It's 1 in the afternoon on a sunday that will be spent studying rather than relaxing, so this blogpost is fueled by anger, laziness, and REBELLION. Rebellion against my school, my parents, the man, colleges, and anyone else that makes me do stuff when I want to NOT DO STUFF. Time for some music.
Heard of Bad Brains? Probably. Get some Bad Brains.
It's sad that in this world the greatest artists are often discovered after they're through with it all. Drake was active in music from 1969 to 1972, and then in 1974 he died tragically from an overdose of antidepressants. His warm, charming vocals and dreamlike arrangements are built around timeless melodies that would not feel out of place in the modern folk scene. Like many before and after him, Nick Drake had a short and uneventful career that ended abruptly, only to later inspire tens if not hundreds or thousands of people to try their own hands at art and songwriting. Nick created three solid albums during his lifetime, the last one being possibly his most famous and most beloved, Pink Moon. Check out the song below, the title track from that album. You'll notice it sounds a lot like Iron and Wine, or Bella and Sebastian. Well, those aren't coincidences.
Man, this blog is getting to be a real downer with all the great dying, but it would just be wrong not to mention this inimitable talents. My friend Will Courtney of the band Brothers and Sisters just informed me of the passing of Reginald 'Reg' King Of all the recently decease artists that we have been honoring, Reg King is perhaps the most obscure, yet the most ripe for rediscovery. Possessing what Pitchfork calls a "powerful, debonair croon", King was the lead singer of critically acclaimed yet doomed-to-failure R&B influence psychedelic pop group the Action ('freakbeat' in music critic lingo). Check this baby out; a cover of the Marvelettes' 'Keep on Holding On', this gives the Who a run for their money. Allmusic states: "After the Beatles, the Action were the most impressive band signed to EMI by George Martin during the mid-'60s. That they never managed to chart a single in the space of two years with the label, even as lesser bands sold tens of thousands of records with seemingly no effort, is one of those great ironies of mid-'60s English rock & roll. Now why is he so important if they never scored a hit nor made a record? Well, they played a psychedelic brand of folky power-popish R&B that could have given the Zombies, the early Who, or the Small Faces a run for their money; Reg King was a powerhouse vocalist, a true R&B force of nature like Steve Winwood; and most importantly, in 2002, their archives turned out one of the best psych albums of all time. Yup; within the archives of EMI lay an unreleased album, Rolled Gold, on par with 'The Who Sell Out' or any of the best '60's British rock- allmusic calls it "a lost masterpiece...Tracks such as "Something to Say" and especially "Brain" with Reggie pleading for immortality over a hugely anthemic chord progression are as good, if not better, than anything that charted during the late '60s and sound less dated than many of the Action's contemporaries' efforts. It's as if Paul Weller time-traveled back to 1967 and wrote the best songs of his career. Every track is a fully realized melodic and lyrical statement. While there is a roughness to the demo-quality recording, it only magnifies the raw emotions the Action were able to translate into timeless music -- music that deserved much better than it got." Tell it like it is AMG. Oh. And Pitchfork gave it an 8.0. Check it out.
We at Phat Fellas salute you, Reg King, British master of soul.
Here are a few Rolled Gold tracks:
Here's a solo version of one of my favorite songs on 'Rolled Gold', Little Boy. Vocals DO NOT get better than that. ROCK AND ROLL, damn it.
Sad news, jazzers (and all you dance music-freak Pitchfork reading hipsters who should educate yourself in a little boplicity). According to magazine/blog/record-lable/all-around-source-of-funk WaxPoetics, "Alto saxophone great Marion Brown died in Hollywood, Florida, on October 18. He was seventy-nine." Sad news indeed folks. See, for those not in the know, Brown was a rare thing; a free jazz great who thrived on melody and lyricism in addition to creative free-for-all blowing sessions of mad anarchic chaos in sound (though he did his fare share of that shyzer too; check this puppy from 1967 out, called Porto Novo [if you can't make it through, just skip to the middle where it gets really intense]). He played on John Coltrane's monumental statement of jazz liberation, Ascension, as well as some great Archie Shepp records worth checking out, among others. But above all, this guy had pure soul. The beauty of a tune like 'Vista' here is just marvelous; reflecting the influence of 'Trane and Sanders yet with his own sensitive finesse, this group gets the afro-spiritual-Jazz thing going like no other. Man, this cat will be missed. Marion, Phat Fellas salutes you.
There seems to be a disturbing wave lately of older greats dropping dead out of the blue. The music blogosphere has become a virtual morgue, and while we at Phat Fellas don't like to follow trends, it only seems fair that we respect the masters in every way possible, befitting their massive legacies.
RIP The Cool Ruler: Gregory Isaacs I've always loved Gregory Isaacs' smooth-soul influenced brand of reggae. With a voice like a Jamaican Marvin Gaye that was the epitome of smooth cool island lovin', you gotta dig the sweet grooves of his patented "lovers rock" style- sort of a Luther Vandross of reggae. He was no lazy slouch either; he managed to release more than 500 albums during the course of his career. Unfortunately, he succumbed to cocaine addiction and died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. According to WaxPoetics, "Gregory Isaacs had recently performed at London’s Big Chill Festival. He passed away at 4 AM on October 25, 2010. He was sixty years old." Lonely Lover, you'll be missed.
Start your week off pumping with some tasty, old-school house music. This is a Kenny Dope remix of Martha Walsh's "Carry On." Walsh was originally a background singer for the legendary disco-drag queen Sylvester, until Walsh decided on pursuing her own solo career. Walsh's solo work paves the way for many great later artists, such as the UK's Black Box and Cookie. But nothing will beat the original: Martha Walsh!
Great song + great lyrics + great voice + great remix = House Music Monday! =]
Alas, not phat in appearance, but rather in opinion. Culture! Cuisine! Couture!
This blog is the brainchild of:
JayKay, spiritual advisor and soul brother #1: "I stand alone in the eye of the storm," Jeremy Grey, manager and leader of the pack: "I live life in the fast lane", Asher Shasho Levy, literary editor and cultural snob: "Love is a battlefield", Zack D. Maleh, Kid Cudi-intern-in-resident, recipient of the coveted 2010 Cudi Prize: "I tell it like it is", Josh J. Dassa, The kid: "I'm just here for the free food"
