It's Covered: You Can Leave Your Hat On

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I was raised in a Joe Cocker-friendly household. The Old Man remains a huge fan, and I've seen him a few times myself. Highlights include seeing him at Tower Theatre and watching a 6' 5" black female security guard trying to get an obviously pregnant woman to put out a joint, catching him at Woodstock '94, and opening for Stevie Ray Vaughn (at the time, I thought that was criminal. That changed about five minutes into SRV's set, but I digress). Since Joe arguably is the world's greatest song coverer (I say it's a word), it's probably going to come as no shock to any that I chose to use him again for this episode of "It's Covered."

Today we're going to take a listen to the classic "You Can Leave Your Hat On." Originally penned by Randy Newman in 1972 on his landmark Sail Away, the track has since taken on somewhat of a life of its own. I recall seeing an interview with Randy a few years back where he essentially said he wrote it as a bit of a small ditty. It wasn't until Joe gave it his own spin, though, that the song skyrocketed.

Newman's take is a slow builder. It rides on a basic piano line and Randy's engaging lyrics, which deal with the speaker essentially telling an assumed woman how to strip for him. It never rises above much of a mumble, with a tad of percussion here and a touch of electric guitar there.

Not one to simply do a faithful rendition, Joe blows the track up, adding a lot of brass, female backing singers and his own powerful vocals to take the track to the next level. Though it was originally released on his Cocker CD, it was its inclusion in 9 1/2 Weeks that placed it firmly in the public consciousness. Let's face facts, Joe made this track sexy in ways that Newman admittedly never played up. The results speak for themselves.

Next up, we have the incomparable Etta James' take on things. She seems to fall somewhere in-between the two previous versions, funking things up a bit. The guitar has a bit of wah wah to it, and the bass line is much thicker. Essentially, it's got that EJ stamp on it.

Then we've got Marc Broussard's version. Fittingly enough, it comes from Sail Away: The Songs of Randy Newman. Though you might not think it possible, Broussard funks things up even further. He combines Etta's slinky guitar, Joe's horns and some earthy keys to create his own unique slant.

Finally, we've got an acoustic take from Paul Curreri and Devon Sproule. The tempo is altered slightly and the couple trade lines back and forth. I stumbled upon Paul's site a few years back and he's got plenty of covers up for free. Every Valentine's Day, he does a duet album with Devon, initially his girlfriend, now his bride. (Ed. note--it appears they didn't do one in 2009.) I strongly suggest checking them out, as them's good eatin'.

And since the Interwebs offer no shortage of wonderful goodies, here's a lesson plan on how to discuss the song with intermediate, upper-intermediate and advanced students regarding phrasal verbs.

To further your educational needs more still, how 'bout a pole dancing lesson?

God, I love the interwebs.

And with that out of the way, I believe I have a few suggestions I need to go make to my bride.

mp3: You Can Leave Your Hat On (Randy Newman)

mp3: You Can Leave Your Hat On (Joe Cocker)

mp3: You Can Leave Your Hat On (Etta James)

mp3: You Can Leave Your Hat On (Marc Broussard)

mp3: You Can Leave Your Hat On (Paul Curreri and Devon Sproule)

Singles Club: Arts & Crafts Edition

It's not often that a record label gets love from me on its own, but there are a few. Arts & Crafts, however, has made the list. They have some of my favorite artists and, far more importantly, they're Canadian. Which clearly makes them better than most other folks out there before we even get started on anything else.

Home to such artists as Broken Social Scene, Feist, Apostle of Hustle and seemingly every other Canadian indie pop rock star, the fine folks over there have been nice enough to pump us full of free mp3 love recently. And what good is free love if you can't share it? If only start-up prostitution rings would realize this bit of marketing common sense, think where we'd all be today. STDs aside, it's something to consider.

First up, Los Campesinos! offers up “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future," a slow, somber burner that heats up as it goes along. The seven-piece from Cardiff, Wales continues to push their music in newer, dare I say deeper, directions. The band just finished a US tour, so unless you're going to find yourself in the UK during the end of October, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait for a live taste.

After that, we've got The Most Serene Republic's latest B-side, "Aveern," from ...And The Ever Expanding Universe. This one has an almost laid back disco thump to it, with a bubbling bass line and airy synths. The crunchy guitars take it somewhere else completely, but it's good listening regardless. These cats are getting ready to embark on a major North American tour. Sadly for those of us in and around DC, the closest they come to us is a stop in Philly on 10/7 at Johnny Brenda's.

