2 Many DJ's - 2002 - As Heard On Radio Soulwax, Pt. 2

Soulwax members Stephen and David Dewaele inaugurated the alias 2 Many DJ's for a series of radio-show mix sessions, few (if any) of which were recorded live; with the magic of computer processing, the pair spent hours constructing pinpoint mixes with editing software, deconstructing pop music of the '60, '70s, and '80s with multiple layers of familiar songs. And as unlikely as it appeared they'd ever be able to issue a proper album, 2 Many DJ's debuted a full-length mix with 2002's As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Pt. 2, a feat of licensing endurance and computer-aided mixing with few parallels at this early date in the history of mash-ups. (It's available only as an import, fully licensed and bonded for the notorious Benelux countries alone.) An hour-long mix with nary a pause for breath, the disc balances late-period electro-techno with some of the most hilarious one-over-another collisions of previously unimagined duets in history. When the vocal on a pitched-up "I'm Waiting for the Man" finally drops out, it's difficult not to be a little shocked once you realize that midway the beat morphed into "Dance to the Music," and Lou Reed's hip whine is replaced by an a cappella version of "Oh Sheila." Sexual frustration (the Stooges' "No Fun") competes with sexual release (Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It"), the wistful one-shot "I Wish" by Skee-Lo sounds a bit more extroverted when pasted over the Breeders' "Cannonball," and "Independent Woman, Pt. 1" by Destiny's Child gradually gives way to "Independent Woman, Pt. 0" -- that is, Dolly Parton's "9 to 5." There's as many incredible rare grooves on this record as there are familiar shots, a sure tribute to 2 Many DJ's as combination collectors/mixers/taste-makers than anything else. Most of the ideas here really aren't new -- just talk to Grandmaster Flash or Kool Herc about borrowing any records at hand to keep a crowd moving -- but 2 Many DJ's have acres of talent and great ideas about constructing a mix record.

1 Peter Gunn Theme/Where's Your Head At [Head-A-Pella] Mancini 2:49
2 Fuck the Pain Away Peaches 1:38
3 I'm Waiting for the Man Reed 0:57
4 J'Aime Regarder Les Mecs/Dance to the Music/Oh Sheila [Acapella] 0:57
5 I Wanna Be Your Dog Alexander, Asheton, Asheton, Pop 1:44
6 Disko Kings 1:28
7 The "O" Melody/Silverscreen-Shower Scene 2:56
8 No Fun/Push It 2:31
9 Joe le Taxi/Crush on You [Acapella] Langolff, Roda Gil 2:28
10 Funkacise/Motocross Madness/French Kiss 3:03
11 Serious Trouble Mukai, Zongamin 1:39
12 Androgyny [Thee Glitz Mix] Erikson, Manson, Marker, Vig 1:16
13 Disc Jockey's Delight, Vol. 2/Kaw-Liga [Prairie Mix] 2:30
14 Shake Your Body 2:11
15 Into the Stars [Firebird Remix] 0:58
16 Concepts/99 Luftballons 1:37
17 Independent Women, Pt. 1 /Dreadlock Holiday [Acapella] 3:30
18 9 to 5/Eple Parton 2:29
19 Death Disco 0:43
20 Keine Melodien Jeans Team 1:46
21 I Wish /My Gigolo/Cannonball [Acapella] 3:30
22 Human Fly 1:33
23 Danger! High Voltage 1:42
24 Don't Bring Me Down 1:57
25 Hand to Phone Equation, Kuperus 1:40
26 La Rock 01 Vitalic 2:37
27 I Was Made for Loving You Child, Ponica, Stanley 1:59
28 The Beach/Sandwiches [Acapella] 2:12
29 I Sit on Acid [Soulwax Remix] 2:56
30 Start Button 1:58

¡Aquí!

Richard, Little - 1957 - Here's Little Richard

Little Richard had been making records for four years before he rolled into Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans and cut the epochal "Tutti Frutti" in the fall of 1955, but everything else he'd done -- and much of what others had recorded -- faded into insignificance when Richard wailed "A wop bop a loo mop a lomp bomp bomp" and kicked off one of the first great wailers in rock history. In retrospect, Little Richard's style doesn't seem so strikingly innovative as captured in 1956's Here's Little Richard -- his boogie-woogie piano stylings weren't all that different from what Fats Domino has been laying down since 1949, and his band pumped out the New Orleans backbeat that would define the Crescent City's R&B for the next two decades, albeit with precision and plenty of groove. But what set Richard apart was his willingness to ramp up the tempos and turn the outrage meter up to ten; "Tutti Frutti," "Rip It Up" and "Jenny Jenny" still sound outrageous a half-century after they were waxed, and it's difficult but intriguing to imagine how people must have reacted to Little Richard at a time when African-American performers were expected to be polite and the notion of a gay man venturing out of the closet simply didn't exist (Richard's songs were thoroughly heterosexual on the surface, but the nudge and wink of "Tutti Frutti" and "Baby" is faint but visible, and his bop threads, mile-high process and eye makeup clearly categorized him as someone "different"). These 12 tunes may not represent the alpha and omega of Little Richard's best music, but every song is a classic and unlike many of his peers, time has refused to render this first album quaint -- Richard's grainy scream remains one of the great sounds in rock & roll history, and the thunder of his piano and the frantic wail of the band is still the glorious call of a Friday night with pay in the pocket and trouble in mind. Brilliant stuff.

1 Tutti Frutti LaBostrie, Little Richard, Lubin
2 True Fine Mama Little Richard, Penniman
3 Can't Believe You Wanna Leave Price
4 Ready Teddy Blackwell, Marascalco
5 Baby Little Richard
6 Slippin' and Slidin' Bocage, Collins, Little Richard…
7 Long Tall Sally Blackwell, Johnson, Little Richard…
8 Miss Ann Johnson, Little Richard
9 Oh Why? Scott
10 Rip It Up Blackwell, Marascalco
11 Jenny, Jenny Johnson, Little Richard
12 She's Got It Little Richard, Marascalco

¡Aquí!

Turner, Tina - 1984 - Private Dancer

In 1984, a 45-year-old Tina Turner made one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of American popular music. A few years earlier, it was hard to imagine the veteran soul/rock belter reinventing herself and returning to the top of the pop charts, but she did exactly that with the outstanding Private Dancer. And Turner did so without sacrificing her musical integrity. To be sure, this pop/rock/R&B pearl is decidedly slicker than such raw, earthy, hard-edged Ike & Tina classics as "Proud Mary," "Sexy Ida," and "I Wanna Take You Higher." But she still has a tough, throaty, passionate delivery that serves her beautifully on everything from the melancholy, reggae-influenced "What's Love Got to Do With It" to the gutsy "Better Be Good to Me" to heartfelt remakes of the Beatles' "Help," Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," and David Bowie's "1984." A reflection on the emptiness of a stripper's life, the dusky title song is as poignant as it is depressing. Without question, this was Turner's finest hour as a solo artist.

1 I Might Have Been Queen Hine, Obstoj, West-Oram 4:10
2 What's Love Got to Do with It Britten, Lyle 3:49
3 Show Some Respect Britten, Shifrin 3:18
4 I Can't Stand the Rain Bryant, Miller, Peebles 3:41
5 Private Dancer Knopfler 7:11
6 Let's Stay Together Green, Jackson, Mitchell 5:16
7 Better Be Good to Me Chapman, Chinn, Knight 5:10
8 Steel Claw Brady 3:48
9 Help! Lennon, McCartney 4:30
10 1984 Bowie 3:09

¡Aquí!

New Year - 2001 - Newness Ends

When the Kadane brothers -- Matt and Bubba -- disbanded Bedhead, it was at the height of that band's creativity and excellence. Wherever they went, well-deserved critical acclaim seemed to follow, and for good reason: Their music was intricate, touching, and emotional to a degree few bands ever reach. Bedhead's final album, Transaction de Novo was particularly affecting. The New Year is led (and all its songs are written) by the Kadane brothers, who were apparently less taking a break from each other than from the project they had created. The New Year's debut album, Newness Ends, comes after the band had played only a handful of shows, and while it has obvious similarities to Bedhead, the reason for the name change is also apparent. The most blatant difference is the tempos on Newness Ends. Whereas Bedhead records rarely made it past a crawl, these new songs take a similar songwriting approach and hit the gas a bit. The first track, "Half a Day," announces the difference with a bouncing rhythm, something heretofore not seen by the Kadanes. The true test of Newness Ends' greatness, though, is whether it would stand on its own as a debut album by a group of unknowns, without having to live up -- or down -- to die-hard fans' expectations. Clearly it does, blending the brilliant writing and playing of these two slow rock pioneers' past an present. It's a step sideways into amazing, only partially discovered territory.

1 Half a Day Kadane, Kadane 3:56
2 Reconstruction Kadane, Kadane 3:21
3 Gasoline Kadane, Kadane 3:34
4 Great Expectations Kadane, Kadane 2:40
5 Simple Life Kadane, Kadane 3:29
6 One Plus One Minus One Equals One Kadane, Kadane 4:23
7 Alter Ego Kadane, Kadane 2:44
8 The Block That Doesn't Exist Kadane, Kadane 2:38
9 Carne Levare Kadane, Kadane 2:37
10 Newness Ends Kadane, Kadane 3:19

¡Aquí!

Womack, Bobby - 1999 - Soul Brother

1 What Is This? Womack 2:36
2 I'm a Midnight Mover Pickett, Womack 2:04
3 If You Want My Love, Put Something Down on It Womack, Womack 3:43
4 Don't Look Back Robinson, White 2:49
5 How I Miss You Baby Carter, Womack 3:18
6 I'm Gonna Forget About You Cooke 2:28
7 I Can Understand It Womack 4:06
8 You're Welcome, Stop on By Thomas, Womack 3:45
9 I'm Through Trying to Prove My Love to You Womack 3:50
10 I Don't Wanna Be Hurt by Ya Love Again Womack 3:24
11 Check It Out Womack 3:51
12 So Many Sides of You Ford, Womack 3:46
13 Where There's a Will There'sa Way Ford, Womack 3:04
14 Across 110th Street Johnson, Womack 3:52
15 Just My Imagination Womack 5:08
16 If You Think You're Lonely Now Griffin, Moten, Womack 5:30

¡Aquí!

Dokken - 1999 - Erase The Slate

George Lynch departed the Dokken reunion following 1997's Shadowlife, handing the reins over to ex-Winger guitarist Reb Beach. Beach has more than enough chops to fill Lynch's shoes, and although he brings his own musical personality to the riffs and solos, the songs' melodies are still recognizably Dokken. Unfortunately, those melodies are typical of post-reunion Dokken more often than not, with the band seemingly struggling to come up with the big chorus hook and just not quite getting there (a problem, come to think of it, that sometimes plagued the band in their heyday as well). Although Beach acquits himself well, the songwriting ultimately sinks the record; besides, at this stage of the game, it's difficult to believe Don Dokken when he sings "I must confess, I'm the maddest hatter of them all." Erase the Slate is workmanlike retro-'80s hard rock at its best, and thoroughly unmemorable at its worst.

1 Erase the Slate Dokken 3:47
2 Change the World Dokken 4:35
3 Maddest Hatter Dokken 4:38
4 Drown Dokken 4:53
5 Shattered Dokken 4:40
6 One Nilsson 3:10
7 Who Believes Dokken 4:23
8 Voice of the Soul Dokken 4:12
9 Crazy Mary Goes Round Dokken 3:00
10 Haunted Lullabye Dokken 4:47
11 In Your Honor Dokken 4:31
12 [Untitled] Dokken 1:16

¡Aquí!

Scott-Heron, Gil - 1974 - Winter in America

Gil Scott-Heron was at his most righteous and provocative on this album. The title cut was a moving, angry summation of the social injustices Scott-Heron felt had led the nation to a particularly dangerous period, while "The Bottle" was a great treatise on the dangers of alcohol abuse. He also offered his thoughts on Nixon's legacy with "The H2O Gate Blues," a classic oral narrative. Brian Jackson's capable keyboard, acoustic piano and arranging talents helped make this a first-rate release, one of several the duo issued during the 1970s.

1 Peace Go With You, Brother (As-Salaam-Alaikum) Jackson, Scott-Heron 5:27
2 Rivers of My Fathers Jackson, Scott-Heron 8:19
3 A Very Precious Time Jackson, Scott-Heron 5:17
4 Back Home Jackson, Scott-Heron 2:51
5 The Bottle Scott-Heron 5:14
6 Song for Bobby Smith Scott-Heron 4:38
7 Your Daddy Loves You Scott-Heron 3:25
8 H2O Gate Blues Scott-Heron 8:08
9 Peace Go With You, Brother (As-Salaam-Alaikum) Jackson, Scott-Heron 1:10
10 Winter in America Scott-Heron 8:23
11 Song for Bobby Smith Scott-Heron 4:46
12 Your Daddy Loves You Scott-Heron 4:25
13 The Bottle/Guan Guanco Scott-Heron 11:56

¡Aquí!

No Doubt - 2000 - Return Of Saturn

Return of Saturn is an almost defiantly mature record about two things: Stefani's exploration of a troubled romance and her own romantic ideals, plus a serious attempt by the group to not only keep new wave alive, but to make that adolescent music relevant to an older audience. It's a high concept, but Return of Saturn is filled with satisfying contradictions. It's melodic, but deceptively complex; it can seem frothy, but it's never frivolous. No Doubt's desire to expand the emotional template of new wave is the perfect match for Stefani's themes -- she may be writing about love, but she's not writing adolescent love songs. Fragments of her teenaged romantic fantasies remain, but she's writing as a woman in her late 20s. She's tired of being another "ex-girlfriend" -- she wants to fall in love, get married, and have a family. It's a subject that's surprisingly uncommon in pop music, which would alone make Return of Saturn an interesting album. What makes it a successful one is that the band delivers an aural equivalent of Stefani's lyrical themes. They also begin with their adolescent musical ideals, adding depth and detail to their pop-ska foundation. They balance their non-ironic love of new wave with contemporary production and a sensibility borrowed from classic rock: that albums are greater than the sum of their parts. Surprisingly, they pull it off -- it's a far stronger record than Tragic Kingdom, even if the catchiest numbers don't have the same swagger and punch as their previous hit singles. So be it. With Return of Saturn, No Doubt have made a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by Tragic Kingdom. Not only have they found their voice, they know what to do with it.

1 Ex-Girlfriend Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 3:32
2 Simple Kind of Life Stefani 4:16
3 Bathwater Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:02
4 Six Feet Under Kanal, Stefani 2:28
5 Magic's in the Makeup 4:21
6 Artificial Sweetener Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 3:54
7 Marry Me Kanal, Stefani 4:38
8 New Dumont, Stefani 4:26
9 Too Late Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:16
10 Comforting Lie Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 2:52
11 Suspension Without Suspense Stefani 4:10
12 Staring Problem Kanal, Stefani, Stefani 2:43
13 Home Now Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 4:34
14 Dark Blue Dumont, Kanal, Stefani 10:30

¡Aquí!

Griffith, Nanci - 1986 - The Last Of The True Believers

This is Nanci Griffith's fourth and final release on Rounder Records' folk subsidiary, Philo. At the time Griffith relocated to Nashville, TN, her decidedly Texan sense of musicality had already begun developing subtle hues of Appalachia as well as the cosmopolitan country that would inform her mid- to late-'80s stint on MCA. However, it is the overwhelming strength and conviction in the singer/songwriter's original material on The Last of the True Believers that remain indelibly impressed upon enthusiasts and critics alike. As such, Griffith has retained a copious sampling from the disc in her subsequent live performance repertoire. Griffith's crystalline vocals are well matched to the warm, earthy acoustic instrumentation on the intimate "More Than a Whisper" and "The Wing and the Wheel." At times, the delicate interplay creates a mutual envelopment of the human vocal instrument with that of the stringed nature -- most notably on the heartfelt "Love at the Five and Dime." By way of contrast, Griffith defies her somewhat introverted image on the tongue-in-cheek (no pun!) love song "Looking for the Time (Workin' Girl)" and the effervescent waltz "Love's Found a Shoulder." Lying nestled between are spry melodies such as "Banks of the Pontchartrain," featuring some nice picking from Béla Fleck (banjo), and "Goin' Gone," which perfectly captures some of Lloyd Green's finest pedal steel work on the disc. Griffith's pure and otherwise unaffected performance style would continue to carry through her subsequent efforts, most notably Lone Star State of Mind (1987), which in many ways is a companion, rather than simply the follow-up, to The Last of the True Believers.

1 The Last of the True Believers Griffith 2:47
2 Love at the Five and Dime Griffith 4:33
3 St. Olav's Gate Russell 3:03
4 More Than a Whisper Griffith 3:42
5 Banks of the Pontchartrain Griffith 3:39
6 Looking for the Time (Workin' Girl) Griffith 2:43
7 Goin' Gone Alger, Dale, Koller 4:19
8 One of These Days Griffith, Reed 2:54
9 Love's Found a Shoulder Griffith 2:19
10 Fly by Night Griffith 2:36
11 The Wing and the Wheel Griffith 2:41

¡Aquí!

Simon & Garfunkel - 1968 - Bookends

In March of 1968, Robert Kennedy was still alive and offering a vision for a way out to the America that had deeply entrenched itself in the Vietnam War. The inner-city rebellions in 1967 had shaken the youth culture's image of their own summer of love in that year. The beginning of America's crippling identity crisis had begun to shudder through the culture that would erupt with the death of Kennedy later that spring and the tragedy of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later that summer. Before it was all over, Martin Luther King, Jr. had also lost his life. In pop culture, rock was exploding everywhere in Western culture. The impact of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds -- both made in 1966 -- and the appearance of Jimi Hendrix on the pop scene in 1967 had ushered in a new way of making records, a way that not only referred to and portrayed everyday life but was part of its acceptance for what it was before attempting to transcend it. Earlier that spring, Simon and Garfunkel had slipped their fourth album into the bins with a whisper, the confoundingly literary, profoundly poetic and stunningly beautiful Bookends. Columbia Legacy has presented us S&G's entire catalog painstakingly remastered with extra tracks. The sound on these discs -- and Bookends in particular -- is amazing. It is literally true that there are instrumental passages and studio atmospherics that have never before been audible. As a pair, the two were seemingly equal collaborators with producer and engineer Roy Halee on a highly textured, multi-layered song cycle that offered observations on everything from urban crises that were symptomatic of larger issues, the prospect of old age and death, the loss and dislocation of those who desperately wanted to inherit an American Dream but not the one offered to them, surreal yet wistful reflections on youthful innocence lost forever to the cold winds of change.

Bookends is a literary album that contains the most minimal of openings with the theme, an acoustic guitar stating itself slowly and plaintively before erupting into the wash of synthesizers and dissonance that is "Save the Life of My Child." The uneasy rock & roll that carries the song through its disaster and the revelation of "Oh my grace, I've got no hiding place," which is the mere hint of what is to come in this wide open terrain of the previously familiar but completely unknown. The classic "America" is next, a folk song with a lilting soprano saxophone in the refrain and a small pipe organ painting the acoustic guitars in the more poignant verses. The song relies on pop structures to carry its message of hope and disillusionment as two people travel the American landscape searching for it until it dawns on them that everyone else on the freeway is doing the same thing. Its sweetness and sophisticated melodic invention are toppled by the message of the song and it becomes an ellipsis, a cipher, turned back on itself into disappearance, wondering what question to ask next. The sound of a lit cigarette is the opening of "Overs," a balladic study in the emptiness at the end of the relationship. The sound of inhaling and exhaling of the smoke tells the entire story. Also woven into the mix is a two-minute field recording of the voices of old people made by Garfunkel, collected from nursing homes and centers for the aged. The disembodied voices are chilling and heartbreakingly beautiful in their different observations, entire lifetimes summed up in a few seconds. This interlude leads into "Old Friends," which carries the message deeper as the image of two old men sitting on a park bench in languid statements of life lived ordinarily but poetically share not only their memories but also the commonality of their fear. A horn section threatens to interrupt the reverie, carrying the chaos they feel, their lack of control over current events, but is warded off as denial and the gentleness of the melody returns and fades into the album's opening theme, suggesting that we preserve our memories. As "Fakin' It" kicks to the fore, we feel the separation inherent in Simon's generational view of the unconscious separation of heart and mind. The tune is as full of hooks as a fishing boat and Halee swipes a bit from the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" and eases orchestral layers into the mix, subtly of course, but ever-present and recognizable nonetheless. With "Fakin' It," the depth of the album's meditation presents itself in earnest. Synth lines and handclaps give way to snare drums and acoustic guitars, and the first appearance of loss shows itself for what it is, the passing of life, moment by moment, memory by memory so quickly, that pretending is somehow preferable to the reality of everyday life. When the horn section and strings bring the crescendos and the lyric asserts, "This feeling of fakin' it/I still haven't shaken it/I know I'm fakin' it/I'm not really makin' it." Even Leonard Cohen's dark prophecies never stated the case so plainly -- in a folk-rock tune. The identity crisis inherent in the jazzy "Punky's Dilemma" melds the loss of innocence and childhood with the cynicism of present-day living. The final four tracks of the original album, "Mrs. Robinson," the theme song for the film The Graduate, "A Hazy Shade of Winter," and the album's final track, the George-influenced "At the Zoo," offer as tremblingly bleak a vision for the future as any thing done by the Velvet Underground, but rooted in the lives of everyday people, not in the decadent underground personages of New York's Factory studio. But the album is also a warning that to pay attention is to take as much control of one's fate as possible. The bonus tracks, a different take of "Old Friends" and "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" -- which ended up as the B-side of "Hazy Shade of Winter" -- add dimension to what was easily the most ambitious recording of Simon & Garfunkel's career. Its problematic themes, spare yet striking arrangements, and augmented orchestral instrumentation created a backdrop for the sounds of a generation moving through a workaday world they no longer accepted as real, a world they never understood in first place. That S&G never overstate the case here, never preach to the converted but instead almost journalistically observe the questions in the process of their being asked is a monumental achievement. That they did so in three- and four-minute pop songs is almost inconceivable for the time.

