VIDEO: Raekwon - "Catalina"

The video isn't really all that great, it's not the strongest cuts from Only Built 4 Cuban Linkz II, and the song should probably be called "Criminology II" (In fact, I think it was at one point), but as far as I'm concerned this is still worthwhile for all those who are 25 and older and yet still have held some small measure of hope for hiphop (sometimes I don't know why either mane) for two reasons.

1. Rae effectively designated this album the sequel to a previous classic work of his...and it totally lived up to the hype (unlike another NYC rapper who fucked this up...twice).

2. The beat is Dr. Dre doing his best RZA impression...and doing it pretty well. Maybe a non-shitty comeback is in the cards for him as well? Haha, just kidding...can you really comeback once you start making Dr. Pepper commercials?

Johnny Cash - Holy Land edition

For those who are true Johnny Cash obsessives, I found Cash's 1972 film production "The Gospel Road" about the life of Jesus, on YouTube, in its entirety. (This clip is Part I, but keep clicking at the suggested links and you'll find the rest).



Cash made the movie, I believe, with a lot of his own money. The production is still pretty cheap. I post it because it was filmed entirely in Israel and employs local sites. Sometimes this gets kinda absurd, particularly in the scene where Jesus preaches at Capernaum, which is a real archaelogical site with a 1st century synagogue. Unfortunately, Cash and co. took this very literally, and Jesus goes ahead and preaches at a ruin of a 1st century synagogue rather than what that synagogue would have looked like in his own time, aka an intact structure. It's a bit like making a movie about gladiators and filming it in the ruins of the Colosseum rather than a recreation of what the structure would have looked like in Roman times. Also, the wedding at Qana is portrayed as a Jewish Yemeni celebration replete with a rendition of Im Nin'alu which was written in the 19th century. Finally, the movie is populated by extras straight out of Israel circa 1973 - ridiculous sideburns galore. But beside that, great great music albeit heavy-handed religious messages. The film was circulated among churches in the U.S. and played for youth groups, from what I've read. This was the same year as both Godspell and Jesus Christ, Superstar so J.C. was having a good year, I'd say.

Oh, and Mary Magdalene, played by June Carter Cash. Enjoy!

(VIDEO) Future of the Left - "Arming Eritrea" Live

Fuck. Yes. Chicago, brace yourself.

One More Bandwagon to Hop On!

Great news! Oh, Sweet Nothing is now on Blip.fm. What does that mean? Well, from what I gather it's like twitter for music. So even when I'm too lazy to write up a post (and I can be one lazy ass dude), there'll be tunes that I'm into at the moment for you to check out! So sign up and become a listener of Oh, Sweet Nothing!

Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age

As far as epiphanies go, "Man, I reeeally fucking love Queens of the Stone Age!" will probably not be the most profound declaration you hear this month...or probably today. But after listening to one of their albums everyday for almost a week, I came to this realization late last week. When I actually thought upon it, there's really no mystery why...I can't really think of any band around today that does such a great job toeing the line between the heavy and the melodic (especially their first three albums). I'm not saying anything earth-shattering...I know...and given that they regularly fill arenas these days, clearly there are tons of people out there that agree with me.

So why bother with a blog post? Well, in my opinion their best work is on their self-titled first album. And the album art absolutely KILLS. And it's out of print. And guess what I hate. Collector culture in music. Fuck paying some nerd $40 (about the going rate for this album) for an album that he's (it's definitely a dude) probably never going to listen to simply because it'd "ruin the value" or some stupid shit like that. The artist doesn't make shit off of that sale anyway. So here's the entire album free of charge. Enjoy.

Queens of the Stone Age - Queens of the Stone Age

Egyptian Treasures

It's been awhile since I dropped in with a new post. This week there was a good reason for the delay as I spent a few days in Cairo - a short 8-hour drive from the southernmost point in Israel. On our long drive through the Sinai, my group was accompanied by a guide who shared with us his Ipod where I was exposed for the first time to the awesome music of Mohamed Mounir, an Egyptian pop musician from Aswan. Mounir is big enough that he has become a "World Music" star over the past decade. It's not these later recordings that interested me, however, but rather the stuff from the beginning of his career in the late 1970s. In fact, his first album from 1977, Alemouny Eikiny, has one of my new jamz, the title track itself. This is seriously hard funk with a great horn section. If you want to know more about my new favorite Nubian, here's a pretty thorough bio.


