first off …
there’s a great interactive article on neko case in today’s online nytimes. fucking brilliant piece. they’ve embedded audio files into a slideshow presentation that chronicles her career. lots of stuff i’ve never heard. this follows a really cool article they did on m. ward yesterday. fuck pitchfork … it’s evidently all about all the news that’s fit to print.
second off …
i bought this record at our incredible local record store called ‘eccentric soul: the capsoul label 001.’ from the capitol of ‘the most soulful state in the nation’, capsoul (there’s a short npr bit here about the label) thrived in the early 70s but never managed to get the traction of motown or stax. the numero group is putting out double records chronicling the label’s catalog (catalog is a word i can never, ever spell correctly … i’m always trying to crowbar in a few u’s, you know whu um sayin’, mate?) and they are (as the hipster working the record store stated in response to the question ‘how are these?’):
‘they’re fucking bad ass is what they are.’
seriously, people. there are a few tracks from johnson, dawson tatum & durr that are as good as anything the four tops ever recorded except they’re fresher and grittier. the production is first rate, they sound incredible on vinly (as compared to the production quality of the two gary louris records i also bought produced by my funk, soul brother numero one chris robinson … great records, and an effective, admirable, free-spirited approach that serves the art well, but compared to this capsoul stuff they’re just not nearly as slammin’). check this shit out if you got a record player. hand scratched onto the inner ring of the a side are the words ‘sock it to ‘em.’ if that’s not bad ass, don’t ask me what is …
speaking of the robinson/louris projects, the record with mark olson called ‘ready for the flood’ is an instant classic. raw, live, dark, vulnerable, fearless. sounds like they’re singing from beyond the grave. the last track ‘the trap’s been set’ made me burst into tears when i heard it the first few times. it’s the jayhawks, folks …
and like lebron james, who is throwing his hat into the slam dunk contest next year (btw, rudy fernandez got robbed last night. his first two dunks were the best dunks of the night, with the possible exception of lil’ nate robinson’s dunk over dwight howard), i am returning to a much less dramatic conversation by re-establishing my home studio over the weekend. had to spring for the new intel based pro-tools version and unpack all my shit, find my cables, etc. but i’m back up. started tracking some guitar scratch tracks last night and it felt really good. god help my gpa, i’ve got pro tools again.
and thanks to the stimulus package, i’m officially buying a house before november and taking my first time home buyer $8,000 tax credit. thanks for the deadline, big o. now i’ve got some motivation to get off my ass and stop renting my life away.
off to guitar center … this is how it starts. you get the studio set up, you need a mic stand, next thing you know you’re pricing hammond organs and pedal steels at a vintage music store just south of lafayette and are flunking all your classes. must remember to keep feeding the dog …
Tags: capsoul · jayhawks4 Comments
4 responses so far ↓
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Had to share this funny thing – there’s a guy at my daughter’s school that reminds me a bit of a young KC. He’s a lanky dishwater-type fresh out of school that teaches music at her school (replete with jeans, corduroy sport coat, sandals, etc…). I’m sure teaching music to the 4-6 year old crowd seemed like a bust after he got his masters but he’s seriously he happiest person I know…
Margot came home the other day and started scatting and talking about “satchmo” and how “Mr King plays the saxophone”…
God I love that , my kid gets a little KC-essence every day. Man, when I was a kid “music class” consisted of “What do you do with a drunken sailor (shave his belly with a rusty razor) and “15 years on the Erie Canal….”
dude, i’m so glad to hear that margot’s getting some music in her little life. we’ve been reading a lot of plato and aristotle this semester. back in their day, public education consisted of two components: poetry, art, music, etc. and gymnastics. sounds like a return to the classics might be needed. hope to see you one of these days, kd.
Well ain’ t that somethin. Haven’t thought bout that shit in a long while. How ya diggin it? I appreciate their importance as foundation for western civilization and the unlikelihood of it all considering the times and the fact that I don’t know 5 people who understand it today (granted I run with an unenlightened crowd
… But me, I hated most of the fuckin “classics.” Caves and forms and all that nonsense. The one exception is their contribution to epistemology. The study of “truth” or “knowledge” probably effected my life more than any other single thing. Powerful stuff. Gives the confused certainty and the resolute doubt. Beautiful.
Hope to see ya soon…
hey kd – your memory is pretty amazing! i don’t remember a damn thing i learned at isu. you can still recite the cave, the ideal forms, the nonsense. the forms thing never did it for me either. on the theory end i always liked marx. practical, timely, real. although after moving from plato to aristotle this semester, i’m dying to go back to the cave! aristotle’s dry and prescriptive. not my thing. i’m much more comfortable with the unknowns. i get nervous around certainty! always good to hear from you, kd. hi to nina and margot and the rest of the crew for me!