Johnny Fever's 2011 General Interest, Non-Genre-Specific Listening Club

Like all the other listening club threads, but viva variety!

Two albums at a time, of varying and disparate genres and eras, for us to find, listen to, and discuss. I'll start it off, but we can pencil interested people in for future weeks soon.

Sunday January 31, 2011 - Week #1

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TUUUWzBjeuI/AAAAAAAAAaM/US8bqonomRg/lasgrecas.jpg

LAS GRECAS Gipsy Rock (1974)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TUUUW1ATsuI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/2YsRx-vjrWM/utfo.jpg

UTFO UTFO (1985)

oops, Sunday January 30, 2011 rather.

Original 8-song version of the UTFO album doesn't contain "The Real Roxanne" btw, but if you happen across the reissue and care to cover that too, feel free. I find the whole Roxanne/Real Roxanne ordeal from this time completely fascinating and iirc it all began with UTFO.

hola dilettante cru!

That's us.

lol I was gonna start this if you weren't

gonna emphasise that open ears are kinda sine qua non for this thread, we gonna be postin' bits of everything

now where are my homies drugs a money and contenderizer with whom this was conceived

btw btw btw I also think there should be a 'Rolling Dilettante' thread where individual (usually contemporary) songs are posted every so often, y/n?

y/n as long as it doesn't just get filled up with xmillion youtubes

Johnny are those two things available to listen to somewhere?

UTFO is already on Grooveshark, and I'm putting Gipsy Rock on there right now. Not sure how to direct link to an album there, though.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/album/Gipsy+Rock/4838323?src=5

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/album/Utfo/1311488?src=5

Gipsy Rock is on Spotify.

btw btw btw I also think there should be a 'Rolling Dilettante' thread where individual (usually contemporary) songs are posted every so often, y/n?

y

With a degree of restraint I don't see why it would be more unwieldly than other rolling threads.

will start that one later then

You can sign me up for a week, JF.

Sweet! :)

xp I'm giving AG the option to claim week #2 since he urged me to start the thread. If he wants it, he can have it...and then you can take week #3, seandalai.

I'll have a go sometime but not just now, I'd like to see what kind of picks everyone does first. Maybe i could have a go 1st week in march if that's ok?

Okay then.

Week #2 (February 6) - seandalai

cheers!

guess I'll take week 3...

Week #2 (February 6) - seandalai
Week #3 (February 13) - Drugs A. Money

Posers.

Actually, I thought the idea was to have a rolling dilettante thread focused on new releases, but this could be good too.

We're going to do both, I think.

Haven't heard the UTFO yet, but wow at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxanne_Wars

imo the gavle goat needed to get in on that

I'll take a week too. This looks like fun.

I would like to do a week.

I would like to do a week.

― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, January 30, 2011 11:11 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

Is it possible to search grooveshark for albums rather than songs? Or do you have to basically reconstruct an album by putting together a playlist of individuals tracks from that album?

You have to search by artist, but once you see all their songs, click on the album you want and (hopefully) it'll take you to just those songs.

Week #2 (February 6) - seandalai
Week #3 (February 13) - Drugs A. Money
Week #4 (February 20) - EZ Snappin
Week #5 (February 27) - Rudipherous
Week #6 (March 6) - Algerian Goalkeeper
Week #7 (March 13) - Pillbox

Can I do one please?

Sure!

Listening to Gipsy Rock and digging it. It's a bit samey, but it reminds me of the awesome Brazilian version of Jesus Christ Superstar from around the same time; a looking glass version of acid rock and dance music that might be the better for the skewed viewpoint. Nice one Johnny!

Johnny, you can cross me off the list for this. I don't have the patience to necessarily sit through everyone's picks (though I'm sure I would like some) so it seems unfair to participate.

Found Gipsy Rock but will have to put aside some non-poll time to give it a good listen, and will try to find UTFO too.

Cool.

