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Sunday, March 15, 2020
Bill Conti - (1978) Uncle Joe Shannon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) LP
United Artists Records – 935
Following his breakout role as ne'er-do-well Paulie in the blockbuster Rocky, Burt Young wrote and starred in Uncle Joe Shannon, a commercial and critical fiasco casting the veteran character actor as a down-and-out jazz trumpeter. Young tapped Rocky composer Bill Conti to score the project, and regardless of the failings of the film itself, the soundtrack is worth seeking out. Combining elements of jazz, funk, and disco, the music is both energetic and evocative, complementing Young's narrative while proving an engaging listen strictly on its own terms. Maynard Ferguson "plays" Young on the soundtrack, contributing the piercing trumpet solos credited to Joe Shannon, while several tracks feature a small combo including keyboardist Mike Melvoin and tenorist Anthony Ortega. Conti's melodies navigate traditional jazz structures and contemporary disco sounds with equal aplomb, vividly capturing the increasingly fractured musical milieu that Young's film so awkwardly depicts. Bonnie Prince Billy - (2019) I Made A Place CD
Palace Records – 067
GQ clothes-horse and man who saw a darkness Bonnie Prince Billy has his
first album of new songs since 2011. This time, he brings the lightness,
with help from a Louisville band including picker Nathan Salsburg,
ex-Gary Burton Quartet drummer Mike Hyman and singer-songwriter Joan
Shelley. Influenced by songwriters John Prine and Tom T. Hall and
inspired by the state of Hawaii, I Made a Place finds Bonny using his
considerable powers for good.Irreversible Entanglements - (2019) Homeless/Global
International Anthem Recording Company – none
The first new music from Philly/NY/DC free jazz collective IRREVERSIBLE
ENTANGLEMENTS since their 2017 debut. “Homeless/Global” is an epic,
23-minute standalone “single” that foreshadows their forthcoming
full-length LP (due Spring 2020).
A statement on the music, from the band: "As with the session for our first album, we began this session by just setting studio levels and hitting that record button. Homeless/Global was the first thing we played, no script, no plan. It’s a studio take that reflects what we do live: take the stage without a map, navigate the world in deep, telepathic, contrapuntal communion with each other and the histories we’re tapping into, push into the known and unknown, and arrive at the end together."
An unabridged take from the first moments of the Philadelphia recording session for their forthcoming LP, “Homeless/Global” stretches out inside a vacuum of time, running over 23 minutes in a blink of an eye. The track starts by falling backwards into an energetic recollection of Strata East swing, swelling forcefully till it bursts into the foreboding preach of poet/MC Camae Ayewa. In a wide-ranging poem touching on migration, exile, and border violence, she coolly inveighs: “in search of new bodies, we leave ourselves at home… plug into the network, socialize as a clone.” The band builds back up through a soaring statement by saxophonist Keir Neuringer (evoking an old-world zurna séance), before the rhythm section simmers down to a deep pocket of psychedelic groove held together by Luke Stewart’s mantric basslines and textured by Aquiles Navarro’s extended trumpet technique, as drummer Tcheser Holmes dances dynamically around a pulse and Ayewa runs down an inventory of Black history that “no one remembers.” “Homeless/Global” captures the essence of the band in improvisational ritual, and the increasingly powerful capacity for interdimensional transport they’ve collectively developed over 2+ years of hard hitting on the global live circuit.
IRREVERSIBLE ENTANGLEMENTS is a Philadelphia/New York/DC-based free jazz collective consisting of poet/MC Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. Originally performing as two different ensembles at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event in 2015 (in response to the NYPD slaying of Akai Gurley), the five musicians recognized a shared ethos, and shortly after, assembled as a single unit for an impromtu studio date at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn. That session yielded their debut album "Irreversible Entanglements" (released by International Anthem & Don Giovanni in September 2017). Critical and communal acclaim for the album (including “Best of 2017” nods from NPR Music, WIRE Magazine, Bandcamp, and others) fueled a high demand for the band in the live setting, and the group have since spent much of 2018 and 2019 on the road. They have collaborated in performance with many legends of creative music including Amina Claudine Myers, Pat Thomas, and Nicole Mitchell; and their highest profile shows have included Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Le Guess Who Festival In Utrecht NL, Barbican in London, and the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
Irreversible Entanglements’ new album will be released LP/CD/Digital by International Anthem & Don Giovanni in Spring of 2020.
