Its been a while since my last Lily Allen post (and still many of the visitors to the site are looking for Lily), so here’s a little compilation for you all to nab. Its the originals of all the tracks Lily samples on her album, and a few others that may or may not have been influences. Hold on to your rib cage while I tell you its called “Alright, Steal”… I know don’t give up the day job!
If I’ve missed any samples or you think I should add a track please leave a comment.
For download links see the end of the post, and let me know if it works?
Also here’s a tasty South London remix of LDN by Hard-fi’s tour DJ WrongTom
If you’re a Lily fan can I strongly advise you listen to Adele (here). “Daydreamer” will break your heart.
1. Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy
“Emmanuelle In The Mirror”
“Littlest Things”… well it’s an obvious Cat Stevens steal surely?? Apparently not, it’s actually based on two tracks from the Soundtrack to Sylvia Kristel’s 70’s soft-core porno classic Emmanuelle.
Pierre Bachelet (1944 - 2005) (co-writer with musical director Herve Roy) was a French singer-songwriter specialising in dreamy romantic vocals. Lily uses “Emmanuelle in the Mirror” and an instrumental version of the title theme, minus Pierre’s whispered voice.
Director Just Jaeckin (both a name and a descriptive term for what most 70’s teenagers did while watching) was asked by dvdmaniacs why he chose Pierre Bachelet to write the score?
How did you choose Pierre Bachelet to write the score?
I did a small TV fashion series, and Pierre was involved in putting some music into the finished project. We became friends, and when I finished Emmanuelle we talked to some very good musicians and singers to work on the score. They would all say no, we don’t want to be involved in an erotic film, so I told Pierre he had to do the music himself (Serge Gainsbourg turned it down, later regretting the decision when the single sold millions). We pushed him to sing the song, and when we heard him sing the first time, we said it was perfect.
2. The Soul Brothers
“Free Soul”
On “Smile” the wonderful summer ska sound and keyboards are taken from “Free Soul“, a 1969 track by The Soul Brothers.
Produced by the legendary Coxsone Dodd, with piano from Studio One’s very own Keyboard King Jackie Mittoo, it’s certainly an inspired choice to pilfer.
3. Professor Longhair
“Big Chief”
Taking a break from rifling through old reggae compilations for samples, “Knock ‘Em Out” finds Lily heading to New Orleans and snatching some Mardi Gras magic courtesy of the “Big Chief”.
Saint Henry Roeland Byrd, Fess, “the Picasso of keyboard funk” the list of Professor Longhair’s (1918-1980) aka’s and nom de plumes are almost as huge as his reputation and influence. Known for his unique piano playing style, creating entire solos on a limited range of notes “Big Chief” is one of his signature tunes, and no compilation of New Orleans funk would be complete without this track.
“In 1964, songwriter/performer Earl King and arranger/bandleader Wardell Quezergue brought Fess into the studio to record “Big Chief”, which King had written years earlier. They surprised Fess, who hadn’t been active in a while, with a big session, including a large horn section. As it turned out, the song ended up being about five minute long and was split up on the A and B sides of the record, with Part 1 being instrumental, and Part 2 having Earl King singing the lyrics and whistling as the song faded. While King wrote the lyrics and the basic song structure, I am sure it was Professor Longhair who devised the finger-tangling piano riff that few people other than he could ever play well. Also, it is said that, in rehearsal, Fess showed drummer Smokey Johnson the syncopated beat he wanted by playing it on a cardboard box.”
4. Lord Kitchener
“London Is the Place for Me”
“London Is the Place for Me” is not actually sampled by Lily, but I’m sure she’ll have heard it before, and for me at least it’s the “LDN” of its era. It’s possible to draw a lyrical line back from Lily Allen to Kitcheners tales of London fifty years ago.
Calypso star Lord Kitchener (real name was Aldwyn Roberts) arrived in 1948 on the SS Empire Windrush with the first wave of West Indian migrants invited to work in post war Britain.
Newsreel footage of the time has Kitchener on the docks brimming with optimism, and singing “I’ve been travelling to places years ago, but this is the place I want to know.” It’s a giddy tribute to a city he had never lived in before, with a piano evocatively recreating the chimes of Big Ben.
It’s so upbeat and positive it seems churlish to note that by 1952 he was singing “I regret the day I leave sweet Jamaica, if I had wings like an airplane, I would fly to that blessed country again.“, and he returned disillusioned to Trinidad in 1962. Kitch did however enjoy massive success in England, with Princess Margaret known to be one of his biggest fans.
