24
Feb
2004
· One of rock archeology's greatest finds has been presented in an absolutely gorgeous new softcover book, set in motion when photographer Elaine Mayes found rolls of her own film in a New York attic some 30 years after their original exposure at the Monterey International Pop Festival.
I praise Britannia Press for this tender and soul-uplifting project, It Happened in Monterey, as it peers into these distant faces like a visit to a middle-earth gypsy camp. A policeman threads orchids from a lei onto his motorcycle antenna while a well-behaved audience is transfixed by Ravi Shankar, Laura Nyro, and Otis Redding on the same stage. Can you imagine, in a pre-Clear Channel world, when the festival's producer, Lou Adler, simply followed the suggestions of Steven Stills and Paul McCartney for two acts he should book for the three-night program: The Who and Jimi Hendrix? Monterey's participants and hip observers remain an amazing moment captured in time, with Nico, Janis Joplin, Country Joe & The Fish, Brian Jones, The Electric Flag, the Grateful Dead, and Quicksilver Messenger Service in these sweeping 180 pages of silent, natural-light portraits. The crowd scenes radiate the youth and well-scrubbed promise of the summer of 1967, the warm California zeitgeist of vendors selling beautiful paper dresses, and public displays of affection in the quieter days before the black helicopters, mosh pits, and Game Boys. Peppered with anecdotes and memories by the performers and luminaries such as Bill Graham, Owsley Stanley, and D.A. Pennebaker, this one's a coffee-table masterpiece, as only a few of these photographs have ever been published before.
· My pick of the week is The Outer Marker by Just Jack, the humble alter-ego debut of DJ/producer/whiz kid Jack Allsopp, released this Tuesday stateside by TVT Records. Already a critical smash in its native England, this "dub trip" debut simply "out Airs" Air with its vintage space-age electronic pulse, slow funkin' like a 1980s movie love theme or the cocksman's stroll and heel click of Camden's city bricks. Chas Jankel would be proud of this blue-eyed pensive British b-boy, a soulful, wickedly melodic verse peddler of infectious lines such as, "Do you count the flakes when it snows / Do you count the leaves when they fall," from the first single, "Snowflakes." With Just Jack it's the lover, and sometimes the fighter, as the limey nick of his voice carries the torch of the Human League or ABC's melodrama, walking in the rain of a lonely heart and the musical influences of modern British soul. Just Jack's sampling choices make for insight, too, with nibbles on the rhythms of 10CC and The Cure.
· Another fantastic CD of digital-audio alchemy is a second volume of Ennio Morricone re-mixes, released recently by Germany's Compost Records imprint. The two-CD or three-LP set features electronic and hip-hop re-mixes of Morricone's cinematic themes, a few immediately connected to spaghetti western films such as The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly but most coming from his large number of scores for Italian-only releases. The 27 underground artists contributing their work to this salute have come from around the globe, including the UK's Chicken Lips, Mexico's Fussible, Australia's Crazy Baldheads, and Sweden's Hird and Haken Lidbo, all celebrating the 75th birthday of this master composer.