For now, here's that track - Alemouny Eikiny (Your Eyes Taught Me), which unfortunately cuts off at 2:11. (If anyone can link or send me a full version, I have no idea how to get this properly) (via Z-Share).


Any blog post about Egyptian music would be remiss if it failed to include a reference to the legendary Um Kulthum, the first lady of Egypt. When I was in the Cairo bazaar this week, I was fortunate enough to pick up an old 1960s songbook of her music (the above picture). Kulthum is the musician of Egypt and can still sell records even 34 years after her death. Her material is in the Egyptian classical vein, meaning long, long songs (sometimes an hour) and dramatic singing style with the backing of full orchestra, but it's really haunting and beautiful as well. Rather than attempt to post a single, I'll link to this decent bio (ignore the mildly NSFW belly-dancing stuff) and a blog-post from DJ/Rupture which has a live 1965 album you can stream.

VIDEO: Titus TV (Episode IV)

Titus Andronicus' The Airing of Grievances has been one of my favorite rock albums of the past few years (yeah really...go buy it now). Accordingly, I had long been working on a post singing their praises. Unfortunately I was...occupied...all summer and the post ended up disappearing into the netherworld of blog "drafts". So posting this makes me feel a little bit better. Life on the road with one of the best up and coming bands we've got people, so enjoy. Oh and the bonus that called my attention to the video occurs around minute 13, when long time friend and a former radio co-host of mine shows up in the video to (drunkenly) sum up my feelings towards the band perfectly. Atta boy Marco. And go New Jersey.

VIDEO: A Place To Bury Strangers - "In Your Heart"

First single from their upcoming album, Exploding Head, to be released in October on Mute. Pretty straightforward APTBS here, but it has me excited for the album to drop all the same.

Popcorn!

So I am currently living in Israel for the next few months, and in honor of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - decided to post about the greatest Israeli cultural export. No, not Natalie Portman, I'm referring to Gershon Kingsley, a former Kibbutznik and electronic-music pioneer who is probably most famous for writing Popcorn. Kingsley was born in Weimar Germany in 1922 and immigrated to then-Palestine in 1938 where he learned piano and played jazz in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. In 1946, he moved to L.A., studied at Cal Arts and then migrated to New York where he made a name for himself in musical theatre. In 1966, he undertook a series of albums, first with collaborator Jean-Jacques Perrey and then with his own quartet, in early electronic music. It's these albums that I want to shine a light on.

Kingsley and Perrey's first album - The In-Sound from Way Out - is decent, but I'm most partial to their third album which better incorporated The Moog (pictured above in an early incarnation) than their first two efforts - Music to Moog By.

Two stand-out tracks. First off, "Hey Hey" which was later sampled by RJD2 for "The Horror."


And then, because I can't resist - the original Popcorn. This predates the version later recorded by Hot Butter, a band Kingsley's quartet members would form in the early 1970s. I find this to be the superior version - a more sophisticated, if less dancy, arrangement.


UPDATE: Because I thought this was kinda cool, the composer himself, Gershon Kingsley, playing a very melodic and arguably moving rendition of Popcorn on his grand piano.

Shana Tova!

Peter, Paul, and ...

Mary Travers (aka Mary of Peter, Paul and Mary) died today. I hate to make this blog seem like an obituary page, but this merits mention. The New York Times has a pretty good obit which doesn't shy from noting that Peter, Paul and Mary was a manufactured band, not unlike 'NSync as imagined by Lou Pearlman, but, um... they performed at the March on Washington!

Anyway, I have my own particular association with the group, as my little sister when she was 4-years-old had their kids' album "Peter, Paul & Mommy Too" and listened to it non-stop for over a year (I think it helped her go to sleep). At the time, I hated that tape, but today I get really excited when I hear "Pastures of Plenty" and "Somagwaza" - the former more entertainingly rendered than the Woody Guthrie original. Mary really comes through on that song, singing lead. May she rest in peace.