No, No, No...Too Spooky

I was listening to Rhythm & Sound’s The Versions yesterday. The version of The Versions that I posted up was on the Burial Mix label, but I realized that they were released here in the US on the Asphodel label out of San Francisco. I used to listen to a lot of their releases in the 90s. 

 

In Greece the Aspodel lily covers the bleakest hillsides with enduring blossoms. In Greek mythology, the Aspodel is the plant of the dead.

Most of Asphodel's output has been lumped under the genre/dump-bucket Illbient.

I dug through my music & found a few. One of the first ones I came across was Tipsy - "Trip Tease". Tipsy was one of the more interesting electronic music groups of the late 90s / early 00s. They incorporated exotica/lounge/soundtrack samples along with retro rhythms to create a unique electro-Exotica.

 

 

Tipsy - "Trip Tease" - The Seductive Sounds of Tipsy, Asphodel 0967, 1996.
all decryption codes in comments

Mr. Excitement
Space Golf
Grossenhosen
Tuatara
Nude on the Moon
El Bombo Atomico
Liquordelic
Cinnabar
Fuad Ramses
Oops!
Ugly Stadium
Something Tropical
Zenith 

 

 

Paul D. Miller's DJ Spooky mixtapes caught the ear of Naut Humon of Asphodel records. Through him most of the New York Illbient-associated bands were signed to Asphodel. The first release was the Asphodel 0968 compilation Incursions in Illbient released in 1996. It featured Sub Dub, DJ Spooky, Byzar, & We™, all vital proponents of the New York scene. 

 

Various - Incursions in Illbient, Asphodel 0968, 1996.

Dancehall Malfunction    
Killa Instinkt    
Oaxaca     - Sub Dub

Soon Forward    
Anansi's Gambit (DJ Spooky's on the Island of the Lost Souls mix)
Why Patterns - DJ Spooky

Subtyranya
Phylyx    
Purelove    
Rakta    
Ynjyn    
Rypstop - Byzar

The Chinatown Dub    
You    
Flutesque    
Transient Scratch - We™ (The Umix)

 

 

 

 

DJ Olive & DJ Spooky are both name-dropped as the originators of the term illbient. The term was first used by DJ Olive in 1994, as a play on the words "ill" (hip-hop slang, a positive expression like dope, sick, or bad) & ambient. The term wasn't used to describe the genre until two years later with producer DJ Spooky. Illbient developed in parallel with Triphop & ambient Dub. The genre had its peak during 1996-2002. Illbient combined ambient soundscapes with hip hop drum patterns, breaks, & samples through the busy effect layering of Dub.

Illbient acted as the experimental electronic backdrop to New York's dance music scene at the time of the arrival of the dot.com generation, the gentrification of Brooklyn, & Disneyfication of Manhattan.

In Brooklyn, there was the dub & hip hop experimentalism of DJ Olive, Lloop, & Once11 (known as We™), the Wordsound label headed by Skiz 'Spectre' Fernando Jr., & Bill Laswell, whose studio acted as a hub for many artists. I have posted up four volumes of Laswell's Crooklyn Dub Consortium - Vol. 1 & 2  & Crooklyn Dub Outernational - Vol. 3 & 4.

Over in Manhattan there was the noise & breakbeat experimentalism of Paul D. 'DJ Spooky' Miller, the multicultural eclecticism of Byzar, the multimedia approaches of Tim Sweet, & the party community acumen of Carlos Soul Slinger & Soundlab Cultural Alchemy.

Here is the DJ Spooky Asphodel ice breaker.

 

 

DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid - Songs of a Dead Dreamer, Asphodel 0961, 1996.

Intro
The Vengeance of Galaxy 5    
Phase Interlude    
Galactic Funk (Tau Ceti mix)    
Hologrammic Dub    
Dance Of The Morlocks (Arto Lindsay - guitar)
Juba    
Thoughts like Rain    
Anansi Abstrakt    
Grapheme
Phase Interlude Pt. 2    
Nihilismus Dub
The Terran Invasion of Alpha Cantauri Year 2794    
Time Out of Joint    
High Density    
Outtro

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We were so allergic to the term illbient by then. We felt it was really trying to shut people out and control the sound. It was no longer about a sound but about certain bands that had been favored. We felt that that was a total dead end. It was everything about Manhattan that we hated."

