These two bands are linked by a common drummer. The first is a funk group, the second is halfway-to-dubstep/electronica band.
Funk is a wild genre. It’s not so much the music itself, although that has a lot to do with it. It’s just that sometimes its musicians are very eccentric. Enter: Screaming Headless Torsos. This group, in its prime, had five of the best. SHT’s frontman was a funk, soul, and blues freak named Dean Bowman… seriously, his voice is so perfect for the genre. On bass, they had London-born but now New York-based jazz virtuoso Fima Ephron. Bronx native Daniel Sadownick played percussion other than the drum kit. To add to the already impenetrable mix, Switzerland’s Jojo Mayer was on drums. I consider him to be the best drummer in the world. Many will disagree with me, but I stand by it. And finally, we’ve arrived at the character: Dave Fuze Fiuczynski. This is a guitarist who doesn’t want to play just jazz. He’s radical in his style, inventive, and uninhibited. Just listen to some of the stuff he comes up with…
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Screaming Headless Torsos- Vinnie
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Screaming Headless Torsos- Blue In Green (Miles Davis Cover)
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Screaming Headless Torsos- Word To Herb
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Screaming Headless Torsos- Dig A Pony (The Beatles Cover)
So SHT is a bunch of really fucking talented people. Eventually, Jojo Mayer went on to bigger things. He won Modern Drummer’s Best Drummer award a few times, if I’m not mistaken, and crafted a group called Prohibited Beatz. They were a fusion of hip hop, jazz, rock, funk, and blues that really sparkled on the live stage. They had a weekly spot in a New York nightclub, and that gig eventually morphed the group into what it is today, NERVE. The trio really centers around Jojo Mayer and his drum kit – he’s a human drum machine. Jojo is one of the few musicians to have ever mastered the Moeller Whip and it makes his technique and style idolized. NERVE, can’t just ride on one person’s shoulders though. As a group, they are one of the most forward thinking, wow-inducing, stylistically-intriguing talents, akin to the kind of stuff Flying Lotus does in terms of really pushing boundaries. Check out some of their stuff:
So we’re getting the feeling that the Australian music invasion is really starting to pick up. Some groups, like Sydney’s Convaire, are borrowing heavily from 90s’ synth-pop mentality and it’s an absolute delight. They sound a little like GIVERS (who we wrote about months ago but who are now just beginning to bask in the indie sunlight). It feels like the genre has been so absent from all the modern electronica that we’ve pretty much moved on to bigger and better things. Happy go lucky and carefree synth-pop… is there any other way to do it? Maybe, but nothing feels as good.
Okay. So, it’s 2 AM on a Saturday. My roommate and I are chillin on our couch telling war stories while I was picking at random among my SoundCloud followers to run through some new tuneage. I clicked on a groovy chick named Joy Valencia who started following me a few days ago. I’m really glad I did; she has an incredibly unique voice. After listening to her top song, we both had this immediate craving for lava lamps and colorful flowers… and… banana-Nutella sandwiches.
Some of Joy’s music belongs in another age. One in which Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson fuled the music sphere. Joy borrows so much of these influences it’s unreal. But then she does something really cool with them and adds some cabaret influence. The tune that caught our attention was “Don’t Wake The Lion”. It’s so sexy and psychedelic. Her other tunes are more singer-songwritery, but retain her signature historic flare. Check out the rest of her tunes for sure.
These days, releasing your song via iTunes and calling it a day is just not enough. If you want to build buzz nowadays, you have to do something crazy; something that will get the people talking. The Black Keys are a group that have mastered this technique to perfection over the years, namely with the slew of viral videos they released for their last album Brothers. Well the time has finally come for a new LP from the Ohio rock group, and today they let go the first single off their upcoming album El Camino, entitled “Lonely Boy”. Sticking to their scheme, along with the news came attached a hilarious low-fi video of a guy dancing very enthusiastically to the new tune. Give the video a spin below, and try to keep a straight face. You can’t.
Back in 1998, San Diego birthed the indie rock group Pinback. Originally a duo, later years saw the additions of rotating drummers. Before the variety could start, however, the core released This Is A Pinback CD in 1999 with the help of a drum machine.
This is a cool album marked by paradoxes. Their music portrays a sense of security and confidence, but it’s contrasted with dark themes, such as death and loneliness. It sounds familiar, almost homely, but is also unnervingly unique. The guitars are warm and cradling, but at times can be washed out by the relatively poor recording quality. The gentile, vibrato-less, and soothing vocals boast lively harmonies, but sometimes can be overshadowed by the duo’s attention-grabbing lyrics (such as in the tune “Shag” in which the chorus repeats “Push the little baby down the spiral stairs”).
This Is A Pinback CD is definitely a listening album, and as such deserves at least two plays. To really appreciate this album, we think it may take a few more. Check ‘em out.
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Pinback- Tripoli
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Pinback- Hurley
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Pinback- Loro
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Scary? Yes. Loud? Most certainly. Awesome drum and guitar work? Fuck yeah. Check out the killer new tune from San Francisco progressive metal quartet Cormorant over on Pitchfork.
One of our favorite musicians, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, took time in the last week to visit two of our favorite radio shows, the Gilles Peterson Worldwide show on BBC Radio 1 and Mary Anne Hobbs’ Music: Response show on Xfm. For the Gilles Peterson show, Thom came into the studio and sat down with Gilles (pictured at right) for a two hour session of playing tunes. In between playing tunes from the likes of Jai Paul and Thundercat as well as premiering the Jamie xx remix of Radiohead’s “Bloom,” Thom took time to discuss music, Berlin, TKOL1234567, Jazz, Radiohead’s forthcoming tour, and the debut album from Thom’s other band Atoms for Peace. You can stream/download this 2 hour journey through Thom Yorke’s head in it’s entirety below.
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Last week Thom also did an excellent 25 minute mix for Mary Anne Hobbs’ new Music: Response show on Xfm. As part of the mix Thom debuted “The Twist,” a new, unreleased solo track. Stream the mix below.
Radiohead have also announced two shows to be played on September 28th and 29th at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. Tickets for that go on sale on September 26th at 10am EST. More info about that can be found here.
