Analogue Bye Bye - A weekly dip into the piles of old vhs’s, tapes and vinyl taking over my flat before they’re sent to the great format heaven in the sky (otherwise known as landfill). The only problem being I haven’t managed to put stuff up weekly yet, and the postmen keeps arriving with fresh vinyl despite my best efforts not to click BUY. Anyway on with the music.
Along with Coldcut, Bomb The Bass & The Beatmasters, S-Express were one of the heavy weights of the 1988/89 period when dance music first stormed the UK charts. In what seemed like an instant the leaden over produced sound of 80’s guitar bands were overwhelmed by kids with samplers and over active imaginations (oh and maybe a little chemical help too).
Sampling and cheap recording technology meant that every release could plunder a different style or genre, so Coldcut’s second hit “Stop This Crazy Thing” fused go-go with reggae, the Beatmasters came correct with Hip House, and Bomb The Bass flipped from the sampladelic joys of “Beat Dis” to UK Soul re-workings of Aretha Franklin.
In keeping with this spirit of anything goes eclecticism, S-Express main man Mark Moore called in avante-garde composer Philip Glass to remix their third single “Hey Music Lover“. Glass had raved about the post modern delights of S-Express on BBC2’s The Late Show, and Mark subsequently took the composer to an acid house club where legend has it Glass stood for a few hours head down listening intently before declaring “OK I think I’ve got the general idea“.
The track I’m posting is not the “Glass Cut” itself but the “Miller Mash Glass Smash” in which William Orbit fused together elements of the Philip Glass, Kurt Munkasci and Daniel Miller remixes. Its a demented 5 minutes 25″ of synth stabs, burbling bass lines, choral fragments and orchestra samples that blew my mind along with my speakers the first time I put it on. Minimalism meets the sampler with fantastic effect.
S-Express’s debut album “Original Soundtrack” remains a bit of a classic of the era, and “Pimps, Pushers, Prostitutes” is one of my favourite cuts. Its a warped disco house love story featuring MC Merlin as the big bragging rapper who has the money and the attitude but by the end is broken declaring “I feel so empty..last night on the sofa I cried man, I cried, for the first time in ten years I cried… I cried over you girl” Backing this up are the strident vocals of Billie Ray Martin, the chanteuse from the brilliant Electribe 101 (who I really must return to in a later post). Merlin breaks down as the chorus chants “Pimps, Pushers, Prostitutes” and Billie roars about “South Africa burning“… it should be a total mess of ideas and concepts… actually it kind of is, but what a glorious mess!
Dusting off another old Solid Steel tape takes us back to October 1991, and yet again a great show (was it ever anything less)? There’s hip-hop from Anttex, De La Soul and the World Famous Supreme Team, reggae from Sister Carol, and two mixes from Coldcut themselves (the second featuring Doc Scott & The Black Dog). The broadest beats as ever!
I’ve seen Battles described as everything from Math rock to post rock to experimental jazz metal but what I do know is they always provoke a strong reaction. Take my brother’s reaction to my wildly overexcited email about “Atlas” the lead single from the new album:
Hi Neil, I just listened to that Battles track you recommended.
What the fuck!!??!!!? It sounds like Pinky & Perky fronting Rammstein. It’s just wrong on every level, you should be ashamed of yourself for spreading this evil music!! I’m moving it to the recycle bin as soon as I’ve finished typing this!
I pointed out that he made Pinky & Perky fronting Rammstein sound like a bad thing, but to no avail. Similarly even their loyal fans often disagree, descending into unruly mobs over whether the “Mirrored” album represents them selling out or if its hugely disappointing compared to “the early stuff”. Everyone seems to agree on one thing though… they ROCK live (or math post avant-garde ROCK live at the very least).
The Scala was packed out on the inside, and queued up on the outside. A veritable bonanza for the usual tout life who were quoting £40 a ticket and getting it… London it seems definitely has its Battles.
That ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier is positioned right up front where most bands have their vocalist tells you all you need to know about how central rhythm and the drum are to the Battles sound. Sure enough mid way through the opener and Stanier looks like he’s been in the shower such is the furious energy put in to the bizarre but brilliant afro beat Umpa Lumpa mash up that is “Race In”.
Unfortunately The Scala’s stage is quite low so many in the crowd may only have witnessed the beating given by Stanier to his Cymbal positioned as it is at a ludicrous height, feet above the rest of his kit. To fully appreciate them live you have to actually “see them” and take in the intensity of the four, eyes often locked together fighting to keep the seemingly chaotic elements of their sound in time and tune. With this in mind I did hoist someone onto my shoulders for a couple of numbers, and Im told the Battles are definitely best experienced at 10ft or above. I couldn’t comment on this as I was busy simultaneously trying not to fall over whilst appearing nonchalant, and saving the person in front from being impaled on the pointy tips of my passengers boots. (I should add I do know the person on up top before anyone thinks I make a habit of randomly plucking strangers from crowds and hoisting them up startled onto my shoulders).
The single “Atlas” with its winning combination of relentless Gary Glitter beat, demonic helium assisted vocals, and laptop mangled guitar racket saw the mosh pit at its most frenzied. It was and is immense, only slightly spoiled by drummer and band slipping totally out of tune mid way through. Not everyone agreed however and Drowned In Sound user “MEGAtron” later complained that “Atlas” was embarrassing causing as it did “everyone in the crowd to start jumping from one foot to the other as if they were at a children’s party”.
The reinvention of songs from earlier EP’s also received rave reviews with TheoGB declaring that the updated version of Hi/Lo “quite simply ripped everyone a new anus!” Blogger Ssssamuel while no doubt admiring his new back passage offered a more reasoned thought on how older tunes were “reworked to sound far more focused, appropriately rampant alongside the recent material”.
By encore time there didn’t seem to be a soul inside the Scala that hadn’t been either won over or blown over by the force of Battles relentless inventiveness and power. I was certainly glad I’d moved a safe distance away from the huge speaker stacks either side of the stage. Sadly with triumph in their grasp the band let it slip with a turgid messy encore. Keyboard and vocalist Tyondai Braxton may have displayed “fucking awesome” beat-boxing skills as Citizen_meh observed in his brilliant review of the night but the other three were simultaneously playing an entirely different tune. When during the last song he started yodelling I almost forgot the greatness that had come before and sparked a stampede for the exit.
There are gigs that you leave knowing they’ll go down as the “best of the year“. There are legendary singers like Sly Stone, Curtis Mayfield or guitarists like Hendrix, who you wish you’d had a chance to see. Breathtaking entertainers like James Brown, where you give thanks for the privilege of seeing them, even in later years…
And then there is Prince Rogers Nelson. The best bits of every one of your favourite artists all rolled up in 5ft 2 inches of stone cold genius.
Gig of the year?… without a doubt. The question you’re left with after two and a bit hours twelve feet away from one of the seminal performers of the last century is…Can it actually get any better? With a bit of luck I might get another 50 years out of this body of mine… will every gig from now on be “not quite as good as that night in Camden”?
12 hours after stumbling across the concert on a music forum I found myself queuing in the pouring rain along with 899 other very over excited people lucky enough to have grabbed tickets. Even a 2 hour wait didn’t dampen the spirits as people chatted and joked, observing that the Purple Turtle venue across the road sounded like a medical condition Prince may have once suffered. Once inside, another wait till almost 20 to midnight before at last his band began to appear.
