No Escape

Beat it, Jacko. Move over, Charlie´s Angel of hair and boobs fame. For I just heard that the one and only Sky Saxon died yesterday. With his band The Seeds, Sky - real name Richard Marsh - recorded some of the rawest garage rock to come out the US of A during the sixties. Miss him.

The Seeds - Can´t Seem To Make You Mine MP3

The Seeds - Pushin´ Too Hard MP3

The Seeds - No Escape MP3

It Is Longing That I Feel

Better start saving up y´all, as the Soulsavers are about to release a follow-up to their impressive It´s Not How Far You Fall, It´s The Way You Land (´07) pretty soon. The British producer twosome Rich Machin and Ian Glover have once again invited former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan to sing on the bulk of their material, and that sure is good news. His voice matches perfectly with the atmospheric, moody musical landscapes the duo manages to cook up.

Bonnie Prince Billy will also be present once more, performing a Lanegan original no less, while other tracks feature Spiritualized´s Jason Pierce, Faith No More´s Mike Patton and last but not least Butthole Surfer Gibby Haines.

Here´s a fine taste of the new album, tentatively called Broken, with Lanegan doing a mighty fine piano-driven version of the Bonnie Prince Billy penned Palace Brothers´ classic You Will Miss Me When I Burn.

Soulsavers - You Will Miss Me When I Burn MP3

Palace Brothers - You Will Miss Me When I Burn MP3

The Magnificent Six

Scritti Politti´s Skank Bloc Bologna still stands out as a prime do-it-yourself wonder from those magic post-punk days. Or should that be daze?

Inspired by reggae and dub: skank.

Inspired by a neo-Marxist philosopher theorist called Gramsci, who dreamt up a theory about a ´historic bloc´ in which the downtrodden classes would revolt and put everything on its head: bloc.

And inspired by the ´77 Italian political and cultural uprising in a city more famous for its spaghetti sauce: Bologna.

"They´re working on a notion and they´re working on a hope, a Euro vision and a skanking scope..."

Scritti Politti - Skank Bloc Bologna MP3

Fresh Fruit

Enough of all that old stuff for a moment, it´s about time we played you something recent here again. Right?

Right. Western States may be a Canadian band, but their second album Bye And Bye was fittingly recorded down in Texas. The steelguitar-drenched Time To Lose is a perfect example of their melancholic sound.

Western States - Time To Lose MP3

King Creosote is the brainchild of Kenny Anderson, who comes from a big Scottish musical family. You may know his brother as Lone Pigeon. Full of inventive freakfolk, Flick The Vs comes packed in a sleeve to die for.

King Creosote - Nothing Rings True MP3

Condo Fucks is Yo La Tengo in disguise. And their album Fuckbook an hilarious collection of great covers. This one was originally written and performed by the Kinks way back when.

Condo Fucks - This Is Where I Belong MP3

The Connie Converse story is a weird one. Thirty five years after this folksinger mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth, we can finally hear her fine voice on How Sad, How Lovely. Read all about it here.

Connie Converse - One By One MP3

A Secret Understanding

"Why are you so edgy, kid, asks the man with the voice,

one thing follows another, you live and learn, you have no choice..."

Great lines that. Shot By Both Sides was was written by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley when both were still Buzzcocks, but a punk-desillusioned Devoto ran away with it after forming his own band. Packed in the rather beautiful sleeve pictured above and released in January ´78, both Shot and the sax-driven b-side My Mind Ain´t So Open sounded way punkier than the stately sound Magazine would later explore, probably just because they didn´t yet have a keyboard player at the time of recording these tracks.

The title is said to have come from an argument about politics between Devoto and his girlfriend, who remarked that he´d "end up shot by both sides". Devoto turned this remark into a classic ode to paranoia - "they must have come to a secret understanding..." - where nothing is what it seems and the victims must have been part of the conspiracy all along.

Magazine - Shot By Both Sides MP3

Magazine - My Mind Ain´t So Open MP3

Mr. D.C.

"The children crying for hunger and I man a suffer
so you got to see, it's just collie that feeds me...
fifty cents a stick, and a dollar a quarter,
that's what keeps me alive, me and my two kids and wife..."

A lovely plea to a district constable by some poor guy who´s just trying to make a living by selling his harvest of collie - aka herb aka ganja, I´m sure you know what we´re talking about here - somewhere down in Jamaica back in ´77. Complete with an infectious chorus and wonderful horns, this is golden-throated dancehall pioneer Sugar Minott at his finest. Another winner from Studio 1.

"So give me a chance sir, a make me gwan little faster...
so let me pass through, and Jah will bless you...

