This Is Book’s Music

When I saw the cover for Go Chick Lightning (Lightspeed) of a man dancing with tight running shorts, I wasn’t quite sure if I was ready for this. I listened, and I figured if the guy was having fun shaking his thing, it can’t be that bad.

It isn’t.

Bodie Lee is a new artist to my ears, and here is what was surprising. I discovered Lee is a DJ from Idaho, and while I’ve been next door state neighbor, I am unfamiliar with him or his work. The bio I read went on to say that he is a pionner of the Electro/Funk/House scene in Idaho (wasn’t aware there was one) and has had a good amount of success in Europe. That may be one reason why I’m unfamiliar with him. While I am a fan of dance/disco music, it’s not something I admittedly look for at first so it was just a matter of hearing what Lee is about.

For one, he makes some really good dance music, with elements definition coming from the disco era, but occasionally layering with keyboards and synths that go back and forth between the Minneapolis sound and what groups like Depeche Mode, Yaz, and so many others did before in the 1980′s. Tracks like “Foxy Tonight”, “Monaco”, and the title track show how well he’s able to tap into an idea, and expand on it by exploring certain elements, which is what the best producers and remixers do. You don’t want the four minute version, you want to extended 7 to 9 minute mixes so you can spend more time on the dancefloor.

There are only three songs on this EP, with two mixes of both “Foxy Tonight” and “Go Chick Lightning”, and four mixes of “Monaco”, which will give DJ’s to be able to create, recreate, and take the song further than ever. Each mix of “Monaco” sounds different, so if you’re moved to continue on with a Latin vibe in your set, or want something that might appeal more to Italian crowds, you have the option to pick and choose.

They’re called Nightstalker, and they’ve made a video for the song “Baby, God Is Dead”, taken from the album Superfreak. If you like what you see and hear, you can order the album from Meteor City.

Pax Nicholas was a member of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti‘s vast army of musicians, and when he decided to record and release an album on his own, it seemed to have upset Kuti a bit. The album, recorded with The Nettey Family, was called Na Teef Know De Road Of Teef (Daptone), and had an extremely small pressing. In fact, most people outside of Nigeria were unaware of its existence, especially among diehard Fela fans and collectors. It would take one avid record collector, an avid fan of the rock and pop from Africa, to come across a copy, and upon listening to it, was immediately floored. When Frank Gossner found it, his copy was in pristine condition, which was helpful when he went to seek permission to reissue this. The master tapes were long gone, so the only source would be his record. A simply vinyl transfer immediately preserved this recording, and the results were so incredible, Daptone Records immediately went out of their way to make sure they would be the label to reissue it.

Na Teef Know De Road Of Teef is definitely worthy of any of Fela’s albums from the early 70′s. In the title track, Nicholas doesn’t sing for a good four minutes, and then the groove of the song goes on for another seven minutes, with the organ just driving you to dance, becoming a meditation that is flirtatious but also serious, made clear by the saxophone solo. “Atta Onukpa” could have been sourced from anywhere, but this is Afrobeat and Afrorock in its truest form.

After hearing this, one can maybe understand why Fela threw a fit, because Nicholas and The Nettey Family were just that good, worthy enough to stand up to anything Fela himself had done. The fact that it had been unheard of and unknown for so long can perhaps speak volumes, but more can be said now that it has been wiped away from obscurity.

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Illy is one of many people who are part of a very diverse hip-hop scene throughout Australia. In the United States, it’s safe to say most have no idea how diverse it is, but if someone like Illy is able to break the door open for Aussie MC’s, DJ’s, and producers to make it, I think it can be done with the release of Long Story Short (Obese. Off the top, I like how the album starts with a song that sounds like the perfect ending, “Generation Y”. In it, Illy talks about how hip-hop from America has affected him, how the passings of 2Pac and Biggie Smalls also affected him and the Australian hip-hop scene, and how the election of Barack Obama has also sents optimism to the land down under. In other words, the struggle in the U.S. can be interpreted into the struggles of Australia and New Zealand.

