Obama sings the blues

The world’s most powerful man got some trouble on his mind, yes he does now. Now them ol’ Republicans they done done him wrong, say they done him wrong.

Next week – David Cameron sings Cleft Palate by Anal C*nt

RChecka – Modern Dylan

I’ve recently had the pleasure of getting to know one R Checka – a long-time DJ and all round niceguy. He also came up with the ingenious “Periodic Table of Hip-Hop Elements” and runs a fantastic hip hop blog connected to it. Just recently he came out with his Modern Dylan mixtape; a high-concept Beck mix. Seeing as he’s got quite a way with words, I’ll let the man himself explain:

Beck has been one of my favorite indefinable artists since 94, my hazy college years. I’ve religiously bought every album and single I could get my hands on since that time. Anything that had his name on it really, his bluesy funky style always struck a chord with me. This is probably the third best of beck mixtape I have created (the first one I made was on cassette tape) and it may not be the last. I call it Modern Dylan, because like Bob, Beck is a story-teller, so in a lot of ways he’s my generation’s Dylan. Coincidentally Beck even toured with Dylan interestingly enough.

I used to be a club DJ for years, and I got very sick of Loser after playing it for countless years. It was at a point, the only Beck song I didn’t like. That was too bad, because it’s a good song, but I was sick of playing it every Saturday night. When I made this mix, I felt obligated to play it, but I knew I could spice it up a little bit without detracting from the original so I decided to remix it. Not to mention that made it easier to mix in the process. I didn’t have any a Capella to work with, so I called the remix what it is, “Rchecks Extended Overlap”. I overlapped on top of the original recording looping the first 2 guitar bars at times. I extended the intro and outro using that guitar loop. Hopefully I did the original justice, nothing worse than a bad remix of a track that people consider a one-hit-wonder song.

All songs on this mixed compilation are from my personal collection of Beck’s original CDs, LPs, EPs, 12”, and 7” recordings. This uploaded mix is the modside (modern). The second side dylside is his slower, more serious country and folk music, not nearly as palatable for a lot of people unfortunately. That side will remain on CD format only for friends and family. However, for serious Beck fans that contact me via email and live within the continental US, I’ll gladly send a hard copy of both discs at no cost. My email can be obtained here. Hope you can dig it. Most importantly, I hope this mix can help you appreciate Beck’s music more.

Direct instant download
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/dit7nv
Mixcrate page
http://www.mixcrate….ka-Modern-Dylan

Enjoy!

Double whammy of bluesy/souly mashedit thingies

My sources¹ tell me that there are two great little reworks of bluesy soul things floating around this week.

The Reflex brings us a fairly subtle rerub of B. B. King’s The Thrill is Gone, just adding some “hip hop bounce”:

http://soundcloud.com/thereflex/b-b-king-the-thrill-is-gone

You can pick up the full version of their Bandcamp for a buck fiddy. I have done.

Secondly, and a bit more involved, we have a mashup of Kayne Kanye’s Gold Digger and Chiddy Bang by Ray Charles. It is most definitely not rubbish:

http://soundcloud.com/mashmike/kanye-west-feat-jamie-foxx-vs

This is from Bavaria’s own Mash Mike.

Enjoy!

¹ The internet

Bob Dylan’s funky crackers

On the latest episode of Re: Collections by Mum’s Old Vinyl (featuring Cantebury phsychers Syd Arthur) there is a track chosen which I haven’t heard, despite it being by one of my favourite bands,specifically The Band.

Quick potted history for those who don’t know. The Band were originally Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band, then became Bob Dylan’s backing band before releasing a few *incredible* albums in the 70s and appearing the Scorcese rockumentary The Last Waltz. Their appeal for me lies in the fact that they were all oustandingly capable musicians, having honed their skills on the road for years before finding greater commercial success.

They’re often thought of as a roots or folk band, and a lot of the more recent alt. county stuff takes its cues from them, but to coin a phrase my dear friend Matt Nice would use, a lot of their output is pure “white boy funk”. The above fits into that description nicely, having a bit more kick and bite to the groove than Marvin Gaye’s original. Garth Hudson’s swirling organ (arf!) gives their music that gospel-influenced sound and Levon Helm has the voice of a blues singer rather than a country singer. Check out the tracks Ophelia, Up On Cripple Creek, and Ring Your Bell (all on Spotify) for more in this vein. Not bad for a band who wanted to be called The Crackers!

Bad meaning good?

I can’t get this song out of my head. Damn, this is such a stone cold classic. My workmate said they used to sing this in her school assemblies. I guess that makes it totally uncool but that’s not usually something that puts me off.

It’s amazing what 6 chords, a little shuffle and a killer voice can do. Croce was in his late 20s by the time he had signed a deal and had actually lived a life. I can’t take 19-year-old singer-songwriters seriously becasue what have you experienced aged 19? There’s no pain in your voice and no story behind the music. Usually.

I’d love for this song to be my kareoke standard but it’s too hard to sing for my weaksauce voice.

The best of a good bunch

What were you doing in 1942? Probably not chipping in with the war effort I’ll bet, but that’s OK, I forgive you. Al Dexter was busy writing a song called Pistol Packin’ Mama about a woman who wields firearms for fun. This song has been covered many times with varying degrees of success but this version by The Hurricanes really swings. Yeah, that sounds like something Marge Simpson would say – what of it?

When the inevitable call comes from Brucie asking me to appear on Strictly I’m choosing this as my song for the Jive.

Albert King – Cold Feet sample part 2

I had to revisit this cracking blues number because it was also used in Chubb Rock’s “Just The Two Of Us”. For my money Chubb Rock is one of the all-time underrated MCs in hip hop. His line “she went all Vanessa Del Rio on me” got into my head like an earworm. The only problem was I didn’t know who she was so I Googled her. At Work. Don’t do that.

Original:

Sample: Chubb Rock’s – Just The Two Of Us

Check out the frat boys dancing in the Chubbster’s video. Slick. You can also see part one of this “series” here.

Albert King – Cold Feet sample part 1

This has to be one of my all-time favourite samples in hip hop. The original is so soulful and that comes through in the sample.

Original:

Sample: Ultimate Force – I’m Not Playing

This has been used again in one of my favourite vocal performances in hip hop ever so stay tuned for part 2!

Jimmy Nelson – I Sat and Cried

In 2007 I had the dumb luck of finding myself in the magnificent city of Chicago during the legendary Chicago Blues Festival. I remember seeing a few people wearing a t-shirt with a (probably famous) quote on the back which I’m going to attempt to paraphrase:

“Heartbreak, loneliness, despair. And you can dance to it”

I think that quote sums up all you need to know about this song: