scissorkick

Let someone else drive for a change. Take a nice full pull from the peace pipe and soak up the rolling greens and foothills that pass like an animated Bob Ross landscape.Yes, that surely is the smell of Spring slowly creeping in and it's time to get out of this concrete metropolis and head to the hills. Before you do that however, I'd strongly advise you to add Chimp Beams to your roadtrip playlist. Freshly handed-off by SK friend Mari himself this past weekend, the new Chimp Beams single "Menina" is a welcome suprise with it's soft acoustic guitar loop and building waves of ambience. Sort of like a fireside jam circa 2112. Another addition to the upcoming "Happy Guitars" mix that will be posted this summer for certain. If you enjoyed some recent posts, this should not dissapoint. And don't forget, NYC-area readers, do yourself a favor and get to Park Slope next Tuesday for the Mice Parade show. You will NOT be dissapointed!

Posted by Steve at 3/28/2006 11:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

You heard it here first. Brand new track from Doug Scharin and company, also known as him (not to be confused with Bam Margera's overrated metal Finnish pals HIM). Apparently someone with taste at Google has ranked them at the top -- probably only for a short time -- but the new album, Peoples might keep them there for a little while longer. It's hard to describe a record like this in just a few short sentences -- generally an indication of an album that's either fantastic or unlistenable -- but in this case it's definitely the former as Scharin and his newly assembled band roll through their own interpretation of Afrobeat with skill, creativity and above all else a love of music making that is clearly communicated on each track. Sometimes they suffer from their own boundless creativity, getting too caught up in an odd time signature here, or an overwrought likembe (finger piano) solo there, but the bottom line is that this is music for music lovers. It's nearly impossible not to find something endearing on Peoples. Maybe it's a sign that as we get older and our palettes expand, we temper and refine our criticisms of music, and hold onto a more human aspect of the creative process. You see, him always seems to bring the sleeping hippie out of me. But damn if I'm not excited to see these motherfuckers on stage. No duo brings it like Pierce and Scharin on battling kits.

him :: "What's Up Tonight"

Posted by Steve at 3/14/2006 10:27:00 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Every so often a 7" drops that leaves my jaw on the floor and birds spinning around my skull. I had heard of Lefties Soul Connection from appearances on some compilations of new funk. But it wasn't until this cover of DJ Shadow's classic "Organ Donor" (the track that heavily samples Giorgio Moroder's "Tears") that their raw funk really caught my attention. Raw might be an understatement: This is straight fetal funk. So raw it hasn't even been born yet. That's how raw this shit is. And when the cowbell comes in like 2:15 into the track, there's no way you'll be thinking "more cowbell." Bottom line is, if you are a fan of the original -- and who isn't -- you definitely want to grab this immediately. But put on the oven mitts, this one is sizzling... Resources

Posted by Steve at 3/02/2006 06:39:00 PM | Permalink | Comments