Left of the Lastovers

During the course of Trip-hop February, I decided two groups warranted deeper delving. 

They are Mudville & Swandive...

Mudville was one of my favotite post-Trip-hop outfits. Mudville is mainly Benny "Cha Cha" Rubin & Marilyn Carino. Before they formed Mudville, the two released an album of soul-jazz under Marilyn's name. 

 

Marilyn Carino - Long Island Lulu, Lorelei Records Lorelei 1222, 1988.
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The Body & Minds of Ordinary Beings
8 Winds
This Hollywood Life
Coal Black Sailor
Mayflower
Blue Jay Way (Beatles’ cover)
Sugar

 

 

 

 

After Mudville called it a day, Marilyn went on to record several more solo outings. Her debut solo album is a startling meld of sonic & lyric contrasts. These nine songs, with their downbeat tempos, shimmering layered sometimes angular textures, & criss-crossing rhythmic / drenched-in-soul melodic architectures, swallow the listener whole.

 

 

Marilyn Carino - Little Genius, Marilyn Carino self-released, 2011.

Whisper
Time Bomb
S'Cool
No Disgrace
Monster Heavy
Special Dark
I Will Have Everything
King of the World
Modern Love (David Bowie cover)

 

 

 

 

Her follow-up was written, recorded, mixed, & performed solely by Carino except for the track  "War & Peace", written by Marilyn Carino with Mike Mills (R.E.M. bassist), This release is a collection of vocal / lyric driven soundscapes; head-space grooves formed from layered, Moogy synths & stark beats.

The album's title comes from a Frida Kahlo installation Carino saw, which featured monochrome rooms, for each of which a sign noted Kahlo's feeling about the various colors. Yellow was madness, blue was peace, & green was leaves, sadness, science. The ten tracks on the album echo the graphic, challenging, & charged paintings of Kahlo, who's work, "Moses (Nucleus of Creation)" graces the album's cover.

 

 

 

Marilyn Carino - Leaves, Sadness, Science, Marilyncarino.com, 2015.

Tell Me
Fissure
In Case of the Punks
When the Innocents Go to War
Paen a la Nina
Eden
Science
C'mon
Veda
War & Peace (feat. Mike Mills) 

 

 

 

 

Swandive only released two albums during their short career. They then split up over "musical differences".  Lead singer Ann Kathrin Lüthi went on to a successful solo career using the stage name Annakin.

Here's my favorite by Annakin, her third...

 

 

 

 

Annakin - Icarus Heart, Phonag Records0081441PHO, 2011.

Tin God    
The Trooper    
Brainsauce I & II    
Elephants & Trees    
Playing Dead    
Second Skin    
It's a Sin    
Part of Mine    
Digging Out the Sun    
White Noise    
Sweet Awekening

 

 

 

 

She has a brand new release that I'll kindly share...

 

 

Annakin - Cocoon, Phonag Records 0082920PHO, 2023.

Side A -
Marian
Silenceland
Want You
The Cradle Man
Leeside

Side B -
Hero
Six Thirty-Two
Beautiful Illusions
Taken by Two
Blood Moon

Enjoy,
NØ

Fab, Trip 8

 

Here's a duo whose overall skill-set is nipping at the heels of the great Bristol bands like Portishead or Massive Attack. They have a near perfect Trip-hop sound augmented by the inclusion of various other styles that they have melded into an amalgam of authenticity. To my ears, much of that credit goes to Marilyn Carino's top-shelf vocal skills. She is up in the higher echelon with the likes of Beth Gibbons or Skye Edwards. 

 

Mudville is a Brooklyn, NY based band & artist collective whose sound, a hybrid of downtempo, electronica, Memphis-style soul/jazz has been dubbed "post-Trip hop". Core members Marilyn Carino & Ben (Benny Cha Cha) Rubin have added to the sound by incorporating classic Hip-hop stylings & elements of improvisational free jazz. They have also tightened up the songcraft by adding influences of Marvin Gaye & Duke Ellington to the minimalist, pop-based structures & lyrics, creating a potent fusion of jazz & space-rock

Mudville is the vision of bassist/producer Rubin & vocalist/songwriter Carino. They started out in San Francisco as a more straightforward rock band that prominently featured Hammond B3 organ.

Upon relocating to New York in 2000, Carino & Rubin began collaborating on songs with Carino writing lyrics/melodies & Rubin producing tracks using a combination of painstakingly arranged live instruments alongside digital sampling. Carino is known for her sultry contralto voice, expressive phrasing, & poetic, progressive-minded prose.

Benny Cha Cha has been a bassist for numerous jazz or rock greats, including Ronnie Cuber, Bill Frisell, Jim Campilongo, Moby, & Marshall Crenshaw. He has also worked as a remix artist working with the Wu-Tang Clan's Killah Priest, Karsh Kale, & Brazilian Girls.

To paraphrase the last stanza of Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer...
     "Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
      The band is playing somewhere, & somewhere hearts are light;
      & somewhere men are laughing, & somewhere children shout,
      Here're two releases from Mudvile---you oughta check'em out."

 

Mudville - The Glory of Man is Not in Vogue, Slurry Records SLURRY1003, 2003.
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The Hero of the World
Blown
Stoned
Perfect
Othello
Poets on Parade
In Orbit
Pray
Surfer Girls
Sunshine is on Me

 

 

 

 

This next one is a limited edition of 500 handwriiten numbered copies signed by Marilyn Carino &  Benny Cha Cha.

 

Mudville - Iris Nova, Mudvillemusic.com, 2007.

Eternity
Wonder Boy   
Wicked   
Brooklyn   
Spirits in the Material World (Police cover)
The Spanish Gypsy   
Joy   
Duke
Sado   
This Hollywood Life   
Sparkle   
Lotus

Enjoy the Trip,
NØ