The Young Mothers unveil crazy new single – “Jazz Oppression.”

The Young Mothers share “Jazz Oppression” track from forthcoming album Morose

 Avant Jazz/Hip-Hop/Punk Rock hybrid featuring ex-MF Doom, Nenah Cherry, ex-White Denim, Shape of Broad Minds, Free Radicals members
Hear & share “Jazz Oppression” (Soundcloud)(Austin Chronicle)

“A sound that blends free jazz and hip-hop, seeing no distance between them… Latin fuses with African fuses with European and on and on until there is no distinction. This uncompromising group of players delivers an unforgettable listening experience that listeners will doubtless be parsing for some time to come.” — PopMatters
“One of the most interesting and original acts in Texas — perhaps the entire planet,” — Austin Chronicle
Austin, TX musical iconoclasts The Young Mothers share a new track from their forthcoming sophomore album today in an interview with Austin Chronicle. Hear and share “Jazz Oppression” HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.)
 
PopMatters recently premiered album opener “Attica Black” HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.)
The band is currently in Europe wrapping up a summer tour before heading to Canada for a couple of shows. See current dates below.
Self Sabotage Records proudly presents Morose, the anticipated follow up by The Young Mothers, a juggernaut of a collective formed in 2012 and featuring a super group of heavy-hitters who have helped steer the direction of creative music in New York, Chicago, Texas, and Scandinavia.
Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (The ThingFree FallAtomic) moved to Austin, Texas in 2009. He’d experimented with stateside living for a few years in Chicago before that, but the city of barbecue, food trucks, and outlaw country music has become his home base. Texas has a deep creative music history, but most Texas improvisers found their notoriety elsewhere, seeking to escape segregation and poverty for a chance to ‘starve a little better’ on the coasts. However, the Texas of 2018 is not the Texas of 1958 and the groundwork for this potent convergence was laid around a decade ago in Houston when Ingebrigt met and linked up with trumpeter/rapper Jawwaad Taylor (Shape Of Broad Minds, MF Doom), and what became a transliteration of his Chicago Sextet into a scrappy Lone Star variant called The Young Mothers has formed a group identity all its own and now has a second album under the belt (their first, A Mothers’ Work Is Never Done was self-released in 2014). Instrumentally The Young Mothers has some similarity with its Windy City relative – in addition to sharing drummer Frank Rosaly and Flaten, the vibraphone chair is held down by percussionist & diabolical vocalist Stefan González (Yells At EelsAkkolyte), and Jason Jackson (Alvin Fielder, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker) on tenor and barry is their saxophone firebrand. Furthermore, the group features guitarist Jonathan Horne (Plutonium Farmers, ex-White Denim) and prolific wordsmith and improviser JAWWAAD on trumpet, electronics, and rhymes, and it is here that structural similarities between the Young Mothers and Flaten’s other folksy-modal projects end.
The Young Mothers was named after a Houston community project for teen mothers (Project Row Houses) that Flaten’s then-partner had been a part of, and while it may strike one as an odd moniker for a group that melds free improvisation, Tejano-inspired horn lines, the long unfurling electricity of surf rock, tough word-science and crust metal vocals, but relocating to a then-unfamiliar locale and birthing/raising a melange of sonic approaches into a working ensemble is not insignificant, if not quite actual motherhood. (On a side note; another strong connection to the Project Row Houses is the Houstonian artist and legendary sculptor Jesse Lott who made the beautiful album art!) Anyways, while they may have exhibited a homespun ricketiness in the beginning, through touring nationwide and after several festival performances and tours in Europe they’ve honed their sound into something truly their own, and one that’s not insignificantly comparable to historical melds in Scandinavian-American-World Music – the work of Don CherryMaffy Falay’s Sevda, and more recent efforts from Two Bands and a Legend and The Cherry Thing successfully merge varied strains of contemporary music with creative improvisation. Flaten’s round, deep tone and precise attack certainly act as an anchor, a fulcrum for sculpted vibraphone resonance, the dry breaks and shimmering floes of Rosaly’s kit, all of which stoke Horne’s flinty guitar and the throaty exhortations of brass and verbal declaration. Check “Black Tar Caviar” for some of the most unruly combinations of threads on this disc; from dual cymbal and tuned gong tempi supporting Jackson’s Gato Barbieri-like burrs, the palette of accents gradually increases until feedback-laden scorch signals a second movement, raps and death howls in tandem against a Cherry-like folk theme and sludgy electric bass grooves/strangled flourishes. It’s a fine microcosm of ten of what The Young Mothers are up to.
And as Håker Flaten tells us; “a lot has changed since I initiated this band in 2012, it has grown into its own thing with a truly collective spirit. I created a monster and its time to let go” – luckily for all of us, this band has stretched its legs further than the Houston/Austin/Dallas triangle and we at Self Sabotage Records are ready to help them to hopefully reach out much further with an album we believe is remarkable! We hope you feel the same.
Morose will be available on LP, CD and download on June 22, 2018 out via Self Sabotage Records (Pre-order at Big Cartel-Self Sabotage).
THE YOUNG MOTHERS TOUR:
06/12 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa
06/13 Hamilton, ON @ Something Else Festival