In “Black Cap Rap” (featuring Pegz), they go for an attack with a swagger that is not unlike Slug of Atmosphere or Joe Budden. You can hear Illy and Pegz kicking back in the studio talking about how their love of hip-hop is more authentic than that of the average Kid Rock fan. Throughout the album you are able to hear some of their influences, styles and trends that they have pulled for themselves, but there are a number of things that are uniquely Australian, including certain pop flavorings. But there’s also a left-of-center side too, where Illy seems to take various influences from around the U.S. and filter it into their own style and sound. “This Or That” may be a slight twist of a Black Sheep classic, but Illy says he knows the difference between comical and wit in reference to being clever vs. someone who wants to crack jokes but offer nothing else.

But it’s not all about fun and games, “Our Country” has a political tone that is shaped after some of the racial tension that has divided some sections of Australia. He touches on Australians who are fighting in the Middle East, along with the indigenous people who are fighting for their own rights in a land that continues to put strength in the divide. It’s very much about Australian pride, and not just one type of Australian, but all of it and how everyone needs to unite to celebrate the love of their country, whoever they may be.

If you appreciate the kind of music that DJ Revolution, The Alchemist, and Skydoo has done, Illy fits in with their brand of music. Illy seems to get along well with funky beats where he’s able to apply funky rhymes, and he does so while incorporating a unique Australian flavor into his overall sound. Long Story Short is merely one chapter of his musical story, and I hope he’ll be able to extend his bibliography stateside.

Sean Price is really to kick anyone in the jaws without regret, hell you might get hit and not even know what happened to you. Despite the length of the songs (23 in total) on this CD, Kimbo Slice (Duck Down/Fat Beats) may be promoted as a mix tape-type situation but it holds up very well as an album. It’s album length, but these songs come and go without thought and goes right into the next one,a bit like a Monty Python episode. It shows that when you’re able to deliver the goods, you’re also able to change your name throughout your discography. Sean Price states that he would like to be known as “Megasean”, and maybe in a month or two he will switch his name again. The approach here is raw, loose, and as hard as a ruthless street fight. If you listen to this as a traditional album, it may come off as a hip-hop opera. From afar, these songs may not have a cohesive theme, but the overall vibe is one of strength and dominance, that of an MC who someone who is proud to call himself Kimbo Price (Vision/Duck Down). This is that no-nonsense hip-hop shit. I can imagine a few people saying this is nothing but hip-hop for those with short-attention spans, but they’re not listening that closely or deeply.

Rock and Law join up with Sean Price in the bitch ass “Hot”, while St. Maffew‘s appearance in the blues-based “Weed & Hoes” is a celebration of hot bitches and choice pakalolo. “Suicide Door” may begin with a tentative-rock edge, but then the beat kicks in and as Price talks about how he just came out fresh out of his mom’s pussy, he’s figuratively and literally going in deeper. It’s random at times, the way subjects come and go, but as much as it’s not meant to sound like a proper album, it is. It’s what made those old mix tapes of yesteryear so powerful. Now, what makes this different from a younger artist who may do random songs for the sake of being a superstar? Execution and knowledge of what makes a good rap song great. A lot of artists are nothing but mindless blah blah, and Sean Price isn’t mindless, nor delivering any level of blah. In these short-but-sweet songs, he’s on a mission towards releasing yet another album, and yet I wish more artists would treat their mix tape missions thet same way Prince does, because this is a certified winner.

Brooklyn to Brooklyn, when you can have an artist based from a borough work together with a record label within the same borough, it can be helpful for both parties. Such is the case with Bekay, who is now down with Coalmine Records. Bekay’s own name comes from one of the many nicknames Brooklyn is known as, and if you’re an avid hip-hop fan, you’ve heard of BK from spending time on 106th & Park and maybe the Rawkus 50. But now Bekay is ready to take things to much higher levels with the release of Hunger Pains (Coalmine), and the title explains it all: the man is hungry.

First off, the anger. Some may known him as a battle rhymer, so by doing battle raps one has to ask what is he battling? In one of the tracks he condemns those who feel a need to constantly compare him to Eminem, from the way he flows to the shock value of some of the lyrics. But what does Bekay do? To make a point, he rhymes exactly like Em and does it with a fervor in his voice that you’re wondering if you’re hearing something from Brooklyn or from 8 Mile. That’s the purpose, to strip away the similarities in skintone and make blanket statements based on that.

