Wednesday 9 October 2019

Middle Passage • Ginger Baker

Middle Passage

by Oz Fritz

One thing I really picked up from Jason (Corsaro) was his intensity, focus and commitment to the work. He aimed for mixes that broke barriers and reached for new levels of sonic expression. It's hard to get across just how intense the space was when he was working. You had to be at your highest degree of presence and attention, more so than you ever thought possible because that's where he was at. He was going for sounds, especially in the low end, that would present powerful music, such as the Ginger Baker album, Middle Passage, to be heard more powerfully than ever before; to strike a Universal chord, create a vibrational pattern that would, perhaps, resonate throughout the planet. At times it would seem that Jason would mix as if the fate of the World hung in the balance. He loved what he was doing which probably contributed significantly to the success his work enjoyed.

Bill Laswell introduced me to Jason, and the 3 of us began to work together in 1989 right at about the same time Bill Graham and Amensty International brought the first tour of Western music to the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. These events took place only a few months before the peaceful collapse of Communism and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

One example of how strong the mood became for me was during the mix of the Swans cover of Can't Find My Way Home written by Steve Winwood and originally performed by Blind Faith, the 'super-group' with Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Ric Grech.

Come down off your throne and leave your body alone
Somebody must change

You are the reason I've been waiting so long

Somebody holds the key

Well I'm near the end and I just ain't got the time

And I'm wasted and I can't find my way home...


 Read the full article on the OZ Fritz blog: Here


 
Ginger Baker • drums
Jah Wobble • bass
Jonas Hellborg • Wal MIDI bass, fretless & acoustic bass
Bill Laswell • bass, fretless & six string bass
Nicky Skopelitis • 6 & 12 string guitars, baglama, coral sitar, electric banjo, fairlight
Faruk Tekbilek • ney, zurna
Bernie Worrell • Hammond organ
Aiyb Dieng • doff, talking drum, metals
Mar Gueye • sabar (hand drum)
Magette Fall • tama (hand drum)
 

Produced by Bill Laswell 
 
Label: Axiom 539 864-2
Format: CD, Album, Files
Country: US
Released: 1990
Genre: Jazz, Rock, Reggae
Style: Dub, Fusion
 

Monday 7 October 2019

Ginger Baker


RIP
Ginger Baker
19th August 1939
6th October 2019

Thursday 22 August 2019

MG The Future 3am Chat


3am Chat w/ CRROW777 - Shooting The Moon, UFOs, Truth & Staying Positive


Thursday 11 July 2019

Wednesday 12 June 2019

Paddy Steer • Ding Dot


Saturday 1 June 2019

Friday 24 May 2019

War Smash Hits • VA

 

1. Kong • Earthing

Mark Drillich • Bass
Rob Snijders • Drums
Marieke Verdonk • Electric Guitar
Dirk De Vries • Electric Guitar, Sampler
Produced by Kong, Tom Holkenborg

2. Bill Laswell • Black Djinn Trance

Jah Wobble • Upright Electric Bass
Bill Laswell • Bass, Effects
Tetsu Inoue • Electronics
DJ Spooky • Electronics 
Programmed by Robert Musso

3. Silk Saw • Calling N.Y.

 

4. Laibach • L’Homme Arme

Norina Radovan • Vocals
Produced by Laibach

The Laibach piece finishes at 5:54, followed by about 7 minutes of silence and then a further 8 ½ minutes of what are presumably field recordings made during the Bosnian War - sounds of people and vehicles moving, talking, gunfire, birdsong, etc.


Label: Sub Rosa ‎– sr105
Series: Utopian Diaries – 4
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: Belgium
Released: 1996
Genre: Electronic
Style: Illbient, Modern Classical, Dub

Monday 25 March 2019

Akure Wall ‎• Afromorph Text

Born in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and an British father, vocalist and poet Akure Wall structure was raised in London and gained recognition performing being a spoken word artist on the poetry circuit. Her work highlighted cultural injustice and acts as politics commentary. In 1996, Wall contributed “THE ONLY PATH Is Down” towards the Audium Capsule, Vol. 1 compilation. 3 years afterwards, she released the record Afromorph Text message through the Freakstreet imprint, support her phrases with loops, examples, and live globe music instrumentation. She has a successful modelling career. 