The synth player had clearly been given a “Greatest Storm Sound Effects” CD for Christmas, and he mercilessly milked the wait for his purpleness to arrive cracking that thunder for all its worth. The keyboard player on the other side of the stage worked the crowd some more (as if it was needed). Then just as I was commenting on there being no sign of a brass section, from behind came a faint sound, getting louder as the four horns played their way from the first floor past the crowd and onto the stage. Led by the one and only Maceo Parker (that’s two lifetime wishes in one evening) they were straight into a storming version of the classic “Pass The Pea’s“. The NME showing its customary knowledge of all things not white, drab and indie later reported it as an instrumental version of “Get Off“.
“B4 we get started, R we all alone?”
Looking cooler than anyone wearing a fluffy white beret, white high heels and a black 3121 suit has any right to, at last Prince slinkily took to the stage. The crowd went mad as he unleashed his jaw dropping vocals on opener “Satisfied” promising “this is gonna b a long night (cue cheers)… oh, U gonna get satisfied real soon!” The audience beamed back safe in the knowledge that they most definitly would be!
Far from the humourless Jehovah portrayed in the press, Prince was here to have fun, toying with the eager fans as he theatrically pondered what to play next. “So many hits… So little time…” Putting his finger to his chin as if to think deeply, he teased “Now lets see… I could play “Diamonds & Pearls?” (crowd goes nuts) “Poplife?” (crowd roars again) “Raspberry Berr… (crowd surprises even itself with the noise it makes)… “Nahhh” Prince says laughing “You don’t understand! I got so many hits I’d blow this place APART!”
“She had the cutest ass ever he’d ever seen”
If you take him at his word this tour will be the final time Prince EVER plays “the hits”, and “Girls & Boys” is the first classic to get an airing this evening. Its predictably brilliant, but such has been his return to form tunes from the new album don’t totally pale when held up to such greatness. With its keyboard stabs “Lolita” allows him to flirt and dance with his two outrageously beautiful twin dancers. As they circle him sexily in the shortest silver dresses you’ve ever seen, he chastises them “You’re trying to write cheques your body can’t cash“. High kicking, doing the splits, or just ferociously booty shaking, the pair dance solidly for over two hours without breaking sweat, infact some of the audience sweated more staring at them!
“People ask me why play London… well the truth is there’s nothing happening in America”
Already a modern classic, the pulsing synth and hand claps of “Black Sweat” was another highlight. Prince’s lip jutting out at unlikely angles as he hit perfect high notes, screeches, and yelps. Having only so far showed his genius on keyboard, vocals and guitar he grabbed a bass guitar and urged the crowd to chant “Prince… Why don’t you play us some bass?“. When the chant reached a level to his approval, he switched the song down into a funky as hell bass guitar solo break.
Master musician of that there’s no doubt, but also a masterful performer who knows exactly how to involve the crowd in every moment. “Kiss” was part sung by him and the audience as he turned the mic round and let us bellow those familiar lyrics back at him. Then during the extended funk jam of “Musicology” he disappeared above my head to the balcony, dancing among the crowd, leaning over the railings, and picking out members of the audience to join him on stage.
Half a dozen lucky people got to strut their stuff with encouragement from the man himself. He took a particular shine to a skinny white guy in tshirt and jeans letting him work it centre stage. The atmosphere was unbelievably relaxed and fun as he danced along, clapped or encouraged, although one girl took this openness as an invitation to plant a kiss firmly on his cheek… Prince responded by collapsing sideways to the floor panto-style in mock shock. A brilliantly funny moment only slightly ruined by what the lady in question did next.
The sight of Prince prostrate on the floor, consumed her in a red mist of lust and she hitched her skirt up, leapt on top and quite literally attempted to dry hump him in front of 900 slightly taken aback onlookers. Security sprinted to drag her off kicking and screaming away in disgrace.
Hopefully such lack of respect won’t dissuade Prince from getting the audience involved, and after a short break he returned peaking out from under a towel jokingly daring anyone else to try it! The shame to be “kissed by a stranger” he declared.