And here's the revised schedule:

Week #2 (February 6) - seandalai
Week #3 (February 13) - Drugs A. Money
Week #4 (February 20) - EZ Snappin
Week #5 (February 27) - Algerian Goalkeeper
Week #6 (March 6) - Pillbox
Week #7 (March 13) - emil.y
Week #8 (March 20) - Johnny Fever

Listening to Gipsy Rock and digging it. It's a bit samey, but it reminds me of the awesome Brazilian version of Jesus Christ Superstar from around the same time

Would agree, except it's a really great samey thing imo. I mean, Stereolab albums never veer too far from the main objective either, but I love most of those. Interested in this Brazilian version of JCS you mentioned.

I purged a bunch of stuff a few months back and it looks like that was one of the purged items. There are a few cuts at WFMU, but not all of it. The Japanese one he links to is pretty awesome as well.

I did like the whole Gipsy Rock, by the way. Much more than any Stereolab I've ever heard.

Gave Gipsy Rock a few spins yesterday...ticking both the "Eurovision-bait" and "ethno rock" boxes, it's guaranteed to make me happy. It is kind of samey though and could do with a few more really memorable tunes. I think "Orgullo" is my favourite song so far.

I should note, probably, that I chose albums that were almost as new to me as they probably are to many of you (I was familiar with a few UTFO songs before, but hadn't heard the full album). My next turn, I'll pick a couple albums I know quite well.

from what I've heard of Gipsy Rock so far, it's great stuff. I really like the vox on it.

Will listen to UTFO later...

I really like the vox on it.

Yeah, that was the hook for me (well, that and the percussion). The vocals aren't exactly "pleasant" like a lot of other 70s rock en espanol that I've heard.

Wasn't a U.T.F.O. fan back in the day (I thought Roxanne Shanté's "Roxanne's Revenge" was better than the inspiration) and I find my opinion hasn't changed in the intervening years (though I don't know if Roxanne has held up her end of things). The backing track to "Lisa Lips" hits the spot, but the rest not so much.

lead guitar is p great on the Gipsy Rock as well; Te Estoy Amando Locamente opens ecstatically. What a great way to open an album!

Listening to "Orgullo"--heaping helpings of that fat fuzzy 70s organ sound. Wish I could follow the melodies a little more though.

(You're right about the percussion btw. Slightly ashamed I haven't said anything about it yet.)

I haven't lost interest in this project, btw. But I'm already slightly bored with the albums I chose, and can understand why they've not generated much discourse. Hopefully seandalai shows up with a couple of whoppers tomorrow.

This week my listening has been dominated by the albums poll, leaving not much time for Las Grecas and UTFO. Sorry!

Hopefully seandalai shows up with a couple of whoppers tomorrow.

No pressure...

bummer man I was just listening to UTFO today. I like it all right, fun mid-80s hip hop; favorite song is Bite It (what kind of scat is being done in the beginning?)

I liked Gipsy Rock a lot more than I thought I would. I haven't been on the Internet that much in the past five or six days, and when I have, I have not been ambitious, but I have a whole write-up of the Las Grecas album, which didn't quite bowl me over, but was a pretty cool thing to listen to for the last few days.

You guys, it's okay. I'm not discouraging any talk about the Las Grecas and the UTFO. I just don't have much to say that hasn't already been said (except maybe that "Fairytale Lover" on the UTFO was wickedly unexpected and it's probably just a matter of time before someone like Washed Out slows down a loop of it and makes it his new single).

I get why people would hate the PWEI album, but did anyone like/listen to the Owusu & Hannibal album? Curious about opinion on it.

Ha! I have now for a feast on CASSETTE. I bought it in the 80s. Blimey. I havent listened to it in aeons.

Well, it was nice while it lasted...

oops its my turn

If you are going to post something, GO BIG! We need to stir discussion.

Rufus (Feat Chaka Khan) - Rufusized (1974)
http://image.musicimport.biz/sdimages/disk18/158850.jpg
No spotify sadly but im sure you can find it. Maybe someone with grooveshark can provide a link?

