Memories of Brazil Classics 1

In early 1989 I was obsessed with two things, Detroit techno and a girl called Máiréad— who hated Detroit techno and liked Leonard Cohen. I was obsessed with both separately and then after much lurking and a fair bit of charm on my part (I have my moments) we started dating in the spring of ’89 in the Irish west coast city of Galway. Those were halcyon and innocent days and the west coast of Ireland was a beautiful place to be young and in love. It was also a beautiful place be completely bonkers about acid house, techno, EPMD and De La Soul.


And though endlessly I spun Juan's “Techno Music, “Spark” by Mia Hesterley and “Big Fun” by Inner City from the Techno, The New Dance Sound of Detroit comp on 10 Records, there was no swaying her, she wasn’t hearing it. But there was one record that we agreed on — and I did like Leonard Cohen and had spend some time listening to him years before — the first Brazil Classics album, which was compiled by David Byrne of Talking Heads. We would lie around in her little place in the Shantalla (Gaelic for old ground) district of Galway and listen to Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Maria Bethania and Gilberto Gil. We’d dream about what Brazil was like, and how beautiful the people must be and how warm it was, knowing nothing of the turbulence that went on while this music was being produced.

And I often go back to this wonderful album and it always makes me smile, remembering a much simpler time with people who I’ve drifted away from, or who passed away. And though there is a certain amount of sadness attached to these thoughts there is no denying the life affirming force of this gorgeous music. And today you hear the influence of Tropicalia, as it is popularly known, in artists like The Bird and The Bee, Beck and Devendra Barnhart. When I hear it in my mind it's competing for air time with Juan Atkins, Ralphi Rosario and Liz Torres in a small terraced house while the rain comes down in sheets and dreams and laughing cut through the cold air. And in a weird twist of fate, twenty years later, Gort, a small town outside Galway, is thriving due to a recent influx of Brazilian immigrants. So now hurling (the Gaelic game not throwing up, smart asses) and samba live side by side in the wesht.

Orr

Nite Jewel takes us down from the electro high.

When I first heard Nite Jewel, a duo comprising Ramona Gonzalez and Emily Jane, a few months ago — the youtube video of “Artificial Intelligence” above — I wasn’t convinced. Perhaps I was in disco curmudgeon mode (yes with me it’s a fine line between Bah Samba and bah humbug), but everything I was hearing at that time was prostrating itself at the alter of cosmic; a shrine where gentile young men with beards intone the names of records they researched on discogs and 'bought now' for 150 bucks on ebay, and anyway I was in search of other sonic pastures.

However, on the sage advice of two of my fellow conspirators, Disco Dave down in Indio, a man with a keener set of ears than a two year old cocker spaniel, and the disco don himself, James Glass, I checked out their “What Did He Say single” on Mike Simonetti’s “Italians Do It Better” imprint. I hadn’t heard that track before and let’s just say that I was tremendously convinced.

I loved the lush slo mo electro clunk of it and how Ramona Gonzalez's voice hung over the music like a hovering angel. This was new cosmic, filtered through a lo-fi indie rock ethos. bathed in Los Angeles heat and imbued with the spirit of Suicide at their most wide-eyed and romantic. Beautiful is the only word that even comes near describing the feeling of this record. The stripped down freestyle of the flipside, “Let’s Go (The Two Of Us Together)” is equally impressive.

Then Disco Dave informed me that he had shelled out for her album on vinyl and that he was well elated with it. So a few days later I was sojourning at a large music emporium here in San Francisco looking for said record and being the vinyl junkie that I am shelled out for it myself. Good Evening is the name of the album and it’s a gorgeous piece of work from start to finish. All ten tracks from “Bottom Rung” to the Roxy Music cover which closes it are little universes of intimate sound replete with delicate synth textures, pretty melodies and chunky analog basslines all topped off with Gonzalez’s plaintive voice.

This is not just a good come down record, this is thee come down record for the whole electro re-run; from the halcyon dark days of electroclash and the posturing, dystopian euphoria it promised to the cold twitch and pneumatic glitch of the Ed Bangeresque variants. Nite Jewel’s Good Evening injects some warmth into proceedings, bringing us back to when Miss Kittin, Felix, Ladytron and the gang re-introduced us to Italo, freestyle, new wave and acid house, and hopefully pointing us forward to a new era of electronic music that rocks even as it dreams and that leaves behind the icey shudder in favor of the galactic glide. One can only hope. This is an important little record.