5. Tommy McCook & The Supersonics
“Reggae Merengue”
Lily’s love of vintage reggae must be putting a huge grin on the Trojan Records accounts department. LDN’s trademark horn stabs are lifted wholesale from the glorious calypso of “Reggae Merenge” by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics. Tommy McCook (1927 - 1998) was quite simply a bonafide Jamaican legend whose trademark tenor sax blessed many a reggae classic. A founding member of The Skatalites, who as in-house band for Coxsone Dodds Studio One created the ska sounds for groups like The Wailers, The Ethiopians and The Maytals.
After the Skatalites split, McCook went on to form the “Supersonics” for Coxsone’s deadly rival Duke Reid and his Treasure Isle Studio. As band leader and musical arranger he oversaw a string of hits for the label, as well as helping to develop Rock Steady and Reggae, having already overseen the birth of Ska with the Skatelites.
6. Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy
“Theme from Emmanuelle (Instrumental)”
“Littlest Things” samples the instrumental version of Pierre Bachelet’s dreamy title music to the 1970’s soft-core classic, as well as the previously mentioned “Emmanelle in the Mirror”.
7. John Holt
“For The Love Of You (Original version)”
“Friend of Mine” takes its hammond keys and summer reggae-lite feel from John Holts “For The Love of You”, or at least I think it does as the history of reggae features more than a few covers of this Isley Brothers original.
For non Reggae fans John Holt is perhaps most famous for cover versions, his covers album “1,000 Volts of Holt” remains one of the biggest selling reggae albums of all time. His version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It through the Night” made the top 10 in the UK. Returning the favour Blondie had a huge hit with a cover of “The Tide Is High” originally recorded by John as a member of “The Paragons”.
“For The Love of You” does feature on “1000 Volts of Holt” but in a slightly different version to the one Lily samples (I think). In order to make them more palatable to the UK market and more likely to get airplay, Trojan Records frequently overdubbed lush strings to the Jamaican master tapes.
Released towards the end of 1973 the original was produced at Vincent “Randy” Chin’s Studio 17 by Chins son Clive with backing by the In-Crowd. It’s a straight up summer anthem, as X says a “masterful interpretation and the epitome of Jamaican soul”. Holt’s voice is simply stunning, and the beat coupled with killer keyboard work adds up to make this an irresistible reggae soul classic.
8. Origin Unknown
“Valley of the Shadows”
“Cheryl Tweedy“, the b-side to “Smile” liberally steals from one of the biggest drum & bass tracks of all time “Valley of the Shadows” by Origin Unknown.
Created in 1993 by a 15 year old Andy C (Andrew Clarke) and his mate Ant Miles, it took its famous “long dark tunnel” sample from a BBC QED documentary featuring a woman s near death experience during labour (along with that old chestnut Lyn Collins “Think” for the drums). It’s a dark-core jungle style track with heavy breakbeats and twisted synth hooks… a repeated “31 seconds loop” was taken from one of the NASA Space missions.
9. 50 Cent
“Window Shopper”
Taken from 2005’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin” Soundtrack Fiddys “Window Shopper” is warped into one of Lilys best and certainly funniest tracks “Nan, you’re a Window Shopper”. Almost every line is parodied, so 50’s “nigga when we rollin’, rollin’, rollin’” becomes“There’s a leak in your colostomy bag… It’s got a hole in hole in hole in…“. Its essentially a cover version just with lyrics guaranteed to make you grin.
10. Bob Marley & The Wailers
“Burnin’ & Lootin’”
Technically I’m not sure if Lily samples this, but it’s certainly the basis for 50 Cents original “Window Shopper”. Scratch magazine found it: “a little strange to hear Bob Marley’s signature anthem for insurrection being used by 50 Cent to brag about blasting thieves and sexing freaks. However, C. Styles and Sire seem to find the original natty dread’s “Burnin’ and Lootin’” (from Burnin’, 1973) the right inspiration for a slicked-up interpolation which shines up the original songs keys with a brighter, lighter touch”.
11. The Specials
“Blank Expression”
“Friday Night” certainly has a darker Specialsy “Ghost Town” feel to it, but I’ve included “Blank Expression” (from their 1979 debut album) instead as Lily covers it for an “itunes only” bonus album track. Terry Hall is the master of taking rocking Jamaican rhythms and undercutting them with a world weary, bathetic, English drone, while Lily at her best carries on Hall’s fine tradition of white boy or should I say girl reggae.
Download the album as a zip here. Download the art work by visiting here. Thanks to stop.me for the art (and please let me know if it works?)