     Gregor 'DJ OLive - the Audio Janitor' Asch 

My favorite DJ Spooky release is the remixes of Optometry, a collaboration with Mad Professor & Lee "Scratch" Perry.

 

 

 

DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid feat. Mad Professor & Lee "Scratch" Perry - Dubtometry

Thirsty Ear THI57128.2 (The Blue Series), 2003.

Dubtometry (Optometry remix) - Alter Echo
That Subliminal Kid Vs. The Last Mohican - DJ Goo
Optometrix - J-Live
Jungle Soldier - Lee "Scratch" Perry
Variation Cybemetique (Karsh Kale remix) - DJ Spooky
Parachutes (Dub Version) - DJ Spooky
Sequentia Absentia (Absentia Lee "Scratch" Perry Intro)
Variation Cybernetique (Twilight Circus remix) - DJ Spooky
Interlude - Mad Professor
Sequentia Absentia (Colorform remix) - DJ Spooky
Rosemary Intro - DJ Spooky
Bomb Massive (Optometry remix) - DJ Goo
Interlude - Alter Echo
Dementia Absentia (Blend remix) - DJ Spooky
Kollage (remix) - I-Sound
Asphalt (Negativland remix) -DJ Spooky
Optometry (Animal Crackers remix) - DJ Spooky

 

 

 

 

 

While I'm in the Dub / DJ Spooky / compilation mode, here's one final offering. Another one from DJ Spooky with unusual Dub. Unlike most Trojan compilations, this was released exclusively in the US.

 

 

DJ Spooky - Creation Rebel - Trojan Records 40th Anniversary; 

Re-mixed, Re-visioned, Re-versioned, Trojan Records 06076-80581-2, 2007.

Creation Rebel - DJ Spooky Meets Mad Professor & Rob Swift
Mr. Brown remix - Bob Marley
Revolution Disco Dub - DJ Spooky meets Tapper Zukie
No No No remix - Dawn Penn
Dis Poem Burns Babylon - The Observers meets Mutabaruka
Under Mi Sensi remix - Barrington Levy
East of the River Nile remix - Augustus Pablo
Dis Poem Burns Babylon v2 - The Upsetters meet Mutbaruka
Freedom Reign - DJ Spooky presents Michael Rose
Soul Rebel remix - Bob Marley
Under Mi Sleng Teng remix - Wayne Smith
Mr. Brown (a capella)    - Bob Marley
Babylon Burning Dub    - DJ Spooky Vs the Observers
Dub of the Travellers (bonus beats) - Scientist

Be ill,
NØ

I’ve Got a Fever - I’m Seeing Pink Dots

 

One of my favorite bands, one that I've featured many times before as well as releases from Ryan Moore (bass, drums, percussion, Twilight Circus Dub Sound System), Niels van Hoorn (saxophones, flute, bass flute, clarinets, gadgets that need to be blown), & Martijn de Kleer (guitars, fuzz bass, banjo, violon, exotic percussion, gadgets, string driven things-plucked, bowed, & processed) as well as side project The Tear Garden (with cEvin Key).

 

I realized I have rarely posted from the extensive catalogue of Edward Ka-Spel's (Prophet Qa-Spel, Qa'Sepel, Che Banana, D'Archangel) solo releases & that I had somehow never posted anything from LPD keyboardist & song-writer The Silverman (Phil Knight, Phil Harmonix). I am about to remedy that shortcoming now. 

 

Between 1984-1990 Edward Ka-Spel released seven China Doll albums. Ka-Spel's solo output expanded on the sounds he had started along with LPD in 79. By 87 he had ventured into industial noise & experimental styles much beyond what he was doing in LPD. Eyes! China Doll & Laugh China Doll are a great accessible start into his sound. By 87s aaΔzhyd China Doll he had ventured into a darker adventurous industrial-psychedelic territory.

