Brandon Burke

I've been trying to get my hands on Super Joe: The Life and Legend of Joe Charboneau for ages. What a fascinating guy. Over the fall, I read Cult Baseball Players which includes a number of essays by folks such as Gammons, McCarver, Joe Morgan and David Mamet.

Also check out the tune "Hotter Reggae Music" on the Blood & Fire comp Darker Than Blue for a great example of the deejay-to-rap transition. Here you have a Jamican vocalist borrowing "Rapper's Delight" in the middle of an otherwise standard reggae song. It all makes sense.... By the way, how brilliant is that Blood & Fire artwork....

Well, I'm not a particularly big fan of deejay stuff but there are a few I really enjoy. I mentioned it above simply as a historical timeline kind of thing. Either way, anything in the Blood & Fire catalog (deejay or otherwise) is worth owning. Among their deejay releases are: Jah Stitch - Original Ragga Muffin I-Roy - Don't Check Me With No Lightweight Stuff U Brown - Train to Zion These are all great. I think I prefer the Jah Stitch best and then U Brown next. If I remember right, the Stitch and Brown sets are blessed with the mixing talents of King Tubby, Prince Jammy and/or Scientist. So you can't lose there. Also of note (if you have a record player) is Fire Corner by The Dynamites. Includes some very wierd King Stitt vocal tracks as well as some semi-*out* horn solos. Reminds me of Sun Ra. So there you go...

The vocals don't bother me at all. I rather like his southern swagger. As for comparisons to Prince, they're simply unavoidable. Choosing which is "better" is kind of a moot point IMHO. Prince did it first (and quite a while ago by now) so....end of story. Big Boi's vocal delivery/flow/whatever drives me up the wall. I can't even listen to that disc. Too many 16th notes. He needs to either mix it up or something. Sounds the same on every single song. Well, to these ears anyway. I know it makes me an old-timer but I'm waiting patiently for Pete Rock Soul Survivor 2 to drop in the late winter/early spring. There's also a new C.L. Smooth solo LP coming out as well featuring tracks produced by Pete. And Planet Asia still hasn't released a proper full length after all this time. There's also that Quest reunion record but The Love Movement was absolutely dreadful so I'm not holding my breath for Low End Theory Revisited. Lastly, though I haven't cared about them in about 10 years, word is that the new Beastie Boys LP is being produced by Prince Paul. Sounds interesting....

Yes, that was pretty funny. I bought that new record and like it--well, Andre's side anyways--but doesn't anyone else think it sounds too much like a Pro Tools/synth record? I miss the days of dusty soul samples. [sigh...]

Something that needs to be said about hip hop/rap music--I wasn't entirely comfortable with one of the definitions given above--is that the music of hip hop culture is a direct result of Jamaican dancehall deejays making their way to NYC. Now, in Jamaica the term "deejay" does not refer to someone mixing records on turntables but rather to someone on a microphone interjecting lines during and in between songs as a way to keep the crowd into the proceedings. Eventually, deejays like Big Youth, U-Roy and King Stitt became artists in their own right. This tradition (again) eventually made its way to NYC where, like in Jamaica, the deejays (or "toasters" as they were originally called) became top billing. Needless to say, the US version of ther term "DJ" won out and toasters became "rappers" in the States. AMG's genre bio (here), while short, is relatively accurate despite the fact that they list DJ Shadow among the other deejays. Shadow, as some of you might know is an instrumentalist, making his classification as a deejay (which by definition is a vocalist), completely baffling. All of this is to say that rap music is repetitive because its mother and father are Jamaican dancehall culture and James Brown. End of story. Teenagers in Brooklyn were NOT listening to Last Poets records in the late 70's folks; that is unless their parents were college educated liberals. This is an absolutely fascinating topic. Hip hop culture is a really beautiful thing in my opinion. Grounded at its very core in community.

I agree and while there may be no crying in baseball there are certainly a lot of assholes. I think he should be allowed in the HOF but excluded from any future baseball involvement (i.e. coaching, ownership, etc.). I mean the dude broke a SERIOUS record. End of story.

Yesterday's haul from an unamed flea market north of Waco. All are 45s in at least VG condition, though the vasy majority are VG+ or better. All were $1 a piece. * James Brown "I'm a Greedy Man (pts. 1 & 2)" * James Brown "Talking Loud and Saying Nothing (pts. 1 & 2)" * James Brown "Make it Funky (pts. 1 & 2)" * James Brown "My Part/Make it Funky (pts. 3 & 4)" * James Brown "Get on the Good Foot (pts. 1 & 2)" * James Brown "Santa Claus go Straight to the Ghetto"/"Sweet Little Baby Boy" * James Brown "It's a New Day (pts. 1 & 2)"/"Georgia on my Mind" * James Brown "There it Is (pts. 1 & 2)" * James Brown "Hot Pants (pts. 1 & 2)" * Marvin Gaye "You're the Man (pts. 1 & 2)" * Eddie Harris "It is In (mono)"/"It is In (stereo)" * Gwen McRae "Rockin Chair"/"It Keps on Raining" * The Soul Searchers "We the People (pts. 1 & 2)" * Kool & the Gang "The Frog"/"Good Times" * The Politicians "Free Your Mind"/"Love Machine" * Quincy Jones "Passin the Buck"/"Money Runner" * Cymande "The Message"/"Zion I" * Curtis Mayfield "Get Down"/"We're a Winner"

The Savoy sessions are equally great. Lot's of familiar faces there as well: Hank Jones, Kenny Burrell, Jerome Richardson, etc. Not sure if it ever made it onto CD, though.

Gerhard Richter

I've been a big time fan of YLT for about 12 years now and can't seem to get into Summer Sun. Too much noodling for me. It's a bummer because they're the only currently existing rock band who has yet to disappoint me. The live show was great, however, as expected. They never disappoint live and did something like a 10-12 minute version of the Sun Ra cover. I especially enjoyed And then Nothing... and can safely claim Painful as my all time fave. I definately prefer their more down-tempo material since they sound entirely too much like Sonic Youth when the try to *rock* (think "Cherry Chapstick", "Flying Lesson [Hot Chicken #1]" and "Big Day Coming"). Anyways, YLT have managed to create an aesthetic both avant-garde and romantic; which is a rare and beautiful thing. "Music to fold your girlfriend's laundry by" I once read. Couldn't have said it better myself..... Nice people too.

I'm not a particularly big football fan (college or pro). This likely stems from the fact that (1) my alma mater, the University of Kansas, is a basketball school and (2) I worked at Arrowhead Stadium for about four years. It was the beginning of the Carl Petterson era and that guy is just an assh*le. Straight up. To this day, it still baffles me how Chiefs fans can hate the Raiders so much when their own GM is nothing more than a younger Al Davis. Anyways......I seldom miss the Rose Bowl, regardless of whether ot not it determines the championship. It's just one of those special events in sport.

Believe me, I'm not made of money either so I know where you're coming from. I should also mention that, despite it's being packaged in a standard case, Down By Law is actually a 2-disc set. This may help sway your decision. Also, it's my favorite film of all time. B)

Be careful what you wish for, my man. If nobody bought these at retail price then they wouldn't be able to afford to issue anything else. And I, for one, prefer a world with Criterion DVDs. The same can be said of Blue Note Conns as well.

These are being reissued by Criterion (in the States) next month if you missed out on them the first time around.

I can't argue with that but I will say that Dancer in the Dark is the most *stable* of his films. So if you had a hard time with him simply by viewing that then steer clear of The Idiots and The Kinfdom. They're sure to ruin your day. (In the best way possible.)

Listening to "Ginza Samba" from Stan Getz with Cal Tjader right now and, having heard Vince on this tune, I invite anyone to further this argument. Seriously. Dude sounds like (admittedly a West Coast) Bud Powell. I mean, gimme a break......

I don't know where to begin with this one: And this one just went OOP a few days ago:

Agreed. How about Frank Butler........

Sorry to be so terse but this is a ridiculous conversation. I listen to very little West Coast jazz but there's something very unique about VG. Unfortunately, most people's opinions of his work (and, consequently, his entire aesthetic) are governed by the fact that he made that soundtrack. If you ask me, VG understood saudades much better than Getz or any other American who employed Brazilian modes. For the record, even though it has next to nothing to do with the rest of my collection, this is one of my favorite records jazz or otherwise.....

Thanks fellas. As you may know, it's also the birthday of Old Blue Eyes. And I want to say Darryl Strawberry too but I'm not sure..... Cheers!

This is a little emrarassing but I've come to really appreciate the last Coldplay record. Yes, they sound a great deal like Radiohead and latter-day U2 but, as it happens, I can't stand Radiohead. People refer to Coldplay as 'Radiohead lite' but I don't think that's fair. What I like most about them (Coldplay) is the fact that they aren't afraid to write love songs. Something of a lost art amongst *modern art-rock* bands. Radiohead is just too cold and distant for me. As though they think their music belongs in the damned MoMA or something. Gimme a freakin' break.... It's nothing that Gastr del Sol didn't do ten years ago only it's coupled with overly dramatic emo vocals. Yeesh... No thanks.

Wow! I can't argue with those. Good lookin' out..... I might also mention Neil Young On the Beach. I know it's on CD now but the mix sounds funny to these ears and that's EASILY my favorite Neil Young record. Also, anything by the Feelies, the Soft Boys, Yo La Tengo, Slint, the Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, Galaxie 500, the Jesus Lizard, the Pixies, Low, and Stereolab (when they still played real instruments). And it goes without saying that any session produced by Steve Albini is going to sound considerably better on LP.