1 Bookends Theme Simon 0:32
2 Save the Life of My Child Simon 2:48
3 America Simon 3:35
4 Overs Simon 2:18
5 Voices of Old People Garfunkel, Simon 2:07
6 Old Friends Simon 4:05
7 Bookends Theme Simon 2:35
8 Fakin' It Simon 1:23
9 Punky's Dilemma Simon 3:19
10 Mrs. Robinson Simon 2:17
11 A Hazy Shade of Winter Simon 2:17
12 At the Zoo Simon 2:22

¡Aquí!

Van Morrison - 1970 - Moondance

The yang to Astral Weeks' yin, the brilliant Moondance is every bit as much a classic as its predecessor; Van Morrison's first commercially successful solo effort, it retains the previous album's deeply spiritual thrust but transcends its bleak, cathartic intensity to instead explore themes of renewal and redemption. Light, soulful, and jazzy, Moondance opens with the sweetly nostalgic "And It Stoned Me," the song's pastoral imagery establishing the dominant lyrical motif recurring throughout the album -- virtually every track exults in natural wonder, whether it's the nocturnal magic celebrated by the title cut or the unlimited promise offered in "Brand New Day." At the heart of the record is "Caravan," an incantatory ode to the power of radio; equally stirring is the majestic "Into the Mystic," a song of such elemental beauty and grace as to stand as arguably the quintessential Morrison moment.

1 And It Stoned Me Morrison 4:30
2 Moondance Morrison 4:35
3 Crazy Love Morrison 2:34
4 Caravan Morrison 4:57
5 Into the Mystic Morrison 3:25
6 Come Running Morrison 2:30
7 These Dreams of You Morrison 3:50
8 Brand New Day Morrison 5:09
9 Everyone Morrison 3:31
10 Glad Tidings Morrison 3:13

¡Aquí!

VA - 1986 - Sounds From True Stories

This soundtrack to the Talking Heads film True Stories was the second release in a planned trilogy, the last of which -- the film's actors covering the Talking Heads songs from the album -- never surfaced. Fortunately, this second volume did, a selection of background music and non-David Byrne tunes written for the film. Of the Byrne-penned selections, only a few borrow from Heads songs, and the original compositions, perched somewhere between Penguin Cafe Orchestra and a general Americana feel, are pleasant. Meredith Monk's "Road Song" does Byrne one better in this department, and Carl Finch's incredibly silly "Mall Muzak" suite pokes cockeyed fun. The only proper songs here are Terry Allen's "Cocktail Desperado" and Steve Jordan's Tex-Mex "Soy de Texas," both romping good fun.

1 Cocktail Desperado
2 Road Song
3 Freeway Son
4 Brownie's Theme
5 Mall Muzak
6 Dinner Music
7 Disco Hits
8 City of Steel
9 Love Theme from "True Storeis"
10 Festa Para Um Rei Negro
11 Buster's Theme
12 Soy de Tejas
13 I Love Metal Buildings
14 Glass Operator

¡Aquí!

Velvet Underground - 1968 - White Light / White Heat

The world of pop music was hardly ready for The Velvet Underground's first album when it appeared in the spring of 1967, but while The Velvet Underground and Nico sounded like an open challenge to conventional notions of what rock music could sound like (or what it could discuss), 1968's White Light/White Heat was a no-holds-barred frontal assault on cultural and aesthetic propriety. Recorded without the input of either Nico or Andy Warhol, White Light/White Heat was the purest and rawest document of the key Velvets lineup of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker, capturing the group at their toughest and most abrasive. The album opens with an open and enthusiastic endorsement of amphetamines (startling even from this group of noted drug enthusiasts), and side one continues with an amusing shaggy-dog story set to a slab of lurching mutant R&B ("The Gift"), a perverse variation on an old folktale ("Lady Godiva's Operation"), and the album's sole "pretty" song, the mildly disquieting "Here She Comes Now." While side one was a good bit darker in tone than the Velvets' first album, side two was where they truly threw down the gauntlet with the manic, free-jazz implosion of "I Heard Her Call My Name" (featuring Reed's guitar work at its most gloriously fractured), and the epic noise jam "Sister Ray," 17 minutes of sex, drugs, violence, and other non-wholesome fun with the loudest rock group in the history of Western Civilization as the house band. White Light/White Heat is easily the least accessible of The Velvet Underground's studio albums, but anyone wanting to hear their guitar-mauling tribal frenzy straight with no chaser will love it, and those benighted souls who think of the Velvets as some sort of folk-rock band are advised to crank their stereo up to ten and give side two a spin.

1 White Light/White Heat Reed 2:47
2 The Gift Cale, Morrison, Reed, Tucker 8:19
3 Lady Godiva's Operation Reed 4:56
4 Here She Comes Now Cale, Morrison, Reed, Tucker, Tucker 2:04
5 I Heard Her Call My Name Reed 4:38
6 Sister Ray Cale, Morrison, Reed, Tucker, Tucker 17:27

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X-Cops - 1995 - You Have The Right To Remain Silent

A short-lived side project assembled by the members of costumed shock thrashers GWAR, X-Cops penned comedic hardcore and speed metal ditties inspired by the humorous darker side of law enforcement. Going under such imaginative stage names as Sheriff "Tubb" Tucker (vocals), Sgt. AlDepantsia (guitar), Lt. Louis Scrapinetti (guitar), Patrolman Cobb Knobbler (bass), Cadet Billy Club (drums), Mountain Bike Officer Biff Buff (vocals), Sgt. Zypygski (vocals), and Detective Philip McRevis (samples), the members of X-Cops locked up their debut album, You Have the Right to Remain Silent, in 1995. But they managed only a single the following year before retiring from the force and, once again, concentrating on donning their GWAR outfits thereafter.

