This is emphatically not a return to form. I’ve been sharing songs with friends and I thought it was a bit silly to not share them here too.

colo(u)rful houses in Bo Kaap

I quite like this Alberta Cross song. The whole album is good, too, though I don’t love every song.
Alberta Cross – Low Man (mp3)

Volcano Choir is a side project of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. This track was not what I expected, but it’s quite catchy/ good. And Justin’s vocals are wonderful as always.
Volcano Choir – Island, IS (mp3)

Soul Sides has been posting some fantastic stuff lately and you’d be remiss to not check it out. Bobby Freeman’s “Good Good Lovin’” is a classic blues-based, Motown-sound track with a hard driving sax part. They posted two tracks by the Metros and both are excellent soul tracks, but I like the dark, swaggering “Since I Found My Baby” better.

They also posted these oh-those-are-funny videos of Lushlife doing acoustic covers of classic hip hop tunes. They are so funny, until you realize they’re actually quite compelling. For example, this Jay Z cover:

I definitely am going to keep my eye out for Mayer Hawthorne after a few tracks of his I heard recently. Grab the breezy, oldies- and Motown-inspired “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” at MBV.

I don’t know much about Monogrenade but I quite like folky The Acorn-reminiscent track “Ce Soir” that Anyone’s Guess posted.

The B-side of the Very Best 7″, “Yalira”, available here, is beautiful and worth the listen.

I’ve been listening to the Frightened Rabbit Daytrotter session a lot. The featured version of “My Backwards Walk” is great.

And, finally, if I’m posting, I feel it’s my duty to mention the great KevvyKev’s (one of KZSU’s own) 25th anniversary Bang the Drum concert with 25 DJs and 25 MCs. It’s definitely another impressive line up. Check out all the details.

boats in Kalk Bay, False Bay

Friday night I saw something different at the Independent: King Sunny Ade & His African Beats. From Nigeria, they play Juju music, popular music which is influenced by Yoruba percussion.

In a room drenched in the smell of pot and body odor and with a distinctly different crowd than the average indie show at the Independent, Ade played a two hour-plus set to the appreciative crowd. The band was a big one: Ade on vocals and sometimes guitar, two additional vocalists, seven percussionists, guitar, bass, and keyboards. Everyone in the band seemed thrilled to be there and to be playing.

They played well and the mix sounded good. People danced and sang along–if they could figure out the words. My favorite songs were the more guitar-heavy ones; during some of the percussion-centric ones, with incessant beats and lyrics I didn’t understand, I felt my attention wandering. But it was a fun show nevertheless.

Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

–

Adrian (me):
David Ruffin – Anything You Ask For (mp3) (out of print but available on iTunes)

I picked up this album on the recommendation of Soul Sides a couple months ago. Recorded in 1971, but shelved until it was released in 2004, it’s a solid album that makes me wonder why it didn’t get released immediately.

Some songs hit me immediately–like the cover of “I Want You Back” or “Heaven Help Us All”. This song has been smoldering and growing in my mind. While it’s not a full blown can’t-get-it-out-of-my-head obsession, it’s been just under the surface for weeks now and every time I hear it, I want to hear it again. From the stutter-start drum opener to the fast strummed stop-and-go guitar to the grooving bass, this is post-60s Motown production at its most classic and best.

Also, it’s a bit of a coincidence that I had a song obsession by David’s Brother three weeks ago.

–

Keith:
Thin Lizzy – She Knows (mp3) (buy)

Over the past few weeks I’ve been enjoying the Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous DVD – spectacular to be able to see the show and the interviews with the band members are rather insightful as well. As such I’ve been bulking up the collection with their studio work as well, including their first album with the dual lead-guitar setup that made them so powerful. Here’s the leadoff track.

–

Scott:
Tidawt – Talhiat (mp3) (not available? artist’s webpage)

tuareg band from mali. i can’t remember the last time that somebody has personally shared music with me that i really dug, so thank you eric if you ever read this.

–

Wow, what a cool set of songs this week. Good work, guys.

So, I saw this commercial during the Superbowl.

Hey, Budweiser, who do you think you’re fooling? Your commercial’s start is set in “Scotland, 1933″. You might think to use Scottish bagpipes, then, in the soundtrack. Or at the very least Scottish smallpipes.