Television Alert:
Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is the Black Eyed Peas; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno rolls out the purple carpet for Prince on Tuesday, and Los Lonely Boys on Friday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Cee-Lo on Monday and Jessica Simpson on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien time-travels with Thursday on Monday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn classes things up with Harry Connick Jr. on Thursday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly features Ima Robot this evening overnight, Ben Harper on Thursday overnight, and Joss Stone on Friday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, March 2:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Big Fast Car - Fuel for the Fire (BFC) hard-rockin' American three-piece from Charlottesville, Virginia
Brandy - B-Rocka (Atlantic)
Cee-Lo - Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine (Arista) with guest Timbaland
Cheap Trick - The Essential Cheap Trick (Epic Legacy)
Death Comet Crew - This Is Riphop (Troubleman) seminal roots of hip-hop from 1984
The Get Up Kids - Guilt Show (Heroes and Villains/Vagrant)
Ghostface Killah - Pretty Tony (Def Jam)
Grant Lee Buffalo - Storm Hymnal: Gems from the Vault (Rhino) 30-song collection with rare acoustic and b-side tracks
Denise James - It's Not Enough to Love (Rainbow Quartz)
Jawbreaker - Dear You (Blackball) CD and two-LP expanded reissue from 1995
Knoc-Turn'Al - The Way I Am (Confidential/Elektra) with guests Warren G, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit
Lanterna - Highways (Badman) ambient music recently found on the soundtrack to Catch Me If You Can
Layo & Bushwacka - All Night Long (End Recordings) the duo's debut two-CD mix project with remixes from Danny Tenaglia and Groove Armada
The Living End - Modern ARTillery (Reprise) on tour starting next week with The Vines and Jet
Mahjongg - Machinegong (Coldcrush)
Branford Marsalis - The Sleep Anthology (Columbia Legacy) new compilation covering his entire career
Measles Mumps Rubella - Fountain of Youth (Troubleman) CD single featuring a re-mix by Trans Am
· My pick of the week is The Outer Marker by Just Jack, the humble alter-ego debut of DJ/producer/whiz kid Jack Allsopp, released this Tuesday stateside by TVT Records. Already a critical smash in its native England, this "dub trip" debut simply "out Airs" Air with its vintage space-age electronic pulse, slow funkin' like a 1980s movie love theme or the cocksman's stroll and heel click of Camden's city bricks. Chas Jankel would be proud of this blue-eyed pensive British b-boy, a soulful, wickedly melodic verse peddler of infectious lines such as, "Do you count the flakes when it snows / Do you count the leaves when they fall," from the first single, "Snowflakes." With Just Jack it's the lover, and sometimes the fighter, as the limey nick of his voice carries the torch of the Human League or ABC's melodrama, walking in the rain of a lonely heart and the musical influences of modern British soul. Just Jack's sampling choices make for insight, too, with nibbles on the rhythms of 10CC and The Cure.
· Another fantastic CD of digital-audio alchemy is a second volume of Ennio Morricone re-mixes, released recently by Germany's Compost Records imprint. The two-CD or three-LP set features electronic and hip-hop re-mixes of Morricone's cinematic themes, a few immediately connected to spaghetti western films such as The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly but most coming from his large number of scores for Italian-only releases. The 27 underground artists contributing their work to this salute have come from around the globe, including the UK's Chicken Lips, Mexico's Fussible, Australia's Crazy Baldheads, and Sweden's Hird and Haken Lidbo, all celebrating the 75th birthday of this master composer.
Television Alert:
Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is the Black Eyed Peas; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno rolls out the purple carpet for Prince on Tuesday, and Los Lonely Boys on Friday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Cee-Lo on Monday and Jessica Simpson on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien time-travels with Thursday on Monday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn classes things up with Harry Connick Jr. on Thursday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly features Ima Robot this evening overnight, Ben Harper on Thursday overnight, and Joss Stone on Friday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, March 2:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Big Fast Car - Fuel for the Fire (BFC) hard-rockin' American three-piece from Charlottesville, Virginia
Brandy - B-Rocka (Atlantic)
Cee-Lo - Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine (Arista) with guest Timbaland
Cheap Trick - The Essential Cheap Trick (Epic Legacy)
Death Comet Crew - This Is Riphop (Troubleman) seminal roots of hip-hop from 1984
The Get Up Kids - Guilt Show (Heroes and Villains/Vagrant)
Ghostface Killah - Pretty Tony (Def Jam)
Grant Lee Buffalo - Storm Hymnal: Gems from the Vault (Rhino) 30-song collection with rare acoustic and b-side tracks
Denise James - It's Not Enough to Love (Rainbow Quartz)
Jawbreaker - Dear You (Blackball) CD and two-LP expanded reissue from 1995
Knoc-Turn'Al - The Way I Am (Confidential/Elektra) with guests Warren G, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit
Lanterna - Highways (Badman) ambient music recently found on the soundtrack to Catch Me If You Can
Layo & Bushwacka - All Night Long (End Recordings) the duo's debut two-CD mix project with remixes from Danny Tenaglia and Groove Armada
The Living End - Modern ARTillery (Reprise) on tour starting next week with The Vines and Jet
Mahjongg - Machinegong (Coldcrush)
Branford Marsalis - The Sleep Anthology (Columbia Legacy) new compilation covering his entire career
Measles Mumps Rubella - Fountain of Youth (Troubleman) CD single featuring a re-mix by Trans Am