Artist: The Young Mothers
Album: Morose
Record Label: Self Sabotage Records
Release Date: June 22nd, 2018
01. Attica Black
02. Black Tar Caviar
03. Bodiless Arms
04. Francisco
05. Untitled #1
06. Jazz Oppression
07. Morose
08. Osaka
09. Untitled #2
10. Shanghai
On the Web:
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]

The Young Mothers release “Attica Black” from upcoming album due June 22nd.

The Young Mothers share first track from forthcoming album Morose

 Avant Jazz/Hip-Hop/Punk Rock hybrid featuring ex-MF Doom, Nenah Cherry, ex-White Denim, Shape of Broad Minds, Free Radicals members
Hear & share “Attica Black” (Soundcloud) (PopMatters)

“A sound that blends free jazz and hip-hop, seeing no distance between them… Latin fuses with African fuses with European and on and on until there is no distinction. This uncompromising group of players delivers an unforgettable listening experience that listeners will doubtless be parsing for some time to come.” — PopMatters
Austin, TX iconoclasts The Young Mothers share the first track from their forthcoming sophomore album today via PopMatters. Hear and share “Attica Black” HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.)
The band just wrapped up a handful of Texas dates and will head over to Europe for a summer tour. See current dates below.
Self Sabotage Records proudly presents Morose, the anticipated follow up by The Young Mothers, a juggernaut of a collective formed in 2012 and featuring a super group of heavy-hitters who have helped steer the direction of creative music in New York, Chicago, Texas, and Scandinavia.
Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (The ThingFree FallAtomic) moved to Austin, Texas in 2009. He’d experimented with stateside living for a few years in Chicago before that, but the city of barbecue, food trucks, and outlaw country music has become his home base. Texas has a deep creative music history, but most Texas improvisers found their notoriety elsewhere, seeking to escape segregation and poverty for a chance to ‘starve a little better’ on the coasts. However, the Texas of 2018 is not the Texas of 1958 and the groundwork for this potent convergence was laid around a decade ago in Houston when Ingebrigt met and linked up with trumpeter/rapper Jawwaad Taylor (Shape Of Broad Minds, MF Doom), and what became a transliteration of his Chicago Sextet into a scrappy Lone Star variant called The Young Mothers has formed a group identity all its own and now has a second album under the belt (their first, A Mothers’ Work Is Never Done was self-released in 2014). Instrumentally The Young Mothers has some similarity with its Windy City relative – in addition to sharing drummer Frank Rosaly and Flaten, the vibraphone chair is held down by percussionist & diabolical vocalist Stefan González (Yells At EelsAkkolyte), and Jason Jackson (Alvin Fielder, Pauline Oliveros, William Parker) on tenor and barry is their saxophone firebrand. Furthermore, the group features guitarist Jonathan Horne (Plutonium Farmers, ex-White Denim) and prolific wordsmith and improviser JAWWAAD on trumpet, electronics, and rhymes, and it is here that structural similarities between the Young Mothers and Flaten’s other folksy-modal projects end.