Those Irish (uilleann) pipes aren’t fooling anyone! Didn’t you learn anything from Braveheart?

cred: me

I’m on the air on KZSU right now doing my “I once was Canadian” radio show. As I said last week I’m doing 3 hour shows, so that means I’ll be one every Tuesday from 3-6pm. Listen in!

With the extra hour, this week I’m playing some African music I love and I’m having fun while doing it. Indie and soul will be coming still as well.

During either show you can listen online or at 90.1 FM. You can also follow along with my playlist online.

Update Here’s the playlist, African music up front:

• Jubulisa Mkhize – Bakhuluma Ngathi
  —
• La Drivers Union Por Por Group – Otsokobila
• Lokonon Andre & Lee Volcans – Mi Kple Dogbekpo
• Johnny Clegg & Juluka – Umfazi Omdala
• Amadou et Miriam – Ce N’est Pas Bon
  —
• Ubambo – Sibonabantu Ben Zondo
• Postal Workers at the University of Ghana Post Office – Cancelling Stamps
• Kasai Allstars – Kafuulu Balu
• Blanket Mkhize – Blanket’s Guitar Solo
  —
• Mamadou Diabate – Segou Tara
• Soweto Percussion Ensemble – Umbzabalazo (Protest): first movement
• Koernag Namadlanga – Ngiyalila
  —
• Mzwandile Qotoyi, Dizu Plaantijies, Jose Luis Quintana, Aka, Changuito – Yintoni Nale Izange
• Olatunji – Drums of Passion
• The Very Best – Kamphopo
  —
• Grampall Jookabox – Black Girls
• Lake – Blue Ocean Blue
• Karl Blau – Before Telling Dragons
• The Ugly Suit – Chicago
  —
• Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
  —
• Shugo Tokumaru – Hidamari
• Human Highway – My Beach
• Mason Proper – Point A To Point B
• Nada Surf – What Is Your Secret?
  —
• Crooked Fingers – Valerie
• Chad Van Gaalen – Willow Tree
• Elvis Perkins In Dearland – Weeping Pilgrim, 417
• Otis Gibbs – Caroline
  —
• Aretha Franklin – Respect
  —
• The Satintones – Going to the Hop
• Bill and Ron – It
• Henry Lumpkin – Don’t Leave Me
• The Wright Specials – Pilgrim of Sorrow
  —
• Raphael Saadiq – Big Easy
• the Shangra Las – The Train from Kansas City
• the Supremes – When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
• The Ikettes – I’m Blue (The Gong Gong Song)
• Wanda Jackson – The Funnel of Love
  —
• The Tallest Man on Earth – The Gardener
• Joe Pug – Bury Me Far From My Uniform
• Try Me Bicycle – Of Things Sown

Sometimes you hear a song again for the first time. Something flips in your head and you realize you like it. Sometimes it’s something specific that you hear or a mood you’re in that causes that change. Or maybe some other music you’ve heard in the meantime changed your mindset and opened you up to it.

I don’t know what flipped that switch for me on “The Obvious Child”. I’d heard it growing up–Rhythm of the Saints was one of only a couple pop records my parents had–and I remember liking it but it wasn’t anything I came back to. What brought me back to it in 2003? Your guess is as good as mine.

What I do know is that it sounded totally different. Those drums–by samba reggae group Olodum–at the beginning were, and are still, huge and fascinating. I listened through it picking out all the different rhythmic layers. Those five 1/16th surdo (low drum) notes during the turn-around are key to keeping the whole rhythm driving along, for instance

And say what you will about Simon’s cultural appropriations, but when he’s on, he’s got a genius knack at making fluid and beautiful pop songs with world influences.

Paul Simon – The Obvious Child (mp3)

I like this video from Live in Central Park because the drums sound even bigger than on the recording:

“The Obvious Child” is on Rhythm of the Saints, available at insound.

God’s Window

We rounded the bend and I saw where we were going. I got a hint of how amazing it might be. “Holy…” A simple expletive can’t sum it up. When we got there, the escarpment was covered in fog and gave the already mystical area an ethereal tone. I’d seen it before, the end of the earth, in film and photos, but being there was entirely different. Breathtaking would be an understatement. The next day we drove on from God’s Window, north and east through Mpumalanga, home to many Ndebele, toward, but never reaching Limpopo, home to mostly Pedi (aka North Sotho). I left some of me on the escarpment and some of the escarpment came with me.

While nature has blessed this region, history has not. For centuries there has been a pattern of oppression and that only got more extreme post-World World II under Apartheid. The effects of apartheid are covered much better and more heartbreakingly elsewhere so I won’t speak much to it.

But under the apartheid policy where all the tribal and ethnic groups were kept separate–apartheid means separateness–from each other, the SABC recorded and broadcast specific programming for different groups. A few years ago Eagle Records (UK) dug through and released some of these tracks previously heard by only a small groups of people for their African Renaissance series.

I got Vol. 5: Ndebele and North Sotho a few years ago. It’s a really varied and great collection. Of the two CDs, disc one, Ndebele, is the more consistently good one to my ears. It has everything from hypnotic guitar-based street songs to acapella Mbube-style songs (or isicathamiya if you want to be more correct). The driving and lifting upbeat in many of the songs amazes me–I can hear the tight connection of music and dance in the culture. Disc two, North Sotho, has a lot more percussion and vocal tracks. Despite disc one getting more of my listening time, this is still good.

Musically, my main issue with the collection is that a handful of tracks are marked by dated 80s sounding instrumentation and production. If you skip those tracks, though, this collection is fantastic.

Koernag Namadlanga – Ngiyalila (mp3, from African Renaissance, vol 5 disc 1: Ndebele)

Mathula Home Singers – Bhula Wesangoma (mp3, from African Renaissance, vol 5 disc 1: Ndebele)

Sehlopha Sa Balobedu – A Re Yeng Go Nyaka Dingaka (mp3, from African Renaissance, vol 5 disc 2: North Sotho)

You can get it from amazon.

I pulled out this comp in part because I was inspired by reading Heart on a Stick’s series on African music. It’s a worthwhile read; unfortunately the music links aren’t up anymore.

My monthly mixtapes were not quite monthly there. However I did want to get this up so you could put it on your ipod for your Thanksgiving travels if you wanted.

You can download the zip file with the following:
1. mp3s of the songs
2. liner notes (pdf)
3. playlist files (iTunes txt file and an m3u file)

(for the iTunes file, simply import all the songs to your library and then go to File->import and then select the song list (the txt file). you should now have the 2008oct-nov playlist in your iTunes with all the songs in the correct order).

Go ahead and check out the playlist (below) or the liner notes. It’s pretty folksy but with some soul and things thrown in.

Adrian’s October November 2008 mixtape (rapidshare link [1])

If you like the artists or songs, I suggest supporting them by buying their music, going to a show, buying merchandise from them or at least telling other people about them.

The playlist:

1. Horse Feathers Curs in the Weeds
2. The Acorn Darcy
3. David Bazan Please Baby Please
4. Lewis & Clarke Be the Air We Breathe
5. Laura Marling Ghosts
6. Theresa Andersson Na Na Na
7. Frightened Rabbit Poke (live)
8. American Analog Set Born on the Cusp (demo)
9. Ben Gibbard Farmer Chords
10. Raphael Saadiq Seven
11. The Supremes Run, Run, Run
12. Ruby Andrews You Made a Believer Out of Me
13. Dorothy Berry You’re So Fine
14. Miriam Makeba Pata Pata
15. Crooked Fingers Solitary Man
16. Joe Pug Bury Me Far From My Uniform
17. Low Sunflower
18. Peasant Impeccable Manners
19. Deer Tick Ashamed
20. the Twilight Sad Some Things Last a Long Time

[1] If you’re having trouble with the rapidshare link, here’s what you do, step-by-step. 1) Click on the link. 2) scroll down and click “FREE” 3) wait till the counter gets to zero 4) enter the letters in their graphic into the box 5) click “download”

The soundtrack to my lunch (taco de pollo) with friend at La Taqueria this afternoon was a Brazilian-style bateria across the street at the Mission Cultural Center. They were really great and kept up their engaging polyrhythms for quite a while. It was an unexpected musical experience. Now if they can only play every day.

