Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Via

3 Nights of Spectacle and Extravagance: Dubbed In Glamour (1980)

EDIT deAK’S LEGENDARY “DUBBED IN GLAMOUR” STARRING 

DOWNTOWN’S MOST EXTRAVAGANT AND CREATIVE WOMEN, 1980

This poster from a performance at the Kitchen resurrects memories of the incredible cast of women that made downtown New York the most sensational place to be in 1980. Curated by art writer Edit DeAk this spectacle of glamorous, creative gals from Clubland included Tina L’Hotsky, Anya Phillips, Pattie Astor, Cookie Muller, Debbie Harry, Bush Tetras, Vivienne Dick and more. Perhaps most memorable was the performance by Sha-Rock of the Funky Four Plus One, an early instance when Hip-hop crossed over to the downtown art world.

Price available upon request from Gallery 98.
Gallery 98 specializes in art and ephemera from the 1970’s and 80s.

Keep It Under 45: Sean's Music Check-In

Sean Rutkowski checks in with the latest edition of Keep It Under 45 and keeps us contemporary. 
Follow him on Twitter: @keepitunder45.

Goodbye Quarter 1 and now we enter Quarter 2 of 2014.   

Looks like spring is here to stay in Atlanta as we have had multiple days in a row over 70 degrees.   I anticipate the explosion of pollen to happen any week now.

Here are some things I have been listening to the last couple of weeks:

MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA 

I have been a fan of this Atlanta band since their first album.   The new album, "Cope" is more raw than their previous few which I like.  It came out yesterday but I have already have listened to it about 3 times through-which is rare.

Video - "Top Knotch" http://bit.ly/1hAxCOn

METALLICA 

Despite their complete lack of self awareness, being an 80's metal kid, I still have a soft spot in my heart for Metallica.  Whenever I begin to give up on them, Metallica seems to suck me back in with a solid cover.  This is no different, for the new Ronnie James Dio tribute album they did a great melody of Rainbow songs during the Dio years.

Audio - "Ronnie Rising" http://bit.ly/1i2aCUZ

TEMPLES

I am a little late to the party on this one but if you like Tame Impala this English band is definitely worth checking out.

Video - "Mesmerise" http://bit.ly/1jAYoH9

DEAN WAREHAM

Surprisingly this is Dean Wareham from Galaxie 500 & Luna's first proper full length solo album.  It is exactly what you would expect and that isn't a bad thing at all.  A bunch of tracks were produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket.   This is my favorite track so far.

Audio - "Love Is Not A Roof Against The Rain" http://bit.ly/1lneunz  

MILO & OTIS 

I just stumbled upon this track today from Chicago alternative R&B duo.   This song is all about texture and mood.  Very Bon Iverish

Audio - "Neighbors" http://bit.ly/QFMWQt

YOUNG THUG

There isn't any upcoming artist that seems to be getting more press than Young Thug and a lot of it has nothing to do with his music.  The mixtape "Black Portland" came out a few months ago but I have found myself going back to this particular track mainly for it's weird melodies.   There isn't anything out there like it and no matter what you think about this song you will find it sticking in your head like that last bit of peanut butter in the jar.

Audio - "Florida Water" http://bit.ly/1s83K0o

AVA LUNA

After making you listen to Young Thug, I figured I should take it back a few notches for you.   This track is a nice laid back treat.  If you like this song, you should note the album often goes in a few different directions including sounding like Gang Of Four or Wire.

Audio - "PRPL" http://bit.ly/1pRjoJu

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

I found this site that had some interesting things done with cassettes http://bit.ly/QFMYYl

The whole site is pretty great if you are into art & design http://bit.ly/1hhGPGW

I hope you all have a great week!

Keep It Under 45: Sean's Music Check-In, SxSW Edition

Here's the latest from Sean as he checks in, post-SxSW with a new Keep It Under 45 and some righteous tunes. Follow him on Twitter: @keepitunder45.

 

I hope you are all doing well.   It was great to see many of you in Austin & I apologize if I didn't get to see a bunch of you that were there.   Interestingly enough I saw less music than in years past but the good thing is I met a lot of great people and made some new friends.

There were some musical highlights which included watching seminal rap producer NO Joe hanging out with indie rock band Gardens & Villa in a Super 8 motel & him schooling them on the best way to capture sounds.  I also got watch Black Milk perform an electronic set on a boat. The Dallas Hip Hop group A.Dd+  were great live and for the third year in a row I saw Danny Brown  who gets better every time I see him.

