Clap Your Hands

 

Not all handclaps are real; some are generated synthetically. A good example is a song by New Order that is mentioned far too rarely.

The Talking Heads also made use of this stylistic device in 1983.

To round things off, here’s a song where the rhythm is created by clapping, which acts as the perfect counterpoint to Hope Sandoval’s ethereal voice.

Off to Bristol

 

This early morning I am moving to #BlogCon25 a gathering of bloggers you might know well. For me it is another blind date of meeting mates I know from the blogosphere during the last years. I am sure we will have a great time in Bristol and for me it would be a highlight of the year. There will be no more posts until next weekend and here are some videos of artists from this place. Enjoy and have also a great time until next week.

He Was New There

 

It takes a lot of humor to name your comeback album I'm New Here after 16 years. Gil Scott-Heron was already a big name in the black community in the 70's when he wrote the soundtrack for the black civil rights movement in America with his spoken-word songs together with Brian Jackson. 

He returned in 2010 after spending several years behind bars due to his cocaine use. As soon as he was released on parole, he had himself photographed on television with a crack pipe. As a result, he violated the conditions of his parole and had to go back to prison.

I'm New Here is an album that is only 30 minutes long but stands out from this year's releases. It is an album that celebrates the blues, but also integrates influences from trip-hop. dubstep and slow beats. 

The songs fluctuate between harrowing acoustic blues on I'm New Here and a handclap of gospel on New York's Killing Me to make Robert Johnson's Me And The Devil sound like a Massive Attack song.

The album is his testament, as he passed away just under a year later. But it's good that he was here again.

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

Gil Scott-Heron - New York's Killing Me

Gil Scott-Heron - Me And The Devil

Gil Scott-Heron - Your Soul And Mine

New Song On Sunday

 

I have always had great respect for artists who get involved in social projects, even if this rarely results in anything great musically. Some time ago, Massive Attack and Edinburgh's Young Father joined forces and released ceasfire together with Fontaine's D.C.. An EP on which all proceeds are to be donated to Doctors Without Frontiers, a worldwide association of doctors who alleviate the greatest need in the current crisis and war zones. Musically, the result is a trip-hop track that I wouldn't have expected. Piano chords break through the slow groove of Give, where spoken words take centre stage. The song, which could easily have been written by Sault, is convincing and had me pressing the play button again and again.

Monday's Long Song

 

Spring 1998: Modern Talking are celebrating their comeback, Celine Dion has been at the top of the German singles charts for months with My Heart Will Go On. Light-heartedness and sentimentalism are on the agenda. Back then, I came across a song that, with its creeping slow-motion beats and ominous electronics, was completely different to what most of the mainstream had to offer. It was joined by a strange voice that sang ‘love you, love you, love you, love you, love you, love you ...’ after around a minute and a half. This was followed by a heavy electric guitar. Emotional abysses opened up. I had never heard anything so dark. This song was Angel from Massive Attack's third album. While the predecessors Blue Lines and Protection were already in a class of their own, Massive Attack have created a monument to themselves with Mezzanine. With reggae legend Horace Andy on vocals Angel became the trademark of their sound and still a song that shaped this years sound.

Massive Attack - Angel

Sinéad O'Connor RIP

 

A few hours ago the sad news arrived that Sinéad O'Conner died at the age of 56. The reason why she died was not announced but it doesn't matter because another great voice is gone now. Everyone knew her if only one remember her cover of a song by Prince. But she had more to offer than a great version of this song. During her career she slipped from genre to genre and I don't know any song sung by her that wasn't worth to give a listen. Her beautiful and fragile voice is always a pleasure to listen to. That she had a painful life after being abused in her childhood and this trauma you can hear in every song she sung. 

Rest easy Sinéad

Monday's Long Song

 

The release of Horace Andy's new album prompted me to listen to the music of Massive Attack again after a long time during the weekend. When people talk about one of their best albums they seldom name their second one Protection. For me it also a highlight of Massive Attack's output and not only they were lucky to replace Shara Nelson by Tracey Thorn. Protection had except the title track no song that reached high position in the charts but the whole album has a very special mood for relaxing. In 1996 they made together with Mad Professor a remix album on a dub floor. This version of the song is one of the highlights of this project.

Massive Attack - Protection (Radiation for the Nation Mix)

Blue Lines

 

This week 30 years ago Massive Attack released their debut album Blue Lines, an album that prepared the floor for trip hop and the so named Bristol sound. For me it was a manifestation how today's club sound should sound like. Formed by members of Bristol party collective Wild Bunch they created a never heard before mixture of electronic music, dub, reggae, hip hop and 70's soul mostly in a downtempo mood. I recommended this record to many people that year but less could see the beauty in the vocals by Shara Nelson, Tony Bryan and Horace Andy. Blue Lines accompanied me during the last decades and even Mezzanine might be better I will always come back to their superb debut.