Adele. Actually that may be stretching the truth… I didn’t spot Ms Van Outen until after Adele played, infact Fear of Flying were mid way through their set, and I suppose now you mention it Adele isn’t actually a band, but it beats the alternative post title of “Singer/Songwriter roundup”! (UPDATE: Apparently Natalie Portman was there… so maybe I don’t know my Portmans from my Van Outen’s)
I’m not sure if singer/songwriter is the correct pigeon hole, but either way I seem to have featured a vast amount of acoustic guitar toting acts on this blog of late. So in a bid to separate the good from the James Blunt I thought I’d round up four of the best… after that I promise to stop going on about them for a while. We’ll have some gabba techno or something next week.
Adele
“Listen To This” my occasional review feature is usually a place of stern judgement, sarcasm, and a unrivalled chance to slag off other peoples favourite music. Last time (here) however Adele’s “Daydreamer” reduced three hardened critics to a soft blubbery mass of loved up enthusiasm… “I fall in love with this track each time i hear it“, “Awesome…perfectly measured… truly first album material” and perhaps most well judged of all “stop reading this nonsense and go listen to someone with real talent.”
On Monday in what I can only assume was an inadvertent case of putting the gig poster upside down I caught Adele live, supporting Tilly & The Wall, and Fear Of Flying. On record Adele’s vocals are beautiful, live they’re simply breathtaking, to the point that you stand there thinking “Where on earth is that voice coming from?“… it must be a trick. This is despite the fact she said her voice was going, due to a gig at the cavernous, and acoustically terrible St James Church the previous night.
Highlights of an unfortunately short four or five song set were the nu-jazz, almost scat of “My Same“, and of course the gorgeous “Daydreamer“. For some reason everytime I hear her I cant help but think who she sounds like… in the course of one song I went from being definite she was the spit of Nicolette, before a particularly powerful bit of vocal changed that to Jill Scott. In truth her voice is like the best bits of about a dozen great singers from Jazz to pop, and its that unusual mix that makes her sound like…well…Adele.
Over the past couple of years I’ve raved extensively about Manchester’s best kept secret Stickboy, and checking his Myspace page I see that he’s sharing two of his best songs for free, nothing, nada. What better excuse for a quick plug could there be. Get them quick before he realises his mistake.
“Green Eyes” and “Shiver” are two good examples of the wonder that is Craig Edmondson aka Stickboy. There’s just a hint of Badly Drawn Boy before he got bloated, and perhaps a dash of Dylan. Everytime I listen to to him (and check my lastfm stats I listen a lot) I’m amazed he hasn’t been snapped up yet. If you’ve got a spare fiver you’d be mad not to nip over to Piccadillyrecords.com and grab the remaining copies of his last album.
Stickboy has also sprinkled some of his gold dust onto fellow Mancunian singer songwriter, the beautiful Rachel Kichenside. Stickboys version of her “Any Minute Now” can be heard over on Rachel’s Myspace site which is worth checking out for the original too. I recently complained that if Stickboy didn’t come back to the capital for a gig soon I’d be forced to kidnap him, in response Rachel kindly emailed me to offer her assistance in any Stickboy snatching plan. So while youre at it buy Rachel’s Demo Cd too, and fund the “Kidnap Stickboy conspiracy”.
Many apologies for posting another track/artist that I’ve only just featured (see “Listen to this”), but Jackamo is another new singer songwriter that has to be heard. If you’re a fan of John Martyn or Micah P Hinson then its 100% guaranteed that you’ll love Mr Brown. Its bluegrass, its folk, its gorgeous.
Four songs are available for download from his myspace, with the pick of the bunch being “Lay Low” and “Prayer for slow death”. Visit Jackamo’s Myspace for the other two.
He was also good enough despite my quips about him ironing his jeans to email thanks for the review, and to suggest a few artists he’s currently loving - a couple of which I’d never heard of. So Bright Black morning and Dan Arborise get the Jackamo seal of approval.
So thats it for the singer songwriter round up, and I didnt even mention Kate Nash, Micah P Hinson, James Yorkston, Emmy The Great etc etc. If anyone else has any tips for anyone else who must be heard, and I know there are hundreds, please leave a comment, even if its just to say these acts sound nothing like each other why do you insist on pigeon holing them!
