Tagged: handi

Bob Brainen played "The Sad One," a 1967 track by New Orleans guitarist Eddie Lang, from the newly issued Mr.Joe's Jambalaya & Loaded Down With The Blues.  Eddie's real name was Eddie Langlois, and he was influenced by and recorded with Guitar Slim. Ted Barron played a 78 rpm recording of Slim's "Troubles Don't Last." Frank O'Toole played music from Macaroni , the new Bobby Conn album. Here, Conn continues to do what he has done best for fifteen years: creating synergies of 1970'a art rock and glam and 1980's new wave [...]

Duane's show last week had several high points: he dug out quality rare vinyl. One record was Hammer , a San Fransisco group whose 1970 album got FM airplay when current, then vanished. Duane also played soul singer Jo-Ann Garret . Hear the heavy echo and old style back up vocals. Scott Williams played the Turkish rock of Erkin Koray  in a set with Mercury Rev and Spacemen 3. I love the tar thick bass lines of early 1970's Turkish psychedelia--almost heavy enough for modern dance music. (Listen to the Koray next to "Beat The Clock" by Spark, played by Trent [...]

In a half hour, I heard two radically different but excellent female singers. Irene Trudel played Sandy Denny singing a demo of "Who Knows Where The Time Goes," which Denny sang in completed form on Fairport Convention's Unhalfbrickling in 1969. Scott Williams played the free improvisation of Linda Sharrock with her guitarist husband, Sonny. Scott narrates trying to explain Sharrock's voice to his six-year old, Llia, who adopted Linda's style and saranaded dad. For me, the Sharrock team invokes early Lennon/Ono work such as "Touch Me," also selected by Scott. [...]

Just when you've almost forgotten a DJ on the WFMU bench, he or she does a killer fill-in show. Dave Mandl substituted for Gayloard Fields, playing Red Balune . This primarly Dutch band features Fred Frith of Henry Cow, which Bill Mac played on Zzzzzzero Hour. Across the pond, about six years before Henry Cow's ultra-complex Canterbury progressive rock, Curt Boettcher produced The Association, and formed his own band, Millennium, played here by Irene Trudel. This is some of the best, under-heard baroque vocal [...]

I'm no minimalism expert, but know when it when I hear it. Daniel Blumin played "Kungo Sogoni" by N. Hawa Doumbi. Listen to how the track feeds off a repetitive instrumental motif. Steve Reich, played on Mudd Up! With DJ/Rupture, employed repetition in "Come Out" in 1966, creating aural hypnosis using a voice loop  Robert Fripp and Brian Eno used loops on "Swastika Girls," played by Dan Bodah on Airborne Event. For GREEDY! minimalists, Scott McDowell played  Eno , Terry Riley, and Can on an edition of [...]

Here's an unusual DJ move: Monica used Nat Roe's 1958 Chart Sweep after Betty Logan's "I Got My Hot Pants On."  Nat's composition of layered sound becomes a unified track in Monica's set. That's not the only example. Liz Berg played Joe McGasko's remix of Sun Ra's "The Planet Is Doomed."   Is the song the composition? The Remix? The set? Answer: If the sound delights the heart and ears, it doesn't matter. Not unusual is a DJ grouping tracks with a similar sound. Duane did this with 1960's harmony pop, playing the [...]

On Surface Noise, Joe McGasko presented a show decked with soul. Listen to this New Birth. song. After annoucing, he continued with late 1970's Isaac Hayes. Compare the lush instrumentation to modern, mechanzed  grooves: Small Change returned to WFMU this month for several editions of Nickel And Dime Radio. Hear "Bach Goes Balie Funk" by Ophex, followed by two N-ron tracks. Joe Belock on Three Card Monte played 1966's "Show Me The Way" by Great Scots, then "The Answer Was You" by Sloan. Both have a straight-foward rock vibe, but notice the [...]

Here's a great Monday morning eye opener. Liz Berg played "Saquito" by Diana Ureta, described by Liz as "out there and fun." Listen to how the whimsy of this track segues into the much rougher textures of Kraus. Not good enough? You can get Ureta's work on the WFMU Free Music Archive. ' If you woke earlier than me, you may have heard Frank O'Toole on More Exciting Moments playing "I''ve Been Trying," a track from DJ Shadow's new album, The Less You Know, The Better. The blues may not come to mind when [...]

On This Is The Modern World this week, Trouble's guest, record collector Pat Longo, DJ'd the second half of the show. Listen to this set, starting with Martha Whitney, and including Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, and The New Jersey Kings Featuring Monica Vasconcelas. This sequence jumps out of its stable, maintaining a galloping, funky propulsion. Brain Turner played the early 1970's blues-hard-rock grind of Leaf Hound, followed by the modern guitar acrobatics of Drakar. The two tracks have two very different production styles, but notice how the [...]

It's seldom I see pre-avant gaurde classical music on a WFMU playlist, so I look twice on spotting it. Bob Brainen played "Jeux" by Claude Debussy next to "Shadows Breaking Over My Head" by the Left Banke., Maybe my surprise is uncalled for. True, modernist influences flooded into 1960's rock (Varese-Zappa,  Stockhausen/Reich-Can.) But Bob's segue reminds us that bands like the Left Banke, Beatles, Beach Boys and Zombies built much of their music using the symmetrical, melodic structures of 18th and 19th century composers. Listen to Jesse on The Fro Show playing a Tim Smolen mix Brian Wilson's [...]