Massive Attack -  Five Man Army

Massive Attack - Safe From Harm

Massive Attack - Be Thankful For What You've Got

10 Remixes

 

2020 has it's last day and I am glad that it is over. This year brought experiences that I never expected. The pandemic changed nearly everything I used to have and I can't remember staying in distant to many friends before. Knowing that we start into the new year with the same routine my hope is that we will have a better time round next summer. The last songs for this year are from the French music collective Les Négresses Vertes take from their superb album 10 Remixes from 1993 where different artists remixed their songs from their first album.

All the best to you people and stay safe.

Les Negresses Vertes - Zobi La Mouche (William Orbit Remix)

Les Negresses Vertes - Face á la mer (Massive Attack Remix)

Monday's Long Song

In 1998 Massive Attack released one of the best albums close to the end of a decade. Mezzanine is still one those albums I come back from time to time. I can't explain the reason why but probably because the record coherent in its dark and gloomy atmosphere. Every song works well after all the decades and the songs make me still happy since I heard them the first time.

Massive Attack - Group Four
Massive Attack - Group Four (Security Forces Dub)

Massive

On Monday Drew offered us a fantastic remix of Massive Attack vs. Burial that inspired me to grab out a few records by the Bristol legends. Massive Attack was one of those bands that established Trip-Hop and the Bristol sound in the early 90's. The songs were stamped by a reduced rhythm, clear vocals and sometimes sharp guitars. I don't know why but the first record I grabbed out was No Protection, their 1995 dub remix of their second album in collaboration with Mad Professor. Still a great dub record after all these years and well worth to listen to.

Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor - Trinity Dub (Three) with Nicolette and Mad Professor

From their most successful album Mezzanine is the next song I almost forgot and was remembered when I listened to the record once again. It is not Teardrops or other songs from the charts. Inertia Creeps with it's Arabic influenced rhythm was always a favorite of mine and need to be featured on this small place in the internet.

Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps

Kong

Good news: Neneh Cherry is back and she announced the release of her new album. The first single Kong is out now and as hoped for nothing big has changed. For this song she has obliged two dimensions of the electronic music as producers: Kieran Hebden alias Four Tet who already primed "Blank Project" with his impressionistic Electronica and Robert "3D" Del Naja, Well, one of the foundation members of the TripHop institution Massive Attack. Together they have created a hypnotic night music in downtempo about which Neneh can spread out her voice - which still gets under skin. Also the text touches; a difficult balancing act between empathy and fury about the European refugee crisis.

Love forsaken, risk worth taking

Spearmint flavors, all my palate shudders

I’m a member of shattered illusions

And am I needless to say?

Another song, this is nothing new

But love is big in every man

Every nation seeks its friends in France and Italy

And all across the seven seas

And Goddamn guns and guts and history

And bitter love still put a hole in me

Come Near Me

Since a few days we have a small vine village in our town. Since more that 25 years now in August it opens the gates to the people for 20 days. I didn't join this venue though it's a beautiful place to stay at summer. For me it is too crowded most of the times. But even one time me and some former co-workers meet for an evening talking about the old times and what happened to all of us while drinking some bottles of vine. After all it was an enjoying evening with all those old friends I didn't saw for a long time.

Today's track is the newest release by Massive Attack featuring Ghostpoet. Another great song by the Bristol Trip-Hop collective. A gloomy track with a depressed rhythm and reduced to a minimum. When you're admit to the sound you were surprised by the chorus of Unfinished Sympathy. I suppose this song will grow the more you listen to it.

Science Fiction Dancehall Classics

Trevor Jackson made one's mark by remixing classic post-punk/industrial songs a few years ago. Now he was asked to compile an extensive retrospective of British producer Adrian Sherwood's influential On-U Sound label. The Result Science Fiction Dancehall Classics is nothing more or less a document about a creative period of underground music. On-U Sound was not only a platform for dub reggae projects. For me they brought artists with various backgrounds together especially artists from the post-punk era like Mark Stewart. Otherwise the label signed artists that points into hip-hop. The collection includes one of the first recordings by Shara Nelson before she got success with Massive Attack. But over all song is Sherwood's inspired dub-sound.

Enjoy and have a good Sunday.

