Happy Halloween

No Name - Jason's Revenge(instrumental) 1988

WARNING: This will jack the house.

What is happening in Chicago? I'm going to this...

Skank if Your Skankin, Bubble if Your Bubbling

DJ Memmie - Memmiemix

A pretty killer Bubbling mix that might not have much in terms of chipmunk remixes otherwise known as "Mickey Mouse Style", but it's still pretty great. There is a moment towards the end that goes Kawina, Merengue, slow dance Batchata. It's Kind of nuts.

D.C. Not Dodge City Part 37

Lissen Band - Touch It (from Lissen Bootleg 2009)

The Beat! Go Go Music from Washington D.C. was very recently put back into print, along with a new edition of great photographs from the scene from the last 15 or so years. This summer while I was an intern at Stop Smiling magazine, we got a copy and excerpted a great piece from the book on Go Go and media/lack of media. Local zines and websites covering the scene when many of the Washington papers ignore it completely. The excerpt went up on the web today, and I suggest you read it. Stop Smiling is pretty much the only music related non-D.C. magazine I know of that has done much in terms of covering Go Go, as shown in the D.C. issue with Anwan Glover gracing the cover. Correct me if I'm wrong though, maybe the Fader has something? Xlr8r? Anybody?!

And while we're at it, Lissen band does Missy Elliot, very well.

Rubbarubbarubbarubbarubbarubba

New dance in Jamaica pointed out by Heatwave. Looks like Jerkin on Valium to me.

Global Ghettotech

DJ Assault - No Vaseline (from Fuckadancemania 12" 1998)

Most people don't know it, but DJ Assault composed the Jeopardy theme song. Before he was born even. This was his original version, which he fought for years to keep uncensored. Anyone who can tell me what street in Chicago has this engraved in the sidewalk gets a gold star.

Afro-Dadaism

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Another weird as fuck House mix from Spoek. I spit out all of my cereal when I read the title this morning.

Me Shine Like an Oscar and I Bling Like a Grizzzam

Juicy J and Project Pat - Break it Down 2009

Pretty straight forward Memphis party music with an evil down-pitch echo for the hook.

Antillean Throwback Heat

DJ Prako - Lagaz Lekkerding (Kaseko remix) (from Mix-it-Up 2006)

This guys mixtapes are loaded with goodness. Everything from Chutney Reggaeton to Kawina Bubbling remixes and any other weird hybrid you could imagine. Just the kind of stuff I've been looking for. My focus lately has been on Suriname, Curacao and the rest of the Dutch Antilles lately. This track is a bit of both, a Kaseko re-edit fast forwarded a few years and with some Soca underneath. Grab some of the free mixes off Prako's site in the discography section.

Skanking All the Way to the Bank

Lamin pointed out the Lee Perry’s ‘Blackboard Jungle: From Dub to Dubstep video the other day, a cool mini documentary on one of the most important records ever. Also the 2nd best Dub album ever after Heart of the Congos which is pretty much #1 in every category for me. I was reminded of a great tale of Perry hustle that I thought I'd share. I couldn't find anything to really back this up online, this is from the back of my copy which is one of those Earmark fancy vinyl versions.

"There were only 200 copies pressed up of which Scratch brought 100 to the UK and these were sold only to those 'in the know' for £20 each [over £200 in today's money] and reflected the cult of exclusivity that Sound Men who ran 'Sounds' were creating."

So this is where it all started really.

Wanna Battle?

DJ Moortje - Battlestation Mix

This dude has quickly become one of my favorite DJs ever. This one is super techy, with a lot of ??? moments.

I missed this article from last year over at the Guardian on Bubbling, written by Prancehall. I guess Cutty Ranks showed up at a club in Amsterdam and got mad because Moortje was playing his music too fast. Also some talk about the government in Curacao destroying Bubbling tapes back in the day. Makes me sad.

