Frankie is a hard man to pin down.. is he about drums, percusion and ambience or is he about driving densely layered peak time house music? A Londoner that very rarely plays records in his own city, yet can ram out the mighty Precious Hall in Sapporo and have 1000 punters all wearing cut out frankie valentine masks in tribute (not really,but iv'e always loved the idea) This fella cut his teeth in the soundsysem culture of london in the 70's and 80's and was leading the uk underground rave charge by the end of that decade, yet he was NEVER on the front cover of Muzik or DJ (even though he's definately got the moves and canrock some fine publicity shots). His recorded output is heavyweight with amazing tracks on Balance, Trackmode and Auto. But his relationship with Austrias Sunshine Enterprises, is where his trademark super organic, live house, brazilian rubbed and uber deep sound has evolved. His 1st lp with them is amazing but his 2nd LP (from which this track is taken), WORLD OF WHAT is a long player of outstanding broadness along with a set of covers by our boy DANNY SANGRA and sleeve notes by the mysterious MAGUS (myself and the dread dommamu), that could have bridged that gap into mainstream play. Every track on this lp is ace, but i thought id go for this chilled, string laden soundtracky corker with beautiful tight drums and a distinct oriental feel to let you in on Mr Valentines distinct audio world.
My wife thinks KENNY LARKIN is one of the most beautiful men to have walked this planet.
Kenny makes loves to the camera, in all his press shots he is seriously shiny, oiled up like some shaven musical gladiator or a model in Maxim or some such.
He is also seemingly indesctructable - Kenny took a bullet after a gang banger tried to nick his car outside his yard back in 1994.. and he does stand up comedy..
Kenny Larkin is also the creator of jaw droppingly stunning music, electronic washes of tone that lift you, make the hairs on your arms bristle. motor city rhythms from some futuristic Detroit that exists only in the dreams of it's somewhat bemused inhabitants. Machine funk that in turn can be directional, cold and hard like chrome swords and yet organic, emotional and thathave chord progressions that really make you cry - check out these tracks by his YENNEK and LARK as examples of how this music can move.
This mans back catalogue simply rules!
Maybe I could supply my top 20 Larkin tracks?..
but then again i could, start getting my copies off the
racks and putting them into the context of other tunes - kinda like how its supposed to happen?
Here is a stone cold classic from the man on his ART OF TONE label, this track is backed with the equaly amazing PLANKTON and it's on clear vinyl just to up that, "I bought this in FAT CAT, when it was in a cupboard.." type vibe :) what can the detroit renaissance man not do?
Are GONG a bunch of hippies or a treasure trove of blissed out breaks and grooves?
I reckon, definately Both! :) Just ask DJ Pogo whos a major fan of this little hippy jazz fusion belter.
If like me, your late teens were based on music, art & drugs - not nesseceraly in that order then
a night of hot knives, bucket bongs and ozric tentacles nearly always involved a track or 5 from
this fella DAEVID ALLEN and his bunch of pan european banana baiting loonies. This band truely had the minerals, with STEVE HILLAGE and his glissando guitar and future ambient stylings, jazz drummer par excellance PIERRE MORLAN + many more drug taking musos with serious chops all controlled with humour by aussie ALLEN formerly of SOFTMACHINE - (i think a couple of post Allen and Robert Wyatt space jazz belters from them would go down well whatcha reckon?).
This tune is basically all about the groove that STRIKES like NO OTHER @ 2mins and 43 seconds - it's a mirimba/vibraphone led, funky as fuck corker! Someone with better disco scissors than I, needs to tease this one out into a 8+ minuter because it's TOO short!.. ANYONE?
ANGELS EGG is a very serious lp along with CAMEMBERT ELECTRIQUE , YOU and the wonderful MORLAN led SHAMAL - a quartet of super classic cosmic hippy funkers!
But you knew that already right?
I Love this band so much!! and I don't care who knows.
Bert Jansch hasn't been well :( let's all send out, our pschic love
and respect out to this man!
One of those guitarists thats spoken about in hushed reverent tones
like John Williams, Richard Thompson, John Renborn, the forever
mighty John Martyn etc.
Iv'e seen Jansch play many times and it's all about subtle stylings
wierd chordings and nifty picking.. He was in Pentangle :)
But we are not here tonight to bang on about balearic folk noodling
we are here to check this track from his first LP - Nicola.
Life depends on love is one of those end of night tunes.. uplifting...
almost northern soul in it's leanings and so very very ace, in these
rather fucked up troubled times.. listen to this and smile, i do.. Often!
The Pop Group have reformed.
OK.. well im not sure what I think of this..The middle aged singer of this
band was always and still is a inspired gobshite :)
Reading some stuff Mark Stewart has said recently, i'm of the opinion,
that the smell of money and oppotunity are in the air.