The audience members remained to dance through an inspired cover of Sly & The Family Stones “Sing A Simple Song” closely followed by another cover, this time of Wild Cherrys “Play That Funky Music“. The latter seemed to be chosen purely to showcase a slightly bewildered awkward looking member of the audience who appeared to have accidentally wandered in expecting a metal band (big black tshirt/ponytail). Prince seemed determined to coax his unlikely co-star through the song and as such had the audience sing the words at him in encouragement. By the end the guy was roaring the chorus centre stage much to Prince and the crowds delight. Charming stuff from a class act (read an account by the funky white guy himself).
Saxophonist Mike Phillips took centre stage next for a spellbinding instrumental backed only by piano. Not entirely sure what the track was…possibly a cover of “What a wonderful world” but whatever it was it was magical. Half the audience may have been doing what London audiences do, i.e. chat loudly, but the other half were utterly awestruck by the man’s skill and emotion on the sax. One dramatic high note was held for what seemed like minutes, as he somehow managed to breath in and blow out simultaneously. Hopefully bootleg recordings will emerge as it sent tingles down my spine.
He covered Amy Winehouses “Love Is A Losing Game” although I totally missed it, enough people online have reported he paid tribute to her saying “Amy.. What a voice!!“. I must have been in a world of my own at that point.
There was time for two more classics before he departed for the first time. “Cream” was followed by a barnstorming take on “U Got The Look“. Played with a vicious guitar riff that bordered on some crazed hybrid of funk and heavy metal it surely cant ever have sounded as good. Tossing his mic into the crowd and thanking everyone, he left the stage but despite it being well past 1am by now the audience bayed for more. They screamed, they stomped, they did some strange “Ohhh wayyy ohhhhh OHHHHH” chant imploring more.
For the first encore Prince bestowed the seal of authentic funksoul greatness to Gnarls Barkley, emerging to the strains of “Crazy“. Co-vocailist Shelby J delivered the vocal with a roar that Gnarls himself would struggle to match, while Prince mostly contented himself with dancing along, and launching himself into the crowd with a backwards stage dive. The Daily Mail’s otherwise decent review bizarrely claims that over zealous bouncers ensured no one actually touched Prince… how you leap into a crowd without being touched isnt explained?
In an evening of so many highlight s perhaps the best (although I demand the right to change my mind) was “Nothing Compares To You“. Sinead’s version was long forgotten as he wrenched emotion out of every line. Thinking of the moment he sang “all the flowers in the backyard mama, all died when you sent away” gives me goosebumps even days later. As he implored that he was “willing to give it another try” if I didnt know he’d sung it a million times I’d have sworn it was the first time he’d ever performed it and the events it referred to were still very much an open wound.
Again he departed, only to return for one final blast through “Lets Go Crazy“, although he cut right from the intro straight to the guitar solo. Clambering onto the speaker stand to perch directly above me, it seemed as if he was loving the adulation as much as the audience were loving giving it. Not for the first time he threw his guitar into the audience as he left thanking everyone once again (infact I think a couple of lead guitars + a bass were put into the audience, and very kindly given back over the course of the evening).
With the time almost 20 to two by now the crowd realising that moments like this might only come along once in a lifetime were unwilling to leave and nosily begged for more. Eventually Prince emerged again if only to deliver a short speech “You’re doing it, it’s not me! You produce the energy… I told my band it was happening in London, they didnt believe me… now they know!” He then implored the crowd to tell everyone about his August concerts… he was relying on us the fans to spread the word that they were going to be the greatest shows that had ever been seen.
Prince needn’t have worried. If every member of the audience hadn’t already bought a ticket to the Dome, they sure as hell would be after this! I suggest you do the same to. Beg steal or borrow for any night of the 21 day London residency. By all accounts he’s rehearsed over 150 songs and intends to make every gig different, and no doubt as magical as this night was.
On a side note can I apologise to my neighbours for what has now been 4 days of solid Prince. I’ll possibly stop buzzing from the whole thing sometime next month.
Setlist
with help from Prince.org & Housequake
Pass The Peas
Satisfied
Down By The Riverside
Girls & Boys
I Never Loved a Man (Aretha Franklin)
Lolita
Black Sweat
Kiss
Sshh
Musicology
Sing a Simple Song (Sly Stone)
Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry)
One Nation Under A Groove (Funkadelic)
Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong) solo sax
Love is A Losing Game (Amy Winehouse)
Gotta Broken Heart Again
Cream
U Got The Look
Encore 1
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Nothing Compares 2U
Encore 2
Let’s Go Crazy
Four years after last playing the sprawling labyrinth of the Barbican and The Cinematic Orchestra return to promote their new long player “Ma Fleur”. In 2003 they performed a specially commissioned soundtrack to Dziga Vertov’s ground breaking film “Man With A Movie Camera“.
My girlfriend at the time punctured some of highbrow reverence during an interval dash to the bar, an overexcited fan could contain himself no more and had to tell her how it was “breathtaking, absolutely magical“… the poor soul received the sullen reply of “I was so bored, I fell asleep!” Personally I enjoy the dvd but I’d have to admit to never making it all the way through without the fast forward button seeing some action.
Tonight though its just the band, indeed far from being Cinematic they perform with just a large projected screen controlled I imagine by a bloke doing a crossword and trying not to nod off while flicking through all 10 slides at his disposal (1 per song). Over on last.fm Lastboyonearth a little harshly declared that the gig “could have been… attended by a blind man and not lost any of it’s shine“.
Of course the audience didn’t pay £20 quid to watch a projector - still or not - its the music, and the musicians that filled the Barbican’s very comfy seats. Thankfully the dozen or so musicians that make up the live Cinematic Orchestra experience are some of the finest around.
Drummers maybe under-appreciated, the but of a jokes, and the last one on the groupies wish list, but Luke Flowers (Cinematic Orchestra drummer) is at the heart of everything that’s great this evening. Hampered initially by unfortunate up-lighting that made him look like a man masturbating while holding a torch under his chin, he was nevertheless absolutely breathtaking. Limbs appeared to move as if separate from his body, a bit like a Jim Henson Supergrass video, but with a magical subtly and touch. A pounding bass drum, switched to the softest of cymbals taps in a flash, a joy to watch and hear, bizarre facial contortions included. The drum solo during “Ode To The Big Sea” was so brilliant, the audience sat in hushed awe, only to be perfectly summed up by the voice that bellowed through the resulting applause “Flowers! You’re a fucking legend“.
Canadian vocalist Patrick Watson has been the most controversial addition to the Cinematic family, with lead single “To Build A Home” suffering a barrage of “it’s Coldplay covering Anthony & The Johnsons” related abuse from purists. On the Ninjatune forum one wag (in the traditional non Colleen sense) suggested joining a Coldplay noticeboard and posting it as a leaked new track to see how many people noticed it wasn’t Gwynth’s hubby.
With just voice, piano and strings its more minimal than most CO tracks but after initially being unmoved by it I’m now firmly in the majestically beautiful tear inducing emotionally devastating camp. Aside from Flowers drum solo’s it probably received the biggest response of the evening coming as it did after a particularly jarring “this is our last song of the evening… oh look were back again for 3 more” style encores. Watson is clearly a star in the making, with a twitchy presence on stage interrupting Cinematic main mans Jason Swinscoe’s introduction to the song with an invitation to do sign language, making odd noises, and goofily piping up “hellooo strings” as they returned late to the stage. His live voice owes far more to Anthony and the Johnsons than on record with a very similar way of phrasing words (Owww-wa-all instead of All), but as Hegarty’s one of the most spine chillingly good vocalists around that’s hardly a criticism.