My Day was Thursday

Mississippi Fred McDowell - I'm So Glad I Got Good Religion (from Amazing Grace 1966)

Hearing Amazing Grace for the first time about 4 years ago was like one of those corny record collector stories about music that changed your life. Like "the first time I heard White Light White Heat I knew I wanted to start a band", or "I got my first kiss to DJ Funk", or "I lost my virginity to Schlachthofbronx". Well it wasn't really, I just happened to put it on as the sun was rising after being up all night from partying or something. Fred McDowell is often lumped in with the rest of the Delta Blues musicians, although he is actually from the northern Mississippi region, and if you ask me better than them all (save Blind Willie Johnson, Son House maybe). These recordings were made with his wife and the Como church choir and are some of the best these ears have ever heard. Not really into his later electric stuff, but I'm not into much of that anyways. And there aren't many things that bother me as much as college kids ranting about Robert Johnson or Leadbelly. Maybe it's just as bad listening to a collage graduate ranting about Ghetto House? I can't even listen to other versions of a lot of these songs, namely this track. They just aren't as convincing.

RIP Maryanne Amacher

1943 - 2009

Maryanne Amacher sadly passed away today. She had suffered a series of strokes caused by a hematoma after falling down at a Bard faculty party in July. Known for her work with dissonance tones, notably her Sound Characters (Making the Third Ear) disc, Maryanne studied the phenomenon of additional tones created by the acoustics of your actual ears, which creates the illusion that your hearing the sounds coming from inside your head. Personally I never really had the right stereo system to have the full experience, but if you do, throw on Sound Characters at the right volume level and things get weird.

You will be missed.

Power D

Free Power D Compilations (not direct link)

Zouk producer Power D is nice enough to give away a bunch of his productions, including a massive 10 year retrospective the Best of Power D 1998-2008. He's the man responsible for the Ghetto Zouk compilations, but also a lot of French Dancehall and other things in between. Definitely a mixed bag, but there is some nice grimier moments mixed into all the wussy stuff.

Buenos Aires Implodes

Alika y Nueva Alianza - Para Bailar Cumbia (El Hijo de la Cumbia remix)
Los Destellos - Elsa (Sonido Martines remix feat. Fefe)

From Nueva Cumbia Argentina 2009

Brand new Soot release! Sonido Martines compiled the essential overview of what's happening down in Argentina, mixing the likes of ZZK residents with old Peruvian refixes and Buenos Aires boy band Damas Gratis. A lot of this stuff is scattered throughout both other outlets and the internet, and having all of it in one place is wonderful. Martines' paean to Los Destellos (who you know from the Roots of Chicha) adds bigger drums and Brazilian MC Fefe to the squealing guitars, retaining the original psychedelia only found in the bottom half of the world. El Hijo de la Cumbia's remix of Para Bailar has that bootleg keyboard sound engineered by the likes of a long-time Sonidero engineer, shrunk to fit a size Reggaeton. There's a little bit of everything for fans of Cumbia here, as long as your into the "lo-fi, high-tech" sound of Villera keyboards.

You can get the CD/LP now at places that sell those types of things.

Ground Wire Blues

DJ Slugo - No Ground Wire (from Like it Raw 12" 1995)

The first Slugo 12" as far as I know, though he did appear vocally on some earlier Dance Mania singles. His debut is really great, and with most Dance Mania stuff floating in the realm of out-of-print and hard-to-find, this Ghetto House ground hum track deserves some attention. Honestly one of the best places to score this kind of stuff is Reckless Records, where the clerks have no clue how to price anything that's not rare 70's rock or indie boners. I've walked out of that place paying $2.99 for Ghetto House singles that Europeans will pay $50 for. Doesn't happen all that often though.

You can buy this track at high quality on Slugo's site, this is a pretty crappy vinyl rip.

Poppin Bubbles

DJ Dyna - Drum Along 2008 (from Bubbling Beats 2009)

One more for the Bubbling marching band collection.

Scarface - Alichokee

This is the kind of spastic thing that Breakcore tried to be, but failed. There was just not enough sped up and slowed down Dancehall I guess.

If anyone out there has any DJ Moortje mixtapes they want to pass by me I would be super happy. Can't get enough of this stuff lately.

Scotch and Soul

Rufus Harley - Nobody Knows the Trouble Us People Done Seen (from Re-Creation of the Gods 1972)

"Do I look like I'm Irish or Scottish to you?" is what Rufus Harley used to tell police when his neighbors complained about the screech of his bagpipes. And he might not have, at least not back before receiving the MacLeod tartan from a Scottish family which he wore for the rest of his life. I'd take a guess that he was buried in it even. What drove this maintenance man for the Philadephia Housing Authority to seek out such an instrument? My only answer is that it fit with his attire, which was just as snappy as Sun Ra's. His playing reminds me a bit of Rahsaan Roland Kirk's, minus the garden hose and political ranting replaced by funk chanter. A powerful (albeit weird) force that some overlook as a novelty.