Finally, here's a copy of that Death Cab for Cutie cover, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," by Amy Millan, of BSS and Stars fame. Ms. Millan puts her own country spin on this track she's been covering live for some time now. Fortunately for the DC crowd, Amy is playing DC9 on 11/9/09. So we've got that going for us.

mp3: The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future (Los Campesinos!)

mp3: Aveern (The Most Serene Republic)

mp3: I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie cover by Amy Millan)

Live Review: Autolux at the Black Cat, 9-8-09

Seriously, how is Autolux not one of the top bands out there today? When they dropped their debut, Future Perfect, in 2004, it clearly was one of the top CDs of the then young decade (and I'd argue it still deserves to be on at least the Top 50 to this day). The follow-up, Transit Transit, apparently has been in some kind of label hell for a few years now, and with the exception of the single "Audience No. 2," not much has been heard of the intrepid trio out here on the East Coast. They've apparently been doing a fair amount of shows in and around L.A., but what good does that do me?

Fortunately, last night was a strong step in the right direction of spreading their noisy brand of love once again in D.C.

I tend to think of Autolux as the best band out there today that most people have never heard of. Comprised of a currently mop-topped bassist Eugene Goreshter, guitarist Greg Edwards (formerly of Failure) and the incomparable Carla Azar on drums (resplendent in a sleeveless red dress, sporting a white "A" on her chest and a black armband thingy on her right arm), the band plays a unique form of what I'm now terming shoe thrash (think shoe gaze, but with a shitload more backbone to it). Goreshter tends to take most of the vocal duties, though the two others join in here and there. Edwards tends to focus on sonic screechers that play perfectly off of Goreshter's droning, thick bass lines. No offense to those two fine gentlemen and their considerable talents, but it's Azar that really blows me away. Admittedly, I have a thing for chick drummers, but beyond that, the woman is a percussive genius, playing a classical style of drumming that's a thing of beauty to watch. Equally impressive, she beats the skins like they stole her kid brother's lunch money. She's quite possibly the most technically proficient drummer on the scene today. Forget the fact that she could give Janet Weiss or Patrick Carney runs for their money; hell, she'd probably give Buddy Rich a go, too.

Last night's show focused mainly on Future Perfect tracks, but there were about five or six tracks I didn't recognize, so I have to assume they hailed from Transit Transit. For roughly the first 45 minutes or so, the band went from one track to the next, barely acknowledging the crowd. One could easily have thought they were playing a sound check as opposed to a concert, for all the attention shown the audience. And then, something I'm not sure I've ever seen happened. In one of the smallest crowds I've ever encountered at the Black Cat, a solitary drunk guy actually started cracking funny jokes that had both the audience and the band smiling. As said drunk guy pointed out, he had to get drunk early because he had to get up early for work, and this lead to the best (and only) band/crowd exchanges of the night. Following the first outburst, the band launched into "Blanket," easily the most rocking number of the night. Shortly thereafter, when Buzzy Buzzed implored the band to smile, Azar tersely responded that their hotel had lost her car, which led Buzz to ask if they had lost the entire car or just a door? Was it a big car? This elicited a genuine smile from Azar, and the band just seemed looser for the remainder of the show.

I can't put my finger exactly on what it is, but Autolux has a way of making my head bob that no other band, from funk to hip-hop to whatever in-between, can manage. Maybe it's my honky roots. Maybe they're just that fucking good.

On a far more personal note, I ran into a few buddies at the show, a couple of which I hadn't seen in years. For longtime readers of Megan and me, you might recognize the third as our former editor from Big Yawn. If you haven't checked out that blog in a while, Eric has a pretty nifty program in place where he's trying to see 333 bands during 2009. Last night's show put him in the mid-200s. You can check out his take on the show (and opening acts, which I missed because I'm getting too damn old to stand for that long), as well as the other 240-whatever other shows, here.

mp3: Audience No. 2 (from the forthcoming Transit Transit)

mp3: Blanket (from Future Tense)

mp3: Persons and Machinery (with U.N.K.L.E. from War Stories)

LP Lust: College Football Kickoff Edition

If, like me, you're a college football junkie, this weekend is the start of the most wonderful time of the year. It's the first weekend of the college football season, and so far it's been a good one. I couldn't be happier, as my beloved Crimson Tide defeated the gobblers of Virginia Tech, and should thusly move at least one spot up in the polls. Give 'em Hell, Alabama...

College football aside, though, this is a wonderful time of year anyway. It's the last gasp of summer, shorter days and slightly cooler temps. Fall is almost upon us. It's been many a week since I last did a post on my record collection. And I've been really, really busy. I've been able to bring home a fantastic array of vinyl over the past few weeks, and despite the fact that I am definitely running out of room for records, looking at all the fabulous covers and listening to the great music, I don't regret a single one.

