Wild Weekend Vol. 29

Was awol last weekend alas, and sorry for that, but fear not: here´s yet another edition of Wild Weekend, with the shuffle function of my trusted iPod all geared up to pick six tunes of diverse plumage. This week´s catch? Space jazz, a classic reggae riddim, Jeffrey Lee Pierce in Germany and much more interesting stuff for you to chew on. Have a good one.

Let´s start of with a classic country duet from the early seventies. Country giant Conway Twitty teams up with coal miner´s daughter Loretta Lynn to deliver the perfect companion song to Gram and Emmylou´s We´ll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning. Meanwhile in San Diego, power trio Fluf covers Polly Jean Harvey´s Sheela Na Gig in grand style, guitars divebombing low. Nice gender bender here: "Gonna take my hips to a man that cares..."

Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn - After The Fire Is Gone MP3

Fluf - Sheela Na Gig MP3

Doo Rag were a fun lofi bluespunk duo comprised of percussionist Thermos Malling and guitarist Bob Log III. I saw them play on a city square somewhere in Holland one time in the early nineties and fun sure was had by all. And the train they ride here? Sixteen coaches long of course. Riddim time now. Jamaican organist supreme Ansel Collins, a member of Sly & Robbie´s mighty Revolutionaries, wrote one of the best with the immortal Stalag 17.

Doo Rag - Train I Ride MP3

Ansel Collins - Stalag 17 MP3

Back in ´92, German instrumentalists Die Haut had the luminous idea to record an album with a varied bunch of vocalists. The resulting Head On is a case of hit and miss to be honest, but some of its tracks still sound way cool today. Take Breaking In Your Daydream for instance, featuring the incomparable Jeffrey Lee Pierce of Gun Club fame. And the last song of this Wild Weekend is one of these amazing space jazz concoctions of Herman Poole Blount, better known as Sun Ra, self-proclaimed messenger from Saturn. Where Pathways Meet simply grooves and grooves and grooves.

Die Haut - Breaking In Your Daydream MP3

Sun Ra - Where Pathways Meet MP3

Smooth Spgt

Today we congregate to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that landmark lofi label from Upland, California called Shrimper Records. It brought us the Mountain Goats, Diskothi-Q, Refrigerator, Sentridoh and many more interesting pioneers with low budgets but musical ideas aplenty. Congrats guys, good to see you´re still in business, and thanks for a lot of fine tunage over the years.

To mark the occasion, Dennis Callaci and co decided to put out a tribute to one of the finest bands in their stable, the obscure Wckr Spgt - which should be pronounced as Wacker Spaggot if I´m correctly informed. Smooth Sounds is a tribute with a twist though: the chosen artists don´t perform songs the Spgt already put to wax in the past, but rather play the ´future hits´ of the band. With 36 songs spread out over two discs, this obviously becomes a bit of a mixed bag, but the highlights - feel free to check out a couple below - are not to not be missed. As the Bingos sing: "It´s like a secret promise, eventually you will follow through..."

Alan Smithee - Kurt Cobain Will Have His Revenge On The City Of Los Angeles MP3

Bingo Trappers - Cause And Effect MP3

Mountain Goats - Predator Eyes MP3

Math

You do it, Einstein. A nugget from the first psychedelic era.

Caretakers Of Deception - X + Y = 13 MP3

Sure Is, Capt´n

"I found your print on a dollar bill,

I found your print on an Indian mound,
I found your print on the statue at the sound,
I found your print on the elephant ground,
I found your print in the beautiful mountains,
the grass no longer grew around..."

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - The Past Sure Is Tense MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 28

A lot of soulful, funky stuff this Wild Weekend , as the ghost in the iPod picked another musical six pack out of the air once again. Featuring the Impromptu Horns, Farmer John´s lovely daughter and much, much more.

We´ll start off in Jamaica, with the great U Roy as your ace from outer space. Say what? One of the first toasters in reggae history, Ewart Beckford wasn´t called the originator for nothing. Ride that riddim, my brethren. Soultime now, with the underrated dynamic duo of Don & Dewey. All their songs for the Specialty label (try the exemplary Jungle Hop compilation) sound like bona fide hits, though they only got that status after getting the cover treatment by others. Did you know they also penned the later garage classic Farmer John? All together now: "Farmer John, I´m in love with your daughter..."

