What’s your Secret, Chief? The Killing of Kings.

I get requests regularly but some for one reason or another (lapse in my brain cells) get the TIME DELAY TREATMENT. I've received several recent request that I'm working on. Unexpectedly I stumbled across & looked back on a cobweb-covered file crypticly labeled "TO DO!!!!!!!!!!".

I had posted Secret Chiefs 3 Zulfikar II & III as well as The Theatrum of Suprasensory Universes Vol. 1.  A NSS visitor requested more Secret Chiefs 3. 

 

I started compiling some SC3 tuneage & stumbled down the rabbit hole of  WEIRD CRAZEEEENESS. So the request has been lying dormant on the very spot where I fumbled the assignment all those years ago where it's been gathering dust & being overlooked but at the same time constantly growing in content . I will now try to rectify that grievious oversight. Without further hoopla... 

 

The easiest thing would be to say that Secret Chiefs is the brain-child of Trey Spruance. SC3 is basically Mr. Bungle without Mike Patton. But that would be so far from the real story. I will say that this whole magilla is definitely sweet musick to my earholes.

On over 30 tours, the Secret Chiefs 3 has never toured twice with the same line-up!

SC3 was conceptually & musically developed by Spruance for 16 years. The touring band
as well as the recording ensembles have a rotating cast of top musicians (Ches Smith, Shahzad Ismaily, William Winant, Toby Driver, April Centrone, Matt Lebofsky among many many others). Since 2007 violinist / multi-instrumentalist Timb Harris has been the most permanent anchor, partnering with Spruance as a true "band member" in an ever-shifting & organic colony of voices.

It wasn't until 2004s Book of Horizons that SC3 revealed that the "band" is in fact a composite of seven satellite bands. The seven bands are The Electromagnetic Azoth, UR, Ishraqiyun, Traditionalists, Holy Vehm, FORMS, & NT Fan (the only ones not on that release). Since the release of Book of Horizons the satellite bands have seen several releases of their own.

Really, the Secret Chiefs 3 is a blanket name for various incarnations of the band that make use of more specific aesthetics from Middle Eastern-flavored experimental music, death metal, soundscaping, whatever else emanates from the minds of Spruance & his numerous collaborators.

This could go on for a mighty long time but I don't have it in me right now. After all these years, I just want to feature some of the great weirdness. Here's a qoute from Mark Prindle that I've always taken guidance from...
     "Secret Chiefs 3 began life as Mr. Bungle without the singer, whose name I can't remember I think it was Mick P or something. Trey "Mr. Guitar" Spruance, Trevor "Johnny Bassman" Dunn and Danny "Lil' Danny Drums-So-Plenty" Heifetz began the band in earnest good times fun, but it quickly evolved into a multi-musicianed disease determined to piece together some of the wickedest-ass Middle Eastern music around, then Americanize it with guitar lines of surf/spy, spaghetti western and heavy metal persuasions, and top the capper off with the most inappropriate (and noisy!) production decisions that the Straight Man's world has ever known. They also fill their CD booklets with all this weirdo Arabic CRAP and Sufi SHIT and mysticism DIARRHEA, and I don't understand hide nor hair of it so you'll have to go to Foreigner School or some ASS like that to figure out what the HECK they're trying to prove. But Mister, if you're "all about" Eastern tunings, Secret Chiefs 3 are your man!

     Now I'll warn you right now that I Don't Know JackTM about the musics of the world so for all I know there are a bazillion "genuine" outfits out there on that other part of the planet that play this stuff a hundred times better. However, until those dusty old genuine groups start recruiting members of today's hottest alternative acts like Mr. Bungle and Natalie Imbruglia, they'd might as well just call it a day because there ain't nobody listenin'. Thanks for trying, musicians of Turkey, Morocco and India, but if you don't have Paul Simon or Peter Gabriel in your band, you'd might as well just shut your ass. We hear the phone ringing, but we're not pickin' up!"

Mark Prindle from Mark's Record Reviews. He does a fantastic work explaining (?) each release from this band, so check it out...

Take this ride to the last song, you'll know what the SECRET is..."White as They Come" yeehaw!

Secret Chiefs 3 - First Grand Constitution & Bylaws, Amarillo Records ACM-003, 1996.

all decryption codes in comments

Ana'l Haqq   
Adept Chamber of the Magian Tavern - Altar to the Master Chief
Inn of 3 Doors   
Breeze of Dawn, Death's Angel   
Assassin's Blade   
Bare-Faced Bazi   
Crossroads Through Crosshairs
Borderland   
Borderland   
Killing of Kings   
Celestial Ship of the Corsairs   
Pointed &bWeighty Arguments   
Zulkifar   
The Qa'im Deliberates   
Drunk at the Gates   
Resurrection Day Soundtrack : Hot Pursuit in Eagles' Nest
From Night the Morning Draught of Wine
Crosswinds   
Borderland   
White as They Come

 

 

 

 

Look out to the horizon(s), you Boxleitners... 