The Young Mothers was named after a Houston community project for teen mothers (Project Row Houses) that Flaten’s then-partner had been a part of, and while it may strike one as an odd moniker for a group that melds free improvisation, Tejano-inspired horn lines, the long unfurling electricity of surf rock, tough word-science and crust metal vocals, but relocating to a then-unfamiliar locale and birthing/raising a melange of sonic approaches into a working ensemble is not insignificant, if not quite actual motherhood. (On a side note; another strong connection to the Project Row Houses is the Houstonian artist and legendary sculptor Jesse Lott who made the beautiful album art!) Anyways, while they may have exhibited a homespun ricketiness in the beginning, through touring nationwide and after several festival performances and tours in Europe they’ve honed their sound into something truly their own, and one that’s not insignificantly comparable to historical melds in Scandinavian-American-World Music – the work of Don CherryMaffy Falay’s Sevda, and more recent efforts from Two Bands and a Legend and The Cherry Thing successfully merge varied strains of contemporary music with creative improvisation. Flaten’s round, deep tone and precise attack certainly act as an anchor, a fulcrum for sculpted vibraphone resonance, the dry breaks and shimmering floes of Rosaly’s kit, all of which stoke Horne’s flinty guitar and the throaty exhortations of brass and verbal declaration. Check “Black Tar Caviar” for some of the most unruly combinations of threads on this disc; from dual cymbal and tuned gong tempi supporting Jackson’s Gato Barbieri-like burrs, the palette of accents gradually increases until feedback-laden scorch signals a second movement, raps and death howls in tandem against a Cherry-like folk theme and sludgy electric bass grooves/strangled flourishes. It’s a fine microcosm of ten of what The Young Mothers are up to.
And as Håker Flaten tells us; “a lot has changed since I initiated this band in 2012, it has grown into its own thing with a truly collective spirit. I created a monster and its time to let go” – luckily for all of us, this band has stretched its legs further than the Houston/Austin/Dallas triangle and we at Self Sabotage Records are ready to help them to hopefully reach out much further with an album we believe is remarkable! We hope you feel the same.
Morose will be available on LP, CD and download on June 22, 2018 out via Self Sabotage Records (Pre-order at Big Cartel-Self Sabotage).
THE YOUNG MOTHERS TOUR:
05/30 Poitiers, FR @ Jazz & Poitiers
05/31 Oslo, NO @ Blå
06/02 Bergen, NO @ Verftet/Nattjazz
06/05 Barcelona, ES @ Sala Artte
06/06 Huesca, Spain @ TBD
06/07 Trieste, IT @ Dobialab
06/08 Novara, IT @ Novara Jazz
06/09 Novara, IT @ Novara Jazz
06/10 Novara, IT @ Novara Jazz
06/12 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa
06/13 Hamilton, ON @ Something Else Festival

Artist: The Young Mothers
Album: Morose
Record Label: Self Sabotage Records
Release Date: June 22nd, 2018
01. Attica Black
02. Black Tar Caviar
03. Bodiless Arms
04. Francisco
05. Untitled #1
06. Jazz Oppression
07. Morose
08. Osaka
09. Untitled #2
10. Shanghai
On the Web:
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

Rewind Review: Miss Red – Murder (2016)

I was listening to BBC 6 Music (arguably the best radio station on the planet) last week when I heard a fiery MC with wicked flow, an accent I couldn’t place, and a killer dub/dancehall beat behind her.  I immediately opened my Shazam app and discovered I was listening to Tel Aviv’s Miss Red, teamed up with Kevin “The Bug” Martin.  I searched for more than the track I was hearing, and I found her mixtape – Murder.

Martin provides the weird 16-bit video game-like beats to open the mixtape with “Mad,” and Miss Red is chanting and singing right away with no fear whatsoever as Martin’s beats expand to near-madness levels, almost drowning out Miss Red’s voice.  The title track follows, and it’s a stunner.  If it doesn’t hook you right away, something is wrong with you.  Seriously, get to a doctor, because Red’s squeaky reggae-loving flow is arousing (i.e., “Everywhere I go, the cool get hotter.”).

