With this tune Roxy Music not only kicked off their first album but their entire legendary career with a blaster! It sets up the general tone of the band as retro and futuristic at the same time, as well as providing jazz-like mini solos for each of the individual artists featured. To get an even better big picture view of what they were putting out there in 1972, here’s a televison performance of the same tune. Dig the primitive video synthesizer textures!
“Innervisions” is one of Stevie Wonder’s greatest artist achievements. It is a grand statement of the underprivledged class living in the United States. Wonder not only wrote and arranged every song on the album, but played nearly every musical part himself. The opening track sets the tone perfectly, a funk song song about the very real need to escape the pressures of inner city life while poor through illicit drug use.
For their first few albums Depeche Mode took great care in how they opened and closed their full lengths. The opening track would almost certainly set the tone for the proceedings and the closing track would be a heavy-duty epic. For their larger than lfe sixth album, “Music For the Masses”, they came up with possibly the best opening track of all time. Themeatically, it has more than a passing resemblance to The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting for the Man”. Photographer Anton Corbijn created a humorous/surrealistic take on the tune in the video above that is well worth clicking full screen for. Enjoy!
Al Jourgensen took his Ministry project through many different phases before ascending to indie rock legend. First it was a new wave band and then a club hit project. Working with Adrian Sherwood on his second album “Twitch” led to a more industrial sound. It wasn’t until he mixed heavy metal and rock ‘n’ roll into the mix (thanks to side project Revolting Cocks) that Jourgensen began to see significant returns on his work. While still utilizing some electronic music production style, the fourth Ministry album “The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste” signaled a sharp right turn into a more traditional rock sound and typifies the industrial rock sound. Here, the opening track sets the listener up for what exactly is about to go down: “We’re gonna rip this motherfucker off. We’re going to tear this motherfucker down.” Headphones definitely recommended!
Back in 1989, TV network ABC took a big chance by signing weird movie maker David Lynch to helm a one hour prime time weekly drama. The gamble paid off as the pilot episode for “Twin Peaks” scored the highest Thursday night prime time ratings for the network in four years. Twin Peaks fever broke out worldwide. This fever even reached as far as the club and rave music worlds as Moby lifted the melody for “Laura Palmer’s Theme” for his smash hit “Go”. RIP Angelo Badalamenti!
A tactic The Beatles used to deal with their massive fame was to record and send Christmas messages to members of their fan club. Between 1963 and 1969 they took time out to record Christmas wishes, skits and other silliness, as well as songs to send in leiu of writing back to the throngs of letters they received throughout the year. Here’s a bit of what they came up with in 1967, considered by many to be the most accomplished of the holiday recordings. It serves as only one of two recordings credited to all four Beatles, as well as featuring the vocals of producer George Martin. Ho Ho Ho!
In 1977 Jim Henson created a holiday special about animals, barbecue and washtubs. It’s essentially “The Gift of the Magi”, but set in Appalachia. Here’s a tune from it about enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
Alvin and The Chipmunks was an audio gimmick that has proven to stand the test of time. Ross Bagdasarian experimented with speeding up vocal tracks for the novelty hit “Witch Doctor” and parlayed this success with the creation of a three part harmony group of anthropomorphized rodents. This venture has proved profitable well into the 21st century. Here is an approximation of what the original Chipmunks’ voices sounded like. Also: Santa Claus is not real! Happy Holidaze!
Before they became the Kings of Glitch, Autechre could put together some pretty and emotive tunes. Here’s a piece of theirs from 1995 showcasing some cool, calm and downright forelorn vibes. Perfect for these dark and dreary days of late autumn here in the Northern hemisphere.
It’s Thanksgiving week once again here in the US. Time for another tune of thanks, this time from The Gladiators. In classic Jamaican style, the origins of this recording are murky. A very similiar version was recorded by Yabby You, but this one appears to be a Tony Robinson production for Virgin Records. Regardless, it’s a Roots classic. Enjoy!
We’re pleased to announce the release of Lord Dubious’ debut full length release. Entitled “Opening In”, it features eleven soundscapes written and recorded over several years. Check the video for “Singularity” below and watch out for the full album release here and on Bandcamp December 2, 2022.
Order the digital album on Bandcamp or get the physical edition here on the site.
Gal Costa was one of the architects of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil, which fused traditional music with the avant garde, rock and roll as well as politics. As well as being an expert interpreter of some of Brazil’s finest songwriters, she was a major writer as well. As evidenced in the song above, she was an impassioned singer and performer. Rest in peace.
Another kindly reminder to use your power to vote. We’ve got to get over before we go under!
Halloween is here. Folks play “dress up” all the time. Different activities call for different fashion choices. Work, school and special occasions are all deemed appropriate for changing one’s looks. There is apparently an unspoken social code that determines when and how someone should dress, leaving many to feel judged and alienated just by what they feel comfortable wearing and how they externally express themselves. This song is expressly for those people and, subsequently, will always be a classic.
However, I’m not sure anyone was really desiring an “unplugged” version of this club staple but just in case you are one of those, here it is:
Here’s an unpleasant little ditty about a real life horror story, courtesy of Big Black. Twenty-five residents of the small town of Jordan, Minnesota were charged with sexually abusing children of the community at sex parties. Only one was prosecuted successfully. Take a look at the lyrics in the video description for further unpleasantness, if you dare…
D-Styles is a California based turntablist, DJ educator and member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. He crafts his songs entirely by manipulating pre-existing sounds. This track is taken from his full length release “Phantazmagorea”, which focuses on the darker side of life (to say the least!) The backwards beat, minor key melody and screaming samples all add to the spooky mix.
Given their name, I don’t think anyone could expect anything classy to come from the band Butthole Surfers. Their third LP, “Locust Abortion Technician” may be their most wild ride, featuring cover art courtesy of serial killer John Wayne Gacy and ending with this dirge set to a tale of sexual abuse. Happy October, everyone!
“Blackbird” is a pretty great song. It is definitely in the top five of McCartney Beatles tunes, which is really saying something!
Actor, producer, comedian and writer Bob Odenkirk wrote this piece, imagining a very awkward origin story for the song. If you’ve watched the entirety of the documentary “Get Back” you may laugh at how plausible the whole interaction is!
Horace Andy’s 1972 hit “Mr. Bassie” has had a fruitful career all its own. Here is the original recorded for the almighty Studio One:
Here is another version recorded during the “Rockers” era in Kingston. The dread factor is significantly jacked up on this one:
In the digital dancehall era from the late 80s on to today, you can hear other artists voicing over the distinctlve riddim:
And just recently Mr. Andy revisited the tune himself, with an updated production by Adrian Sherwood:
Can’t help but include an Augustus Pablo cut, for dread measure:
Daniel Miller is the founder of Mute Records and a bonafide synth-pop impresario. It is not uncommon for technically savvy producers to have favorite pieces of gear to help them establish a kind of sound that works for them. In this clip ( at the 6:51 mark), Miller explains his own go-to piece of kit:
Here is an example of it in use, as described, in an early Depeche Mode production:
You can still hear its influence on his productions in the early 90s, as well:
One of my own favorite uses of this synth/sequencer combination comes from the one-off project Duet Emmo, a collaboration between Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert of the band Wire and Miller:
Truly this presents a great example of one tool set being utilized to the fullest for some great and long lasting results!