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So here’s the first shovelful of stuff
I’ve been digging lately
As you would have heard on the Cave, I love the
Fat Possum record label & all who play upon it, but in particular
I’m loving the Ohio white drum & guitar duo The Black
Keys’ “Thickfreakness “ album ( & they’re
coming out here !!!) Their primitive rocknbluesnfunknpunk blurt
hits the Gee! spot that others just don’t reach . Inspired
by in equal part Junior Kimbrough & The Sonics, both of whom
they cover on the disc, singer /guitarist Dan Auerbach ’s
overamped 1950s single pick up Strato – tone grunt & take
no prisoners vocal squawk meshes perfectly with Patrick Carney’s
drum flail for a guaranteed goodtime anytime you wanna push play
& mess up your lounge room.
I crave authenticity & those rare moments in rock when words
& music, art & artist, life & lust combine so seamlessly
that they become one. One almighty zeitgeist. But sometimes you
‘ve just gotta kick back & realise that it is just music,
that it is just a record, that for most part, art & life are
separate commodities. Playing music with conviction sometimes has
to make way for simply playing with the music. Which is why I’ve
been tickling my audiophonic funnybone with the “2 many djs
as heard on radiosoulwax “ volumes 1-5. The Belgian band Soulwax
have another life as radio djs, mixing messing & generally subverting
copyright on such a range of genre jumping, culture spanning music
with an irreverence & invention that most of their fellow pretentious
button pushers wouldn’t or couldn’t even contemplate.
Iggy Pop colliding with Salt n Pepa , Destiny’s Child with
Nirvana ,Public Enemy with Herb Alpert & numerous other magical
moments of cultural collision, genre grind & sonic slapstick
ensue. Everyone laughs all the way to the bank except the record
companies & precious purveyors of good taste. A very good thing.
Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.
On the print front I’ve been eyeballing crime writer George
P Pelecanos ‘ epic trilogy,”Right as Rain “, ”Hell
To Pay” & “Soul Circus “ , all set on the
mean streets of American underbelly in Washington & following
the relationship of 2 down at heel flawed protagonists as they attempt
to come to terms with themselves and the dark nightmare of the day
to day struggle just to stay alive. As much a character examination
& dissection of all that is wrong in modern Amerikkka as a crime
story, they’re a compelling journey into neighbourhoods that
in reality we wouldn’t dare enter. Aside from some well meaning
but clumsy pop culture references Pelecanos’ red-hot prose
reeks reality. He’s apparently working on a hardbitten TV
series called “The Wire” that promises to be a must
see.
As joyous as Pelecanos is gruelling , Peter Guralnik
has penned a number of great books that celebrate American music
& the larger than life characters that invented & developed
country ,blues & that most sublime of music forms , soul music.
I’ve just finished “Sweet Soul Music” & as
a result of his intense research & anecdotal writing I feel
like I’ve met & come to know people like Solomon Burke,
Otis Redding & other greats & gained more understanding
of their struggle for acceptance that they undertook with such dignity.
It filled my head & heart & touched my soul in the process.
Artist Robert Williams’ post psychedelic
phantasmagorical paintings have blown my mind for the past couple
of decades. His technical skill meshes perfectly with his at times
hilarious subject matter; babes, food & hotrods, to create a
unique universe of his own overactive imagination. “Hysteria
In Remission” is a new collection that gathers together his
early hyper kinetic comics that he did in the 60s when he &
Robert Crumb, S.Clay Wilson & other San Franciscan artists stormed
the reality asylum. It’s like playing pictorial pinball with
your brain.
I’d been resisting the DVD domination until
recorders got cheaper but the family ganged up on me for my birthday
& so I’ve capitulated to the consumerist conspiracy. The
most outstanding DVD I’ve come across that really shows off
the potential of the format rather than just watching a sharper
picture with a black band on the top & bottom is the Beastie
Boys’ criteria collection double pack that features 18 of
their videos with over 100 video angles & audio tracks that
are switchable anytime during playback plus commentaries stills,
storyboards & more. Endless hours of mindless fun for juvenile
delinquents of any age.
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