pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four’s Music and Media Blog — music . media . web. culture

In recent years, we’ve seen a number of wannabe Rick Rubins try to grab a hold of an iconic artist from the past – someone whose career had stagnated commercially and creatively – and helping bring them back into the spotlight with an updated sound and a few well-chosen covers.

The latest is XL Recordings head Richard Russell who, after staking his place in the world of indie music by bringing M.I.A., Vampire Weekend and others to worldwide acclaim, has decided to coax jazz/soul/proto-hip hop poet Gil Scott-Heron out of his self-imposed, self-inflicted hiatus (although he has been performing, the 60-year-old has been in and out of prison of late, mostly on drug charges), and introduce him to the rapacious blogosphere.

The choice of a collaborator is an inspired one, but what Russell does with him is, unfortunately, less so. He treats the proceedings like a remix project, following Scott-Heron’s singing along with lumbering trip-hop beats that are 10 years behind the times and stray treble-y bits of sonic fuzz. It works slightly better when Scott-Heron chooses to read his poetry aloud, but the impact of his words would hardly be lessened if they were left alone.

It is only when Russell pays tribute to Scott-Heron’s past efforts that the album starts to make sense. The title track, a cover of a Smog song, features nothing more than a hand-picked acoustic guitar and Scott-Heron’s well-worn voice stretching itself over Bill Callahan’s dusty lyrics. And the downright stirring “I’ll Take Care Of You” is a soulful sentiment (”You won’t have to worry…for I’ll be there beside/to dry your weeping eyes”) that is matched with a restrained arrangement of strings, piano and one solitary kick drum beat.

It’s great to have a new Gil Scott-Heron record on the shelves. It’s just unfortunate that it isn’t the bold return to form that we were hoping for.

Van Dyke Parks – Wednesday @ Mississippi Studios
If you’re a music geek, the name Van Dyke Parks is music to your ears, considering the man’s pop pedigree. He has contributed lyrics to many great Beach Boys songs (”Heroes & Villains”, “Surf’s Up”), performed with The Byrds, produced albums by Ry Cooder and Randy Newman, and provided string arrangements for Joanna Newsom’s album Ys. As well, he recorded the intricate and far-reaching LP collector favorite Song Cycle. He comes to town not in support of any new music, nor is there any indication of what he will be up to tonight. But considering the man’s track record and his fascinating solo work, you would be foolish to miss out on a performance of this magnitude in as intimate a venue as Mississippi Studios.

Slabtown Bender – Friday through Sunday @ Slabtown
Busy this weekend? Not anymore you’re not, as you’ll want to have yourself parked in the friendly confines of Slabtown if you want to walk around town calling yourself a rock ‘n’ roll fan. Over the course of one weekend, a ridiculous number of incredible garage, punk and rock acts will take over this NW Portland bar and there is plenty of gems to be found in this overstuffed lineup. This includes the fuzzy rumblings of Ty Segall, the pub rock/glam hybrid Sir Lord Von Raven, two of the Bay Area’s best pop garage outfits Shannon & The Clams and The Dirty Cupcakes, and a bevy of local favorites like Pierced Arrows, The Bugs, Pure Country Gold, and The Foxgloves.

Daedelus/Nosaj Thing/Jogger – Monday @ Rotture
A fine package tour this. It brings together three young bucks from the world of electronica. All are from the Los Angeles area, and when they’re not remixing each other’s work, add a warm glow to the their own liquidy grooves. The emphasis throughout is on wowing synthesizers, dripping bits of sonic ephemera and beats that stir together elements of hip-hop, electro, deep house and smatterings of disco. Even if you play the wallflower for this night, you’re going to have plenty to chew on from the sidelines.

