You reap what you share. Here’s proof. A reader tipped me off to this prolific Floridian after encountering Radical Face on 3hive. Something’s obviously been brewing off the coast down there in Jacksonville, FL. Rickolus is one Richard Colado, who sings for the band The Julius Airwave, and he can’t seem to sit still for long. Below are songs from each of his five albums, recorded in as many years, with probably double the friends (including Ben Cooper AKA Radical Face). The recordings are inspired both thematically and sonically by everything from Colado’s children, video game music, anime, friends, to his own backyard. Winter’s Daughter is an intimate and introspective epic fable of, presumably, Colado’s children. American Backyard has a certain back-porch-folksy feel, Video Game Birthday Party’s darkly festive mood depends heavily on Casios and Korgs, and Soundtrack… predictably, but not disappointingly, sounds more cinematic. With the exception of the latter, Colado’s melancholic vocals accompany most of the songs. The quality and quantity of Rickolus’ music is worth way more than the word-of-mouth plug I’m offering here. And considering every song from every album is yours for the sharing it wouldn’t hurt donating a dime or two when you drop by for more downloads.
Plastilina Mosh
No matter if you speak español or inglés, you’re gonna get a kick out of the new Plastilina Mosh tracks. That is unless, you’re completely lacking any sense of fun. For those of you unfamiliar with P. Mosh, the duo out of Monterrey, Mexico first imported their bombastic, south-of-the-border-B-52s-meet-Beck party tunes just about a decade ago. They worked with the Dust Brothers and Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf (all of whom worked with Beck early in his career). They enjoyed a healthy amount of commercial success with the track “Mr. P Mosh.” Staying true to their divergent sound, Plastilina Mosh once again mix it up on their new album, All U Need is Mosh. The band can cross styles and tempos just as easy as they cross cultures and languages. One fantastic groove to get on.
Charles Bradley & The Bullets
Isaac Hayes passed away today (Sunday), in the very same hospital that my children were born in. His strong personality will be missed, but his musical legacy remains. I’ve been digging the soul/funk/R&B revival going on these days, thanks largely to Daptone Records, so it’s appropriate today to share a couple of gems from the Daptone 7 inch Singles Collection Vol. 2 by Charles Bradley & The Bullets.
Lee “Scratch” Perry
About 10 years ago on Thanksgiving, my grandpa waited until everyone had their mouths full, as he did when he really wanted our attention, then he shared a dream he’d recently had about how he was Santa Claus. In the dream, he was surrounded by adoring elves. Pretty cute, huh? Except they weren’t elves — they were strippers peeling off their skimpy green outfits and jockeying to, ahem, take a ride on Santa’s bowl full of jelly. Naturally, my mom and aunt were appalled. And, naturally, I had to bite my lower lip hard to keep from blasting my stuffing across the table. Man, I miss him. I hadn’t thought of that story for a long time before hearing Lee “Scratch†Perry’s “Pum Pum,†the dancefloor anthem from Perry’s ambitious new album, produced by his pal Andrew W.K. Most people know Perry as a legendary Jamaican musician and producer who helped create both the signature waka-waka sound of reggae and the signature stoned production quality of dub, among other influential moves. He is a giant among giants despite his diminutive stature — truly a living legend. He’s also a dirty old man. I can’t sincerely say that “Pum Pum†is one of my favorite tracks right now just like I can’t say that this Spring-Winter pairing of W.K. and Perry is the same as Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash, but I can say that it’s pretty fascinating. The crazy old bastard in the multicolored hat manages to mix reggaeton-style beats and synths with pornstar moans, lots of dirty-talk and, inexplicably, Jesus. Or that’s what I think he does. Truthfully, I can only understand about half of what is going on at any given time in “Pum Pum,†but I’m pretty sure it’s naughty. That’s part of the allure. Some are calling Perry’s new album a return to form. That may be so, but to me it sounds more like a lovingly perverse old coot flipping the bird at all of us and speaking what’s on the unfiltered side of his mind. Grandpa would be proud.
The Chap
Check The Chap’s label page and there are two lines in the “About” section, one of which reads, “The Chap: have never been influenced by anyone or anything at any time, ever.” While I appreciate and even support their refusal to apologize for or explain their influences, I don’t believe them. I do believe in letting the music speak for itself. So stop reading this and download these songs and make up your own mind while I explain the comparison I’m about to make. My take, highly influenced by the mass quantities of ’80s music I’ve been listening to lately, is this: The Chap deftly juggles bits and pieces of Gang of Four, XTC, Queen, Men Without Hats, and Kraftwerk for a capricious rock ‘n’ roll dance party. Their third album, Mega Breakfast, is evidence of a quirky, lo-fi band that’s pulled out all the stops and plans on playing stadiums. Do yourself a favor and lower your guard down while listening so you can fully revel in The Chap’s merrymaking. Their album cover is a mylar balloon dog whose nose has been dipped in chocolate and sprinkles for crying out loud. If you don’t get a kick out of this record it may be time for a swift kick to the head. (Be sure to watch the video for the album’s standout track).