I've been on some grown man shit lately after selling a big chunk of my record collection. All the Jazz and Kraut Rock records I have remind me of how much of a nerd I am.

Comedowntech

DJ Slugo - I'm a Hoe ("Screwed") ( from Disco D - Ghettotech for Slow People 2006)

I've always been confused as to why Disco D decided to pull down the beats-per-minute on these tracks from his Midwest peers, but Slugo at the wrong speed is well, even heavier. The quirkier Ghettotech synths are pretty confusing as well. So the Jewish kid from Ann Arbor not only helped pioneer Midwest booty music, worked with Dancehall artists, and had a black belt in Karate, but he was also a codeine fiend. Somebody needs to write a book on him and his incredibly productive, unfortunately short life.

One more Disco D fact: He helped bring those clear rolling papers to the States.

Based Juke

Lil B - So Much Pussy
Lil B - Drop That Azz
Lil B - Like Me
Lil B - Yea

Via Cocaine Blunts

B dives deeper into Chicago territory with four more outsider Footwork tracks normally only found on Youtube. Most of them are actually pretty good too. If he and DJ Nate made an album I would hope it would be titled The Divine Styler Swagtard.

The Cold War Series

Gucci Mane - Guccimerica 2009
Gucci Mane - Brrrussia 2009
Gucci Mane - Great Brrritain 2009

Three part concept mixtape series all released in one day. Impressive dude.

King of Chutney

Sundar Popo - Chal Kechal (from Greatest Hits vol 2)

East India in the West Indies has been on my mind ever since I heard this, and these Soca infused Bhajans are really hitting the spot lately. Sundar was greatly responsible for popularizing Chutney music, a genre born in Trinidad and Tobago consisting of songs sung usually in Hindi over a beat rooted in Calypso. While the music is usually dance floor friendly, a lot of it especially in the early days was anything but secular music. Sundar mixed folk music from the island with his own agenda and sang love songs that changed Indo-Caribbean music forever. This track isn't as Soca flavored as some of his others, but his vocals are so great I had to put it up. The man released plenty of music in his lifetime (15 albums!) so next time around I'll throw one up that you can mesh easily with Montano.

Halleluyah Niaroka

DOWNLOAD (password afroslabs.blogspot.com)

An awesome gospel tape from Africa via Ylowek Scavel-Cronek. Kenyan singer Gladwell Kinuthia sings twee Swahili Jesus songs, sometimes with some serious Reggae vibes (see Halleluyah Niaroka, which for some reason appears twice on side a?). A Duppy conqueror attempt in the form of magnetic tape; a mistake as that's where they are most prone to find shelter.

The Joy of Life

Whoever made this definitely gave Switch and Diplo a run for their money.

No Need for New Batteries.

Sonido Martines - Vuela Pajarito Rebajado 2008

I grabbed this from dudes Myspace a long time ago, back when you used to be able to do that. Why did Myspace put the kibosh on that? On a bit of a throwback tip but hey, I love this stuff. Cumbia that sounds like a dying boom box is funny to these ears. I'd say I kind of prefer this to the Choppaholix method of adding the color purple to the equation, for this stuff is just well, wrong. I imagine this is how things sound after a rag soaked in ether. Been craving more of this, anybody who points me in the right direction gets a free beer on me at any Chicago bar.

Rude Awakening

Skitzso & Prince Ramon - Wake Yo Shit 2009

The beat for this track sounds like it's moaning while these two Sacramento rappers spit freaky tales at it. Definitely falls on the Hyphy side of the fence, but you could Jerk to this while shaking your dreads no problem.

Black Duck

...