In the early '70s, Rufus was one of the most popular and interesting bands in R&B and rock. Of course, the reason was Chaka Khan, who possessed an amazing voice that was well versed in rock and jazz every bit as much as R&B. Their debut went nowhere, Rags to Rufus offered two instant classics, and Rufusized displayed their skill as album artists. Truth be told, this version of Rufus was nearly a brand-new band, as three members exited and guitarist Tony Maiden and bassist Bobby Watson joined up. The result was a funkier and more talented band who would give Khan the needed earthy and ethereal mix that would make her soar. The sexy and danceable "Once You Started" proves that this version of the band gave off immediate sparks and results. The sneaky and funky "Somebody's Watching You" has Khan displaying even more confidence. After great album cuts like the soothing "Your Smile" and "Pack'd My Bags," Rufusized ends on a strong note. The poignant and sophisticated "Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me)" leads into the Maiden and Khan duet cover of Bobby Womack's "Stop on By," which nearly matches the steaminess and wry nature of the original. Often forgotten due to the bigger hits on Rags to Rufus, this easily outstrips that album and became of one the band's most-loved efforts.

The Next Morning - The Next Morning
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9f5c8lXo1U0/SKu9NvJ8dVI/AAAAAAAAAUk/v7XLNgklKKU/s400/The+Next+Morning+-+Front.jpg
http://open.spotify.com/album/1peNMqCZvmvqi7BxHxKKU9

African-American psychedelic groups, and rock bands from Trinidad, were both uncommon items around 1970. The Next Morning fit into both categories, making them an interesting curiosity regardless of their music. The music, however--average 1970 hard-rock with soul, hard rock, and psychedelic influences, particularly from Jimi Hendrix--is not as unusual as their origins. One would not suspect from listening that the group were largely from Trinidad, with the proliferation of heavy, bluesy guitar and organ riffs, and the strained soul-rock vocals of Lou Phillips. They recorded one album, released in 1971, that received little notice before their breakup.

The Next Morning formed in the late 1960s in New York, four of the five members having come to the city from Trinidad; Lou Phillips was from the Virgin Islands. Jimi Hendrix was a big influence on the band, as were some other hard rock acts of the period like the Who, and rock-soul hybrids like Sly Stone and the Chamber Brothers. The Next Morning were busy on the New York club circuit and attracted attention from Columbia Records, but ended up signing to the smaller Roulette label, whose Calla subsidiary issued their lone, self-titled LP in 1971. Although the jagged guitar sounds of Bert Bailey and some unexpected chord shifts made the album less pedestrian than some efforts in the style, the songs tended toward the long and meandering side, and the material was not as outstanding as their influences. The Next Morning's career sputtered out in the early 1970s, with bassist Scipio Sargeant finding some work doing horn arrangements for Joe Tex and Harry Belafonte. The Next Morning album was reissued on CD by Sundazed in 1999.

Take four musicians from the Caribbean, relocate them to New York and start filling their heads with the Who, Chambers Brothers, Sly and the Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix. After they become the tightest and most talked about rock band in the city, have them cut their debut album in something like three hours. This is the scenario of the Next Morning, a band of Caribbean immigrants who cut this amazing little piece of psychedelia around 1970 for Roulette's Calla subsidiary. Tunes like "Changes of the Mind," "A Jam of Love," "Life Is Love" and "Back to the Stone Age" literally drip with trippy, fuzzed over and phasey vibes. Another lost classic.

I was gonna go for a jazz album but johnny wanted big so i went for Chaka

it should get tuomas,the lex,rev etc interested (hopefully)

Kind of excited about the Next Morning but am far too hungover and sad to listen to music right now - everything is too loud, ouch.

hope you're feeling better emil.y, i emailed you the other day. I hope you enjoy the next morning but dont miss out on rufus!

It's a real shame noones interested in a funk & soul listening club. I enjoyed the last one. Same with the jazz club.

tannenbaum moved countries and said hes too busy to post on ilm and that we could do the jazz one without him. I was thinking of a Funk , Soul & Jazz club. where you pick one album from one of those genres (i think 2 or 3 albums are too much for people)

Interested in both of these...will track them down asap.

I think I failed in promoting discussion

Pretty sure this club's on life support now.

Still gonna listen to yr picks, though.

you might be the only one :(

damn that lj for forsaking you

tho tbh I think i killed it

Because noone ever replies to me on threads. Im thread killer general!

it's okay AG everybody feels that way...

what's the deal with LJ? (where has he been lately anyways?)

He's traveling abroad, isn't he?

prog girl in NZ

yeah I heard that, so he's staying away from the interwebs?

(Super happy for him btw both for the girl and the chance to visit NZ, my favorite country...)

hes around. the cricket world cup is on , he posts on that thread

that's cool so what's the joke about forsaking him, just cause he hasnt been around?

(sorry for screwin up yr thread)

but anyway less LJ more rufus feat chaka khan and the next morning!

wheres seandalai & rudipherous and nick b and the others? tom d should be on here too

sup ppl. Sorry I've totally been a lame-o about this thread, but I certainly did not mean to forsake it. Let this be my hat in the ring for keeping the dream alive ;)

Anyway, weeks ago, I noted that I'd been penciled in for the 13th & only just realized that I'd been bumped up to the 6th, so I'm a bit overdue.. but plz keep an ear to the ground b/c I'll be posting stuff later today.

i wouldnt worry, noone listened to my picks at all.

no, seriously, I really want to check all this stuff out. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Finally getting around to listening to the Next Morning. It edges close to tropes I don't often care for, with that slightly hoary hard-edged rock thing in the vocals and yeah, a bit more twiddling than I'd go for, but it's all rooted in great, insistent grooves and mmmm, nice organ. I like it.

Eh I completely disappeared from this thread, didn't I? Sorry! Work has been crazy and my ILXing has been sporadic.

I'm listening to Next Morning now - as emil.y suggests it seems quite straightahead psychedelic rock at first but the further out they go with the organ riffs and Funkadelic guitar the better it gets!

My week.

_______________________________

Bako Dagnon – Sibida

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uxE5Yg8kNMU/S9QgrT9_KRI/AAAAAAAAPEw/Zf4jWIerMvA/s640/Bako+Dagnon+-+Sidiba.jpg

As anyone even on the peripheries of the music world knows, there are musicians that are known by the public, and then there are musicians’ musicians, artists who have established themselves at the heart of a creative community without achieving broader recognition. In the pantheon of musicians from Mali, Senegal and the Gambia, one such person is Bako Dagnon. She has long acted behind the scenes of the rise of singers and musicians much better known in the U.S. and Europe, including Salif Keita, Souley Kanté, Youssou N’Dour, Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabate and Oumou Sangare, but only recently began to reach beyond Mali.

Sidiba is just her second disc aimed at a European and American market. Produced by the legendary Senegalese impresario Ibrahim Sylla for his Syllart label, Sidiba provides a platform for Dagnon to showcase her command of tradition (she sings in all the major languages of the region, her songs representing griot and non-griot traditions), as well as her vital role behind more popular forms.

Listeners familiar with the wassoulou style made famous by Sangare will find some similarity with a few of the songs on this disc, but Dagnon has a very different voice, both in terms of her vocals (lower-pitched, smokier, a bit gravelly at times) and in the artistic sense. Sylla signals the difference right from the opening cut, “Wouya larana,” which, while resembling traditional wassoulou, has understated electronics in the background. While there are a handful of cuts (most notably “NOuhumba” and “Tiga”) to delight purists, Dagnon makes good use of top-notch instrumentalists, including legendary electric guitarist Mama Cissoko, kamal ngoni master Souley Kanté, and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen (on “Le guide de la revolution”) Cissoko, in particular, longtime collaborator with Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabate, lends a strong electric blues feel to cuts such as “M’Ba” and “Ba djigui,” the latter an instrumental tour-de-force featuring acoustic and electric guitars, a traditional Senegalese fiddle, ngoni and hand drums.