 

1. The Only Way Is Down


2. Defying The Linear

Oye Mealor • Vocals
Margaret Wall • Vocals
Michael Kwesi Graves • Vocals
Richard Olatunde Baker • Talking Drum

3. Come See


4. Someone

Julia Palmer • Cello

5. Oyindamola

Richard Olatunde Baker • Talking Drum

6. Travelling Throug


7. Lullaby Ganesh


8. Superniggasoulsista


9. Merman


10. Cold Storage

Keziah Jones • Guitar


11. Sticky


12. Umbrella

 




Produced by
Akure Wall, Michael Kwesi Graves, Richard Olatunde Baker,
Femi Sanyaolu, Danny Gee


Label: Freakstreet ‎– FSCD0007
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Release: 1997
Genre: Funk / Soul, Non-Music
Style: Poetry, Downtempo

Friday 8 March 2019

Monday 4 February 2019

BILL COLLECTOR VS DRE DENNIS


Bill Collectors classic 3rd Round

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Las/wɛl/ kuh m-plee-tist /ˈse·ries | 08

Fadela & Sahrawi • WALLI

 

com·plet·ist
[kuh m-plee-tist]
a person who attempts to complete a collection or set,
especially a collector who wants to collect an example of every item in a particular field:

Randy Djamal Ghanim-Barnwell talks to Fadela and Sharawi from their home outside of Paris

Q:  What are some of the biggest changes in rai at the moment?
F&S:   Well first of all we are working with Maghni in Paris and Bill Laswell in New York. Next there  has also been a stylistic change that reflects a new direction and a new outlook on life. Since the assassination of our friend Hasni,  we live in France. Today the rai  diffusion has reversed.
 Today it is rai  music leaving from Paris and heading to Algeria. And the audience is no longer the same. It has radically changed. “Beurs” ( French of Arab origin) and "Blacks” ( French of African origin)  and "Gaulois” ( French of European origin)  buy it at FNAC ( the Tower records of France) and in shopping malls. We are much more demanding of rai them than previous generations. Third, we have introduced sounds and vocals in “Mani” and “Wayala”  to remind people that Algeria is an African country even if the future of rai is mostly in the West. We hope to sing and introduce rai in Africa where until now there have been no tours of “chebs” (rai performers).

Q:  Are you different in the studio then you are live?

F&S:   Absolutely. These are two different entities. But we like that there are two faces of the group. It makes things more interesting. The album has a high level of production, but onstage improvisation is what it’s all about.

Sharawl:   Shawri: I’m no longer on keyboards. It is our arranger Maghni who plays. The group has been radically recast. It’s more cosmopolitan. Music has no borders. It’s like life. It changes every day. From the first few notes, the tone of the album is set. It builds a wickedly, the derbouka, the horns - real ones! - are omnipresent, the voices are clean and precise and swing, the keyboards leave much more room for other instruments, with the base, drums, accordian, violin and progression  subtly brought forward.

Q:  What about the title, what is meant there?

F&S:  It is a reference to the daily reality of what happening in Algeria. We are loyal to the legitimate sources of rai: love and freedom. From the depths of our work guts, we denounce injustice, corruption and humiliation.


1. Bab Wahran (Door To Oran)
2. Walli
3. Dellali (My Lover)
4. Dance the Rai
5. Dawh (They Took Him Away)
6. Hasni
7. Wayala
8. Mani
9. Dougih (Pound It)
10. Waadi (Just My Luck)
11. N'sel Fik (You Are All Mine)

Fadela & Sahrawi • voices
Bill Laswell • bass, sounds
Maghni • keyboards
other instruments played by un-named musicians
silentwatcher • info

Recorded at Harry Son Studio, Paris, France and Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York
Produced by Bill Laswell and Maghni for Gafaiti Productions



Label: Rounder Records ‎– CD 5076
Format: CD, Album
Country: US
Released: 1997
Genre: Folk, World
Style: Raï


Discogs