Early Acoustic Blues That You Can Use!

You know the world of Delta Blues music was a rough one. We all know the stories about Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil. Probably the most important aspect about the rough and tumble acoustic blues of the '20's, '30's, and '40's, is that it essentially birthed a little something called Rock and Roll. And while Rock and Roll may have subsequently died in recent years, it pretty much lost its soul far earlier around the time that Styx made it big. Country Blues, Delta Blues, whatever you want to call it, was a musical genre that reeked of soul. Raw emotion so powerful that it would make Mary J. Blige look like David Bowie during his mid-70's Plastic Soul era.

This is the genuine Blues and a great many artist represented it during this time period, names like Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Missississippi John Hurt, and Blind Lemon Jefferson just to name a very few. In fact, Blind Willie Johnson was a street preacher in essence, and the collections of his Field Recordings(which was the name regularly ascribed to early twentieth century recording methods)often included his wife on backing vocals. Needless to say, the Gospel music of yesteryear, and in Blind Willie Johnson's hands, genuinely rocked. Acoustic blues music of the era actually made Christianity seem cool, which is no easy feat.

The American South of the early twentieth century birthed some of the most amazing music in the history of recorded sound. Percussive effect was minimal, sometimes nothing more than a tapping of the foot along with the locomotive strum of a well worn in acoustic guitar. Do a search, find yourself a CD retrospective based upon one of the above mentioned artists, and if you really want to dig deep, try to locate some of the genuine dusty old records either through eBay or some former Hippie acid casualty at your local neighborhood music store. In the meantime, witness the late great Skip James perform "Crow Jane," and try not to grow a soul in the process, as you will find it impossible to resist:

Autopsy Protocol

Autopsy Protocol is a musical project hailing from Barcelona, and the (Very disturbed) mind of Eduard Catafal Abril.

AP is a mix of insane hardcore breakbeats and gabba, and noise. My own personal favourite album by them is Adicteds To Murder, which you can find online for free. Google is your friend.

The pace is always an amazing barrage of sound, all of which shows astonishing compositional skills. Barely a beat is lost, or a sound out of place. It's like the mad bastard sold his soul to Satan for his mad skillz. Plus, as a side bonus, some of it's pretty damn funny, too. On Adicteds To Murder, track four "The Pussy Of Your Sister" features a prank phone call, and the music is wound around it perfectly.
The video below comes straight from the afore mentioned very disturbed mind of Eduard Catafal Abril, featuring sounds from an optical theremin connected to a Korg kaoss pad (which is for making weird sounds, and is definitely some thing to add to any music makers collection) and various guitar pedals. The title of the piece is "Umami", which translates into savory or meaty in Japanese. Watch the video, and you'll figure out why it's called this.

Alot of Autopsy Protocols stuff features some sort of Japanese theme. Don't ask me why, because info is really hard to come by on these guys. They are the under ground musical elite.


So, check out the video, and go hunt down as much stuff as you can by them, and look up www.autopsyprotocol.com. They're worth it.



---:[Tha Duckman]:---

Beck: Then and Now, Oh My Brothers.

Originally, he was a mysterious youth with a vague past, and even vaguer in his explanations of his life and times prior to having success in mainstream Pop. Of course, "Loser" was the song and supposed lifestyle that many members of the Generation known as X latched onto. And even if Beck was evasive about any significant aspect of his life, and especially in early interviews, he always made clear that he was very much a hard worker, so the slacker tag never did stick. The retro tag during the time of "Odelay" only lasted for as long as Beck wanted it to, before then moving onto Prince-style antics on "Midnite Vultures" or a sappy James Taylor-esque performer on "Sea Change." In more recent years he's been treading familiar ground, which for Beck, is genuinely a first. Albums like "Guero" and "The Information" have been heard earlier in Beck's musical catalog but better.

He has always sold good numbers in terms of record sales, and his live performances often sellout. What is frustrating for those of us who enjoy our Pop music with artistic leanings, is that it appears that Beck's more experimental and worthwhile recorded output is very much behind him, and fans of his current incarnation are left with corny Dance-Pop or bland Folk Ballads. It is interesting to think that "Sea Change" was made by the same man, who roughly a decade earlier created a bizarre little gem called "Golden Feelings." On that record, he was an effortless lyrical master and this is easily demonstrated on the "Loser" single, which was recorded around the same time period. Beck's weirdness with lyrics once carried weight, but now only feel like an anchor or creative crutch. It is unfortunate that some of his younger fans may not be familiar with the great collaborators and producers with which Beck worked, long before hooking up with the Dust Brothers or Nigel Godrich.