“Le guide de le revolution” is one of the highlights of the disc, a combination of the drive of Congolese guitar, the rhythms of Wassoulou, the minor modality and acoustic guitars shared by North Africa and Andalusía. The song is harmonically quite simply, alternating between tonic and fifth, but the energy of the song builds as instruments come in one by one, until Dagnon’s shouting vocals erupt. Other songs, such as “M’Ba,” “Alpha Yaya” and “Fadeen tô” are much quieter, the closest Dagnon comes to a ballad, given the strength of her voice.
Sidiba is much more than a world music disc; it is a direct demonstration of the cross-Atlantic connections that have been vital to music in both the old and new worlds for centuries. What Bako Dagnon and her collaborators have achieved here is not flashy, but it is impressive and deeply satisfying.

-- Dusted Magazine, 06.17.10

I don’t have Spotify. Links to some of the songs are below (in order). If anyone has a legal full-album stream of this (e.g., on Spotify), please link it.

• Wouya Larana
• M’Ba
• Le Guide de la Revolution
• Badjugui

_______________________________

Various Artists – Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label (Numero Group)

http://thizzfacedisco.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/2079-eccentric-soul-the-deep-city-label.jpg

During the 1960s, it was difficult to find a moderate-sized American city that didn't have an independent soul label pumping out singles destined for thrift-store obscurity. Numero Group's incomparable Eccentric Soul series has already documented two such labels, Chicago's Bandit and Columbus, Ohio's Capsoul; with the third volume, the label shines a light on Miami's Deep City imprint. What distinguishes Deep City from most of its mid-60s peers is that, while its own output fell on deaf ears outside of Miami, several people involved with the enterprise eventually found success in the music history.

Deep City essentially laid the groundwork for Henry Stone's T.K. imprint, honed Willie Clarke's production skills, and discovered Betty Wright, Paul Kelly, and Clarence "Blowfly" Reid. The label's Criteria Studio also played host to giants like Wilson Pickett, James Brown, and Aretha Franklin-- closer brushes with fame than most shoestring-budget soul labels enjoyed. Many of the musicians who played on these recordings cut their teeth in Florida A&M; University's "Incomparable Marching 100" band, and you can hear that discipline in the comp's solid backing tracks, wicked horn arrangements, and complex drumming.

For their parts, Clarke and label co-founder Johnny Pearsall were moonlighters, working at a local middle school (Clarke taught art, Pearsall was an administrator), while arranger Arnold Albury was a music teacher and Incomparable Marching 100 alum. From the beginning, Deep City had the potential for national success, hitching its wagon to should-have-been-a-star Helene Smith. Smith had a sweet, rangey voice not dissimilar to Mary Wells, and her five songs here reveal a remarkably developed talent. In particular, "You Got to Do Your Share" and the spacey "I Am Controlled By Your Love", with its chinking guitars, deliciously nuanced lead, and heavenly backing vocals, deserved a much-larger audience.

Those backing vocals were provided by the Moovers, an amazing harmony soul combo who crop up several times on the compilation, most notably on "One Little Dance" and "Someone to Fulfill My Needs", the latter a spooky crawler full of great harmonies and sumptuously deep bass. The previously unreleased Moovers track "Darling I'll Go", lifted by Numero Group from acetate, kicks off with an intro that sounds like a cousin to the Skatalites' "Addis Ababa", offering the starkest indication of the label's proximity to Jamaica. Though the occasional Latin influence does pop up in the rhythm section, Motown and the then-burgeoning sound of Southern soul are far more dominant touchstones.