*Cat Stevens: Izitso
*Midnight Cowboy OST
*Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key of Life
*Stan Getz/Luiz Bonfa: Jazz Samba Encore (Japanese Verve Pressing)
*Mozart: Symphony No. 35/Symphony No. 38 (Gurzenich Symphony Orchestra)
*The Rolling Stones: Got Live if You Want It!
*Some Call It Oompah!: German Beer Drinking Songs
*Bob Brookmeyer: Trombone Jazz Samba
*Charlie Parker: The Verve Years
*Gordon Lightfoot: The Gordon Lightfoot Story (German Import)
*Peter, Paul and Mary: Album
*Banda de Aviacion Espanola: Himnos Nacionales
*John Schneider: Too Good To Stop Now (I love Dukes of Hazzard!)
*Connie Francis: The Very Best of Connie Francis
*Bagpipe Music and Marches of Scotland
*Joan Baez: 5
*Songs of Phi Kappa Psi
*The Norman Luboff Choir: Songs of The South
*Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1 (Van Cliburn)
*The Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Military Bands, Pipes and Drums
*The Left Bank Bearcats: The Left Bank Bearcats
*Scotch Party (German Import)
*Maxime Le Forestier: Maxime Le Forestier
*Gene Autry: Gene Autry's Country Music Hall of Fame Album
*Lena Horne: Feelin' Good
*The Great Gatsby OST
*From the River Thames to the Sea of Tranquility...She's Called Virginia
*The Beach Boys: Little Deuce Coupe
*Dolly Parton: Just The Way I Am
*Genesis: The Soul Children
*Isaac Hayes: The Isaac Hayes Movement
*Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream (London Symphony Orchestra)

Mark Sandman Memorial Concert Update

The fine folks with the Mark Sandman Music Project have sent out the first "official" word about the impending Memorial Concert for the late great frontman. And of course, things have changed, so make sure to pay attention. It would have been nice if the date could have been locked down before the initial "heads up" emails (and more importantly to me, before I booked flights and hotel rooms), but what can you do? Obviously, the man and his legacy are worth just about any effort.

Straight from the horse's mouth:

Date: September 27, 2009

Place: Pacific Park, Sidney St., Cambridge, MA. About three blocks from Mark Sandman Square, and public transportation.

Time: 1-7 pm. Bring blankets, picnic lunches, and the whole family.

There will be merchandise, CDs, an auction, celebrities, and fantastic music, all to benefit the Sandman Project.

There also will be a lumpy bald guy with a red beard and his adorable Missus in attendance, so if you happen to see those two, either approach them for a beer or run in the other direction. I won't fault you for either.

In case you haven't checked out their site in a while, they're continuing to post FREE mp3s every week. And guess what? This week features none other than Les Claypool of Primus fame (not to mention the seemingly hundreds of other side projects he does) himself!

So get your ass over there, DL some money tracks, and why don't you give a few ducats to this very worthy cause.

Since I know a lot of you cats are in it for the free mp3 love, I certainly am not going to disappoint. Here's the aforementioned Les track plus a little something from my own archives.

mp3: Honey White (Les Claypool with Dana Colley, Billy Conway and Jerome Deupree of Morphine)

mp3: Radar (Morphine, Live Acoustic performance from some radio show)

Old Skool Review Update: Say It Ain't So, Shante!

In a recent Old Skool Review, I relayed the feel good story about Roxanne Shante using a contract clause to fund her education all the way through to a recent Ph.D.

Well, it seems that story might not have been so true after all.

According to Slate Magazine, the entire thing lies somewhere between not exactly true and an outright lie. Sadly, their story looks legit. They appear to have done a rather thorough job of dotting their j's and crossing their f's. Damn it.

Here's hoping they're not quite right, either.

Seriously, though, what would the Educated Rapper and Doctor Ice say?

Because I'm sure you're all as interested as I am, more to follow as I hear it.

mp3: Def Fresh Crew (Roxanne Shante & Biz Markie)

mp3: Let's Rock Y'All (Roxanne Shante)

CD Review: The Present by Luckyiam

I'm not entirely sure when I became a fan of hip hop for the second time. Hell, it seems like just as recently as a few months ago, I was agreeing with Nas that hip hop was dead. Personally, I thought it breathed its last meaningful breaths sometime around the early to mid-90s. Say what you will about Biggie or Tupac or Jay-Z or who have you, but after the highlights of the 80s/early 90s, those guys were all peddling the same stuff, and I simply wasn't buying it. After the record labels decided that the easiest thing to package to suburban white kids was gangsta rap, and violence, misogyny and hatred seemed to be all that mattered, I was out. Quite frankly, it stopped being "fun," and worse still, it grew increasingly stagnant. Sure, there will still a few artists out there going against the grain, like DOOM, Q-Tip or Madlib, but their ilk was few and far between.

