Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Are Coming: Prepare to Be Soul Funked!
Brooklyn-based soul-brothers 'The Dap-Kings' and their queen, Miss Sharon Jones, seriously know how to party like it's Hitsville USA in 1968. I don't know how these cats do it, but they manage to authentically evoke the sound and image of a late 60's/early 70's R&B group without ever making it seem like a facade. It is this talent and sincerity that will instinctively move your ears to appreciate the tones of Miss Jones and her Dap-Kings.
This track is off of 2005 release, Naturally. I think it's pretty safe to say that it has the absolute funkiest, most soul-infecting, involuntary booty-shaking beat you've ever heard in your entire life. Kinda like Stevie Wonder meets a genetically-engineered-to-perfection clone of Blues-singer Koko Tayor and Disco-pop diva Donna Summer. And then they all take ecstasy.
"All future releases by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings will now be required by law to be accompanied by a warning advisory after a focus group fell victim to an incurable dance infection. Dr. Jimothy Henry Louis III, who leads the research explains: "Within the initial moments of exposure to the DAP-1024-A, the group was overcome by an unsupressable need to dance. It is evident that most ears have a little or no resistance to this records." DJ Cleopatra, referred to by many club goers as "the Audiophile from the Nile" doesn't seem surprised by the outbreak. "Nobody can help but get down to this," says this renown DJ and longtime fan. "Sharon Jones is like pure cocaine. Even if you're a longtime user, you're ass is still gonna get high."
Well, my lucky little Los Angelenos, next week you have 2 chances to get soul funked by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings:
No kidding. I was browsing events on upcoming.org and my jaw nearly dropped when the details finally finished loading. My computer is a dinousaur. Anyway, check it out:
A Tribute to Joe Strummer*all proceeds benefit the Joe Strummer Foundation For New Music (Strummerville)
@ The Key Club 9039 Sunset Boulevard West Hollywood, CA 90069 (310) 274-5800
Doors@ 8pm, Show @ 9pm Tickets: $25 via ticketmaster
Confirmed artists include Love And Rockets, La Plebe, Zander Schloss & The Wilderness Years, Three Bad Jacks, David J, Hellride (featuring Mike Watt of Minutemen and fIREHOSE fame, Steven Perkins & Peter Distefano of Porno for Pyros), and The Devildolls Rock 'n' Roll Street Gang.
Wreckless Eric will be doing a special West Coast tour this December with longtime girlfriend Amy Rigby. The two will be rolling through Los Angeles by way of your favorite 99¢ store parking lot.
Achem. I mean thank heavens for emails in Echo Park.
Last Sunday (Nov. 25), as an effort get chummy with new fellow Los Angelos (and with whomever was willing to make the drive) - Beck announced a last minute surprise show at the Echoplex. Again: last minute. Again: Echoplex. Oh, I know: sold out in seconds.
One more time: splendid.
The singer introduced his new band lineup: Justin on bass, Joey on drums (please don't ask for last names, I missed them) and producer Nigel Godrich (Godrich's first time ever on stage.)
The boys wowed our pants off with "Black Tambourine," "Where It's At," "Think I'm in Love," "Lord Only Knows," and Sea Change favorite "Lost Cause" when the band ran out of ideas/forgot they're set list.
Oh, those sly little trouble makers are at it again. First it's painting the side of an entire building downtown, now it's inviting their mates to an "L.A. River Beautification Meeting."
Last week the coveted noise duo No Age through a little party . Orphan was invited, and apparently so were the cops.
P.S. I know this guy Pepper who lives down there who builds BMX bikes. And also, Linda, if you're reading this, look how big this band has gotten - I've been telling you for months to sell Randy's cell phone number on eBay. I know it's a matter of morals and all, but you could probably pay next month's rent. Just think about it.
Launched last Friday, November 15th RCRDLBL.com is a collaborative effort between Modular Records, Dim Mak, Warp, Dirtybird, Turntable Lab, and others. It's a site that seems to have it all figured out: free and legal downloads, customizable widgets you can embed on your own site or profile, and it (kind of) functions like a social network. It's definitely missing SOMETHING, but since I can't quite put my finger on what that might be, I'll give them credit for giving it a shot (building widgets is a bitch), and I'll put one here so you can hear a remix of Battles - Leyendecker by DJ EMZ feat. Joel Ortiz. It rules. So listen, sign up, do some snooping for yourself, or don't--whatever. Don't forget to come back and tell Orphan what you think.
In the meantime, here's the rcrdlbl.com radio widget, if you're into that sort of thing:
Be sure to click the download link to score the free Grizzly Bear track--it's a terrific cover of an old Carol King/Phil Spector song.
