iJamming.net

It’s funny how things work out. I spent much of last year writing a first draft of an account of my teen years, a certain percentage of which I spent in the midst of the mod revival; though I proudly refused to don a parka or even a skinny black tie, it was impossible to live in South London in 1979, at the age of 15, running a fanzine called Jamming that was the go-to place for news of Paul Weller and co., and not find myself somewhat immersed in the movement. It was a farce, in retrospect, but we were too young and naïve to know better. Certainly, we had some fun.

I had much of my fun with the band Speedball. I’d made my acquaintance with them through Roger Allen, who published something called the Surrey Vomet, not so much a fanzine as an artsy comic that sent up its suburban newspaper namesake and everything else to do with the British stiff upper lip. With its creative redesigns of existing comics and articles on “How to do a runner from an Indian restaurant,” it was something of a precursor to Viz. It was a surprise then, to find out that Roger was in fact a dedicated old-school mod, complete with personal prized Lambretta. And once the revival kicked in he wasted no time picking up a band by which to mould himself as the next Pete Meaden: a four-piece from Southend called Speedball. He helped line up a single release, “There Are No Survivors”/ “Is Somebody There?” on a Southend label, and invited me to see the band open for the Purple Hearts at the Moonlight Club in Hampstead, the night after Thatcher’s election victory in May, 1979. The moment front man Robin Beulo, in blue army tunic, played the opening chords to “Don’t You Know Love By Now,” I fell in love with them.
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Per the previous post, the people at 8tracks.com are continuing to upload full song “mix tapes” to accompany my new book All Hopped Up and Ready To Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77. Chapter 4 (”The Village To The Left Of New York”) details the birth of an urban folk scene in the 1940s thanks to Woody Guthrie, Josh White and others, the influence of the Almanac Singers and the labels Keynote and Asch. It focuses on how Greenwich Village came to stand so distinct from the rest of the island. The online mix includes the full renditions of almost all the songs I included, in 30-second “preview” form, when I first posted my Music and Maps notes for the chapter. You can read those notes here. And now you can listen along while you do so.

I’m so busy working on book projects (and more) right now that I just can’t post like I used to. No reason not to share some of the good music that’s coming my way though, especially when it’s free. No particular theme: good music is good music is good enough for me. Enjoy.

1) Classic soul revivalists Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings release their fourth album, I Learned The Hard Way on April 6th. Stream or download the title track here. A couple of years back, when Jones and co. played Mountain Jam up at Hunter Mountain, someone turned to a friend of mine and said, “I can’t believe no one makes music like this any more.” But, as my friend turned back round and pointed out, “They do…” And here it is.

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2) British Columbia’s You Say Party! We Say Die! just unleashed the Los Campesinos remix of their feisty “Laura Palmer’s Prom,” which you can stream or download here. And yes, it does fit right into that Yeah Yeah Yeahs vein that was all the rage this past year. The album XXXX has been out in Canada since September; officially, it comes out in the States Feb 9th, just in time for when the Winter Olympics invades their Home State. More info at Paper Bag Records.

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3) Generally speaking, no one really cares any more about “the record label” in the world of iPods and digital files… Except when that label is on the level of a 4AD and still putting out one fascinating act after another. Denmark’s Efterklang release their new album Magic Chairs on February 22; the gorgeous (and not easily categorized) teaser track “Modern Drift” can be listened to and downloaded via this link.

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4) Staying with 4AD, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see the Tindersticks still making music of value after all these years. It’s almost two decades since they were signed with the London label in the States, and if their hip star waned over the years, the Brits’ sense of conviction has not. Falling Down a Mountain is out on CD on Feb 16th; the captivating “Black Smoke” can be heard and download here.

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5) Finally, is it seriously five years since Londoner Kieran Hebden released a full length album as Four Tet? If you say so. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the remixes of “Love Cry” from his new album There Is Love In You the other week; now the good people of Domino Records, through Giant Step, have made “Angel Echoes,” the haunting opening track, and one that reminds me of that hyper-productive period in the early 1990s when the words ambient and chill first found their way into the techno-house conversation, here. For the time being, you can stream the entire album over at Giant Step’s Four Tet artist page here.

Hard to believe that Groove Armada are on their sixth album already. Black Light will be released on the venerable American dance label Om in March. I greatly enjoyed the song “I Won’t Kneel” that came my way courtesy of a Toyota/MySpace promotion just before Christmas, and while the Fletcher jury is still out on their brand-new, decidely low-key collaboration with Bryan Ferry, I’m more than happy to share it and let you make up your own mind. Stream follows below, and you can download the track for yourself by clicking here.

By coincidence, this week also brought forth the first downloadable fruits of David Byrne’s collaboration with Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love, twenty-two songs “about Imelda Marcos and Estrella Cumpas, the woman who raised her.” Each is sung by a different singer (as opposed to Byrne himself) and the first to be made public, “Please Don’t,” features Santigold on vocals. You can download it by clicking the image below. And you can view a QuickTime slide show better explaining the project below that. Happy weekend.

This playlist and map accompanies Chapter 5 of my book All Hopped Up and Ready To Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77. (Click on the triangle in the box below to start the playlist. You can click through to buy each track or album.) “Mambo Madness” is essentially about the glory days of the Palladium Ballroom, on 53rd and Broadway; the Tico Record label, founded by George Goldner; and the three Orchestras who ruled over the mambo in New York, those of Machito, Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez.

Click the “play” triangle on the box above to hear thirty-second samples of each song; click through to buy the MP3s and maintain your own permanent playlist to accompany All Hopped Up and Ready To Go. OR: listen through to each song in its entirety below. For further information on the 8tracks.com playlists, read this post.)

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