 

Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Horizons, Web of Mimicry WoM 014, 2004.

The End Times - FORMS   
The 4 (The Great Ishraqi Sun) - Ishraqiyun   
The Indestructible Drop - Traditionalists   
Exterminating Angel - Holy Vehm   
The Owl in Daylight - FORMS
The Exile - Traditionalists   
On the Wings of the Haoma - The Electromagnetic Azoth   
Book T: Exodus (composed by Ernest Gold) - UR
Hypostasis of the Archons - Holy Vehm   
The Electrotheonic Grail Dove - Traditionalists   
The 3 (Afghan Song composer unknown) - Ishraqiyun   
DJ Revisionist - The Electromagnetic Azoth   
Anthropomorphosis: Boxleitner - UR   
Welcome to the Theatron Animatronique - FORMS

 

 

 

   

Four-pack of 7"ers from 2007...

The Electromagnetic Azoth / UR – The Left Hand Of Nothingness / Personnae: Halloween 7", 

Web of Mimicry WoM 029, 2007

Side A -
The Left Hand of Nothingness - The Electromagnetic Azoth
Side B -
Personnae: Halloween - UR

 

 

 

 

Ishraqiyun / The Electromagnetic Azoth – Balance of the 19 / UBIK 7",
Web of Mimicry WOM 030, 2007.

Non-UBIK Side -
Balance of the 19 - Ishraqiyun
UBIK Side -
UBIK - The Electromagnetic Azoth

 

 

 

 

UR - Kulturvultur / Drive 7", Web of Mimicry WoM 031, 2007.

Side A -
Kulturvultur
Side b -
Drive

 

 

 

 

UR - Circumnambulation / Labyrinth of Light 7",  Web of Mimicry WoM 032, 2007.

Side Alif -
Circumambulation
Side  Bet -
Labytinth of Light.

 

 

 

Here Traditionalists helm the soundtrack to The Severed Right Hands of the Last Men.

 

Secret Chiefs 3 & Traditionalists – Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini,
Web of Mimicry WoM028, 2009.

Faith's Broken Mirror   
Sophia's Theme   
What's Wrong with Cytherea?
Mourning in Ekstasis   
He Hates Us   
Psychism 1: Cytherea's Possession   
Love Spell   
Agenda 21   
Subcutaneous Solution   
Abyss of Psychic Enchantments   
Subdermal Sequence (Nano-Correction)   
RFID Slaverider   
Dionysian Dithyramb (Eros-Seed of the Egregore)   
Zombievision   
Perfectly Reasonable   
Psychism 2: Fear is the Great Teacher   
Abolish Believers by Abolishing Belief   
Funeral for what Might Have Been (Sophia's Theme)   
Codex Alimentarius   
Putting Forth the Hand to Take   
Psychism 3: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind   
Hypnotopia (Obey Your Passion)   
Nano-Correction / Human Migrations / Faith Realizes
Chapel by the Sea (A Heart that is Broken & Humbled...)   
The Strength to Sever   
Baby Hedone (Harvest of the Egregore)   
Zombievision 2012   
The Great Die Off (He Mocks Us All)
Cytherea's Awakening / Martyrdom at Romiou Point / Return to the Foam
To Love God is Sweeter than Life (Sophia's Theme)

Chew into this (un)timely bite,
NØ

Fictitious Fiction

 

The Sabres of Paradise are a Dub-influenced leftfield electronic trio comprising the late Andrew Weatherall, Gary Burns, & Jagz Kooner, established in 1992. Although the group released their own original material starting in 1993, they are best known for the numerous remixes of other artists under the Sabres name.

The Actual Fictional Dancehall

Bubble & Slide
     "...it was pissing down, running through the gutters, banging out metallic bongo patterns in McGuire’s head, rhythms from the basement he’d just left. Squinting from left to right, the days course plotted."

Bubble & Slide II
     "...McGuire steps were solid over Battersea Bridge. London bridges at dawn, fuckin' magic, who needs fuckin' India or somewhere...no toilet paper and loads of poncey beatnik types."

Duke of Earlsfield
     "...The taxi stopped at the junction of Earlsfield Road and Garret Lane. McGuire mumbled 'Fascist Wanker' under his breath, refused to give a tip, and walked up to his front door. Once inside, the cherry on the cake had to be Jazzbo or Stitt."