Dingwalls, renamed Dingleberries for the night by lead singer Lovefoxxx welcomed Cansei De Ser Sexy to their second London gig in just a few days with wild abandon (or at least what passes for wild abandon in the capital). Lovefoxx is not a lady short of energy or enthusiasm, and even before CSS actually took to the stage she could be found gleefully joining the crowd dancing along to support act The 1990’s. Presumably named after the decade on which their sound is based, they were actually pretty damn good, one highlight being “My Cult Status“, with the end punch line “My Cult Status… keeps me fucking your wife“. A Bernard Butler produced album is on the way, and as they’ve also been out to Sau Paulo to record with CSS, Lovefoxxx joined them on stage for a final chaotic joint track.
After a short pause its time for as blogger The Nipper puts it “indisputably the greatest pop group in the world right now” although live they’re less electro pop and a lot more electro punk than on record. Its impossible to take your eyes off Lovefoxx or avoid being caught up in her endearingly bonkers energy rush. She stores water bottles down her top, duets with random members of the audience, hugs people, and of course throws herself into the crowd legs flailing until she is somehow returned to the stage in one piece.
They pretty much played the entire album plus a new track, with drummer and lone bloke Adriano Cintra holding it together as the four girls whipped up “a loud sweaty belter of a gig”.
“We’ve got this friend who likes to sleep with a lot of guys..she’s a girl. And she asked us to write her a song that she could sleep with guys to… so we wrote her this… “
Lovefoxxx introducing what must be the next single “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex“, which is followed by the equally wonderful “Lets Make Love & Listen To Death From Above“. Judging by the reaction on the blogs the rise of CSS won’t be slowing down anytime soon, “Wow Wow Wow… I can honestly say its the best small-venue gig I’ve ever been too… it really felt like I was part of a soon-to-be-HUGE phenomenon” said D on Myspace, while over on the UK Dance forum Drak was equally effusive:
“The best gig I have been to, ever! I am still awe-struck.
CSS are a …force of nature. Anyone who gets the chance to go and get trodden on in the stampede they inspire when they play should do so. It’s a privilege to be battered at their feet”.
Personally I wouldn’t quite go that far, but CSS are certainly a breath of fresh air in the slightly stale and overly humourless world of electro, or is it still electro clash? With fashion designers, directors, and composers among their members they’re clever without ever being arch, and can now boast a must see live show to go with their must hear LP.
Incidentally over on the Onefootball forum I stumbled across a thread by “Spearmint Rhino” who on the way to the gig entertained his mates with alternative versions of CSS’s “Lets make Love and Listen To Death from Above”. Here’s a few that made me chuckle:
Let’s Make The Beast With Two Backs And Listen To Nightmares On Wax.
Let’s Have A Screw and listen to U2. (Not too keen on this one.)
Let’s Have Some Slap and Tickle and Listen to The Invisible Skratch Picklz.
Let’s Go To Bed and Listen To . . . And They Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.
Let’s engage in frottage and listen to De Barge
Let’s Pop Your Cherry and Listen To Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.
Let’s Get Covered In Spunk & Listen To Daft Punk
Let’s indulge in some fellatio and listen to A Certain Ratio
Let’s shag and listen to Pigbag.
Let’s Indulge In Scat And Listen To Take That
Let’s Have A Foursome To The Sound Of Orson
Let’s Risk Infection and listen to “I Am The Resurrection”
Warming to their theme they moved onto the inevitable post “making love to death from above” scenario of relationship break up:
I Want a Divorce as We Listen To Sparklehorse
Remorselessly fucking over her self-esteem whilst listening to the Go! Team.
Listening To 808 State While You’re Out Shagging My Best Mate.
Cutting Her Face Out Of The Wedding Photo While Listening To Africa By Toto.
Cutting the crotches out of his best suits while listening to Misty In Roots
Let’s Move Back To Our Mam Whilst Listening To The Jam.
Receiving the Decree nisi - whilst listening to Hard-fi
Let’s Monitor Their Phone While Listening to the Ramones
Divvying Up The Record Collection While Listening to Massive Attack’s Protection
You can tell nightshifts have sapped my enthusiasm and any spark of inspiration I may have had when the concert review is shorter than a list of daft names!
“I’ll be disapointed if their new single fails to get to No.1, and while i’m in hyperbole mode get your bets down for next years “Mercury Music prize”….yes…yes..I know they havn’t even recorded the album yet!”
Music Like Dirt - 6th October 2005
My words while reviewing the Arctic Monkeys Astoria gig last year, (to be honest I’d have said the same after seeing them at the Islington Academy a few months earlier). Tonight 11 months on they were indeed crowned winners of the 2006 Mercury Prize… and did I listen to myself, and slap down a heavy wedge of cash… did I bollocks!