This group splintered into my all time favourite band and influenced the sound
and mix of my life:) punkfunk, squatjazz, 23 skidoo - blah blah blah, yadda :)
"Y" is one of those lp's that when it came out blew my mind.. angular funk, dub, politics and
the distinct taint of punk. It was like all my pre teenage musical fantasys were there.
Coming from the inner city oasis that was Hackney, Bristol seemed to have that
similar mix. Now all the books have been written and the articles have been read, we know
that they are same place - mind, body, spirit and attitude.
This track is another one of those genius studio creations from the weed addled and uniquely black
british dub fingers, of Dennis Bovell.
Only he could see between the spaces, of this bands groove and plug the gaps with dub pollyfiller.
LOUD, this tune makes you dance and say to yourself WTF?? just as all great tunes should.
And it sounds backwards :)
This AMAZING tune popped up on my radar when MOTON records put out a version as their 2nd release way back. This version had a massive back beat added for the A side, but it was the wacked out, synth laden B side, that smashed it for me. Anything that said "percussion by Harvey" would be purchased (2 copies) and i thought that all those aggresive synth washes had to be added extras from the cult leader himself as well as the drums.. Oh those drums!! :)
But I was sort of wrong. Yes there was extra production.. Yes there was extra drums.. but it was all George.. and the LP had to be had!
You have to love the fusion, but there is literally SO much that if you are a broad eared soul like myself then LP's will always be missed :)
There are other tracks by the former Zappa keys man, that deliver black science fiction but this long player is an absolute must, and just edges out everything elseof his for total moodiness :)
To hear this record over a very decent soundsystem, piss loud is one of lifes pleasures - believe!
So here's the cut - minus the extra hairy, drugged fueled percussion!
Proper futuristic ambient jazz bizniz!
I'm gonna start posting a track a day.
(a homage to lovefingers and bumrocks perhaps?)
To start, here is Just Drifting (in it's midnight instrumental form)
from PSYCHIC TV - a MAJOR band for me.
So much in fact, that i wrote my degree dissertation on the band - the cunning angle (you ALWAYS needed an angle when doing an art degree.), being that i had been following this band and it's mighty, mighty shaman/leader GENESIS P-ORRIDGE,
since they had emerged from the dying embers of THROBBING GRISTLE. Not knowing that everything i had heard, witnessed, danced to and taken part in was infact.. ART :)
Here's a brilliant overview from fantastic killyourpetpuppy blog, where you can also check the original vocal version, with the gentle spoke/sung voice of Genesis, oddly cold and emotional at the same time laying these words over maybe some of the most fantastic downtempo orchestartion.. ever.
but for you here is the rarer midnight instrumental.
please enjoy!
there are times when a return to the funks
and the slow cleanliness of a groove
can begin the long hard graft
of the rearrangment of my mind
this selection is for PeechykKeen aka miss 300 to me :)
mz kween has it bad for the sadly missed (by it seems the whole world??) JAY DILLA.
My lack of detailed hiphop passion means that i tend to
see the late James Dewitt Yancey as a supreme listener of records from all corners of the disco.
PeechyKween is a team member of the super slick and generally
all round lovely looking IHEARTDILLA blog and general deposit for all things HIPHOP.. get involved!
She was directed my way, for no other reason than family ties :)
by the ever fragrent Amelia I RUN TINGS from the very mighty PUTMEONIT... i salute thee ladies! X
tokimonsta - glaring lights
loose ends - feel the vibe
emantive - we travel the spacebeats
mckay - rising tide
undisputed truth - show time
stereolab - soop groove #1
fila brazilla - airlock holmes
nat adderley - quit it
leos sunship - im back for more
the roots - melting pot
Frankie is a hard man to pin down.. is he about drums, percusion and ambience or is he about driving densely layered peak time house music? A Londoner that very rarely plays records in his own city, yet can ram out the mighty Precious Hall in Sapporo and have 1000 punters all wearing cut out frankie valentine masks in tribute (not really,but iv'e always loved the idea) This fella cut his teeth in the soundsysem culture of london in the 70's and 80's and was leading the uk underground rave charge by the end of that decade, yet he was NEVER on the front cover of Muzik or DJ (even though he's definately got the moves and canrock some fine publicity shots). His recorded output is heavyweight with amazing tracks on Balance, Trackmode and Auto. But his relationship with Austrias Sunshine Enterprises, is where his trademark super organic, live house, brazilian rubbed and uber deep sound has evolved. His 1st lp with them is amazing but his 2nd LP (from which this track is taken), WORLD OF WHAT is a long player of outstanding broadness along with a set of covers by our boy DANNY SANGRA and sleeve notes by the mysterious MAGUS (myself and the dread dommamu), that could have bridged that gap into mainstream play. Every track on this lp is ace, but i thought id go for this chilled, string laden soundtracky corker with beautiful tight drums and a distinct oriental feel to let you in on Mr Valentines distinct audio world.