Low-lights included the tragedy that happened, non-subtle commercialism and the complete shit show of people throwing up in the streets.

The drive from Atlanta to Austin (and back) gave me time to spend with some records.  Here are some of the ones that stuck out on my road trip.

Lo-Fang - Blue Film

Acoustic-Pop-Electronic...not sure how to describe.  Vocally he sounds like a mix of Sufjan Stevens & at times Eric Matthews-who I love both artists.   I know Pitchfork gave it a crappy review-but screw them, it is a lot better than a lot of other things out there like it. Video - "Look Away" http://bit.ly/1kMikX4

El Barrio Series

When I went to Waterloo I was looking for Senor Soul which was a precursor to the band War-they didn't have it on CD but they did turn me on to the El Barrio series on Fania.  This is collection of of Nuyorican, Afro-Cuban, and salsa music from the 1960s through the 1970s.   If you like bad ass soul music-this is something to invest in.  Being turned on to things like this is what makes going into an actual record store still awesome. Here is a cut from Ray Barretto that is on the Latin Funk volume - http://bit.ly/1lTdK9j

St. Paul & The Broken Bones - Half The City

From Birmingham Alabama-this straight ahead soul band sounds like they could be on the Daptone label + they recorded the album in Muscle Shoals Alabama...you don't get much more soul than that. 

Video - "Don't Mean A Thing" http://bit.ly/1j833CL

Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else

Her last album on Bloodshot was really good...and she delivers on the follow up.   Fine Country punk. Video - "Chris Isaak" http://bit.ly/PUfvt4

The War On Drugs - Lost In A Dream

"Slave Ambient" was one of my favorite albums of 2011.  I think this might make the list for 2014. Video - "Red Eyes" http://bit.ly/1eW0ZX1 

Something additional that is kind of great: 

I found this great site called Kids Interviewing Bands - this is another reason why the Internet is awesome, but kind of  bummed it took me this long to find it.

http://www.kidsinterviewbands.com/

Tons of new & interesting listings now available!

I've just added a whole bunch of very interesting titles to my Amazon store. Have a look here! Or simply click on one of these photos.

Keep It Under 45: Sean's Music Check-In

Sean Rutkowski checks in with the second edition of Keep It Under 45 and some smokin' new tunes. Follow him on Twitter: @keepitunder45. 

The Snow & Ice are starting to melt down here in "Hotlanta".  It has been a brutal winter but we will all soon be complaining of how hot the summer is soon enough.

Are you listening to anything exciting?  Here are some things to try:

De LuxI was turned on to this band who recently put out an EP through Scion http://bit.ly/1me1CUl)  and they have a full length coming is coming out in April. If you wish the Talking Heads were still making music then I think you will like this one.
Single-"Better At Making Time"- http://bit.ly/1bsIM7z

Gardens & Villa
The last album from Gardens & Villa had one of my favorite songs of that year, "Black Hills" (and a pretty great video http://bit.ly/1dLdz9V).  The new album "Dunes" came out a few weeks ago and it is a nice chill album. 
Single-"Colony Glen"  http://bit.ly/1kFgucT

Wild Beast
Wild Beast have already put two songs out there from their album, that comes out in a few weeks called "Present Tense"-very dream pop sounding.   I am looking forward to hearing the whole album as both tracks are really good.
Single-"Sweet Spot"  http://bit.ly/1lKwBDO

Queen Kwong
Though not representative of her in your face heavy live shows, I really like this song from her EP that came out last year.  This video is creepy in that David Byrne/St. Vincent album cover  sort of way.  Note: there is nothing wrong with your video screen.
Single-"Sucker"  http://bit.ly/NGtzoJ

Young Widow
If you are missing the heavy-the new Young Widow album might do the trick.  I have always been a fan and plus everyone needs a little heavy in their life.
Single-"Kerosene Girl" http://bit.ly/1eSLW4V

If you also looking for something to take you down a time sucking rabbit hole check out this site of weird album covers-http://bit.ly/1gA6MDi
I hope you have a great weekend and stay warm!