Beck's 1994 Experimental Noise epic "Stereopathetic Soulmanure" was recorded largely in a little studio in Los Angeles located right next to a car repair shop and the producers of said record were two gentleman named Tom Grimley and Gus Hudson. Fans of the early Jon Spencer outing Pussy Galore will want to delve into this record. Even Beck's eerie Acoustic Blues record "One Foot In The Grave" recorded on the precious and dainty K Records label out of Washington state is another example of his once lyrical brilliance and ability to essentially wing it, yet still create something that is musically worthwhile. As I find noodling around with The Dust Brothers on hi-tech computer gadgets looking for a perfect Disco beat, is something that does not necessarily make for the most potent music ever made. Clever? Yes. Novelty? Unfortunately, yes again.

"Mellow Gold" was Beck's third record to be released in 1994, not counting a peculiar 10" record release entitled "A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight," which is a record that is essentially a mix of what both "Stereopathetic Soulmanure" and "One Foot In The Grave" had to offer. "Mellow Gold," however, was the first great big mainstream album by Beck, it was also his best. Nothing had changed in his musical bag of tricks and everything came to fruition on this record, a record that appropriately begins with the massively successful "Loser" single. Beck worked with some interesting characters on this record, including Hip Hop producer Carl Stephenson and the two men behind the now mostly defunct Bong Load Custom Records label.

All of this brings me to the Beck that we know and maybe not necessarily love today. I believe the commercializing of 1996's "Odelay" was truly the beginning of the end of Beck as a amazingly creative force in music, a record that in retrospect is clearly overrated. He eventually de-evolved into a goofy Vegas act in a live setting, albeit, a Beck concert is still a great experience and at this point, probably the best way to interact with his music. He also became just another face in major music publications, a fashion model of sorts. In recent years he has championed many of the Hipster elite, such as The White Stripes and Devendra Bernhard, which only further obscures his early musical genius. But ultimately, do not take my word for it, compare and contrast the following songs from two very distinctly different time periods in Beck's music...

Then:



And Now:

Ten Years of Dots & Loops: Stereolab's Mastery Takes Full Effect.

Later this year, the brilliant English Experimental Pop outfit known as Stereolab will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their immortal 1997 epic "Dots & Loops." It is unclear or possibly unlikely that there will be any sort of bloated deluxe edition of this catchy technological achievement in melody, especially considering the fact that The Groop were unceremoniously dropped from major label Elektra shortly after the release of the Disco-influenced "Margerine Eclipse." Regardless, "Dots & Loops" is Stereolab's greatest achievement.

"Emperor Tomato Ketchup" only hinted at the full blown Psychedelic Lounge that came together on this record, as on "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" it is still rather clear that The Groop had a little bit of Kraut Rock left to get out of their systems. Rarely has the use of drum machine or the use of the computer recording software Pro Tools been put to better use. A record that enlisted the help of Mouse On Mars for those tracks recorded in Germany, and members of Tortoise for those tracks recorded in Chicago. Stereolab removed any significant element of Rock on this record and replaced it with Easy Listening Bliss. The horn arrangements were simple yet effective. The vocal arrangements, while possibly complex at times, cascaded along quite nicely and were often accompanied by a Bossa Nova beat. This was music suited for all occasions, including a Volkswagen commercial.

The "Miss Modular" single was featured heavily in music video form on the short-lived Electronica leaning AMP, before MTV switched their focus in the late '90's to Teen Pop. Such lovely pieces of ear candy like the brilliant "Diagonals" are still featured in concert, and are equally as effective in a live setting. Stereolab's success of "playing the studio" has never been so potent as on this record. Each song is an example of musical timelessness and a sort of music that is naturally trippy, without requiring the listener to partake in indulgences in order to enhance the experience. Nowhere is Tim Gane or any other member of The Lab featured anywhere in the album artwork, and the listener is just left with a series of shapes and design patterns, while the music itself leaves the listener with nothing but "Dots & Loops."

Finally, controversy still very much surrounds this record as Stereolab's turning point, in which they ceased to be a band writing songs, but rather, were composers working on film scores, but the critical drama did not take full effect until 1999's experimental Jazz fusion effort "Cobra and Phases Groop Play Voltage in The Milky Night." While many early fans of Stereolab saw "Dots & Loops" as the end, for me, it was very much the beginnings of what I enjoy most of all about this particular band's musical output, and that is: The absolute mastery of ear candy.

Prurient

For those noise fiends out there, or to who ever is reading this, I bring you Prurient.

This fucker is the most well known noise musician out there, and I think one of the best. His music revolves around the theme of anti-technology (Obviously disregarding what he uses to make his music, of course). Using objects like scrap metal, live wires, feedback and shotgun shells, it’s really some thing amazing to hear.

He now runs his own label, Hospital Productions, which churns out some of my favourite noise music. From there you can order his albums and what not.

While I realise that noise music isn’t for every one, I do think that it’s well worth a try. Broaden your horizons, bitches! So, here’s my favourite video of Prurient doing what he does best, screwing with stuff and making awesome noise!



---:[Tha Duckman]:---

Music News, Views, & Reviews

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