Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Creamtastic Dude Shut Up: Five Examples of Instrumental Awesomeness
Posted by Sean Maloney on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 7:22 AM
If you've ever run into me on one of my more, uh, surly evenings--when one of our town's fine shot-slingers is pouring them particularly strong and I'm feeling particularly opinionated--then you've probably heard me complain about this town's overabundance of singers. I'm not just talking about the softly strumming First Name Last Names--I am talking about every asshole that yaps their mud flaps in front of a microphone. I'm fuckin' sick of that shit. If I wanted to know about your inner turmoil, I'd just root through your garbage bin. I honestly think that rummaging through recyclables would be more entertaining to me right now than listening to another goon exhaling hamfisted couplets at 120 decibels. That being said, I present you with five albums of recent instrumental awesomeness* and a pleasant respite from the tsunami of babble that's been boring me to tears lately.**
(Now-Again, 2007)
I picked this one up about a year ago on vinyl and MP3, and the digital copy hasn't left my Nano since. The actual, beautiful corporeal version, sadly, was left next to my south-facing picture window while I was getting shit-faced at Bonnaroo this year and is a bit, mmm, wobbly. Fuck both formats. I digress. Out There is some way out shit from DJ Shadow's backing band that blends a whole globe's worth of influences to create a percussive, cinematic journey through the outer limits of jazz-funk. I imagine this is the music extraterrestrial teenagers would make if they're only knowledge of Earth consisted of giallo films and an old copy of Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come: Journey.
(Now-Again, 2008)
Ya, ya, I'm all up on Egon's nuts. I know, but the dude is responsible for finding some pretty gnarly tuneage. I'm pretty sure that this is the record that would have resulted if Dennis Coffey had been a collaborator on Faust V, or if Herbie Mann and Throbbing Gristle had done the soundtrack for Cherry 2000. It's got a funky motorik and you can't go wrong with a funky motorik. There's a palpable tension between the warm, weird rhythms and the chilling strings and jagged synth washes - it would make a great soundtrack for the next time you're hunting evil mutants in a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland. Or sitting by yourself at Fido, leaching WiFi--it'll work for either one.
Clutchy Hopkins - Walking Backwards
(Ubiquity, 2008)
I have to tip my hat to Anna over at Grimey's for this one. She told The Weav and The Weav told me and I've been obsessed with Clutchy ever since. Herr Hopkins has a "mysterious back-story" that basically uses a crate-digger's wet dream as cover for the musician's true identities. Some folks think it's the Beastie Boys on the In Sound Form Way Out tip, but I'm more inclined to think it's players from the Stones Throw/Daptone Axis of Awesomeness. At one point I thought it was a Shawn Lee project--'cause he puts out like eight billion records a year--but last fall Ubiquity released a rad- tastic Shawn/Clutchy colab called Clutch of the Tiger which kinda blew that theory. Ah well, it's an understated piece of international-spy funk that recalls Riz Ortilani's mid-'70s output (minus the disco numbers) and captivates no matter who's actually
playing it.
Quantic presents the Flowering Inferno--Death Of the Revolution
(Tru Thoughts, 2008)
Quantic is another productive, globally-minded artist/producer that seems to get better with every release. His 2006 record An Announcement to Answer was a great example of the way that modern recording technology facilitates the melting in our new trans-nationalist music pot. Speaking of...Death of the Revolution is pretty irie. Whereas Announcement was a
record for the globe-trotting Digital Native, Death turns the way back machine to the two summers in the late '60s the birthed the rocksteady sound in Kingston, Jamaica and the concurrent sound of Latino NYC, boogaloo. Throw in the requisite Stax/Motown acknowledgments and you've got a full meal to accompany your lamb's bread. Uh huh. It's like RZA made a record with the Skatalites...
Menahan Street Band - Make the Road By Walking
(Daptone, 2008)
If you don't know, I don't own a car. In a town with barely-existent public transportation I walk almost everywhere. Needless to say, the title track is my "Eye of the tiger" or "Chariots of Fire" or some shit--an anthem for my everyday activities wrought extra dramatic. And "Make the Road" it supplied the beat for Jay Z's late-career classic "Roc Boys," which is pretty heavy honors for a new school instrumental ensemble. ( And some pretty heavy paychecks, hopefully.) Everything you could ask for in a horn-driven instrumental soul record, with a touch rocksteady to boot. '08 was the year for mixing vague allusions to specific points in reggae-history with your nuevo-Booker T's and your neo-Ramsey Lewis'. And there's a cover of "Going the Distance." Pretty. Fuckin'. Sweet.
*Excluding surf music, because--despite what my record collection might tell you--surf music is not cool.
**This doesn't include rappers, who are a whole 'nother story. But don't worry singers of the world, they don't get a free pass either. Seriously, noises from mouths are totally 2002.
Comments (15)
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1. I misread one line of the first comment as "Midistorm," which would have been somewhere close to awesome.
2. I know you're focusing on new music, but there's one old instrumental record that I've been loving lately: Phil Manzanera's Primitive Guitars. Early Eno's axeman + a bunch of guitars and devices = gold.
Aaron Parks- Invisible Cinema
Nels Cline-Coward
Uri Caine-Any album you'd like
Anything by William Parker
I have a real problem with the album cover that says "Music to Barbecue By" when they are obviously grilling and not barbecuing.
and what about Character?
Beastie Boys "The In Sound From Way Out!" is a must have. That my friends is baby makin' music.
Steve Kimock Band is a great instrumental band, kinda hippie-ish, but solid.
Anything from the Greyboy All-Stars with Karl Denson.
Also, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones / Jeff Coffin's Mu'Tet.
ulika-
Up north, the word "barbecue" is synonymous with the word "cookout" or "grilling out" and has nothing to do with the type of food you are grilling. Remember, they don't have any real barbecue-type food up there (at least nothing good), so everything is "barbecue" to them, therefore no need for specificity.
Yeah, I was all like "what the hell is the difference between grilling and barbequing?" I'm from Maryland.
Soulive put out some good instrumental tracks.
Judging from the flow of most of the comments on this site--I await the chopping off of my head.
I dig Soulive. They're great even without a bass player.
In Sound From Way Out is baby making music for sure! Been thru 3 copies of that sucker.
I'm from East NC and we have our own recipe for BBQ that is loved by many, feared by others. Its main ingredients are vinegar and red pepper and it is the most unmistakable thing. I crave it near constantly. Last time I had any out here was at the Frankin Food & Spirits Fest. The guy cooking the DownEastQ was from my hometown.
BBQ & instrumentals? Best thread ever. When's summer? Thanks for all the great recommendations.
Props to burrito. I grew up in VA/coastal NC. I miss Carolina BBQ so much. Nick's on Clarksville Pike is nowhere close to the real thing.
And for the instrumental side,
anything by Link Wray or Booker T. and the M.G.'s
Dirty Three - Horse Stories,
and Don Caballero - What Burns Never Returns
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