Whether I was simply grossly misinformed or that things have genuinely changed, sometime this year a crop of very promising artists started crossing my radar. I'm going to give mad props, as I believe the kids say, to ye olde blogosphere and the advent of mixtapes. Mixtapes started as a way for artists to tide over fans between "official" releases, often re-producing older material, leaking early demos of upcoming work and the like. They've since morphed into a lot more, from concept affairs like DJ Drama Presents: Gangsta Raps or Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangsta to full fledged studio affairs. Now, LET is never going to be a "hip hop" blog as such (though you may be inclined to think differently of late), and quite frankly, there are others out there far more informed than me. Passion of the Weiss is not only the best hip hop blog out there I know, it's one of the best music blogs I know, period. Those cats have a writing style that is consistently entertaining, and it surprises me how much dope shit they post for relative noobs like me. Blogs like Rollo & Grady and Berkeley Place, another two faves of mine, are not a hip hop blogs, either, but they uncover some great stuff, too. As a matter of fact, R&G first turned me onto Luckyiam, the raison d'etre of today's post.

Luckyiam is a member of the Living Legends collective, an eight man crew out of Cali. They're part of the indie-rap movement, which tends to eschew the somewhat tired West Coast gangsta style, instead utilizing new and fresh beats to put a whole new spin on the genre. Luckyiam has a thick, nearly rapid-fire flow that perfectly augments his music. More so than with most rappers, his vocals truly come across as another instrument in the ensemble as opposed to something that starkly contrasts the beats. And wouldn't you know it, he's got a new mixtape out and, best of all, IT'S FREE. And this thing is a monster. It's called The Present and was released on Lucky's birthday. I've got to be honest, I'm amazed this thing isn't blowing up the blogosphere. Hell, it's got Imani from Pharcyde guesting on a track, for chrissakes! I've got a couple of tracks here for your listening pleasure, but you need to go get the rest of this thing NOW. Seriously. Immediately, if not sooner. Go!

mp3: In My Room (Luckyiam from The Present)

mp3: Sumpthin 2 Say ft. Imani & Pep Love (Luckyiam from The Present)

mp3: Fuck Your Motherfucking Trucker Hat (Luckyiam from The Collector's Item)

Album Review--The Voidist by Imaad Wasif

Have you heard of Imaad Wasif yet? If you haven't, listen up, because odds are you'll be hearing his name plenty pretty quickly. It's possible you've heard either of his two previous albums, Imaad Wasif or Strange Hexes, or more likely still you know him as the touring guitarist for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Well, Imaad has teamed up with Karen O. of the YYYs, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and "Little" Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and Dead Weather to score the upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are" directed by Spike Jonze, pretty much the wet dream movie of the year for Gen X and Y indie kids everywhere. Apparently not one to rest on his duff, he's also got a new CD coming out in a couple of months in October called "The Voidist."

The CD covers the gambit from anthemic rock number a la U2 or Radiohead to slow ballads and then veering off into quirky tunes like Sufjan Stevens. Throughout it all, though, Wasif's guitar is there to help fill out the margins, from soaring, fuzzed out licks to lightly strummed, heartfelt acoustic plucking. "Daughter of Fire" is a particularly strong track, bringing a fully fleshed out sound that wavers between hard rocking and some kind of freakish indie rockabilly and a passionate intensity befitting its title. Closer "Razorlike" is another winner, starting off slow and ominous before roaring into a tidal wave of noise and back again.

Remember, that's Imaad Wasif. It's a name you're bound to hear a lot more of in the days to come.

(OK, the song in this clip is from the Arcade Fire, not the aforementioned WTWTA super group, but damnation, I love this trailer)

mp3: Daughter of Fire (from upcoming The Voidist)

mp3: Oceanic (from Strange Hexes)

Old Skool Review: The Roxanne Rap Battles

Have you seen Beef: The MC Battle? It's a damn tight documentary on the history of various arguments between such artists as KRS-One and Nas, East Coast and West Coast rappers and dozens of others I'm too lazy to google and can't seem to recall off the top of my head. In the spirit of Old Skool Reviews, however, I'm going to take a brief moment to highlight my personal favorite, lovingly titled The Roxanne Rap Battles.

Picture if you will a time when MCs actually used words to settle differences, as opposed to guns, violence and assorted other ass-crackery in play today. UTFO had just dropped a new single, "Hanging Out," to very little fanfare. The B-Side, however, "Roxanne, Roxanne," became somewhat of a hit. It's a simple song over a then standard drum beat, with lyrics about the various members of the group trying, and failing, to woo a fictional Roxanne. Enter one Lolita Shanté Gooden, who overheard local promoters Marley Marl, DJ MR. Magic and Tyrone Williams griping on the radio about how UTFO had failed to make an appearance at a concert they had just held. Shante approaced the trio and thus was born "Roxanne Shante" and the beginning of this illustrious battle. Lest I forget to mention, Shante was 14 at the time.

