Things You Can Buy Today 20 August 2014
In this week’s Things You Can Buy we’ll be blown away by a New Orleans wild cat blending the blues into a new storm of righteousness, then a legendary New Orleans player who just pulled off one hell of a Satchmo tribute and then we’ll switch gears and dive into some beachy dreamy indie pop.
So all is well, dog ear Ping Pong For Dummies and let us begin to dig in to what we’re listening to this week and thoughts from around the web.
(For more infos click the album title.)
Benjamin Booker – ‘Benjamin Booker’ (Rough Trade)
Here is a story of things changing for the absolute better route. I was checking the web for something about another release I was listening to and I found myself on Ben Booker’s webpage and life will never be the same. An explosion of beautifully tweaked blues licks, vocals qualities of Joe Strummer, Tim Armstrong, Rod Stewart biologically infused and a presence that will cause anyone to soak up and revel in the new-blues energy. I am going to dig the hell out of getting deeper into this album…This is what it’s all about. – Walter Price (The GTC)
Benjamin Booker recently chatted with OC Weekly’s JenaArdell and he said this about his voice’s age and style, “The whole voice thing is so strange. I started playing and writing songs and there’s nobody else to sing the songs and that’s what people ask about all the time. I guess some people are surprised. I’m getting older now though. I’m 25 now so maybe I’m getting closer to the point where people won’t ask about it.” and he added, “At the time I was listening to a lot of Robert Johnson, this great Blues guy from the 1930s, and he had this really rough voice, but he also went into very volluble quieter, softer voice sometimes. I like the way that he sang and that was a big influence, I guess.”
Dr. John – ‘Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit Of Satch’ (Concord)
Apparently at age 71 when Mac Dr, John Rebennack reinvented himself on his 2012 Locked Down, it wasn’t enough. Like and unlike his take on Duke Ellington (Duke Elegant 2000), the King of Orleans sounds has takin’ and drug Louis Armstrong through the glorious decades (and his repertoire) into a fantastic 70’s-ish sonic Crescent City stew fit for the ages. John isn’t alone in his vision(s), he is along The McCrary Sisters, Arturo Sandoval, Bonnie Raitt, Blind Boys of Alabama and Ledisi to name some names.
01 – What A Wonderful World
02 – Mack The Knife
03 – Tight Like This
04 – I’ve Got The World On A String
05 – Gut Bucket Blues
06 – Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
07 – That’s My Home
08 – Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen
09 – Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
10 – Dippermouth Blues
11 – Sweet Hunk O’Trash
12 – Memories Of You
13 – When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
Anyway, who knows if the younger generation will appreciate the funked up, Jazz tripped, 70’s R&B and blues dripping reimagined tributes to Ole Ambassador Satch but hell if it isn’t, like the Dr. himself, a smooth boogie woogie groove statement…
Beach Day – ‘Native Echoes‘ (Kanine)
Beach Day are another wonderful two-pronged accidental delightful discovery. We know very little about this duo (Kimmy Drake / Skyler Black) of dreamy indie pop but if it doesn’t start the day of right, nothing will. We haven’t purchased this album yet but we have been knee deep in their Soundcloud page and we dig the relationship dealings via airy coolness!
This is from their label’s webspot, “On this new LP, they’ve become greater than the sum of their throwback influences. After a year of touring in anticipation and support for their debut, Trip Trap Attack, Beach Day headed to Detroit – mecca for both garage rock and the girl group sound – and into the studio of Jim Diamond (the Sonics, the Dirtbombs, the White Stripes). Guided by the experienced hand of Jim Diamond, Beach Day dropped the bits of Northern Soul that appeared on their debut and replaced it with feedback, foot stomps, and an electric 12-string guitar run through an Allen Gyrophonic speaker to make it sound like a synth. And so, Native Echoes emerges packing more modern grit. With more instrumental sophistication and all-tape recording, the album features more atmosphere and patina to deepen its new octane.”