Saturday, 26 November 2011

Lord Cry Cry

A while back, Ginger Shinobi and I did a DJ gig in Birmingham and we met up with DJ Umb of Generation Bass. We sat in DJ Umb's car while he played us three tunes from a forthcoming album by the mysteriously named Lord Cry Cry. Umb described the album to us as dubstep meets blues. This probably shouldn't work but it did - we liked what we heard.

Lord Cry Cry

Well, the album, Live at the CPU, is now out and you should get it.

The opener, Live at the CPU sounds live...rambling flute and keyboards and bluesy piano set the scene for what's to come. I Got the Clap Induced Blues Momma introduces a more dubsteppy bass sound and, indeed, a more traditional blues vocal. Step Nuthin' continues with the dubby bass and remains rooted in old blues, with an earky-sixties inflected guitar line and a mid-sixties soul vocal. Short but sweet. Dance of the Moores sounds a little like neo-classical art music with a hint of honkytonk piano - perhaps not as accessible initially as the preceding tunes but I think it'll be a grower. We're back to that psychedelic sixties' soul rhythm with Q-Cut and this leads into the fifties' science-fiction film sounds of SaltburnRedcar. SurfStep brings in a dub reggae riddim and more dubstep flavoured bass but once again has a sixties' sensibility in the keyboards. Schizoid Marimba starts quietly but builds - once again, there's a neo-classical music feel. The title is accurate. Blind Lightnin' Floor is a bluesy sounding title and is, indeed, a bluesy sounding track with a hint of electronica keeping it interesting. I think this is my favourite tune on the album. The closer, Lord High Commander, is an energetic classical music and reggae workout.

It's not the most obvious of albums...but the best music requires listeners to work a little. I suspect that each time you play this album, you'll hear something new. Apparently, the live shows feature a full blues band with the man himself and that's something I'd like to see.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Corty Meets…New release from Angel Dust Records

Corty Meets...

Netlabel Angel Dust Records has just released its fifth release; the label has a plan for one release a month.  

Corty Meets... is the first release from French dubster, Corty. Based in Rennes, Corty has collaborated with some of the finest and most prolific dub artists across the world: Revolushan (Strasbourg, France), Solo Banton (London, England), Bongo Chilli (Nottingham, England), Leah Rosier (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Preecha Kungo (Massachusetts, USA).

Corty has been playing guitar since he was nine years old. He started using his computer to create dub in 2003 and hasn’t stopped since.

He says: 'I like the possibility of playing with different artists' voices, by using samplers. I want to continue with these kind of collaborations with many artists. All vocals are welcome!'


Corty Meets... (back)

The album has eleven tracks, mostly with an upbeat, raggamuffin vibe.

Eastern Whisper - Secret Archives of the Vatican Podcast 72

Podcast 72 Eastern Whisper  

Eastern Whisper - Secret Archives of the Vatican Podcast 72 is now available from:
Tracks
  1. Warlocks are Enemies of God
    Subhuman

    http://soundcloud.com/ssachnoff/warlocks-are-enemies-of-god
  2. The Assyrian
    Secret Archives of the Vatican

    http://soundcloud.com/vince-millett/secret-archives-of-the-9
  3. Pharisee's Prayer
    Solace

    http://solace1.bandcamp.com/track/pharisees-prayer
  4. Eastern Whisper
    Dr Zoidberg

    http://soundcloud.com/dr_zoidberg/dr-zoidberg-eastern-whisper
  5. Red Lobstep
    Dr Zoidberg

    http://soundcloud.com/dr_zoidberg/dr-zoidberg-red-lobstep
  6. Heretic
    Solace

    http://solace1.bandcamp.com/track/heretic
  7. Faith Total Machine
    Magleff

    http://soundcloud.com/magleff/faith-total-machine2
  8. I Want You Headless
    Solace
    http://solace1.bandcamp.com/track/i-want-you-headless
  9. Moros
    Afrasonic أفرسنك

    http://soundcloud.com/afrasonic/moros/
  10. The Triumph of Saint Lucy
    Rob Vector

    http://soundcloud.com/rob-vector/the-triumph-of-saint-lucy
  11. Khatar
    Solace

    http://solace1.bandcamp.com/track/khatar
  12. Ares (God of War)
    WestinDinnesMusic

    http://soundcloud.com/westind/ares-god-of-war
Secret Archives of the Vatican

Dub Bus


Podcasting legend Pete Cogle has released another excellent episode of The Dub Zone podcast. TDZ#13 features eight excellent dubwise tracks.
  • Full details HERE
  • Direct download HERE
Tracks
  1. Aurobahn Garten - Volfoniq (feat. Tribuman)
  2. Get On The Bus (Dubmatix Journeys Remix) - Delhi 2 Dublin
  3. 2006 A Dub Odyssee - Messian Dread
  4. Rolling Lion Studio Full Effect - Rolling Lion Studio
  5. Eek a Dub (at Shan School) - Shan-A-Shan
  6. Shadow Procession Dub - DuBoLoGy
  7. Peace Time - Eccodek
  8. Occupying Dub - Steve Steppa

Monday, 31 October 2011

Pete Townsend gets it SO wrong

I've just listened to the inaugural annual BBC John Peel lecture, given by elderly rock dinosaur Pete Townsend.

Read a BBC report HERE

Watch the lecture HERE

I expected him to ramble on about how great the old record industry was and to whinge about piracy and modern distribution methods for music. Well, fortunately he don't do quite what I expected. Unfortunately, though, he still delivered a rambling, incoherent and confused set of contradictions.

He went into some detail about how John Peel (pbuh) had acted as a filter, an introducer, a source of glorious random discovery of unexpected but brilliant music. He then went on to assert that such a person or process didn't exist in the modern digital music economy. He then went on to list many of the ways it actually DOES exist in the modern digital economy. Like I said, confused and contradictory.

He clearly had no real idea about podcasts or music blogs, despite talking about them.

Like everyone from the dying music industry or the radio industry, he made no mention of netlabels. They are not mentioned so often in discussions about the music industry that it has to be deliberate.

Next year, let's hope the BBC picks a speaker not because he was a member of some old band who made some good records 40 years ago but someone who actually has a finger on the pulse of emerging creative music. They're out there, BBC.

To use modern parlance, epic fail BBC! What a sadly wasted opportunity.

Monday, 17 October 2011

Medieval Middle Eastern Mix

We've just added a new mix to our MixCloud page: Medieval Middle Eastern Mix

It's a little unusual - it's mix of predominantly acoustic and vocal music from various traditions: Arabo-Andalusian Muwashshah, Castillian, Flemish, Arabian, Moroccan, Persian, Kurdish, European and more...Several of the tunes are collaborations between musicians from different traditions.  

Tracks
  1. Allah Mazare (Acoustic)
    Niyaz
  2. El Hechizo De Babilonia
    Luis Delgado
  3. El Vergel Ignorado
    Luis Delgado
  4. Feraghi - Song Of Exile (Acoustic)
    Niyaz
  5. Li Habibun Maqamuhu Fawqa Ra'si
    Ensemble Morkos
  6. Novus Annus
    Nour Ensemble
  7. Nu Alrest
    Radio Tarifa
  8. Ramo Verde
    Radio Tarifa
  9. Si J'ai Perdu Mon Ami
    Radio Tarifa
  10. Ya Sakinan Bi-Fu'adi
    Ensemble Morkos
Medieval Middle Eastern Mix