Chewing Pine

F.U.2. – The First Album By… (1977 Records, 2008)

There’re so many unheralded punk nuggets floating around the world that it really has become impossible to track each and everyone down. And oddly enough, it’s taken a Japanese label to ingratiate listeners to the sounds of F.U.2.

1977 Records appears focused on re-releasing a great deal of scum-fuck punk in order to perhaps re-tell part of history. And for this particular release, they’ve not only re-told some of it, but explained it as well.

Beginning in the early ‘60s a huge crop of Brit Beat combos popped up. Amongst them were some folks from Twickenham who made up the Downliners Sect. They didn’t over take the Stones, the Beatles or even the Who, but they did churn out a few solid discs of pseudo-American rock music. The Downliners’ weren’t ahead of their time, they were of the moment. And even beyond that, it’s pretty clear that they were not on the same level musically as any of the other Brit groups who would be exported to the states.

After those few albums, the band disintegrated, but for reasons unknown got back together, in part to capitalize on punk and its momentary commercial viability. It seems like an odd move, but if you take a look at MTV or any other media outlet, the trailings of punk culture can be seen on almost ever shoulder of the new rock cognoscenti. It’s a bit disconcerting, but true.

Regardless of that though, F.U.2. compiled lyrics, basic tunes and hit the studios. Some of the lyrics, if only read, come off as trite and even as a misrepresentation of a group that was at least ten years older than every one else playing punk in late seventies’ Britannia. But it’s also the same reason that F.U.2. was better than most of ‘em as well.

The inclusion of the Paul Tone’s harmonica easily sets this set of tracks apart from everything else that was recorded during this period. And even if Art Less’ vocals could be imagined to have sprung from another source, the band’s RnB background served them well. Every basic tenet of the Downliners Sect is easily applicable to the music here. It’s just way faster. And since this group is barely accounted for in the annals of punk, below you, avid reader, can find some close approximations of their sound.

Spent Idols

Mix Tapes: U-N-I, Tha Connection, Blu

These mixes, right here, are presented in absolutely no order. And beyond that there really isn’t any thematic consistency. Although, U-N-I and Blu are both from the L.A. area, I don’t think that really counts.  Thanks to 2dopeboyz, illRoots and We Do It Right. Cop ‘em.

Alif Tree – French Cuisine (Compost Records, 2005)

I don’t know if I would have been able to identify this as a European outing judging the album by the art work on the front, but I could have made a good guess. Even with the solid colored squares and circles that are displayed for the listener to see, the music, at least the first half of the album is engorged with European style electronic hip hop. On the first few tracks, Nina Simone and Shirley Horn are sampled over top of minimal, lo-fi beats with jazz inclinations and strings. That in and of itself would have been enough for me to guess not only Europe, but France, specifically, as the birth place of this album.

Alif Tree has a studio in the suburbs of Paris where he finds the laid back atmosphere conducive to creating his albums and myriad production work. After the four tracks most related to hip hop on this disc, the sound veers drastically towards laid back piano lines and electronic production flourishes. Not to say that this is a dance album, but there is certainly a lot of behind the boards work by the producer to be appreciated here.

Ending an album can frequently be difficult, and Alif Tree attempts to draw this affair to a close with an homage to minimalist composer Steven Reich. It works out well, sending a message of appreciation to the composer while giving listeners a multi-layered finale to an interesting, if not somewhat schizophrenic album.

Hobo’s Finest

If you know me at all, you know that I’m hip to hobos. And if you’re not into ‘em – get there.

Both of his songs possess eerily similar qualities, but who knows what a record’s gonna sound like. I suppose this is just further proof that Digitized America is awash with media nonsense and bizarre forms of entertainment.

Don Da Da on the Down Low (Digital Crates)

01 – Blu – Local Legends (Prod By Flying Lotus)
02 – RZA – Whar (with Kool G Rap, Ghostface Killah & Tash Mahogany)
03 – Rhymefest – Coolness
04 – Mos Def – Quiet Dog
05 – Biggie – Love No Hoe
06 – John Robinson – Sorcerers (with MF Doom and Invizible Handz)
07 – Busdriver – Will He… (Prod by Flying Lotus)
08 – Battlecat – Set Trippin’
09 – MF Doom – Ballskin
10 – Exile – The Sound is God
11 – Illogic – Change
12 – Nasir Jones – Something Foul
13 – Nero – Can’t Wait
14 – Pugsly Atomz – Wait and See (with Sadat X)
15 – Recordkingz – Rock Ya Shoulders (with The Beatnuts)
16 – Animate Objects – 4 Love
17 – Jay-Z – Pass the Roc

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The Dead C – Secret Earth (Ba Da Bing!, 2008)

Sounding starkly different from their label mates on New Zealand’s Flying Nun label was an auspicious beginning for the trio that makes up the Dead C. Eventually forging a relationship with Philadelphia’s Siltbreeze, the Dead C were able to spread their name (and their noise) with distribution far afield from their native island.

