ever heard. Gone was that thrashing guitar, replaced by rich, expansive echo tones and reverbed vocals that stretch out across the horizon as far as the eye can see. The harmonies might not be perfect, and any bass nut could point out a million flaws herein, but this LP defined a generation of soon-to-be major label acts [Dinosaur Jr, Nirvana to name but two] and presented the bizarre fusion of genres that the Pups were somehow able to balance. It still remains my favourite MPs track; you could teach a college class on trying to truly understand Curt's intentions with his lyrics. Playful yet intelligent, the combination of sound and speech is too much to ignore.
3. Out in the Gardener
Bizarre. 63 seconds of oddball riffs and marching band beats that defined me to create a million shitty songs in my friend's basement using the weirdest nik-naks and toys we could find.
4. Two Rivers
More obtuse lyrics, and more gorgeous music. Shimmering guitars [from just one man, I might add] flood your ears, underpinned by Bostrom's mechanical driving rhythms and Cris's slap-happy basslines. [If Flea had a subconscious mentor, I would bet on Cris Kirkwood.] Meat Puppets are definitely an acquired taste, but this is perhaps the richest, most appreciable track to the virgin ear. You can hear the desert in this LP, you can taste the sand, you can see the wide-open spaces in front of you as you listen. Definitely the most accessible album in their catalog, because it fits seemingly any occasion, any group of people, any time of day.
5. Hot Pink
Another great song from the same album. After a while, it's hard not to fall in love with those basslines or the off-key singing. What matters is the overall sound; put this in yer car and drive for a while. It'll make sense.
6. Other Kinds of Love
Softer yet still with that trademark quirkiness, this song brings a little Eastern feel to their heavier vocals. The guitar still burns bright, Bostrom rocks like a goddamn king and the basslines are as playful as ever.
7. Sexy Music
Departing a little from the psychedelia of earlier efforts, Huevos rooted the Meat Pups in rootsy rock, with a rougher sound and a heavier dose of riffs not seen since Meat Puppets. This song is infectious, full of boogie bass and country while still sufficiently distanced from the bad side of the genre. It's hard not to like this after a bellyful of whiskey, with Curt's solo providing the lullabye.
8. Mirage
So rich, so full, the singing is better, the music is just as acid-soaked and trippy as ever before.
9. Backwater
The song that almost made them famous. Polished, heavy on the singalong factor and full of the grunge vibe that they had initially inspired, and a great way to round out today's dive into Meat Puppets' discography.

So whether you like them or not, the Meat Puppets are essential in the american music landscape. Understanding any fragment of the A to Z of music requires a detour through M, and the countless albums and bands they've inspired only serve as a testament to the invention and innovation of three men from the desert southwest.

The month continues tomorrow with a trip across the pond, and some acid in yer jazz for good measure.

FmGT Retrospectives: Medeski, Martin and Wood

United [W. Shorter]
Medeski Martin and Wood
Notes from the Underground
Hap-Jones Records : 1992
[Listen]

Shuck It Up
Medeski Martin and Wood
It's a Jungle in Here
Gramavision : 1993
[Listen]

The Lover
Medeski Martin and Wood
Friday Afternoon in the Universe
Gramavision : 1995
[Listen]

Henduck
Medeski Martin and Wood
Shack-Man
Gramavision : 1996
[Listen]

Latin Shuffle
Medeski Martin and Wood
Combustication
Blue Note Records : 1998
[Listen]

We Are Rolling
Medeski Martin and Wood
The Dropper
Blue Note Records : 2000
[Listen]

Buster Rides Again
Medeski Martin and Wood
Tonic
Blue Note Records : 2000
[Listen]

Improv II
Medeski Martin and Wood
Electric Tonic
Self-Released : 2001
[Listen]

Reflector
Medeski Martin and Wood
End Of The World Party [Just In Case]
Blue Note Records : 2004
[Listen]

[MMW - Official Site] [MMW Online Store to find the LPs]

MMW is:
John Medeski - keys
Chris Wood - bass
Billy Martin - drums, percussion

The perfect crowd stays with us no matter where we go. When we start getting adventurous and dealing in more expressive realms, the best crowd moves with us to outer space and stays there, following the ambiguity, and staying ready for us to lay in the groove. You don't always find that kind of audience. Sometimes, the bigger crowds are filled with meatheads who just want to hear groove because they're drunk or haven't learned about foreplay yet.
- John Medeski, 2003.

Hearing MMW in any setting is sure to reinvigorate yr senses, to the point where you might rethink or question anything you've heard before and how it fits together. Granted, such hyperbole might not be entirely warranted, and might even verge on the absurd coming from my biased mind, but after taking a quick journey through the tracks I picked out, you might find yourself in silent [or vocal] agreement.

Jazz has always formed the backbone of my music experiences, into which all other performances, LPs and concerts have been squeezed. Like these tiny vertebrae, Medeski Martin and Wood have virtually always been that connective tissue, that synapse, that lens through which all else finds itself compared.

The best shows I have ever seen have involved some combination of this trio, of which the peak was appearing with Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra on Halloween 2004. Dazzling the crowd with over three hours of freak-out jazz, tight album cuts and expansive improvisation with an absurd assortment of guests, it was everything I imagined music should be, distilled into 180 minutes of heart-stopping energy.

Their uniqueness, in my mind, is an ability to shape-shift, transform, glide effortlessly across genres and boundaries, ultimately providing the world with something transcendent that anyone could appreciate in some form or another. From their early days, hawking bright, breezy jazz compositions [Notes from the Underground, It's a Jungle in Here] using the most stripped-down, organic instrumentation, to their sonically-challenging trance and razzmatazz where effects and distortion blur into heavy, body-jumping grooves [The Dropper, Combustication, Uninvisible], it is hard not to be drawn in by their magnetism and invention.

Even their two live albums [Tonic, Electric Tonic] give you a fleeting glimpse into the level on which they operate. The first, a more measured trip through jazz as they understand it; the second, an entirely-improvised set that proves their passion for music is more than just notes on a page as they feel and wrestle their way through the unknown with exhilarating results. You can hear their thoughts as they expand through the speakers, unafraid to take us somewhere new or different, because we are willing passengers and companions from the other side of the room.

Thus, a small sampling of everything awaits you here. Considering that we're just starting out on this month-long roadtrip, I'll let the music itself breathe, unfettered by my words or thoughts. Listen with an empty head and open mind, whether yr the biggest MMW fan on the planet or someone whose life has not yet converged with their music. Post yr thoughts on this, my ideal MMW setlist, and come back tomorrow for an entirely different breed of trio.