Orr

Beppe Loda EP on People In The Sky

Beppe Loda is another pioneering Italian dj from the same school and era as Daniele Baldelli, and, like Baldelli, his legacy has been been overlooked until recently. In the last five years both of them have been recognized as the innovators they truly were and are. Without them, the genre known as Italo disco might never have happened or at least wouldn’t have spawned as many forward looking records before the bidness men got hold of it and turned it into a Stock, Aitken, Waterman bubblegum Frankenstein.

Loda is currently enjoying a renaissance of his sound and is djing all over Europe to celebrate it. The UK label, People The Sky have tracked down some of his old productions from the mid ‘80s under the Egotrya monicker and released them with two remixes. The tracks, “Wind” and “Volcano,” appear in their original form and are augmented with remixes by the cosmic Irishman John Daly (who lives in Salthill, Galway and hangs with my old friends back in the wesht) and Belgian electro discoers, The Revolving Eyes.

The record drops today and it’s killer, all four tracks are lush, wide screen Italo monsters capable of turning the club into a madhouse. The original version of “Wind” and Daly’s mix of “Volcano” really do it for me as they’re full of cinematic drama, electronic textures and uplifting melodies. Scoop it if you see it.

Orr

Mr. White's Aeroplane EP

Mr. White, the Memphis, Tennessee based geezer whose vocals graced Larry Heard’s “The Sun Can’t Compare,” has a new record out as a joint release between Black Market in the UK and Heard’s Alleviated imprint. This is Mr. White’s first solo production, with Larry Heard providing mixing duties. It’s a three tracker with a nice acidic house edge on all the tracks. It’s hard to pick out a favorite as all three are strong, but you can't deny the charm of the title track, "Aeroplane." It's cute and lysergic all at once as White sings about flying around in a plane because the person he fancies remains indecisive about his amorous advances, while a metallic acid groove undulates underneath. And I love the little acid surges that robotically mimic “Jingo” by Candido.

“Inside Your Mind (This House Is Home)” will have you reaching for that old E-Smoove EP on Future Sound as it displays the same kind of driving, dark acid vibe that works so well deep into the AM. And finally “You Don't Answer (When I Call)” comes in like Murk colliding with Italo disco, before taking a trip down the same organ paved route as Jaydee’s “Plastic Dreams.” And lest I forget, Mr. White’s vocals on all these tracks are stellar and are evocative and soulful. Hercules and Love Affair should have a listen because this is house without the retro pomp, it’s understated like all the best house was. It’s out now on vinyl and in digital form. Keep yer ears peeled. And you can scoop the wax here, and the digital version here.

Orr

Loud E's Loudefied Collection

Even though I’ve been a bit of a disco evangelist for a long while — since the early ‘90s and I remember hearing some of the genre first time around when I was knee high to a grass hopper, in fact I recall “I Feel Love” had an almost addictive effect on my childish psyche at the end of the ‘70s (as did “The Lone Ranger” by Quantum Jump) — and I will never pass up a disco nugget should it present itself to me, all the retro is beginning to wear on me significantly. It’s a combination of really wanting to hear some new dance music that’s not house, minimal techno, Italo, disco, boogie, dubstep or any other pasture that has been well and truly strayed over multiple times.

Basically the rule of thumb with this situation is, if you feel that way perhaps it is time to make your own music. Far be it from me to disparage or criticize the young team from going doolally about music that I have been going nutty about for years myself, I don’t have four enormous ceiling high shelving units devoted to disco, house and italo for nothing, and so if you’re all about the stuff more power to ya. I’m delighted that there are really good blogs devoted to uncovering the gems in all these genres and then some. I read them, I enjoy them thoroughly and I enjoy hearing tunes from way back when that I missed, or simply have never heard or heard of.

Going out and hearing a killer set of tunes you’ve never heard before is the perfect antidote to the unending wave of clubs where it’s top 40 dross all night. It baffles me why people who listen to this dung all day on their I-pods, in their cars, on the telly; every fucking where, have to hear it when they go out to a bar or club too. All that said I am waiting to hear some new stuff that just blows my socks off, but I might be waiting a while.

In the mean time one of the kings of truly obscure disco, Holland’s Loud E  just released a full CD of his special edits. It’s being released on the ever collectible Ambassador’s Reception label, and so far it seems that it’s a CD only item. It’s eleven tracks of rocking good stuff injected with that devilish Dutch sense of humor and containing more than a coupla two or three reworked tunes culled from the glut of material that Loud E deems to be below his standard. So he chops em up and makes them more usable for the dance floor.

