Tuesday, September 25, 2007

September Song
38 versions of the Kurt Weill song, courtesy of WFMU. Nice one. LINK

"...Nothing beats the James Brown version from his 1970 LP Soul on Top, on which he was backed up by the Louis Bellson Big Band, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson.

September Song was written by Weill (with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) for the 1938 musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Walter Huston (father of John, Granddad of Angelica) introduced the song when he played Pieter Stuyvesant in the original production, and scored a hit with the 78 version of it while the show was still in its first run.

In the play, the peg-legged Stuyvesant sings the song to Tina, the lovely Town Councilor's daughter, in the hope of rushing her into marriage against her better judgment. Peg-leg Pete uses the shortening days of September and the onset of winter to convince Tina to give herself to him and not to his rival, Brom Broeck. (Tina marries Broek in the end.)

Another irony of the song that's been lost in it's many years as an American pop standard is that it's sung by a villain. In Knickerbocker Holiday, Stuyvesant is a stand-in for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who the pacifist/anarchist Maxwell Anderson saw as an exponent of American fascism."

Friday, September 21, 2007

Daft Punk is not playing at my house...
...but I really, really wish LCD Sound System would play in my neck of the woods. Check this live video clip from Coachella earlier this year, Looks like a lotta fun. Please, someone bring over to NZ. LINK.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Auckland venue in trouble?
Have just heard a report that there's an official-looking notice stuck to the door of Auckland venue The Studio, dated 17 September, something about it being placed in receivership. If you've bought tickets for upcoming gigs at this venue, you may want to contact the ticket sellers and find out what's happening. I'm guessing that any international gigs coming up there may be transferred to the St James, which is reopening next month.

Friday, September 14, 2007

I know you got soul
RIP Bobby Byrd, legendary James Brown sideman/vocalist. More here.


Speaking of the funk, dodgy US teen movie Superbad has got a killer soundtrack - not only some local contributions from Dawn Raid's Mareko and Alphrisk, but also members of The JBs (James Brown's band), Parliament and Funkadelic. Here's a clip of Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrall and more, jamming like crazy. Video over here. Go watch these guys groove out, they a bunch of funky-ass old dudes.


Chicago 70s funk outfit Piece of Peace get rediscovered by US label Quannum Projects. Check it here (audio too). "The story goes that in 1971 they recorded their only LP, and got offered a Southeast Asia tour. It was on this trip, in Singapore, that Pieces of Peace disbanded and went crawling back home.

Some say it was homesickness, others claim it was stress dealing with agents, but regardless the band was broken up, and their LP was shelved. That's where Quannum enters the picture, dusts off this gem of an album, and gives back a piece of music history to the world."


AND THIS: 20 million people CAN be wrong. Here's proof.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, saturday Sepetember 8
Bob Marley - Soul shakedown party (Afrodisiac sound system)
Border crossing - City of love
King Tubby Allstars - Step pon mi corn version
Jackson 5 - I want you back (Konishsi Yasuharu remix)
Joe Tex - You might be digging the garden but somebody is digging your plums
Pimps of joytime - San Francisco-bound
Harvey - Any way you wanta
Bacao rhythm and steel band - Ease back
Guts - And the living is easy (Dynamics remix)
Barrington Levy and Beenieman - Murderer
William Bell - I forgot to be your lover
United 8 - Getting uptown to get down
Sister Nancy -Big beat bam remix
Keith Lawrence - B Bwoy skank
Freez - IOU
King Tubby - Borderline dub
Just banks - 360 degrees (Makossa and Megablast remix)
Common - Black maybe
Dub funk association - Enter the chuzzler
Hot 8 Brass Band - Rock with the hot 8
Jean Jacques Perry - Eva
Red Rogers - Congo bounce
Tyra and the tornados - Hui hui
Al Green - I'm glad you're mine
Family Tree - Family tree (Norman Cook disco edit)
Dubblestandart vs Ari Up - Island girl (JStar remix)

Cheers to everyone who came down to Galatos/Studio for the Winter Warm-up on Saturday night, wicked times.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Sept 1
Ballistic Bros - Prophecy reveal
DJ Vadim - Watch that sound (JStar remix)
Pat Rhoden - Living for the city
Original tropicana steel band - Calypso rock
Sir Joe Quartermain and free soul - So much trouble
Nightmares on wax - 70s 80s (Roots Manuva remix)
Toots and the Maytals - Broadway jungle
Johnny Clarke - Rebel soldiering
Wood brass and steel - Funkanova (Fat camp brass rubbing)
Klymaxx - Video kid
Mr Vegas - Lean wid it
Buju Banton - Champion
Reggie Stepper - Cuh ohnoh
Taggy Matcher - Rockit
Dubblestandart vs Ken Boothe - When I fall in love dub
Guts - And the living is easy (DJ Sayem remix)
Kode9 and Spaceape - Quantum
Amy Winehouse - I'm no good
Invisible Spike - Unsanity
Fermin Muguruza feat Manu Chao - Maputxe
Marcia Griifiths - Fell like jumping
Big bud - Bubblin
Lennie Hibert - Village soul
Pioneers - Sweet inspiration (Justin Robertson remix)
Katzenjammers - Cars

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, August 25
Cedric Im Brooks - Shaft
Upsetters - Live injection
Augustus Pablo - Dub organizer
Midnights - Outside looking in (Dub Asylum remix)
Keith Lawrence - Whoa whoa
Visioneers - Ike's mood pt1
Quincy jones - It sure is groovy
Ann Sexton - You're gonna miss me
Candido - Candido's funk
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - 100 days, 100 nights
Bombs - Mama's boot
Jstar - Fall in love
Dubblestandart vs Ken Boothe - When I fall in love
Papa Levi -Mi god mi king
DJ Vadim - Watch that sound (JStar remix)
Edwin Birdsong - Rapper dapper snapper
Pitch black - Speech (International observer remix)
Mr Vegas - Lean wid it
Kolab - Sam I am
Quincy Jones - Where whitey aint around
Manuel Bundy - Higher
Bill Cosby -Dope pusher
Roy Ayers - Running away
Sammy Dead - You never conquer natty dreadlocks
Pioneers - Sweet inspiration (Justin Robertson remix)
Fatback band - Yum yum (gimme some)
Marva Whitney and Osaka Monaurail - Her thing
Guts - And the living is easy (DJ Sayem remix)
Skatalites - Beardsman ska
Leroy Sibbles -Express yourself