Back with some funk and soul for the fall. Just made this mix below with some stuff I’ve been spinning over the last few months (including these guys). The full tracklist, along with links to listen and download, are after the jump.

Download link
Listen on 8tracks
“Backed up Against the Wall” — 3 Pieces, Vibes of Truth
“Oba, La Vem Ela” — Jorge Ben, Force Bruta
“See Line Woman” — Nina Simone, Greatest Hits
“Do It, Fluid” — Blackbyrds, The Blackbyrds
“Respect Yourself” — Staple Singers, Greatest Hits
“Use Me” — Bill Withers, Still Bill
“Jump” — Aretha Franklin, Sparkle
“Lovin’ Man” — Eugene McDanials, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
“Getting it On” — Dennis Coffey, Evolution
“Niki Hokey” — Aretha Franklin, Lady Soul
“Sing a Simple Song” — Temptations & Diana Ross & The Supremes, Together
“Think (About It) — Lyn Collins, Think (About It)
“I Need a Dollar” — Aloe Blacc, Good Things
“Woman’s Love Rights” — Laura Lee, Woman’s Love Rights
“Heavy Love Affair” — Marvin Gaye, In Our Lifetime
“What About Me” — Chic, Risque
“Give the People What They Want” — O’Jays, Survival
“Cameosis” — Cameo, Cameosis
“Oboso” — Manu Dibango, Soul Makossa
“Von Recomecar” — Gal Costa, Tropicalia
“California Dreamin’” — Eddie Hazel, Game, Dames & Guitar Thangs

This photo by Miguel Ramirez is used under a Creative Commons license.

1. There is a footloose, dance-happy Thom Yorke hiding behind the gloom. He should play more shows.

2. Flea is the Steve Martin of bass guitar (that isn’t conversely true — Steve Martin isn’t the Flea of banjo)

3. Mauro Refosco is one in a long-line of hyperactive percussionists. I still can’t explain the Dr. Seussian drum tower-thing he was playing, but that’s besides the point.

4. If you’re selling $40 T-shirts, they better be providing a sustainable economic model to indigenous tribes and be made via a process that removes carbon from the atmosphere, Or, you know, glow in the dark….

A frequent, tired cliche about music writers is that many of them are failed musicians who wish they had the lyrical and musical skills of the artists they support/pan. I imagine there is some truth in that. But I am certain that most music writers would sell their soul for the lyrical gifts and creativity of someone like Dave Tompkins, whose new book is a testament to his gifts as a writer and interviewer. A wide-ranging look at the invention and introduction of the vocoder and the imprint it has left on modern music, How to Wreck a Nice Beach (repeat it a few times) is history, mythology and cultural studies all in one, a mixtape of electro freaks, the Man Machine and Bell Lab geeks that blows minds and bass bins.

Tompkins’ writing, confident and endearing, wraps around itself and hits like the flow of a powerful rapper; it’s reverential, referential, personal and inscrutable all at the same time. He pulls together the sprawling story of the vocoder’s origins in WWII covert communications then boxes in on a telling detail so good it should be fiction, like how a rapper named Silver Fox keeps his mic in a zip-up shaving kit and has to “let the vampire out the coffin and go for blood.” So much is said that you want to dig until there’s dirt under your fingernails to understand all the references and multiple levels of discourse. He possesses the crazy logic and narrative skill to encapsulate Donnie Wahlberg, Ray Bradbury and Afrika Bambaataa (all interviewed for the book) in the same story.

While weaving together disparate strands of modern music, Tompkins talks about a lot of tracks. Here’s a short playlist of some of the artists he talks about:

1. Fearless 4, “F4000″
Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Jonzun Crew, “Pack Jam”
Click here to view the embedded video.

3. Zapp, “I Wanna Be Your Man”
Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Neil Young, “Transformer Man”
Click here to view the embedded video.

5. Egyptian Lover, “Lover, Lover”
Click here to view the embedded video.

Kode9’s Bubble ‘n’ Squeak Mix
Link
Dubstep don and Sonic Warfare author speeds up with a set of turn-of-the-millennium garage and 2-step.

Post No Bills Podcast #4
Link
Another eclectic set from Peter Margasak, including Califone and Tyondai Braxton.

The Guidelines: A West Coast Indie Rap Compilation ‘94-’00
Link
Tight mix of sunny West Coast hip-hop.

Urbansoul.RU Mix
Link
Funky 16 Corners dropped this funk bomb for a Russian website.

EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREVIEW: Henry Threadgill Zooid (Via Destination:OUT)
A long-time favored composer and performer from his days in Air, I love the looseness, the emotions and the splatters of sound, that he manages to capture while still driving forward.

The Strange and Frightening World of Basic Channel (Via the Quietus)
A deep and thoughtful YouTube chronicle of the minimal techno pioneers.

20 Best: Acid House (Via FACT Magazine)
The 303 workout you’ve always wanted.

Country & Western Beatboxing (Via Steinski)
Who knew? The best part is the guy giggling at the beginning of the clip, fully aware of his forthcoming transformation into a cartoon sound effect machine.

Bigger Than the Beatles (Via Negrophonic)
A performance from renowned Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, who defines the term epic: “Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and loss. They are nothing short of epic in scale, with durations measured in hours rather than minutes. A typical Umm Kulthum concert consisted of the performance of two or three songs over a period of three to six hours.

