Break It Up

Currently reading Wayne Kramer's funky autobiography The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5 and My Life of Impossibilities. Here's a cool anecdote on the Motor City's finest recording Skunk, one of their hottest tracks. For the horn part, the band invited trumpeter Charles Moore, who wrote a chart and brought some jazz cats along to play it. As Kramer tells it: "The engineer and I were alone in the control room. 'Look, Wayne,' he said conspiratorially, 'I hear what you guys are going for, but these guys aren't cutting it. They're playing the wrong notes. I could bring in some union guys after the session to play this stuff right, in one take.' The engineer was old school, and couldn't hear what Charles had written. The parts weren't traditional harmony, they were written to be dissonant. We wanted biting, extended chords, and that was exactly what we were getting from the musicians. (...) I thanked the engineer for the suggestion and went back to work. The track came out marvelously..." Amen to that, brother Wayne.

MC5 - Skunk (Sonicly Speaking)

Wild Weekend Vol. 53

Make way for the 53rd edition of Wild Weekend, bringing you raï from Algeria, swamp blues from Louisiana, Americana from London, and drama from Detroit rock city. Revolt and have a wild one.

Been awhile since we played some raï here, the rebel music of Algeria. Cheb Khaled is one of the finest exponents of the genre, and in case you're not familiar with his stuff, the '88 album Kutché would make an excellent starting point. To prove my point, here's the hypnotic title track. Goes without saying this beauty is dedicated to all the brave North Africans and Arabs who have been fighting for their rights recently. Some people are lovers instead of fighters though. Take Lazy Lester. He was built for speed, that man from the Louisiana swamps. Played a mean blues harmonica, too.

Cheb Khaled - Kutché MP3

Lazy Lester - I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter MP3

Introducing you to King Jim now, a new face on the London Americana scene. Intense folky stuff that shows the man is well schooled in the classics, from a certain Robert Zimmerman all the way to Simon Joyner and friends. Some freaky injections would be welcome, but I bet you King Jim is here to stay. Check out his bandcamp page if you don't believe me. Which is followed by some Detroit drama from ex-MC5 axeman Wayne Kramer. After the demise of said punk godfathers, brother Wayne spent quite a bit of time on skid row and in jail, but made a well-deserved comeback on Bad Religion's Epitaph label in '95. Junkie Romance autobiographical? You gotta be kidding me.

King Jim - Here's To The Rest Of The World MP3

Wayne Kramer - Junkie Romance MP3

In the previous edition of Wild Weekend we featured Nolan Strong & The Diablos, while mentioning a recently released tribute to these doo wop legends. Here's a rocking taster from Daddy Rockin' Strong, courtesy of former Gories and Demolition Doll Rods foreman Dan Kroha. Do you remember what you did last night? And we'll go out in fighting style with reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, in a raw Dennis Bovell production. Fite Them Back hails from '78 and was directed at the National Front, a fascist party making headlines in Inglan at the time. Sadly, Johnson's anthem remains just as relevant today. He knows just what to do though: "Gonna smash their brains in, cause they ain't got nothing in 'em..."

Danny Kroha & The Del Toros - Do You Remember What You Did MP3

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Fite Dem Back MP3