“Someone call 999 Richard Hawley’s been robbed“
So quipped Alex Turner as he arrived on stage to collect the £20,000 quid (which is apparently going to a secret good cause). Richard Hawley’s wife may well have told him “I’m cooking breakfast, what the f**k is the Mercury Prize?” when told by phone of his nomination, but he clearly had a little bit of a late run on the rails. In all honestly I still prefer 2002’s “Late Night Final”, if only for the unbelievable “Baby, You’re My Light(MP3)“. The Monkeys are always good for a quote or two, and as Jo Whiley wound up the show mentioning last years winners Anthony & The Johnsons, one of them (I forget who) piped up with “Guess who’s the bird now“.
Visit Mardybum.com to download loads of mp3’s… but I imagine everyone did that last year.
More prize winners to come later in the month, with the chocolate fireguard of award shows The MOBO’s. Originally set up with the honourable intention of giving some attention to “Music of black origin” traditionally ignored or at best patronised by white rock establishment (Brits, NME, Q etc.). Sadly its become little more than a record industry promotional toy, and all credibility has well and truly been lost this year with the nomination of Alesha Dixon (ex Misteeq) for best female. Alesha’s not even had a solo single released for crying out loud… How was she nominated then?? Ty posting on his myspace site suggests the same way Lady Sovereign did:
“a little birdie tells me that UK underground act The Choong Family were originally up for a Best Newcomer.. but the might of Def Jam alledgedly put a stop to that. Apparently they demanded that the MOBO commitee nominate Lady Soveriegn instead… FUCKING RIDICOULOUS POLITICS.“
Visit Ty here to read more, and go buy his album when it comes out. It says a lot about the state of Independent UK Hip Hop when a true talent like Ty has to pull his European tour due to lack of funding. A total joke… visit his myspace and show some love
Finally the MTV VMA’s took a clear lead in the race for the dullest show of the year. Organisers called the police when they realised Mos Def was in danger of doing something entertaining and worthwhile by pulling up outside the show and performing his Anti Bush, Katrina song “Katrina Clap“.
To watch Mos Def being arrested and having a good rant, watch the YouTube video here. Visit Streetknowledge.net to download “Katrina Clap”.
Part two of the Scroobius Pip & Dan Le Sac “Listen To This” special. The first part (here) ended up like some kind of musical love in with all three participants gushing praise for the others choices… will it be any different this time? Surely someone will stink the place out, and pick Razorlight or Kasabian.
Dan Le Sac: The first time i heard this track i was cooking dinner, i was making the finest omelette a man can make, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic and this crumbly mature cheddar i like. i remember the omelette because i burnt it whilst trying to get myspace to rewind back a bit, to hear this line that had caught my ear, “…adjust to rest on your sweet breast and on your torso moreso…” It instantly made me feel right, the image in my head formed so vividly, getting out the bath and lying on the bed with the wife until you dry, contentment lifting your spirits.
The track lyrically and musically covers the scale of relationships, humble begins of the acoustic guitar, the excitement of the orchestra tuning up, then the layers and layers of emotive noise. When the track finally reaches crescendo, Im always amazed how that tiny melody survives amongst the wall of sound. All this noise, all these layers of texture, i find it difficult to see how a vocal could fit this track, but it does, each lyric spurs titbits of memory to life, so much so I’m never sure which memories are mine or which are Vincent Oliver’s.
MLD: Starting off with just a plucked guitar refrain this track builds oh so slowly, creating a palpable sense of tension as if the conductor was teasing and toying with his orchestra. Allowing each player a short turn, but still constraining them, until at four and a half minutes in he can hold them no more, and signals them to explode into a cacophony of noise. Each instrument, every string, ever horn lets loose in a glorious but very brief final crescendo.
How Oliver got this sound I don’t know… Im assuming that he didn’t hire the BBC Philharmonic, but instead like The Streets “Dry Your Eyes” has a very convincing orchestral sample CD. It would be good enough with just the orchestral elements, but Vincent subtly weaves in his vocal, with fantastic lines like “adjust to rest on your sweet breast“. Vincent Oliver will be playing Reading in October with both Scroobius & Dan Le Sac, and if there were ever a good reason to visit Reading this might just be it.
The EP on Lo Recordings offshoot Loaf comes in a gorgeous limited edition only 300 ever made hand stamped art board type thingy. Get it at Piccadilly records or dubfrog.
Scroobius Pip: As soon as the vocal comes in this screams Syd Barrett for some reason. Tell a lie, as soon as the layered vocals come in. I like the atmosphere of this track. The layers of sound seem to really build up a wall of sound but when you listen its isn’t a busy a soundscape as you might first think.
