Wednesday, May 04, 2011

PSS, Chuck Daly, and Street Justice at DC's Tavern Thurs may 5th 9PM - Closing + Bob Piersanti opening Friday May 6th

PSS, Chuck Daly, and Street Justice at DC's Tavern Thurs may 5th 9PM - Closing + Bob Piersanti opening Friday May 6th

Hello Y'all,
So May is upon us and the fucking birds are eating all my grass seed. I guess they have to eat too though I wish they would just eat the skunks. Now that would be a perfect circle. Screw nature we are all about the petroleum products, vinyl records baby! I have two days in a row of full on tour de farce spinnin' coming up. First up is Thursday night at D.C.'s. Do you know what is so great about D.C's? EVERYTHING! Actually, let me tell you, I get to play anything I want and most of the people are really receptive (aside from a few pricks that don't know shit about music… you know who you are). Also, for the past few months we have been extremely lucky to be joined by the King of the Skin Scribblers, DJ Iron Fist himself, the one and only Chuck Daly. This week Bronco Billy Dolan is off giving pleasure to another lucky City so it looks like Mr. Daly and I will be dueling it out at the tables once again. I do my best to stand my ground but the Daly Dose of ROCK!!! is the thing legends are made of. This week I am really excited to jump into a box of new goodies as well as old favorites. Chuck and I will be switching the turntables to random and hoping for the best. Busting up this little boys club is none other the Street Justice herself, Steff Kautzmann. Neither Chuck or I have the balls to take on the devastatingly awesome power of Street Justice so she will get the first hour and thirty minutes to herself. Avert your eyes because you are not worthy.

The Hunter slings the booze and if you are lucky you can pass out on a stool and not crumpled up in the corner like you usually do. Have you no shame?

… see you there!

And...

Friday, May 6th from 7 - 11PM I'll be the background music for and art opening of the amazing Bob Piersanti at 58 Gallery in Jersey City. This is going to be an incredible night. Not only do you get to feast your eyes on Bob's incredible art but the night will feature two sets of Go-Go dancers at 8:15 and 9PM. I am basically spinning a "This Is Your Life" set filled with all our favorites. Expect a lot of 50's Instrumentals, Rock and R&B, 60's Garage, Instrumentals and some Classic Rock as well as some Punk, 80's and 90's Garage, a handful of Country and even some freaked out novelty records and of course a set of Las Vegas Grind and Go-Go for the ladies. A feast for the mind body and soul, it's all here in the Underground!

- pat.

Primitive Sound System
VINYL RULES!
"Audio Visual Triumphs and Disasters" - http://primitivesoundsystem.blogspot.com

9PM - 10:30PM - Street Justice
10:30 to closing - Chuck Daly and PSS

Thursday, May 5th - 9PM to Closing
D.C.'s Tavern
505 8th Street
Between Jefferson and Madison
BACK IN BACK
Hoboken, New Jersey
PH: 201-792-5550
http://www.dcstavern.com
http://myspace.com/dcstavern
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hoboken-NJ/DCs-Tavern/89733686005 <- Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dcs-Tavern/111745052195139 <- Facebook Local Business Listing
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=27386563721 <- Facebook Group
http://foursquare.com/venue/34395 <- On Foursquare

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Friday May 6th from 7 - 11PM
Bob Piersanti - The Underground
58 Gallery
58 Coles Street
Jersey City, New Jersey
SITE: http://www.fifty8.com
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=97653919482
EVENT LISTING on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111307222286656

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The Racket in The Boxes:

Chuck Danzy - "Git Down" b/w "Jay Walk" (Nu-Tone Records cat. 532)

When a woman's voice opens a record by slowly stretching out the words "Geeeeeeeet Doooooowwwwn" you know you are in for some goodness. And that is exactly what this sexy little slab of soul delivers. The band is in full on party mode combining just enough looseness with some really solid playing to never become silly or repetitive. There is something familiar about the groove yet I can't place it but that only keeps me coming back for more and more listens. Maybe it is the opening bass line, does it recall "The Hip" by The Sparkles? The bass and drums lay down a solid base even before our Intro-ess entices us to join her on the floor. Soon the party is hot and heavy with sax and guitar. Both are eager to take stabs at solo moments on top of a very tinny, Garage rock organ. This organ is no Hammond B but you can certainly here this little wonder choking to push air threw its nostrils. Too much to drink perhaps. Hand claps, repeated backing vocals of "Get Down" and a groove that won't quit. I suggest we get down as often as possible.

