28 June 2019

Nobody was Ready

I had a total of eight projects going at one time getting together my next NSS post.

My friend Jonder had hooked me up with some Prince Fatty / Nostalgia 77 Dub that I've been jamming heavy. Listening to Understand What Dub Is today, I decided to do the ole JA thing & pair up some original vocal tracks with their versions.

The OG 8 posts will have to wait.






"In 1970 the Last Poets released their first album and dropped a bomb on black Amerikkka's turntables. Muthafuckas ran f'cover." - Darius James from That's Blaxploitation!, St. Martin's Griffin, 1995.

The Last Poets are a group of poets & musicians who rose up from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement.

Jalal Nuriddin (Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin aka Alafia Pudim aka Lightnin' Rod [July 24, 1944 – June 4, 2018]), an Army paratrooper who chose jail instead of going to fight in the Vietnam War, founded the core group in prison after converting to Islam & perfecting his performances of "spoken word" poetry set to a rhythmic beat. Nuriddin was released from prison along with Umar Bin Hassan & Abiodun Oyewole: they settled in Harlem where they joined the East Wind workshop. They began performing their poetry, backed with music, on the streets of New York.

The name the Last Poets came from a South African writer named K. William 'Little Willie Copaseely' Kgositsile, who believed he was in the last era of poetry before violence would become the voice of man. "When the moment hatches in time's womb there will be no art talk," he wrote. "The only poem you will hear will be the spear point pivoted in the punctured marrow of the villain....Therefore we are the last poets of the world."

On May 19, 1968, the Last Poets stood together in Mount Morris park (now Marcus Garvey park) in Harlem & uttered their first poems. They commemorated what would have been the 43rd birthday of Malcolm X, who had been slain three years earlier. Just two months had passed since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr had been assassinated.






"Growing up, I was scheduled to be a nice little coloured guy. I was liked by everybody," says the Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole. He was 18 & in college when he heard the news. "But when they killed Dr King, all bets were off."

That day led to the Last Poets' revelatory, self-titled 1970 debut of vitriolic black power poems spoken over the beat of a congo drum. Now half a century later, the slaughter continues daily, in the form of assaults, school shootings, & excessive police force. "America is a terrorist, killing the natives of the land / America is a terrorist, with a slave system in place," Oyewole declares on the Last Poets' new album, Understand What Black Is, in which he & Umar Bin Hassan trade poems over reggae orchestration, horns, drums, & flute. It's their first album in 20 years.


Praise be to Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, Baba Donn Babatunde, & many many others too numerous to list here...




*Rain of Terror
+Rain of Terror Dub
*What I Want to See
+What I Want to See Dub
*The Music
+The Music Dub
*Understand What Black Is
+Understand What Black Is Dub
*North, East, West, South
+North, East, West, South Dub

* - Original tracks from The Last Poets - Understand What Black Is, Studio Rockers STUDRLP009, 2018.

+ - Dubs provided by Nostalgia 77 & Prince Fatty production from The Last Poets - Understand What Dub Is, 
  Studio Rockers STUDRCD010, 2019.

Nobody's ready yet,

23 June 2019

Another Bill I Can’t Pay

Divination - Ambient Dub Volume I, Subharmonic SD7001-2, 1993.
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Divination One
Seven Heavens (remastered)
Erratta
Delta
Tian Zhen
Agrippa
God Speed
Ain Soph Aour

Performers: Bill Laswell; Buckethead; Jeff Bova; Liu Sola; Nicky Skopelitis; & Robert Musso.





Dead Slow
Baraka
Silent Fields
Evil Eye (remastered)
Dream Light
Journeys

Performers: Bill Laswell; Jah Wobble; Jeff Bova; & Mick Harris.

Enjoy,

20 June 2019

From Boozoo Bajou to All of You






Songs by Boozoo Bajou or pilfered from their Juke Joints, interpreted, remixed, or otherwise modified by BB.  Some downtempo Dub & Boozoo influences to while away the time.

Chill.



Various - Boozoo to You, NØ Comps, 2019.

