MMW in Australia

Nice video of the acoustic, unamplified "end of show" bit Medeski Martin and Wood like to do every now and then. It's in HD, so it looks hot in fullscreen mode. Shot by a fan down front, complete with his shock and awe verbalizations. Must be nice to tour the Oz when it's the dead of winter back home, eh?

The Best of 2009

It's been a long one, but the end of 2009 is finally here. Figured I'd throw my hat into the ring and offer up my list of the best records of the year. Everyone else is doing it, amirite?

Here's what grabbed me in 2009:


RECORD OF THE YEAR

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble S/T

There's so much to love about this band -- their pedigree, the strong roots of family, their story of coming up in the subway stations and the streets of NYC. But it all comes back to the music, and woah, what awesome music this is. Driving and complex and upful and funky and full of terror and just... hypnotic. Extra bonus points for their purity: HBE is a truly organic band. Aside from a little bit of electric synth and a bass on one song, this whole album is done with acoustic instruments. Brass, drums, hand claps and voice, all burning with the intensity of a hundred suns.

Alyo - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

NOTABLES, IN NO ORDER


Wooden Shjips "Dos"

Kling-klang gets stoned on NorCal indica and rides a motorcycle from Dusseldorf to the Redwoods without a helmet.

Aquarian Time - Wooden Shjips

Dan Auerbach "Keep It Hid"

Scary gospel-garage-delta blues from a beardo white guy. His other band (Black Keys) doesn't have a bass player, which is criminal, but this album redeems him and then some.

Trouble Weighs a Ton - Dan Aue...

A.A. Bondy "When the Devil's Loose"

Dark dreamy stuff. So full of hooks, you could put it on the end of a line, throw it in the ocean and haul up a shark.

Mightiest of Guns - A.A. Bondy

Jason Lytle "Yours Truly, the Commuter"

Former Grandaddy man moves north and comes back with this batch of beauties. Sad and gorgeous.

Yours Truly, The Commuter - Ja...

Atlas Sound "Logos" (real & leaked)

I can't decide which version of this album I like better, the leaked and chaotic "unmastered" version or the tidied-up "official" version. Both good enough to be one of the years' best. Wins points for creepy Marfan's fetishist cover art. "Logos" is one of the two OMG-hipster-beloved records from this year that actually didn't get deleted off the iPod after half a dozen listens.

Attic Lights - Atlas Sound

Real Estate "S/T"

The other one.

Beach Comber - Real Estate

Medeski, Martin and Wood "Radiolarians III"

The experimental jazz trio took a chance on this year-long Radiolarians project and came out the other side with their strongest album in years. It flows like the Mississippi -- the whole first side plays like the soundtrack to a movie about a Frenchman who kills his wife in a fit of passion and escapes to Japan where he winds up at a PJ Harvey concert. And side two reminds me of an awesome night in New Orleans spent eating Jamaican food.

Broken Mirror - Medeski, Marti...

Mulatu Astatke & Heliocentrics "Inspiration Information 3"

Ethiopian god-on-Earth Mulatu goes into a London studio with Malcom Catto's electric funk ensemble and this happens. It's so good, has so many awesome flavors, and just cooks. Put it on at your next party and watch the heads nod.

Cha Cha - The Heliocentrics, M...

White Rainbow "New Clouds"

The best ambient release this year. This is the one album that I keep putting on repeat whenever I get to the end of it. It's thick and gauzy, but it floats by like a dream and you think you missed something because you got lost in the sounds, so you just want to hear it again. Deep like Atlantis.

Major Spillage - White Rainbow

Lotus Plaza "The Floodlight Collective"

An afternoon spent in the fading sunlight under a blossoming apple tree with a guitar, a drum machine and seven miles of tape delay.

Sunday Night - Lotus Plaza

Caetano Veloso "Zii & Zie"

The man with the most beautiful voice in the world drops another bomb. He's 67 years old and still relevant, musically and culturally. "Zii & Zie" uses the same band as his last record, "Ce," and they ride the razor's edge with these sharp Motorik grooves. Expertly produced by CV's son, Moreno. Features the outstanding guitar work of Pedro Sa, Brazil's answer to Marc Ribot.




John Zorn "O'o"

The Dreamers band is back for a second trip. It's cinematic surf music on the surface, but it goes deep into ambient, lounge, noisy jazz and Sephardic themes. Vibraphones and exotic percussion sounds abound. Features the outstanding guitar work of Marc Ribot, New Jersey's answer to Pedro Sa.




Mayer Hawthorne "A Strange Arrangement"

Most of these retro-soul releases are pretty blah. They get the sound right, but the songwriting is weak or it just sounds cliched. This is the opposite -- killer funk hooks, beautiful ballads, the tightest rhythm section on wax and Mayer's beautiful and oddly throaty voice above it all. Bonus for putting the tambourine to such good use.

Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin...

Sonny & The Sunsets "Tomorrow Is Alright"

San Francisco's own Sonny Smith and his rotating cast of characters. Little stories in songs, sung with an acoustic guitar and an antique vibe. Lyrics walk the line between funny and sad, the music is warm and timeless.