Dennis Coffey - "Ubiquitous" Original Version b/w Steinski Mix (Strut cat. STRUT 0755 (Record Store Day release))

This should be called "Legend 2." The mighty Detroit axeman is back with an amazing instrumental off his upcoming self titled release and two double de pleasure the single is backed by a completely tasty mix by none other than Steinski. Usually when a modern funk track is backed by a remix I wince. I wince hard. I almost passed up getting this release until I noticed that the remix was by Steinski. But then, ironically, the A side is what surprised me most. I have purchased new music by Steinski far more recently than that of Dennis Coffey so I feared an overproduced mess that would be saved by the B side at the hands of the talented Mr. Steinski. Happily, the "original" track hits hard and is perfectly arranged with all the familiar Dennis Coffey touches. Echoey guitar, organ, congas and break heavy drumming build, collide, come together and then build to a fervor like you wish New Funk and Soul bands would. It is such a pleasure when you hear a player you are most familiar with from music more than thirty years old and they still get "it." Coofey's guitar sounds amazing from start to finish and the fuzzed out finish is so exciting. Obviously this is not a solo guitar track and Mr. Coffey's band does an equally great job of keeping things pushed into the red when needed as well as laying down a simple bed for each players solo. Flip this over and I love the way Steinski brings us into the essence of the track. His added echo and stabbing repeated pieces give a feeling of a spiral. Not one that is out of control but one that is mesmerizing. He pulls pieces of the original track out and layers them onto a more mellow backing giving them a completely new life. As each sample is presented to us it is as if he is saying, "Did you hear that? That was really cool." The reworking and parts are respectful and on display to be admired, not scrutinized. Where Mr. Coffey's original is arranged somewhat traditionally with each instrument taking solos Steinski has a way of showing us everything at once but somehow allowing each sound and beat to ebb and flow quite harmoniously. The effected and mixed horn that just proceeds the end is reminiscent of the horn that was used as Harpo Marx's voice. This adds a brief but pleasant moment of humor in a way only Steinski can do. I am really happy I didn't pass the up.

Personal & The Pizzas - "Dead Meat" vs. "Joanie" (Total Punk cat. #1)
Personal & The Pizzas - "I Want You" b/w "Don't Trust No Party Boy" (Trouble In Mind cat. TIM 018)

I recently went to see Hoboken's own, Personal & The Pizzas' triumphant return to Maxwell's. On record these guys are the kings of pizza themed, lo-fi, retard rock. But live is a completely different experience. The 50 / 50 mix of Stooges and Ramones is still there but the playing is far more exact than the recordings. The set was maybe forty minutes long and was pure Punk attitude and volume. Each song ripped past but never lost any of the gooey Pizza goodness. Personal even commented on the fact that they were out songs, "…a lot quicker than you would think." The crowd sang along with every song pumping fists appropriately and you could tell The Pizzas were eating it up. I have seen a lot of shows at Maxwell's so to say this was one of my favorites is saying a lot. No, I mean it, it's a little more personal. Next time The Pizzas hit the stage at Maxwell's you better be there or I'll have to pop you in the mouth with my brass knuckles.

OFF! - "Compared To What" b/w "Rotten Apple" (Southern Lord cat. LORD128.5 (Red Vinyl))
OFF! - "Compared To What" b/w "Rotten Apple" (Southern Lord cat. LORD128.5 (Blue Vinyl tour 7"))
OFF! - "Live At Generation Records" - Poison City" "Now I'm Pissed" b/w "Crawl" "Rat Trap" (Vice / Generation Records cat. VCA 80025-7)
OFF! - First Four EP's (Vice cat. VCA 80021-7)

