Sunday 21 February 2010

REVENGE OF THE ATTAQUE OF TEATIME PSYCHOTROPICKS


Originally compiled for my friend Trix; a spiritual sequel to my 2007 'Teatime Psychotropics' compilation of transatlantic 1960s psychedelic pop. A few non-UK/US groups. Mostly obscurities. Goes from the baroque and whimsical to more garage rock-y in the second half. Contains the best cover of Tomorrow’s ‘Real Life Permanent Dream’ you will ever hear. Non-aficionados of the era should probably steer clear and listen to fucking Deerhunter or something.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ynt2ey2kgdy

1. Scarecrow’s Love Affair - Blues Magoos
2. Time Track - Skip Bifferty
3. Life Is Short - Billy Nicholls
4. What Does It Feel - The End
5. When The Alarm Clock Rings - Blossom Toes
6. The Birthday - The Idle Race
7. Yo Recuerdo Mi Mundo - Los Shakers
8. 14 Hour Technicolour Dream - The Syn
9. Wake Up Cherylina - The Smoke
10. Real Life Permanent Dream - Orange Machine
11. Starvation - The Golden Dawn
12. Feathered Fish - The Sons Of Adam
13. The Letter - The Mops
14. Changing The Colors Of Life - Los Chijuas
15. All Night Stand - The Thoughts
16. 99th Floor - The Moving Sidewalks

Saturday 6 February 2010

Enter The Magical Mystery Chambers (2009)


Every bit as awesome as you'd hope for. Unlike Danger Mouse's excellent Jay-Z/White Album mashup, most tracks here do not actually utilise Beatles samples as the basis for a cultural conflation. Rather, Caruana exploits obscure instrumental Beatles cover version: latter-day RZA-like horn motifs blowing soulfully away on Macca's 'Live and Let Die', a Hammond organ riff on 'And I Love Her', or at one point, oddly, a surf instrumental to the tune of 'You Won't See Me'... Cheeky and potentially disastrous, but it works. The overall quality of produckies is high, Caruana is an ace mixer who fills in the gaps inventively; and the Beatles seem little more than a convenient melodic device for a hip-hop redux. Cause let's face it, they were a hook factory.
The rhythmic instincts and sometime 'lyrical esoterics' of the Wu are carried through, but given a new lease of life with fresh beats that merely happen to be reappropriated from Thee Hoali Beetles canon. It's a hardcore hip-hop album first and foremost.
Vocals are lifted from not just Wu-Tang tracks but also the respective members' solo careers, it's gloriously l-o-n-g, the Beatles/Ol' Dirty Bastard skits are classic (heareth) and it's freeeeeee. Or at least it was until the bandcamp.com profile got taken down. Haw haw.

Click the picture above before this shit gets removed by the EMI attack dogs!

One of the few instances of extensive Beatles hook-sampling, this one from 'She's A Woman' with a Ghostface Killah vocal overdubbed:



Dedicated to the late, great Dirt McGirt. If there is a heaven he is up there getting wrecked.

Friday 5 February 2010

That Motown Sound


A cottage industry that was churning out 110 Top Ten hits like nobody's business between 1961 and 1971; whose productions possess a timeless-yet-nostalgic quality that reduces music snobs and casuals alike to a quivering heap; that was Motor City's largest export after automobiles (and certainly the more culturally significant); to which generations of musicians and songwriters are indebted; the soul/R&B Mecca-Eden and the driving force behind the Northern Soul 'pre-rave' phenomenon in the UK...
What pop music witchcraft is this?
That's a question which I as a lowly music fan am not qualified to answer, but here's a succinct passage poached from that ever-questionable academic resource the Wikipaedos:

Motown’s music was crafted with an ear towards pop appeal. The company specialized in a type of soul music it referred to with the trademark "The Motown Sound". The Motown Sound was typified by a number of characteristics: the use of tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call and response singing style that originated in gospel music. In addition, pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided; Motown producers believed steadfastly in the ''KISS principle'' ("keep it simple, stupid"). Read the rest as you listen, fascinating stuff!



Great, but it doesn't satisfy my affinity for pointless comparative analysis... Ever seen a classic Martin Scorsese movie, noticed his tendency to big, upbeat orchestral soul? That's one aspect of Motown Records. In fact even in the incredibly unlikely case that you've never even heard of Motown, you will definitely have come across at least one of the songs included here during your lifetime; it will take a cattle prod to the withered memory bits o' your brain - as if you're revisiting a long-forgotten childhood... via the gift of ECT.

It's just that 60s magic to some extent, that is: the clean-but-not-over-processed-to-tawdry-shit analogue production, the guitar sound, the characteristic effects and instruments of the era; but it's also the Motown THING. Is it in-house session musician icons the Funk Brothers, the stock songwriting teams (which included flagship singers like Gaye, Robinson and Wonder)?; or is it simply the perfect combination of time, place, passion and inspiration? Probably... What do I know.

So, not to be missed. Should you even consider yourself something of an expert on the classic single-oriented era of Motown, this'll still knock you for six - 38 tracks! But it goes by in a flash, there is plenty of space for the less familiar stuff and each song retains an unmistakable identity. Despite the classic Motown remit outlined above there is considerable variety - check out the gritty, psychedelic garage stomper below!... The total euphoric effect of all this is something like a whirlwind. They truly had pop music down to a science.



...But there's one catch which I have to apologise for. I acquired this in 2007, and it served as my official introduction to a bedrock of popular culture that had somehow been omitted from my upbringing. Unfortunately the mp3s are in 128kbps. I've scoured the blogosphere and online retailers, but nothing matches the title... this first-class delight of a compilation is likely some blogger's one-off. To some people this won't make a difference, but to the rest of you I would still implore you to take the dive.
On the plus side, the occasional dodgy high-ends in the sound neatly replicate the experience of listening to the songs through a transistor radio on the kitchen table in 1966, or dusty old vinyl. If you can find a collection on a par with this in better quality... you are a better man than I, and you should share the wealth in the comments box forthwith.
cheers, J x

Partario Wun
Partario T'u

(Tracklisting in comments)