Keep Going - Boozoo Bajou
Chocolate Elvis (Boozoo Bajou Soul Sufferer Version) - Tosca
Under My Sensi - Thievery Corporation mix) - Boozoo Bajou
Get Things Strait
Get Things Strait Dub - Burnt Friedman & the Nu Dub Players
Can’t Take No More - EMO vs. Boozoo Bajou
Jah Rule
Jah Version - Rhythm & Sound with Tikiman
Second to None - Boozoo Bajou
Rainy Night in Georgia (Boozoo Bajou’s Georgia Dub) - Tony Joe White
Rowing - Dennis Bovell
Goin’ to Louisiana - John Lee Hooker
Portland Woodchamber - Boozoo Bajou
Fly Your Kite - Burnt Friedman & the Nu Dub Players
Wild Wood - Paul Weller
Babylon Vocal
Babylon Version - Rhythm & Sound with the Chosen Brothers
9 Below Zero - Boozoo Bajou
Little by Little (featuring Richie Havens) - Groove Armada
Holy Mount Zion - Wayne Jarrett
Dizzie (Boozoo Bajou mix) - Gecko Turner
Lambs Bread Collie - The Light of Saba
Way Down - Boozoo Bajou

Enjoy,

16 June 2019

The Transcendental Cuisine --- Some More Bill



"the nova police"

Bulletin from Rewrite

"We had to call in the nova police to keep all the jokers out of the Rewrite Room --- Can’t be expected to work under these conditions...When disorder on any planet reaches a certain point, the regulating instance scans police --- otherwise --- Sput --- Another planet bites the cosmic dust..."

"The basic nova technique is very simple: Always create as many insoluble conflicts as possible & always aggravate existing conflicts..."



[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[



Abandoned Artifacts

A processed version which combines three separate overlapping readings along with a rhythm track. Original recordings courtesy of James Grauerholz from performances at The Edge, Toronto; Tuts, Chicago; & Keystone Korner, San Francisco. "Abandoned Artifacts" is a selection from Chapter One of Burrough's western novel The Place of Dead Roads.

On The Nova Lark

This selection was recorded by William S. Burroughs in the early 60's in London or Tangiers. It is a passage partially contained in The Nova Express. The background music is probably bleeding backwards from an instrument.

This recording was a press run of 2,000, available only in TALK TALK, Vol. 3, No. 6, September/October 1981. The 38 page 'zine included live performance reviews of Peter Tosh, Abuse, Sunsplash, Venture, & The Fall; interviews with Psychedelic Furs, Billy ldol, Iggy Pop, & William Burroughs; reggae, tape, & record reviews. The cover of the magazine is by William S Burroughs.



Talk Talk Publication Vol. 3 - #6, Sept. 1981.

Abandoned Artifacts featuring Martin Olson - percussion
On the Nova Lark




]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]







"Take two opposed pressure groups --- Record the most violent & threatening statements of group one with regard to group two & play back to group two --- Record the answer & take it back to group one --- back & forth between opposed groups --- This process is known as ‘feedback’ --- You can see it operating in any bar room quarrel --- In any quarrel for that matter --- Manipulated on a global scale ‘feeds back’ nuclear war & nova ---"

"These conflicts are deliberately created & aggravated by nova criminals --- "

"The Nova Mob: Sammy the Butcher; Green Tony; the Brown Artist; Jacky Blue Note; Limestone John; Izzy the Push; Hamburger Mary; Paddy the Sting; the Subliminal Kid...& Mr & Mrs T also known as Mr Bradly Mr Martin also known as the Ugly Spirit also known as Trumpistan Don thought to be the leader of the mob..."

"The success of the Nova Mob depended on a blockade of the planet that allowed them to operate with impunity --- So we moved in our agents & started to work keeping always in close touch with partisans --- The selection of local personnel posed a most difficult problem --- Frankly we found that most existing police agencies were hopelessly corrupt --- The Nova Mob had seen to that..."

"Would you rather talk to the partisans Mr & Mrs T --- Well? ---
 No terms...There are no guards capaple protect you --- Millions of voices in your dogs won’t do you a bit of good --- voices fading --- crumpled cloth bodies --- Your name fading across newspapers of the earth --- Madison Avenue machine is disconnected --- Errand boy closing their errand boys --- Won;t be much left..."

excerpts from The Ticket That Exploded by William S. Burroughs, Grove Press, 1967.




{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{





Makrosoft Theme - Makrosoft
Old Lady Sloan - WSB & the Eudoras
I Tre Merli - Yellow Magic Orchestra
Old Western Movies - WSB & Tomandandy
Rub Out the Word - Roger Holden & Rick Schneider
The Five Steps - WSB
Is Everybody In? - WSB & the Doors
You Never Existed at All - Daevid Allen
Sharkey’s Night - Laurie Anderson
Dream - Dave Ball & Genesis P. Orridge
Quick Fix - WSB & Ministry
Love Your Enemies - WSB
Rockin’ Shoes - Doug Wimbish
Ah Pook the Destroyer / Bryon Gysin’s All Purpose Bedtime Stories - WSB
Be a Superman - Yellow Magic Orchestra
Tain’t No Sin - WSB & Tom Waits
Scandal at the Jungle Hilton - WSB






}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}



"Meet Me at the Fair"