OFF! blow my mind. I imagine there are a lot of people who would pass this up since these guys are teetering on old age. Keith Morris is 55. Rather than that being a negative I think it is amazing that he sounds so fucking good. I would assume Steven McDonald is some where around 44 or 45. But I think this does the band a disservice to even bring it up. Moving on. There are a few songs that I will always be drawn to and "Compared to What" is one of them. When we named or very short lived label it was named after that brilliant Les McCann and Eddie Harris number. The songs lyrics are timeless, which you will rarely hear me say, and the groove is deep as hell. I have a lot of versions and one is funkier or more soulful than the next. I even have a version with another legendary Punk singer, Gary Floyd, fronting the amazing Soul Jazz band Mushroom. Floyd's voice is so incredible and works really well with the modern arrangement. When I heard there was a new version by OFF! I immediately sought it out. And once again OFF! does not disappoint. This version is blistering and almost unrecognizable as the same song. Weirdly there is almost a Stooges or possibly a Sex Pistols sound tucked in there as well. Morris spits the lyrics out with the same level of conviction Les McCann did over 30 years ago. Honestly I have so many versions of the song but I never really thought of it as a Punk tune. I couldn't be happier with this version and I am happy it is by a band I genuinely like. This has the same effect as other awesome Punk covers of songs that surprised the hell out of you that the band would even want to cover. The Angry Samoans doing "Time Has Come Today" immediately comes to mind. "TIME HAS COME, TIME HAS COME TODAY!" "TIME HAS COME, TIME HAS COME TODAY!" For you to listen to OFF!

Monophonics - "Like Yesterday b/w "Destruments - "Freedom" (Colemine cat. CLMN - 110)
New Funk is a very shaky thing. It seems each band comes out of the shoot amazing but soon plunges into the world of Neo-Soul boring bullshit. I have definitely slowed my purchases of New Funk because of this. I'll listen to samples of any one song sometimes twenty times before deciding to lay my money down. When I saw that the always satisfying Colemine Records had a new release I immediately searched for samples. When "Like Yesterday" started I wasn't sure what direction the song was going to take but, most of all I hoped it was an instrumental because most New Funk vocals are corny as shit. The vocals are especially shitty when they are trying to imitate the singers from the late 60's and early 70's. The intro comes in like the best David Ruffin tracks: slow, with a sense of mystery but all the while groovy as hell. Almost immediately the vocals come in and I couldn't have been happier. The vocalist is genuinely raw and he is not trying to sound like anyone but himself. Kudos to you and I hope you never change. I imagine he sounds older than he is but that is certainly a plus. The track is insanely professional with a big arrangement and beautifully smooth dynamics. Dare I say this sounds like something Curtis Mayfield might have done. There is a lot going on and yet it all comes together with the musicians playing as a unit and not individuals. If I may be so bold, there are enough fake Afro Beat Bands, leave the Neo-Soul to the D'Angelos of the world and please, oh please don't think just because you can play tighter / cleaner grooves and record them in better studios it will make your music sound better… because it won't. Keep doing what you are doing because it is awesome.

Destruments is an instrumental save for a few vocal snippets. The sound here starts to lean in the Afro Beat direction but doesn't ever embrace it fully. I love Afro Beat but it is just so overdone by every new band that took Jazz in High School. Instead Destruments create their own unique world of sound. I want this track to be played every time I enter a room. Who needs a weapon when you have dramatic sounds like these? This is music that will get people nervously looking over their shoulders as well as bobbing their heads. The song is full of guitar effects, vibes, killer steady drumming and a bass line that is so sparse when you go looking for it, you know you found it because it rattles your skull. The song you just heard was based on a true crime but the names were changed to protect the innocent. Freedom comes only to the ones that escape all others get 25 to life.

Batman - "Ein echter Batman ghet nicht unter!" "Eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Sommer!" b/w "Cuccillone Classico!" "Hey Boy" (Bachelor / Red Lounge Records cat. BR - 47 b/w RLR087)

Our beloved Batman has returned to us but for this release he is flying solo. Sadly, Robin is no where to be found. Maybe the Boy Wonder is off at school or possibly locked up due to indecent public activities after going on one too many benders with the stewed crusader . Who knows. It would appear Batman is working slow crime nights as a Lounge Act. Documented here are two very peppy tunes all sung in German. Since I don't speak German it is possible Batman is singing about his own lascivious activities. Musically side one is Lounge scene, one-man-band featuring Casio or accordion style sounds with some female backing vocals. Batman seems happy enough or is he just heavily sedated? No one may ever know. On side two Batman wields his axe once more and there are even drums. Once again the lyrics are all in German but his time batman sounds a bit agitated. Maybe the sedatives are wearing off and he is confronted by his own madness as well as the fact that Robin has gone. Is what life after crime fighting is like? Relegated to a tiny stage in a no name bar singing songs about the bad lands? The last track is sung by the Amazing Angi. It appears she is the winner of some Gotham City "Idol" type talent show. I assume Batman was a guest judge on the panel and took a liking to the adorable Angi. Who knows where this will lead the fabled Dark Knight but let's hope he finds his way into the studio time and again to document his odyssey. Take care old friend and we hope to see you soon.