Karl Hector & The Malcouns
Stones Throw’s funk imprint, Now-Again, follows up the mind-blowing Heliocentrics album with this desert continent disc from neo-afro funk collective Karl Hector & The Malcouns. First, a quick who’s who of the principals: Karl Hector (vocals & percussion) has, up to this point, only recorded his skills on one 7-inch back in ’96 with the Funk Pilots; Between Jay Whitefield (Poets of Rhythm), Thomas Myland and Zdenko Curlija (The Malcouns) a wide swath of instrumental ground gets covered. Six more musicians round out the collective. “Nyx” stands out as a faithful sampling of Sahara Swing as a whole. Its gritty groove breaks down into raw african percussion about a minute and a half in, after which a fog of free jazz rolls past until the guitars resume their call and response riffs. It’s like overhearing a conversation that you can’t stop listening to because you want to hear the rest of the story. And the rest of the story about Sahara Swing goes like this: it’ll be one of the hottest additions to your summertime party playlist.
Electric President
My promo copy of Electric President’s new album Sleep Well is practically worn out already, but luckily, the release date for the new disc is just a few days away. Dreamy like the last one, but dark and brooding too, Ben Cooper and Alex Kane are still rocking the electrorganic (it does work, Sam) in the available-for-free-download, opening track “Monster,” as well as a bunch of other great spins on the disc. Check out the tinkly little piano in this song, the falsetto vocals in “We will Walk through Walls,” and the oh-so-true chorus of “It’s an Ugly Life,” all of these backed by occasional boops and bips and computer scratches.
Monsters [MP3, 7.8MB, 128kbps]
Sam’s original post: 01/21/06
Jacksonville, Florida’s Ben Cooper and Alex Kane had been collaborating as Radical Face Versus Phalex Sledgehammer for a couple years, when they mercifully decided to change their name to Electric President. They put together a five-song EP called You Have the Right to Remain Awesome which found its way to the Morr Music offices in Berlin. Morr now brings us their debut long-player which is nothing short of dreamy. Electric President’s electrorganic (just made that term up) pop fits right alongside labelmates Lali Puna, Styrofoam, b.fleischmann, and Mum. Ben also records solo as Radical Face (hence the duo’s original moniker) and should have an album out (also on Morr) later this year. He also makes really nice paintings. And he’s only 23. Yeah, I know…showoff.
Insomnia [MP3, 9.9MB, 320kbps]
Good Morning, Hypocrite [MP3, 7.4MB, 192kbps]
Label My Mind: Blown [MP3, 5.6MB, 192kbps]
Oh Astro
Caution! These songs may induce seizures or stuttering. My dad used to stutter severely. Up into his early 20s he could barely get out name out. He passed it down to his sons, although we never stuttered to the extent my father did. I remember going to speech therapy when I was in elementary school. They’d encourage me to stutter away. Talk right through the anticipation, the fear of stuttering. It worked for me. On rare occasions I still stutter, but it doesn’t bother me at all. With apologies to those who struggle with dysfluency, stuttering reminds me of a remix, of turntable scratching. It artfully strips down language to its phonemes. And it can be rhythmic. The sample-tastic duo Oh Astro shares my interest in stuttering. On their new album, Champions of Wonder, they strip down existing songs down to individual notes, mash in a few other songs or vocals, and freshen up or create entirely new interpretations of those source works. Said re-workings are wonderfully bumpy and jumpy and bravely taunt copyright restrictions. Oh Astro’s label, Illegal Art, “claims Fair Use for all of its releases and has professional legal counsel nearby if needed.” Smart move. A stream of the entire album is available via Oh Astro’s ecard and I highly suggest you follow along with their sample notes as you listen.
The Two Man Gentleman Band
I was just looking around on the Serious Business website after posting about Benji Cossa’s Christmas album when I noticed the song title “William Howard Taft.” You know, the only U.S. President to also be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice? No, no, you only remember Taft as being the fat guy, the poor sap who got stuck in the White House bathtub. Well, that’s pretty much what The Two Man Gentleman Band remembers about him too. (I actually think he was in a tough spot, following in Theodore Roosevelt’s footsteps and all. I guess I tend to feel sorry for Taft.) With their Dixieland, Tin Pan Alley, goofy slapstick kazoo-billy rock, these New Yorkers tend to have a blast in the recording studio. If you’re not one of those serious-types, check out “Prime Numbers.” It’s kind of hard not to laugh, eh?
The Sugarman Three
We really dig what Daptone’s been up to this year. But they’ve been working at reviving soul for some years now; their comeuppance is due. One of their earliest releases is an album from The Sugarman Three, an outfit built around saxophonist Neal Sugarman and a Hammond B-3 organ. It’s a crying shame that tracks from their debut album, Sugar’s Boogaloo, aren’t available, and that your first taste of the band comes in the form of remixes, but you just shouldn’t take another breath until you get yourself a lil’ Sugarman action. These remixes are from a complete remix compilation that’s been freely available for a couple weeks courtesy of Daptone and friends. Dig deep from the Daptone well friends.