R.I.P. Bobby Farrell

Bobby Farrell of Boney M. passed away 30 December, 2010. 

Boney M. was a 70's disco-funk group created by German record producer & singer-songwriter Frank Farian, also behind the infamous Milli Vanilli scandal. He recorded the dance track "Baby Do You Wanna Bump" in December 1974, and when the record was released as a single, it was credited to "Boney M.", a pseudonym Farian had created for himself after watching the Australian detective show Boney. After a slow start, the song became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was then that Farian decided to hire performers to 'front' the group for TV performances, which eventually led to Bobby Farrell being hired to sing and dance for the group's shows. Coincidentally, Farrell died in St. Petersburg on the anniversary of Grigori Rasputin's death.*

I don't know Boney M.'s catalog too well, but was given Nightflight to Venus and was pleasantly surprised by the title track's awesome drums, robotic vocals, and overall intergalactic funk attack. The deeply percussive segue into the Russian-themed "Rasputin" is a winner too, as the video above shows. They also had pretty sweet style.

R.I.P. Bobby.

kutyerthroat.com

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*Source: Wikipedia

Sotho Sounds & Flowers of Lesotho

Sotho Sounds: "Mobopong… By The Rivers Of Babylon"

While in Africa this past summer, I came across a CD by a group call Sotho Sounds from Lesotho. They play a groovy kind of indigenous junk-punk, given that most of their instruments are made from found objects (similar to Congolese group Konono No. 1 in that respect, but with a much chiller output). There's not much out there on Sotho Sounds, and I attempted to contact them while in Lesotho, but heard nothing back. At any rate, they sound great.

 http://womad.org/artists/sotho-sounds/

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As we had the time of our lives during the 3 weeks we spent in Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho working with the people of St. Camillus Centre for Orphans & Vulnerable Children, my wife Aylie & I recently started a non-profit in support of the people we met there.

We helped the children we worked with make cut paper flowers, and we've used images of the flowers to make note cards to sell in the hopes of raising funds to send back to St. Camillus. Please visit our website, Flowers of Lesotho, to learn more, order cards, or donate to the people of St. Camillus.

Seaquence

I present the amazing robo-krill music synthesiser Seaquence.org

Check out the How-To Video:

Have a listen to my "Second Dive".

Couldn't help but be reminded of my Planequarium mix, given the underwater adventure theme.

Props to Wrath 66 of Baby Grrl! Labs for tipping me off to the wonders of Seaquence.

Smithsonian Institute Blues: Re-up of a classic dinosaur track

Original post.

Big Joan*, and

*I also found this bizarre image courtesy of Google Image Search.

Booglarize

This video rules.

Don Van Vliet, the painter

When I said "artist", this applied to his painting in addition to his music:

See more at Michael Werner Gallery.*


*While it's fantastic they show his paintings, I would think they could respond to his passing with more than a terse 1-sentence statement at the end of his biography(!).

Beefheart Documentary

Beefheart Interview

I love that this video is shitty.

So long to the Captain

Almost too sad to write about this, but have to honor one of the greatest in some small way.

Don Van Vliet, better know as Captain Beefheart, passed away today at the age of 69.

He was a musical innovator, a hollerer, a trouble-maker, and an artist. Beefheart made some of the most rocking, original, challenging, influential and tender sounds ever heard, not too mention his bizarre but incredible lyrics.

The Captain will be sorely missed and forever remembered.

Article in Washington Post

The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back

http://thepharaohsden.blogspot.com/

Moonlight on Vermont

http://www.beefheart.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart
http://www.beefheart.com/

The Sea & Cake - So Long to the Captain

French Lessons

An exploration of modern French psych/rock/folk/pop music and its precedents.

Download French Lessons

RSVP - BBC TV

Alpes 1 - Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes

Sunshine - Kill for Total Peace

Croissance (Demo) - Service

Le Papier Tue-enfant - Jean-Claude Vannier

Flying Over The Black Hills With Crazy Horses - Koudlam

Breakdown Suite - Serge Gainsbourg

Watcher - Syd Matters

Route - Trinité

Psychotic Sunday - One Switch to Collision

32 Mars - Catharsis

Bangkok - Turzi

Harley Davidson - Brigitte Bardot

LSD 33 - Aqua Nebula Oscillator

Radio Drugs / What Should I Lie About? - Chicros

Black Douleur - Sebastien Tellier

La Citrouille - Brigitte Fontaine & Areski

Winterfarmland - My Girlfriend is Better Than Yours

Special thanks to Mathieu, Romain, Arthur, Marc, and the record stores and flea markets of Paris and Bordeaux.

LPCOVERLOVER

Was just tipped off by the folks at BabyGrrlLabs about a great site with a vast collection of record cover oddities. 

 

Check out more advetures in images for sounds at lpcoverlover.com.

Trinité - 3 is a Magic Number

Trinité - "Kora"

Browsing the esteemed music blog Whistle Taste a few days ago I came across a link to a Parisian band called Trinité. Having heard of the band while in Paris this fall checking in on the thriving psychedelic music scene*, I was eager to listen to them as well. I caught up with one third of the trio via e-mail to get the lowdown on the formula for their synthetic sound.

"So the short story of Trinité is we each use a different gear:

I {Mathieu of Chicros, Turzi} am all analog: organ fed in a gated Roland.

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland

Clemens (Turzi, One Switch to Collision) is all modular, a Yamaha Tenori-On driving home-made modules.

(Sol LeWitt • Cube Structures Based on Five Modules • 1971-4 • painted wood)

Pete (Service) is all digital: he uses sounds he synthesises himself with FM synthesis.

FM Synthesis Algorithm

There you have it, the Holy Trinity of Synth."

Go to their site to see videos and download some tracks from a live show while you wait to see if rumors of a 3-LP set to come are true - I sure hope they are.

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*Pan European Recording, Record Makers, and Chicrodelic, are a few of the labels in Paris putting out great records.