Flight Path Estate
     "...Mcguire's rooms were immaculate. No way was he going to be 'Re-settled' by the Council on some fuckin' new estate underneath some fuckin' new airport"

Planet D
     "...The only way to avoid the Flight Path Estate scenario was to get a bit cosmic. 'Not too fuckin' cosmic, mind'. He'd once told me 'This planet's Martian enough without contemplating the whole universe'."

Wilmot
     "...It was the trumpet line that did it. Nevermind chasing after ethereal angels or earthly skirts. Chase that tone, scour the shacks, pester the sound boys."

Tow Truck
     "Noel's cutting room was a short walk from Borough tube station. It was the engine stoking the boilers of many a South London sound system. Outside stood his Chevy Stepside."

Theme & Theme 4
     "...McGuire pressed his ear to the wall and imagined the scenes within the Lant Street laboratory."

Return to Planet D
     "...No joy in Borough. On went the lightbulb above McGuire's head. 'You can dance to sweet music, sweat it out under a hot trumpet, or even play a nice game of billiards.' As Mr. Samuels was fond of saying about his beloved Soho."

Ballad of Nicky McGuire
     "...the trouble with Soho apart from the 'High-ups with an office on the spot and the low downs translating affairs on street corners.' (Another one of Mr. Samuel's), was that it reminded him of her. The café on the corner of Peter Street, Berwick Street Market, Sir Lee's coffe bar on Bateman Street. Fuck, even the strip joint on Dean Street."

Jacob Street 7am
     "...Stumbling from a Charing Cross Road drinker, two hours kip and off to work. Dawn over Rotherhithe...could be worse."

Chapel Street Market 9am
     "...As the hammer hit his thumb, the name of an importer stamped itself on the front of McGuire's brain with equally painful clarity. He had some money stashed to get through the summer with aplomb, dash, bag load's of tunes, and anyway Ray the Bugle, Mac, & The Major all those boys understood totally."

Haunted Dancehall
     "...Then he heard it. Pushing past early morning commuters and the market stall workers, he found himself standing outside a boarded up café. Wrenching the planks from what was once the front door, McGuire stepped inside..."
          The Haunted Dancehall by James Woodbourne. 

 

The Sabres of Paradise - Haunted Dancehall, Warp Records WARPCD26, 1994.
decryption code in comments

Bubble & Slide    
Bubble & Slide II    
Duke of Earlsfield    
Flight Path Estate    
Planet D
Wilmot
Tow Truck    
Theme
Theme 4    
Return to Planet D    
Ballad of Nicky McGuire    
Jacob Street 7am    
Chapel Street Market 9am    
Haunted Dancehall

Enjoy,
NØ

The Diabolyn Made Me Do It

This month I feel like an SOB. 

You might get it later. 

 

Satanique Samba Trio is a Brazilian instrumental-experimental crew formed in 2002.  The name is a definite misnomer as the band is neither Satanic nor a trio.  Their music combines Brazilian traditional rhythms with punk & free jazz all overshadowed by a caustic faux-satanism that colors their themes. It has been variously described as Grimoire folk or Faustian world jazz. If those aren't two of your favorite genres, well, sorreeeee!

But I'm not...I'm just being DEVILISH. 

Dig in, guys & ghouls.

 

Satanique Samba Trio - Misantropicalia, Amplitude 003, 2004.
all decryption codes in comments

Teletransputa
Canção Para Atrair Má Sorte (ato 1)
Deus Odeia Samba Rock
Canção Para Atrair Má Sorte (ato 2)
Gafieira Bad Vibe
Canção Para Atrair Má Sorte (ato 3)
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer I
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer II
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer III
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer IV
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer V
Seis Temas Temas Tropicais Para Mestre Lúcifer VI
Canção Para Atrair Má Sorte (ato 4)
Dança Das Quiumbas

 

 

 

 

Satanique Samba Trio - Sangrou, Amplitude 007, 2007.

Os Sininhos Dizem Morte
Kit De Amputação Asasulista
Estilo Ricky Ramirez
Auto-Retrato Em Tripas De Cachorro (Face 1)
Chuve De Sangue Em Exu (Pe)
Salsa Em Carna Viva
Comendo Faca
Todos Os Santos Na Grelha
A Alma Boca Afora
Morre, Brasília!
Cancerbol
Auto-Retrato Em Tripas De Cachorro (Face 2)
Salve Satã E Ponto Final
Diabolyn
Canção Para Atrair Má Sorte (Ato Vi)
Peça Para Pó, Pele E Osso Em Dez Por Oito

 

 

 

 

May Day Special!

Taking advantage of the short-lived exposure provided by Instagram Stories, Satanique Samba Trio (here a quintet) presented the world with 15-second lo-fi tunes every day throughout the month of February 2019.  Taken together, it's like a 7 minute mini-mixtape trip into the tropi-concrete world of SS3. 