“No Guns” starts off with horror movie synths before unleashing beats thicker than Leatherface.  The contrast with Red’s reverb-layered rapping is lovely and shocking at the same time.  Martin takes his beats and synths straight into industrial territory on “What Would You Like” while Red sings about sex hot enough to match Martin’s beats.

“Rollercoaster” builds like the machine of its title creeping up the first hill toward a possibly terrifying plunge, but it leaves you stuck at the top in time for “Ganja Man” to come along and either relax you while you’re at the top of the hill or make you more paranoid.  I’m not sure which.  Martin’s beats are a bit “bad trip,” but Red’s vocals are like a scalp massage.  “Sugar” might be about drugs or, to be frank, the taste of Red’s…kisses.  Yeah, let’s go with that.  One thing’s for certain, I’ll go with Martin’s beats all day long on this track.  They’re thick as sorghum and slippery as butter cream icing.

“Lean Back” starts with an air raid siren that morphs into Red’s hypnotizing vocals as she encourages us to relax, listen to good music, and put aside our differences.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t suggest we give up partying or standing up against the Man, because the next song is called “Trash It.”  Martin’s beats sound like distorted rubber bands and Red’s rhymes grow like the She-Hulk.  “Fever” begins with a shimmering harp notes until Martin’s Donkey Kong-stomp beats unload on you.  Red’s vocals swirl around you like smoky ghosts.

Martin keeps surprising you with his loud bursts of synths and beats on “Pull It Up” while Red squeaks, chants, and rhymes in praise of her selector (That’s a Jamaican term for DJ, in case you didn’t know).  Microphone feedback is used as percussion in “Leggo,” and Red stage whispers her creepiest vocals on the album.

The opening of “1 Dog Shot” sounds like a particularly grating alarm clock.  Trust me, you’ll appreciate the wake-up call because Red bursts into the track like she’s crashing through a window on a rope while firing an Uzi.  The beginning of the last track, “Come Down,” almost sounds like a dog barking in a far-off room, and I’m sure that’s no coincidence.  Martin’s beats sound like a pressure cooker ticking off steam and Red hopes that someone will come down and pick her up, perhaps from her blues, perhaps from this plane of existence, or perhaps from the local club for a nightcap.  It fades out quick, so it seems she got her wish.

Murder is hard to describe because it sounds like dancehall, but it also sounds like industrial madness, dubstep trip-outs, and psychedelic dream wave.  In other words, it sounds like something you need to hear right now.  Miss Red’s first album, K.O., is out this July and is already high on my list as something I need to snag as soon as it’s available.

As if Murder wasn’t good enough, Miss Red offers it for free download through her website and her Bandcamp page.  You can’t miss.

Keep your mind open.

 

Ric Wilson releases new single from “Banba” EP due May 18th.

Ric Wilson Shares “Sinner” (feat. Kweku Collins, Nick Kosma & Rane Raps)
https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme/sinner-feat-kweku-collins-rane-raps-nick-kosma/

New EP, BANBA, Out May 18th on Innovative Leisure

(photo credit: Michael Salisbury)

“Ric Wilson Turns a Crisis of Conscious Into Charming Funk-Rap” — Pitchfork, on “Split”

“With his witty wordplay laid over soulful instrumentals, Wilson produces some of the most exciting new music to come out of Chicago.” — Chicago Tribune’s Red Eye

“If you’ve yet to experience the jubilance of Ric Wilson, jump back and get familiar with one of our favorite young guns in the game.” — Okayplayer
Chicago’s own Ric Wilson is set to release his new EP, BANBA, on May 18th via Innovative Leisure. Today, he’s pleased to share the project’s newest single, “Sinner” (feat. Kweku Collins, Nick Kosma & Rane Raps), which premiered earlier this morning via Complex.

“No one’s perfect. We’re all a shit show, trying to be better people everyday,” says Ric. “This song is about trying to get there.

Me and Kweku have been friends for years and have always been talking about doing a song together, I finally reached out and sent a track that I thought made sense. That’s usually how stuff goes in Chicago.”

A 22 year-old community activist and artist based on the Southside of Chicago, Ric got his start with the legendary YCA (Young Chicago Authors), the Chicago-based storytelling and poetry organization which helped launch the likes of Saba, Jamila Woods, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Noname, and many others. BANBA is Wilson’s first release since 2017’s acclaimed Negrow Disco EP (stream here).

