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Top 10 April 10, 2011
A little bit of soul and a mixed bag of radness.
Jackie Shane – Any Other Way
Apparently, Toronto in the early to mid 60s was a thousand times cooler than it is now. Witness Jackie Shane , who bravely and boldy flew his trans-ways up in people’s faces while backing it up with electrically intense soul singing. Rumours of Jackie’s violent demise are apparently unfounded and she is alive and well in Nashville. Here’s a spine-tingling example of Shane’s prowess from an incredibly rare live recording:
Blood Ceremony – Night of Augury
Refuting my prior jab at Toronto, Blood Ceremony has just released a new pile of retro riffs into the world. Sporting wikked organ/guitar riffage, darkly psychedelic flute and dramatic basso profundo female vocals, I’ve always loved this band, happy to see that they are still chugging forward.
Find more Blood Ceremony songs at Myspace Music
Bugskull – I’ve Got The Dope
It’s been about 20 years since I heard Portland’s Bugskull for the first time. They have early releases on Scratch, so I imagine that when I heard Bugskull I was high on the Seabus in Vancouver, listening to CITR on my walkman. 20 years later I’m delighted that Bugskull still releases psychedelic reveries that would sound perfect anywhere (but especially while high on a slow moving boat).
Find more Bugskull songs at Myspace Music
Honey Larochelle – Whatever Gets You High
Honey Larochelle grew up in Vancouver, BC and is now slaying crowds globally and in NYC with both her solo act and as a member of the legendary Brand New Heavies. But let’s get right down to why soul music works: this stellar tune “Whatever Gets You High” came along at the perfect time to drag me out of a shitty day. That’s all there is to it. That and a virtuosic but still understated and shining vocal ability. Soak up the Honey here:
Arrington De Dionyso – Kedalaman Air~! (Into the Water)
Former Old Time Relijun captain, Arrington ‘s returned under his own name with a crop on new songs with lyrics in Indonesian. Which makes sense as OTR was very pentatonic and driven by many non-Western compositional ideas. The music is every bit as propulsive and well… Dionysian, as his former band and thus rules mightily.
Find more Arrington de Dionyso songs at Myspace Music
Bush Tetras – Too Many Creeps
No-wave NYC legends Bush Tetras are reissuing this sweet track on ROIR in 7” form with the equally amazing tune “Can’t Be Funky” on the flip. Major DJ food, any night you can hear Tetras or their peers ESG , The Contortions and Liquid Liquid is gonna be a good one.
Get your mitts on a super limited 7” at ROIR
Off The Charts: A Song-Poem Story
This one hour doc on the totally obscure world of song-poem services is fascinating, hilarious and touching, even.
Watch more free documentaries
Moha Jamin – Raks Raks Raks
One of the things I love about the modern age and living in the times of the reissue is discovering the old garage scenes everywhere in the world. I found this comp of 60s garage bands from Iran and these bands just blew me away! This shows how influential bands like The Shadows and The Ventures were on a global scale.
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears – Sugarfoot
Neo soul is something I totally get behind. As long as it’s loose and gritty like it should be, I’m stoked that people can and are still into playing this music. Think of it as a cosmic balance to all the crappy classic rock cover bands out there. Trodding a James Brown path alongside contemporaries Soul Providers , Sharon Jones and Alice Russell, Austin’s Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears is some funky shit. Check it out.
Colonel Elliott and the Lunatics – Telstar
I’ll leave you with a recent joyful discovery: a rocksteady interpretation of “Telstar”! It doesn’t get any better than that.
