¡Gomekxx Bodymix!

To celebrate the arrival of our stuff from España... and most relevant to this forum, my hard drive with all my music on it... I'm debuting a whole new format. So far we've had the regular Soundbombing post and the Gomek Podcast. Now, it's time for...

....the GOMEKXX! What is a "Gomekxx" you say? It's a simple mix of songs on a certain subject (Gomek + Mix = Gomekxx. The double x is cuz it's double cheesy).

It's like a Gomek Podcast without my dulcet tones added to the mix. An improvement you say? Shut your mouth. A way of giving a fancy name to something that just means you're too lazy to put a full podcast together? Well, you got me there...

The initial installment of this earth-shaking innovation is the Gomekxx Bodymix. I threw together a slate of songs that all had a part of the body in their title... this resulted in a truly random selection, a genre-busting journey one might say. To make things more interesting I also adhered to the strict rule that the tracks would go in order from top to bottom.

This resulted in several weird phenomena, listed Larry King Style: ...longest streak of one country is Australia, with tracks 2 through 5 representing; ...the swinging jazz of "In Your Arms" falling between the rockin´"Big Mouth" and punishing "Chest Hair"; ...the absolutely unmixable transition from "Flatfoot Hustling" to "Head to Toe", making me have to put some Gomek theme music in there...

So I'll have new goodies very soon, but until then feast on the GOMEKXX BODYMIX!

Tracklist:

Cut Your Hair : Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Bong in My Eye : Regurgitator - Bong in My Eye

Big Mouth : Big Heavy Stuff - Shock Records 13th Anniversary Collection

In Your Arms : Papa Lips - High Time Now

Chest Hair : Spiderbait - Ivy & the Big Apples

Funky Belly : Mighty Imperials - Thunder Chicken

Every Knee Shall Bow : U-Roy & King Tubby

Legs : Darondo - Let My People Go

Flat Foot Hustling : Dillinger - Ultimate Collection

Head to Toe : the Breeders - Head to Toe

Box/Touch My Body : Cooly's Hot-Jazztronik Presents Jazztronica!

Total Time: 68.41

Download HERE

or

Listen Online here:

Gomek Makasound Podcast

This all-reggae podcast is the result of a great recent purchase... 12 CDs from the outstanding French label MAKASOUND. This label specializes in rare, and rarely heard, roots reggae–and they come up with some truly amazing finds. I sat on the CDs for more than a month while the songs sunk in so I could really present the best. The results are here.

All the albums are good, with the Slickers' and Hugh Mundell's offerings off-the-charts amazing.

Remember, just click on the links below to get to the download screen. You can either listen online or download for later listening. Grab them and... ENJOY!

GOMEK MAKASOUND PODCAST 

Give Us a Break by the Slickers, from Break Through

Break Outs by Carl Harvey, from Ecstasy of Mankind

Judgment by Knowledge, from Straight Outta Trenchtown

Money Barrier (7" Horns Version) by Leroy Brown, from Color Barrier

Old Time Religion by Mikey Ras Starr, from Fire & Rain

Rastafari Tradition by Hugh Mundell, from The Blessed Youth

Safe Sail by Trinity, from Rub-a-Dub Soldiers

Sata (version 1) by the Mighty Threes, from Africa Shall Stretch Forth Her Hand

Tribal War by Black Roots, from Black Roots in Session

Your Mind by Delroy Williams, from I Stand Black

Grab it HERE.

Should-Be Classics

I´m taking a trip into that alternate universe where the best music gets recognized and the crap sinks to the bottom... where Ken Boothe is as famous as Sam Cooke... where a group´s worst song doesn´t become their most popular (the Cars´ "Drive, the Police´s "Every Breath You Take", etc.)... and where the three songs below are known and loved as the true classics they are. But in our world, sadly, they´re obscure, or at least unfairly overlooked. Time to rectify that. The Journeys By DJ series is a fantastic one, with at least one other classic release, 1996´s Coldcut JDJ. Desert Island Mix is a two-disc set that gives one disc each to Norman Jay and Gilles Peterson. I´m a huge Gilles Peterson fan as he´s got one of the two best radio shows in the world at the moment, currently airing on BBC Radio (the other is the Swami Soundsystem in San Diego). Peterson´s a genius at picking great music, and here he´s got a sweet Roy Davis Jr. track. This one´s a complete contrast to the frenetic funk of my last post, being a simmering slow burner in every way. The voice is flinty but smooth, the production is subdued and insistant, and those horns... perfect. Gabriel by Roy Davis Jr. with Peven Everett, from Gilles Peterson Desert Island Mix (Journeys by DJ, 1997) In one of the weirder twists of musical fate, Seke Molenga & Kalo Kawongolo, two musicians from Zaire, somehow found their way to mad genius Lee "Scratch" Perry´s legendary Black Ark studios (before he burned it down himself) in 1977. Scratch got behind the boards to work his twisted magic on a simmering stew of mostly reggae ingredients, but with a healthy helping of African flavor as well. This whole album is fantastic, and it sat on my want list for over ten years before I finally got my hands on it (having been issued in small numbers only on the SonAfrica, Jolie Zaire, and RuNNetherlands labels in Africa and Europe). The one featured here is a song now called "River Stone", but only because it is mislabeled... it´s true title was to be "Love Can Run Faster". Not only that, it´s a tack on... various financial problems prevented the completion of the album so this was added to fill out the set. If you want to hear the African stuff... and you should hear it, you´ll have to check out the rest of the album. The vocalist here is Robert Palmer-yes, THAT Robert Palmer. He´d cut several tracks at Black Ark with Scratch in ´76, in the heady days that saw the likes of the Stones and the Clash heading to JA to check out the exploding scene. His voice and Perry´s production make for a hugely satisfying combination. River Stone by , from From the Heart of the Congo (Jolie Zaire, 1977) This last track is not exactly obscure, but it certainly isn´t sufficiently recognized. I heard it for the first time in one of the tents at the Coachella festival in Indio, pumping out of huge speakers. It´s hard for me to say exactly why I love this song so much... it doesn´t really go anywhere. But I think that´s part of the appeal, as the result is a kind of delicious, suspended tension. The instrumentation is minimal, built primarily around a funky guitar strum and a single, 5-note sequence. Sunshine shows her man the hand and we all get to benefit. I´ve Heard It All Before by Sunshine Anderson, from Your Woman (Atlantic, 2001)