The first China Doll release was Eyes! China Doll. 

 

Edward Ka-Spel - Eyes! China Doll, Scarface FACE 13, 1984.
all decryption codes in comments

SIDE ONE -
Mirror Soul
Avengelist    
God in a Cupboard
Blowing Bubbles (Pt 2)    
Six Cats on a Dead Man's Chest    

SIDE TWO -
'Joey' - The Video
The Char Char    
Intermezzo    
Hotel Blanc 

 

 

The same years saw the issue of Laugh China Doll...dedicated with love to Marylou.

 

 

Edward Ka-Spel - Laugh China Doll, In Phaze Records PHA6, 1984.

SIDE ONE: Laughing China Doll -

Lilith's Daughter
Eye Contact
Lady Sunshine
Find the Lady
Requiem


SIDE TWO: Nothing Else -
Suicide Pact
Paradise Then
Irrational Anthem
Lisa's Funeral
The Glass Moved By Itself
Atomic Roses

 

 

 

Now one more darker China Doll...

 

 

Edward Ka-Spel – aaΔzhyd China Doll, Torso TORSO 33028, 1987.

STEMRA 1 -

aaΔzhyd China Doll    
Flesh Parade    
The Qa' Spell    
The Unfortunate Demise of the Fabulous Puccino Brothers    

STEMRA 2 -
Nuts in May    
Traitors' Gate    
Blowing Bubbles (Part III)    
The Fool

 

 

 

Next is this live recording of a show recorded at the Wagenmeister, Basel in Switzerland on September 30, 2005. Packaged in a handmade card cover. Sing while you may.

 

 

 

Edward Ka-Spel & Silverman - Live in Basel 2005, Trademark of Quality, 2005.

Nature of Illusion    
Black Widow's Kiss    
Prisoners of War    
Hey Rainman    
Third Secret    
Atomic Roses    
Lilith's Daughter    
Setting in Snow    
Circle the Sun & You Become One    
This Fragile Love

 

 

 

Here are the first two solo releases from LPD keyboardist & writer The Silverman (Phil Knight).

First, Dream Cell, composed, performed & produced between summer 92 - autumn 94 at various locations around Nijmegen, Holland. Dedicated to Mana.

 

 

 

 

The Silverman - Dream Cell, Terminal Kaleidoscope TeKa 777, 1995.

Visitation    
Rite of Passage    
This Fragile Love    
& the Legend Days Return...    
Dream Cell #1    
Dream Cell #2    
Serpent Time    
Stream Point Entry    
Circle the Sun & You Become One    
Desecreation

 

 

 

 

 

The Silverman - Silvermandalas, Soleilmoon Recordings SOL 88CD, 1998.

Silvermandalas 1    
Silvermandalas 2    
Silvermandalas 3    
Silvermandalas 4    
Silvermandalas 5    
Silvermandalas 6    
Silvermandalas 7

 

 

 

 

To finish things off here, I came across this while I was putting this together from long overlooked files. Strange Attractor was a Dutch downtempo project active between 2004 - 2010 featuring Niels van Hoorn (LPD), Graham Lewis (Wire, He Said, Duet Emmo, more), Ryan Moore (LPD), David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets, solo), Winston Tong (Tuxedomoon), Peter Christopherson (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil),  & many others.

 

 

 

 

 

Strange Attractor - Mettle, Music for Speakers M4S33CD, 2009.

Anything
The Best Things are Left Unspoken
Evaporate
Loneliness is a Crowded Room
Sleaze
Plain Gold Ring
Sound Generation
Quietude
Snail
Heaven

Enjoy,
NØ

The Bella Brothers

In a comment to the last post (Horace Andy/Wackie's), kostas.p thanked me for the Douglas Levy produced version of "Archibella" (or "Artibella" depending on the artist release). He mentioned that there are many versions & covers. 