For those in the Chicago area, Ric will celebrate BANBA with a special EP release show at Lincoln Hall on Sat. June 2nd. Tickets are on-sale now.

Listen to “Sinner” (feat. Kweku Collins, Nick Kosma & Rane Raps) — 
https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme/sinner-feat-kweku-collins-rane-raps-nick-kosma/

Listen to “Split” (feat. Sen Morimoto) — 
https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme/split-feat-sen-morimoto-prod-hirsh-2/s-FcagV

Pre-order BANBA — 
http://smarturl.it/ricwilson_BANBA

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

If you’ve ever fretted over staying in a relationship, Ric Wilson has written a song for you- “Split”

Ric Wilson Announces New EP, BANBA, Out May 18th on Innovative Leisure

Listen To “Split” (feat. Sen Morimoto)
https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme/split-feat-sen-morimoto-prod-hirsh-2/s-FcagV

(BANBA EP cover art)

“…his work is grounded in political awareness and confident poetics. Yet more than anything, he seems interested in conveying his own personality through his music—both as a recording artist and as an entertainer.” — Noisey

“If you’ve yet to experience the jubilance of Ric Wilson, jump back and get familiar with one of our favorite young guns in the game. — Okayplayer

“He may be just old enough to drink, but it feels like he’s been making music for decades.” — Mass Appeal

“With his witty wordplay laid over soulful instrumentals, Wilson produces some of the most exciting new music to come out of Chicago.” — Chicago Tribune’s Red Eye
Chicago’s own nouveau disco-rap superstar, Ric Wilson, is pleased to announce his new EP, BANBA, out May 18th on Innovative Leisure. A 22 year-old community activist and artist based on the Southside of Chicago, Ric got his start with the legendary YCA (Young Chicago Authors), the Chicago-based storytelling and poetry organization which helped launch the likes of Saba, Jamila Woods, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Noname, and many others. The EP’s first single, “Split,” premiered earlier this morning via Noisey.

“I wrote ‘Split’ in the middle of a relationship that was going south,” says Ric. “The song is about how sometimes the best decisions you’ll make in life are the ugliest and hardest, but the healthiest for you.”

BANBA is Wilson’s first release since 2017’s acclaimed Negrow Disco EP (stream here). “When I dropped out of college to do music, I caught myself trying to explain the music I do in a different light than what it really was because I was scared of other people’s perception of my ‘rap music,’ Ric says. “I feel like people don’t appreciate rap as an actual art form, which is insane because there’s an art to rhyming, every beat is a colorful canvas and every lyric and rhyme is a stroke of mine.”

As for the EP’s cover, it’s “an ode to Basiqaut and Hebru Brantley who are my favorite visual artists,” says Ric. I want people to feel like they’re in a Basiqaut and Brantley-inspired painting when they’re listening to this EP.”

Listen to Ric Wilson’s “Split” (feat. Sen Morimoto) — 
https://soundcloud.com/ricwilsonisme/split-feat-sen-morimoto-prod-hirsh-2/s-FcagV

Pre-order BANBA
https://ricwilson.bandcamp.com/album/banba

Download hi-res images & album art — http://pitchperfectpr.com/ric-wilson/

(“Split” single cover art)

Artist Site | Soundcloud | Instagram | Twitter | Innovative Leisure

Keep your mind open.

D-Tension: The Violence of Zen

Boston-based MC and hip hop producer D-Tension is back with another album of killer beats, wicked lyrics, and righteous indignation.

The album starts with “Fresh,” which itself starts with a sample of someone saying, “Beats are the worst.  Nobody likes beats.”  D-Tension then proceeds to slice and dice through jaw-dropping beats provided by DJ Emoh Betta.  D-Tension is “Fresh like Febreeze” when he enters a room, and immediately gets your attention with his skills.  “Godly” brings rhymes from indie rappers Diamond D and A.G.  Diamond talks of being godly on the mic and D-Tension warns other MC’s of faking it (“This hip hop shit’s much more than a hobby.”).  A.G. proclaims he was “resurrected between Third and Cypress,” name checking other hip hop gods out of respect.