While “To Build A Home” was performed straight on the piano, Watson also guested on two other tracks using a nifty effects pedal to twist and distort his voice. Its a simple trick, but amazingly effective particularly on “Channel One Suite” from the first album. He playfully messed with his vocals, leaning back from the mic to scream while adjusting the dials on his pedal to bend the resulting sound into new shapes. At one point a yell was slowly echoed in on itself, phasing and growing until it reverberated above the audiences heads like a huge swarm of bees. If the music career doesn’t work out he’ll make a fortune creating Doctor Who? sound effects.
Reviewing the CO in Cardiff Bobby Parafino and his mate Teccers went mad for one of this evenings undoubted highlights “Man With A Movie Camera“.
“I had warned Teccers that I’d go mental if they played Man With A Movie Camera. Although I didn’t quite make it to the crowd-surfing stage, I was ‘having a bit of a moment’ to myself. Lush, but then they did an extended guitar and keys bit and brought the sax back in again, which just killed me.“
So far so very very good, but there were also frustrating flaws to the evening that took the edge off the performance. Some of the new songs in particular appeared slightly formulaic or too easy listening, reaching a point where I felt I could guess the make up of the next track… “Swinscoe presses play on Macbook.. hands behind back and watch, now double bass, and wait for it… drums“.
Listening to the string quartet of Esme Gaze, Antonia Pagulatos, Jote Osahn and Stella Page was like being plugged directly into the sound of heaven, but for much of the evening they were way way too low in the mix. Its such a rare treat to hear a band with a real string section so to underuse them borders on the criminal.
Then there was the problem of who wasn’t there, namely the awe inspiring vocal talents of Fontella Bass. Just as on 2002’s “Everyday” the presence of Fontella on two of the new album tracks lends a tangible weight and majesty to the both the tunes and the album itself. Trying to fill her vocal shoes is a poisoned chalice I wouldn’t wish on the greatest of vocalists, but thats exactly what Eska Mtungwazi had to do. On “Breathe“, one of the centrepieces of the new album, Bass sings “Breathe in, Breathe out, Breathe into me“, and every word resonates with emotion, experience, and meaning. When Eska - powerfully and with an obviously brilliant voice - delivered those very same lines that emotional power just wasn’t there and all that’s remains is a fairly mundane “Breath in, Breath out” lyrical motif.
“Great voices, but “wash in, wash out” (or whatever they said) over and over again for about 3 minutes is poor. Or saying “yeah, oooooo” all the time. Come on!” - NoBullshi- on Last.fm
Reactions on the web have been mostly very positive, for example their myspace is crammed full of “blown aways, inspirationals, beautifuls, and some I shall never forget it’s” but others offered only qualified approval. Long time CO fan Nobullshi- questioned the crowd reaction: “why were people going so mental? I don’t get it. I see bands all the time, but I don’t lose my mind“. Bobby Parafino gave them 8.5 out of 10 while conducting a fashion review of the band:
“Phil France on bass - encapsulating the archetypal Ninja Tune look of skinny young DJ with short hair and a bit of a scruffy student look, Patrick Watson: New York beatnik meets Fight Club meets Badly Drawn Boy meets every crusty student ever” and of course “Luke Flowers on drums - at times looking like a long-limbed chimp making lovely ‘S’ shapes and loops with his arms“.
365 Bits missed a bus, had a hand that stunk of coffee, but thought CO were excellent nevertheless.
The Cinematic’s ended the night with what Im led to believe was a cover of Stravinsky’s “Rites Of Spring” although having hit soulseek in search of Stravinsky I couldn’t hear any similarities myself? Built around a huge super fat fuzzy bassline that Stuart Macallum somehow managed to wrench out of his guitar and through the effects pedal. Every member of the band switched their dials to 11 for a feast of raw energy. The string section was right upfront and soaring, Flowers hurled his limbs about on drums, while Tom Chant’s sax went into a frenzy during a final chaotic freeform jazz freak out at the end. Stravinsky or not it was brilliant, and a killer way to end the evening.