 

I had previously posted a couple of those (Susan Cadogan bonus tracks) but decided this would be a fine time to slap up a set of "Artibella" riddims. I started with the original Ken Boothe/Phil Pratt Artibella & (Version of), kinda went chronologically from there up through Snoop Lion & Tenor Youthman recent takes on the sound & finished with another Horace Andy outing using the same riddim. 

 

This one goes out to kostas.p (& all). 

 

Various - Arti & Archi Bella, NØ Comp., 2022.

Artibella - Ken Boothe
(Version of) Artibella - Phil Prat Allstars
Raw Roots - Bobby Kalphat
Fever - Junior Byles
Influenza Version - Susan Cadogan & the Upsetters
Fever Grass Dub - The Upsetters
Artibella - Sly & Robbie
Archibella - Freddy McGregor
Artibella - Jump with Joey
Artibella - Geotge Nooka
Archibella - Tenor Youthman
Artibella - The Sundance Kid (featuring Winston McAnuff)
La La La - Snoop Lion
Perilous Time - Horace Andy

Enjoy,
NØ

Take it Easy

 

I've been spinning Horace Andy's latest, Midnight Rocker, on a regular basis for a while now. Adrian Sherwood has the ability to get the best out of the artists he produces. Rainford & Heavy Rain exalted late stage Lee Perry. Adrian has done it again with Horace Andy. The Sherwoodcraft quality of "Safe from Harm" elevates a Massive Attack song to a whole new plateau. If you don't have Midnight Rocker yet, buy it. You will not be disappointed.

 

I am a big fan of all things Massive Attack & so I have always held Horace Andy in high regard.

In the early 80s Horace was teamed up with another of my favorite Dubwise producers Lloyd Barnes aka Bullwackie of the esteemed Wackie's label. I decided to round up most of the Andy Wackie's that I have & post it here.

First up we have their first collaboration, a 12" with Horace on Side A doing "I Don't Wanna be Left Outside" & two Versions featuring Bullwackie's All Stars on Side B. 

 

Horace Andy - I Don't Wanna be Left Outside 12", Wackie's 279, 1980.

Side A -
I Don't Wanna be Left Outside

Side B -
Zion Dub
Unknown Dub 

 

Next up... 

 

Horace Andy - Serious Thing 12", Wackie's 280, 1981.

Side A -
Serious Thing

Side B -
Version (Bullwackies All Stars) 

 

 

 

Horace's first full length on Wackie's was Dance Hall Style. The release includes the track "Eating Mess," as track B4 that is not listed on the sleeve, but is on the B-side label.

 

 

 

Horace Andy - Dance Hall Style, Wackie's w 1383, 1982.

Side A -
Money Money
Lonely Woman
Cuss Cuss

Side B -
Stop the Fuss
Spying Glass
Let's Live in Love
Eating Mess 

 

 

 

 

 

Horace Andy - Everyday People, Wackie's WR 2740, 1987.

Side One -
Let Your Teardrops Fall
Problems
Pressure
This is Reggae Music

Side Two -
Black Liberation Struggle
Everyday People
Girl, I Love You
She Don't Want Me

 

 

 

 

 

Horace Andy - Be Good 10", Wackie's WM1003,  2004.

Side A -
Be Good
Be Good (Wackie's Rhythm Force)

 

 

 

The rest of these are miscellaneous Horace/Wackie's tracks from various releases.

 

 

 

 

Horace Andy - Assorted Wackie's Prime Cuts, NØ Comp., 2022.

Live in Unity
Love Hangover
Pure Don Man
Good Will Survive
Lingering Spirit
Just My Imagination
Musical Episode
Soloman
Tribute to Bob Marley
Take it Easy

Enjoy,
NØ

Note: Somehow I overlooked this essential track. Horace Andy- Archibella 12" released on the Hamma label (one of Lloyd Barnes affiliated labels) with the outstanding Wackie’s master Douglas Levy producing. This is a cover of a old Studio One tune by Ken Boothe. 