A statement on the music, from the band: "As with the session for our first album, we began this session by just setting studio levels and hitting that record button. Homeless/Global was the first thing we played, no script, no plan. It’s a studio take that reflects what we do live: take the stage without a map, navigate the world in deep, telepathic, contrapuntal communion with each other and the histories we’re tapping into, push into the known and unknown, and arrive at the end together."
An unabridged take from the first moments of the Philadelphia recording session for their forthcoming LP, “Homeless/Global” stretches out inside a vacuum of time, running over 23 minutes in a blink of an eye. The track starts by falling backwards into an energetic recollection of Strata East swing, swelling forcefully till it bursts into the foreboding preach of poet/MC Camae Ayewa. In a wide-ranging poem touching on migration, exile, and border violence, she coolly inveighs: “in search of new bodies, we leave ourselves at home… plug into the network, socialize as a clone.” The band builds back up through a soaring statement by saxophonist Keir Neuringer (evoking an old-world zurna séance), before the rhythm section simmers down to a deep pocket of psychedelic groove held together by Luke Stewart’s mantric basslines and textured by Aquiles Navarro’s extended trumpet technique, as drummer Tcheser Holmes dances dynamically around a pulse and Ayewa runs down an inventory of Black history that “no one remembers.” “Homeless/Global” captures the essence of the band in improvisational ritual, and the increasingly powerful capacity for interdimensional transport they’ve collectively developed over 2+ years of hard hitting on the global live circuit.
IRREVERSIBLE ENTANGLEMENTS is a Philadelphia/New York/DC-based free jazz collective consisting of poet/MC Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. Originally performing as two different ensembles at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event in 2015 (in response to the NYPD slaying of Akai Gurley), the five musicians recognized a shared ethos, and shortly after, assembled as a single unit for an impromtu studio date at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn. That session yielded their debut album "Irreversible Entanglements" (released by International Anthem & Don Giovanni in September 2017). Critical and communal acclaim for the album (including “Best of 2017” nods from NPR Music, WIRE Magazine, Bandcamp, and others) fueled a high demand for the band in the live setting, and the group have since spent much of 2018 and 2019 on the road. They have collaborated in performance with many legends of creative music including Amina Claudine Myers, Pat Thomas, and Nicole Mitchell; and their highest profile shows have included Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Le Guess Who Festival In Utrecht NL, Barbican in London, and the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
Irreversible Entanglements’ new album will be released LP/CD/Digital by International Anthem & Don Giovanni in Spring of 2020.
Bill Callahan - (2019) If You Could Touch Her At All
Drag City – 770
Less than six months since the release of Shepherd In a Sheepskin Vest,
our hero Bill Callahan takes a victory lap through the country with a
fresh (digital only!) single consisting of two, infallibly Callahan-ed
up cover songs! Bill's take on Lee Clayton's classic, "If You Could
Touch Her at All," walks a mile in some BIG shoes--by which we mean the
boots of Willie, Waylon and George Jones, all of whom did great versions
of the song-- casually and confidently. With the classic country ring
of steel drifting through the mix, Bill stakes out the song's
complexities in his own natural way, naturally!
Once comfortably in Bill mode, you'll find yourself "flipping" the single over and over! More deep empathy occurs on the "b-side" with a recitation of Leonard Cohen's 1968 classic, "So Long, Marianne." Bill tackles the tune with a straightforward arrangement featuring more steel and his own warm vocal, making for a well lived-in listening experience. This two-song single is a balletic homage to North America's incomparable 60s-70s songbook, offering a fine tribute to all the artists who've interpreted these songs in the past, sung by a master in his own era.