From there, somewhere between 30 and 100 (depending on your source) different "response" tracks were recorded. Many claimed to be the Roxanne in the song, some played her siblings, some her parents, some haters, some on her side. UTFO even threw out a couple more tracks of their own on the subject, introducing The Real Roxanne to the mix. Keep in mind, THIS ALL WAS IN RESPONSE TO A FICTITIOUS CHARACTER ON A B-SIDE! Ah, the good old days of rap.

For a much, much, MUCH deeper delving into the situation, check out the numerous posts on the subject over at Fat Lace Magazine.

*Interesting side note--Roxanne Shante put out a couple of resulting albums, but never made any real money. She found a seldom used clause in her Warner Bros. contract, though, and they ended up paying for her entire education. She just got her PhD.

*Slightly less interesting side note--For roughly 20 years, I mistakenly believed The Real Roxanne was actually Roxanne Shante. You learn something new every day, I suppose.

mp3: Roxanne, Roxanne (UTFO)

mp3: Roxanne's Revenge (Roxanne Shante)

mp3: The Real Roxanne (The Real Roxanne)

At The Cinema: Joy Division

I saw a preview for “Joy Division” while watching my DVD copy of Control for the first time. Naturally, I felt compelled to watch the documentary version of the dramatic version of the true story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Finally, it arrived in my Netflix queue. And it was so good, I kept it two nights, instead of my usual “watch it and return it” process.

Where the drama starring pretty young things was pretty bloody great, so too is the doc featuring the genuine articles.

We begin with a Marshall Berman quote (from All That Is Solid Melts Into Air), stark white text on a black screen: “To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world – and at the same time that threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are.” These words ring true of so many, undoubtedly, but for our purposes, they certainly apply to Ian Curtis. But this film, unlike Control, is not just about Ian Curtis.

It’s as much about the city of Manchester as it is about the musicians she spawned: a “story of a city” as they say in the opening seconds. Vintage photos and news footage shape the impression of Manchester in the 70s as a grim, grimy, desolate modern wilderness, caked with the soot of industry and left to ruin, with giant apartment blocks going up one after the next adding to the soulless feel. It’s no wonder one of the greatest post-punk bands (and so many great, yet moody bands) emerged from the crumbling city.

Interspersed with tales of Manchester are the threads of the Joy Division story. The Sex Pistols gig did indeed inspire Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner to start a band, which they called Warsaw. Ian was next to join, followed by drummer Stephen Morris. The band was renamed Joy Division after something Sumner read in World War II-related book House of Dolls. Hearing these stories come from the mouths of those who were there really gives life to the legend, and additional testimony is added from Very Important Persons in the saga of Joy Division like Tony Wilson and Ian’s Belgian gal pal Annik Honoree. There’s tons of vintage footage from Joy Division gigs and TV appearances to hit home just how good a band this was. All in all, “Joy Division” is a touching, visually-stunning, important film about the doomed pioneers of post-punk, and a valentine to the musical legacy of Manchester.

Album Review: Kearney Barton by Wheedle's Groove

I've had this not-fully-formed theory that a musician/band's talent is inversely proportionate to their age, i.e., the older a cat gets, the worse his/her music begins to sound. One need look no further than one of my favorite artists of all time to prove my point. His Royal Badness tore up the 80s and most of the 90s, but his last half dozen or so CDs have been lackluster at best. I'm not sure if it's a matter of the talent well drying up, not having the same fire in the belly as when the performer was younger or what, but Eric Clapton through Madonna seem to further my point rather nicely. Well, since hearing Kearney Baton by Wheedle's Groove, I see I'm going to have to re-think my entire argument.

The always strong folks over at Light in the Attic, known for uncovering excellent gems from yesteryear and today, are getting ready to re-release Wheedle’s Groove: Seattle’s Finest In Funk & Soul 1965-75 on September 8. When first released in 2004, KEXP DJ Johnny Horn, along with some friends, decided to get the original artists together for a one-night-only concert that apparently tore the roof off the mutha. So much so, in fact, that LITA, Horn, DJ Mr. Supreme, and lead-producer Dynomite D (of Beastie Boys fame) decided to cut a new CD featuring the original artists, many of whom are now easily into their 60s. The result is Kearney Barton, a funk fest so groovey it's going to put Funkateers of all ages to shame. The album boasts tracks by such local artists as Seattle soul legends Patrinell (Pastor Pat Wright) Staten, Robbie Hill, Ron Buford, Ural Thomas, members of Black On White Affair, Cookin' Bag, and Cold Bold & Together. Add production by studio wiz Kearney Barton (The Sonics, The Wailers, Black On White Affair), and it's easy to see that this is the bag Papa needs.

mp3: Jesus Christ Pose (Patrinell "Pastor Pat Wright Staten" and the Total Experience Gospel Choir covering Soundgarden)

Album Review: Love Tattoo by Imelda May

(Just because we're having some issues with older posts doesn't mean the fine team at LET is going to stop moving forward. We're a lot like losing pageant girls in that way.)