"Drifting sand, fish smells & dead eyes in doorways, shabby quarters of a forgotten city. I was beginning to remember the pawn shops, guns & brass knucks in a window, chili parlors, cheap rooming houses, a cold wind from the sea, Dead eyes seemed to be looking at some distant beginning to remember the boy, an old skating rink...any minute now...Who said Atlantic City?,,,wire rusty around jagged holes...Van’s Surgery...writing croaker...Globe Hptel...Great Atlantic Accident...name address hotel quite right?...a number...police line ahead frisking seven boys against a wall. Too late to turn back, they’d seen us. & then I saw the photographers, more photographers than a routine frisk would draw. I eased a  film grenade into my hand. A cop stepped toward us. I pushed the plunger down & brought my hands up, tossing the grenade into the air. A black explosion blotted out the set & we were running down a dark street toward the barrier Behind us the city went up in chunks."

excerpt from Port of Saints by William S. Burroughs, Blue Wind Press, 1980.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Old Pulp Magazines on White Steps

57 years after the publication of Naked Lunch, & 19 years after his death, Let Me Hang You, a compilation of Burroughs reading sections of the book set to experimental musi was released. At the end of his life, Burroughs recorded himself reading sections of the book, particularly those most explicitly dealing with the drug use & sexual debauchery which characterize the novel, in varying voices. The project, led by Hal Willner & James Grauerholz and featuring music by Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz & Eyvind Kang, was unfortunately swept under the rug for decades.

In 2015, producer Hal Willner unearthed the recordings which would eventually be Let Me Hang You, calling on the help of experimental punk / soul artist King Khan. Australian garage-punk band Frowning Clouds & vocalist M. Lamar also contributed, expanding on the unsettling nature of the musical accompaniment previously recorded by Frisell & others. Willner & Khan, linked by their previous collaboration with Lou Reed, found comfort after Reed's 2013 death by pursuing this project, honoring Burroughs, considered by many as a leading figure in paving the way for punk culture.



William S. Burroughs - Let Me Hang You, Khannibalism KK003, 2016.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
The Exterminator
Manhattan Serenade
Baboon
You Gotta Hear This
Disciplinary Procedures
The Afterbirth King
Lief the Lucky

Side B -
Let Me Hang You
Islam Incorporated
The Queen Bee
Clem Snide the Private Asshole
Gentle Reader
Quick

fragments of lost words,

15 June 2019

‘Bout Time to Drop Some Heavy Heavy Dub




Recently I bought Oku Onuora's latest recording, I've Seen. It is a fantastic slab of some crazy hybrid of 21st Century Dub / Dub poetry. It is the brainchild of Fruit Records, a roots reggae record label located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Fruits Records have dedicated themselves to roots music. They started in 2014, going to Jamaica to search out the all-but-forgotten singer I Kong. They recorded the showcase album A Little Walk, part of it in Jamaica, with legendary musicians such as Scully Simms & Dalton Browne, part of it in Europe. It was released in the spring of 2015. It marked the start of I Kong's much deserved come back.

During the same sessions, they also recorded the "Trod On" riddim & released a maxi-single featuring The Viceroys, Lone Ranger, Prince Alla, & Roberto Sanchez. These two releases became the founding stones of their label.

& all their music is on vinyl!

After A Little Walk & Trod On, they released The Inspirators, an ambitious project by Mathias Liengme (one of the four founders of Fruits Records). Recorded in 2013 in Jamaica, it features legendary musicians such as Earl "Chinna" Smith, Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Lloyd Parks, & Anthony "Sangie" Davis. Not only do all four play their usual instruments on the album, but each of the artists also sings two of the eight tracks. These musicians are well known for their playing but not enough for their singing. The Inspirators project pays a tribute to their hidden talent.

Only one album was not enough for I Kong & Fruits Records to really explore all the possibilites of their collaboration. A Little Walk was recorded in one week & I Kong only worked with the instrumentals once they were already recorded. For his second release Pass it On, I Kong & the Swiss musicians created all the music together, from the first note to the final release. Some songs were built around I Kong's singing, some were written by I Kong during jam sessions, some were written by band members. So the whole effort emerged from a close collaboration. For Pass It On, I Kong bridges the generations, sharing his singing task with the great Judy Mowatt (from the I-Threes, Bob Marley's backing vocalist) on "Motherless Child", with the legendary Ken Boothe on "They Don't Know", & with the rising stars Raging Fyah on the title track "Pass It On".







Fruit Records latest release is the phenomenal Oku Onuora - I've Seen issued February 22, 2019. It features Oku along with one of my favorite JA trombonists, Rico Rodriguez. & the 18th Parallel, house band for Fruits Records.

The 18th Parallel Band: Solal Excoffier - lead guitar; Léo Marin - rhythm guitar; Doctor T - bass; Mathais Liengme - keyboards; Michael Borcard - saxophone; Anthony Buclin - trombone; Alexandre Schneiter - trumpet; & Antonin Chatelain - drums.