But that was almost twenty years ago and the Dead C catalog, engorged with noise, has been added to pretty consistently over that time.

The group’s most recent album for Ba Da Bing! isn’t an anomaly amongst their recordings, but the Dead C isn’t known for its vocal efforts. And here on Secret Earth, listeners get a piece of Morley’s vocals on all four tracks.

The befitting, almost Stephen Malkmus sounding attempts at vocals, sit well upon the group’s dense and disorienting music. Even with this modicum of singing being present on each track, there’s still feedback and noise. Really, how could this release exist without that element of the Dead C’s sound?

But the aspect of their music that makes this group an awe inspiring live act is the musics Achilles-Heel as well. The band alternately sounds like your friends aimlessly jamming at some bar down the street – but there are moments with every instrument focusing on the same musical idea, that the proceedings become something more than just mere entertainment.

That’s always been the allure of the Dead C. It’ll continue that way. And even with vocals being omnipresent here, there isn’t a track that clocks in at under six minutes. The trio already understands what sound they’re striving for. And at this point in the Dead C’s career, Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats are still figuring out how to augment their sound in remarkable, if not overwhelmingly accessible new ways.

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Odd Nosdam – Pretty Swell Explode (Anticon, 2008)

(This originally appeared in Skyscraper)

The Cincinnati native and cLOUDDEAD founder brings out Pretty Swell Explode, not so much as a follow up to Level Live Wires, but as a summation of recent remixes and apparent ephemera. This collection comes in the form of a double cd. The shorter, second disc is comprised of drone induced ambient music with the only beat coming from the Boards of Canada remix “Dayvan Cowboy.” Even if this consistent blueprint gets chalked up to style, the main disc of this offering fairs only slightly better. What saves this album is the ability of Odd Nosdam’s tracks to imbibe an ethereal feel that easily marries his chunky keyboard melodies. That’s most likely why “Untitled Three” leads this disc off, but soon falls flat. Reinvigorating the aural traipsing through this affair is the half-way marker “Hollow Me”, which sounds distant and yes, hollow. The vast reverb on what is the snare-downbeat somehow recalls bees. And with the inclusion of what sounds like a melodica, this track almost seems out of place amongst the remix fodder. Considering though that this is not a proper album by the producer, the follow up to Level Live Wires can and will surely surpass what listeners will find here.

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Juice ‘n Dranks (Digital Crates)

01 – Comments From Big L And Showbiz
02 – Ice Cube – Steady Mobbin’
03 – Lewis Parker – Rooftop Drama
04 – Doc Oc – Earth People
05 – Aesop Rock – Skip Town
06 – RJD2 – Mic Control (Instrumental)
06 – Common Sense – I Used to Love H.E.R.
07 – Company Flow – 8 Steps to Perfection
08 – Nas – NY State of Mind (Instrumental Cut-Up)
09 – Souls of Mischief – Anything Can Happen
10 – MF Doom – Hey
11 – Sage Francis – Message Sent (Instrumental)
12 – Gravediggas – Defective Trip Trippin’
13 – Das Efx – Jussummen
14 – Four Tet – Money Folder (Remix)
15 – Blu & Exile – Juice ‘n Dranks (with Ta Raach)
16 – Arzachel – Soul Thing (Instrumental)

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Cartoons Are Good For You: Fat Albert in the Hood

From Whack Piktures via The Smoking Section

Fat Albert in the Hood: Who Shot Mudfoot?

Fat Albert in the Hood: Who’s the Baby Daddy

Fat Albert in the Hood: The Take Over

Fat Albert in the Hood: Beware of the Snitch

Power Pop: A Video Mix-Tape

The Undertones – Get Over You

The Clean – Tally Ho!

The Exploding Hearts – You’re Black and Blue

The Boys – I Call Your Name/Tumble with Me/Soda Pressing

The Plimsouls – Everyday Things (Live at the Starwood, 1979)

The Jam – Down in Tube Station at Midnight

Pavement – Heaven is a Truck/Serpentine Pad (Live in Germany, 1995)

The Saints – Know Your Product

Tyvek – Air Conditioner

The Buzzcocks – Breakdown

Cock Sparrer – We’re Coming Back