The rest of the album is a nice attack of the senses, people who love nice rhymes and flows will be comfortable with the way Bekay sounds. In “Bloodsport” he confronts anyone who thinks they can step up to him and cut up Bekay’s shtyles. What is interesting is that he isn’t afraid to be in-your-face, so he’ll be saying words that normally one wouldn’t expect for an MC to say these days. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t give a fuck what anyone says, but then again, that’s Brooklyn. You’ll hear a sound that is very much not only a Brooklyn thing, but an NY thing, so he goes out of his way to use hip-hop traditions for his own benefit, without taking away anything from who and what came before. The battle rhymes are a nice kick to the teeth, but he’s capable of proper song construction, something some battle rhymers tend to have problems with. Bekay doesn’t. When you also have artists like Heltah Skeltah (in the great “Crazy”), Inspectah Deck, Masta Ace, and R.A. The Rugged Man helping you out, it doesn’t hurt. These guys could easily say “I’m getting money to be on this track, let me rip you open” but it’s not like that, each of the contributors are here to show support and say “now check out Bekay”. It’s a good thing, and Bekay is in full swing.

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Singer/actress Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho have united once again in a formula that has won them a Grammy, and the good thing about it is that they’re really good at what they do together. Their new collaborationis called He Nani (Daniel Ho Creations), and as with their earlier albums, Ho handles all of the instrumentation. The songs here range from observing and respecting the land (the title track), which is explored even further in “Ho’opo’omaika’i”, a song which simply says to be thankful through the spirit of aloha. Some of the lyrics are playful and may be considered double entendre, but that’s for you to figure out.

One of the album’s finest moments is what is called The Pumehana Trilogy, which brings together “‘Aina Pumehana”, “Home Pumehana”, and “Me Ke Aloha Pumehana”, a triad of songs that were written by Amy Ku’uleialoha Stillman and Ho as a wedding gift for Ho and his wife, who married last year. What I also like is how Carrere and Ho can be very playful, showing some of Carrere’s old school sensibilities and love of her hanabata days, as she does in “The Dessert Song”. Here, she talks about the delicious German chocolate and French butter cream cakes, pastries with haupia, and occasionally messing up the mouth despite its delights. All someone needs to do now is a song about the greatness of Liliha Bakery, and it will be a sweet tooth battle.

Carrere & Ho are a great duo,and hopefully in the future they’ll be able to bring together not only additional Hawaiian musicians and singers to get involved, but also artists from the rock, pop, and country world, just to see how much more developed the sound could be. However, some may feel that it doesn’t need that, keep things simply without going overboard. It’s good time Hawaiian music with a traditional feel, and a sensibility that comes from those who not only long for the good ol’ days, but those who wish to share it to those in today’s modern world.

When I popped in this CD by Seabrook Power Plant, I only had the album cover and a photo of the trio to rely on. One of the members was holding a banjo, and the cover looked like a demented turtle with tentacles spewing out green smoke with dirt and weeds surrounding it. Then again, was it a turtle I was looking it? I had no idea, but I pressed play, and there was some furious banjo playing from Brandon Seabrook. After the solo, he along with bassist Tom Blancarte and drummer Jared Seabrook started playing speed metal style, or at least punking it up to where I had a grin from ear to ear. What the hell is this? I had to investigate, which meant “I must take a deeper listen.”

“Ho Chi Minh Trail” arguably has a Chinese aura about it, or maybe the title is a mere suggestion. The song starts out as 3/4 before going into 4/4, moving from something folksy and rootsy to something that sounds distinctly ethnic. It sounds Jewish or at least European in origin, and then it is clearly something that sounds like what you’d hear coming out from a Chinese village. But it’s a Chinese melody on ludes, hopping along the bunny trail, and maybe that makeshift turtle on the album cover is running… aaah, for cover. Maybe?

This self-titled album (Loyal Label) starts unfolding as if it was Watership Down or something, where main characters and sounds start coming out of the group (like the turtle?) or woodwork and having a happy dance, being exposed to the elements and tripping out on nature.

