Red Bull Music Academy Radio

Music Lee Fields: Soul Survivor

February 3, 2011 - 9:56 am

Lee Fields is a self-described “Blues and Soul Man,” and judging by his passion for both, it’s easy to see how he made a name for himself: “The spirit is what binds everything,” Fields proclaims. “The spirit is always in mine. What I mean by that is that you’re singing from your soul, singing with your heart.” On Red Bull Music Academy Radio‘s Fireside Chat, Fields hits the ground running with his 1970s hit “Let’s Talk it Over,” the soundtrack to a man whose soulmate has just walked out the door — a situation perhaps best summed up by Fields himself who asserts that “if you got nothing to say to each other, than it’s done. It’s a done deal. That’s what the song is about.” Fields then goes guides the listener through some of his favorite and most inspirational tracks, spending extra time on Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie.” Watching K&TG at an early age made a huge impact on him, and was reason enough to inspire the lad to explore the dense musical terrain of soul and blues even then. What you love most about the guy is how dedicated he’s been over the past 30 + years, because here’s a guy that never struck it rich — and despite some impressive tracks that could have rivaled even some of the best of his time, flew under the radar and stayed alive. Disappointed by the onset of electronic music at the beginning of the eighties, Fields found it difficult to play clubs, and took to Real Estate, but still has manage to churn out albums over the years, keeping it going all this time.

Read the full story →

Music Mount Kimbie’s Minimalist Wall of Sound

by Shop Keeper

January 12, 2011 - 9:43 am

An England-based duo, Dominic Maker and Kai Campos have formed Mount Kimbie out of an appreciation for what would perhaps best be called a ‘minimalist wall of sound.’ They’re schizoid and erratic, remaining still and almost silent for moments at a time; there’s little else besides strange little noises and blips. These quieter tracks are interspersed between others like “Ruby”, an almost somber affair with its strange and ambient noise — and then on songs like “Carbonated” and “Mayor” they’re jumping around in a frenetic rush, as if they’ve suddenly had a change of heart.

Their recordings run deep, with thick ambient layers of different rhythms and melodies. It’s great late-night headphone listening or for chilling in your car after a crummy day at work. If you’re familiar with acts like Hammock or tracks like “Music for the Head” by Porcupine Tree, or even some stuff like Sugur Ros, you may have an idea of what they’re up to.

You can hear Dominic and Kai on Red Bull Music Academy now, discussing their recording process, and also sharing what music inspired them.

Music Peter Hook : A Founding Father of New Wave

by Shop Keeper

January 3, 2011 - 11:53 am

You may not realize it, but you’ve probably heard the opening bassline to New Order’s “Age of Consent” — although nowadays you likely heard it in a commercial for a car or some other product. ‘Twas written by Peter Hook, the bassist for New Order, formerly known as Joy Division — one of the very first bands of the 80s New Wave movement, and an inspiration for hundreds of modern acts who have ripped them off.

Along with “Age” Hook penned countless other gems with New Order from inception until their recent break-up in 2007. He left to pursue other endeavors like founding now- legendary club The Hacienda, and produce other bands like The Stone Roses. From the days of “Blue Monday” until the more synthed-out Brotherhood LP and tracks like “Bizarre Love Triangle”, Hook’s known for his huge inspiration on legions of bass players — many of whom will go on record as hating a lot of new wave music — partly because he always maintained an active presence in the recording process and never let himself get drowned in the mix. The bass was up front, in-your-face, and flawless.

On Red Bull Music Academy right now, you’ll get a playlist of some of The Master’s preferences, including The Smiths, The Buzzcocks, and a host of countless other bands that influenced him.

Music Jah Wobble(s All Over the Place)

by Shop Keeper

December 29, 2010 - 11:02 am

Jah Wobble was one of those CDs I saw laying around my dad’s desk at home as a kid but never mustered enough interest to nab for a listen– whatever your dad’s interested in, it can’t be that good, can it?

Anyways, I was too busy listening to crap like Sponge or some flavor of the week alt band or something. But now that I’m lying semi-comatose on my bed and forcing myself to listen, I realize my pops might have been on to something: Mr. Wobble is perfect for ADD-ers like me, because if there’s anything that can surely be said the guy, it’s that he’s diverse.

