Burl Veneer’s Music Blog

John Wetton: Jack-Knife

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:01:03 -0700

I was in the ninth grade when I discovered the "imports" section at the local record store (Waxie Maxie's), filled with stuff that looked downright weird. Even better, though, was the discounted imports bin, and one day when I had five dollars to spend I waffled between Chrome's Red Exposure, which looked strange and interesting, and Jack-Knife's I Wish You Would, which had John Wetton, who was a known quantity to me, on bass. I opted for Jack-Knife; years later I got really into Chrome and eventually found another copy of Red Exposure to buy. Would having bought it the first time have changed the trajectory of my musical fandom? Chrome was decidedly different, and I sometimes wished I'd gotten an earlier start in alternative music. But a few tunes on the Jack-Knife album hold up well; on the title track Wetton plays one of his most kinetic basslines, and Curt Cress opens the song with the funkiest drumming you'll ever hear on a rock record. Then there's the fantastic guitar solo by Richard Palmer-James which, when it sounds like it's over, picks up again for another several bars of wah-wah ecstasy:

A1 I Wish You Would

Jack-Knife

Jack-Knife was a one-off, Wetton getting some old bandmates together to have some fun between U.K. recording sessions in 1979. As such it's surprisingly good, and groove miners can find a lot of first-rate breaks (some with cowbell!) to sample.

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Quintessence of Dance-Punk

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:26:36 -0700

"Postpunk revival" or "dance-punk" is enjoying some staying power as a genre, but what is it, exactly? You could try to define it, or you could take my favored approach, i.e. "I know it when I hear it." It all boils down to trying to sound like "To Hell With Poverty" by Gang of Four:

Gang Of Four - To Hell With Poverty (TV Live)

I always assumed that Gang of Four was named after Chinese Communists, but I've been wrong all this time, according to Wikipedia:

In fact the term "Gang of Four" refers to the "big four" Structuralist theorists: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, and Jacques Lacan, not to be confused with the Maoist Gang of Four in China.

You learn something new every day. I'm content to let Structural theory trickle down to me via rock bands; I've tried reading the stuff but can't get through more than... well, I can't get through any. Back to dance-punk, even better than emulating Gang of Four would be to sound like Medium Medium's "Hungry, So Angry"--

medium medium hangry so angry

What both songs have in common is a killer bassline, and in fact they can serve as my first two "Postpunk Bassline Hall of Fame" entries. To give credit where it's due, that's Dave Allen in Gang of Four, and Alan Turton in Medium Medium. I'll give Turton the edge for the top slot. Dave Allen will appear again in the Bassline Hall of Fame; see if you can guess for what song. Medium Medium has even reformed, 20-odd years after breaking up, to play very occasional gigs and record a new album. Word is that the album is finished and in search of a label; the anticipation is palpable at Burl Veneer's Music Blog. In other words, I can't wait! Meanwhile I'm wading through a spate of new and newish dance-punk releases, trying to separate the cream from the chaff, or something like that. I'll report my findings soon.

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More Blood

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:18:30 -0800

I could sit and post songs and videos to this blog all day every day, but the prospect of picking out one or two from the universe of things I want to post sometimes paralyzes me into inaction. So in the interest of catching up, here's a follow-up to my first James Blood Ulmer post, which contains all of the relevant information, so I won't repeat it here. That post featured the standout track from Ulmer's second Columbia album, Black Rock (1982); here I back up to 1981 and his first album for Columbia, Free Lancing, for "Pleasure Control"--

02 Pleasure Control

James Blood Ulmer

Demand James Blood Ulmer in your city! Hmm, one person demanding him in Ithaca, I wonder who that is? (Hint: it's me.)

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Bass porn + Sheffield = Chakk

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:32:18 -0800

Back once more to Sheffield and Damon Fairclough's "Destroyed by gods" annotated musical tour. Fairclough writes:

As the Designers Republic made their first assault on Sheffield's graphics/music interface - in tandem with Leeds' Age Of Chance, it has to be said - they seemed to usher in, or at least popularise to a degree, an age of shouty slogans, sub-graffito clamour and statements smartly-dressed: 'Release the heat'; 'You can live forever'; 'Work Buy Consume Die'.

"Release the heat" comes from Chakk's first single, "Out of the Flesh," released in three mixes as a 12" on Cabaret Voltaire's Doublevision label in 1984. Mark Brydon's rumbling, elastic bassline is really the song's central motif, echoed by Sim Lister's sax, then there is the other shouty slogan, "Out of the flesh, out of the flesh, taste the sweat!", followed by the vocal "Ooooh oo-eee-ooooo ooooh" referenced by Fairclough, and bashing along above everything is the gated snare turned up to eleven that marred nearly every single song of the 80s. Listen closely to the four-tap drum bit at the beginning of the song: isn't that the sound that MTV used between ads and clips for years, along with samples of "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore" by Pop Will Eat Itself and "Peace Sells" by Megadeth?