1 Interloper Derks, Orr 3:18
2 Barbells Derks, Lee, Orr 3:30
3 Cavity Search Dunn, Lee 1:57
4 Zipper Pig Brockie, Gorman 1:51
5 Welcome to New Jersey Brockie, Dunn, Lee 2:22
6 Your Mother Dunn, Lee, Orr 4:20
7 The Party's Over Brockie, Lee, Orr 2:35
8 5-0 Dunn, Lee, Orr 1:52
9 Tune Up Time 1:06
10 Third Leg Dunn, Lee, Orr 1:55
11 Paddy Wagon Rape Brockie, Dunn, Lee, Orr 3:05
12 Highway Star Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord… 5:55
13 You Fucked Up Dunn, Lee, X Cops 4:02

¡Aquí!

VA - 2003 - Music From The Wattstax Festival & Film

As it is with the multiple Woodstock soundtrack albums, it's hard to keep up with what's on the soundtrack discs bearing the name Wattstax in the title, counting the two initial volumes that came out in the 1970s, and now this three-CD package. Making matters more confusing is how, as the title of this set infers, the albums mix music from the festival with music from, or somehow associated with, the film Wattstax (which had some scenes, musical and otherwise, that actually didn't take place at the Wattstax festival itself). And to make matters yet more confusing, Music from the Wattstax Festival & Film, for all its generous length, isn't simply a combination of the Wattstax music that appeared in the '70s on either Wattstax, The Living Word: Live Concert Music from the Original Movie Soundtrack or Wattstax: The Living Word, Vol. 2. A lot of tracks from those albums do appear on these three CDs, but some don't; plus, Music from the Wattstax Festival & Film adds 17 previously unreleased songs, as well as one (Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft") that previously appeared on Isaac Hayes at Wattstax. It's something of a head-hurting exercise to keep it all straight. But ultimately, the most important thing to bear in mind is that Music from the Wattstax Festival & Film is the best, and certainly most bountiful, of the Wattstax-spawned discs, though it's marred by the exclusion of some previously issued tracks from the other Wattstax releases.

Most of this was indeed recorded at the Wattstax festival on August 20, 1972, featuring live soul from many artists on the Stax label. Most of the best performances from the previous Wattstax iterations were retained, among them well-recorded selections by the Staple Singers (whose four songs include "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There"), Eddie Floyd (doing "Knock on Wood"), the Bar-Kays (whose nine-minute "Son of Shaft/Feel It" is a highlight), Albert King, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor (with an eight-minute "Steal Away"), the Emotions, and Rufus Thomas. Some of the best cuts, however, are found in the dynamic previously unreleased material by lesser-known Stax artists, like Louise McCord's "Better Get a Move On," Lee Sain's "Them Hot Pants," Little Sonny's funk-blues "Wade in the Water," the Newcomers' Jackson Five-like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and Mel & Tim's hit "Backfield in Motion." The addition of some gospel songs also reflects the breadth of music at the festival, though the gospel tunes aren't as inspiring as the soul ones. On the whole, it's an important document of some of the better, live-'70s soul recordings. Arguably, however, some of the less interesting, previously unissued songs, should have been excluded to make room for some tracks by Albert King, Johnny Taylor, and Little Milton that showed up on the two Wattstax, the Living Word volumes, but somehow didn't make it onto Music from the Wattstax Festival & Film.

Disc 1
1 Salvation Symphony Warren, Wattstax '72 Orchestra 7:56
2 Introduction Jackson 5:51
3 Lift Every Voice and Sing Weston 3:39
4 Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) Staple Singers 3:38
5 Are You Sure Staple Singers 4:02
6 I Like the Things About Me Staple Singers 5:55
7 Respect Yourself Staple Singers 4:38
8 I'll Take You There Staple Singers 5:15
9 Precious Lord, Take My Hand Manning 4:25
10 Better Get a Move On McCord 4:01
11 Them Hot Pants Sain 4:10
12 Wade in the Water Little Sonny 4:20
13 I Forgot to Be Your Lover Bell 2:37
14 Explain It to Her Mama Temprees 2:49
15 I've Been Lonely (For So Long) Knight 3:54
16 Pin the Tail on the Donkey Newcomers 2:47
17 Knock on Wood Floyd 3:41

Disc 2
1 Peace Be Still Emotions 9:08
2 Old Time Religion Golden 3:39
3 Lying on the Truth Allen 3:39
4 Up Above My Head Allen 4:02
5 Son of Shaft/Feel It Bar Kays 9:19
6 In the Hole Bar Kays 2:57
7 I Can't Turn You Loose Bar Kays 3:48
8 Introduction Porter 4:03
9 Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One) Porter 3:32
10 Can't See You When I Want To Porter 10:28
11 Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand Porter 3:17
12 Niggas (Spoken Word) Pryor 2:19
13 Arrest/Lineup (Spoken Word) Pryor 2:38
14 So I Can Love You Emotions 6:10
15 /Show Me How [Group Introduction] Emotions 5:37

Disc 3
1 Open the Door to Your Heart Little Milton 7:02
2 Backfield in Motion Mel & Tim 5:30
3 Steal Away Taylor 8:12
4 Killing Floor King 3:49
5 Pick Up the Pieces Thomas 2:53
6 I Like What You're Doing (ToMe) Thomas 3:34
7 B-A-B-Y Thomas 2:50
8 Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes) Thomas 3:10
9 I Have a God Who Loves Thomas 4:43
10 The Breakdown Thomas 4:39
11 Do the Funky Chicken Thomas 4:35
12 Do the Funky Penguin Thomas 5:47
13 I Don't Know What This WorldIs Coming To Soul Children 6:53
14 Hearsay Soul Children 7:30
15 Theme from Shaft Hayes 4:40

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Jurassic 5 - 2002 - Power In Numbers

