Headless Chickens infringe copyright?
Chris Matthews is a former member of the band the Headless Chickens. This is his latest status update on Facebook...

"Dear Warners Music Group: Thanks very much for complaining to the site about me infringing copyright on MY songs on the Headless Chickens MySpace page, you stupid fuckers. I hope you rot in the 7th level of corporate hell, shit-for-brains arsehole muthafuckers."

And then there's the thread of replies to this... some highlights..

Chris Matthews: Fucking unbelievable. I made some of the songs free to download there for about a month about a year ago and now I can't even change the songs that are there or upload any new ones, and I only just found out it was WMG that made the complaint. And I'll have to go to virtual MySpace court to suss it out. Fuckwits.

Shayne P Carter: i had that palaver with myspace. turned out they'd been advised by the record co. that "crystalator" had been written by alec bathgate so i wasn't allowed to upload it. ah - such care and conscientiousness ! maybe i wrote your stuff.

Harry Russell: well what fuck do U expect from Murdoch

Scott Anderson: that is arse. Heh. One gf once said to me "why do you keep all these F.Nun CDs/Vinyl. You don't listen to them, why not sell them?" And I said, well, in ten years none of them will be available and I might want to listen to them again one day. She thought I was being stupid, but...

Chris Matthews ...there has been a whole raft of ex-F. Nun musicians who are pretty unhappy with the way things have gone down with Warners and have been trying to negotiate their way out of contracts that may or may not have been signed at some point in the past. Finding those contracts some 20 or more years later is proving to be the difficult thing. Most of us have told Warners directly or thru lawyers about how unhappy we are with things, although Warners may no longer own the rights to F. Nun but we'll find out about that in due course. I hope.

Welcome to Paradise



Spotted over at Gawker: "Klaus Nomi at Danceteria, breakdancers at The Roxy, grooving at Paradise Garage! In this 1983 episode of the British television show The Tube the hosts go exploring Manhattan's club scene. Welcome back to dirty New York."

Egon (Now-Again/Stonesthrow) on record shopping in Japan
Egon and Cut Chemist have been doing a bunch of gigs in Japan recently, check out Egon's tour diary at the Now-Again site. Snip...

"... I came close to buying the Tenorio Jr. and the Booker Pittman albums until I realized that, no matter how good they are, spending $1000 on bossa-jazz just ain’t happening in 2009.... I wrote about the end of record digging in Japan in my NPR column earlier this year. This trip didn’t change my assessment...."

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM Sept 5
Wheedles Groove and Calvin Laws - Fools gold
Lefties soul connection feat Flomega - Have love, will travel
Naomi Shelton and gospel queens - What have you done my brother
Staple Singers - Washington, we're watching you
Jackie Mittoo - Hot tamale

Tribute to Steely...
Reggie Stepper - Drum pan sound
Cutty Ranks - Retreat
Steely and Clevie - Hitomi
Foxy Brown - Fast car
Silvertones - Smile
Theophilus Beckford - Easy snapping
Leroy Sibbles - Fatty fatty
Captain Barkey - Gun
Anthony Malvo and Daddy Lizard -Take you to the dance

The Lions - Ethio-steppers (Wilderstyle dub)
Super beagle -Dust a sound boy
DJ Vadim - Leeches
Mayer Hawthorne - Just aint gonna work out (Astronote el camino remix)
Onra - The anthem
O'Donel Levy - Let's stay together
Madd Rackett - Get it (good god)
P-Money, Four Corners, Patea Maori club - Poi E (remix) live
Skatalites - Collie bud
Dub Asylum - Ba ba boom!
Beat pharmacy - Strangers (Headhunters remix)
Beverley road allstars -Danger in your eyes
Dawn Penn - No no no
Sean Paul - I'm still in love with you
Coco Tea - Come back
Malcolm X/Keith LeBlanc - No sellout

Wheedle's Groove: funky new business from some funky old cats.
Check the Light in the Attic page about this awesome record Kearney Barton by Wheedle's Groove (go there and grab a free mp3 off this album!) Worth it for the soul cover of Stone Roses - Fools Gold (reimagined by funky 60-something old black dudes). The story goes like this...

"Light In The Attic is happy to put forth Wheedle's Groove - Kearney Barton, an album of 9 new earth shaking, head nodding grooves, including Patrinell (Pastor Pat Wright) Staten and the Total Experience Gospel Choir’s interpretation of Soundgarden's "Jesus Christ Pose," Overton Berry's keyboard led "Humpty Dumpty" (originally recorded by Placebo/Marc Moulin), and the long overdue reunion of Ron Buford with Ural Thomas - the talented pair behind the 1965 local smash "Deep Soul".

