Music for 4/20

420 is a dumb tradition in the United States that has to do with smoking marijuana. Every April 20th hundreds of thousands of college kids are making both dumb jokes and excuses to get blasted today. 

I used to be one of them, so I use the word "dumb" lovingly. 

Weed is a lot more accepted in the US today than it ever has been with stores selling it legally in several states. They are strange places, almost more like banks than, say, liquor stores. One does not browse at a weed store. The transaction is very business-like... almost cold. You wait in a line (or in some instances a waiting room) until it is your turn to order. You speak to a stoner (sometimes called a "budtender") who helps you find what you are looking for (weed, you are looking for weed). You get your wares and you GTFO. 

Anyway. Those days are behind me but no judgement if you took the day off to smoke a ton of weed and do whatever. May these records guide be your soundtrack.

Holy - All These Worlds Are Yours

Holy is from Stockholm, Sweden and they remind me of Tame Impala's Innerspeaker and Lonerism days. Swirling phased out drum fills and Beatles-esque vocals make this well-produced record one that I've returned to several times over the past several years.

Holy is solid, psychedelic indie rock. Also - a limited amount of vinyl remaining on this one.

2019 release on Punk Slime.

Dead Finks - The Death and Resurrection of Johnathan Cowboy 

Sometimes I gather so much music that I forget to listen to it. Popped this one on the jukebox the other night and boy howdy, a gripping rock record from a Berlin duo. Just straightforward punk that's more slightly more rock than punk to my ears but your experience may differ.

The chord changes are just slightly askew and I like how they double (triple? quadruple?) the vocal tracks. Will probably get this on vinyl.

For stoners who like IPAs with their bong hits.

Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen

Here's some gorgeous soul/jazz/r'n'b out of Los Angeles. I think it was during the initial phase of the pandemic that I went on a bit of a music buying spree and Kadhja Bonet was one that I bought several things from.

Chill music in case your mellow gets harshed. Track 4, Delphine, is at least worth 6 minutes of your day. Here's a great live performance of a song on a different release. 

Jogging House - Face

Another contribution from Germany. Here we have Jogging House from Frankfurt, which is the ambient project of one Boris Potschubay. Since getting into ambient music 3 years ago I've consistently enjoyed the music of Mr. Potschubay. The tones are warm and nostalgia inducing with touches of 8-bit grit. 

This is his most recent release under the Jogging House name. Good for zoning the eff out while doodling or whatever stoners do these days. I listen to it while doing chores on rainy Sunday mornings because like I've said before... I'm old now.

The Wrong Numbers - More Cuddles With the Wrong Numbers (2016)

Soul music, to me, is the quintessential American music. I know that the blues, jazz, and hip hop are more important from a music history standpoint: those genres were catalysts for so much more. Soul is just my absolute favorite. It's danceable, it's about good times and bad times. It's also kind of a natural antidepressant for me. Just throw on some Irma Thomas or Syl Johnson and the world becomes a little brighter.

Seeing a resurgence with stuff like Sharon Jones and Leon Bridges is great. Hard to believe that soul music ever went out of style, quite honestly. But perhaps in Detroit, where The Wrong Numbers come from, soul never lost it's footing.

The Wrong Numbers play garage soul so well that Jack White would devolve into the primordial jelly from which he came just to sniff it. These peeps must all come from other bands, I'd guess... this shit is just too seasoned. "Bowel Sounds" is just 2 songs so far, but it's well worth your immediate attention if you're in the market for something frucking fantastic (edit: deciding to keep "frucking as is). Bummer that there's a $7 charge for just 2 songs(*), but I'm honestly considering it.

Look at the release date on this also: posted just 5 days ago. Hot off the frucking press... eh? EH? Ehhhhhhh... sorry. But for real, The Wrong Numbers have got it DIALED IN.

*Edit: Another song has been added! It's great! This is some 1960's Memphis soul, ala Wendy Rene. Amazing.

Sample:
Bandcamp page:
The Wrong Numbers - Bowel Sounds

Oscar Key Sung - Tape Voice EP (2012)

Still unsure about seeing the new Star Wars. I just get immediately suspicious of anything cultural that I feel is being shoved in my face. Like Adele, I don't know her music but I know I don't like it. Just think about this for a second: Hollywood will be flogging the jedi cash cow for the rest of your life on this planet. We will never be free from the question, "Have you seen the new Star Wars?" Never free from storm troopers advancing into department store television advertisements.

Not necessarily wanting to be left out of a cultural phenomenon, while not having the inclination to participate, I've decided to carry a standardized response to the "Have you seen the new Star Wars movie" question... which is "YEAH I SAW IT AND IT WAS COMPLETE GARBAGE"... just so it appears that I'm at least trying to keep up with things of cultural relevance, while encouraging those who ask to never repeat the question. Bah humbug.

I'm much more inclined to champion and gush over the great music of obscure folks who I think should be less obscure. For example, I was pleasantly surprised by this EP from Melbourne-based Oscar Key Sung. He seems to really have a knack using his voice as an instrument and not just a vehicle for delivering lyrics. Medulla-era Björk immediately comes to mind. The glitch-synth-drum loop elements suggest a Prefuse 73 influence. It's like Max Tundra - but instead of making you feel weird it makes you feel the mood for sexy times.

Free download, 4 songs.


Oscar Key Sung - Tape Voice EP

A-Natural - Imperfect People (2014)

R&B and Soul music makes up a small amount of the music we have submitted and cover here the SRM, but we are always interested to hear folks doing interesting things with the genre. In fact, of any style of music receiving decent airplay on corporate radio stations, I find much more experimentation in the Hip-Hop world than I do on any of the major "rock" stations. Far to content to play the same classic and Butt rock, major rock radio is a wasteland of piss-poor imitators masquerading as music.

You have not likely heard A-Natural on any major radio station yet, but if things work out as they should, you will soon enough. He is about to drop a full length full of distorted, twisted, and re-imagined beats layered with soulful and smooth harmonies capable of bringing even the most jaded hipster to a rhythmic nod. Nothing gets my heart a flutter like experimentation with its foot clearly in the pop realm. This single has it, and since it is free to download, you have little reason not to give it a spin.

Get it here:
A-natural - Imperfect People (2014)

Buttering Trio - Toast (2014)

The ME may be going to hell in a hand-basket, but the beats and music from the region keep rolling on towards a better and brighter day. Or maybe a darker one. I don't have a clue.

What I do know is that the ME, and Israel in particular, is the home to some great musicians who are making music that is pushing the boundaries of pop globally. I have championed Memory in Plant on this site and on the podcast, and this record by Buttering Trio is a perfect flip side to their music. Both are experimental and creative in their approach, but while Memory in Plant creates disjointed post-punk music for the pop crowd, Buttering Trio creates vibrant sounds-capes through the use of electronics. You can't always tell a book by its cover, but the sleeve to this record perfectly encapsulates the sound within.

When I say this is an electronic record, you should not expect disco and techno beats to coldly pound a simple vocal harmony into your eardrums. This is "warm music" that is often hard to come by in the electronic genre. Rather than forcing you do deal with the cruelty and dissonance of the modern world, Buttering Trio wrap you in warm embrace of beats. Then, and only then, do they share the horror that is the world.

Get it here:
Buttering Trio - Toast (2014)

Ray Charles - Ray Charles at Newport (1958)

If you read yesterday's post you might be able to guess why I've decided to put this album up. It is only album that's holding its own against Barra 69 in my regular listening, at least at work. While they mightn't be obviously similar, with Ray Charles being a prophet of soul music and Caetano Veloso being an instigating force in Tropicalia, there's the obvious connection of the power of live performance and excitingly fresh sounds (even if we're only receiving an audio recording thereof). The amazingly done versions of "I Got A Woman" and "Talkin' 'Bout You" are unforgettable, and the absolute skill in which every song is executed is astounding. I've gladly shave years off my life for the opportunity to go back and see such an event. Hope you've enjoyed my detour for these posts, for I think it is important to go and touch base with this sorta thing even if you're familiar as I am sure many of you are with this album.

To be had here:
Ray Charles - Ray Charles at Newport [320 kbps]

Ray Charles - Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music (1962)

Besides the music I get in submissions I've been almost entirely devoted to digging up music that predates me by decades. However, with only intermittent internet access and much of that being of an inferior quality, it is slow going. Didn't stop me from listening to and augmenting what soul music I had. When I was talking to my brother about how I've been spending nights listening to Otis Redding and Ray Charles he told me he had Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music on vinyl. I didn't know until then Charles had done a country album, but holy shit is it something to behold. This is an bonus track version, there is a second volume but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet. Yet while I'm getting after that, this one was too fantastic not to share. Charles singing and the arrangements are unbelievable, and the selection of songs is the bee's knees. Three Hank Williams songs, from when even popular country was really great. Finally I got all your emails folks and I am downloading the albums with the swifter internet I have available today so hopefully we'll get some fresh sounds up soon.

To be had here:
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds of Country and Western Music [192 kbps]

King Khan & the Shrines - Mr. Supernatural (2004)

King Khan is coming to Detroit, well, technically his Indian themed duo with Bloodshot Bill, the Tandoori Knights are. However, I've posted the only album by that outfit so I have resorted to an album I've been playing at the coffee shop lately, Mr. Supernatural. With was an earlier phase of King Khan's ever-changing styles of lo-fi rock. This album nearly straight-up funk. Soulful singing, horns galore, and jangling guitars make for a funky sound that can easily summon memories of James Brown. Super exciting and wildly busy with instrumentation it is a great album for getting worked up. Sadly this digital version still has that horrible, disdainful hangover from the era of compact discs where there's a long blank spot to "conceal" an obvious "hidden track." Excepting that technologically outdated feature, it is a wonderful listen and grab up the later album, What Is?! if you haven't got it already.

To be had here:
King Khan & the Shrines - Mr. Supernatural [192 VBR kbps]

Gino Washington - Out Of This World (2000 [compilation])

Gino Washington, not to be confused with similarly named Geno Washington, was a Detroit soul musician that was a product of the soul fascination that swept many sectors of America in the early 60s, with Detroit being one focus. More of a regional star as he didn't get a huge amount of national recognition, so don't find it strange that you haven't heard of him. Apparently, while still in Pershing High School, funnily enough where my own grandfather is an alumnus, he was getting on the local charts with his heartfelt numbers. I read that he has some variety television show on a local channel at some point, but I have yet to meet anyone that has ever heard of it. That is beside the point, which is that he really made some really awesome soul songs such as his most famed tracks "Gino Is a Coward" and "Out of This World." He's backed by a group called Jeff and the Atlantics on the majority of the songs on this compilation and they do a fine job of it. Wish I could seen Detroit when he was in his heyday, must've been sweet.

To be had here:
Gino Washington - Out of this World [224 kbps]