Blog: Bananaspam!

As you may or may not know, Karl Rove , George Dubya's one time, long time advisor, has ignored a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee . He was summoned before the committee to answer questions about the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman . And you get worried if you try to flake out on jury duty. We can only admire Rove's bravery in sticking it to the man, huh? But he is the man I hear many of you wail. Now there's a conundrum wrapped inside a riddle, and surrounded by a knee high [...]

A few weeks ago I wrote about a UK new wave single from 1981 called "I'm In Love With A German Film Star." The band that recorded the song is called The Passions and as luck would have it, on July 21st perennial British indie rock label Cherry Red re-released the album from which this track was taken, The Passions' sophomore effort, Thirty Thousand Feet Over China. I haven't managed to get my hands on a copy so I can sample the five bonus tracks but I do have the original 1981 UK [...]

As you may, or may not, know, Karl Rove , George Dubya's one time, long time advisor, has ignored a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee . He was summoned before the committee to answer questions about the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman . And you get worried if you try to flake out on jury duty. We can only admire Rove's bravery in sticking it to the man, huh? But he is the man I hear many of you wail. Now there's a conundrum wrapped inside a riddle, surrounded by a knee high fence [...]

Travis Kirschbaum , over at Current TV in Los Angeles, was let out of the house again (second time since last Christmas) and toddled off to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF). While there he filmed this little doozy of a piece on the Ghostly International label out of Ann Arbor , Michigan. He talked to a bunch of their artists and the label boss, the dapper Sam Valenti (I need one of those tank tops!). Anyways, if you haven't heard of Ghostly (i.e. you've been under a stone on Papua New Guinea since 1917) [...]

So what is the relevance of The Police's "Voices Inside My Head"/"When The World Is Running Down You Make The Best of What's Still Around?" Though many of you probably hate Sting —and remember that his "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" is a Larry Levan classic — these two tracks from the Police's LP from 1980, Zenyatta Mondatta, pressed on a gourgeliciious twelve inchy single, are certified Paradise Garage nuggets and still get a fair bit of play to this day. Voices works 'cos it's so damned funky, chanty, wicked and otherworldly. When The World [...]

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I'm always on the hunt for a decent night out in San Francisco and as the years have gone by I get pickier about what I want to attend. At this point any event that features the same type of music all night — especially house, techno or hip-hop — is a definite no no, unless a serious guest is playing and I know that his/her selection will be stellar. I take my cues from hearing the likes of Tony Humphries , Derrick May, Gemin i, Simon DK (the best deep house sets I have ever [...]

Kraftwerk was a disco outfit!!! No way! But yes way, to quote Bill and Ted, to some people they were. Nicky Siano , who was the dj at the seminal disco club The Gallery, was clearing the dance floor at Studio 54 with "Trans Europe Express" in 1977. However, in 1978, when this record was promoted (it was never released) Kraftwerk were beginning to become part of the dance music vernacular. Disco djs were dropping their tracks, r&b radio stations were featuring some of their tunes and within a few, short years the likes of Afrika [...]

Though everything post-punk, new wave, synthpunk etc. etc. etc. has been successfully related to us by the rich kid hipster chorus of America via the miracle of the intraweb, I am oft amazed that some bands tend to escape the omniscient glare of these observant and independently wealthy purveyors of accepted wisdom and musical knowledge.That's not to say that these overlooked bands haven't been given some attention, it's that they haven't undergone the same level of scrutiny as say, The Au Pairs — a truly awesome band — or Josef K (another banging outfit, [...]

At the beginning of the millennium, London pirate radio and it's club offspring were mutating garage and jungle sounds once again. Two-step was now oscillating it's cultural pull away from silken Champagne affairs and moving into the darker and deeper turf of Dubstep. This was street music, formed in the lab with extra helpings of cavernous bass and anxiety. The frenetic pulses, disembodied divas and echoes of Jamaica past [...]

