VIDEO THRWBCK: Carl Craig - Televised Green Smoke (1997)
Carl Craig's album More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art was so forward thinking and script-flipping for Detroit techno that one of its highlights, "Televised Green Smoke" needed a video shot frame by frame to give viewers a chance to drink it all in.
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD - Friendly Foes - Get Yr Shit Together
Man, auxiliary percussion is the best. All "More Cowbell" T-shirts aside, doesn't a righteous tambourine or enthusiastic handclaps just make your pop music day? Friendly Foes know all about that shit, and they know how to make your pop music day. With Ryan Allen from Thunderbirds Are Now! working main vocals and "yeah yeah yeah" backing vocal fist pumps form Liz Whittman, this is a band that loves choruses and tambos and propulsion and Elvis Costello and Superchunk. Speaking of which - there was a Superchunk T-shirt in the day that had an Scooby-Doo style van with the arm of a dude throwing horns out the window. Simple, to the point and full of power - kind of like Friendly Foes' first full length Born Radical on Gangplank. These guys get "it," so if you want "it," grab "Get Yr Shit Together."
Sounds Like: Guided By Voices, Spoon, Superchunk, Thunderbirds Are Now!
DOWNLOAD AND VIDEO: R.I.P.: Nathaniel Mayer - Lonely Man + I Found Out (video)
In the hoopla of happiness surrounding this historic week, a sad passing should be noted. On November 1, Detroit soul legend Nathaniel Mayer died after suffering multiple strokes after completing his first European tour after a career revival with help from the Black Keys. Nathaniel Mayer had his first Top 40 record in 1962 and on his final record for Alive, Why Don't You Give It To Me?, Mayer hollers, howls and seduces with help from Dan Auerbach as well as the Detroiters who followed in his footsteps including members of The Dirtbombs, SSM, The Sights and Outrageous Cherry. "Lonely Man" is from that album and features the fuzzy guitars, garage rhythms and stoned groove that was his later-day trademark. Until the end, Nathaniel Mayer was the real deal - just check the video of the live performance of "I Found Out," as he dedicates each and every song to all the beautiful ladies in the house and promises, "I'll take all ya'll home with me tonight!" So here's to Nathaniel Mayer and best wishes to him with all the beautiful ladies in the sky.
Sounds Like: James Brown, Ray Charles, the Black Keys, the Dirtbombs, the Detroit Cobras
STREAM: Sten - Fortune, Way to the Stars, & Squares
Dial Records head honcho, Peter Kersten might have a laidback temperment, but his work ethic is anything but. In addition to making music under the monikers Lawrence and Sten, Kersten has built an increasingly popular and successful label with his friends Turner and Carsten Jost, one which celebrates experimentation as much as irresistible dance floor grooves. While Kersten strives constantly to improve his own music, its tone and quality has proven quite consistent. Check out "Fortune," a track from recent label comp You Are My Mate: Even tempered and enigmatic, the Detroit-influenced tune rolls its ascending synth progression over the pattering of toms, hi-hats and icy marimba lines. Sten explores moods and methods across his latest album, The Essence, which hosts tracks like the nervous and pacing "Squares," and the space-exploring epic "Way to the Stars" -- a true treat for melodic tech-house lovers. You might just be tempted to join Kersten on the couch for a listening session.
Sounds like: Theo Parrish, Carl Craig, Pantha Du Prince
Stream: Sten - Way to the Stars
Hooky + Pop Noir
Last night we met Peter Hook (of Joy Division / New Order fame, in case you didn't know) after his DJ set at The Detroit Bar.
We've now completed the Great Triumvirate / Holy Trinity of Manchester Bass Players, having also met Mani and Andy Rourke on our travels.
I recently drew Hooky for The District Weekly, so here's a photo of me giving him the original artwork.
Here's the actual illustration...
And here's a shot of the three of us, because.. why not?
Love,
Joe