Not to be confused with the similar but unrelated Outer Mission Sambanista Battery.

The other day a friend of mine, knowing my predilection for African music, gave me a great Smithsonian Folkways disc called Por Por: Honk Horn Music from Ghana by a group called the La Drivers Union Por Por Group.

Using squeeze bulb horns–like car and bicycle horns you’d see in old-time movies–tire rims, drums, other percussion and their voices, the La Drivers Union makes por por music, a type apparently unique to them and perform it almost solely at funerals of drivers in that union (which, I learned from the comprehensive liner notes, often feature caskets that are made to look like the trotros these drivers drive).

George Gershwin, in an American in Paris, used a horn to indicate the traffic and hustle. The way he used it is almost cute, though: a couple honks within a significant piece. One could imagine that it was appropriate to 1930s Paris, though.

In the same way, one can imagine that the constant and overlapping use of horn in this por por music could be appropriate to current day Accra. It’s a din of horns, rhythmic and overlapping with some lines constant and some weaving in and out. Add in to that call-and-response vocals, percussion on all sorts of things like tire rims and traditional drums and you have music that’s both melodic and heavily polyrhythmic.

The LA Drivers Union Por Por Group – Otsokobila (mp3s)

When I heard about this CD, I thought, “Wow, that’ll be cool.” I feel like one could just let the idea of the music trump the actual music. Having listened to it a few times, though, I have to say that listening to this music is just as cool as the idea of it.

You can get this album from Smithsonian Folkway.

Starting tonight there’s a really solid set of shows for a few days here. I’ve never been one to wait for a weekend to go to a show, but maybe you need a little push. Do it!

the Botticellis @ Bottom of the Hill, August 2007

Wednesday, April 16

• Half Handed Cloud, Lake and the Mumlers @ the Rickshaw Stop (HHC is good local ADHD pop; Lake was solid when I saw them before.)
• Solas @ Yoshis (SF) (Solas is a great Irish band)

Thursday, April 17

• Ian Fays, the Catholic Comb and Here Here @ the Bottom of the Hill (I like the Ian Fays’ intimate indie pop. The Bay Bridged & Playing in the Fog present)
• Or, the Whale, Low Red Land @ the Hemlock (I’ve made no secret of my love for Or, the Whale’s sweet country sounds)

Friday, April 18

• Elf Power, Two Sheds @ Bottom of the Hill (Elf Power is an E6 psychedelic indie pop band. Two Sheds have really impressed me lately)
• the Botticellis, Paper Cuts @ Cafe du Nord (Botticellis CD release for Old Home Movies which is definitely solid)

Two Sheds @ Cedar Street Courtyard, SxSW 2008

After having played SF at least two times in the last six months, Vampire Weekend is playing here 3 more times in the next three months!:

01-31 San Francisco, CA – Popscene
<snip>
03-22 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
03-23 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Shop

Does San Francisco really love these guys this much? Sometimes I’m just not sure of where people’s tastes stand.

As demonstrated by my tastes, I really can’t knock people for copping other people’s music–I mean, I love Sufjan, Iron & Wine and others while also still loving pure, traditional Southern music–but Vampire Weekend’s brand of African-influenced guitar music, often similar to the style of Zulu street musicians, isn’t for me. As a South African-American, I’ll just often go back and listen to the stuff I heard and/ or bought on trips back there, be it any number of compilations with great Zulu or Xhosa (or Ndebele) amateur musicians, or Johnny Clegg. Plus that Fidel Mpondo disc–that’s great.

Johnny Clegg & Juluka – Umfazi Omdala (mp3)

Last week I got to see the Legong of Mahabrata @ the Ubud Palace, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. The group performing was Sekaa Gong Jaya Swara Ubud. It was balinese dance accompanied by gamelan. Gamelan is an Indonesian (Balinese and Javanese) music with tuned percussion instruments, instruments like (but not exactly) xylophones (metallophones), tuned gongs, cymbals, barrel drums (kendhang). Sometimes, like in the gamelan I saw, they also have fipple flutes and a two-stringed spike fiddle called a rebab. (It should be noted: gamelan is a set of instruments, not the players/ history. The Berlin Philharmonic is the people, not the particular instruments they play.)