Keep It Under 45: Sean's Music Check-In

Here's a new feature I'm going to run simply because I'd like to have more NEW music mentioned on Stupefaction, and I can't be arsed to write it myself. Plus there are other people much better at than I am. This is written by a music biz associate, Sean Rutkowski. Follow him on Twitter: @keepitunder45.

Mount Moriah
I am ashamed of myself for missing Mount Moriah on my list of top albums of 2013.  If you like old Dolly Parton then listen to  "Miracle Temple".
Song - "White Sands"  http://bit.ly/1n60HjS

Rose Windows
The album "The Sun Dogs" came out last year also.  I didn't spend as much time with it as other albums but every time it comes up on shuffle, I end up pulling it out and listening to it and wonder why I don't listen to it more.   This album has some really trippy moments that if you like Pink Floyd or Tame Impala you might like this one. The song link is for a live performance on KEXP.
Song - "Walking With A Woman"  http://bit.ly/1gDRLVz

Real Estate
I loved their last album.  The new one is coming out in March and it sounds like from this track they are continuing down the same path-Nice jangly indie pop.
Song - "Talking Backwards"   http://bit.ly/1bhPfMR

I have been spending a lot of time over the last few weeks listening to new hip hop.   Here are some things that I have recently found pretty exciting.

A.Dd+
From Dallas, TX,  A.Dd are tearing it up down there.  The following track comes from their mixtape DiveHiFlyLo.  These guys could be the future of Hip Hop.
Song - "Audio Day Dream"   http://bit.ly/1fBozKY

Rashid Hadee
When you listen to the samples from this rapper & producer from Chicago, you can tell he is someone with a great musical knowledge in the same category as a Common or Lupe Fiasco.
Song - "Don't Care"  http://bit.ly/1kyGjIR

Bonus Track
Here is a link to an educational film from 1956 that shows how albums were made. What is crazy about this is that nearly 60 years later the process of making vinyl (marker 7:00 to 18:00) is pretty much the same.
Video - http://bit.ly/Mp22H7

Endless Art 2013: The Stupefaction obituary round up

Alvin Lee

Hugo Chavez

Bobby Rogers (the Miracles)

Stanley Snadowsky (The Bottom Line)

Richard Street (the Temptations)

Cleotha Staples (Staples Singers)

Magic Slim

Damon Harris (the Temptations)

Kevin Ayers

Tony Sheridan

Mark Kamins

Shadow Morton

Rick Huxley (Dave Clark Five)

Paul Tanner

Donald Byrd

Reg Presley (the Troggs)

Ed Koch

Patty Andrews

Leroy Sugarfoot Bonner (Ohio Players)

Steven Kramer

Stan Musial

Earl Weaver

Jimmy O'Neill (Shindig)

Claude Nobs

Lou Wilson (Mandrill)

Patti Page

Ray Price

Peter O'Toole

Colin Wilson

Joe Bihari (Modern Records)

Jim Hall

Nelson Mandela

Junior Murvin

Dick Dodd (the Standells)

Saul Leiter

Chico Hamilton

Todd Christensen

Lou Reed

Butch Warren

Noel Harrison

John "Gypie" Mayo (Dr. Feelgood)

Ronald Shannon Jackson

Bum Phillips

Gloria Lynne

Roland Janes

Phil Chevron (the Pogues)

Gates Brown

Jim Riecken

Ken Norton

Jackie Lomax

Prince Jazzbo

Murray Gershenz

David Frost

Sid Bernstein

Marian McPartland

Elmore Leonard

Cedar Walton

Haji

Allen Lanier (Blue Oyster Cult)

Jon Brookes (The Charlatans)

Eydie Gorme 

Jody Payne

Karen Black

Cowboy Jack Clement

Tim Wright (Pere Ubu, DNA)

George Duke

Art Donovan

Mick Farren

Maxwell's

Ronnie Cutrone

Walter De Maria 

JJ Cale

Lewis Lymon

T-Model Ford

Peppi Marchello (the Good Rats)

Toshi Seeger

Jim Kelly

William Mysterious (the Rezillos)

Alan Myers (Devo)

Bobby Blue Bland

James Gandolfini

Chet Flippo

Slim Whitman

Darondo

Arturo Vega

Joey Covington (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)

Deacon Jones

Andreas Thein (Propaganda)

Jean Stapleton

Marvin Junior

Ed Shaughnessy

Clarence Burke Jr

Marhsall Lytle

Mulgrew Miller

Mack Emerman (founder of Criteria Studios)

Jean Bach

Trevor Bolder

Ray Manzarek (the Doors)

Taylor Mead

Cedric Brooks

Lonnie Turner (Steve Miller Band)

Jeff Hanneman (Slayer)

George Jones

Cordell “Boogie” Mosson RIP (Parliament Funkadelic)

Richie Havens

Christina Amphlett

Storm Thorgerson

Pat Summerall

Vince Montana Jr.