“What Happen to That” (featuring Akrobatik on guest vocals) is a groovy track with D-Tension reminiscing about “when bad meant good” and when you could still hook up to free electricity at the basketball court and throw your own party there.  He admits it wasn’t all great times, however, and how things are much different now.  “Landlord Song” is a great example of D-Tension’s humor as he blasts his landlord for renting him a place with broken air conditioning, plumbing leaks, and gouging him on rent.

“Do You Comprehend” is a sizzler with guest vocalists Pace Won and M Dot.  The looped baritone sax is great, as are the rhymes – such as Pace Won thinking his life is so screwed up he should just chuck hip hop and go play for the Lions or Rams.  “Deal with the Devil” isn’t another song about D-Tension’s lease with his landlord, but rather about how D-Tension takes down inferior MC’s.

“Young Love” is a song about “the ones who got away” and D-Tension’s crushes as far back as fourth grade and being the only Puerto Rican in the small Indiana town where he attended middle school.  It’s all true.  Full disclosure: I was there.  D-Tension and I were pals in middle school.  He was the funniest guy I knew then, and he’s still among the funniest people I know now.

“Scandalize” has D-Tension name checking Bruno Sammartino and Devo in the same verse, so that alone makes the track outstanding.  “Roaches,” with its jazz lounge groove, is, believe it or not, a song about the gentrification of his old neighborhood and D-Tension being baffled at how the hipsters, artists, and new landlords eliminated the pests that plagued him and his friends all their lives.  “Talk White” slams racism, economic inequality, and educational disparity with D-Tension’s slick mic work.

The Rolling Stones loop on “Piss You Off” alone is worth the purchase price of this record as D-Tension admits being “king of the prank” and how much he enjoys ribbing others.  The album ends with “Rosebud,” an ode to D-Tension’s first love – a blue Schwinn bike.

Zen is a path of simplicity.  “Every day life is the path,” as Zen master Nan-Sen once said.  Yet we shouldn’t forget that some Zen masters carried a big stick to crack us across the back to shatter our illusions and bring us back into the moment.  D-Tension acknowledges his past, but doesn’t stay mired there.  He’s too busy making rent money and embracing the now.  The Violence of Zen is his stick waking us from our open-eyed slumber.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll crack you with a stick if it will remind you to subscribe here and now.]

Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 10 – 6

It’s my top 10 of the year.  Who’s here?  Read on for the first five.

#10 – Sleaford Mods – English Tapas

Bold, brash, and at times brutal, this is a punk rock album disguised as a hip hop record.  The minimalist beats get under your skin and the scathing lyrics stick it to the Man, ourselves, and everyone in-between.

#9 – Gary Numan – Savage (Songs from a Broken World)

This industrial powerhouse of a record was a great return for Gary Numan and a fantastic concept album (about life in a post-apocalyptic world) to boot.  It has some great riffs and Numan’s synth work is top-notch.  He shows no signs of slowing or aging.

#8 – Soulwax – From Deewee

Recorded beginning to end in just one take, this amazing record combines three drummers with four other people playing vintage synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers.  It’s an impressive piece of work and it produced one of my favorite singles of the year – “Missing Wires.”

#7 – Honey – New Moody Judy

I picked up this album after hearing just one song from it, “Dream Come Now (another one of my favorite songs of 2017),” and was astounded by the rest of the record.  It’s fierce and chock-full of garage-punk riffs that flatten nearly everything else I’ve heard this year.

#6 – Slowdive – self-titled

This is one of the most beautiful records of the year and marked a big return for not only Slowdive but also the entire shoegaze genre.  Everyone wondered how this record would sound once Slowdive announced their reunion, and it exceeded everyone’s expectation.  It’s easily the best shoegaze release of 2017.

Who makes the top five?  Tune in on New Year’s Day to find out!

Keep your mind open.

[It’s not too late to subscribe this year.]