I've practically been obsessing over it, I know, but better to freak out over things I can fix than to go ballistic over the fact that I invited a boy to Thanksgiving dinner and he cancelled on me 3 hours before we were scheduled to make our entrance. Considering the fact that this was the first boy who I had deemed worthy enough to subject to the wrath of my entire extended family in over 3 years, I'm pissed. And rightly so.
I stayed up all night, so sue me. At least I was productive. Here's what I have for you this time:
ContraStream.com--a new social music network with a Digg-like interface that actually has GOOD music on it. Users can submit indie albums to be "hyped" or "dropped" by other users, and can also discover new music through videos and audio tracks embedded on the site. In my first 10 minutes on the site I found the Crystal Castles/HEALTH record, Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog, Battles - Tonto, and this:
The band is called Black Kids, and the track is called 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' off of their demo, Wizard of Ahhhs--which, according to Pitchfork, isn't available for purchase in stores but rather as a free download on their myspace page. I checked, and trust me, it isn't. All downloads on the Black Kids MySpace profile have been disabled, and as of November 14th they've been named one of Rolling Stone Magazine's Top 10 Artists to Watch.
Good news for you, though. You can download it here. Just right-click and select "Save Source As." Happy Black Friday.
My friend who works at H&M actually got time and a half today. I read in the paper that some Ikea customers were being served breakfast at 8:30 am, and people have been camping outside the Best Buy on La Brea since Tuesday. That was three days ago.
Here's to you, Friday shoppers.
*Beware of the women with canes (again, friend from H&M reports that women with innocuous canes violently hit back in the name Cavalli.)
Thanksgiving is the little brother no one pays attention to. The over-looking of it is practically expected. It's the kid who gets picked last in kick ball, gets the short end of the season-stick. If Thanksgiving were playing red-rover, no one would send him over.
We at Orphan cannot let this happen.
Do not deny your need to boogie this holiday season. Pull grandma out of the kitchen (don't worry, that limp she's got she fakes only for the parking), and let's get this party started. ........................... "Thanksgiving," Dolly Parton Because even 20 year old episodes of an expired TV series deserve the occasional shout out. This is also some of the scariest shit we've seen in a while.
........................... "The Thanksgiving Song,"Adam Sandler Somehow homie seems to know a thing or two about every holiday.
........................... "Thank You," AlanisMorisette Why, we're thankful for you too, Alanis! We're also thankful for subway attendants you use sanitizer because of naked people, like yourself.
........................... "Thanksgiving," George Winston Enjoy this along side candlelight dinner. And Valium.
........................... "A Thanksgiving Prayer," William Burroughs Spoken word, schmoken word. Old guys with heroin habits and messages about prayer will always make the list. (They make our families look normal.)
........................... "Alice's Restaurant," Arlo Guthrie This old man, is totally badass. We've been tracking his progress, and he wins.
OTHERS THAT ALMOST MADE THE LIST: ........................... "Be Kind," by Natalie Cole ........................... "Thanksgiving," by Poi Dog Pondering ........................... "Thank You for Being a Friend," by Pinky and the Brain (original by Andrew Gold) ........................... "The Gobble Song," by Spencer Gardner ........................... "Count Your Blessings," Bing Crosby Eh... kind of a Christmas song. But cool it, we told you we don't pay attention.
Attack of the Killer Gold Octopus and Smelly Dicks
Something to send you into Turkey Oblivion!
How does one start a post about a crazy chick dressed up in a gold body suit with octopus shoulder pads and dancing and singing about Beyonce and Britney? Her name's Leslie Hall. I stumbled upon this video I'd like to share...
Also I found this dirty gem from my friends myspace page. Her name's Riskay and the song is called "Smell Yo Dick." Need I say more?
To the uninitiated The Presets are Julian Hamilton and Kimberley Moyes, Aussie wizards of demented electro pop. Their debut album Beams hit Australian shores late 2005 and the ensuing singles 'Are You The One?', 'Down Down Down', 'Girl and The Sea' and 'I Go Hard, I Go Home' have become bona fide dance floor fillers and faves on both radio and TV. While the guys may have been a little quiet on the studio side of things, as a live concern they've sharpened their collective tools to become one of the most in-demand live acts in the world - with almost 300 shows across 20 countries in the past 18 months alone. There's a palpable sense that all this live experience has carried its energy into the studio. 'My People' is gargantuan. A snarling beast of a record, it bristles with fuzzy scratches of guitar snaps, bubbling arpeggiated synths and an instantly memorable, call-and-response, chanted hook. The song sounds like the rattling of an electrified disco zombie chain gain.