 

 

Satanique Samba Trio - Instant Karma, Instagram, 2019.

Parts 1 - 28

Enjoy,
NØ

Now I’m High on LKJ

People in the streets protesting racism. A feeling that black lives are regarded as worthless. A lack of prospects & deep division. All of these are amply handled by Mr. Johnson. 

 

Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) was born in Chapelton, Jamaica. He moved to Brixton, UK at age 9. In high school, he joined the English Black Panthers. Together they created a poetry workshop called "Rasta Love". LKJ began to be published in the magazine "Race Today" in 1973. He released his first book of poetry in 1974 (Voices of the Living & the Dead) followed by his second in 1975 (Dread Beat an' Blood) which was also the title of his first album in 1978.

On his albums, Linton Kwesi Johnson doesn't sing. He doesn't DJ. On record, Johnson simply speaks his verses over a deep, heavy rhythmic backing, a style that became known as Dub poetry. He has always used his Dub poetry to fight racism, giving voice to the fact that black lives are not worthless, that there are indeed prospect to be found & pathways to bridge the deep division. 

I have been asked what is the point of LKJ without the words. Dub has the ability to tranlate all the meaning of the words into sounds that tap the heart of our unity. The point of LKJ in Dub is obvious to any ear that truly gives listen. But to please everyone, I'm including one of LKJ’s greatest Dub poetry volumes, his very first.  

Poet & the Roots - Dread Beat an' Blood, Front Line FL 1017, 1978.
all decryption codes in comments

Side One -
Dread Beat an' Blood
Five Nights of Bleeding
Doun di Road
Song of Blood (vocals by Vivian Weathers)

Side Two -
It Dread inna Inglan (for George Lindo)
Come Wi Goh Dung Deh
Man Free (for Darcus Howe)
All Wi Doin is Defendin 

The rhythms of his Dub poetry albums, already deep & deadly, further come into their own on LKJ in Dub, a mesmerizing instrumental remix album of tracks from Bass Culture & Forces of Victory. On all of his albums & live performances, LKJ appears with the Dub Bands, led by Dennis Bovell - producer, bass, percussion, piano.

 

 

Linton Kwesi Johnson - LKJ in Dub, Mango MLPS-9650, 1980.

Side A -
Victorious Dub
Reality Dub
Peach Dub
Shocking Dub

Side B -
Iron Bar Dub
Bitch Dub
Cultural Dub
Brain Smashing Dub

 

 

 

 

With snippets of his poetry sliding in & out of the delay / echo, with the phenomenal weight of Dennis Bovell's bass pinning everything down, LKJ in Dub Volume Two is up there with best OG style Dub.

 

Linton Kwesi Johnson - LKJ in Dub Volume Two, WEA Music 3984-24819-2, 1992.

Historic Dub
Cold War Dub
Guyanese Dub
Timeless Dub
Sensical Dub
Sensical Dubprise
Face Card Dub
Dub Tale
Dubbin di Revalueshan

 

 

 

 

All of the fine LKJ in Dub platters offered here are produced & mixed by Dennis Bovell. His mixing is infinitely subtle yet drops like thunder. It is the original British Dub sound distilled.

Volume Three continues this series that began in 1980. Dub's greatness is its ability to whittle reggae down to its barest, most primal essence, the beat & the bassline. Well, LKJ has the ability to push Dub even further. This volume is a perfect distillation of Dub's power, at once achingly sparse yet at the same time profoundly deep.

 

Linton Kwesi Johnson - LKJ in Dub Volume Three, LKJ Records LTD - LKJ CD 0021, 2002.

Dirty Langwidge Dub
Rootikal Dub
Liesense fi Dub
Dubbin di Tradition
Time fi Dub
Row Man Tik Dub
Mensch Dub
Afro-German Dub
Dubbin di Diaspora
Poetic Dub

Enjoy,
NØ

L-speak xx Lacy

Originally recorded for Holland's Korm Plastics label, this project was instigated by Korm label boss Frans de Waard. He phoned the Legendary Pink Dots household with the brief request, "Why don't you make something for our ambient series?"

The session was organized with Edward Ka-spel, his then-wife, Elke, their 2-year-old son, Calyxx, & fellow Pink Dot Ryan Moore. The session lasted 3 days. All of this was edited & mixed by Ka-spel. The name "DNA Le Draw D-Kee" is an anagram of Edward & Elke. 

 

DNA Le Draw D Kee is a one-off that draws upon the more atmospheric qualities of the Legendary Pink Dots.