Oku Nagba Ozala Onuora (born Orlando Wong on March 9, 1952) is known as the "father of Jamaican dub poetry".




If you don't know  Oku's story, here's a brief synopsis: his ghetto youth, his immersion in JAs emerging radical culture, his participation in demonstrations against police violence, his involvement in armed robberies to finance ghetto schools & community centers, his arrest & 7 year sentence. Although Oku was a first time offender, because he attempted to escape prison twice (he was shot five times by police during his first  attempt), instigated a prison riot, & openly campaigned for prison reform, he was deemed a security risk & placed in maximum security (with an additional 8 years tacked on to his sentence). There he began writing poetry. Although prison guards regularly ransacked his cell & destroyed his writings, many of his poetic creations were smuggled out of prison. By 1977, Confrontation, a play he had written to be performed inside a prison was produced by JBC Radio & Echo, his first book of poetry, was published. After these events, public pressure for his released grew immensely & he was finally paroled in September 1977. The rest is history.

His bio reads like a spectacular adventure story...search it out.

After listening to I've Seen for the umpteenth time, I rounded up his other works & drowned myself in Dub & Dub poetry. All you members of the Brutha/Sistahood of Dub should be familiar with Oku & AK7's Pressure Drop from 1984.








On today's offering, Oku pays homage to the greatest progenitor of Dub.

Praise Jah.



Ion (Invaders of Nine) Records 2011-2, 1998.
decryption code in comments

Rub a Dub
Dub a Dub
Dub It
Dub Out
Dub In
Dubnology I
Dub Art
Dub Over
Dubnology II
Dubsession
Dub Fi Dub
Dun On
Overdub
Mello Dub
Dub Up
Dub U
Tubby Dub-a Tribute
Bubble Dub

Recorded: King Tubby's Studio, Waterhouse, Kingston., Jamaica. '88
1st Transfer / Mix: Jam Cap Recording Studio, Brooklyn, NY., '88
Engineers: Scientist / G. Adams
2nd Transfer / Mix: Bass Mind Studio, Brooklyn, NY., '95
Engineer: Doctor Israel / Assisted by Oku
Final Mix: Bass Mind Studio, '97
Engineer: Francois Lardeen / Assisted by: O.H.M


Dub it like a Tubby,

14 June 2019

Shakin' the Nun



I've been following my friend Jonder's great coverage of the San Francisco early punk scene. I lived in the Bay Area in the early 80s & heard many of these powerful bands first hand.

Recently Jonder posted SAN FRANCISCO PUNK: First Wave, Part Two (1979-80). He included the second & third singles by Breakouts, a band I was particularly partial toward back in the hey-day. He had also noted: "A number of punk bands moved to SF: the Dils, the Dicks, MDC, DRI, The Lewd, Toxic Reasons, the Red Rockers. Some of them were fleeing the intolerance of the American South and the Midwest."

These two things prompted me to post up this riotous mess. Why, you might ask...

Black Kali Ma sprang from the crazed minds of Gary Floyd & friends. As you probably all know, Gary was leader & vocalist of The Dicks, one of the bands Jonder mentioned having escaped from intolerance (redneck homophobia of the Lone Star State).  The guitarist of Black Kali Ma was Danny Roman, guitarist & backing vocalist of Breakouts. So that’s why...

BKM are also: Ed Ivey (Rhythm Pigs) - bass; Bruce Ducheneaux (Assassins of God) - drums; & Lynn Perko (Dicks, Sister Double Happiness) - backing vocals.

Oh, yeah...three things...this is a fierce mighty slab of sound.



Black Kali Ma - You Ride the Pony (I’ll Be the Bunny), Alternative Tentacles Virus 237, 2000.
decryption code in comments

Pony Side -

Kali
I’m O
Angel Face
Wonderful
Evil Clowns

Bunny Side -

Remain Awesome
Price We Pay
Movin’ On
Shakin’ the Nun
Roll Back Home

Thanks Jonder,

06 June 2019

Mac Looked Down in the Afterglow




Good Night Tripping, Doctor.



Dr. John - Babylon, ATCO Records SD 33 270, 1969.
all decryption codes in comments

Side One -

Babylon
Glowin’
Black Widow Spider
Barefoot Lady

Side Two -

Twilight Zone
The Patriotic Flag-Waver
The Lonesome Guitar Strangler



Dr. John, the Night Tripper - Remedies, ATCO Records SD 33-316, 1970.

Side One -

Loop Garoo
What Goes Around Comes Around
Wash, Mama, Wash
Chippy, Chippy
Mardi Gras Day

Side Two -

Angola Anthem

R.I.P.