Like a few other notable sophomore records from hip-hop acts (De La Soul Is Dead, The Low End Theory), Jurassic 5's Power in Numbers is darker than their first full-length; not as fresh and exuberant, but much more mature and intelligent. Granted, fans may not be happy to hear they've changed the formula so soon, or that the production doesn't play a starring role as it did on Quality Control. Instead, DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist play it close to the vest, setting off the rhymes with a few well-placed beats and split-second samples (as well as the usual flute loops). Of course, allowing more room to hear four of the best rappers in hip-hop twisting tongues and telling tales has to be welcomed, and Jurassic 5 prove up to the added responsibility. Displaying a focus and intensity basically unseen in rap music during the past decade, the group practically bursts with message tracks; the skeletal first single "Freedom" finds Chali 2na and Akil delving into the concept as it relates to everything from Third World poverty to the American penitentiary system. "Remember His Name" and "Thin Line" (the latter with Nelly Furtado) are dark tales of urban passions, and they're a step forward in that it's not just the raps that are intricate, but the storytelling also requires a few listens to understand. The group still has plenty of time for a few old-school anthems like "What's Golden" and "A Day at the Races," with Big Daddy Kane bringing his alliterative ammo to the track. And the instrumental jam "Acetate Prophets" shows DJ Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist refining their skill for merging turntablism and excellent productions. Perhaps the best statement of Jurassic 5's purpose comes from the group itself, on "If You Only Knew": "What we do is try to give you what you ain't used to."

1 This Is Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 0:53
2 Freedom Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:19
3 If You Only Knew Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:51
4 Break Burt, Givens, Henderson, Macfadden… 3:16
5 React Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 0:56
6 A Day at the Races Givens, Hardy, Henderson, Macfadden… 4:02
7 Remember His Name Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:44
8 What's Golden Akil , Chali Twona, Givens, Henderson… 3:08
9 Thin Line Furtado, Givens, Henderson, Macfadden… 4:45
10 After School Special Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 2:41
11 High Fidelity Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:07
12 Sum of Us Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:28
13 DDT Kool Keith 0:42
14 One of Them Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 3:18
15 Hey Givens, Henderson, Husayn, Macfadden… 4:25
16 I Am Somebody Gamble, Givens, Henderson, Macfadden… 4:05
17 Acetate Prophets Givens, Henderson, Macfadden, Potsic… 6:31

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Incredible Bongo Band - 1973 - Bongo Rock

Unlikely godfathers of hip-hop, the Incredible Bongo Band was a revolving-door group of studio musicians led by bongo player Michael Viner, who by day worked as an executive at the MGM label and ran its short-lived Pride subsidiary. Viner had worked on Bobby Kennedy's ill-fated presidential campaign before entering the music industry as a talent scout and A&R man in Los Angeles. By the early '70s, he was successful enough to start his pet side project the Incredible Bongo Band, taking unused studio time to record percussion-heavy instrumentals and pop covers with African and Latin influences. He placed two songs on the soundtrack of the 1972 B-movie The Thing With Two Heads, released on Pride, and the following year issued the first Incredible Bongo Band full-length, Bongo Rock, which reportedly featured a guest spot by Ringo Starr. Viner's funked-up version of the Shadows' "Apache" went on to become one of hip-hop's earliest breakbeat staples, as first-generation hip-hop DJs Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash came to rely on its percussion breaks to get block parties moving. "Apache" went on to provide the basis for the Sugarhill Gang's hit of the same name, and stands as one of the most sampled tracks in hip-hop history. The single "Bongo Rock" charted in the lower reaches of both the pop and R&B lists, and eventually assumed a status similar to "Apache" in the hip-hop world (though with lesser magnitude). Viner assembled a follow-up album, The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band, in 1974, but the band came to a halt not long after; Viner was getting overly ambitious (a planned session with the London Symphony Orchestra fell through), and mainstay drummer Jim Gordon fell prey to severe mental difficulties, all of which spelled the end of the road. The British Strut label later reissued both of the group's albums on a two-fer titled Bongo Rock: The Story of the Incredible Bongo Band.

01 - Let There Be Drums
02 - Bongolia
03 - Kiburi
04 - Apache
05 - Sing Sing Sing
06 - Dueling Bongos
07 - In a Gadda Da Vida
08 - Raunchy
09 - Bongo Rock
10 - Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley Your Tie's Caught in Your Zipper
11 - Sharp Nine
12 - Okey Dokey
13 - Pipeline
14 - When the Bed Breaks Down, I'll Meet You in the Spring
15 - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
16 - Wipeout
17 - Last Bongo in Belgium
18 - Got the Sun in the Morning and the Daughter at Night
19 - Slightly Reminiscent of Topsy

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100 Demons - 2004 - 100 Demons

The line between hardcore and metal just gets blurrier and blurrier, and that's probably a good thing. But it does lead to some strange hybridisms -- such as metal albums (like this one) that last only 26 minutes, or hardcore albums (like this one) that combine a big, chesty, macho singing/yelling style with whiny, self-obsessed lyrics ("I'm dying in my own arms," "I never asked for this pain," etc.). 100 Demons exemplify this hybridization musically as well, and (despite the occasional lyrical excesses) that's mostly a good thing. The band's twin-guitar attack sticks mostly to the utilitarian grind and roar of hardcore, but there's a genuinely elegant guitar solo on "Something Terrible," and while singer Pete Morcey generally sticks to the same utilitarian grind and roar in his vocal approach, there is some genuinely elegant singing on the surprisingly melodic "Repeat Process." It's kind of hard not to snort at the overblown grandiosity of lines like "My brothers aren't afraid/I trust my life in their hands/They'll fight by my side/Until the bloody end" (the bloody end of what -- the all-ages show?), but these are the sentiments that rally the crew together, and there's really no arguing with the music itself.