Line-up: Edward Ka-spel - keyboards, & musical box; Elke Ka-spel - keyboards, & percussuion  Calyxx Ka-spel - Babyphone, & Ryan Moore - drums, percussion, guitar, bass.

DNA Le Draw D-Kee - Decay / DNA, Korm Plstics kp 5295,1995.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Decay (21:13)

Side B -
DNA (18:09)

Enjoy,
NØ

It’s Robot Fightin’ Time

I am a hard-core BattleBots enthusiast. I started following robot fighting in the early 90s while living in San Jose,CA. I had been to numerous Survival Research Laboratory's shows , the brainchild of Mark Pauline, in San Francisco. These shows tied in perfectly with the punk & industrial music scenes burgeoning in the Bay Area.

The first show I attended was The Misfortunes of Desire (Acted Out at an Imaginary Location Symbolizing Everything Worth Having) in 1988 in the parking lot of Shea Stadium.  The show included a shock wave cannon, a 4-legged walking machine, a high power flame thrower, a radio-controlled tank, & a 1,200-pound catapult.

True Robot fighting got its start in October 1989 at the MileHiCon, a science fiction convention in Denver,CO. The MileHiCon featured the first actual tournament promoting robotic battles called the Critter Crunch. A small group of mechanical engineers known as the Denver Mad Scientist Club envisioned the event after viewing videos of the Survival Research Laboratory shows & learning of a competition at MIT that required homemade robots to compete in mechanical tasks. By coupling these influences the group created a robot combat event like no other. It was part eccentric spectacle, part brutal fight to the death, & all fun.

Eventually, word of the Critter Crunch began to spread. Other conventions around the country began hosting robot combat events as well, most notably at DragonCon in Atlanta.

 

The 25 pound robots of the first Critter Crunch were quite different from the 250 pound behemoths of BattleBots today. 

While these non-commercial events thrived in the convention world, another man was independently developing a bigger picture view of robot combat.

Marc Thorpe, a San Francisco based animatronic designer, had created special effects for Parts 2 & 3 of the Star Wars trilogy for LucasFilm. While independently working on a remote control vacuum cleaner in 1992, Thorpe looked at the device & realized its sinister potential which he dreamed could be transformed into a metal-crunching death machine. Building on this thought, Thorpe realized the potential behind a remote-controlled robot combat tournament. 

 

A feature in a 1994 issue of Wired Magazine about Thorpe's concept of ROBOT WARS finally enabled Thorpe to put on the competition. 

Robots & Robot Wars have come a long way since their humble beginnings at the end of the 20thCentury. Now the spectacle of the Battle Box arena & BattleBots.

I decided to create a music compilation to honor some of my favorite Bots. I narrowed the competition to the field of 32 & let them fight it out. The field of 16 is represented here. Starting with my favorite Bot, driven by Daniel Freitas...Minotaur. 

 

Various - BattleBots Rock, NØ Comp., 2023.

Minotaur - St. Paul & the Broken Bones
Overhaul - Ray TJ
Quantum - Martin Garrix & Brooks
Riptide - Vance Joy
Tantrum - Whitey
Blip (Club mix) - Wongo
Jackpot - Joceln Alice
Whiplash - MercyMe
Bloodsport - Sneaker Pimps
Cobalt - Enzalla
Black Dragon - The Vines
Glitch - Martin Garrix & Julian Jordan
Hydra - Toto
Banshee - Kendra Morris
Rotator - VAN DUO
Witch Doctor - De Staat

Let the Robot battle begin,
NØ

You Be Haty’n

Haty Haty is David Douglas & Johannes Sigmond.

David Douglas is a Dutch electronica producer. He released his debut EP Royal Horticultural Society in 2012 & released his debut album Moon Observations in 2014.

 

Johannes Sigmond, otherwise known as Blaudzun, is from Amersfoort, The Netherlands, so I guess that makes him Dutch as well (asswell!!! nudge-nudge).

Their only release was 2016s High as the Sun. I'm a bit higher than that right now so that's my story, & I'm sticking to it. 

 

Haty Haty - High as the Sun, V2 VVNL28302, 2016
decryption code in comments

Parakeet
Nazaré
High as the Sun
Run-Stop-Non-Stop-Belly-Flop
Tell Me Something
Uptown Angel
After All
Haty

Enjoy,
NØ

Pray TV Part 3

Starting Dec. 13 last year I featured All India Radio & Martin Kennedy related posts for the Twelve Days of Yule & onward to the months end. On Dec. 30 I shared Horizontal Life by Pray TV, the band Martin played guitar in prior to forming All India Radio.

Pray TV Part 2 -

In a comment on that post,  fellow blogger viacomclosedmedown on youtube requested more Pray TV. 