Suns Of Arqa - Asian Rebel
Shara Nelson & the Circuit - Aiming At Your Heart pt2

Every Age

José Gonzales is back with a new record after seven years. Born as the son of Argentine emigrants in Sweden he released a couple of records since 2003. In the farthest sense one can call him a simple singer/songwriter. What I like is his finger-picking guitar that reminds me on Nick Drake or Elliot Smith and a the meditative touch in his music. His songs are slow, soft, smooth but never dull. One of those I like to listen to on Sunday morning.

That he can do it in another way you can listen to this. It's a downtempo song added with a good groove, little guitar licks and a superb saxophone:

And that he's not afraid to make some cover versions shows this track originally by Massive Attack:

40 Records In 40 Years (25/40 - 1998)

In 1998 was one year which had a basic incision in my life. As I have already indicated in the last post of this series, a final decision has liked. Me and Kerstin decided to go separate ways.We didn't made it easy to decide but I didn't want to move away from my native country to follow my wife to hers. She got more and more homesick to her family and the way of living. It isn't that Cologne was more attractive but she missed the Rhenish way of life so much. It was decisive also that our daughter should be sent to school and we both agreed that it better to make a cut right now than to deliver it on the back of our children. I remember when we sat together for evenings talking about all our options, drinking and having tears in each other eyes. And finally we have separated in friendship and love to allow it to everybody to start a new happy and contented life. The hardest thing was to explain it to the kids because in their age they cannot understand the reasons for separating. Although I have mourned about the loss of the children of the deepest heart, we both had to tell them about a new nice world in which they will live in future. So we packed the things together and moved them to their parents house in spring. I started to sell the house and found me a nice apartment in my hometown and contacted people I haven't seen for long years. Suddenly I recognized that I was back in my older life as a free man with less responsibility, however, also more desire in the life.

In this time I spent a lot of time listening to my old records and looking for the new ones that was released this year.

• Air - Moon Safari: Superb record made in France
• The Notwist - Shrink: German arty new rock music
• Massive Attack - Mezzanine: Another fantastic record
• Tortoise - TNT: Even their second record is great
• Two Lone Swordsmen - Stay Down: First time I recognized the great Andrew Weatherall
• Madonna - Ray Of Light: Maybe her last good record
• Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children: New great sounds from Scotland 
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Carry On: A compilation of great songs and voices
• Robbie Williams - I've Been Expecting You: Perfect pop - nothing more or less

A few well known songs that I listen to this year:

Here are some movies that are worth to remember:

• Saving Private Ryan: Steven Spielberg shows us the real World War II
• Life Is Beautiful: It is hard to explain a KZ as a playground to your son
• American History X: Shocking that this could happen in the United States
• The Big Lebowski: One of my favorite movies. No one is cooler than The Dude
• The Celebration: Wonderful Drama about lifelong lies
• Run Lola Run: Every Story has three sides. Fantastic!
• The Truman Show: Are we real or are we in a show?

Somethings that happened in the world:

More massacres in Algeria // Suharto resigns after 32 years as President of Indonesia // India and Pakistan testing nuclear weapons // The second Congo war begins - 3.900.000 people are killed until it ends in 2003 // Hugo Chavez is elected as President of Venezuela // Pol Pot dies in Cambodia // Marc Dutroux a Belgian child abuser and child murder escapes from prison // The era Kohl ends in Germany after 16 year; Gerhard Schröder is elected to the new chancellor // France is the new FIFA World Cup champion // Kaiserslautern becomes as the first promoted team this years champion in the German Bundesliga

"Make my nipples hard, let's go"! This input sentence of Danielle Brisebois directly with the entrance in the CD describes what happens while hearing this CD: Creeps! And if we are honest: When did we have the last time creeps while hearing music?? That's what I thought when I first listened to this record. Gregg Alexander was the leading figure behind The New Radicals. Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too is one of these records walking on the narrow burr between perfect pop music and pure kitsch. What it makes it worth to listen are his screaming song, the crashing guitars, these catchy, almost in a kitschy way mainstream to seeming ones. This album contains cool good mood wrecks directly beside soulful ballads of this decade. I think it was the right record at the right time this year. After all I have to say that this record is a very underrated diamond in this genre.

The New Radicals - Someday We'll Know
The New Radicals - Crying Like a Church on Monday
The New Radicals - You Get What You Give
The New Radicals - Mother We Just Can't Get Enough

Problems

Let us start this short working week with a little roots reggae from Horace Andy. Born in 1952 in Jamaica he worked there together with great producers like King Tubby. In early 80s he settled down in London to live as a musician. I first recognized him as a guest singer of the first record from Massive Attack. Remarkable is his voice on Five Man Army. He also joined Massive Attack on several tours. Later he collaborated with Mad Professor. This are tracks I won't miss - so enjoy and have a good week people.

Horace Andy - Problems

Massive Attack - Five Man Army