Julie London - Something Cool

Let's all - everybody - keep it cool this weekend.

"I can't think of your name, I remember your smile"

And because we've crossed the midnight hour here, a bonus.

 Emmett presents... Paternity Leave!
 
Marquez - Color De Caramelo

I will be laying low for a few weeks, due to the exciting and impending arrival of a baby girl. In the meantime, we can all think about what the bass player (= Juan Marquez himself?) does at 01:43 in the jam posted above.

Thanks to all who've contributed so far to the 1993 Project.  By all means keep those suggestions coming!  This playlist will be happening post-paternity leave.

You can also check out Viva Radio shows #143 and #144, which represent a still-unfinished two-hour answer to the thought experiment: "What might have been played in a European discothèque c. 1974?"  Many thanks to all who contributed suggestions in this thread, and most especially to Mr. Bill Brewster.

So, yes, I expect to be hibernating from the music sphere for a bit, but unprecedented and potentially game-changing developments are already in the works for the near future, dear listeners!

Here comes summer again...

Your friend,
Emmett

The Other Two - Selfish

I'm working on an all-1993 mix and this is the flagship jam so far. Anyone got any ideas? All genres are fair game; obscurity is preferred. Thanks again for your assistance with the 1997, 1980, 2003, and 1990 projects. I also did a 1957 mix which you can stream as "Soda Fountains" on Viva Radio.

It will take a little while to get through all the years, eh?

Chamber of Kommerce - The Monocle

Burano And His Gypsy Caravan - Good Time Girl

I might not be posting this if not for the note that the lead Moog player ends his phrase with at 1:15.

new Viva show (#143) in the archive

Junior English - You Are So Good To Me

Many, many thanks to Wiggsy for the peel-off.  More flexatone, anyone? 

Alex Harvey - Midnight Moses

One of the great party records... a truly debauched production. Does a stereo mix even exist?

If anyone wants a copy of this on vinyl, talk to Oscar; he probably has several lying around.

Cannonball Adderley - Pisces: Allison's Trip

Emmett, curious about how your sign is depicted on Love, Sex, and the Zodiac?  Here you go! Happy bday old man.

Billy Joel - Say Goodbye To Hollywood (live)

Solaris - You And Me

Great message, great groove. And yeah, there's a little flange (or chorus?) on the hi-hat.

Alexander - Working My Way 

Warning: French vocalist singing in English.

Polly Brown - Up In A Puff Of Smoke

A pop song should be like a roller coaster you want to ride again and again.

new Viva show (#142) in the archive

Don Covay - It's Better To Have (And Don't Need)

Saturday Night Special

Honk - Hesitation

Featuring a horn riff worthy of Steely Dan and a très chic chord change at 0:32 (and 0:50 and 1:39, etc.)

 Graeme Edge Band - The Tunnel

The Shocking Blue - Beggin'

Featuring the invigorating and erratic Cornelis van der Beek on drums.

The Politicians - Free Your Mind
  
a stagecoach production 

L'infonie - Mantra (excerpt)

full version available on compact disc

 Hartley C. White - Everybody Loves A Winner

Thanks Zach Phillips for the peel-off on this one, a jam that is truly and utterly out to lunch, in the best sense of the phrase.

Go here and here to hear more music from Hartley, and read an extensive interview here.

ST-4 - Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys

Hey friends, did you know that Zach Phillips of Blanche Blanche Blanche did a guest mix for us? Well, he did, and you can listen to it here.

You can also find myriad sounds from Zach and his brethren at OSR Tapes, and pre-order the new Blanche Blanche Blanche LP forthcoming on NNA Tapes.

Sunny Adé & His African Beats: Ja Fun Mi (instrumental)
Still fresh after 30 years. Let's get this weekend started!

[History behind the picture.]

The Monotones - What Would I Do

For a brief window of time and space -- say 1963-1964 in Britain -- this was the sound.  The children in the film 7 Up can be seen cutting a rug to this circa 4:40 in this clip.

Greg Condon

Terry Reid - Fooling You

Greg Condon

Joe Cuba Sextet - Gimme Some Love (Dame un Poquito de Cariño)

Greg Condon

Janet Greene - Poor Left Winger

Greg Condon

Roger Waters - The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)

Greg Condon

Michael Franks - Monkey See-Monkey Do

 

new Viva show (#140) in the archives

While I'm regathering the energies to search for "new" music, I made this little trip down memory lane. Every song on the playlist had to meet three criteria:

1) I had to remember hearing it prior to 1983.
2) I had to have at least a vague recollection of listening to it in a particular location, or staring at the album cover, that kind of thing.
3) I had to want to listen to it now (2013).

So, the result is maybe not too far from a mixtape I would've made aged 9 or younger. All except the opening excerpt, which is taken from a British kids' TV show Davy put me on to, and is meant to serve a similar purpose as the opening lines of Joyce's Portrait of the Artist.

I recognize that this post and this playlist are self-involved. Does that (the recognition) make it OK?

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gesang der Jünglinge

Still trying to get the wheels in motion for 2013. In the meantime, I ask: has a stranger piece of music been produced before or since? 