U Roy - Your Ace From Outer Space MP3

Don & Dewey - Farmer John MP3

And here comes a bit of da funk again, featuring the incredible Eddie Hazel, he of Funkadelic fame. Maggot Brain anyone? Here Eddie transforms a well known Lennon/McCartney tune into an amazing guitar epic you definitely don´t want to miss. It starts out a little tame, but catches fire soon enough. Find it on his ´73 solo outing Game Dames And Guitar Thangs. Heavy indeed, brother Ed. Which is swiftly followed by Vetiver, one of the best bands of the freakfolk movement in my book. Join them in their quest for Amour Fou, also known as Crazy Love.

Eddie Hazel - I Want You (She´s So Heavy) MP3

Vetiver - Amour Fou MP3

New discovery up next. Pearly Gate Music is a project of one Sach Tillman from Seattle, whose older brother plays drums for the Fleet Foxes. Tillman junior takes a more lofi approach though, and often sounds like he´s been raised on outtakes from the Big Pink Basement. His eponymous debut is out now on the Barsuk label: check it out I´d say. And here´s the last song in the pack already, from those legendary Austin punk pioneers the Big Boys. They take the funky route, featuring their Impromptu Horns, which is of course big fun.

Pearly Gate Music - Daddy Wrote you Letters MP3

Big Boys - We Got Soul MP3

Summer Wine

Some Japanese wiseguy named Hokekyo Sho once proclaimed that ´at the third cup, wine drinks the man´. He got pretty famous with that one, and he just may have been right, too. Which hardly ever stops me from pouring said cup, but that´s another story... Here´s a grand cru, slightly country-flavoured tenpack with a velvety aftertaste about a mighty fine drink. "Strawberries, cherries and an angel´s kiss in spring, my summer wine is really made from all these things..." Salud!

Charlie Walker - Who Will Buy The Wine MP3

The Stanley Brothers - The Little Glass Of Wine MP3

James Luther Dickinson - Wine MP3

Gene Simmons - Drinkin´ Wine MP3

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Summer Wine MP3

George Jones - Yesterday´s Wine MP3

Michael Hurley - I Like My Wine MP3

Merle Haggard - Little Ole Wine Drinker Me MP3

The Band - Strawberry Wine MP3

Jerry Lee Lewis - Wine Me Up MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 27

While we´re waiting in nervous anticipation for the World Cup final, let´s play some more music why don´t we. The iPod shuffle picked six winners once again this Wild Weekend, touching base in Christchurch, Russia by way of Kingston, and Washington DC amongst others. Drop that bomb.

Guided By Voices always had a knack for intriguing song- and album titles of course, but you´ll probably agree that King Shit And The Golden Boys can hardly be bettered. And the music that slab of wax contains isn´t half bad either. Cue: Don´t Stop Now. "We pulled into economy island, king shit and the golden boys, plenty more where we came from, top of the line..." Indeed. Which is swiftly followed by some brand new Americana you´ll probably like if you dig Wilco and Okkervil River. Kingsley Flood hail from Boston and their future´s bright. Sing along chorus of the week.

Guided By Voices - Don´t Stop Now MP3

Kingsley Flood - Cathedral Walls MP3

The majority of Louisville legends Squirrel Bait eventually became deserved critics´ darlings as the oft-lauded Slint, but their own much heavier output shouldn´t be underestimated. Just try on Tape From California, a wonderful cover of a wonderful song by folkie Phil Ochs. "Who´s that coming down the road, a sailor from the sea, he looks a lot like me, I´d know him anywhere, had to stare..." And now let´s change the tempo a bit with yet another reggae beauty, which I´d like to dedicate to faithful reader Big Ed. Keep on skanking, dude, and let´s see if you´re familiar with this amazing, jazzy instrumental by Val Bennett.

Squirrel Bait - Tape From California MP3

Val Bennett - The Russians Are Coming MP3

In the eighties, some of the best pure pop with a twist rather unexpectedly came out of New Zealand, courtesy of the great Flying Nun label. Robert Scott and his Bats, from the town of Christchurch, illustrate my point perfectly with the slightly jangly jewel North By North. Shame the well down there seems to have dried up by now, or am I missing something, my kiwi brethren? And we´re going out in grand style with the wild and sweaty gogo sounds of the mighty Troublefunk, dropping the bomb on DC and all around the globe. Get on down!