George Jackson

Jonathan Winters

Jimmy Dawkins

Annette Funicello

Les Blank

Margaret Thatcher

Andy Johns

Harry J

Roger Ebert

Robert Zildjian

Phil Ramone

Deke Richards (Motown)

Paul Williams (Crawdaddy Magazine)

Gordon Stoker (The Jordanaires)

Cyril Green aka Big Chief Ironhorse

Bobby Smith (the Spinners)

The Boston Phoenix

Clive Burr (Iron Maiden)

Peter Banks (Yes)

Bill Allen
Ronnie Biggs
Al Goldstein
Yusef Lateef
Paul Blair

No one can bring it Old Testament like Tom Waits

And now for something completely different, producer Guy Hajjaj has put together an excellent tribute album to Tom Waits entitled Shirim Meshumashim which translates to Used Songs. The catch is that all of the songs have been translated, and are performed in Hebrew. And what do you know? It works!

Stream some below, or listen to the whole thing on Bandcamp here. The album can be downloaded there as well at a "pay what you want" rate. L'chaim!

New Documentary of Note: McCrea 1971

Thanks to This Ain't The Summer of Love, I'm able to tell you about this very interesting new documentary by filmmakers Nicholas Brilleaux and Scott Caro, due to premiere in October in Hammond, LA, at the Fanfare Festival.

McClean 1971 tells the tale of a still born rock festival that should have/could have been one of the all time greats - just look at the advertised line up above! Check out the trailer below, and visit the film's official website.

Obituaries of Note: Ronnie Cutrone, Walter De Maria, JJ Cale

by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Ronnie Cutrone 

Walter De Maria

JJ Cale

The Periodic Table of Rock & Roll

Source

Three throwbacks for summer (selected by Kyle)

Weekend "Summer Days"

Durutti Column "Sketch For Summer"

The Style Council "Long Hot Summer"

Edwyn Collins: New single & video from Understated

Edwyn Collins' latest single, "Too Bad (That's Sad)," from his recent album, Understated, gets the video treatment...northern soul groove ahoy! It features his son, Will, on bass, and Paul Cook on drums. Visit his label website here.

Archive of Contemporary Music - Summer Sale 2013

Well, its that time of year again. Time for the first of two 2013 sales at the Archive of Contemporary Music...a place I volunteer at from time to time, and a place that's fun to hang out at. If you happen to be in New York between June 8 and June 16, you're in luck. The Archive is a great place to pick up some good vinyl (amongst other things) at very reasonable prices. The sale gets off to it's start in the usual manner with the members-only party tomorrow night. See below for all the info you'll need. 

The ARC's Swingin' SUMMER Record + CD SALE

Sat, June 8 and runs through Sun, June 16

We are open everyday, 11am - 6pm

54 White Street, NYC

ArcMusic.org 

Arc Music Facebook

This is our major fundraiser, so come by and shop - books, CDs, LPs, singles, VHS, DVDs, sheet music + more. Help us out ! Blog, face, tweet, post or shout out about our sale...

Join the ARC and attend our Summer Party - great food, nice people and first crack at all the recordings! ARC members ONLY, Thursday June 6

Call or e-us. You can join ($50 min) via PayPal or NYCharities.org - or go to our website, click dancer image, and use the PayPal button. 

PARTY treats provided by:

Brooklyn’s Bonnie's Grill (hotwings + beer)

Tribeca’s Bubble Lounge (champagne), and Two Boots Pizza

Krrb is your host for the evening, a local classified startup

Do visit: Krrb.com

ARChive of Contemporary Music

54 White Street in Tribeca

New York City, 10013

212-226-6967 

info@arcmusic.org

Look who dropped by the Archive recently for a visit (read about it here):

Bob George (Archive) and Paul Simon

The Rising Cost of New Vinyl (Or, Shove Your $30 Smiths Reissues Up Your Collective Asses)

Here's an excellent editorial by record store owner, Colin Tappe, recently published on Record Collector News. Many of his thoughts have crossed my mind as I see reissues reissued, and new releases released. Here are a couple of choice quotes. Read the entire article here.