Oh I see, as I’m looking at the album cover and the illustration on the back, what looks like rats with gas masks, it seems the cover may not be a turtle, but an actual power plant, twisted and deformed. The first time these guys come to anything sane is track 3, “Waltz Of The Nuke Workers”, and suddenly the picture becomes somewhat clear, or at least comprehensible. This is post-apocalyptic folk, musicians jamming for survival interpreting their deathly surroundings. Or is this the last recording of a post-apocalyptic planet? Brandon Seabrook moves over from banjo to guitar for some tracks, where he’s able to utilize feedback and sustain to create some dark textures that move from sounding like a land of room to some kind of twisted 2k video game sounds run through some distorted guitar pedal. What I like about this band is that they may gather together ideas for a concept, and they do so by covering different things in one song so that these tracks not only don’t sound like one another, but segments in a single song don’t relate to each other either. The weirdness caught me offguard, or… maybe weird isn’t the word, but I had that squooshy “WTF?” face along with a smirk which can be interpreted as “wow, this shit is fantastic.” With only three musicians here, elements are sparse but power trios are called this because of what they’re able to bring into the mix. Then about 2/3′s of the way through, they’re doing Melvins-like stoner metal, with a song that sounds like it could be honoring King Buzzo and friends, “I Dont’ Feel So Good”. Within the song, a guitar solo that sounds like something The Great Kat would do, so yes, get ready for hyperspeed.

I don’t know if there are any other bands who sound like this, but they are a trio who probably would welcome anyone in a live setting to go on their pesky musical trips. I can see Carla Kilstedt tearing things up, or Mike Patton turning these somewhat dark and gloomy moods into something ill, in both sense of the word. On its own, it may be meant for interpretation but I have a feeling these guys aren’t about to speak up and explain themselves so easily.

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Amy Lynn has returned once again with The Gunshow, and this time they pay a visit with a 4-song EP, one that shows her love of the blues and R&B and takes it to higher levels, even if it’s a small dose like this. “Missing You” sounds like something Aretha Franklin and Billy Vera would do together, while “My Only One” comes from the Boz Scaggs/D’Angelo/Natalie Cole side. Lynn stars to get loose, and I mean serious loose, in a performance that starts out like a seductive vibe before it flips into ska. It caught me by surprise, but it returns into the groove again before switching a few times.

Older fans of soul will love what she and the Gunshow do to Otis Redding‘s “Comfort Me”, and the gospel feel, care of pianist/organist Red Wierenga, background vocalists Carole D. Jones and James Jackson Jr. and a horn section that includes Alex Himlin (baritone sax), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), and Michael Bornwell (tenor sax). The EP ends with a nice dance track called “You Bring Me Joy”, and while it works, I think it would work even better if there was more activity going on in the drums department, which doesn’t happen until after the minute mark. Or maybe what I would’ve desired is a grittier style of production, maybe someone can attempt to do one.

If this is a new vibe from Lynn, I welcome it. A lot of soul and R&B artists today should be ashamed by what they’re not doing, or what they have abandoned because they think music is a timely fashion statement. Lynn & The Gunshow are taking a few of these older styles and letting people why this kind of music needs to be heard. But you know what? Their loss. Allow Lynn & The Sunshow to take you over, and with luck they’ll reward you (and us) tenfold.

(You can also read my review of her 2008 EP, reviewed in The Run-Off Groove #208.)

Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare (Rodriguez Lopez/Sargent House) is an all instrumental progressive album by Zechs Marquise, a group that features Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez of Mars Volta and his brother, Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez. Fans of Mars Volta will definitely find this to be of interest, but this a completely different animal. The first time I heard this, I would play a small handful of songs and then put it away. But what I recommend you to do is play this 15-track album in one sitting. Just let the music pull you through, open your mind, just kick back and listen. The 15 songs on here are trippy, soothing, multi-textured, unpredictable, and dynamic. It’s as if what these guys love doing is take some of the more elevated moments in prog rock, flip them around, inside out, moisten them with a water hose, and wring them out to dry. Then it’s the steaming process. Okay, maybe no steaming involved but there will definitely be some smoke sensed and perhaps smelled. Individually these songs are nothing short of amazing. Listening to them in one sitting, as if this was just one 15-movement piece, and you’ll start to hear how they all associate with each other. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but as one solid mass of sound, Zechs Marquise create the feeling that maybe hasn’t been forgotten, but had been backpacking in the Middle East for a year, hopping over to explore South America, and found its way into the stoney ridges of Texas. Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare is the kind of album I’d like to listen to while stoned. Not being a smoker, I can only immerse myself in this while wondering how it would sound with wasted ears, played by thought-provoking musicians with a mission to go inwards, outward and backwards at the same time with their songs. Mind blowing? Regardless of your mental condition, the answer is yes.

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