Who am I to complain? And who are you to complain too, especially if you’re a disco, italo, cosmic or boogie nut? If you fall into any — or all — of these categories then get out and grab this little gem when it drops. It’ll work the party in your Saturday evening living room as it will the club or after hours spot. A keeper.

Orr

Wooden Shjips, Ezeetiger, Hank IV at Eagle Tavern.

Last night I went to the Eagle Tavern on 12th street, mainly to check out Wooden Shjips — and another beautiful, tall, but not so wooden form, which was sadly absent from the horizon. It was a grand night, I ran into some friends, an old friend whom I hadn’t seen since 2001 and good sorts all round. I’m embarrassed to admit it but this is the first time I’ve been to the Eagle, but it won’t be the last after last night’s events.

Let me try to be brief. The opening act was Ezee Tiger, which is one guy, a set of drums, a mic, a geetar, a bass and a multi-tracking device. The music constructed by this collection of gear, and the person with it, is at times noisey, abrasive, driving, percussive, unruly, hypnotic and rousing and that was just the first song. Enjoyed this, it woke my ass up and was wildly entertaining, all from one dude who bears more than a striking resemblance to Dave Grohl. Has anyone noticed this?

Next up was Hank IV, another SF based act and a motley crew to boot, some youngsters and some more seasoned dudes knocking out rock n roll that stylistically swerved between The Fall, early Talking Heads, Television, Volcano Suns and the Stones. Lead singer Bob McDonald comes across animated and salty and looks not unlike Jello Biafra in a grueling collision with Pere Ubu’s David Thomas and Mark E Smith. Good front guy, tight band, zippy little bass player.

Last up were SF’s own psychedelic rangers, Wooden Shjips, who I want to see every time they play in the city. I loved their self-titled five track mini LP from 2007, and gave it a very positive review around its time of release and after seeing them live last night for the first time I love them even more. If you like Spacemen 3, Kraut Rock, early Floyd, Suicide and The Doors, then you’ll like these guys. And though they look like imposing and serious musos, which they are, their drummer and bass player lay down a mean groove that makes you wanna get up and dance. The guitar player and vocalist looks and sounds great — his voice and instrument — and the keyboardist adds some great textures, sounds and licks.

I’d love hear someone like Weatherall, Padded Cell or Tensnake doing kicky remixes of a few of their tunes so that Euro types can get acquainted with their name and sound and buy their records. I’d also love to hear them at a face meltingly loud volume with a gang of heads frugging out to their menacingly groovy sound. An SF band to watch, I’d watch out for all three of these acts in fact.

Orr

Nothing in particular.

To quote the Beastie Boys, “The Hiatus Is Back Off Again.” I was suffering from a little bit of a block, and I was wading through new promos (some of which I haven’t downloaded yet) and dealing with labels and publicists etc. to make sure that I have cool gear to write about, And sometimes that admin stuff and having a mountain of music that you want to write about — and don’t know where to begin — can have a muddling effect on the scribe’s psyche that dwells deep in the recesses of my cranial area.

And there is plenty to write about, from new stuff that’s about to drop, like the upcoming solo album from The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson and Mr. White’s cheeky Aeroplane EP to the stupendous first volume of Brazil Classics, which David Bryrne so deftly compiled back in 1989. And let's not forget the upcoming compilation of tracks that Massive Attack have sampled and covered.

Elvis Costello once said that “writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” but when he said that I don’t think he ever took into consideration that if it wasn’t for writers informing people about his music that he may not have sold as many records or become as popular as he did. The words of rock stars, like those of politicians, should never be construed as a key to living successfully, or living period. Keep plenty of salt handy, my skeptical Scots Irish heritage is replete with salt and saltiness, thank god.

And though writing about music may be second best to playing it, someone has to do it, so I might as well. And anyway when you spend so much time scrambling around with music, new and old, sometimes you get kinda lost in it, like Sister Sledge. Let’s say I’ve been lost in the music for the past week; my head has been swamped by Tropicalia classics, The Bird And The Bee, Burt Bacarach and more new and classic dance music than you can wave a stick at. Disoriented? Maybe just a little, but fueled up with more material to write about. Be prepared!

Orr