fink - wheels
‘Valentine’ by Jessie Ware and Sampha
this track is so pretty.
good morning!
armand van helden | “you don’t even know me”(1997)
Lianne La Havas | ”Lost & Found (Lapalux Remix)”
Red Baraat is a Brooklyn-based bhangra band that infuses their sound with funk, go-go, jazz and latin. They were just added to the lineup and I was totally intrigued by Bonnaroo’s description of their music. I couldn’t help but bounce around a little and practice my Bollywood moves. This will be dope to see live.
Charles Bradley | ”Summer Jammin’ With Ice Cream Man”
Soul and R&B singer Charles Bradley definitely didn’t arrive as a recording artist by taking the easy route. Born in Gainesville, FL in 1948, but raised in Brooklyn, NY, Bradley spent a good part of his childhood living on the streets. A transformational moment came when his sister took him to see James Brown at the Apollo in 1962. Bradley was struck by Brown’s energy and stage manner, and began practicing microphone tricks with a broom at home, dreaming of being a star on his own stage, and it was a dream he would never abandon in spite of all sorts of mishaps, misdirects, and general hard times. Bradley escaped Brooklyn by joining the federal program Job Corps, which took him to Bar Harbor, ME, where he learned to cook, a profession he was to fall back on time and time again. He also put together a band in Maine and began playing local gigs. The band didn’t last long, though, and when most of its members were drafted, and with the Vietnam War hanging in the air, Bradley moved to Wassaic, NY, where he worked as a cook at a hospital for the mentally ill. Nine years later, he left that position and hitchhiked west, ending up in Alaska for a time before moving to California, again taking a job as a chef, and for the next 20 years, he performed music on the side, playing whatever gigs he could find. When he was laid off from his position, though, he began to doubt the decision to live in so far from where he grew up, and he relocated back to Brooklyn, this time working at odd jobs instead of returning to being a chef. He never let go of his musical dreams, however, and he began performing his James Brown-inspired routines in such local clubs as Black Velvet, attracting a loyal following, and eventually capturing the attention of Gabriel Roth from Daptone Records, who immediately brought the fiery singer into label sessions, releasing a single, “Take It as It Comes,” that showed what Bradley had to offer as a vocalist. Roth also introduced Bradley to Thomas Brenneck, then a guitarist, songwriter, and home producer for Dirt Rifle & the Bullets. The pair had an affinity for each other musically, and together they released two singles on Daptone as Charles Bradley & the Bullets before the actual group by that name disbanded, with most of the members going in an Afro-beat direction with the Budos Band. Brenneck and Bradley continued to work together, though, and after Bradley told him about waking up in his home one morning to discover his nephew had shot and killed his brother, Brenneck suggested they tell the story in music as a catharsis and as a cautionary tale. The result, tracked with the Menahan Street Band, was a pair of impassioned singles, “The World (Is Going Up in Flames)” and “Heartaches and Pain,” which Brenneck released on his Daptone sub-imprint Dunham Records. These weren’t songs drawn from Bradley’s Black Velvet act, but were instead highly personal and striking outings that put his own emerging voice as a singer and songwriter at the center of things. A full album for Dunham, No Time for Dreaming, appeared early in 2011.
*Reading his story and hearing his music, I feel inspired to keep my long lost dreams alive; to keep pushing past all the voices in my head and all the many obstacles I’ll face to get to my ultimate goals. That’s what music should do right? Make you feel something.
Darondo | “Didn’t I”
Darondo- A major favorite in funk collectors’ circles, sweet soul crooner Darondo was born William Pulliam in Berkeley, CA. After receiving his first guitar at the age of eight, he later teamed with a handful of school friends to form the house band at the Lucky 13, an area teen club. According to Oliver Wang’s profile in the April/May 2006 issue of Wax Poetics, Pulliam later trained as an electrician but retained his musical aspirations, and in 1970 cut his first Darondo single, “How I Got Over,” for the fledging independent label Ocampo. Suggesting an earthier, street-smart Al Green, the record was hampered by distribution problems but nevertheless became a fixture on local radio station KSOL, earning Darondo the attention of Ray Dobard’s Music City imprint. Despite recording an entire LP’s worth of material, the label issued just one lone single, the lush “Didn’t I.” Darondo also opened for James Brown and enjoyed an extended residency at the famed San Francisco club Bimbo’s, but following a third single, the obscure Af-Fa World release “Legs,” his music career ground to a halt. He spent the remainder of the decade as a pimp before abandoning the life in 1981 to host a series of local cable television showcases including Darondo’s Penthouse After Dark, Doze Comedy Videos, and the children’s program Tapper the Rabbit. After spending the late ’80s on the Fiji Islands, Darondo returned to Berkeley and studied physical therapy. When the acclaimed 2005 compilation Gilles Peterson Digs America vaulted “Didn’t I” to the attention of soul aficionados across the globe, the race to discover the singer’s current whereabouts was on, and in 2006 the Luv ‘N Haight label released Let My People Go, collecting Darondo’s three classic singles as well as several unreleased cuts from the same sessions.