The Bats - North By North MP3

Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb MP3

Orange Ball Of Love

Looking forward to an - understatement alert - interesting World Cup final between Holland and Spain in Jo´burg this Sunday, here´s a rather orange colored soundtrack of sorts to get you in the mood. Good luck guys. Let the ´sun become an orange ball of fire´.

Mountain Goats - Orange Ball Of Love MP3

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Orange MP3

Guided By Voices - Marchers In Orange MP3

Pledging My Love

"May this fire in my soul, dear, forever burn..." Presenting a lovely soul six pack, dedicated to the one I love. Today´s her birthday, you see...

Johnny Ace - Pledging My Love MP3

The 5 Royales - Dedicated To The One I Love MP3

Ann Peebles - Slipped Tripped And Fell In Love MP3

Otis Redding - I Love You More Than Words Can Say MP3

Barbara Carr - Don´t Knock Love MP3

The Del-Rios - There´s A Love MP3

Blue-eyed bonus track:

Emitt Rhodes - Birthday Lady MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 26

Back to the grindstone for another edition of Wild Weekend... Trying to lure you away from World Cup fever, which sure is mounting here as la naranja non-mecanica continued playing crap football yesterday but nevertheless managed to reach the semis. So it´s hup Holland hup, as the old song goes. Let the orange lion roar some more. Meanwhile, the iPod shuffle did its utmost to come up with one more exciting six pack of eclectic tracks. Funk, punk, reggae, blues, noiserock and psychfolk: all of ´em dynamite and outta sight. Yeah.

Coming out all guns blazing, here are American punk pioneers the Germs. "I came into this world like a puzzled panther, waiting to be caged..." Tell ´em, Darby. This blistering live version comes from the Decline Of Western Civilization soundtrack, a documentary on early L.A. punk I highly recommend. Which is followed by a chill reggae instrumental by veteran saxplayer Cedric ´Im´ Brooks. His mighty fine Im Flash Forward album (´77) has to my knowledge never gotten a proper cd release, which is a crying shame. Somebody do something about it please.

Germs - Manimal MP3

Cedric ´Im´ Brooks - Glory To Sound MP3

Oldie time. "Lookin´ at the devil, grinnin´ at his gun..." Which means we´re teleporting back to 1970 with Sly and his merry gang, playing da funque and then some. Sung by Sly, Rose Stone, Freddie Stone, and Larry Graham, whose revolutionary slap bass playing makes this monster really unique. Food for thought: "Dyin´ young is hard to take, sellin´ out is harder..." And then it´s time for something new. Presenting Man Benu, an adventurous trio from Brooklyn operating somewhere in the no man´s land between Sonic Youth and Fairport Convention, or so they say themselves. And who am I to disagree? Give these guys a try, well worth your time.

Sly & The Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) MP3

Man Benu - The Boat Of A Million Years MP3

Last week we featured Grant Hart´s Nova Mob here, and now it´s his former buddy Bob Mould´s turn to crucify himself upon the altar of noiserock. Or something like that. "Somebody nail my hands, I needed pain, somebody take my hand, I bleed again..." I once experienced an over fifteen minute version of JC Auto in concert and my ears are still ringing. Find it on Beaster, the dark successor to Copper Blue. And before we send you on your merry way, here´s the Hook, who tells himself there "ain´t no heaven, ain´t no burnin´ hell..." Not that he´s entirely sure about that, you dig, it´s just that he has to justify his wicked ways somehow...

Sugar - JC Auto MP3

John Lee Hooker - Burnin´ Hell MP3

Nostalgia

Ready for some nostalgia, Ethiopean style? Tezeta means just that in Amharic, which is the national language of ´dear mother Ethiopia´. And it´s a feeling that definitely shines through in the four exotic jewels below.

Mulatu Astatqé - Tezeta MP3
Gètatchèw Kassa - Tezeta (slow) MP3
Gètatchèw Kassa - Tezeta (fast) MP3
Mahmoud Ahmed - Tezeta MP3