"Don’t call it a comeback; they’ve been here for years. “Here” being Seattle, and “they” being the players who feature on the excellent 2004 collection Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle’s Finest in Funk & Soul 1965-75, which showcased the mostly forgotten (and often quite good) R&B acts from the Emerald City. So for Light in the Attic, the hometown label that put the compilation out, re-connecting with a number of those same players and singers was a risk — you never know if one-time music heroes will retain their chops. But Kearney Barton — named for the album’s engineer, and featuring a handful of appearances by those stellar out-of-towners the Muscle Shoals Horns — is a breezy gem, latter-day retro-funk that a label like Daptone would be happy to call its own." (from Emusic - they have it available on prerelease right now.)

"Wheedle's Groove is the name of the band. After a sell-out live show [celebrating the release of the Wheedles Groove compilation of 70s Seattle funk and soul] all the main artists got together in the studio to cut this album of covers and originals - Pastor Pat Wright, Total Experience Gospel Choir, Robbie Hill, Ron Buford, Ural Thomas, members of Black And White Affair, Cookin' Bag, Cold Bold & Together and more...a veritable Seattle soul-funk supergroup.

The album was recorded at the very studio where it all began - Audio Recording - with the man who not only fostered an original Northwest sound but engineered some of the original Wheedle's Groove tracks - studio wiz Kearney Barton (The Sonics, The Wailers, Black On White Affair). (source)

P-Money/Patea Maori Club -Poi E remix live
Genuine kiwi classic, reversioned by P-Money. This was a groundbreaking tune when it came out in New Zealand back in 1984, and it was a hit single too (22 weeks in the charts, 4 weeks at #1). It's living history. There's a bunch more I could say about this, but really all I want to say his this. Watch this video - it's the shit.



From P-Moneys blog...

"The video above is a live remix of the New Zealand classic "Poi E" performed by the Patea Maori Club with help from myself and the legendary Hamilton Hip-Hop crew 4 Corners. I just found this very rare footage of what was a one time only performance at the 2006(7?) APRA Silver Scroll Awards. A very special performance it was.

[Edit] My man @KaseBeats came through with an mp3 of the Clean audio straight from the desk. Grab it while its hot http://tiny.cc/FHjv4

[original video over here]

Mayer Hawthorne remix for you
To celebrate Mayer Hawthornes album hitting the top ten on iTunes (US), Stonesthrow have dropped a tasty remix of Just Aint Gonna Work Out. Go grab his album off iTunes if you're Stateside. Due out any day now in NZ. Can't wait!

Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out (Astronote - El Camino Remix):
Direct Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?zqugdmyuzae

Remix posted on Stones Throw
Buy "A Strange Arrangement" on iTunes US
ADDED: out in NZ on Sept 21

RIP Steely (of legendary reggae production duo Steely and Clevie)
Passed away, in his early 50s in New York on Sept 1, of heart failure. He had a history of diabetes and related health issues.

"Although the Trench Town-born Wycliffe 'Steely' Johnson was best known for creating some of dancehall's biggest techno jams of the 1980s and 1990s with drummer Cleveland Browne, he started his career as a studio musician.He worked with several producers, including Augustus Pablo, and was a founding member of the Roots Radics studio band for producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, owner of the Volcano label.

Johnson and Browne became an official unit during the 1980s, after playing on Bob Marley and the Wailers' Confrontation album. They were members of producer Lloyd 'King Jammys' James red-hot team that played on a flood of hit songs by Admiral Bailey, Shabba Ranks and Nitty Gritty.While they were one of the most in-demand producers in 1990s dancehall, Steely and Clevie said one of their most cherished projects was a Studio One tribute album they recorded in 1992.

The set featured covers of 10 songs from the legendary studio. One of them, Dawn Penn's No, No, No, became an international hit two years after the album was released by Heartbeat Records and resurrected the career of Penn, who first recorded the song at Studio One in 1969."

The first song I played on a piano was No, No, No. I always wanted to do the song, it's something Clevie and I premeditated for years," he said in a 2001 interview.

The following year, the duo hit it big again when their production of Sean Paul and Sasha's I'm Still In Love With You entered Billboard magazine's pop chart. The song was originally done in the 1960s by Alton Ellis and his sister Hortense." From Jamaica Gleaner

LISTEN Dawn Penn - No No No here.