Don't tell my wife or her husband, but I think I might have found my new crush in Imelda May. The Dublin-born songstress has a thing for the blues and rockabilly and showcases her powerful mastery of both those and other styles on her debut, Love Tattoo.

With the eventual letdown of such acts as Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone (I'm still REALLY holding out for Joss, though), I know what you're thinking. Wait, another white chick who cites Billie Holiday as an influence and dresses like a 50s greaser? C'mon, been there, done that, got the tee shirt. I'm telling you, though, Ms. May has the goods.

With a voice at times gin soaked and cracking and at others hauntingly pure, May covers a whole range of American musical styles on Love Tattoo. We've got nasty boogie woogie (Johnny Got A Boom Boom), jump jivin' swing (Feel Me), sultry torch (Knock 1, 2, 3) and lush ballads (Fallin' In Love with You Again). Equally important, she's surrounded herself with a damn tight band, comprised of axe man (and aforementioned hubby) Darrell Higham, Dave Priseman on the trumpet (and flügelhorn and percussion), keys man Danny McCormack, bassist Al Glare, and Dean Beresford on the skins. Oh, and Ms. May rocks the bodhran like no one you've ever heard. Granted, you may never have even heard of the bodhran before, but there's no need to quibble, you culturally insensitive bastard.

This is the CD you're going to want to put on come the weekend, between cigs and working on your second or third drink. Just make sure you have on your dancing shoes and that your pompadour is slicked back when you do because it's bound to get your booty shaking.

mp3: Johnny Got a Boom Boom (Imelda May)

Zut Alors!: LET Now Tweeting!

Aww. Who doesn't love that adorable Fail Whale?! It's so cute I almost don't mind that it signifies one of the occasional "over capacity" freezes that Twitter experiences every now and again.

Anyway, I digress.

We've both been tweeting individually for quite some time now, but the day has finally come when LET as an entity unto itself has joined the realms of the Tweeters. We're officially tweeting. You can follow us, RT us, Follow Friday us, or whatever your Twittering little heart desires. So come on, feel the LET twitter. We love you.

Technical Difficulties

Um, so yeah, it appears you cats have exceeded our bandwidth, which is cool by us, but not so much for all the other folks hoping to cop some tunes themselves.

We're trying to fix the issue even now, but if you've got any suggestions on where we SHOULD be hosting tracks, that would be wonderful, too.

We thank you for your fine support.

Live Review: De La Soul, 9:30 Club, 8-11-09

The ultimate trio of the most pseudonymed act in hip hop today just blew through DC to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal debut, Three Feet High and Rising. I didn't realize this when I bought the ticket, I simply have loved their music since I first heard the trippy "Me, Myself and I" and knew I had to go. In today's era of everything from hardcore gangsta to underground acts like The Living Legends, this might not sound like that big a deal, but De La truly was one of the first rap acts that went against the conventional sound of the day. Sure, they were sampling bands like Parliament/Funkadelic, but here were three kids preaching peace and potholes over the Turtles and a French language instructional loop. They eschewed gold medallions for black leather necklaces. Oh yeah, and they were instrumental in the Native Tongues, which you might have heard of, seeing as it helped launch a little band called A Tribe Called Quest. And while this is all excellent, it still came as a shock to me when I realized I first caught De La live when they were originally promoting 3 Feet. While one might go to shows to feel nostalgic, one does not go simply to feel old.

Fortunately, this issue quickly dissipated once DLS took the stage and fucking rocked the place out. The show opened when P.A. Pasemaster Mase (aka Maseo aka Plug Three aka Baby Huey) took the stage and introduced the crowd to his latest protegee, Billy Ray. While it may have taken two of his four or so songs to get the crowd on his side, I'd say he did eventually win them over. Of course, then Posdnuos (Mercenary aka Plug Wonder Why aka Plug One and Trugoy the Dove aka Dave aka Plug Two (see what I mean?) took the stage and the crowd went wild. Backed by the Rhythm Roots All-Stars, this honestly was the best damn hip hop show I've seen in quite a while. The boys were loose, funky and obviously having a blast. While the show ran heavily on Three Feet tracks (Eye Know, Jenifa Taught Me, Buddy, and others), they also dropped knowledge from Buhloone Mindstate (I Am I Be), The Grind Date (Rock Co.Kane Flow) and Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (Oooh). While the lyrics remained largely the same as the originals, I was impressed that certain lines had been altered and updated to reflect the times. While the RRAS were great, it wasn't until the final encore when each member was introduced and given a solo that the crowd found out just how scary talented those cats are. (Note to self: See them again. Quickly and often). Also during the encore, Plug Two gave a little history of hip-hop lesson and the band launched into some Run DMC to the room's delight. Plug One also received a little ribbing and a lot of love as the band had two attractive young ladies bring out two birthday cakes to celebrate the MC's 40th birthday.

