This week, we have mostly been listening to . . .
James Brown - Down and Out In New York City
James Brown - Down and Out In New York City
Following the releases of Shaft and Superfly in 1971 and ’72 respectively, Soul Brother Number One was feeling left out in the Blaxploitation soundtrack game. Never one to be outdone, Brown got together with long-time collaborator Fred Wesley to score Larry Cohen’s Black Caesar. The results may not have been as spectacular as the rest of Brown’s output in the 70’s, but the album was still littered with gems like this. Opening the soundtrack in a balls to the wall fashion that only The Godfather could manage, he shrieks, wails and hollers gloriously over the most funked up drums, horns and brass this side of Harlem. If you don’t move to this, call a doctor. Seriously.
The Rapture - It Takes Time To Be A Man
To say it’s been a difficult few years for The Rapture would be a horrific understatement. Since the New York quartet lit up dance floors with 2006’s sophomore effort Pieces of the People we Love, guitarist and lead singer Luke Jenner’s mother tragically committed suicide. Two years later and Jenner quit the band amid in-fighting over their musical direction. Jenner would return, however bassist Mattie Safer then quit the band permanently.
Continuing as a trio and in a much more different frame of mind, The Rapture set about recording In The Grace of Your Love, a record that will ultimately go down in history as their ‘mature’ album. This piano led outro couldn’t be more sonically diverse from the likes of ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ or ‘Whoo! Alright – Yeah… Uh Huh’. It’s beautifully minimal and focuses on Jenner’s poignant , brash vocals to nail it’s point home. The lyrics “There’s room at the mount top/ for everyone in God’s plan” are also powerfully uplifting on an album that could have easily been steeped in mournful melancholy.
The Go! Team - T.O.R.N.A.D.O
The word BOMBASTIC isn’t used enough in music nowadays, but here, it’s absolutely apt. What else could be used to describe the opener on The Go! Team’s newest offering Rolling Blackouts? ‘T.O.R.N.A.D.O’ is akin to The Beastie Boys remixing an 80’s cop show theme then shooting it directly into your brain through a boom box. Two minutes of BOMBASTIC brilliance.
The Flaming Lips - She Don't Use Jelly
Nowadays, Wayne Coyne and co are more accustomed to recording day long songs, marrying fans at gigs and zorbing across audiences. But back in the early 90’s, before the euphoric likes of ‘Do You Realise??’ and before Yoshimi battled those dastardly pink robots, The Lips pumped out grungy garage rockers like this. Sounding more Nirvana than the amphetamine psych they’ve been producing over the past ten years or so, ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ is still a brilliantly weird alt-pop nugget. All together now, “She don’t use butter and she don’t use cheese/ She don’t use jelly or any of these/ She uses Vaseline”.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
Ten years ago BRMC exploded from across the Atlantic with their self-titled debut LP and between them, The White Stripes and The Strokes, proved that America still had some great rock and roll to offer. A decade later and, despite the loss of drummer Nick Jago (ably replaced by The Raveonettes Leah Shapiro) BRMC continue to crank out classic bar room blues better than anyone (although The Black Keys could easily argue their case). Here, on the title track of last year’s Beat The Devil’s Tattoo, the Rebels add an Eastern landscape to some almost Grateful Dead like chanting and Robert Levon Been’s trademark distorted bass lines, which have thankfully remained dirtier than a bag of spanners.
Until next time,
Keep on Keepin' on,
Baia
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