Captain Beefheart - Six-Pack - Six-Track or Guaranteed 15 minutes Playing Time - "Sugar Bowl" Same Old Blues' & "Magic Be" b/w "Upon The My-O-My" "Rock 'N' Rolls Evil Doll" & "New Electric Ride" (Virgin cat. SIXPACK 1 (Made to be played - Quality British Pressing - Limited to 5000 copies (with easel back)))

Spanglish Fly - "Let My People Bugalu" b/w "Think (Pensamiento)" (Electric Cowbell Records cat. EC 004)

Los Po-Boy-Citos - "Brand New Dance" b/w "Trinidad" (Super Ultra Mega / Living Room Studios cat. SUM 004)

T.S.U. Tornados - "A Thousand Wonders" "Norther Soul Stories cat. NSS - 2 (strictly limited edition))

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These are just some of the fine slabs of tassel spinners at the ready if I get to spin the Go-Go Rama. Go-Go… Las Vegas Grind… Tittyshakers… whatever you want to call 'em, here is a list...

Guest Villains - "Tornado" b/w "Forbidden Feelings" (Timmion cat. # 024)

Andre Williams - "Sweet Little Pussycat" b/w "Loose Juice" (Wingate cat. WG-014)

The Merced Blue Notes - "Thompin'" b/w "Rufus Jr." (Galaxy cat. 738)

The Ideals - "The Gorilla" (Cortland cat. C - 110)

Hal Blaine - "Drums A Go-Go" b/w "Bang Bang Rhythm" (Dunhill cat. D-4049 (Promotional Copy / Not For Sale (wht lbl promo)))

Ken Jones His Piano & Orchestra - "Chicken Pot Pie" b/w "Second Helping" (Almont Records cat. Almont 305)

The Megatons - "Shimmy. Shimmy Walk, Part 1" b/w "…Part 2" (Dodge Records cat. 808)

The Noc-A-Bouts - "Jungle Safari" b/w "Session" (United Artists cat. UA 126 X (Promotion Copy / Not For Sale (wht lbl promo)))

The Nite Sounds - "Cheese Cake" (Fortune cat. 548)

Bobby Peterson Quintet - "The Hunch" (V-Tone cat. 205)

The Tradewinds - "The Snake" b/w "Congo Beat" (Dan - Tone Records cat. 1001)

Gary Webb - "Drum City - Pt. 2" (Donna cat. 1321)

Red Holloway - "Monkey Sho' Can Talk" b/w "Crib Theme #4" (Prestige cat. PR 45-287)

"Big" John Patton - "Fat Judy, Part 1" b/w Part 2 (Blue Note cat. 45-1920)

Herbie Mann - "The Honeydripper" b/w "The Puppet" (Atlantic cat. 45-2379)

Gene Ludwig - "Sticks & Stones - Part I" b/w Part II (Atlantic cat. 45-5034 (wht lbl promo))

The Pastel Six - "Bandito" (Zen Records cat. 102)

Kai Winding - "Dirty Dog" (Verve cat. VK - 10407 (Special Disc Jockey Record))

Hoctor - "Uncle Festers Blues" b/w Adams Family Theme" (Hoctor Records (Division of Dance Records Inc.) cat. H2783)

The Dartells - "Where Do We Stand" (HBR (Hanna Barbera Records) cat. HBR 457 (promo))

The Merced Blue Notes - "Thompin'" b/w "Rufus Jr." (Galaxy cat. 738)

Earl Bostic And His Orchestra - "Feeling Cool" (King cat. 45-K10156 (Complimentary / Dee Jay / Special))

The Souljers - "Poochum" (Rampart cat. 648)

--
Pat. James Longo
http://primitivesoundsystem.blogspot.com
http://www.gigposters.com/designer/26046_Pat._James_Longo.html