'97 mentality

1997>2007

Exhibit H

Oh Word has posted a provocative piece on the emasculation and incorporation of rebellion by the major labels in the last ten years. They pit the Wu, BIG and DMX against Kanye, Jeezy and 50, and Marilyn Manson against My Chemical Romance and (I think) Fall Out Boy.

These are selective examples, of course: you could make the case the other way around, or challenge the whole thesis, as a lot of the commenters do. But it's worth pointing out - after all, it's the old corporate story: 1957>1967 for rock'n'roll and country, 1967>1977 for psychedelia, pop and soul, 1977>1987 for punk, disco and reggae, 1987>1997 for dance and indie.

And so it is for rap and metal (Fred Durst being the exception - keep it real, Fred!). My man Double S will back me up when I recall how in 1997 the police would hassle you for wearing a profane Marilyn Manson t-shirt in public. Yeah, times was hard on them streets for a middle class white schoolkid. These emo kids got it easy, for real. They don't even know they're born. Which some of them weren't in 1997...

Arcade Fire - 'Rebellion (Lies)' (Live at Vegoose, 1995)

Bob Marley and the Wailers - 'Rebel Music' (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, 1976)


Coming up on Galactic Mystery Solvers:

Nick Cave, Grinderman, Bill Callahan, Dirty Three, Low, Papa M, Faun Fables, Magnolia Electric Co., A Silver Mt. Zion, Cat Power, Spiritulaized, Joanna Newsom, Yann Tiersen, Alan Vega, Einsturzende Neubate,. Sally Timms, Nina Nastasia and the Only Ones LIVE. At Butlin's.

RIP Alan Ball

Just a quick R.I.P. to Southampton and England legend Alan Ball. Will be pouring out a little liquor and hollering ballinnnnn' in his honour tonight. Peace to all the (football) gods and earths.

BBC news link

Vanishing Point > Death Proof

so, quentin tarantino is this guy who makes excellent mixtapes, and strings them together with a few half-baked ideas and cool-looking images. if he had any sense in his head, he'd be a music blogger, because music bloggers make loads of money and get hot chicks doing exactly that. right? but instead, he's just an above-average movie director. the loser.

anyway, his latest effort, death proof, pays homage to early-1970s existentialist road movie vanishing point. which is commendable, because vanishing point (known in germany as fluchtpunkt san francisco, amazingly) is the greatest movie of all time, and has the greatest movie soundtrack of all time - combining funk, soul, gospel, country, bluegrass, acid freakouts and hard rock - all hosted (in the film) by dj super soul, who is ever so slightly cooler than dj khaled.

back in the day - the day before ebay, amazon and all this filesharing on the internets, that is - i spent many an hour searching for a vinyl copy of vanishing point. i never succeeded, though i did find copies of pacific ocean blue and the elvis presley seance along the way. but thanks to the good folks at harkit records, it briefly became available on CD and is well worth seeking out.

here are three choice cuts to listen to while driving your muscle car into a bulldozer in nevada:

bobby doyle - the girl done got it together

mountain - mississippi queen

kim and dave - nobody knows

(note - that's kim as in kim carnes, after leaving the new christy minstrels and before finding solo fame)


bonus:

primal scream - kowalski (from vanishing point)

ultrasound - kurt russell (from 'best wishes' CD single)

more fun:

buy death proof
buy vanishing point OST
buy vanishing point
buy primal scream
buy ultrasound

corner wars

For Pancho, read the corner

“HBO’s” the Corner was a mighty fine mini-series, if hopelessly depressing docudramas about crack addiction are your cup of tea. Much like its creators’ next project, the Wire, but without Omar, Bubbles or cops reading porn and cracking jokes.

But who has the best take on the corner, through the medium of song? Is it Common, with the Last Poets, Kanye West ‘on the beats’, and new verses by Scarface and Mos Def? Or is it Clipse and the Re-Up Gang? My vote goes to Common, as it’s good to hear Scarface and Mos Def trading verses out of the blue. Clipse’s bleak re-working reminds me of Biggie subverting Chuck D’s message for ‘10 Crack Commandments’.

Common feat. Scarface, Mos Def, Kanye West & The Last Poets – ‘The Corner (Remix)’ (from Cool Common Collected)

Clipse – ‘The Corner’ (from We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2)

More fun:

On the subject of Scarface, The Smoking Section has commenced its Geto Boys week.

Buy Cool Common Collected

Clinton Sparks has posted We Got It 4 Cheap Vol 2 on his site. Get it 4 free.

Buy The Corner

'97 mentality

1997>2007

Exhibit G

Ten years ago The Source was well-worth buying, chiefly to find out what crazy concepts No Limit Records and the Pen and Pixel studios had come up with for their monthly shedload of new albums by artists from the durrrrrty south. My favourite featured a pineapple made of gold. I forget who the artist was. Big Tymerz? Young Bleed? The send-up on the inside cover of the Black Star album was also brilliant.