Horace Andy - Archibella 12", Hamma 104, 198?. 

 

Side A - 

Archibella 

 

Side B - 

Jah Jah A-1 Sound 

Dub 

 

Peace out!

You Thought 8 Miles was High

 

Thunderball (1961) is the eighth James Bond offering from Ian Fleming, the fourth movie of the Bond Eon Productions franchise starring Sean Connery. 

 

Here Thunderball is Washington, DC-based trio formed in 1997. Thunderball are globally renowned purveyors of sophisticated, stereophonic-thrillers, & cinematic dub. Since their inception, their productions have shifted effortlessly between the genres of drum & bass, breakbeat, trip-hop, & downtempo. Started originally as the duo of Sid Barcelona & Steve Raskin, Thunderball now officially includes long-time collaborator Rob Myers. Rob, a fellow ESL Music label-mate, records & tours with Thievery Corporation playing sitar & guitar, most notably on the Thievery classic, "Lebanese Blonde". Thunderball actively perform their music worldwide as DJs under the moniker Thunderball Sound System featuring Mustafa Akbar & Rex Riddem as well as an 8-piece live band. 

 

 

Thunderball - 12 Mile High, Eighteenth Street Lounge Music ESL 168, 2010.
decryption codes in comments

Enter the Brahmin
12 Mile High
Make Your Move
Dub Science
Low Down Weather
IC Colors
Flippin' it On
Rico Ritmo
Rio Mescalito
Moon on the Rise
Runaway
To Catch a Vixen
Penthouse Soul 

Thunderball - 12 Mile High Remixed, Eighteenth Street Lounge Music ESL 186, 2011.

Dub Science (Zeb Remix)
12 Mile High (Al Lindrum Remix)
I C Colors (QDUP Foundation Remix)
Rio Mescalito (Thomas Blondet & Second Sky Remix)
Flippin' It On (Mash & Munkee Remix)
Low Down Weather (Empresarios Remix)
Moon On The Rise (Fort Knox Five Remix)
Rico Ritmo (Sono Rhizmo' Remix)
Make Your Move (Basement Freaks Remix)
Enter The Brahmin (Knight Riderz Remix)
12 Mile High (JPOD The Beat Chef Remix)
I C Colors (Ursula 1000 Remix)
Make Your Move (Drumagick Remix)
Rio Mescalito (Mexicans With Guns Remix)
Runaway (Ghosts On Tape Remix)
Dub Science (Enea Remix)
Enjoy,
NØ

The Only Green Day I Own

Green Day : American Idiot / Dean Gray : American Edit 

 

 

It all started on a Friday afternoon in October 2004. 'Party Ben' Gill was scrambling to get ready for his weekly Sixx Mixx mashup radio show on San Francisco station Live 105. Green Day's George W. Bush-skewing punkrawk opera American Idiot had just come out. Gill had been noticing the similarities between the Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" & Oasis' "Wonderwall". Light bulb flash...he decided to combine the two. He wanted to finish the mix with Aerosmith's "Dream On," but he couldn't find the band's 1973 power ballad in the station's library so he grabbed Eminem's Steven Tyler-sampling 2003 single "Sing for the Moment" instead. Little could he have anticipated the lightning-in-a-bottle response that his Frankensteinian creation would receive. 

 

The beauty of "Boulevard of Broken Songs" lies in its universality. Most everyone would recognize the chord progression of American Idiot's second single as well as the Gallagher brothers' biggest hit, now a staple of karaoke joints, sporting events, & that annoying guy who always brings his acoustic guitar to every party. Throw in the rousing MNM "Sing for the Moment," & a snippet of post-Britpop Travis' saccharine "Writing to Reach You". Bam, you've got a recipe for musical alchemy. 

 

Inspired by the song's success, Gill next considered doing something with American Idiot in the vein of Danger Mouse's 2004 Beatles-meets-Jay-Z copyright law-challenging opus The Grey Album. He even had a name for the project...Dean Gray (a spoonerism of "Green Day") - American Edit. Enter the story one Neil Mason, who by day was a manager at the University of Western Australia's classically-minded School of Music in Perth who made mashups under the alias Team9 in his spare time. Gill messaged him after hearing "Greenday Massacre," which combined "Wake Me up When September Ends" with the Eagles' "Lyin' Eyes," on Get Your Bootleg On.