Let's give more time to how DJ's create their set's sound. Duane opened his show with a set which included "My Country 'Tis Of Thee" by cross-dressing singer Sylvester, then the soul of Sandra Phillips, Monik, and Marc Eric. Notice how the sequence begins at a medium level of intensity, then is brought to quiet calm by Eric's mid-1960's beach sound. Here's another way a DJ can smoothly change the feel of a set, mid-way: On More Than A Few Exciting Moments, Frank O'Toole played a mono [...]

This week I'll pair tracks from archives that work well together. Daniel Blummin played "I Just Don't Know How To Say Goodbye." by Sandy Salisbury from 1969. The track was produced by Gary Usher, and mixes late-60's California pop with a cosmic cowboy, late Byrds feel. Listen to this next to Phil Ochs'  "Pleasures of the Harbor" played by Irwin. Ochs' sad voice separates the track from Salisbury's--and is part of what made Ochs' a fixture on early FM radio. But both tracks combine the rustic with the [...]

Gaylord Fields played Witchi-Tai-To by Everything Is Everything, a jazz/funk/rock group sax player Jim Pepper formed in 1969 with guitarist Chris Hills. The track became well known the same year, covered by Brewer And Shipley , and played by Dan Bodah on Airborne Event, but was also revisited in 1970 by Pepper on Pepper's Pow Wow , chosen by John Allen. WFMU often plays obscure cover versions of well known songs. Duane played "Light My Fire" and "God Only Knows" by Erma Thomas And Betty Evertt respectively. You are drawn in and [...]

Here is a question to remember for the WFMU record fair, next month: Do you buy that $100 record of quality end to end, or buy another person's "junk" if the price is right? On Coffee Break For Heroes And Villains, Noah played the New Seekers "Free To Be You, Free To Be Me," next to children's music from the Smurfs --yes, the cartoon, and then Millie Small. You would probably never play the Smurfs on its own, unless you have a tot in the house. But Noah uses the high voices to make a record most adult collectors [...]

This week, Ken played the primitive blast of "Dies Iraea" by the Melvins, followed by the more structured sounds of Ennio Morricone, then "Father's Shout" from Pink Floyd's 1970 Atom Heart Mother suite. Ken's sequence builds from primal sounds to orchestral sweep. Listen to how the music becomes richer in detail as the set progresses. A DJ can grab a listener with an authoritative texture shift. On Nickel And Dime Radio, Small Change went from the mid-tempo blues of "I'll Ride The Storm" (we'll get [...]

Saturday on Surface Noise, Joe KcGasko had Jean and June Millington of the rock group Fanny on his show. Fanny was one of the first all female rock bands, formed in 1970. "I Love Your Hair" was one in a set of tracks the Millingtons played live during their visit. Listen to this next to their 1970 recording of "Charity Ball." Then listen to another female band from the era, The Deadly Nightshade, produced by the Rascal's Felix Cavaliere. On The Fro Show, Jesse played The Nightshade's "Nose Job." [...]

This week I'll focus on underground bands from 1970's Europe. When the Beatles were breaking up and "singer songwriters" like James Taylor were replacing acid rock,  bands from Germany developed darker, far riskier music, sometimes labeled "Krautrock". "Brainticket" was one, played on The Fro Show by Jessie next to a remix of Can, also German. The two tracks work with flat, repetitive progressions to allow for improvisation. Notice, though, how Can emphasized small shifts in instrumental texture, while Brainticket exploited bad--trip nuance expressed though the vocalist's spoken word. [...]

We all know imitation is flattery. Duane and guests, Phenomenal Handclap Band, played "You Know" by Stone Coal White, an early 1970's funk band reissued this year on Cali-Tex, DJ Shadow's label. My first thought was this was a demo tape of later, funkier Curtis Mayfield And The Impressions. Listen to the vocals and lo-fi recording quality, and you'll understand why. Since I mentioned Mayfield, here is Terre T. on Cherry Blossom Clinic playing 1970's "Miss Black America."   Influences among artists is an advantageous [...]

Since many watched to see if America went into default this week, this post features songs about money. I found three songs in the archives with the title "Easy Money." James O'Gwynn's track was selected by Michael Shelly, and could be played to a Martian to define early rock and roll. King Crimson's  mellotron bathed improvisation with this title was played on Bill Mac's Zzzzzzero Hour  The track is from Larks Tongues In Aspic, which many consider a defining progressive rock album. Below is Crimson playing the song [...]

Going record shopping? Have you played everything you have?! Monica this week played  "Further On Up The Road"   by James Brown. Notice how straight the track's rhythm is: surprising until you consider that "funk" is a label attached to this master's music. Masters don't work to adhere to a label, but do what they want, when they want. Here's more proof. John Allen ended a show last month with "Mina Loy" by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. In one way, the acoustic guitar track [...]