1 Time Bomb One Hundred Demons 2:54
2 Destiny Never Came One Hundred Demons 2:42
3 Dying in My Own Arms One Hundred Demons 2:23
4 Repeat Process One Hundred Demons 3:20
5 Something Terrible One Hundred Demons 3:20
6 Lord Have Mercy One Hundred Demons 2:18
7 Non Believer One Hundred Demons 2:33
8 His Father's Son One Hundred Demons 3:19
9 Never Surrender Virtue (No Desit Virtus) One Hundred Demons 2:49

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Simon & Garfunkel - 1966 - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel's first masterpiece, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was also the first album on which the duo, in tandem with engineer Roy Halee, exerted total control from beginning to end, right down to the mixing, and it is an achievement akin to the Beatles' Revolver or the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, and just as personal and pointed as either of those records at their respective bests. After the frantic rush to put together an LP in just three weeks that characterized the Sounds of Silence album early in 1966, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme came together over a longer gestation period of about three months, an uncommonly extended period of recording in those days, but it gave the duo a chance to develop and shape the songs the way they wanted them. The album opens with one of the last vestiges of Paul Simon's stay in England, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" -- the latter was the duo's adaptation of a centuries-old English folk song in an arrangement that Simon had learned from Martin Carthy. The two transformed the song into a daunting achievement in the studio, however, incorporating myriad vocal overdubs and utilizing a harpsichord, among other instruments, to embellish it, and also wove into its structure Simon's "The Side of a Hill," a gentle antiwar song that he had previously recorded on The Paul Simon Songbook in England. The sonic results were startling on their face, a record that was every bit as challenging in its way as "Good Vibrations," but the subliminal effect was even more profound, mixing a hauntingly beautiful antique melody, and a song about love in a peaceful, domestic setting, with a message about war and death; Simon & Garfunkel were never as political as, say, Peter, Paul & Mary or Joan Baez, but on this record they did bring the Vietnam war home.

The rest of the album was less imposing but just as beguiling -- audiences could revel in the play of Simon's mind (and Simon & Garfunkel's arranging skills) and his sense of wonder (and frustration) on "Patterns," and appreciate the sneering rock & roll-based social commentary "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine." Two of the most beautiful songs ever written about the simple joys of living, the languid "Cloudy" and bouncy "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," were no less seductive, and the album also included "Homeward Bound," their Top Five hit follow-up to "The Sound of Silence," which had actually been recorded at the sessions for that LP. No Simon & Garfunkel song elicits more difference of opinion than "The Dangling Conversation," making its LP debut here -- one camp regards it as hopelessly pretentious and precious in its literary name-dropping and rich string orchestra accompaniment, while another holds it as a finely articulate account of a couple grown distant and disconnected through their intellectual pretensions; emotionally, it is definitely the precursor to the more highly regarded "Overs" off the next album, and it resonated well on college campuses at the time, evoking images of graduate school couples drifting apart, but for all the beauty of the singing and the arrangement, it also seemed far removed from the experience of teenagers or any listeners not living a life surrounded by literature ("couplets out of rhyme" indeed!), and understandably only made the Top 30 on AM radio. "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" was a romantic idyll that presented Art Garfunkel at his most vulnerable sounding, anticipating such solo releases of his as "All I Know," while "Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall" was Simon at his most reflectively philosophical, dealing with age and its changes much as "Patterns" dealt with the struggle to change, with a dissonant note (literally) at the end that anticipated the style of the duo's next album.

"A Simple Desultory Philippic," which also started life in England more than a year earlier, was the team's Dylanesque fuzz tone-laden jape at folk-rock, and a statement of who they weren't, and remains, alongside Peter, Paul & Mary's "I Dig Rock & Roll Music," one of the best satires of its kind. And the last of Simon's English-period songs, "A Poem on the Underground Wall," seemed to sum up the tightrope walk that the duo did at almost every turn on this record at this point in their career -- built around a beautiful melody and gorgeous hooks, it was, nonetheless, a study in personal privation and desperation, the "sound of silence" heard from the inside out, a voice crying out. Brilliantly arranged in a sound that was as much rock as film music, but with the requisite acoustic guitars, and displaying a dazzling command and range of language, it could have ended the album. Instead, the duo offered "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night," a conceptual work that was a grim and ironic (and prophetic) comment on the state of the United States in 1966. In retrospect, it dated the album somewhat, but that final track, among the darkest album-closers of the 1960s, also proved that Simon & Garfunkel weren't afraid to get downbeat as well as serious for a purpose. Overall, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was the duo's album about youthful exuberance and alienation, and it proved perennially popular among older, more thoughtful high-school students and legions of college audiences across generations. [The August 2001 reissue offers not only the best sound ever heard on this album in any incarnation, but also a few bonuses -- a slightly extended mastering of "Cloudy" that gives the listener a high-harmony surprise in its fade; and, as actual bonus tracks, Simon's solo demos of "Patterns" and "A Poem on the Underground Wall." Raw and personal, they're startling in their intimacy and their directness, and offer a more intimate view of Paul Simon, the artist, than ever seen.]

1 Scarborough Fair/Canticle Garfunkel, Simon 3:08
2 Patterns Simon 2:42
3 Cloudy Simon 2:10
4 Homeward Bound Simon 2:30
5 The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine Simon 2:42
6 The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) Simon 1:43
7 The Dangling Conversation Simon 2:37
8 Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall Simon 2:10
9 A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into ...) Simon 2:12
10 For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her Simon 2:04
11 A Poem on the Underground Wall Simon 1:52
12 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night Simon 2:01

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