*Ef introduced me to a couple of tracks by this slick old man and I had to admit that I would have very likely been one of those otherwise respectable young ladies throwing my draws at him. He’s just too cool for my panties.
Fruit Bats | “You’re Too Wierd”
*Hmm… yea, I wasn’t so sure about these guys and then this video pulled me to the other side. I’m a fan. What can I say, cheesy 80s-inspired parody video warm my funny bone.
Gary Clark Jr. | “Bright Lights”
Texas guitarist Gary Clark, Jr. has been compared to guitar icons like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and his playing is a powerful and inspired mix of blues roots with contemporary soul and hip-hop, and when he’s rolling at his best, he sounds like nothing so much as a natural hybrid of both the past and the future of the blues. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Clark first picked up a guitar at the age of 12 and spent his teens playing whatever gig he could get in the Austin area, eventually meeting Clifford Antone, promoter and owner of Antone’s, the city’s premier blues club, who began featuring Clark at his venue. An amazing live performer, Clark soon became one of the brightest players on Austin’s blues and rock scene. He released an independent album, 2005’s Tribute, followed by a pair of self-produced albums in 2008 for Hotwire Unlimited, 110 and Worry No More. An EP, Gary Clark Jr., also appeared from Hotwire in 2010. But Clark was far from just a one-trick pony guitar gunslinger. He could also sing, write, and arrange. He wrote the original score for the film Full Count and also appeared as an actor in John Sayles’ 2007 film Honeydripper. In 2010, Clark was selected by Eric Clapton to perform at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, and a DVD of the show featuring Clark led to a recording deal with Warner Bros. Clark was soon in the studio working on his major-label debut. An EP called Bright Lights was released in advance of the new album in 2011
*Another musician I’m late to discovering. I like this track. Leads me to daydream about being in a dark smoke-filled den where I’m interpretive dancing and writhing in my skin-tight bell bottoms and my suede vest. I like it!
Major Lazer f. Amber of Dirty Projectors | “Get Free”
*Until last week, I hadn’t realized who Major Lazer is and that the song that pushed Beyonce’s last record to the top of the charts sampled a Major Lazer track that’s more than 3 years old. I’m just not hip to what’s hot these days I suppose. Anyway, I’m excited to see Diplo and Switch live for the first time and I’m hella excited to hear more of their music!
Mariachi El Bronx | “Holy”
Born out of a desire to challenge themselves musically, Mariachi El Bronx is the alter ego of Los Angeles punk band the Bronx. Conceived in 2006, the idea came about when the Bronx were asked to play an acoustic set and, rather than simply pare down their sound, they took their music in a whole new direction, moving away from hardcore and exploring Latin sounds. The band worked on material for the new project while the Bronx toured, and in 2009, Mariachi El Bronx released their eponymous debut. True to the form of their main gig, the bandmembers followed up with a second self-titled album in 2011.
*I was pleasantly surprised by the music and story behind this group and their music. I’m reminded of an L.A.-bred Mexican-Chinese friend of mine from college who didn’t speak spanish but loved to listen to the spanish radio in his car. He didn’t understand the words but was moved by the emotion behind the singer’s lyrics. I’m having fun watching clips of Mariachi El Bronx online. Their elaborate costumes, the rhythms, the lyrics… I like it!
phil collins + phillip bailey | “easy lover”
*forgive me for indulging on this trip down memory lane.
phil collins | ”don’t lose my number”
*phil collins is a staple in soundtrack to my childhood. i thought he was just too cool!