Too Young to Burn - Sonny & Th...

Wilco "S/T"

From Chicago. Watch these guys, they're gonna be big.

Everlasting Everything - Wilco

Mount Eerie "Wind's Poem"

Each of Phil Elverum's songs on this disc is an emotional masterpiece. I consider this a companion to his awesome "Dawn" book and album from a couple of years ago. It sounds like winter in Norway, stillness and drugs.

the Hidden Stone - Mount Eerie

Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu "The Fourth Dimension"

West African jams as charted by weirdo Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor. It has a heavy Sun Ra/Pharaoh Sanders vibe at times (especially with the cheesy lyrics), but if that bugs you, just zone out on the amazing horn arrangements and the huge Afro-strut beats.

Triple Helix - Jimi Tenor & Ka...

OTHER STUFF:

Best Reissues: The Beatles boxes, Kraftwerk "Autobahn" and Red Red Meat "Bunny Gets Paid"

Best Non-Audio Music Artifact: Velvet Underground "New York Art"

Best Music Docs: "Medeski Martin & Wood: Fly in a Bottle" by Billy Martin, "Wilco: Ashes of American Flags" by Brendan Canty, "Soul Power" by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, "Anvil" by Sacha Gervasi and "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn

Best things that happened to me, musically: My band put out its debut album. My podcasts were featured by Ropeadope


BEST LIVE SHOWS OF THE YEAR

The Lions at Slim's in San Franciscio
Sunny Day Real Estate at the Fillmore
Phish at Shoreline Amphitheater
Charlie Hunter Quintet at Yoshi's SF
MyCoy Tyner with Marc Ribot at Yoshi's Oakland
Juana Molina at YBCA
Earthless at Cafe Dunord
Bart Davenport at Cafe Dunord
Ween at Eureka Theatre


BEST ALBUMS OF THE DECADE, IN NO ORDER

PJ Harvey "Uh Huh Her"
M. Ward "Transfiguration of Vincent"
Jan Jelinek "Kosmischer Pitch"
Medeski, Martin and Wood "The Dropper"
Bar Kokhba Sextet "Live at Tonic: John Zorn's 50th Birthday"
Cass McCombs "A"
Ween "Quebec"
Bonnie Prince Billy "Ease Down the Road"
Virgil Shaw "Quad Cities"
Kelley Stoltz "Below the Branches"
Little Joy S/T


SINGLE OF THE DECADE:

Squarepusher "My Red Hot Car"

New Podcast: Sidewalk Killer (#9)

A "sidewalk killer" is what you call a guy with a particularly badass walk. There's a great scene in the classic Jamaican film Rockers when all of the main characters are gearing up to pull off the big heist in the climax, and there's shot after shot of the guys strutting down the sidewalks and back alleys of Kingston. It's set to the Peter Tosh song "Steppin' Razor." They all have distinctive walks -- they bob and pop while they step, coming across like a gang of joyful peacocks. Except Jacob Miller, who looks sleepy in his fatigues with one leg rolled up, and Gregory Isaacs, who is dead serious with his briefcase full of lock-picking tools.

This mix is a set of music for strutting. It's all roots and dub reggae in the Rockers style, lots of horns and "flying cymbal" splashes. Somewhere in there is a song by I-Roy called "Sidewalk Killer" that gives the set its name. It has nothing to do with the display of a sidewalk killer, but it's a DJ cut of Tommy McCook's "Sidewalk Doctor" (itself an instrumental take of Marelna Shaw's "Woman of the Ghetto"). Such a great groove, I had to name the set after it. Enjoy!

This is the first mix I've posted in a few months. I'll spare you the details, but I now have a new computer which makes editing the raw audio files much easier, and I upgraded to a pro account on SoundCloud, the service I use to host my mixes. They have these really cool player widgets and they're adding features all the time, but if you want to post more than five or six mixes, you have to kick down a little. That's been taken care of now, so expect the mixes to flow much faster in 2010 and beyond. I hope to post at least one per month from now on!

Sidewalk Killer (Veggie Burritos Podcast #9)  by  snackfight

Image: Strictly Vibes

Let Little Joy bring a little joy into your life

The video above is a slice of perfection. The song is "Next Time Around" by the group Little Joy, and it was shot by Marcela Amarante de Castro Nev on 8mm film. Little Joy's debut was one of my records of the year for 2008, and it's still in heavy rotation this summer.

Kind of makes you want to kick off your shoes and go play guitars and sing harmonies on the beach, amiright?

'Carmensita' by Devendra Banhart

This is Devendra's latest joint, "Carmensita," from his album Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. It's a fun video. You've got Natalie Portman, some pretty killer special effects, awesome make-up and elaborate costumes. And the knives.

Devendra is playing in New York tonight (Friday, Oct 2) under the name "Swami Shave-Us", opening for one of my favorite new bands on the scene, Little Joy -- I'll post a video of theirs in a minute.

Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the tip.