READ Producing whiz makes 'steely' exit (Jamaica Gleaner), and Steely will be missed (Jamaica Observer).

Music Machines - synths galore!
Heard about this? Jason from Bluevibe Studio came up with this great idea, about "being in a room full to the ceiling with classic synths and drum machines, all plugged in and working, being played all at the same time by a crowd of musicians making one hell of a funky racket." And blow me down if he hasnt gone out and made it happen! Nice one, fella.

"Music Machines is now going to be held on November 21st 09 and you can check out the Music Machines website and Facebook page for all the latest news on the first collection of it’s kind in New Zealand. I’ll be announcing all the guest speakers and performing artists over the next few weeks and will keep you all updated with the full list of kit you’ll be able to get your hands on at the event." Heard rumours od Nigel Russell from Car Crash Set might be there, as one of the speakers.

Synth nerds, heres the gear líst...

Kit list 1.

Roland TR808
Roland TR909
Roland TB303
Roland JX3P
Roland JX8P
Roland Juno 106
Roland JP8080
Moog Minimoog Model D
Emu SP1200
Yamaha TX81Z ( DX7 module )
Yamaha DX7
Korg Polysix
Korg MS10
Korg x911
TOM drum machine
Drumtraks drum machine
Pro 1 mono synth
Prophet 10
Prophet 5 rev 2
Prophet 5 rev 3
Remote prophet
PPG Wave 2.3
Clavia Nord Lead 2
Waldorf Blofeld
DSi Mopho
Roland SH101
Roland CR8000 (Analog solutions mods)
Waldorf Pulse

(and maybe a Fairlight CMI!)

New Dust and Grooves post..
and it's got hair metal! Interview subject is Steven Blush, NYC author/filmmaker – American Hardcore, American Hair Metal. New York club DJ 1985-2005.

quote: "Record collections should be carefully cultivated, like in horticulture, where the healthiest plants get trimmed. Whenever I purge my collection of duplicates and duds, I enjoy it far more. I know too many “vinyl junkies” who’ve allowed the sheer size of their collections to overwhelm their lives — in every nook and cranny of their house or apartment. I love and respect many of these people, but it’s clearly made them severly mentally ill. I strive for a healthy relationship with my vinyl obsession…."Link

Congrats to DJ Sirvere!
Local hiphop luminary DJ Sirvere (Phil Bell) recently celebrated the 200th edition of his radio show the Late Night Hype on MaiFM. He had a bunch of special guests up to help him celebrate this milestone, including Che Fu. As Sirvere notes in his blog, Che has never been on the show... "Now I had been woofing on about how Che had never come on the show and then at some point realised I had never asked.."

Check out Che Fu's wicked freestyle below...

RIP DJ AM
A lot of the media coverage of the sad passing of DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) have talked about his celebrity girlfriends and his high profile gigs at parties for famous people (and featured some sordid speculation on how he died, which is just sick), but bottom line, he knew how to rock a party - check this video, as he does a mean demo on Serato.




I watched on Twitter as the news spread on saturday morning (NZT), with his DJ friends expressing their grief.
DJ A-Trak; "What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck my bro just called me I'm in an isolated house in france. Is this for real????????4:39 PM Aug 28th
I'm really really really really really sad. I guess it's true. RIP to my man DJ AM. An amazing DJ and one of the kindest people I've known.5:25 PM Aug 28th
Diplo: Dj am was the first guy that was a big deal that believed in me, and gave me props5:26 PM Aug 28th ... Here's my last random thoughts on DJ am ... http://bit.ly/aznGx


He was down here in NZ last June to play at Serato's tenth anniversary party...

“


Jazzy Jeff and DJ Sizzahandz were the first to tell me about Serato [Scratch LIVE]. I had seen DJ Solomon on Final Scratch and it sucked. I tried it and the latency was so bad I said, ‘I will never be a Digital DJ,’ just like I passed on the corny ass CDJs when they came out. I have Technics tattooed on my wrist as my only tattoo. I love the turntable. Once I saw, felt and heard how amazing SSL sounded, I was hooked. I said it before and I will say it again: SSL is the best thing to happen to DJing since the turntable. I love it.
” Link.


UPDATED via @harryallen Police detail DJ AM's last day alive http://twurl.nl/q5fpyu
TMZ - DJ AM's death not a suicide
@urbmag: URB's Last Interview With DJ AM (video): http://url4.eu/LTZH
@djencybrown: "I put together a couple of links to some DJ AM mixes and what some of his homies had to say about him" http://tinyurl.com/nyzxhw