During their ’90s heyday, 808 State were one of the first groups to bring the sounds of techno and acid house to the pop charts in their native England. The quartet – comprised of Graham Massey, Marc Price, Andrew Barker, and Darren Partington – peaked right out of the gate, thanks to their 1989 single “Pacific State”, a still-entrancing song anchored by Massey’s siren-like soprano sax hook and pulsing, limber rhythms. They went on to score further Top 10 hits with punchy electro numbers like “Cubik” and “In Yer Face”, as well as the hot stepping, UB40 sampling gem “One In Ten”.

Apart from these chart hits, 808 State were also one of the earliest rave-era acts to embrace the spirit of the album. They releasing a series of cohesive statements – Ninety, Ex:El, Gorgeous, and Don Solaris – on Trevor Horn’s ZTT label (the group was signed to the iconic hip-hop label Tommy Boy here in the States). These discs showcased the artistic growth of the band as they moved from collections of dance floor ready work shoehorned together with rough transitions to a fuller, more spacious sound augmented by a cadre of guest vocalists. In March, these four discs will be reissued in remastered editions by ZTT, each one accompanied by a second disc of remixes and b-sides.

While the group hasn’t released any new material since 2003’s Outpost Transmission, they are still very much a going concern with the full live band playing festival dates throughout the year, as well as Barker and Partington DJ’ing around the world under the 808 State moniker. Pampelmoose spoke with one of the band’s founding members, Graham Massey, about the history, legacy, and the spirit of 808 State.

What was it like to revisit these recordings some 15 or more years after the fact?
The 808 Archive was in a bit of a mess. ZTT had certain DATs at their offices. Some were in a place called Music Bank, and some were over at Warners. I had a full set of DATs but all labeled with working titles, in the wrong boxes. So it was a bit of archeological dig to put together the “extras” CDs. We had decided to add a second disc of B-sides and rare tracks to each album. We got a lot of help from our fans at 808state.com who are thankfully better at archiving than both the band and the record company (to be fair, there is no one at ZTT who worked there back in the ’90s). I have always been aware that the CD editions from the early ’90s were mastered with a lot of headroom making them comparatively quiet to modern CDs. I am really glad we’ve brought them up to date and that almost the entire archive Is now available for digital download as that’s been fairly limited so far. I also am relieved to have some physical product back in the stores. I don’t think it’s right for instance that you can walk into HMV Manchester and not have an 808 State section.
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Ok Portland, I’m doing a DJ set at the Beaux-Arts Ball at Portland Art Museum this Saturday night, February 6th. Proceeds from the show will benefit education programs at the Portland Art Museum. Other than myself, entertainment is provided by Morningwood and Lily Verlaine. For tickets and information click here.

Some bands hit the nail on the head with unusual strength when naming themselves. The duo known as Pit er Pat are one such group, capturing the core of their sound – a rhythm heavy rumble that relies heavily on the slithery drumming of Butchy Fuego and Fay Davis-Jeffers’ clamoring keyboard runs – in one succinct bit of onomatopoeia. Together, the two create a thrilling and somehow soothing sound, but also one that is impossible to pin down. Just as you ready yourself for the rolling intensity of their work on their 2005 LP Shakey, they lighten their touch or stick a wrench in the works over the course of a 24-minute deconstruction of Oneida’s “Sheets Of Easter”.

Their latest work finds them shimmying into a new venue entirely. Conceived for a live performance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties fest, and easing into a new life as a duo, Pit er Pat have decided to embrace their new limitations, allowing them to plot a new course. Gone, or at least hidden under layers of other noises, are Fuego’s fleet snare rolls, replaced by programmed beats. And Davis-Jeffers’ keyboards have taken a back seat in the place of more subtle synth playing and guitar lines. They don’t run terribly far from their comfort zone, but it is in those places where they are swinging jauntily through the worlds of dub and hip-hop (see the Timbaland-inspired “Water”) that Entertainer gets very interesting.