Perhaps the most "interesting" thing of all I noticed during the concert was the fact that it was the most diverse crowd I've seen at any show at the 9:30 Club (or maybe anywhere). You had some middle aged Old Skoolers getting funky alongside of white suburban teenagers, with pretty much any and every shade of the spectrum in between bobbing their heads along to the rhymes. This is not only testament to the band's wide ranging fan base, but also a sign that if you're a great band that can rock the mic, people will clamor to hear you play.

Clearly, De La Soul is not dead.

mp3: I Am I Be

mp3: Rock Co.Kane Flow

Old Skool Review--Big Daddy Kane

The Smooth Operator. King Asiatic Nobody's Equal. Antonio Hardy to his mother. Oh yeah, you know I'm just talking 'bout Big Daddy Kane. Originally a member of the Juice Crew along with other such notables as Biz Markie, Marly Marl, Roxanne Shante, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Kane ain't no half stepper. His smooth lyrical flow is all the more impressive when you factor in the guy's lightning fast capabilities. Going beyond the music, though, this is the cat that helped popularize the high top fade and obscenely fat gold chains. And, truth be told, he had some of the tightest dancers and moves in the game at the time. I'll go you one further, even--His debut, Long Live the Kane, is one of the top 10 rap albums of the 1980s, no question.

Back in the day, I saw two major rap tours when rap was just starting to seep into the national consciousness (mid-80s, son). Both were group tours, and between the two, had damn near everybody that was anybody. This is where I saw Tupac as a back-up dancer for Digital Underground, Slick Rick before he was arrested and Heavy D when he still had the Boyz. BDK was the second bill at one of these shows, and the crowd, particularly the ladies, went buck wild when he took the stage. I probably don't need the image of him kicking it shirtless and in spandex in my brain like I do, but suffice to say, the guy certainly made an impression.

I've since seen the Kane perform once since then at a small club along the DC waterfront. Even though he literally showed up three and a half hours late and only played for maybe 45 minutes, the guy still tore up the stage. In recent years, he's popped up here and there in cameo roles, including stints with DJ Jazzy Jeff and showing up on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Now is the time for to get your learn on, children. And Big Daddy Kane will take you there.

mp3: I Get The Job Done (Big Daddy Kane)

mp3: Set It Off (Big Daddy Kane)

Live Review: My Bloody Valentine @ The National, July 30, 2009

I first listened to Loveless, the seminal My Bloody Valentine record (and shoegaze record, for that matter; not to mention one of the albums that changed my life) years and years after the initial release. At the time, I often lamented the notion that I took to be fact: That I would never, ever get to experience the blistering, scrambling fuzz of wanderlust that was the MBV live show. Heck, I considered myself beyond lucky to have seen MBV's own version of Brian Wilson, Kevin Shields, play with Primal Scream, back in 2000.

But last year, this formerly iron-clad idea about never seeing MBV live was gloriously proven false, as I was privvy to what I can only describe as an awe-inspiring performance to close 2008's edition of All Tomorrow's Parties. I'm fairly certain I spent most of their set with jaw agape and eyes glazed, wondering how such an unholy noise could sound so perfectly beautiful. When it was all over, I counted my lucky stars, happy beyond belief that I could cross "see My Bloody Valentine live" off my "do this before you're dead" list. I never would have imagined that I would see them again live, and in my own backyard no less. My Bloody Valentine in Richmond? Nonsense.

Turns out, it wasn't such a nonsensical thought.

Eschewing all the traditional stops for a band of their legendary stature, Shields and co. opted to play The National, a superb venue in its own right, but hardly of the standing of any number of venues up and down the East Coast (and, for that matter, the whole of the U.S.).

I don't know that I've ever seen The National so packed, nor a Richmond audience rendered so enraptured. Walking into the place to the strains of "When You Sleep" was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had, and as I collected my purple earplugs and read the signs cautioning me about the decibel levels and seizure-inducing strobes I felt like I was floating on a sea of splendid noise. Fairly early on, it was pretty obvious that there was something amiss with the sound of the vocals - despite the typical, mostly unintelligble muddle of MBV vocals, on this night they were at times flat-out inaudible. It wasn't enough to negate the performance by any means, but was noticeable all the same. Vocals aside, the band was glorious.