First and foremost, he’s an accomplished bass player, having been a crucial component of Johnny Rotten’s Public Image Ltd. way back in the late 70s and early 80s. Musically, now, he’s all over the map — one song, he’s brushing eerily close to Enya-like New Agey stuff; the next, he’s gone the full-on tribal route; after that it’s a bit of jazz and and is mixing it all together for some dance club anthems. If that weren’t enough, he’s been collaborating lately with the likes of Bjork, Massive Attack, and Brian Eno, among others. He even recently set up his own label, 30 Heart Records. You can check out some of his insane and across-the-board musical accomplishments right now at Red Bull Music Academy Radio.

Music Throbbing Gristle : Bizarre, and Proud Of It

by Shop Keeper

December 9, 2010 - 11:49 am

With names like “Slug Bait Part 1″ and “Zyklon B Zombie”, you get the idea of what Throbbing Gristle is gonna give ya. The legendary UK industrial/bizarro/electronic rock band, along with acts like Killing Joke, could technically be called pioneers of the industrial sound, as they got their start way back in the late 70s and early 80s (if that claim isn’t completely obvious, they even took the time to name one of their songs “Industrial Intro”).

Whew. That’s no small feat, seeing as how if you listen to their music, it’s a wonder how they’ve managed to stay alive so long — in today’s world of Lady Gagas and emo bands, most people would run screaming from their stereos if they were to put this on. But they’ve also got a little bit of goth-tinged rock in there — think Sisters of Mercy would be the closest I could come as far as comparison — though they found favor with the likes of Cabaret Voltaire and Sparta as well. Fans of Pigface and Chemlab may also find favor with their strange, eclectic noises.

Read the full story →

Music The Black Seeds Sow Messages of Hope

by Shop Keeper

October 18, 2010 - 10:02 am

Packed with positive messages, powerful dubs and pulsing and quick-paced rhythms, The Black Seeds are already being heralded as part of “the forefront of the New Zealand reggae/roots scene” — and damned if I knew there was even such a thing — but after hearing this 8-piece, all of whom provide a spectacular cacophony of drums, keyboards, bongos, trumpets, and one of the best voices in modern reggae, I’m on board.

From the Wailers-tinged, slowed-down, brassed-up groove of “Send a Message” to the more Specials-ized “Rotten Apple,” and the Funkadelic-ish “Afrophone”, you’ve got a reggae group which has wisely — if brazenly — chosen to wear their influences much like they wear their emotions: unabashed, on their sleeves, and touting a hopeful outlook on life in songs like “Love is a Radiation”, “One Step at a Time, ” and “Strugglers,” which hopes that the listener will “give what they can” and be a contributing member of society even throughout their own respective hardships.

The point is: This is great, if somewhat rehashed, modern reggae, and you can get a little of the new and a lot of the old right now on Red Bull Music Academy Radio. As a random side note, Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie is one of the original members of The Black Seeds. It’s kind of interesting to hear his somewhat-more-serious side, and hearing yet another facet of his multi-talented musical personality come out.

Music Tortoise: Slow, Mid-Paced, and Ludicrous Speed

by Shop Keeper

October 14, 2010 - 9:49 am

Whaddya get when you mix indie experimentalism and bizarre, electronica noise with what could be the soundtrack to a Luis Bunuel or Fellini flick? While a great many of their songs admittedly do crawl along at a sluggish pace, Tortoise’s name may still be somewhat of a misnomer. But with the diverse musical terrain these boys cover, I found it difficult to distract myself. For those of you with 2-second attention spans like me, just pushing ahead to the next track guarantees a new universe of influences, soundscapes and harmonies. You’ll even get some crazy-fast dance beats in there if you’re patient.

And despite their seemingly endless network of connections throughout the Chicago indie scene, this genre-defying/defining quintet is still miles ahead of the pack. It’s almost like watching one of those above-mentioned film auteurs: what seems most frightening can sometimes be the most fun, in that it’s challenging, perhaps even enlightening. Tortoise explores and embraces manifold musical directions, all in a sort of seamless transmogrification, and what began as irritation and annoyance becomes a sort of charming idiosyncrasy: The staccato pluck of guitar strings until it becomes a singular meandering drone — it will grow on you. The static humming of a television on after-hours, basic cable — you’ll see how it compliments the insane 6/5 time signature and jazz drumming. The missing vocals — c’mon. Live a little, will ya?

Crawl if you must, but get yourself over to Red Bull Music Academy now for a little character-building — and an exploratory, sprawling live set.