Buy:
The Cinematic Orchestra - “Live at the Barbican 06/05/07″
Live recording of Barbican gig available on CD from Concertlive - well worth it if you love the album
Album reviews: The Guardian is seduced 4/5 “Ma Fleur delineates an immensely moving, utterly distinct night-time world which is a pleasure to inhabit.” Drowned in Sound enthuses as they drown in film noir pretentiousness, while swimming against the tide the Beeb slates it, saying “the sound of multitudes of music critics, as they rush to retract their premature hailing of Swinscoe as a nu-jazz genius” will be far more interesting than the album itself.
Setlist:
The Awakening of a Woman (Burn Out)
Child Song
As The Stars Fall
Familiar Ground
Ode to the Big Sea
Breathe
Man With A Movie Camera
To Build A Home
Channel 1 Suite
Rites of Spring
A quick competition before some April highlights. The kind people at Lex Records sent me over a spare copy of Le Sac & Pip’s massive “Thou Shalt Always Kill” 7″. I’m led to believe its rarer than a genuine apology from Tony Blair, so if you’d like a copy answer EITHER of these simple questions:
I don’t hit the second hand record shops as often as I used to but a trip to the “Music & Video Exchange“ on Berwick Street is always guaranteed to end with me coming out grinning at the ludicrously cheap pile of CD’s I’ve just nabbed. Among the ten albums and singles I picked up for a tenner on my last visit was a promo CD of the ever excellent James Yorkston’s “Woozy With Cider“.
One of the standout tracks from his 2006 album, “Woozy” is a gorgeously self deprecating spoken word piece that sleepily describes a life spent “Woozy With Cider“. Joking about his album peaking at number 172, and observing that “I think I can be honest in presuming the world is not exactly going to be leaping out its bed to make me rich using my songs in adverts selling oranges or lemons“. Given that vegan Yorkston once turned down £10,000 for one of his songs to be used in an advert for butter, he may be right (although that story maybe an urban myth?).
The CD contains 6 versions of Woozy including remixes by Quiet Village, and ex Beta-bander King Biscuit Time. It originally came out on double 12″ (still available from Domino), and copies of the promo CD pop up on ebay too.
“I’m glad that you called when you called me, ’cause you stopped me from doin’ somethin’ awful, ‘Cause I’ve been sittin’ here contemplatin’ on takin’ this life away” Glad U Called by Anthony Hamilton
Funky as hell singalongs about contemplating suicide don’t pop up very often but Anthony Hamilton is far from your average R&B star. His musical reference points owe far more to the love and consciousness of Stevie Wonder than the bitches, rims, and Moet of R Kelly (although I am partial to a bit of Kelly’s gloriously inflated ego once in a while).
Sadly despite the UK music scene being in the middle of a Retro-Soul explosion courtesy of Winehouse, Ronson, and Stone, it seems unlikely that Hamilton will ever get much press exposure over here. Would it help if he was a bit whiter or more middle class…? Who can tell - Hamilton has had a chequered career in the States too - but I can’t help wishing he could get just a fraction of the column inches dedicated to Winehouse’s latest drunken no-show.
Anthony’s new album isn’t out till September, but in the meantime “Southern Comfort” unofficially gathers together a few unreleased old tracks.
She’s already had countless comebacks, notably being signed by Prince to his Paisley Park label in the 90’s, but most - at least commercially - have ended in legal wranglings and disappointment (Prince’s slave feud with Warner put pay to her at Paisley Park).
The new Ry Cooder produced album “We’ll Never Turn Back” revisits the civil rights movement of the 50’s/60’s, which the Staple Singers themselves played a full part in. “Down in the Mississippi” tells the grisly tale of dragging the river for the bodies of murdered civil rights workers, while “99 and 1/2″ brings the protest uptodate declaring it feels like its 1960 “Broken levees, lying politicians, running through hatred, homeless babies — freedom now! Freedom now!“.
