Bringing Soul Back To Its Roots
100 Days, 100 Nights by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings could very well have been recorded and released in 1965. This record absolutely drips in the southern fried soul of the ‘good ol’ days’, though this record will undoubtedly (albeit criminally) be compared to more recent outings from Amy Winehouse. The fact that these ladies share a backing band is where that comparison should end. Where Amy is a profitable facsimile of soul, Sharon is soul, pure and simple. Hell, even their record label is kickin’ it old-school and releasing 7” singles and refers to their roster as a “stable”.
The lead off track “100 Days, 100 Nights” finds Sharon in full-on vamp mode bemoaning the whereabouts of her man. And when she slows it down to a bluesy half time bridge you feel it. Elsewhere on the record you can find Sharon echoing Aretha (“Nobody’s Baby”), Otis (“Humble Me”, “Tell Me”) and Carla Thomas (“When The Other Foot Drops, Uncle”). And it needs to be said that The Dap-Kings stand as a modern-day equivalent to Booker T. & the M.G.’s or The JB’s. The full record does not drop until the end of the month, but here’s one to tide ya’ll over.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights
Buy / Pre-Order: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Link: Official SiteNew Video: Radio Nowhere
Amazon has the video exclusive of “Radio Nowhere”, the lead single from Bruce’s forthcoming album, Magic.
It’s dark and urgent, like a middle of the night pee.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – Radio Nowhere (Amazon Video)
Ickmusic Live: The Clash – Buy or Die!
If you’ve been checking in with Ickmusic for a while, you know by now that I can’t go very long without a Clash or Joe Strummer post. So without much setup, here’s a great audience recording of a late 1978 gig at London’s Lyceum Ballroom. Find out a lot more background on the show at Black Market Clash (a fantastic live Clash / Strummer resource – click here for the home page with the frames).
RIP Joe. We miss you.
The Clash – Buy or Die !!!
The Lyceum
London
From the Sort It Out” Tour
December 29th, 19781. Safe European Home
2. I Fought the Law
3. Jail Guitar Doors
4. Drug Stabbing Time
5. Cheapskates
6. The City of the Dead
7. Clash City Rockers
8. Tommy Gun
9. White Man in Hammersmith Palais
10. English Civil War
11. Stay Free
12. Guns on the Roof
13. Police and Thieves
14. Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad
15. Capital Radio
16. Janie Jones
17. Garageland
18. Complete Control
19. London’s Burning*
20. White Riot** The last two tracks come from the 12/28/78 show at the Lyceum
Kala Good
M.I.A.
Her follow up to her very successful debut, Arular, was released a couple weeks ago. It’s called Kala, and I have to say, I’m enjoying it even more than her first. I love cool sounds. This album has ’em. She had originally planned to get in the studio with Timbaland for this album, but problems with her visa blocked her for a few months (he did end up producing one of the tracks: “Come Around”).
So, she took the label’s money and did some globe-trotting to pull in some tasty sounds. One of my favorites is her collaboration with Australian aborigine hip-hop group Wilcannia Mob, who are barely in their teens (if even that). That one’s called “Mango Pickle Down River” and features a wicked didgeridoo.
She’s also cool enough to incorporate the Clash into a song. “Straight to Hell” sets the tone on the Diplo-produced “Paper Planes”.
Here’s the album opener. “M.I.A.’s coming back with Power Power!” Crank it up and enjoy. Great album… tasty beats, bangs, and zooms. And she’s hot to boot.
I’ll be checking her out live in two weeks at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Who’s in?
Buy: Kala (Amazon)
Links: Her Seizure-Inducing Official Site (now defunct)
Come Over to Jeb’s Yard, Get Your Heaven Right Here
I heard another older song a few weeks ago that’s brand spanking new to me, courtesy of Sirius (where Steve Earle now has his own radio show on Outlaw Country – yipee!). This one is by Jeb Loy Nichols. Jeb made a unique musical journey from Austin, Texas to New York City to London. He’s been based out of the UK for some time now. In 2000, he traveled to Jamaica to record Just What Time It Is, a fusion of soulful pop, reggae, and a little country. The studio engineer was Stephen Stanley (Buju Banton, Burning Spear).
The song will reel a lot of you right in with its infectious sing-along chorus: “come ooon over to my yaard.” La la la la la… It’s a nice one!
Of the song, Jeb writes on his site:
I wrote this after the bulk of the album was already finished. Lorraine and I were cycling through Wadebridge, in North Cornwall, the lyrics came in a tumble, the whole thing was written in twenty minutes. I was pleased with the day, happy to be out of London, I’d recorded a record I liked and I was counting myself lucky. Things were looking up, I was doing what I wanted to do with people I admired, I was out of one thing and into another.
Take a listen (and don’t crap out before the chorus)…
Jeb Loy Nichols – Heaven Right Here (Come Over to My Yard) (mp3)
Buy: Just What Time It Is (Amazon)
Linkage: Official Site
Whatever Happened to Terence Trent D’Arby?
Why, he changed his name to Sananda Maitreya in 2001 after a series of dreams and moved to Italy. Duhh.
But seriously, he did. And he’s still active on the scene. You can cruise over to Sananda’s web site and see what he’s been up to.
One of the things you’ll find is a link to a full 2010 concert in Basel, Switzerland, including this one, “It Ain’t Easy”…
This song is one of TTD’s biggest hits from his great debut, Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby, and takes top billing as my favorite TTD tune. Enjoy. And go show Sananda some love.
Sananda Maitreya’s Official Site | Facebook
First Listen: Marcus Miller – Free
I’ll be honest here, I did not know much about Marcus Miller before I decided to write this piece. I only knew him as the bass player for Miles Davis. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say:
… a jazz musician, composer and producer, perhaps best known as a bass guitarist with Miles Davis, Luther Vandross and David Sanborn. Miller is classically trained as a clarinetist, and also plays bass clarinet, keyboard, saxophone, and guitar, and is a capable singer.
Well hot damn! He’s won a Grammy for his solo efforts and has played with a veritable “who’s who” of Jazz and Blues musicians. I stumbled upon his latest release while browsing through my Miles Davis links. It immediately grabbed me with it’s raga-inspired lead off track “Blast” and held me down tight delivering funk, soul and some of the tightest bass licks I’ve heard. Here’s a sample of the soulful side of this record featuring the beautiful Corinne Bailey Rae covering the 1977 Deniece Williams track “Free”.
Marcus Miller (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae) – Free
Buy: Free
Link: Official SiteSpringsteen Tour Dates and FREE Radio Nowhere on iTunes
We got tour dates! And it looks like I’ll will be heading out to L.A. to catch the October 28th show. It looks like there’s still room in there to schedule a Phoenix date, but who knows? So L.A., here I come….
TOUR DATES:
October 2 Hartford, CT
October 5 Philadelphia, PA
October 9-10 East Rutherford, NJ
October 14 Ottawa, ONT
October 15 Toronto, ONT
October 17-18 New York, NY
October 21 Chicago, IL
October 26 Oakland, CA
October 28 Los Angeles, CA
November 2 St Paul, MN
November 4 Cleveland, OH
November 5 Auburn Hills, MI
November 11 Washington, D.C.
November 14 Pittsburgh, PA
November 15 Albany, NY
November 18 Boston, MANovember 25 Madrid, SPAIN
November 26 Bilbao, SPAIN
November 28 Milan, ITALY
November 30 Arnhem, NETHERLANDS
December 2 Mannheim, GERMANY
December 4 Oslo, NORWAY
December 8 Copenhagen, DENMARK
December 10 Stockholm, SWEDEN
December 12 Antwerp, BELGIUM
December 13 Cologne, GERMANY
December 15 Belfast, IRELAND
December 17 Paris, FRANCE
December 19 London, UKFREE ON iTUNES and THE GUARDIAN: Be sure to head over to iTunes to get your free download of “Radio Nowhere” (in m4a) , and to pre-order the album for only $8.99. And thanks G. for letting me know that the UK paper The Guardian is offering a DRM-free MP3 on their site.
BACKSTREETS INTERVIEW: Backstreets had a chance to chat it up with the Boss in a phone interview. Check it out.
“Everywhere like such as”
This has absolutely nothing to do with music, but I had to share this nugget of wisdom from a Miss Teen U.S.A. contestant.
You can just hear the crickets chirping between her ears.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII 336 278]
Review: Debbie Harry’s ‘Necessary Evil’
Gonzo takes the wheel for a review of Debbie Harry’s new album. – Pete….
(2007, Five Seven Music)
I have to begin by admitting two things. First, I’m a big Blondie fan. I have all of their albums on vinyl, minus the contract-filling Hunter. I’ve often said that New York City in the mid-late 1970s is my favorite music ‘scene’ of all time. Along with the Talking Heads, Patti Smith, The Shirts, Television and the Ramones, Blondie is one reason for my view. Secondly, I confess that I haven’t followed Debbie Harry’s solo career with any level of depth. That said, I was intrigued when given the opportunity to review Harry’s latest solo disc, Necessary Evil.
The album’s opening tracks set the tone for the rest of the album. In general, the songs on Necessary Evil retain Allen’s roots in the new wave and pop music of the late 1970s/early 1980s. Whether this is conscious or not, this aspect of Harry’s most recent work fits in well with the current trend of retro-new wave acts such as The Killers. Yet in addition to recalling Harry’s most well known work with Blondie, the album combines this aesthetic with contemporary conventions of indie rock and electro dance music. The result is admittedly not anything to write home about. While Harry is able to bridge the past with the present, the product of this marriage is sadly not particularly unique or groundbreaking. Still, that’s not to say that the songs are without merit.
However, the failure of the album is its lack of brevity. At 17 tracks, the disc gets to be a bit tedious. While I doubt that it would create a landmark album, trimming some of the fat on Necessary Evil could at the very least have led to a more solid and enjoyable disc.
In short, Necessary Evil is enjoyable for what it is. It isn’t earth-shattering, but it shows that Harry has maintained her competence in form and execution. Overall, I give it a solid ‘C’ grade.
Necessary Evil hits the shelves on 9/17 in the US.
Debbie Harry – Official Website
Debbie Harry on Myspace (featuring songs from the upcoming album)