The venue, the Ubud Palace, is a courtyard of a 16th century palace. Not to be flippant, but it’s sort of like making the Great American Music Hall a lot more historic and even more beautiful.

The group came in, some dancers and the gamelan players shaking these tuned bamboo rattles called anklung in addition to the barrel drums mentioned above. The players went to their seats and there was a pause before the music began.

Gamelan itself means hammer. That’s because most of the main instruments are struck with hammers of various sorts. The music often starts fairly simple and slow. One line on the metallophones and one on the cradled gongs. More lines come in. People with hammers are hitting the instruments with one hand and selectively damping them with the other. All this while amazing and tremendously precise dance was going on in in the middle of the U made by the instruments.

I was completely enthralled from beginning to end. I have to say, I’ve been to some great shows this year, some that I might even call “better” but quite possibly none that kept my attention as singularly as this one.

Gamelan isn’t something you immediately start nodding your head along to. I’d been exposed to some gamelan before so I was prepared. I’d say give this a chance, though.

Gamelan “Gender” Wayang – Krepetan (mp3)

(I searched for a while I’m really not sure where you can get this CD other than in Bali. Amazon has other Balinese gamelan CDs, though.)

Gamelan Gong Kebjar – Hudjan mas (mp3) (buy)

My other music experience while on Bali was marching ensembles in a Balinese death parade and ceremony (amazing for many reasons, but I’ll just stick to the one here.)

They played similar instruments to the gamelan: tuned gongs, hanging gones, cymbals and barrel drums, but they also used whistles and their voices, even breaking into the ketjak rhythm for a moment. Here I was able to get right up up next to them and be almost surrounded by the sound. The tuned gongs were doing a slower rhythm while the cymbals were being hit together at a very fast pace, only to suddenly stop and all by thrust into the air. It was great.

A documentary about Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars (myspace) premiers tonight on PBS. Check your local listings! Okay, I did: it’s showing on KQED at 10pm (till 11:30pm) as part of the P.O.V program.

This place is in the middle of nowhere. I was convinced that I had the directions wrong at every turn. There weren’t any other cars going the way I was going and I was just passing houses as I wound up the road into the hills. Then, I saw the sign…

Last Wednesday, in between hosting the Morning Benders and Beatbeat Whisper, I noticed that there was still a staff ticket to Brian Wilson at the Mountain Winery. Yeah, there are perks to being famous. Yeah, last Wednesday was a pretty good day…

the view from my crappy phone camera; that’s Brian a little right and down from the percussionist

I finally saw some other cars as I pulled into the parking lot. Comp tickets are always a bit hit or miss, but after I got my ticket and walked down, I realized two things: a) whereas I was expecting a Shoreline-size (22000 seat) venue, it was much smaller, even much smaller than the Greek Theatre (by my count. b) My comp ticket was in the “premium” floor area. Boom! Winner!

The concert area is built next to a hill side, not really into a hillside like a greek-style theater. That is the performers face parallel to the ridge of the hill and all the spectators on the hill, sitting on built-in wooden benches, face his left side. There is then a floor area and a small set of bleacher on stage right. I ended up being in row N, about 60 feet from Brian, not much further than I am from the stage on a typical night at the Fillmore.

Anyway, I made my way to my seat during his second song; it was not a hit and now that I think about it, I think it was a cover. Brian was seated at, but not playing, a keyboard. His arms were at his sides. The 64 year old looked a bit haggard, with a glazed look in his eyes and his grey hair splaying every which way. He was wearing a non-descript white long-sleeved shirt and a blue and red-striped nylon track jacket. They launched into one of their better known songs and that’s when I noticed something: he was staring into a screen mounted above and to the right of his keyboard. He had a teleprompter. He continued to stare at this for most of most songs. “God Only Knows”? Yup, used a teleprompter. “Wouldn’t it Be Nice”? Teleprompter. “I Get Around”, “California Girls”, “Surfer Girl”? Teleprompter. I enjoyed the idea of Brian Wilson watching a bouncing ball bounce across the words on the screen. He was doing karaoke to his own songs.