I followed up with Swingers Paradise. At the time I sez I may be posting more Pray TV soon (March). Well, now it's May & I'm finally getting back to it. 

 

Pray TV - Westona, The Hypnotized Label HIP018CD, 1996.
decryption code in comments

Casino Royale
Solid Gold Hell
Far to Fall
Don't Waste My Time
Let it Go
Vanity
New York Romance Blues
Crying Shane
Into the Blue
Stay (or Stay Away)

Enjoy,
NØ

Reach for the Skye

Another favorite of mine is Morcheeba. More correctly, Morcheeba that features Skye Edwards.

Paul & Ross Godfrey along with Skye Edwards launched Morcheeba in 1995. By 2003 things had become so strained between the three that the Godfrey brothers dismissed Skye. The GBs ran through two more singers before producing an album of all guests vocalists, but to no avail. We fans wanted Skye back. Paul & Ross finally asked Edwards to return in 2010.

That year they released Blood like Lemonade with Ms. Skye on vocals. It was a spectacular reunion & a tremendous album. However, the acrimony between Paul & Ross, both musically & personally finally came to full boil after the release of Head Up High album in 2013. Paul decided he was leaving the band, which he made official in 2014. 

 

Ross Godfrey & Skye Edwards had always had a good musical relationship. Ross for his part is a extremely talented but much under-rated guitarist. Though Paul had handled much of the past Morcheeba songwriting, Ross had full confidence in Skye's songwriting chops. She had honed them well during her solo days between Morcheeba phases. 

I've posted much of her wonderful catalogue here. The two announced a new project in 2016 named Skye ][ Ross. They released their self-titled album that year. The band started as just an acoustic duo but were soon joined by  Edward's son Jaega on drums, her husband Steve Gordon on bass & Godfrey's wife Amanda Zamolo providing backing vocals. Ross & Skye then went on to release Blaze Away under the old Morcheeba moniker in 2018.

Since then they have once again remained true to the Morcheeba sound. But in my opinion, Skye ][ Ross is one of the very best Morcheeba recordings. A rose by any other name... 

 

Skye & Ross - Skye ][ Ross, Fly Agaric Records FAR002CD, 2016.
decryption code in comments

Repay the Saviour   
Light of Gold   
All My Days   
How to Fly   
Clear My Mind   
Hold On   
Medicine   
Feet First   
Head Home   
The Point of No Return

Enjoy,
NØ 

She’ll Get Medieval on Your Ass

I was listening to Roseland (Azam Ali & Tyler Bates). 

As always when I listen to it I am transported, primarily by the voice & musical direction of Azam Ali. I featured the beautiful songstress midway through recovery from my 70th birthday melee party several years back.

I wanted to post some more of Ms. Ali but realized I had already shared both her previous bands: Vas with In the Garden of Souls; Niyaz with their self-titled Niyaz; & the one that prompted this post...Roseland. I also shared both Azam’s solo Elysium for the Brave & the Elysium Remixes albums.

Here is Azam's first solo release from 2002, while she was still recording with Greg Ellis (both of Vas).

 

Azam Ali - Portals of Grace, Narada World 72438-11390-2-8, 2002.
decryption code in comments

Lasse pour Quoi    
La Serena    
Breton Medley    
O Felix    
Ben Pode Santa Maria    
O Quanta Qualia    
Sackpipslät    
Aj Ondas    
A Chantar M'Er    
Inna-I-Malak    
El Rey de Francia

Enjoy,
NØ

Always on My Mind

For the next three posts I'm going to be featuring artists that I have touched on before, Massive Attack, Azam Ali, & Morcheeba. I've followed all three throughout their careers & listen to them regularly. The selections I decided on have been always on my mind but never posted here. 

 

I'll start with Massive Attack. I remember when Blue Lines came out. I ate it up. It was the best. 

Then I heard Protection / No Protection & I was over the moon. This was the best. 

Then Mezzanine showed its insectoid face. It was an out of body experience. It was the best. & so it went with Massive Attack...every release the perfect vehicle of its time. 

100th Window. Sublime. 

 

The last real Massive Attack release was 2010s Heligoland. Any time I hear "Pray for Rain" with vocals by Tunde Adebimpe I shudder. 

Many of the usual guest vocalists are assembled: Horace Andy; Martina Topley-Bird; Hope Sandoval; Damon Albarn. This is the best.