Major labels notoriously blew it in the ‘90s by killing the single as a format and outrageously overpricing CDs, which of course lead to the downloading revolution and the crippling of an industry. Now that they’ve been given a chance to redeem themselves with the resurgence of interest in vinyl, not only are they shooting themselves in the foot, but it’s the same foot, the same gun, and they’re even reusing the bullet!

What the labels propagating these high priced reissues overlook is how vital teenagers are to the future of “the industry.” Of course teenagers and college kids generally aren’t dropping four figures on rare soul 45s or scrutinizing matrix etchings by any means, but the ancient craft of taking your allowance to the record store and seeing how far you can stretch it is alive and well. Every day I sell records to high school aged kids, and you don’t have to listen very closely to hear them groan and lament the high price tags on the reissue du jour as they flip past to swoop on the $5-$10 Van Halen and Black Flag records (and Rush, too…who knew kids were so into Rush these days?).

Before & After: Ain't No Sunshine

Before - Bill Withers:

After - Sivuca:

Ray Manzarek RIP

Ray Manzarek - RIP

Ruts DC: Rhythm Collision Vol. 2 is here! Listen to "Mighty Soldier"

What a fantastic surprise! Collecting my mail after getting home from a couple of days out of the city, I received a mysterious padded mailer from the UK. Upon closer inspection, turns out it's from Mr. Dave Ruffy, the one & only drummer for Ruts DC, and it turns out it's a copy of their brand new album, Rhythm Collision Vol. 2. Life is good! Anyone who has read Stupefaction for a while now knows what a huge fan of the Ruts and Ruts DC I am.

About a year ago, I featured a new song, "Mighty Soldier," which leads off the new album and you can listen to again below. Considering that Vol. 1, released 30 years ago, remains firmly high on my desert island disc list, surviving members Segs & Ruffy (the rhythm section, wouldn't you know?), and a fantastic crew of support players, have done masterful work that just may rival the original. The overall scope and cohesion of this album as a single piece of work cannot be underestimated - this exactly how I feel about Vol. 1, and it suits this one to a "T". From the beginning, each track weaves into the next to take you on a bass heavy journey of rhythm that is incredibly rewarding. The album is twelve tracks in all - 9 on the album proper, and 3 listed as bonus cuts. It was recorded with Mad Professor, who also engineered Vol. 1 thirty years ago, and mixed by Prince Fatty. It's pedigree is undeniable. 

About the album, the band says, "We have decided to release this album on our own Sosumi Recordings, embracing the DIY ethic that propelled The Ruts into the 7" vinyl market in 1978, and allowed us to release Volume 1 in '82."

p.s. From the "even more excitement department," according to the liner notes, there is a book about the band in the works by Roland Link. It will be called Love In Vain: The Story of The Ruts & Ruts DC.

Ruffy & Segs

All I can say is thank you, Ruffy & Segs. You've made this Ruts fan extremely happy. I honestly never thought I'd be listening to new Ruts music again in this lifetime.

Ruts DC have already played a few album kick off shows in the UK this month. Later this summer they'll be playing the following shows, and it wouldn't surprise me if more are added along the way:

August 10 - Blackpool - Rebellion Festival

August 25 - Penzance, Cornwall - 3 Chord Festival

September 6 - Preston - 53 Degrees

September 7 - Newcastle - North East Calling

September 13 - Reading - Sub 89

More in September - German & Scottish dates TBC

Buy the album directly from the band,  or at your favorite retailer,

and keep up with Ruts DC via the following links:

Official website 

Facebook 

Twitter 

 

Happy guys, from left: John "Segs" Jennings, Mad Professor, Dave Ruffy

Before & After: Album Art 8

Before - Students swing to a jazz band in a bamboo-lined student center in Vienna, February 1959. Shot by Volkmar K. Wenztel:

Courtesy of This Isn't Happiness and National Geographic

After - "The Beat Escape" by Fingerprintz, Virgin Records, 1981:

Long one of my favorite record covers, I've never seen the original until today. Leave it to Pete at TiH to dig it up. I've always loved the song as well. It takes me right back to 1981, and listening to the WNYU New Afternoon show in my bedroom. Classic! Here's the song: