Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - My Lord What a Morning

Good Lord.

Dick Raaijmakers - Ballad 'Erlkönig'

I find this piece uplifting, but it sounds like Dick was maybe on a little bit of a bummer when he "wrote" it. Here's the composer in his own words (translated presumably from Dutch by Keith Freeman):

"Ballad is an epic, melodramatic piece. All the sounds which occur in it are originally radio-telegraph and radio-telephone signals: signs of survival from the slums of the realms of the ether - the domain of the short waves. Ballad is characterized by the absence of both acoustic and cultural DEPTH. It has only LENGTH (= duration) and HEIGHT (= loudness). Ballad takes place in the poor man's realm of formlessness, from where incomprehensible messages, couched in tiny signals, noises, rattles, notes, chords and voices, emerge in an unbroken stream; apparently at each other's expense, but also sometimes in unsuspected blossoming configurations, they form reflections of as many human attempts to live and to survive. This reign of shadows, where meaningful and meaningless aspects of the in origin always significant human sounds continually change places, is dominated by cries, hardly by speech, and by music not at all.
In Ballad the amalgam of these cries forms the labyrinth where Erlkönig (a ruler of the Underwold) manifests himself to a little boy, who is fatally ill and is taken by his father on a swift and wild journey on horseback through an inhospitable region of darkness and threat to a castle which holds the boy's salvation. It will be recalled that Erlkönig, the father and the little boy fail to communicate with each other satisfactorily during the journey, each of them interpreting in their own way the passing nocturnal landscape and the fate it holds in store for the boy. Ballad is an account of these events: it reproduces the ever changing moods of the three in a paramusical meeting of the linguistically rich lines of Goethe on the one side with on the other hand the linguistically impoverished multi-interpretable signals from the domain of the ether.
When the cloud of dust the father has raised across the land of those bereft of language or music has dispersed to some extent, and Erlkönig's kingdom with its fairies, lakes, noises, draperies, phantoms and illusions collapses before the eyes of the accessary boy, through what we would nowadays call a neglected cold, the singing from the ether continues uninterruptedly, passing on reports of a grey continuing existence without prospects."

recording realized in the studio of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague

The date of composition is 1966, but the record's from 1981. Does that mean this was committed to tape in '66 but not pressed on wax until '81? Thoughts and suggestions welcome.

The file is 48 megabytes, btw.

Betty Lavette - Never My Love

The triumphant return of Betty Lavette to these pages.

Bobby Rush - Chicken Heads

Brigitte Fontaine - Areski Belkacem - Baby Boum-Boum

The Selectors - Pleading For Your Love

Bobby Rush - Mary Jane

Terry Melcher - High Rollers

Who is Sonny Tusk?

John Klemmer - Brazilia (Brasilia)

Hot sun and warm breezy evenings--relaxed lazy days with smooth syncopated rhythms. Thought space to dream and love--smile and cry. Time to think of things you'll never do. Ocean breaths that rush softly and strongly against sands of centuries. Old men telling tales of wisdom and truth. Joy and laughter with the community of man in a carnival of freedom. Open blue skies to fly with the birds. Exotic scents that pull you into mind and body.
    This is Brazilia. Geographically located behind the eyes and between the ears.  It's all in the way you see and feel.

(From the liner notes, but the sentiments are thoroughly endorsed.)

Léonie - En Alabama

Apparently this is how crazy things can get when J.C. Vannier writes a tune instead of just arranging one. Featuring (maybe?) the scintillating return of that sound we're thinking is strummed piano strings, as heard previously in this.

It just occurred to me that the bassline on the intro is a descendant of this.

Get ready for a refreshing flood of only the best neurotransmitters at the 0:35 mark.

Orbidöig - Nocturnal Operations

If this is midsummer, it must be time for hymns.

Perhaps this song inspired a mania for churchbells which reached its apotheosis in this.

The Mighty Clouds Of Joy - Time (extended)

So I'm kicking back on Fire Island a few weeks ago and celebrating the birth of disco (sort of) with this mix from forty summers ago... ...and I'm liking this song "Time" and I think, "Hey, is this the Mighty Clouds Of Joy? I might already have this album, if it's the same album with that life-changer from five summers ago."  And lo.

So here are some more Clouds for your delectation. Extended mix à la Moulton by yours truly. Enjoy the high-level artistry of the guitar player on the instrumental.

Regarding that bassline: Disco Inferno sounds like this, and this in turn sounds like The Four Tops, "I Can't Help Myself."

Inner Space - I'm Hiding My Nightingale 

Marie France - Daisy

Peter Gabriel - Jetzt Kommt Die Flut

Dies ist meine Marmelade.

Braid - This Charming Man

Just following up on our other Braid post from the other day. Stereo-panned twin rhythm guitars harmonically complementing each other in different registers is what a midrange afficionado like myself loves to hear, and this track's got 'em. (Come to think of it, so does this.)

Juaneco Y Su Combo - La Cumbia del Pacurro

Grateful thanks to the people at Tiger's Milk Records for peeling this off on a recent compilation. Were I a Londoner, I'd be sure to check out their restaurant too.

Bonus beats, another cut from this compilation:

Podcast #9, recorded the evening of Saturday February 15th>Sunday February 16th, 2014, part two:
stream/download here

In which our heroes Sheridan Dupre and Emmett continue their erudite maunderings. George Plimpton, Martha Plimpton, Michel Houellebecq, Julian Casablancas, and the Toronto Maple Leafs all make an appearance.

Apologies for the delay. (Although to my credit, I am posting this a full two days before the self-imposed summer solstice deadline.)

Part one available here.

#1 in the UK charts, nowhere on the US charts.