It was like being stuck in a time warp with no particular destination in sight, a lunatic whirl of feedback and distortion hell-bent on self-destruction but incapable of complete combustion. The best thing about My Bloody Valentine, in my humble opinion, is the effect they have: I feel, moreso than with just about any other band, that they can make time stop. I lost all concept of time, of space, of everything. When you're seeing MBV live, it's as though nothing else in the entire world matters. Their music is beyond hypnotic. Wave after wave of the crushing din crashes over you. It glows, it pulsates, it pulls you into places nothing else can. With MBV, I constantly think of the title of a Spacemen 3 album: Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To. Except, in this case, the music is the drug.

I kept mentally pinching myself to make sure I was awake, make sure this was all really happening. Who among the crowd didn't get a kick out of the false starts of "Only Shallow", and I think I might have even spied a smile on the face of Kevin Shields (though, to be fair, I was about as far from the stage as you can get). And there's just something indescribably wonderful about hearing songs like "To Here Knows When" in a place where you wouldn't have ever guessed you would.

I'll be a little controversial here and say that a) I felt like the set I saw at All Tomorrow's Parties was a smidgeon more impressive, and b) will agree with Laura, who said she felt like The Black Angels set we saw at SXSW was louder. Never before have I so strongly felt as though the sound of a band would literally knock me down the way The Black Angels nearly did. But it was quite probably the best show Richmond will see in 2009, and to paraphrase my friend Mark, it's My Bloody Valentine in Richmond. Be grateful. And grateful I am.

Zut Alors!: Free Rural Alberta Advantage Show in Brooklyn!

From what I understand, there is ALWAYS something going on in New York. New Yorkers might just be the most spoiled for choice folks in the US of A, given how much is going on there at any given moment.

Well, Brooklynites, this one's for you. Blog darlings The Rural Alberta Advantage are going to be playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight...for FREE. That's right, gratis, free of charge, no dinero required. They're currently on tour, but to my knowledge, this is their only free date. Soooooo I'd advise you partake of this free goodness. Because really, who doesn't love a free show?!

It's Covered--Puttin' On the Ritz

It being Monday morning and all, I thought it would be appropriate to ease ourselves into the work week with a little cover song action. Considering some of you might be wishing it was anything but Monday morning, I've decided to give us all a little bit of a jazzy swing to get the blood flowing.

Depending on what age bracket you find yourself in, "Puttin' on the Ritz" will strike a different resonance with you. The song was written by Irving Berlin in 1929, originally for the musical film of the same name. Since then, it's been covered by everyone from Clark Gable to an all-metal take by Leningrad Cowboys.

For me, there were two defining versions of the track. First was Taco's synth-pop version from the early 80s. They were a one hit wonder band, sure, but there was something breezy about their version. And, of course, there was the Young Frankenstein version. When Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks were going strong, they put out some of the funniest movies of all times, and this scene ranks among their finest.

To get back to the Monday morning vibe, however, I've also included a couple of nice and mellow versions by the Velvet Fog and the First Lady of Song.

Enjoy.

mp3: Puttin' on the Ritz (Mel Torme)

mp3: Puttin' on the Ritz (Ella Fitzgerald)

mp3: Puttin' on the Ritz (Taco)

LP Lust: Heatwave Edition

I don't know about where you are, but here in Richmond it's been hotter than a five-alarm fire lately. I have found that one of the best ways to beat the icky gross disgusting heat is buying records. No kidding, go ahead and try it.

This latest grouping of records comes from two different shopping sprees. The first was last Tuesday at Plan 9, during the Balkans/Carnivores instore (which, if you missed, shame on you). Thanks to that little trip, I am two records closer to my goal of having every Rolling Stones LP on vinyl. The grand total now sits at 11. The next group was purchased Friday, on my day off, at one of my favorite local thrift stores. Somehow I lucked out, finding quite a few gems after patiently rummaging through the racks and racks of show tunes and Chicago.

Here's the list of the latest entrants into my collection.

*Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble: Texas Flood
*The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones, Now!
*Martha & The Vandellas: Greatest Hits
*The Rolling Stones: England's Newest Hit Makers
*Carnivores: All Night Dead USA
*Laura Nyro: Laura Nyro
*Dionne Warwick: Valley of The Dolls
*Todd Rundgren: Todd
*The Wonder Stuff: It's Your Money I'm After Baby
*Tammy Wynette: D-I-V-O-R-C-E
*Rod Stewart: Smiler
*Deep Purple: Made In Japan
*The Swingle Sisters: Going Baroque