Whoa-oa-oa D.C.... don´t you take my ishen,

Whoa-oa-oa D.C.... don't you touch my collie..."

Sugar Minott- Oh Mr. D.C. MP3

More Maggots

Thanks to reader Big Steve, here´s yet another version of the Maggot Brain monster. This steaming live take stems from a bonus ep that came with the original vinyl of One Nation Under A Groove. And that´s Eddie Hazel´s successor Mike Hampton pouring it all out on guitar. "It ain´t illegal yet..."

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (live) MP3

And if you want even more, check out a great live video of Funkadelic - featuring both Hazel and Hampton! - playing Maggot Brain in Landover, MD in ´83 here.

Wazmo

Ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-ringa-ring ring... Anyone remember this neurotic gem? Wazmo (real name Larry Grennan) was a singer from Chicago who wore two ties around his neck for some reason. This didn´t stop the mighty Stiff Records from releasing his debut single Tele-tele-telephone in the UK back in ´78. Would make a great ringtone for your mobile...

Wazmo Nariz - Tele-Tele-Telephone MP3

Go On Maggot Brain

"Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time

For y'all have knocked her up...
I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe
I was not offended
For I knew I had to rise above it all
Or drown in my own shit...."

An amazing piece of music. Legend has is the band had taken acid before the recording started, but that´s not all. Funkadelic mastermind George Clinton famously asked guitarist Eddie Hazel to play at first as if he had just heard that his mother had died, and then as if he had heard she was in fact still alive. Hazel obliges with gusto, trying to out-Hendrix our Jimi with a cosmic six string symphony of epic proportions. Mother earth dies screaming, while Hazel´s guitar weeps and weeps.

The moment he realises his mom didn´t perish after all is quite hard to determine, but it could be roughly around the 6.50 mark, when after a quieter spell the pace picks up again and the guitar soon starts soaring anew. And that would be the same moment, in Funkadelic myth, where an ordinary maggot has become a maggot brain, meaning it´s able to rise above all the bullshit in the world...

To start off an album with a track like this, risking to alienate an audience looking for da funk, takes guts.

"Come on Maggot Brain...
Go on Maggot Brain..."

Fear not though, funkateers. Apart from the title track, the Maggot Brain monster (´71) means funk with a big P. Just check out the ultra-catchy Can You Get To That for proof.

And last but not least, there´s an alternate take of Maggot Brain doing the rounds, found as a bonus track on the cd reissue. Clinton mixed the band way low in the mix on the final master, but on this version the band is far more audible, which makes for a much mellower listening experience. Nice, but I´ll take the naked truth any time.

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain MP3

Funkadelic - Can You Get To That MP3

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain (alt. mix) MP3

Walking On The Water

"Late last night, I went for a walk,
Down by the river near my home
Couldn´t believe, with my own eyes,
And I swear I´ll never leave my home again..."

With its typical staccato rhythm and dark imagery, the early, lesser-known Creedence track Walking On The Water has always appealed to my imagination. Creepy little song. Makes you wonder who it is he actually sees, walking towards him from across the river, who has him so scared he won´t go out ever again...

"I saw a man walking on the water
Coming right at me from the other side
Calling out my name - do not be afraid
Feet begin to run, pounding in my brain
I don´t want to go... I don´t want to go... Oh no no no..."

Probably not Jesus, who´s known as the prime example of someone braving the briny without the help of a floating object. It is said the disciples in the bible story were admittedly a bit afraid at first, but they soon relaxed when they found out it was their main man performing that impossible feat. The devil then, in a typical trickster act, impersonating his eternal opposite? The grim reaper, or his trusted aide-de-camp the ferryman? This one would explain the other side and the "I don´t want to go" line at the end. Or is it just the protagonist´s alter ego?

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Walking On The Water MP3

If only for completion´s sake, here´s the Fogerty brothers pre-Creedence version of the song. A nice blueprint, with a fun over-the-top guitar solo as icing on the cake.

The Golliwogs - Walking On The Water MP3

The Creedence version may be a treat, but I am even more enamoured of New York proto-punk Richard Hell´s 1977 interpretation of the song. Maybe just because I heard that one first? Or is it Hell´s truly desperate vocal, coupled with Robert Quine´s razorsharp guitar licks? Questions, questions.

Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Walking On The Water MP3

Spic And Span

"And I'm tired of you and your woman and your dog too!" Laura Lee has just plain had enough in another great soul scorcher from the mighty Chess label. Her dirty man forgot just one thing while he was doing her wrong all of these years: that she´s a good housekeeper... So Laura simply takes up her broom and sweeps all of the dirt out on the street. Yes sir!

Laura Lee - Dirty Man MP3