The Southern soul influence is most apparent on Johnny K. Killens & The Dynamites' driving proto-funk cut "I Don't Need Help", which features drier production than most of what surrounds it. More difficult to classify is the opening cut, Them Two's "Am I a Good Man". The song is a smoky masterpiece of tortured soul, with a huge bassline pulling it through its various movements while Smith's ghostly backing vocals coax the dual lead vocalists to a cold sweat. The song also makes it clear how superb Numero Group's remastering job is-- the production is traceable to its time, but the sound quality and depth of field is thoroughly modern. Coupled with the extensive liners and photographs, this is what sets Numero apart from other reissue labels.

The final chapter of the brief Deep City story-- the label only lasted from 1964 to 1968-- is a classic music industry falling-out tale. By 1967, Pearsall was married to Smith, who was enjoying her status as Miami's queen of soul, and the introduction of Betty Wright to the label's roster, such as it was, did not go over well. The tracks Wright waxed for Deep City are uniformly astounding, her voice brimming with passion, and had personal politics not interfered, she and Smith would have made a formidable pair. The result of a prospective competition between the two for supremacy at the label is another tantalizing what-if.

As it happened, Pearsall refused to work with Wright, and Reid (who wrote, produced, and played sessions for Deep City) exited with Clarke and Wright, leaving Pearsall to finish the label's run with a Helene Smith LP that collected all of her sides. For Pearsall and Smith, it was the end of their involvement in music, while many of the other players in the Deep City story went on to success in the disco era or remained active as session players in Miami. Though their paths ultimately diverged, the music they were responsible for at Deep City was truly among the best small-label soul of the 60s, and here it's well-preserved, presented in beautiful packaging with remastered sound, and for once, receiving national distribution.

Pitchfork Review, 02.02.06 (Joe Tangari)

Again, some songs are linked below. If anyone has a link to the disc on, say, Spotify, please link it.

• Them Two – Am I A Good Man?
• The Moovers – Someone To Fulfill My Needs
• Helene Smith – I Am Controlled By Your Love
• Betty Wright – Paralyzed
• The Moovers – I Love You Baby
• Helene Smith – Pain in my Heart
• Paul Kelly – The Upset
• The Moovers – One Little Dance
• Helene Smith – Willing and Able

_______________________________

o shit i forgot again
man, i am a jerk

Oh, I missed Daniel's post! Guess I'll have to add a bookmark back to this thread if people are going to keep going.

These albums look cool, btw.

I got into that Deep City album a few months ago and it is great.

Bako Dagnon album is on Spotify here. No Numero Group albums, though.

Hm, looks like I forgot my week, too. Can I just stick a couple up here now?

Listening to Las Grecas right now; this was a pretty great 70s album

:)

I want to do at least one more week on here...

I'm all for continuing it, so that's cool with me.

Know y'all are busy w/ the '50s countdown & everything, but when you get around to it...

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/losmacs.jpg

LOS MAC'S - KALEIDOSCOPE CHILDREN

Class of '67 psych-pop from Argentina; a little bit like Love meets Os Mutantes. One of my favorite discoveries of the year so far.

Grooveshark playlist

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/41BDZ2D20KL_SL500_AA300_.jpg

REMY ZERO (self-titled)

Bad alt-rock joke now, most famous for Alyssa Milano having married their lead singer, but back in '96, they were doing interesting things. Sort of like American Beauty meets OK Computer, except this came out a year before OK Computer, and seems light-years beyond it. Still if you don't like Radiohead-ish sincere indie music then you probably should pass this one by...

Grooveshark playlist

Enjoy!

Los Mac's is new to me, but I'm well aware of that Remy Zero album. I somehow got into an internet flame war with one of the guys in Remy Zero in the early 00s (don't remember who and don't remember why, just that it happened).

wow really? the RZ album seemed p universally unacknowledged to me

The second one is probably more well-known (or more known, at least) than the first one.

i kinda liked Save Me but everything else I've heard from RZ I have not liked

but this album is to 10 of the 90s for me

fact: track 5, "Twister", was the single and was featured on the teen lesbian movie All Over Me

its soundtrack i mean

a friend sent this to me, i'm completely unfamilar with them but I liked it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ihAE-lDCqU

bump!