 

Massive Attack - Heligoland, Virgin 5099960946621, 2010.
decryption code in comments

Pray for Rain
Babel
Splitting the Atom
Girl I Love You
Psyche
Flat of the Blade
Paradise Circus
Rush Minute
Saturday Come Slow
Atlas Air

Enjoy,
NØ

Missing the Mark

When I posted up two tracks, "Vanishing Shadows" & "Welcome to It" by Liela Moss in the S-EXY New Faces set, friend Jonder reminded me that Liela had been vocalist (& more) in The Duke Spirit. I was mildly surprised that she sounded quite different from the rocking style my mind associated with The Duke Spirit. Being only a casual TDS listener, I hadn't recognized the name.

Jonder also mentioned that Duke Spirit guitarist (& more) Toby Butler could be found working under the moniker IYEARA. Thanks, Jonder.

Looked around for some IYEARA tracks & really enjoyed what I found. Here's some of what I stumbled across in my quest. 

 

Various - In I YEAR An I Day, NØ Comp., 2023.

Exhale - IYEARA
Magenta - The Duke Spirit
Killing Moon - Roman Remains
Lost Highway - LUSTS
A&E - The Ting Tings
London - Paris Youth Foundation
Shout featuring Liela Moss - IYEARA
Memories & Faces - Liela Moss
Muscles & Bugs (Empty Grave remix) - True Ghouls
Here I Am - The Boxer Rebellion
May I be the Light - LUMP
Score the Sky - Lost Horizons
W4U - Joycut
Enclosure - IYEARA
     (all tracks remixed by IYEARA)

 

 

While digging around for those tracks I came across this gem.  Mark Lanegan Band - Another Knock at the Door (IYEARA remixes of Somebody’s Knocking). Music is a lesser place without Mark. Although I was not always on board for all his musical ventures, his voice was soulful, dark, full of melancholy, divine. This album is a winner in my book. A great addition to Mark Lanegan's legacy. 

 

 

Here IYEARA is guitarist Toby Butler, producer Malcolm Carson, & vocalist Paul O’Keeffe. 

 

 

 

 

Mark Lanegan Band - Another Knock at the Door (IYEARA remixes) 2xLP, 

Flooded Soil Recordings FSR01LP, 2020.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Disbelief Suspension    
Letter Never Sent
Night Flight to Kabul

Side B -
Dark Disco Jag
Gazing from the Shore
Stitch it Up
Playing Nero

Side C -
Penthouse High
Paper Hat
Name & Number

Side D -
War Horse featuring Liela Moss
Radio Silence
She Loved You
Two Bells Ringing

Enjoy,
NØ

Two Bulls

Another one for my Taurus friends out there skating the Interweb. 

 

 

A mix of reggae & Dub from an old favorite. John Brown's Body alum Craig Welsh delivers 10 Ft. Ganja's second offering, on ROIR. A cannabis runner's special luv.

10 Ft. Ganja Plant - Hillside Airstrip, ROIR RUSCD 8270, 2001.
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Long Time Ago
Pure Sugar
Jah Will Go On
Two Bulls
Soul Love
Time I Know
Walkey Wall Talk
Hillside Airstrip
Born Free
New Day

Jah luv,
NØ

Für Sven aus München

Ak'Chamel, the Giver of Illness recently released A Mournful Kingdom of Sand. While I was listening to this, the bands latest, I wondered why I had overlooked sharing this incredible music here before now. Remedying that as you read on. 

 

Ak'chamel is a cabalistic duo (or trio???) of Houston, Texas natives who prefer recording in ghost towns in the Chihuahuan Desert in far West Texas rather than the urban confines of modern Amerika. They play psyched-out desert exotica grooves armed with guitar, drums, bass, & multitudes of various ethnic & self-built instruments. They create an ensemble of atmospheres that recalls bands like Sun City Girls or Popol Vuh.

The shamanic group performs wearing homemade costumes & masks that places their aesthetics mid-point between the North American medicine men & Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain style. Ak'chamel create music drawing elements from the many traditions from cumbia to exotica, from black metal to Turkish, Anatolian, & Mauritanian music. Ak'chamel are true fourth world post-colonial appropriators. Murky lo-fi soundscapes of deep psychedelic folk that conjures the "fourth world of radical exotica", a place populated by old ghosts, forgotten magic, & discarded fetishes. This is music seemingly deriving from hacked pirate radio waves encircling the earth with fear & static, penetrating language, gender, mutation…to the core.

Much of their newer releases are available over at bandcamp. Transmissions from Boshqa & The Totemist I highly recommend but, behold, their latest - A Mournful Kingdom of Sand is a revelation. Here are a few of the bands earliest releases. 

 

Ak'chamel, the Giver of Illness - Pus Ch'en, HysM? HysM?o85, 2013.
all decryption codes in comments

Irrevocable from Conception
Underworld Sweat Bath
Kohakawa Iyathtokyai
Weightlessness in the U.F.O. Corridor
Nahuati Tonalli
Swallowing the Damned 

 

 

 

 

Ak'chamel, the Giver of Illness - Old Norse Mara, Sirona Records Siro612, 2013.