Music Chilly Gonzales: A Movie With No Plot

by Shop Keeper

October 12, 2010 - 10:24 am

Chilly Gonzales trumps himself as a “musical genius” right out of the gate on his Fireside Chat on Red Bull Music Academy Radio, so he’d better have the chops to back it up. (Though lately he prefers to announce his tagline as un génie musicale“, seeing as how he’s living in Paris.) Yeah, the guy is very tongue-in-cheek about the whole thing, but he can actually back a lot of it up: he’s already been in the Guinness Book of World Records for longest continuous piano concert (27 hours, to be precise), and got his start early with the band Son, a three-piece, Elvis Costello-y group which sparked enough interest in the executives at Warner Bros. to get them picked up.

They had a small hit with “Pick Up The Phone,” which earned them some noteworthy success in their Canadian homeland, as well as gigs opening for The Barenaked Ladies. Known as Jason Beck then, Chilly always seemed uncomfortable with his heritage, and, according to his Wikipedia page, “developed [the pseudonym Chilly Gonzales] into his popular stage persona as a ‘Jewish supervillain MC’.”

Just to drive the point home, Beck/Gonzales also helped pen a song for his band Son called “Making a Jew Cry”, much to the irk of some peeps at Warner. But despite what may be a somewhat self-loathing attitude, Chilly has been able to apply his multi-talented musical abilities to all kinds of different scenarios: throwing concerts at legendary music halls, helping craft remixes for other artists, shooting his own feature film, and spending recent years working with such renowned artists as Leslie Feist and Peaches. Recently he signed with Mercury Records, and is headed back into the studio.

So there ya go. But perhaps Chilly puts it best himself, when he announces: “I’m a movie with no plot, written in the back of a piss-powered taxi…I’m an imperial armpit, sweating with Chianti…I’m a toilet with no seat, flushing tradition down…I AM EUROPE.”

Music Build an Ark, Make Love on a Boat

by Shop Keeper

October 4, 2010 - 10:34 am

This won’t be the first time you hear me say this about a band, but before I checked them out on Red Bull Music Academy Radio, I had no idea who Build an Ark was. I went searching for more on them, who’s built a super-diverse musical fanbase in the likes of Harry Belafonte, Carlos Nino, and Pharoah Sanders. It came up relatively fruitless — all I could find was a song sung over and over again by different Christian vocal groups. Makes sense, I guess — but this Build an Ark is the brainchild of jazz trombonists Phil Ranelin and Dwight Trible, and the talent they share between the 30+or so members the band packs on stage at one time is nothing short of staggering.

BAA is a conglomeration of different elements of (all kinds of ) the aforementioned jazz, funk, and soul, but eschew the traditional way of composing in favor of a more Crosby, Stills, and Nash/Grateful Dead route a bit in that their performance is primarily exploratory, jam-based, of the soul. And jaw-droppingly at that.

But perhaps most endearing is their message of LOVE, which they extol so relentlessly in their live performances — and if you listen to the show live below, you’ll get a bit of a taste of it, not to mention what virtuosos they are. Especially since for this particular performance, since they had to make arrangements to re-adjust that normally 30-piece band amongst about 8 members. The fact that they can convey such emotion on such a small stage with such a smaller group is no easy feat, so be sure to check ‘em out.

Music Delphic Help Keep Manchester Alive

by Shop Keeper

September 27, 2010 - 11:34 am

If you’ve never seen 24 Hour Party People, you might not know the incredibly important effect the Manchester Scene had on U.K. dance/New Wave, especially in the early 80s. And if you have, then the extent of your knowledge still might be a little iffy — for many, it dwindles after the Happy Mondays’ Forty-Five E.P. and New Order’s early days with Tony Wilson and Factory Records. All that said, Delphic is among the newest in the Manchester scene’s legions of post-New Wave brilliance, a trio that mixes the dance-pop of New Order with the catchy rock and pop of The Stone Roses, and the sweet, sometimes sappy symphonic sounds of post-Smiths Morrissey. I’m quite the lad for saying it… but they’re lovely. Ugh, I need to take a shower! But the band’s possibly the newest of the new — less than a year and a half on the UK scene, in fact — and within a few months managed to attract the attention of Polydor and a few other big labels. Even though I’m used to slam-dancing and other primal and sopho-moronic acts, these songs really just make me want to go frolic in a field. After watching 24HPP though, it would preferably be under the influence of any number of illegal substances. Right now, Red Bull Music Academy Radio will suffice.