2012: The Year In Review

General Strike - My Other Body
Walter Wanderley Trio with Astrud Gilberto - It's A Lovely Day Today
Brigitte Fontaine & Areski Belkacem - Cher
Pentangle - Willy O'Winsbury
Pierre Laniau - Petit Musique de Clown Triste 
Philip Catherine - Jeux Interdits
10cc - Gismo My Way
China Crisis - No More Blue Horizons
The Kinks - I Go To Sleep (demo)
Carole King - Porpoise Song (demo)
Modern Eon - Choreography
Bent - Stay The Same
Skeeter Davis - Give Me Death
Cocteau Twins - Watchlar
The Field Mice - Let's Kiss And Make Up
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin - Henry And James
Ryuichi Sakamoto & Robin Scott - The Left Bank
Los Relampagos - Danza Del Fuego
Richard Berry & The Pharaohs - Louie Louie

Here are my top finds of the year, as near as I can make out, listed in order of post-date. Many thanks to all who listened and/or commented over the course of the year. Wishing you all a spacious 2013.

artwork by Yokoo Tadanori

Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Crystal Fighters - Champion Sound (Psychemagik remix)

This has the sickest bagpipeësque riff in it since at least Big Country... or maybe ever?

Thanks idk for the .gif.

The Oceans - Super Snooper

In 2013, always remember: you are a super snooper.

Darlene McCrea - My Heart's Not In It

This was on one of those Yo La Tengo mixtapes that were recently made available for purchase for a very short period of time. I've been trying to figure out what makes the soundscape extra creamy here. There's at least two guitars and a piano on the backing track, and loads of fabulous reverb on everything. Then Darlene's voice and its attendant reverb really push the cream factor over the top. The fact that it's mono helps too.

By the way, Darlene McCrea was in the Cookies.

Rufus - Walkin' in the Sun

Written by Jeff Barry.  In his own words:

"My father was blind, and the inspiration for the song came from an incident [that took place] when I was a teenager.  I was walking with my dad in New York City, and it was late in the afternoon.  We were a little chilly, as the tall buildings were shading the sun.  My dad said, 'Is the sun out on the other side of the street?'  Well, of course it was.  I wrote the song about 25 years later and I didn't realize that the song title came from that day 'til years after that."
 
This anecdote, a version by Barry himself which you will listen to over and over again, and much more, including graphics that may or may not induce seizures, may be found here.

Richard Berry and The Pharaohs - Louie Louie

Had you heard this original version before? I had not, until a week or so ago when I happened upon it while making this all-1957 playlist. Note the rare (for the time) straight-eighths feel, as opposed to the more common (for the time) swing/shuffle rhythm. Call it proto-funk, if you will. The only other tune of similar vintage I can think of with a similar feel is this.

I also love this youtube comment on the song, signed by "old guy", which makes you think about how this must have been the jam when it came out:

"I remember riding in the back seat of my brothers 49 merc sled and him telling me to try to look cool and slouch down in the seat... anyway him and his buddy Cooper were head bobbin and cruisin with there eyes barely above the window and the radio was cranked up to this tune. The one and only ever version for me ever since."  

From the archives [1/26/07]

William DeVaughn: Be Thankful For What You Got

"Diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging the scene with a gangster lean..."

A mini soundtrack for a drive around your hood. I love how the vocals start and immediately an organ swells as if the car he's lucky to be sitting in just pulled away from the curb. This groove hit #1 on the R&B charts for good reason. Stacked with some great instrumentation the song sashays easily down the street. The vocals are smooth with hints of Curtis Mayfield. The vibraphones just add to the feeling that the windows are down and loose clothes abound.

Inga Humpe - Moon

There's a TV commercial I remember really liking as a kid. I don't remember what the commercial was for, but in it there was an image of a very big moon above a house on a lake at night, and all the lights were on in the house and there was some kind of dinner party in progress. There may have also been classical music playing. This song is the closest I've come to recapturing the feeling of that commercial.

Written by Inga Humpe. Produced, programmed and Mixed by Fischerman's Friend & Thomas Fehlmann at Love Park Studio, Berlin. 

The Jackson 5 - I'm Your Sunny One

I think it's safe to say that Michael enjoyed singing a great deal.

This track is available on this.

Apologies for the llamas; I gave up image-searching after three minutes so I could go to sleep.

new Viva show (#139) in the archives

The concept behind this one is you pop into a malt shop on a snowy day in NYC while doing last-minute Christmas shopping circa 1957, and this is playing at the malt shop (or something like that). You can stream it at your leisure here.

The Ornette Coleman Trio - European Echoes

Meanwhile, in Stockholm...

Syl Johnson - Different Strokes

"In Russia, the Moscow Forum. I packed it three nights in a row. It was so crazy, the people went wild over the music. And the women out there were tall and slender -- tough but good looking. It's beautiful women in Brazil too, but America has the finest ladies. I remember I had sex with two different women out of my country -- there was one in Japan and one in England, that's it. But I don't care about the women -- fuck that! I go for the money!"

-- Syl Johnson, in the Village Voice, in response to a question about the craziest place he had played.

The Feelies: The High Road

Les Garçons - Dans Quelques Minutes

This would make for some mighty hip hold music. 

Orchestra Baobab: Coumba

Let the sunshine in.

Jessica Pratt -
Bushel Hyde
Half Twain the Jesse

I feel that Ms. Pratt is feeling her music very deeply. You can possess this record on mp3 or vinyl.

Blanche Blanche Blanche - That's Siberia

This was one of my picks after trawling through the music of 2012 for about two weeks. It's a little outré, I suppose, but I like what these folks are doing, and I fully endorse the semi-atonal keyboard solo. You can procure their music on mp3 or vinyl. I'll take the link down in about a day.