Podcast #8: Stand Firm

Here's a fresh new mix of classic Rockers. This one is all reggae, with some vocals, some instrumentals and some heavy dubs, all recorded with the windows open on a Saturday afternoon in July here at VB home base. A few of these records are craptastic Jamaican pressings, so you'll have to deal with things like surface noise, scratchy high-end hits and crunchy, distorted cymbal crashes. Just friendly reminders that you're listening to a mix born of vinyl. All those imperfections are what audio purists refer too when the talk about vinyl's "warmth."

Sylford Walker, Gregory Isaacs, Cedric IM Brooks, Tappa Zukie and Big Youth all make appearances. The title comes from the Barry Brown track of the same name. There are more than a few tracks from the main man producer extraordinaire Joe Gibbs. He was a true legend (Joe passed last year) but my favorite memory of him was his cameo in the film "Rockers." He's the guy who gives Horsey a stack of records to sell off the back of his motorcycle on consignment at the beginning of the movie. His best line: "Give you 200 of my record? I don't give record -- I sell record!"

The shots of Joe's music shop in Kingston included above should put you in the proper mindset.

Also, I'm trying something new this time. I've signed up for SoundCloud, a music sharing site with lots of DJs posting mixes. I chose SoundCloud because they have this really cool player widget. You can listen to the mix right here on the page, or you can go to SoundCloud and download it. Search around while you're there. The site has thousands of awesome mixes from all different genres, and over a hundred reggae mixes.

The old schoolers can also grab it from MediaFire just like before.

Veggie Burritos #8 - "Stand Firm" by snackfight

Jazz Icons DVD Series, Lookin' Good

Hal Miller, one of the key people putting together the series of Jazz Icons DVD releases, was recently interviewed by Felix Conteras of NPR's A Blog Supreme. The series features archival performances, many of them never-before-released, from key giants like Sonny Rollins, Roland Kirk, Nina Simone, Chet Baker, Art Blakey and Ella Fitzgerald. I've seen the Roland Kirk and the Nina performances, and they are spectacular. Well annotated, too.

In the interview, Miller describes how he combs through known footage to find the tasty bits, and how he digs through the video libraries of universities and European television stations to find lost and hidden gems. One of the best jobs in the world?

Here's one part, written by Miller, I found particularly awesome:

A jazz trio touring Germany in the 1950s or 1960s might have been televised locally for a single concert. In most instances the leader of the trio would have been paid a flat fee for this on top of the trio's payment for the actual concert. In virtually every case, the only name on the contract for the television fee would have been that of the leader with no mention of the sideman. Further, there is obviously no mention in the contract of any future payments for commercial videotape or DVD releases since such media had not yet been commercially available or -- in the case of DVD -- even been invented at the time.

So, fast forward to 2009, some 45 years later, and Jazz Icons -- or any other company with a similar enterprise -- decides to make a commercial release of this video performance. By law they may not even have to pay the leader or his estate and definitely and clearly have no obligation to pay the sidemen. David Peck has taken the stance that every musician involved gets paid regardless of the contract language or absence of such. David works through the American Federation of Musicians' Union to find the contributing musicians and to pay them.

That's some championship decision-making right there.

I do have some quibbles with the series. Miller says Jazz Icons has an arbitrary cut-off date of 1970 for the material they're reviewing and releasing. Which is a shame because I consider the early 1970s to be one of the most interesting periods for jazz -- it's when the players were abandoning a lot of the constructs laid out by the heavyweights of the 50s and 60s and really trying to find a new voice in a post-Hendrix, post-Bitches Brew world. By enforcing a hard stop at 1970, you're missing some primo shit.

Also, Miller says they "cherry pick" performers. Looking at the list of releases thus far, I'll read this statement as code for "playing it safe" -- choosing the marquee names that guarantee a return on the investment. Understandable, but I'd challenge Jazz Icons to pull back the curtain a little on future releases and feature some players that are more left of mainstream.

Sure, some of the featured players, like Kirk, Monk, Coltrane, Mingus were edgy. But that list reads like the table of contents in a Who's Who book. What about Archie Shepp? Sun Ra? Rashied Ali? Grachan Moncur III? Jakie McLean? Eric Dolphy as a leader? Oliver Lake? Don Cherry? I'm sure there's some killer footage out there those of us who "travel the spaceways" would love to experience.

Those two issues aside, these guys are doing incredible work. Read the interview, check out the clips and buy as many of the Jazz Icons DVDs you can afford. Especially since, according to them, the money is going to all the right places!

And now, Art Blakey:




Mingus Photo: Verve Records

Herbie Hancock and Mwandishi Band, Live in 1971

This is some heavy KA-BAMM!

James Carter Playing the Bass Saxophone

hooo-nk tweee-nk puh puh dbweeEEeEeEeeEE!

Podcast #7: Ikosi City Street

Today we bring you an audio-logical playground made up largely of primo African-inspired dance music, most of it actually from Africa this time. There's also some afro-jazz, afro-beat and good old American east coast R&B. Oh yes and some Jah music from Kingston J-A to settle things down at the end. Globe-trotting to say the least. Enjoy, hoping the weather is nice wherever you are.

Veggie Burritos Podcast #7: Ikosi City Street (45:00, 72MB)

Chimurenga/Flickr