Watch: The Staple Singers - “When Will We Be Paid” (YouTube)
and below some fantastic dancing on Soul Train to “I’ll Take You There”. This is how I dance in my head… the reality may be a little different
DIAMONDS DUB
Finally, summers here so it must be time for a few blissed out re-edits courtesy of DJ Tangoterje. Ever since he turned Jacko’s “I Can’t Help It” into a Balearic anthem in 2005, I’ve looked forward to the latest unlikely track to be stretched and moulded into new form. Chris Rea, Lionel Richie, Curtis Mayfield, and Kraftwerk have all received the highly unofficial accolade of being tinkered with by the Tangoman.
DJ Tangoterje - “Diamonds Dub” (MP3) - takes approximately 38 seconds to guess what this is… Na Na, Na Na, Naaa.
Finally I’m back with another root through my old tape boxes, and racks of vinyl in search of a few long lost classics. This week its a Steve Stein aka Steinski Special.
The influence of Steinski can be seen throughout the last 20 years of music, from De La Soul and Coldcut, right up to more recent artists like The Avalanches and DJ Shadow. When Stein and his friend Double Dee entered a contest to remix “Play That Beat, Mr. D.J.” by G.L.O.B.E. and Whiz Kid in 1983, little did they know they would A: win and B: the resulting record “Lesson 1 - The Payoff mix” would still be talked about in hallowed tones some 24 years later!
What makes Steinski’s work stand out from the plethora of sample based musicians that followed him is the sheer breadth of music, speech, and humour he manages to cram into his records. Groucho Marx sits happily alongside James Brown, early Hip-Hop, Blondie and Hernando’s Hideaway.
It wasn’t until 1987 that Steinski actually officially released anything, making use of his day job in advertising to get around copyright issues, he created a “cut and paste” record without any actual samples. Everything on “We’ll Be Right Back” was recorded specially, and in some cases dirtied up to sound more genuine. It drove anoraks and train spotters mad trying to figure where he’d got those samples from!
Recently he set up his own site/blog posting everything from political comment, vaudeville comedy, and best of all some new mixes. There are two mixes available, both of which are brilliant, and to get them all you have to do is email Steinski himself at infoATsteinski.com (change the AT to @) and he’ll send you a link. He does actually write back, so its worth just dropping him a line anyway.
I’m going to post one of the mixes “Live from the Basement 7.2” so grab it while you can, and mail Steve for the other one. Everyone makes mixes these days but not everyone creates a horse race that doubles as a satire on marital relations just to kick it off. Pure genius as always. Stonking Tina Turner cuts, a big band version of the “900 Number”, and the Jungle Brothers, its everything you expect from Stein, i.e.: the totally unexpected!
In 1992 Steinski & Coldcut both produced remixes for a Producers For Bob album, featuring the post-modern religion “Church of the sub genius“. Led by the pipe smoking Bob Dobbs (who may have died in 1984), the church is centred on the idea of slackness, i.e. freedom, independence, and original thinking. Not surprisingly its humorous take on religion coupled with motto’s like “Fuck ‘Em If They Can’t Take A Joke” makes the Sub genius’s very popular with students especially.
The MP3 featured is Steinski’s Main mix of “Everything’s Disappeared“, but its well worth tracking down the Ninjatune 12″ or the album for more mixes by Coldcut & Negitivland, not to mention the thoughts of Bob himself.
“You know how dumb the average person is? Well, by definition, half of ‘em are even dumber than THAT.”
My first dip into my crusty old collection of Solid Steel’s seemed to go down well, so here’s another featuring Steinski from early 1992 (I think).
Steve talks about music being his hobby, how he made Motorcade and We’ll Be right back, and he also plays a couple of live jams from “The Worlds Greatest Soul Dance” parties he used to throw in New York. There’s a rough mix of the original Gulf War satire “Its Up To You” that was eventually released on Ninjatune, and a Coldcut / Steinski studio jam called “Television“.