Sleaford Mods – English Tapas

I’d heard a lot of good things about Sleaford Mods, one of the best being that they were Iggy Pop‘s new favorite band.  That alone makes them worth a listen, but if you come for the Iggy Pop suggestion, stay for what might be the most punk record you’ve heard all year…and there doesn’t appear to be a single guitar on it.  It’s just Jason Williamson‘s half-rap, half-stream of consciousness social commentary and Andrew Fearn‘s minimalist electronic beats.  When you first hear a Sleaford Mods song, you might think, “This shouldn’t work.”  Yet, it does.  It does every fucking time.

English Tapas, the band’s newest, is a punch to the gut of subjects like Brexit, working class blues, one-percenters, consumerism, Donald Trump, hipsters, and everything else currently annoying.  The album title itself is a play on the gentrification of working class neighborhoods.

Opener “Army Nights” has them taking down weekend partiers.  Fearn’s electro-bass is instantly addictive, as are most of his beats.  They get stuck in your head and you find yourself humming them throughout the day.  “Just Like We Do” has Williamson making fun of music snobs.  “You walk around like a twat, just like we do,” he says, not caring about people who dwell on past accomplishments.

“Moptop” has Williamson worrying that he can’t cope with what’s happening around him (mostly having to deal with inane bands, internet overload, and annoying British politicians) while Fearn’s synth-bass gets downright groovy.  It’s even groovier on “Messy Everywhere,” as Williamson sings about people being stuck in dead end jobs (“First it’s this, then it moves on to that…”) yearning to get out and shake up things.

I love how Fearns loops crickets chirping in “Time Sands” to mock the crickets in our heads as we see chaos and inequality all around us yet we stand and often do nothing.  Williamson warns us that time, and history, is passing by us so we’d better “turn it upside-down” by getting off our asses and making our voices heard (or at least lending a hand now and then).  “Snout” immediately trashes people creating perfect, fake images of themselves to project to the world via social media.  “Felt like I was trying to be trendy, when I’m not,” Williamson says.  “I don’t fuck about, I’m making sure I don’t give my kids anything to feel fucking embarrassed about.”  Preach it, Jason.  Seriously, this might be the angriest track I’ve heard all year.

“Drayton Manored” refers to an amusement park in Staffordshire, England and is a funny song about Williamson and Fearns lamenting about a long trip there and all the odd looks and attitudes they receive there.  “Carlton Touts” has Williamson flat-out referring to English politicians and ticket touts (scalpers, as we call them here in the U.S.) as “fat bastards.”  “Cuddly” has slick beats from Fearns that any hip hop producer would love to have in their back pocket.  “What does a million quid a week bring when your brain can’t tell your legs to kick the fuckin’ thing?” Williamson asks, making us question our addictions – whatever they may be (iPhones?  Drugs?  Booze?  Recognition?).

“Dull” lashes out at those who voted for Brexit (“Safe bet, all the oldies vote for death.”) and “B.H.S.” is a lament for over eleven thousand people who lost their jobs (and more lost their pensions) when a British businessman, Sir Philip Green, bankrupted the B.H.S. department store chain and skated to the Mediterranean with hundreds of millions of pounds.  “I Feel So Wrong” has Williamson feeling conflicted over his own success with a chorus of him repeating the song’s title and lyrics like “I looked at myself tonight, I know I’m richer.  It turns itself inside and burns that little bit deeper.”

This is one of the smartest, wittiest, best,and most punk albums of 2017.  Sleaford Mods might not be for everyone, but they’re speaking for all of us.

Keep your mind open.

[I don’t have a moptop, but I could use a subscription.]

Top live shows of 2017: #’s 20 – 16

We’ve reached the top 20 live shows I saw this year.  Read on to see who made the cut.

#20 – A Tribe Called Quest – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 15th.

It was one of their first performances without Phife Dawg, and they paid him many great tributes during it.  ATCQ also came to preach and teach, and Q-Tip was absolutely fierce on the mic.  The whole crowd was with them the entire time.

#19 – Cut Copy – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 25th.

Cut Copy were easily the best band we saw on Day 2 of Mamby on the Beach.  They played an energetic set that had the whole beach crowd jumping before it was even halfway done.

#18 – Will Clarke – Mamby on the Beach – Chicago, IL June 24th.