The duo is also allowing themselves to ride an idea out for a lot longer on record than ever before. Live, they are more prone to let songs roll and roll and roll with no end in sight (thank God), but they’ve rarely stuck it out in the studio. With their new reliance on drum machines, augmented by Fuego’s percussive fiddling, they take a more electronica-style or Afrobeat approach, letting the high-stepping rhythms of “Emperor of Charms” and the circular pings of the Raincoats-y “Summer Rose” run free. It amps up the considerable energy the band exhibits throughout and gives Davis Jeffers more time to tangle us up in her quizzical lyrics. Like a good acid trip or a downstream boat ride, you needn’t fight their steady current. For maximum enjoyment, just go with it.

Via email from Jónsi:

A fan-only, password protected tour presale with some bonuses will start next Tuesday, February 9. We will be sending you all detailed information in the next few days. Stay tuned.

The tour will feature a brand new band and a stage set designed by 59 Productions, bringing together the worlds of theatre and music in a new and hopefully unique way. We are really excited about this project so we’ll be giving you glimpses on jonsi.com in the coming weeks as it progesses.

April 6 Vancouver, Canada Vogue Theatre
April 7 Vancouver, Canada Vogue Theatre
April 9 Seattle, WA The Showbox SoDo
April 10 Seattle, WA The ShowBox SoDo
April 13 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
April 15 Berkeley, CA Zellerbach Auditorium
April 16 San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts
April 18 Indio, CA Coachella
April 21 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
April 22 Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
April 24 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre
April 25 Minneapolis, MN Pantages Theatre
April 26 Milwaukee, WI The Pabst Theatre
April 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 28 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 30 Toronto, Canada Sound Academy
May 1 Toronto, Canada Sound Academy
May 2 Montreal, Canada Metropolis
May 3 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
May 5 Boston, MA House of Blues
May 6 Boston, MA House of Blues
May 8 New York, NY Terminal 5
May 9 New York, NY Terminal 5

The Rumble skipped January but returns again on February 2nd at its usual location, Holocene. For this month’s show we have Jaguar Love, about whom Pampelmoose contributor Robert Ham has great things to say here. Also on the bill are Logan Lynn and DJ A-Train. And as always it’s a FREE show.

Nomo @ Sunday @ Doug Fir Lounge
While the music writers and critics of the world try to parse out whether Vampire Weekend is honest in their approach to African pop, you should busy yourself with this fine group of gents from Michigan. Formed in the early part of the past decade, this sextet plays some of the best Fela Kuti-inspired Afrobeat you’re likely to find played by American natives. While they bring their upbringings as jazz and rock players into the mix, the heart of the group beats with the chugging, swaying rhythms of their plentiful percussion section and the buoyant back and forth of their horn section.

DJ Krush – Saturday @ Rotture
He touts himself on his MySpace page (or at least someone involved with his publicity does) as “one of the best hip-hop DJs”. Yet, one quick spin through his weighty discography and you’ll likely be saying the same thing. His work on the wheels of steel and as a producer have helped bring in such high profile collaborators as Mos Def, The Roots and Aesop Rock. But his musical chops have also earned him a place to perform alongside jazz/experimental icon Bill Laswell and Japanese avant garde trumpeter Toshinori Kondo. This night will likely see him tightening up his DJ chops for an upcoming event that will have Krush spinning for six hours straight. Prepare yourself accordingly for a long haul of deep grooves and lucid electronica.

Jaguar Love – Tuesday @ Holocene
The former members of the mighty Seattle group The Blood Brothers responded to that band’s break up by splitting up its musical personality. The gents who went on to form Past Lives took the sonic expansiveness, experimentalist leanings and low slung rhythms. But the boys who went on to create Jaguar Love kept the slinky sexiness that was always under the surface of many Blood Brothers tracks. Here, they’ve turned up the sensuality with the help of some curvy electro rhythms, taut guitar and keyboard antics and Cody Votolato’s straining vocals wriggling over the top of it all. Catch them now – for free, no less – in this cozy venue before the rest of the world gets a hold of them and you won’t be able to see them from the nosebleeds of whatever theater they’ll be filling up in six months’ time.