After about 45 minutes of music there was some craziness. As they were finishing “Sloop John B” Brian got off of his stool and went down onto his stomach. I thought he might just be acting strange (it’s not like he doesn’t have a history of that), but his band mates seemed genuinely concerned when he stood back up. Brian got on the mic and said that he’d been having fainting spells and might not be able to finish the concert.

Cleveland Simmons Group – Histe Up the John B.’s Sails (Sloop John B.) (mp3) (buy)

(I just like to remind everyone that Sloop John B is actually a traditional tune from Bahamas/ West Indies.)

For about 15 minutes it looked like the show might end there and some people started leaving, but eventually the band and Brian came back on stage and immediately launched into “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” but not before everyone overheard Al Jardine (guitar, vocals) tell Brian “Let’s do a good show, Brian.”

I wanted to elaborate a bit further on Brian’s role in the concert. He had a keyboard in front of him but didn’t play it, save the intro of one song. He sang some lead vocals but left plenty of them to Al and left all of the falsetto leads/ harmonies to one of his band members. During the encore, someone put a bass on him and he appeared to be playing it, but the more animated bass lines were obviously coming from the regular bass player. He started the show hardly saying anything but became more engaged and engaging as the show went on, even playing to the crowd later in the show.

His band and their sound were pretty good. The band was pretty tight and the vocal blend was pretty solid, though not much will top the Beach Boys recordings. The bass end vocals seemed a little too percussive, like they were honked. The musicians, in the basic set up were: 2 keyboardists, 4 guitarists (including Jardine), two percussionists, bass player, misc woodwinds, backup singer and Brian. One of the guitarists also played trumpet and french horn (and “theremin”, they called it, though he definitely touched it, so I think it was probably a portamento strip on a synth). It’s cool that they cover important parts in the songs when they come up, but let’s be honest, a guy playing one french horn line a day isn’t going to beat someone like Alan Robinson who played all day every day for a living.

In fact, musically, it was good. It was fun, but it wasn’t the records. Pet Sounds is so meticulously perfect—it’s as simple as that—no live performance is going to beat that one pure musical basis.

For the encore, everyone was standing: “Johnny B. Goode”, “Fun Fun Fun”, “Barbara Ann” (and one other, I think). There was a second encore which was “Love and Mercy”.

With Brian Wilson and Al Jardine (and Billy Hinsche but he hardly counts) are there, it makes me wonder: why is Mike Love’s group still going by the “Beach Boys” when this group has more original members? I know it’s legal reasons, but the law is dumb.

The crowd there was mostly older people, but there were a few younger people sprinkled in there, the ones that are hip to the old stuff and the ones either dragged there by their parents or the one whose only common ground is the Beach Boys.

A funny conversation during the fainting break:
Daughter: “His voice is really good.”
Mom: “Do you recognize the music?”
Daughter: “Yeah”
Dad: “Isn’t this great??”

(I’m really amused by the idea that anyone could possibly not recognize at least a handful of Beach Boys tunes.)

(And before we move on I wanted to at least mention the two guys front-left who were giving standing ovations after each and every song at least for the first hour of the show.)

The crowd got me thinking about what coolfer pointed out a while ago: only 2% of Americans go to 3 or more shows a year. I was seeing the 98% there tonight. They were out in full force. It seems ridiculous to me to pay $50 or $150 for a ticket to an event (let alone if you are bringing a spouse or the whole family), but I guess if this is your show, or one of two for the year, shelling out multiple hundreds of dollars isn’t all that bad. And instead of standing in a crowded, hot room uncomfortably close to tons of sweaty hipsters watching a band that a few hundred or thousand people in the world know while your back is hurting and your knees aching and hoping you’re going to see something amazing, you get to sit fairly comfortably in a fresh-air venue at a reasonable distance from reasonably smelling, reasonably dressed rich people, seeing one of the best-known songwriters in the world, knowing you’re probably going to see a good (but not amazing) concert. There are trade-offs there, definitely.

The run-down-summary:
Show: good; that is, fun.
Music: fine, doesn’t beat the records
Venue: surprisingly good and intimate. Good place to see the Brian Wilsons of the world
Crowd: odd, interesting.