Cities Part 2 - Africa

In Cities Part 2 we jump from Europe to Africa. So much incredible music has both come from, or has been inspired by, the continent-that´s a given. But what about songs about actual African cities? They´re a much rarer breed. I had two possible choices for a Tabu Ley song, as he also recorded "Nairobi". But I figured that since he hails from Congo (the one that was formerly Zaire) I should go with "Kinshasa", it´s capital, instead. Soukous is my favorite of all African music, and Tabu Ley is king. Here´s a guy that sells out 100,000-seat stadiums in France, yet Katrina & I were lucky enough to see in a small bar called Blind Melon´s in Pacific Beach, California, with literally a dozen other people. He probably fired his tour manager after that show, but it made for one of the most incredible concert experiences I´ve ever had. Kinshasa by Tabu Ley Rochereau, from Babeti Soukous (Plan 9/Caroline, 1989) Moving north from Zaire, we arrive in Nigeria. West Africa´s musical powerhouse was not to be denied, and it gives me a chance to shout out these freakin´ genius Soundway records releases. Comps like this are on the forefront of blowing the lid off a seething continent´s worth of hidden gems. Bring it on! Lagos City by Asiko Rock Group, from Nigeria Disco Funk Special: Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor (Soundway, 2008) With reggae´s strong links to Ethiopia, there were many Addis songs from which to choose. Willie Williams´ paean to the capital, former home of Ras Tafari Makonen-Emperor Haile Selassie, Selassie-I the First, Negus Negasti & Lion of the Tribe of Judah-made the final cut. Addis Ababa by Willie Williams & the All Stars, from Studio One Roots (Soul Jazz, 2001) Bonus Asia track: Hop on the plane out of Bole in Addis for the trip to Narita... Unlike Part 1, where I visited all but one theme city, Tokyo is the ONLY city I´ve been to from this post. That tells me I really need to get to Africa more... noted. Pizz5 mixes all-Japanese lyrics with a swingin´, breezy 1960s style. Here you get a remix from a low-circulated mid-90s EP.
Tokyo Mon Amour (Discotique 96 Mix) by Pizzicato Five, from Combinaison Spaciale EP (Matador, 1997)

Gomek Dread Tracklisting

Hope you've all had the time to check out my latest effort, the Gomek Dread Podcast, featuring only the finest in heavy roots reggae - strictly dread mi bredren! Here's the full tracklisting: Soon Come - Culture Positive Movement - the Paragons Beggars Suite, Part 1 - Pecker Rise Jah Jah Children - Ras Michael & the Suns of Negus Rasta Dreadlocks - Heaven Singers Rastaman Chant - Bob Marley & the Wailers Pumping Dub - Prince Jammy Slavery Days - Burning Spear Whip Them Jah Jan - Dennis Brown Night Shift - Bob Marley & the Wailers

Rootical Vibrations

Crab Race by the Morwells, from Crab Race (Burning Sounds, 1977) Bird in Hand by the Upsetters, from Return of the Super Ape (VP, 1978) I couldn't hold back any longer from an all-reggae post. I love a wide variety of music, but reggae is always where I come back to... my true favorite. And of all types of reggae, none is better than the dreader-than-dread sounds coming straight from yard in the late 1970s. "Dread" is a hard sound to describe, but it's deep and rootsy, and conjures in the mind images of hot, smoky studios filled with rasta vibrations. 1977 brought us "Crab Race" by the Morwells, a Channel One/Randy's product. Super drum and bass reggae legends Sly & Robbie are one of two rhythm sections credited to the album in general, and it sounds to my ears that it's them at work here. The throbbing heart-like bassline and insistent snare patter gives me that clue. The following year, 1978, saw the release of The Return of the Super Ape album by Lee "Scratch" Perry. Scratch is a master, and at his peak he was simply untouchable. The album became a classic, and you should really go get it if you don't already have it. This song features a chorus sung in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia, and an uncredited singer whose identity has never been revealed...

Political Mumbo-Jumbo

Rockin' Funky Watergate by Fred Wesley & the J.B.'s from Breakin' Bread (People, 1974) Mr. President by the Heptones with Jah Lion from the Upsetters-Turn and Fire Upsetter Disco Dub (Anachron, 1977) Don't worry, it's not a blog about politics at all! It's an example of what I love about doing this audioblog... I can link songs by the slenderest of threads... So here we have two policaly-themed, or at least related, songs. The J.B.'s were, of course, James Brown's backing band and had some of the most bad-ass musicians of the era. This one's a fine workout, with Fred Wesley wailing from about the middle to some truly sweet rhythm guitar from beginning to end. Songs like this show why I'll always prefer rhythm guitar to lead. And the political side? Just a then-current shout-out to tack on (and chant) to a funky instrumental. Next we leave the US altogether to get a Jamaican perspective on things. It's the classic Heptones track Mr. President, in a devastating dubwise reworking by mad genius Lee "Scratch" Perry at the controls - and this is in '77, the prime of Black Ark Studios. This versions sees Jah Lion adding the hoarse-throated toasting. The dread beat, Scratch magic and Leroy Sibbles' vocals demonstrate why this is an all-time great.