It's future pagan. It's a call to arms to party. Are you in? (Read full post)
Orphan C4 says: Orphan digs Modular Records. And being the insomnia-inflicted night owl that I am, I listened to the aforementioned track. It rules. It's like, Killers-esque inspired techno. Now, ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you two things:
I don't like the Killers.
I don't like techno.
But dude, seriously, thats like saying I don't like raisins. Cause I really don't like raisins, but if they're covered in chocolate I'll eat handfulls of 'em. So yea. I may not like techno, and I may not like the Killers, but when they're smooshed together into the same track they become oddly inspiring. So get inspired, cause here's "My People" by The Presets, embedded right here so you can be lazy.
We hope not. According to the Dickson Herlad, long-time coveted songstress Regina Spektor collapsed November 14 moments before she was scheduled to grace a Tennessee stage.
Spektor’s website claims that the singer experienced a sudden case of vertigo due to a severe inner ear infection. The abrupt change in her physical condition led to Spektor’s collapse.
To ensure full recovery Spektor also postponed her two most recent shows: November 15 show in Atlanta, Georgia until December 5th, and November 16 show in Norfolk, Virginia until December 8th.
The appointed venue, Ryman Auditorium, offered refunds and/or honored stubs at a later date.
Since the unexpected & unconventional release of Radiohead's In Rainbows, (which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, their best album to date) the blogosphere buzz on music industry news, rumors, and reviews has grown exponentially. The most recent hype you'll undoubtedly encounter while cruising through music & tech blogs alike, is the alleged inaccuracy of the data used by comScore to support a claim: the "name your price" guerrilla marketing technique used by Radiohead for the October 10th release of In Rainbows, was unsuccessful. Apparently all that Radiohead achieved was some serious, industry-wide panic. Read Radiohead's argument: comScore's data is inherently accurate.
Ho hum. I am so sick of hearing about Radiohead. Well, at least I was--until today. While conducting top secret Orphan research on Last.fm, I came across the music networking site's overall (we're talking SITE-WIDE) charts section--I was completely bowled over by the data it displayed.
Leslie Feist knows a thing or two about crowd pleasing, so I've gathered -- and not in the figurative sense.
Last Monday the Broken Social Scene graduate lit up the Gibson Amphitheatre with her vocals and her will, and a little bit of something I like to call an extraterrestrial. The way I see it: you've really gotta understand what goes into the making of theatrics, and what's making your crowd go boom.
Case in point: Feist began her 45 minute set by standing behind a white sheet and projecting her shadow on to the crowd while she made modular movements comparable to when your little brother cast bunny rabbit shadows on the wall when you we kids. She oo'd and aah'd pieces of "When I Was A Young Girl" until the lively audience died down.
Then she broke into song.
In no particular order came radio-friendly pleasers "Mushaboom," "Past is Present," "1234," and "I Feel It All."
Feist's shinning moments, however, came from the things she said that were not planned or prerecorded. Her raw demeanor in the moment struck well and strong as she pranced around in a black strapless dress with bright pink skirt, asking, "You on the left, go like this, 'AAAaaah.'" After assigning each of the three audience sections a particular note to harmonize we chimed in unison on the count of three, and wouldn't you know it, we were somehow in tune.
"I grew up in the middle of things," she said. "Landlocked, every direction was mountains and ice. I grew up idealizing the ocean." Just as effortlessly as she could bounce around, Feist shrank down to a diminutive stature and bellowed deep harmonies of "Honey, Honey," imitating an ocean's howl and the siren calling it to shore.
This woman's ability to transform in uncanny.
"Mushaboom" rounded out the evening and as did the standing ovation that far surpassed any crowd pleasing antics, for better or for worse.
According to The Daily Swarm, My Bloody Valentine has finally really recorded some new material. This news excites me. My Bloody Valentine is freaking awesome & before my hard drive crashed I'm pretty sure I owned everything that they ever released. As well as most of Kevin Shields' solo stuff. This would include the Lost In Translation soundtrack & some other weird bootlegs.
Not familiar with mbv? Sucks for you, but I'm willing to forgive you AND to give you a taste. Yea yea, I know. I'm too kind. Courtesy of imeem, here's 'Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)' from their 1988 release Isn't Anything.
**The band is also expected to be included in the line-up for Coachella 2008. Stay tuned for more details.
Monday, Monday, Monday: Tegan and Sara live at the Orpeum - 10.29.07
contributed by J. Cortez
2007 has been a great year for music, both personally and in general. The past ten months have seen the release of atleast three bona fide classic LPs, with the best of the lot quite possibly belonging to twin sisters from the Great White North, Tegan and Sara. There's no doubt in my mind that the girls have produced a masterpiece in their latest studio offering, The Con, an album that is as intimate and personal as it is grand and ambitious. Given the lavish praise heaped upon this album by yours truly, I feel should come clean and admit that before the evening of their performance at the Orpheum in L.A., I had merely an ancillary appreciation for the works of the twins Quin, familiar only with their catchy single from aught-four, Walking with a Ghost. So It was with a little trepidation that I walked through the doors of the theater, unsure of what to expect but walking out wholly impressed and deeply moved by what I had just witnessed.