Workin' For the Yankee Dollar

Lord Invader - Rum and Coca Cola (1943)

A controversial number here in both subject matter and it's tale of plagiarism by Yankees. A song about the explosion of prostitution in Trinidad due to new US Military bases on the island, Lord Invader wrote and started performing this song in 1943. In 1944, Morey Amsterdam from the Dick Van Dyke show stole the song without Invader even knowing and released a handful of 78s with altered lyrics, the most popular being close harmony group the Andrews Sisters' version. Fortunately, Morey lost the copyright suit but that didn't help the original much. I don't really know about recordings existing on vinyl back in the day, and the couple of recordings of Invaders original that I have are all live. There is a lot of great info and several versions of the tune over at Rum And Coca Cola Reader, as well as an interview with Morey Amsterdam where he lies throughout most of it!

Oh, and I kept thinking dude was saying "Honkeys", not Yankees. Heh.

Self-Proclaimed Hot Boyz of Amsterdam

K Liber - Dansen (from ?)

This is the kind of stuff I've been trying to get my hands on over the past week. K Liber are a Hip-Hop group from Curacao now based in the Netherlands who have a heavy Bubbling (Bubbeling?) vibe in the production. The beat for this track is pretty bananas, sounds like Soca made from really cheap keyboards. The music from that part of the world and within the Dutch Antilles diaspora is insane, I have a lot of stuff that sounds like weird carnival (and I don't mean the pre-Lent festival) rides.

Edit: If anybody knows where this is from I'd love to know. The version on their album Schuurpapier is a different remix.

Manson Juke

DJ Deeon - Helter Skelter (from 2 Infiniti & Beyond 12" 1997)

By far the least sexy track on this 12", by far the most evil. Sounds like sneezing synths in a maelstrom of weird drum patterns. I'd throw this one in the pile of Ghetto Industrial tracks disguised as House records. I heard Deeon was on a big Futurism kick when he put this out.

Drums of Death

DJ Chuckie - Caribbean Drumz (from Bubbling Beats vol 4 2004)

I'm still not sure what the hell Bubbling House is, but so far this is pretty much the definition for me. Not in a sense of popularity where stuff like this is played, but as kind of a backbone. Something I could see being played in Suriname, Curacao, and the rest of the Papiamento speaking islands, even if this was made in Amsterdam. The reason for my confusion is all the mixed messages I've been getting, everything from sped up Dancehall and Reggaeton to the Cha Cha Slide, it's a lot to process! If your into DJ Master D's Mad Drumz track, you'll be into this for sure. A lot of Chuckies music is way too ravey for me, but he's been working with Lil Jon recently so maybe he'll bring Crunk back.

Sonido Kumbala

Sonido Kumbala - La 3ra De Los Toquesitos (from 22 Exitos: Disco De Oro Vol.3 2008?)

Last time I was in NYC, I made my friend take me to the Kumbala shop in Brooklyn to try and find some CDs. At this point I wasn't really sure what to look for (and didn't have much money) and decided to grab one of the Kumbala comps which ended up being great. Usually I just go with the CD with the hottest girl on the cover, but that can be a gamble. Some Mirlos covers, some more traditional stuff, and some weirder synthy stuff, the whole CD ended up being nice. This instrumental track falls towards the later, which was going to be used for a mix I was working on but didn't end up fitting.

I tried to get a decent picture of this joint but I only had my medium format Rolleicord with no flash. But hey, my Chicago Cumbia shop series will look a lot better...soon.

In other Cumbia news, Bersa Discos 6 is out now! If I had money, I'd buy it! That Sabo and Cassady track knocks.

My VCR Is Gone

Topcat - I Need Weed in My Life (from Black Market 12" 1996)

I don't know much about ether DJ on this 12", but it's a pretty funny Ghetto House track about being addicted to marijuana. So addicted in fact, that the stoner is forced to sell his wife and kids for a sack of weed. I didn't know that happened. Pawn shop blues in four on the floor form.

MC is My Ambishan

Magnolia Slim - How Ya Figga (from Hype Enough Records Compilation 1999)

New Orleans Rap that samples Sister Nancy? I'm sold.

More Proto Ghetto House

Maurice Joshua - I Got a Big Dick 1988

Street slang with a super stutter. The first release by this dude who won a fucking Grammy for remixing Beyonce's Go Go infused Crazy in Love. Pretty crazy um, evolution? Make note that this is also Gant Man's uncle. It's really weird hearing these words over something other than the 808s that I'm used to. Ghetto Acid House.