Chakk - Out of the Flesh Mix 1

Chakk

The way I recall it, music journalist Amrik Rai was so taken with the Sheffield scene in general and Chakk in particular that he started a record label in Sheffield, FON Records. FON released Chakk's second single, "You," then Chakk got signed to MCA, got a huge advance, spent it all (?) to build FON Studios, added John Stuart as a second vocalist, recorded their album for MCA, Ten Days in an Elevator, the album tanked (it just wasn't that great, they completely lost whatever it was that gave their independent singles a sense of urgency), released two more singles on FON, one as Chakk ("Timebomb," which did recapture the spark) and one as the backing band for South African band Swanhunters ("Bloodsport") (why did a band need a backing bad? I never understood that), then split up. FON released a John Stuart solo single ("Black and Blue" backed with a gorgeous version of Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze"). Mark Brydon became a producer and then formed Moloko (way too camp for me) in the 90s with singer Roisin Murphy (now a solo artist, recently seen bashing her head on a chair on PerezHilton.com); other members joined other bands that I've never heard at all. In other words, it all just fizzled out. But it was great fun there at the beginning! You can stream a few more Chakk songs at the Chakk MySpace page.

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Bass porn: Mark King

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:08:30 -0800

No thread about Bass Porn would be complete without Mark King; here he is at his most indulgent in a live performance at the Jazz Café. Can you listen to the opening notes without thinking of Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine?

Mark King live at the Jazz Café [Mr Pink bass solo]

For all the slapping and pulling, it's just not very funky; they're too close to the "smooth" end of the Smooth-Funky continuum. Which is not to say it's bad, it's just very safe-sounding. For some meatier content, here is a fresh vinyl rip of what I think is Level 42's best song, "Good Man in a Storm" from the World Machine album. That album opens with "Something About You," which was rewarded for its rather dumb, anthemic chorus with worldwide hit status, while the melodic, understated "Good Man" wasn't even a single. Go figure.

Level 42 - Good Man in a Storm

Level 42

Now that's nice, as in prime Bill Withers or George Benson nice.

And finally, a bit of levity. You probably don't associate Level 42 with comedy at all, but their appearance on The Fast Show is pretty darned funny. (There are a couple shots of long-haired guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, most recently playing Robert Fripp's parts in 21st Century Schizoid Band, the Fripp-less band of King Crimson alumni who perform King Crimson songs.)

Level 42 on The Fast Show

Stay tuned for more bass porn and divers other delights.

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Happy Birthday to Me

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:55:03 -0700

Yes, it's my birthday! How old am I, you ask? I have just reached Level 42! Haha!

Level 42 - Something About You

Sorry, I just had to make a Level 42 joke on my 42nd birthday. I couldn't find an mp3 of my favorite Level 42 song, "Good Man in a Storm" on such short notice. Hmm, a USB turntable would've done the job...

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Jonas Hellborg's ultimate slap bass track

nobody@vox.com(Burl Veneer) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:04:34 -0700

Bootsy's bass is awesome, but he doles out the slapping-and-popping very sparingly. I feel Howard Moon's frustration in waiting to get to the slap-bass solo:

The Mighty Boosh

What Howard needs is Elegant Punk, a 1984 album of solo bass pieces by Swedish bass guitarist Jonas Hellborg. Actually all he needs is track five, "It's the Pits, Slight Return" on an endless loop (if Ivan the bear will let him listen to it):

05 - It's the Pits, Slight Return

Jonas Hellborg

A three-minute-forty-seven-second slap bass solo will give anyone their fill, and then some. If slap bass is the icing on the cake of funk, listening to this song is like eating a whole tub of icing. It's great at first, but you have trouble finishing it, and when you do you vow not to eat any more icing for a long time. (That's not strictly true, I just listened to it three times and I might not be done yet, but then again I'm multitasking.) All bass matters eventually come around to Bill Laswell, it seems: Hellborg and Laswell were partners in Greenpoint Studios in New York in the late 80s/early 90s, and Hellborg appears on several Bill Laswell productions.

The slap-and-pop technique of bass playing was supposedly invented by Larry Graham of Sly and the Family Stone, and was first heard on record on "Everyday People." Check out Larry's magnificent necklace at 1:58--

Sly and the Family Stone

I want one like that!

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