Once comfortably in Bill mode, you'll find yourself "flipping" the single over and over! More deep empathy occurs on the "b-side" with a recitation of Leonard Cohen's 1968 classic, "So Long, Marianne." Bill tackles the tune with a straightforward arrangement featuring more steel and his own warm vocal, making for a well lived-in listening experience. This two-song single is a balletic homage to North America's incomparable 60s-70s songbook, offering a fine tribute to all the artists who've interpreted these songs in the past, sung by a master in his own era.
Vanitism - (2016) My Name Is Leona CS
Depravity Label – 038
VA - (2018) Hellenic Punk (Greek Punk '82-'91) CS
Not On Label – none
Basically it's Greek punk from the era mentioned, 26 songs in 70 minutes, and a Turkish band thrown in for good measure. I don't know anything else except that squinting at this tiny tracklist in Greek letters has made me blind.
Herz Juhning - (2018) Samsara LP
Galakthorrö – 045
A nightmarish work in which Herz Jühning is also reborn. In his new life he has climbed to a higher level: Herz Jühning’s sound is now denser and perfected, but remains concentrated and fundamental. He possesses the rare ability to combine effectively voice and abstract elektroniks, nothing appears random. This results in not just Tracks, but Hits, also contained on Samsara. So enjoy a masterful mixture of Angst Pop, fragmented Power Electronics and “Old-School” Industrial of the darkest kind.
Lil Tracy (Yung Bruh) & Mexikodro
Self Released – 00none
LazyGod - (2020) UNDERWORLD LEGEND VOL. 1
Mixtape – n0ne
Everyday Loneliness - (2010) An Error In Judgement CS
Ekhein – 038
Flammentod - (2003) Morpheus Armen entrissen CS
Blutvergiessen Productions – 005
Drakonhail / Belzebuth - (2011) Ceux qui Voient dans la Nuit CS
Zinarthan Productions – 013
Hunting Lodge - (1983) Exhumed CS
Datenverarbeitung – 023
Konstruktivists - (2009) Flowmotion Years 2xLP
Vinyl-on-demand – 069
Dark-Ambient / Ritual-Project Konstruktivists was formed by mastermind
Glenn Michael Wallis in 1981/82 out of the ashes of Heute. Around this
time - in the late 70's/early 80's Glenn Michael Wallis was heavily
involved with Throbbing Gristle, the U.K. pioneers of "Industrial".
Between 1980 and 1982 Glenn/Konstruktivists has recorded several tracks
of which one solo-tape and several Konstruktivists-Tapes found release
in extremely rare and limited edition on the legendary Tape-Label
Flowmotion. Almost 2 hours of those early works are compiled on this
double-Lp including his full solo-work (also released as Konstruktivists
Vol.1) as well as Tracks from Vol.2 and other tracks released between
1980 and 1982
Limp Wrist - (2017) Facades LP
La Vida Es Un Mus – 148
Nearly 20 years ago, Martin Sorrondeguy, frontman for Chicago DIY
hardcore legends Los Crudos, formed Limp Wrist, a confrontational
queercore band that also features members of underground punk staples
like Devoid Of Faith and Hail Mary. (They practice in Philadelphia, but
all four members live in different cities.) Over the years, Limp Wrist
have been only intermittently active; their last album was a self-titled
12″ that came out in 2009. But now, Limp Wrist have returned with a
frantic, pummeling new album called Facades. It’s raw, urgent old-school
hardcore, and the lyrics are defiantly, explicitly sexual. (One chorus:
“Come and get my seed!”) There’s also an entirely unexpected
development near the end of the album: House music! This record fucking
rules!
Leroy Troy - (1993) Backroads CS
Bos Records – none
I recently received three tapes from an unusual young performer. Unusual
in the sense that a very talented person chose to keep alive the music,
style and entertainment of one of the great old-timers. Leroy Troy has
patterned his show and performing after the first featured performer on
the Grand Ole Opry. Not a small feat but one this young man has done
admirably. If you have seen him on Hee Haw you can appreciate his Uncle
Dave Macon act — all the way down to the mannerisms and banjo tricks of
the old man. Unfortunately you can't see all of this on the cassette,
but all the rest is there. The Macon-style pickin', the songs and the
humor that comes through.
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