Lyrically again I’m still getting a “pipers at the gates of dawn” vibe which is nice, particularly with the recent loss of Mr Barrett. Its rare to be able to balance/pull off a sound that has this much depth but still manage to keep a relaxing/ambient vibe but i think Vincent pulls it off on this track.
MLD: My younger brother firmly believes that the key ingredients to me falling in love with a tune are wiki-wiki scratching, and most import of all a 1950’s continuity announcer intoning Mr Chubly Warner style “This is a journey into sound” type phrases. Its a by-product of growing up hearing a constant loop of Coldcut, Steinski and their ilk seeping from my teenage bedroom, and here comes Kid Koala to reinforce his unjust claim. Its a symphony of scratching, has multiple stiff announcers describing the “recording process” and yes I can confirm I absolutely love it!
It goes from 0-190 in zero seconds, cutting up an obscure (at least to me) rock track or two with abandon, before switching to French accordion music, and back to a heavy guitar riff. It makes me want to sweep the dust from off my turntables, and get scratching. Catch Koala live if possible, what he can do with just a mangled trumpet sample has to be seen to be believed.
Scroobius: Ive heard Kid Koala’s name knocking about for years but for some reason have always had the idea that he was similar to Nightmares on Wax and Chemical Brothers of whom I’m not overly fond. I was pleased and surprised to find however that i was loving this track right from the start. A thinking mans DJ Yoda. A drinking mans DJ Shadow. And far more appealing to me than both.
Superbly using genres not normally mixed and scratched and creating a compelling sound. As some one who has failed at every attempt to do any “real DJing” i am always in awe of people who can fuse genres that were never intended for such (kudos to Mr Le Sac in also achieving this. And Mr Dibbs. And DJ Abilities. damn you talented types). A great track from start to finish and some one i will be looking into more. The only worry i have is whether this sound can continue to keep interest over a full album. I look forward to finding out.
Dan Le Sac: Kid Koala is a cunt, a truly talented cunt, i hate him. He is a cunt because he’s got the ability to be a twidly self indulgent scratch Dj at the same time as being catchy and completely accessible. This track show him off to his best, moving from emotive vocal chops, to cheeky accordion silliness, to beats and cuts any Rapper would be proud to spit over.He is a master of his art, better than Qbert or Mixmaster Mike because he remembers to give us a melody, better than Dj Shadow because he remembers to give us a dancefloor, and better than Numark + Cut Chemist because he isn’t a rich kid, playing at hip hop with his head up his arse. Dope! SCROOBIUS PICKS 1:
Visit:Jackamo Brown’s Myspace for 4 equally superb and totally free downloads, including “Lay Low”. Do it, no seriously!
Scroobius: Again, a track that holds its own with just guitar and vocal. To be able to stand out amongst the millions of “singer/songwriters” that have flooded the music industry since way before i was even concieved takes something special. Jackamo truly has something special. The raw quality should drag this track down but for some reason it doesn’t.
In a way i am drawn to the way that, due to the limited sound quality, the guitar piece and the vocal seem to flow as one and the same. The thing that i like the most about this track is that it isn’t by Jack Johnson, James Blunt, James Morrison or any of these other appallingly bland people that seem to be appearing with nothing more than a “J” at the beginning of their name and a mild knowledge of chords to qualify them to be forced upon my unwilling ears.
MLD:
According to his myspace profile, Jackamo spent many years living on a mountain top, studying philosophy, writing and when temptation took him ruining Jason Donavon video shoots by plugging in the fop haired popsters guitar (ok I made up the last bit). I like it when an artist builds up a myth around themself, eg Jack White and his sister/wife, but it can fall flat on its face if the music doesn’t match up. Why exactly should I read this hokum when the music’s this bad!?
Thankfully “Prayer for Slow Death” is nothing short of brilliant, reminding me of the first time I heard James Yorkston, and more recently the genius of Micah P Hinson’s first album. Jackamos deceptively simple guitar perfectly compliments his wonderfully melancholic voice. It all sounds steeped in history and bitter experience, but was in all likelyhood recorded in a suburban back bedroom somewhere, and the first take was probably ruined when his mum shouted that the lasagne was ready, and his jeans were ironed. Personally I prefer to believe the story about philosophy and the Welsh hills… and the music stands on its own whoever and wherever it was created. Another top find for Mr. Pip.