I wish I could go back in time and persuade David Gilmour to play the guitar solo.

new Viva show (#154) in the archive

Oval - Photograph

I first heard this played by Ted some years back, and it's been making the rounds over at Viva Radio. Whatever the provenance, this is a version of a song that I didn't realize I liked (the song) which weirdly gets better (the version) every time you hear it.

On a related note, you'll be relieved to hear that I finally did secure a copy of this.

Girls At Our Best - Getting Nowhere Fast

Something in the melody here has caused this to become lodged in my brain. Thought you might like to know.

SAVE YOUR DATE DJ Emmett comes alive on Saturday, June 21st (summer solstice), at 10 pm.

Cafe Dancer, 96 Orchard Street, Manhattan.

The enemy is listening. 

Pentangle - So Early In The Spring

Recorded "live" at the Royal Albert Hall, June 29th, 1968.

So here's another great hall with great acoustics, speaking of Webster Hall. It's right up there with Cleveland Music Hall. (See here for context.)

Cathy Berberian with the Juilliard Ensemble - Black Is The Colour

Arranged & conducted by Luciano Berio.

"Black is the Colour" is an American folk song with Scottish roots, re-melodicized by John Jacob Niles.

This performance was recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, December 1968. (Anyone planning to head down to Webster Hall tonight?)

Steely Dan - Rose Darling

I'm claiming this as the definitive Steely Dan deep cut. (Brooklyn, the song Gaucho, Green Earrings, Caves Of Altamira, Time Out Of Mind, Any Major Dude, the song The Royal Scam, and Midnight Cruiser don't count as deep cuts.)

The juxtaposition of this verse and this chorus yields an interesting mixture of colours/flavours. Close harmonies from Michael McDonald at 1:12. Perhaps his biggest challenge until he harmonized with himself on Peg?

The pre-chorus bit (at 1:04) reminds of this.

More Dan of Steel-related material coming tomorrow!

Danielsson & Pekkanini - Otroligt Blåst Och Dum

A question for our Scandinavian friends: Is the bit at 1:56 an old Swedish drinking song (I hope)?

Medicine Head - Rising Sun

May 16th? Feels like it's time to throw a couple of ice cold thirty packs of Stroh's in the back of the pickup truck, don jean shorts and no shirt, and head for the gorge with some Medicine Head on the box.

The Supremes - Love Is Here And Now You're Gone

So many "lost love" songs in the Supremes/H-D-H canon: Reflections, this one, Stop in the Name of Love, Where Did Our Love Go, etc. Are torch songs an endangered species in pop music these days?

The bass sound gets intriguing around the 0:36 mark, like there's chorus on it. I'm pretty sure this is because there's a Fender bass and an upright bass playing in more-or-less unison throughout.

Perhaps it was the harpsichord bit at 0:42 that earned Lamont Dozier the hard-earned sobriquet, "Black Bach"?

P.S. This is soooo much better than modern pop music!!!

The Supremes - Reflections

The psychic bow drawn at 0:40 is released at 0:50, like a corkscrew to your heart.

Holland-Dozier-Holland et al. cavorting quite near the tippy-top of Mount Parnassus on this one.

Les Espions - Casse-Tête Jungle

Some soundpillows for your spring.

Love - Can't Explain (mono mix)

Noisy proto-punk jangle from Arthur and the lads. One can easily hear why these folks covered it.

X-Ray Pop - Oh Oui J'Aime!

I wanted to post this four years ago (true!), but couldn't seem to find a copy of the record or tape (though it doesn't seem so difficult now?). Anyroad, thanks to the folks at Cache Cache for the reissue. All good things in all good time.

Killing Joke: Change

Saturday, 10 pm, 96 Orchard Street. I'll play the tuneskis, you drink the brewskis.

Edvard Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Book 1, Op. 12: No. 8. Faedrelandssang (National Song)

performed by Marian Lapsansky

Pain Teens - The Way Love Used To Be

The Move - Do Ya

Not an obscurity, but I never really paid any mind to this song or this version until it appeared in this mix. Clearly one of the great opening riffs; perhaps a descendant of this?

And yes, the image above is an ELO picture sleeve from Thailand.  Move audio, ELO sleeve. Deal with it.

SAVE THE DATE

DJ Emmett makes his triumphant return to Cafe Dancer (96 Orchard Street, Manhattan) on Saturday, May 3rd, at 10 pm.

Featuring space age relaxation for the climax of spring – electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls, and DJ Emmett.

Colin Tully - Theme to Gregory's Girl

Michael Jackson - Burn this Disco Out

Paul Williams - Nilsson Sings Newman

From the man who brought you The Rainbow Connection, or so I'm lead to believe.

Elvis Presley - Tomorrow is a Long Time

Warren Zevon - Bill Lee

It's back to baseball and another week of Greg Condon here in AD land.

 Equals - Police On My Back

Thanks to GC for the tip on this little slice of mod heaven. Many songs mention days of the week in succession (Lady Madonna et al.), but can you name another that runs the gamut from Monday to Sunday like this with no words between? (Seven days and eight beats, so you have to say "runnin'" first.)

BTW watch for some more GC contributions in the extremely near future.

Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic - Ogreyala Mesetchinka (The Moon Shines)

Thanks to Jerry for the tip on this LP. Featuring semitones microtones, and just the weirdest intervals that you ever heard.

XTC: English Roundabout

Splash into spring with a soundbath tomorrow night (Saturday April 5th) at Cafe Dancer, 96 Orchard St, 10 pm to 2 am.

Have you had your bath today?

Josef K - Revelation

"Help Mom, I'm trapped in a maelstrom of harmonically complex noise with a genuinely funky underpinning, and I'm still getting rad guitar tones."