A Ceremonial Harvest (intro)
Pussy Gloating the Give
El Carretero
Death Was on You from the Moment of Birth
Virgen del Mercedes
Slalom (Ennio Morricone)
Mountain of the Sleeping Lady
The Other Side of the Dark Waters 

 

 

 

 

Ak'chamel, the Giver of Illness - Live Recordings from the Shadow World, self-released, 2014.

Inrto/Devourer of Stars
Floating Rugs of Dakar
Evil Dark Face
Dos Gardenias
Yaje Chant
Funeral Fog

note:Tracks 1,3,&6 recorded live at Rudyard's; tracks 2&5 recorded live at a campfire performance; track 4 recorded live at Super Happy Fun Land. 

 

 

As a bonus, here is an hour's worth of juju as Ak'chamel continue their sonic assault on the false gods of neoliberalism with a stunning collection of unreleased tape samples & miscellaneous recordings from their archives. 

 

Ak'chamel - Lo-Fi Shadow-Folk Sounds from the Fourth World, RIAFC 066, 2022.

Enjoy,
NØ

More Wevie

A good friend of this here dump was having major issues with his internet provider. I had been in contact with him during the course of the interruption. He was able to read the latest posts, but unable to listen to the music. He finally got things straightened out. I received the following email the other day.

>Nate,
>I just wanted to thank you again for your posts and for the nice comment after my internet
> returned. It finally seems to work fine, again.
>I never heard of Wevie Stonder and I'm impressed with the album you posted. If you feel like
>putting more Wevie on Nothin', I certainly wouldn't mind.
>Best wishes,
>Sven 

 

After I posted the Wevie Stonder - Drawing on Other People's Heads album, an old friend (seems all my friends are old...how weird) sent me their first release, which I'm sharing with Sven & all.

There is a rectangular strip of clear tape below the front cover title, embossed with Eat Your Own Ears in Braille.

Here Wevie is: ITCHY genius, Henry music, & M.C. hat with guest vocals by Nanni & Guido. 

 

Wevie Stonder - Eat Your Own Ears, Skam ska014cd, 2000.
decryption code in comments

Questionable
Pepsy
Stork
The Duel
Café Con Leccé
Gypsy Chimp
Volcanoes
Dutch Barge Dog
Blue Horse Caroché
Future Dog Hairstyles
(track 10 is not listed on the back cover)

Enjoy,
NØ

Another MayDay

This set goes out to Ib Sibling, Bryant Bryant & wife, & all the other Tauri out there (& anyone else interested). 

A heaping pile of Bull. 

 

Chaz Bundick, the mind behind Toro y Moi, is a true Renaissance man. He is an eclectic multi-disciplinary artist whose career touches everything from music to design, from fashion to furniture.

As a musician he has been accused of romanticising the past. He thinks of it more as about bringing the past into the future, connecting generations, keeping retro current, making sure music is personal.

His earliest self-released was the June 2009 Comp.

 

Toro y Moi - June 2009 Comp, Toro y Moi self released, 2009.
all decryption codes in comments

Ektelon
Dead Pontoon
Best Around
109
Take the L to Leave
Girl Problems
Flections
New Loved Ones
Freak Love
Animilia
Talamak
Blessa
Drive South
Sad Sams
Eden
Causers of This

 

 

 

Chaz was one of the progenitors of chillwave with his 2010 debut album Causers of This. Here's the Australian version with bonus tracks. 

 

Toro y Moi - Causers of This, Mistletone Records MIST038, 2010.

Blessa
Minors
Imprint After
Lissoms
Fax Shadow
Thanks Vision
Freak Love
Talamak
You Hid
Low Shoulder
Causers of This

bonus tracks -
Cold Sheets
Tidals
Well Tusked
Eden 

 

 

 

 

Now it's nearly 15 years since the dawn of chillwave. It's a much different world. Toro y Moi's latest is MAHAL, which derives from the Filipino word for 'love'. MAHAL's thematic anchor comes in the form of the Jeepney, an iconic mode of public transport that is as unique to the Philippines, ubiquitous throughout the country. Initially, the purpose of the MAHAL Jeepney was largely pragmatic, a way to get music out during the pandemic.

 

 

Chaz sez:
     "I was like, well, we're not playing in venues anytime soon so what if we just bring the record to the people? My thinking was...get a vehicle, take it to the record shops, take it to the coffee shops, pop up some speakers, & be face-to-face or at least mask-to-mask with fans."

Search out MAHAL if you like this stuff. I think it's his best yet.

Enjoy,
NØ