The Germans have taken the reins with techno over the last ten or so years and there is not stopping them. And why should they stop when such great work has been done. If you've been lying under a crab, buried under a stone in the Aleutian Islands then you may not have come into contact with Basic Channel , Monolake, Gas or Supermayer . These producers really pushed the German penchant for slick, sparse production, then reached out across the globe to find like-minded musicians and added them to their label, playlists or mindset. One [...]

I know that this one will be a bit too obvious for those of you who will only give a tune a second glance if it was unearthed with the Dead Sea Scrolls by Larry Levan 's joint roller, or is a super rare, limited pressing jack track, which was buried four hundred feet below a railway line near Vladivostock . However, for some of us acid house casualties — there are also acid and acid jazz casualties — this one holds a special place in our hearts. Todd was, is, and [...]

Perhaps you're like me and are a little snowed under by crushing electro , and an avalanche of irony. I thought I was just feeling my age, but then friends of mine in their late twenties started echoing my sentiments and I was quite amazed. The whole irony sketch was kinda funny — in a, polite, upper middle class/hipster in art school/daddy's paying for my apt in Williamsburg/Lower Haight/Mission/I'm too gentile to get real sarcasm sorta way — for a coupla years between 2001 and 2004 . The '80s were exhumed and rinsed through Ableton /Vice Magazine [...]

This is the second release on Italian producer Marco Carola's 2M label, which is a sub-label of Richie Hawtin's Minus imprint. The three track digital EP of tough, dense, rolling techno has been available since late June, while the round plastic version — that you can hold in your hands and cherish forever and ever — came out this week. If you like stark, mechanistic dance music that doesn't relent in its gallop into the future then you might be likin' this one here. Orr

"Dance On The Groove (And Do The Funk)" by Love International is a tasty slice of finely aged Euro dance that shouldn't be overlooked ever. It's not every day that you walk into a local thrift emporium and find a little gem like this sitting at the front of some certifiable cheese and it's only a buck fity. Some people would say that this record has a fair topping of fromage itself, but hey, that's part of its charm. This Euro oddity from 1981 has grabbed the attention of record nerds and chin strokers globally due the fact [...]

This gorgeousful slice of Detroit electronics came out in 1990 so it's timely that I should write about it as we teeter precariously on the edge of a '90s revival that will no doubt focus on Kid n Play flat top haircuts, raving, flannel shirts and Ace of Base. However, before the omnipresence of irony that serves to revive crap, corporate music and inflate major label CEO's salaries there was a thing called decent music. In the early '90s decent music could be anything from Throwing Muses to Ice Cube to this here record here. I [...]

Dan Selzer over at Acute Records in New York Citay is a label owner, dj, blogger, tastemaker, mover, shaker and quantum physicist (who btw only uses the manuals that are written in Chinese). Sheesh! How does he find time to put out a host of excellent reissues on his Acute imprint? Christ, if I boil an egg I need to lay down for half an hour to regain my strength, so hats off to Mr. Selzer and to this latest release, namely The Lines' Memory Span album. This retrospective of the cult UK post-punk band traces [...]

The Glimmers' Eskimo Recordings imprint has put DJ Daniele Baldelli to work compiling and mixing a kick ass cd containing some of his favorite rock tracks, blended, remixed and re-edited for your dancing and listening pleasure. Baldelli, renowned for his multi-generic "Afro Cosmic" sound, has been playing records since 1969, so when he puts a mix together you know it's gonna be a damned good one. Eskimo Recordings Present Cosmic Disco?! Nah...Cosmic Rock!!! is a damned good one, and there are no two ways about it. Any dj mix that places [...]

Mondays are always fantastic when accompanied by the meticulous ethno-futurist techno of Ricardo Villalobos.

We all remember Simple Minds' musical contribution to the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club. "Don't You Forget About Me" was its title, the year was 1985, the movie was everywhere and so was this song, the first track on the soundtrack. However, many years before Simple Minds became the darlings of American stadiums they were the British (or more accurately the Glasgow ) band that could…and did. Their early albums from '79 and '80 were intricate and forward looking, channeling diverse influences like Kraftwerk, Magazine , The Velvet Undergound, Giorgio Moroder, La Dusseldorf, [...]