Stupid they may have been. But while Pen and Pixel are still on their grind, I can't think of a recent rap album cover that's grabbed my attention in the same way. Come on, present-day rappers: more exploding obelisks, piles of shiny coins, uncomfortable-looking women, Doric columns and things on fire, please!

Here's "cat loving gangster" Louis Theroux, getting the full P&P treatment in his documentary on gangsta rap. His visit to Master P's house in the same episode was equally bizarre.

More fun:

Previously on '97 mentality

Pen & Pixel homepage

The Hyena on the worst (i.e. best) rap album covers of all time

Midlake live, Oxford Zodiac, 13 February

Wow. Midlake are a philosopher’s stone of a band. Elemental. Pure. They’ve discovered the matter from which all mid-paced US indie rock originates. Think Mercury Rev without the sense of wonder. My Morning Jacket without the arena-sized sound. Smog without the dry humour. Pavement without the Fall. Guided By Voices without the drunken chaos. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah without the oddness. Spoon without the … what was Spoon’s remarkable characteristic again?

They seem like nice guys, and keep their hair neat and their beards trim. If I caught them at a festival, in the middle of the day, all loaded on cider, I wouldn't mind them at all. Best of luck to them. Next time I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy and wonder what band is soundtracking that but where, y’know, nothing much is happening and stuff? That’ll be them. The world is yours, Midlake. Don’t get too excited or nothing.

More fun:

Midlake at the Hype Machine

pancho vs pancho

for kramer, read pancho

here you go: who is the best alt-country favourite covering an old country tune about mexican dudes called pancho who may or may not be (a) mexican revolutionary pancho villa (b) tennis favourite pancho gonzales?

bonnie prince billy & tortoise – ‘pancho’ (don williams cover)

gillian welch – ‘pancho and lefty’ (townes van zandt cover)

no funny business, pancho

more fun:

since it’s "the fourteenth day of april, the day that is ruination day", here’s one more cover version mythologizing the old west from gillian welch:

gillian welch – billy (bob dylan cover)

coming up on galactic mystery solvers:

midlake live! excitement literally coursing through the veins.

in accordance with the rules....

so it turns out that pete doherty and carl barat got together onstage in hackney yesterday. as a british music blog, GMS is under obligation to post a youtube thing of carl doing a tapdance, and a link to NME's embarrassing blog. just don't do it too often, lads - mick foley and ric flair flogged the life out of the 'old adversaries come out of retirement one night only' angle years ago.

by complete coincidence, i listened to the second libertines album this morning, for the first time since it came out. as i'm probably the only person on planet earth to have performed this task, it is my solemn duty to report that it still sucks.

more fun:

in brighter news, ekko has posted another cracking A to Zee, on MF Doom

oh word's cam'ron piece deserves another link

always a lonely weirdo...

i'm off on cross-country adventures for a few days. here's an early birthday present for my favourite regular visitor.

neutral milk hotel - 'april 8th' (live in new york, may 1996)

lil' wayne and the ukulele orchestra of great britain: together at last!

the bootleg of The Drought 3 that's currently doing the rounds won't settle any arguments over whether lil' wayne is or isn't the best in the game. but it's got plenty of the usual barmy similes, one-liners and croaky southern slang, with not too many useless skits or clumsy guest spots.

there's less of wayne's new jamaican accent than i'd expected, which is a shame. and while he still hasn't got round to covering 'cortez the killer' yet, here's his take on gnarls barkley. only nine months late:

lil' wayne - 'crazy' (gnarls barkley cover)

pitchfork referred last week to wayne's "sentimental-absurdist kurt vonnegut phase". SMH @ pitchfork, i think. are their writers competing for a spot in idolator's pick of the fork feature?

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linked tenuously by the concept of kerr-azy cover versions, here's the setlist for last week's ukulele orchestra of great britain gig. it speaks for itself, so no review. but if you ever get the chance, see these guys, and take your parents, grandparents and kids.

1. running wild (marilyn monroe)

2. silver machine (hawkwind)

3. misirlou (dick dale)

4. plagiarism medley: life on mars (david bowie) / my way (frank sinatra) / for once in my life (stevie wonder) / substitute (the who) / born free

5. hot tamales, they’re red hot (robert johnson)

6. ying tong tiddle ine po (spike milligan)

7. anarchy in the uk (sex pistols)

8. slave to the rhythm (grace jones)

9. the good, the bad and the ugly (ennio morricone)

10. theme from shaft (isaac hayes)

11. leanin' on a lamppost (george formby)

12. psycho killer (talking heads)

13. ricky don’t lose that number (steely dan)

14. miss dynamitee (ms. dynamite)

15. rock around the clock (bill haley)

16. teenage dirtbag (wheatus)

17. whistling solo

18. respect (otis redding)

19. g.w.f. handel medley: fly me to the moon (tony bennett) / i will survive (gloria gaynor) / memories / autumn leaves / killing me softly (roberta flack) / hotel california (eagles)

more fun:

ukulele orchestra homepage
lil' wayne drought 3 page