Speaking of great Mamby sets, DJ Will Clarke‘s was our favorite DJ set by far.  He seemed to be having a great time behind the decks and inspired me to dust off my digital turntables.

#17 – Nicolas Jaar – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.

We ended our Pitchfork experience with Nicolas Jaar, and it was a lovely, trippy way to end the festival.  He created a neat soundscape that drifted and swirled around the crowd like a warm fog.

#16 – Derrick Carter – Pitchfork Music Festival – Chicago, IL July 16th.

If you need a boost to start your final day of a big music festival, go see Chicago house music DJ legend Derrick Carter.  His set in the early hours of the last day of Pitchfork was outstanding.  Everyone worked up an early sweat and enough energy to make it through the rest of the day.  He put on a clinic.

Who’s in the top 15?  Come back tomorrow to see.

Keep your mind open.

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Public Enemy – Nothing Is Quick in the Desert

The cover to Public Enemy’s new record, Nothing Is Quick in the Desert, features outdated technology ranging from tube TVs and cassettes to an outdated computer and, yes, an iPod classic (like mine). Lit candles circle the items in homage to a time past, which includes some of PE’s classic albums, by the way. The words “Except death” line the bottom of the cover. The desert will reduce you over time, but it will kill you in an instant if you’re unprepared for it. It’s the same with time, and PE are using this record to warn us (again, as we can’t seem to listen) of growing lackadaisical in these tricky times.

The title track has a nice mix of heavy guitar and bass with chimes and piano as Chuck D proclaims “Everybody sellin’, but nobody buyin’” before rolling into “sPEak!” – a slick track encouraging us to use our voices and not let twenty-four hour news cycles and propaganda drown out our concerns (“Speak your mind. Speak. It’s time. Speak your piece. Be free.”).

Flavor Flav throws down a challenge at the beginning of “Yesterday Man” as he proclaims, “You don’t even know who the hell you are.” The song is about those of us who choose to live in (and are thus prisoners of) the past. Chuck D claims many of us want to be a spectacle instead of spectacular. We’d rather be momentarily famous than do something that matters.

“Beat Them All” brings in trance bass as the band sings, “If you can’t join ‘em, you know you gotta beat ‘em.” The song flows well into “Smash the Crowd.” Chuck D puts down some of his best flows on the track (tearing up rappers who’d rather get a quick buck instead of trying to change the world with their art) and I’m sure it’s smashes crowds and clubs live. “So Be It” has Chuck D proclaiming the virtues of “it,” but what is “it?” It’s whatever you believe in, according to him. Only Chuck D could use the word “it” so many times in one song and have it mean a hundred different things. Listen to this track if you’ve forgotten what a master MC sounds like.

“SOC MED Digital Heroin” is heavy on guest stars and warnings about getting “lost in the 1980’s” and becoming lazy thanks to having everything spoon fed to us. Flavor Flav shouts that he’s “shakin’ my damn head” at the proliferation of reality TV (of which, it should be noted, he was a star) and social media. “Terrorwrist” has wicked beats and bass by DJ Lord while Chuck D asks, “How can I make you understand?” – which he’s essentially been asking us since Public Enemy’s first album.

DJ Lord puts down more killer beats and cuts on “Toxic,” while Chuck D asks if MCs can change the world in “this time of 45.” He and Flavor Flav speak about how toxic talk and venomous news cycles have poisoned us. One of the cleverest tracks on the record is “Sells Like Teens Hear It.” It’s a slam on new styles of rap such as mumblecore and trap music. Chuck D likes some of it, but can’t understand why so many teenagers like songs that are essentially empty calories. It also has Flavor Flav’s best rapping on the record. It’s easy to forget that Flav can drop rhymes because he’s the greatest hype man of all time.

The album ends with “Rest in Beats (Parts 1 & 2).” Chuck D laments the losses of so many hip-hop and rap legends from Jam Master Jay to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. It moves onto the loss of record stores, excellent tours, exquisite rapping, rap teams, “the time when you really had to rhyme,” and having everyone together in one studio instead of e-mailing pieces of tracks back and forth. A lot of what made rap so good is a lost art by now.

Thankfully, we still have records like this.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fts-AH9R2yU

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