Dan Le Sac: You only have two choices when it comes to acoustic singer/songwriters, cunts who my mum like, Blunt, Johnson, who’s that new one? The clone of Chris Martin, catchy soulless empty vacant pap that people buy because is so inoffensive that they dont even notice they’re listening to music, just white noise for middle class white people. Or you can choose people like Jackamo.
I’m a sucker for it, lifted straight out of gospel and bluegrass, “Prayer for slow death” is a superb record, something about it doesn’t sit right with his background, suburban life in the London commuter belt shouldn’t be able to produce such a pure sound, but it does, I didn’t realise Robert Johnson lived in Essex. The lofi guitar and solemn voice intertwine around bleak lyrics to form something truly beautiful.
“Listen To This” is a simple concept. One music obsessed blogger recommends a couple of tracks to another audio junkie, and they do the same. My first ever pick was Scroobius Pip’s “First Time I Met Musik” which guest reviewer “Stop Me” called “relentlessly inventive… like Eddie Argos turning his hand to rap… packed with so many incredible lines that it’s difficult to get your head round“… in short I think he liked it!
Well this time around I’m pleased to welcome the man with the beard himself Scroobius Pip to “Listen To This” and offer him the chance to hopefully be equally effusive about my choices! Also joining Scroobius for this special two parter is Dan Le Sac, who’s remix of Scroobius’s “Angles” has been heavily plugged on this site before, and is a total cert for the music like dirt top 100 of 2006.
Scroobius’s debut album “No Commercial Breaks” is out NOW. You can buy it for just £7 english pounds with free p&p! Visit Scroobiuspip.co.uk… 10 tracks..1 video ..bargain.
Look out for Part two coming soon, but first up to the virtual turntable, its Mr. Pip:
Scroobius: I fall in love with this track each time i hear it. A beautifully unique voice that sounds like someone has got a map and folded it so that, for just a brief moment, South London and the Mississippi Delta have touched to create this sound. The lyrics are both witty and moving. Using modern turns of phrases and delivering them with effortless elegance. Anything more than a simple guitar accompaniment could of risked detracting from the vocal so the simplicity of the track as a whole is just perfect.
MLD: Another singer songwriter you say…and oh whats that she got her deal through Myspace… but hold on… wait a second… stiffle that yawn, Sit down and listen! Adele has no desire to be a punk rocker, and Daydreamer will quite simply steal your heart.
Apart from it being a damn good tune, the really beguiling thing about “Daydreamer” is that you can hear 18 year old Adele’s influences in her every syllable and phrasing. Theres folk obviously, but also a countryish twang, and best of all a large dash of Erykah Badu & Jill Scott. It could so easily sound awkward but for me at least its what makes her stand out from the acoustic pack. XL should consider themselves very lucky to have added her to their roster.
If picking tunes were a boxing match, Scroobius Pip would have landed a first round knockout with this one… I’ve listened to this a dozen times so far and it gets better every single time.
She claims that like every girl her age (and some boys) she was inspired by The Spice Girls so please feel free to insert some hackneyed word play about girl power, or getting what she really really wants right here, then stop reading this nonsense and go listen to someone with real talent.
Incidentally is the vinyl crackle on this deliberate? Its a nice touch if it is?
Dan Le Sac: I click on Adele’s page and said “nu-jazz, what the fuck?!” with reference to her choice of genre’s. But thank the creator this aint nu-jazz. This is soul, and i mean soul, her soul, right there coming out of the speakers. I hate female singer songwriters with a passion, all of them trying to find a catchy hook that’ll get them onto radio 1 and maybe a deal with EMI, this is truly first album material, those really good songs that people write when there not concerned with singles sales.
The minimal production is perfectly measured between subtlety and interest, she drops these harmonies in the second half that lift the track from great to awesome. I love the way she doesn’t finish her words, leaving them hanging for the listener to finish, it took me a couple of listens to assimilate her random accents but she is a child of her influences, her inflection takes from Arie to Badu to Spektor to Allen, which just serves to make Daydreamer more addictive.
Dan Le Sac: Got to admit to a conflict of interest here, essentially Saul Williams and Mike Ladd gave Hip Hop to me, the gave me Lex, Def Jux, Big Dada, Strange Famous and all the Hip Hoppers that go with them. Saul Williams fuses life experience with fictious story telling and surrealism, but somehow he stays as honest as any man can be.
Black Stacey covers some emotions you dont hear often in hip hop, it bold, he talks about a black kid dreaming about being white, wanting what being white allows you to get, this isn’t an acceptable thing to say whatever race you are, but when faced with inequality you are always gonna see that green grass and want to call it home. But this track is by no means anti-black or a gripe about racism, its simply a train of thought about youth, emotions in the context of his life. Its about being proud and honest, that kind of pure honesty that you just dont get in your average hip hop track.