In November 2005, they released American Edit, which Gill describes tongue-in-cheek as an "eclectic circus of nonsense".

Even though the duo gave American Edit away for free, ten days later they received a cease & desist notice from Green Day's label, Warner Records. While Gill was no stranger to receiving takedown notices for his mashups, it was a fellow Get Your Bootleg On member in Portland by the name of Noisehead who set up AmericanEdit.org & helped organize "Dean Gray Tuesday" (an intended evocation of 2004s The Grey Album's "Grey Tuesday" which saw more than 170 sites post the album for download after EMI served Danger Mouse with a cease & desist). 

 

 

Dean Gray Tuesday took place on December 13, 2005. The album was hosted on a number of participating websites as torrents, direct MP3 downloads or ZIP archives.  It was incredibly successful thanks to the online bootlegger community. Despite only sending out 200 CD promo copies, the stunt brought Dean Gray plenty of press attention, with American Edit receiving favorable reviews from MTV, SPIN, the San Francisco Chronicle, & others. 

 

 

Dean Gray - American Edit (enhanced), Homemade Records, 2006.
decryption code in comments

American Jesus
     1.1 - American Edit
     1.2 - Jesus' Tears
     1.3 - Summer of the Damned
     1.4 - Suburban Ring
     1.5 - It's Like That
Dr. Who on Holiday
Boulevard of Broken Songs
The Bad Homecoming
St. Jimmy the Prankster
Novocaine Rhapsody
Impossible Rebel
Ashanti's Letterbomb
Greenday Massacre
Whatsername (Susanna Hoffs)

bonus track
Boulevard of Broken Songs (dance mix '05)

Enjoy,
NØ

The Men with the X-Ray Eyes

 

St. Louis quartet Raymilland existed from 1979 to 1981. They played only eight shows in their career. Those live gigs were something, though. Locally, they opened for Magazine at the Kiel Exhibition Hall & Ultravox at Mississippi Nights. In Chicago they supported Adrian Belew, punk band Chelsea, & Tuxedomoon. They were scheduled to open for Joy Division's first American tour which was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances (Ian's suicide).

The original 7" of this legendary St. Louis band. 

 

Raymilland – Raymilland 7", Praxis 002076X, 1980.

A Side –
Talk

B Side –
Distant View

Enjoy,

What’s Going on with Psychedelic Soul?

 

I was thrilled with the recent release by Monophonics entitled Sage Motel. Monophonics are one of the best (right up there with Black Pumas or St. Paul & the Broken Bones) soul outfits going today. Sage Motel is the epitome of what they do best, which is Norman Whitfield era psychedelic soul. SM is a return to Monophonics deepest roots, channeling the Whitfield/Marvin Gaye nexus perfectly. Vocalist Kelly Finnigan is in top form. I have posted earlier Monophonics here. Thought I'd give you some more. 

 

One of my personal favorite Monophonics' releases is Sound of Sinning. On Sound of Sinning the band ventured beyond their comfort zone to incorporate the psychedelic sound of the 60s & 70s into their psychedelic soul sound. They blend sounds of Northern soul, doo-wop, rock 'n' roll, psych pop, even cinematic themes. Sound of Sinning was produced by singer Kelly Finnigan & guitarist Ian McDonald. They recorded it on an old Tascam eight-track 1/4" tape machine to capture that true old school analog soul style. 

 

Monophonics - Sound of Sinning, Transistor Sound TSMPCD 001,  2015.
decryption code in comments

Lying Eyes
Sound of Sinning
La La La Love Me
Promises
Falling Apart
Hanging On
Strange Love
Find My Way Back Home
Holding Back Your Love
Too Long
Everyone's Got...

Enjoy,
NØ