Credit:

“Washes of Sound, Wobbles of Bass”
After a two-week period spent reading Kode9’s forthcoming book and seeing both Skream and Mary Anne Hobbes, I’ve got dubstep in the brain. “Wobble Wobble” indeed. I have to agree, based on my last few trips to Smartbar, that the party can get quite raucous, though I wouldn’t peg Skream as a Twilight fan.
Via New York Times

“The Esoteric Art of the Opening DJ”
Recognition of the high value a low-key opener at any club night.
Via Resident Advisor

Twelve Vie for Rock Hall of Fame
I know the competition to get your own mannequins and display case in a Cleveland museum is commercialized canon-building at its worst, but isn’t it a bit early for the Chili Peppers? They’ll get their spot eventually, sure, but aren’t there plenty more older acts that deserve the honor?
Via Variety

“Roc Raida Cause Of Death Cardiac Arrest”
Roc Raida suffered a tragic end for a DJ legend, suffering from a freak cardiac arrest while practicing martial arts. Hua Hsu has a round-up of some amazing videos showing him at his best.
Via Allhiphop.com

Five Tunes
Not a news item per se, but worth checking out… a new Chicago site that asks touring bands to list and discuss five songs they’ve been listening to lately. The art/music collaboration is a bit Daytrotter, in a very good way.

Credit:

Poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll passed away over the weekend, and as this New York Times obit makes clear, he was a talented writer in many senses of the word. His work somewhat seeped into the mainstream — DiCaprio played him in the adaptation of the autobiographical Basketball Diaries, which chronicled his smack-taking, smack-talking days playing hoops at a prep school, and his best-known song “People Who Died” recently got play in a zombie flick. Not sure about the last great punk album line being tossed around in a lot of articles about Carroll, but, in an era of hype-heavy and often bland New York acts, it’s refreshing to hear music by a downtown romantic.

Jim Carroll Band, “Catholic Boy”

Jim Carroll, “Day & Night” (Live on Fridays)

Jim Carroll, “I Am Alone”

“The Album is Dead, Long Live the App”
A flood of similarly-constructed band apps signals a new revenue stream for bands. Based on the rapid turnover of apps, I’m not sure if the subscription/fan club model will work over time.
Via WIRED

“McGee on Music: Why the Black Woodstock Documentary Should Be Released”
Creation legend Alan McGee on why the Harlem ‘69 festival footage should be broadcast. The Nina Simone footage is great, like she’s performing/teaching the crowd simultaneously.
Via the Guardian

“Rare BBC Sessions to Get Release, Stranglers, Skids and Gang Of Four Included”
The Beeb is digitally releasing a trove of live performances for the dearly beloved broadcasters show. My big surprise looking at the list was releasing that Dexy’s Midnight Runners played more Peel Sessions (two) than Public Image Ltd.
Via Drowned in Sound

“NME Hires First Ever Female Editor”
Don’t know what this says about the business, but I’ve been writing about music for seven years, and the bulk of my editors have been women. Maybe it’s really a boy’s club back in the UK.
Via Daily Swarm

“Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch Diagnosed With Cancerous Tumor”
Thankfully, it’s considered treatable and will merely postpone the release of the new album and subsequent tour. Here’s his video statement.
Via Pitchfork

“Telefon Tel Aviv’s Joshua Eustis Talks About His Partner Charlie Cooper’s Overdose”
Joshua Eustis talks about his close relationship with musical partner Charlie Cooper and his feeling about the uncertainty involving his passing.
Daily Swarm via Antigravity

“Ozark Woodstock: Mo. Rock Fest Vets Reminisce”
A long feature about the lesser-known Ozark Music Festival, billed as a Midwest Woodstock despite the substantial difference in bands and styles and the fact that it sounds like a countrified jamboree. For more Boomer navel-gazing, check out this video of Pink Floyd jamming to live video of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in the BBC studios. Take that, Major Tom.
AP Via St. Louis Press

Scene and Heard: Funana
Cape Verde could be ground zero in the rush for indigenous dance sounds. Here’s Radioclit’s recent mix incorporating the high-energy sound.
Via the Guardian

A semi-regular set of music recommendations, free and easy downloads and other sound files that deserve your time and bandwidth.

TimeCast02: Philip Sherburne
Soundscape should be retired as a descriptive term — this adventurous dance mix by dance scribe Philip Sherburne is textured, sensual and altogether fascinating. The part where it sounds like glass bouncing but not breaking is fantastic.

Anything By The Very Best
Their MySpace URL ends with “theverybestmyspace,” and lately, I can’t argue. Buoyant, bright and catchy, this is exactly what summer music should sound like — it’s self-described as “Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit playing with fire.” Snatch their mixtape from earlier this year and get excited for their forthcoming fall album.

Mobilee Touch Mix for iPhone
I shudder to think how silly I look fiddling with this on the CTA on my way to work, cross-fading between Dan Curtin and Exercise One, but it’s fun and has kept me entertained longer than 95 percent of the other apps I’ve downloaded.

From the Vault: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Good Life
Ran into this during a hard drive backup this weekend. It’s never too late for this. Or this. Or especially this.

Image by marfis75 used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License.