Andean Digital Folklore

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It's Pronounced Nay-Phis

DJ Nehpets - Water Pot (from The Backwards Named Dee Jay Nehpets 12" 1995)

This is definitely the weirdest Percolator interpretation I've ever heard. I'm beginning to amass a collection of songs made out of ground hum and it's making me happy. This track is from Nehpet's very first 12" on Dance Mania, released when he was probably 16 years old. The only one to beat him out was Gant Man, who's 3 Blind Mice shook the streets when he was only 13!
It's no coincidence that I'm posting this right now, for his weekly Power 92 show is on in an hour.

Portland Screwed

DJ Yo Yo Dieting - Dormant Mirrors/Drum Cassette 2009

It's a know fact that people in Portland Oregon smoke a lot of weed. They also smoke a lot of meth, but that's not the case here. Local Noise dude Glamorous Pat aka Glamburger Patty aka Sisprum Vish combines broken electronics and Stoner-Rap to create screw soundscapes that sound even more fucked up than even the most warn-out Screw tape. Lots of Rap, distortion and delay pedal.

I promise to put up more Portland music soon, there are some weird things going on out there.

Bronzeville Bass

Mark Imperial and Co - She Ain't Nuthin But a Hoe (46th Street Dub) 1988

Pre-Percolator Ghetto House, and probably the earliest street slang-House tracks I know of.

Rother Vandross

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A lot of old material and throwbacks, but I'm not complaining. All Z-Ro is good Z-Ro.

Apologies For the Wackness But...

Rush - Working Man (Screwed and Chopped by ?)

OK, stay with me here. This is the only time that would ever post anything by pretty much the worst band ever, Canadian Progressive Rock dorks Rush. A friend sent me this last night and I am sort of amazed by the powers of slowing things down in this instance. Notice how the guitars actually sound well, Metal, and Geddy Lee's hideous voice actually sounds well, tolerable. As you know, I'm always looking at music with extreme tempos whether it be Footwork or Screw Tapes, and this is a case where the later turns something once extremely bland into something actually pretty cool. Looks like the main problem with Rush (aside from them being wankers) is they were at the wrong speed. I think I even have a screwed version of Black Betty around here somewhere.

NOLA Bounce on TV

Via Twankle and Glisten

From Cage to Cam'ron

Recently discovered that the great UBU Web archive has merged with Continuo, an experimental music blog that I was unaware of till now. This meeting has caused for a huge collection of 20th Century Classical, Music Concret, Sound Poetry, and so on, available for you to download for free. Many (maybe all?) of the recordings are out of print, mostly ripped from vinyl or cassette, or are open source. There is even a category on the site called "incredibly strange music", which surprisingly Milovan Srdenovic doesn't seem to be filed under (his albums are on the site under something else). I thought I'd refresh my memory on what the archive holds and spit a little game in the direction of a few notable recordings that changed my life in high school. UBU Web's content is more educational-use open source material, while much of Continuo is a bit more on the outsider tip. Each side has their gems, and lucky for us a lot of this important work has been made available to us for free.


Mick Jagger - Invocation Of My Demon Brother OST 1969

Jagger made this laboratory sounding piece on a Moog for Kenneth Anger's film comprised of outtake footage from the then stolen Lucifer Rising reels. A really static soundtrack Jagger probably made while he was balling groupies in a white coat inside the Cal Tech sound studios. A hypnotizing composition that sounds ether like a broken tape loop or a data tape played through a stereo. It's conceptual worth won't buy much, but it's simplistic Crowleyite eeriness makes one of Anger's least interesting films worth watching (hear also: Lucifer Rising, Scorpio Rising OSTs).


Robert Ashley - The Wolfman 1964

Before Rob Ashley got really into Opera and started making goofy self-help records, he was the fucking man. It's no mistake that Michigan is the Noise state, for back in 1964 this Ann Arbor native already had a microphone down his throat (no homo?). A pretty terrifying record that predates Whitehouse, Masonna, and anything of it's kind. I heard he almost replaced John Brannon in Negative Approach once. His 1979 piece Automatic Writing is one of the best recordings ever, but I'll touch on that later.