The beats, builds, string and piano just add layers to his voice, his combination of spoken word, rap and soul sang vocals take the track further through his influences. This track is a call to all, a message to say, be proud of what you are, but most of all just be what you are.
MLD: While there’s no doubting that Saul Williams is a lyrical genius, his music is sometimes let down by… well, his music. The man puts more ideas, talent, and skill into each individual lyric than some manage in an entire career, but musically he can struggle to match those high standards.
Coldcut had the right idea on their magnificent Saul collaboration “Mr.Nichols”. They kept the music subtle and let the lyrics take centre stage. It has to be said that “Black Stacey” is one track where the music matches the inventiveness of the lyrics, again possibly because its kept relatively simple. The beats work, and the flute loop at the end is a delight. Hip Hop that is both intelligent, and funky, in other words exactly how it should be.
Scroobius: Im kind of bias on this one as Saul is something of a hero of mine. This track is a really great example of an amazing writer choosing to ignore the opportunity for a self gratifying flexing of the intellectual muscle in favour of getting a story and message across via an accessible beat and piano piece. Still amazingly written. A beautiful combination of expressing a distaste for the both small minded racistist idiots and the faux black power “Ive watch Malcolm X five times but haven’t even heard of Farrakhan” types. He also attacks the current mainstream hiphop scene with great eloquence. A very powerful track from one of the great poets of recent years.
MLD:“Music is my boyfriend, music is my girlfriend
Music is my beach house, music is my home town,
Music is my hot hot bed, music is my hot hot sex”
As someone who’s spent the last 20 years and more money than I care to imagine filling every inch of my flat with vinyl, and now every byte of my hard disk with MP3’s I do like a good music obsession/music solves everything track. From the stone cold classic of Sterling Voids “It’s Alright“, to the slightly less serious “Music is my hot hot sex” I seem to fall for them all.
And how can anyone not warm to a group with such batty song titles as “Lets Make Love & Listen to Death From Above“, as well as injecting everything they do with an infectious sense of creativity and fun. Originally formed in Sao Paulo as a joke by a group of fashion students, film makers and illustrators, “Music is my hot hot sex” is a good example of the CSS sound, electro but firmly pop - all delivered with a wink and a grin.
For some reason this tune reminds me of the Russian faux lesbians tAtU, which as far as I’m concerned is no bad thing (the thought of the gasps of horror and indignation from po-faced Smiths fans when Tatu covered the Smiths “How Soon Is Now” brings a smile to my face even now). Hopefully CSS will go on to take the pop chart by storm, and prove once more that “creativity” is not just the preserve of indulgent electronic acts or angst ridden singer songwriters, but can often be found most in glorious technicolour pop. I’m off to see them next week so with luck they’ll deliver live too
Dan Le Sac:
When I saw Cansei de ser sexy where up for my listening pleasure I was quite chuffed. This kind of female vocal electro is definitely my cup of tea, people like Crossover, Miss Kitten, Soffy-O (tok tok) and Peaches regularly grace my stereo, and CSS tracks like Meeting Paris Hilton and Art Bitch have very much caught my attention of late, but this is were it all goes wrong, theres something about the track as a whole that irritates me, her voice seems to lose its edge on this track, becoming a sub-standard Americanised female vocal with far to much autotune and not enough passion.
Musically its interesting but doesn’t go far enough in any direction to pull me in. All that said, the track does have some redeeming qualities, the sentiment is perfect, i like that kind of blind devotion to music, and when the track builds a little and she drops her Brazilian Rap the track nearly ticks all the boxes, it shows what CSS can do, but this is not Cansei de ser Sexy’s finest moment.
Scroobius Pip: I was quite surprised to be enjoying this track. At first i felt it would be just another of the recent wave of electro based music that has quirky vocal but with little meaning. Now i do not mean that in a derogatory way. I simply mean that it has been done so well by the likes of Le Tigre, Datarock and even LCD Soundsystem that its now becoming a very tough genre to stand out in with any real longevity. Personally i dont know if this track does that. Again though, that isn’t meant as a bad thing. Although it didn’t instantly jump out at me, on repeated listens i have very much warmed to it. The switching of language helped me to focus more on the over all sound as opposed to the quality of lyric or meaning (which i must admit i have a terrible habit of doing) and, in-turn, made it grow on me more and more.
1. Pierre Bachelet & Herve Roy