-Video description: Fan spits up gum at performers Tegan and Sara in an act of love, response follows.-
The stage was bare, a sparse environment open to the imagination with only a simple inking of a tree stump hanging in the background, like a drawing from an oversized sketch pad. When the lights dimmed and the girls walked on stage, an instant rush of euphoria filled the audience and we knew we were in for something special.
Given how good the girls sound on record, I was expecting the live versions of certain cuts to sound little to no different than but was struck by how the small, four piece live band was able to create a unique experience while still staying true to the essence of the album tracks. The set list was densely layered with selections from The Con and kicked off proper with Dark Come Soon. They seem to revel in circumventing expectations and their choice of set opener with one of the album's closing tracks was no exception.
There were times during the performance when I felt the vocals may have been lacking if only due to the extensive multi-tracking found on their studio work, an effect which lends to their unique sound. Their voices seemed to clash when singing together in harmony, creating a slightly off key dissonance that was jarring at first but eventually grew to become a charming trait and an illustration of just how unique their voices truly are even amongst the two.
-Video description: T & S find themselves on MTV after a Tila Tequila Bikini Pull Down Episode. . .Their reflections.-
As a new fan familiar with only their latest, I was surprised by the quality of their earlier work when the sisters decided to break out some of their old stuff mid way through. The standout track, possibly of the night, was "Monday, Monday, Monday" with honors also going to a re-interpretation of Walking with a Ghost, performed acoustically with vibe accompaniment.
As great the songs were, it was pleasure to get a taste of their personalities through prolonged dialogues with the audience, wherein the girls spilled the beans on topics ranging from Tila Tequila to Red Deer. Their stories were filled with wit, candor and charm and made the evening that much more special in retrospect.
They closed the set proper with two of the better songs of The Con, the title track, which sister Sara described as "A good one" (to say the least) and it's finale, Call it Off. Both were performed with rousing spirit and the house lights up due to an over zealous fan that decided to throw gum at Tegan out of love, to which she replied, "Why would you do something like that? We're from Alberta, we'll fuck you up." Begging for more, the girls obliged their crowd with an encore that included a surprise cover of Rihanna's hit Umbrella. Surprising not only for choice but quality as well. The song seemed to take on a whole new meaning when performed by the girls and was yet another showcase for their versatility as musicians and creativity as performers. A brilliant night.
Last night I was supposed to see Dj Whitey at the Roxy, but picked at a pomegranite instead and sat through an entire showing of Shakespeare in Love, commericial free. This got me thinking.
I came to the utmost conclsuion that I still like Gwynth Paltrow, even though I have qualms with her name's spelling and the things she's chosen to call her children (fruit and old white people.)
Then there's DJ Whitey, properly known as Josh Buckingham.
Names are very illusive.
I once dated a guy for an entire month, not knowing his first OR last name. Evertime I introduced him I did so as, "Hello (friend's name here), this is my other friend...(long pause, waiting for him to complete me - which never happened.)" For fun let's put this to action: "Hello Nicole, this is... (long pause, and nothing.)" This person, who's name I eventually found out way something arbitrary like John or James, had a remarkably firm hand shake but spent the entire month stored in my phone as "Pink Shoes."
I also once almost married someone at 18 simply becasue I liked his last name. That would have been a very big mistake because he ended up with horrendous codependecy issues and I hear restraining orders cost a lot of money.
Toko Yasuda has a very soft voice, with which she liked to talk about Benjamin Franklin (her response when I asked why she and male vocalist John Schmersal moved from New York to Philidelphia.)
The trio played in Berkley earlier that day and hauled asss down to Pomona within 6 hours. When asked what keeps them going, both physically and emotionally, vocalist John Schmersal joked, "Utter stupidity at this point."
Enon released their fourth full-length album Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds on Touch & Go Records last month. The band has been with the same labl for close to eight years. Incredible.
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Brooklyn-based soul-brothers 'The Dap-Kings' and their queen, Miss Sharon Jones, seriously know how to party like it's Hitsville USA in 1968. I don't know how these cats do it, but they manage to authentically evoke the sound and image of a late 60's/early 70's R&B group without ever making it seem like a facade. It is this talent and sincerity that will instinctively move your ears to appreciate the tones of Miss Jones and her Dap-Kings.
Well, my lucky little Los Angelenos, next week you have 2 chances to get soul funked by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings:
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