This Heat Mario and Mario Boyer Diekuuroh/Albert Marcoeur Split Cassette 1982
I was pretty familiar with This Heat's music by the time I had heard this, but it didn't matter much for this ones not so studio oriented and composed like their other records. Ghanaian musician Mario Boyer Diekuuroh showed up to jam with the band and made up half of their split side to the tape. Fela Kuti rhythms that sound like (and actually were) recordings from a Camberwell meat freezer. Albert Marcoeur's side is pretty forgetable.


Takehisha Kosugi - Catch Wave 1975

A very important figure in not just Japanese, but experimental music in general. Kosugi founded Group Ongaku in 1960 along with Yasunao Tone, the first noted improv group in Japan. His Catch Wave LP is more in the vein of his later group, the Taj Mahal Travelers, so lots of treated instruments, oscillators, and radios. As in with Merce Cunningham's Dance Company as it is with Julian Cope's Japrocksampler.


Andy Guhl and Norbert Moslang - Voice Crack 1984

Not the first, or even the best Voice Crack recording, but a group that certainly deserves a nod. Playing together since the early 70s, Andy Guhl and Norbert Moslang formed the group for this album which was the first in a series of bent improvised electronics records spanning almost three decades. A table full of cracked battery-powered household items inspired in part by the live electronics recordings of David Tudor and co. For further listening seek out the duos collaboration with Japanese turntablist Otomo Yoshihide Bits, Bots & Signs.

Missed Connections

Gant Man - B2B Podcast 2009
DxFresh - Back it Up and Dump It 2009

The commonalities of Juke and Jerk have been on my mind lately, and my first example might be a little obvious and completely non-conscious, but nevertheless interesting. A loop of Weezy's Every Girl is not so out of place for Gant Man, the man responsible for the first Juke remix on a major label single. A Juke (or Reggaeton, Bmore, Kuduro, ect...) version of a current hit is sort of a method of staying current within the realm of music, and with the radio being such a force in Chicago there are no surprises within the first 3 minutes of this Back the Box mix. 10 minutes later Maluca pops up, but that's another story. As one of the ambassadors of Ghetto House to a lot of the younger world, and in many ways one of the more accessible DJs in the city (and by that I mean he plays A LOT, and on every side of the city) there is a definite possibility that the Southern California crowd has embraced Gant Man. Switch the E in Englewood for an I and buy smaller pants and you have DxFresh, not-yet-legal Nike fiend and real life jerk. Back it Up and Dump it is the same slice of Weezy as used above, with a few more cuts and an extra Autotuner. Lil Wayne samples are a dime-a-dozen (I'm up in little Haiti, I'm blowin' on Jamaica being an exception) but this little coincidence is a way for me to think about music without thinking about genres and rather the little missed connections in the spectrum. I mean, it's all Hip-Hop in the end right? Or is it all House music?

This is the beginning of Juke vs Jerk, and please feel free to run some tracks by me that you think might fit in.

RIP Mercedes Sosa

1935-2009

Church of Juke

Tha Pope - Bob That Back Down Remix 2009

Brand new Juke Rap from Chicago's Youngest Celebrity. I guess there is a "Pajama Jam" party for the release of this track tonight at the 87th street roller rink. Shit is a big deal in the city right now. Notice the Merengue horns?

That's a Terrible Sickness

Gucci Mane - Bird Flu (Salem Remix) 2009

Screwed and chopped goth music, and in this case Gucci is the goth kid. Salem are behind the wheels, and even have a DJ drop in the track. They fucked with that Jeezy diss as well, and both remixes have me scratching my head. Not very far to the left than what he raps over usually, but that's no surprise. Bird Flu is basically a screw job done right, Round One is cinematic meets bedroom bounce.

Via the Fader.

"I'm Sad, Man"

Killer Mike's new column over at XXL A History of Violence gives a little insight to why Chicago didn't get the Olympics today. I for one am happy, as many others are here on the South Side. Mike should write a book, seriously.

Haters Is Our Motivation

You can actually buy some DJ Nate tracks on his Myspace, and it's about damn time. His newest mixtape TC4 is great, and sounds like his production is getting a bit better even. Crack Season is proof that the kid is still possessed. He's been playing some actually announced shows around town, mostly at this high school hang out on the West Side called 5th city. He's also doing some Hip-Hop stuff under the name Baka. R&B music with Footwork loops, it's amazing