Mysterious Angolan Folk Rockers...

Almost two years ago now, during my time in Portugal, I picked up a mysterious 45 from Angola credited to a group called "Os Gambuzinos" (something akin to "wild geese" (as in chase) in English). The picture sleeve featured 3 Angolans on an electrical tower, in impressive threads: bell bottoms, wide collars. It seemed to be from about '68-'72, an interesting period for Angola, then going through its rebellion against the Portuguese colonial dictatorship.

The A-Side contained one of the strangest foreign recordings I've ever heard-- a sort of folk/rock/mod hybrid, lo-fi but confidently delivered-- you can hear it here:

os gambuzinos - aida

The record is in terrible condition, but the a-side, with its outrageous burst of sax, had me intrigued...

I scoured the internet for information but I could only turn up bits and pieces about the group existing in the early 70's in Angola. Finally today through a google search I came across another recording of the band, once again with a definite fusion of western pop and local sounds (the song itself seems to be a standard of the merengue scene). It comes from a fairly common compilation of Angolan music from the early 70's. As to what happened to these guys or if there's an LP hiding in the vaults somewhere, no sign as yet...

os gambuzinos - kalumba

stay tuned...

DJ Shimmy Setlist 17-Nov-06 @ Matchless, Brooklyn

Another decent night at Matchless, here's the setlist, all vinyl (not in order!)... new ones in bold...

sonny terry - ride and roll - groove 4g-1035
chambers bros - uptown - columbia 4-44296
fontella bass - rescue me - checker 1120
four tops - peace of mind - abc/dunhill d-4354
bobby comstock - i'm a man - ascot 2175
wynona carr - jump jack, jump! - specialty sp-580-45
johnnie taylor - who's making love - stax sta-0009
bad bascomb - black grass - paramount paa-0190
rufus thomas - do the funky chicken - stax sta-0059
blues image - ride captain ride - atlantic oldies os-13119 - not as bad as i remembered it...
beatles - baby you're a rich man - parlophone pdp 5082 (PT)
tremeloes - instant whip cbs 4582 (pt)
los no - gloria - vergara 424-xc (spain)
kinks - i'm not like everybody else - reprise 0497
freddy cannon - beachwood city - wb 5645 - i love kitsch like this. actually, there's some tasty fuzz guitar going on in here, too.

soul survivors - expressway to your soul - crimson cr-1010
temptations - ain't too proud to beg - gordy 7054
brian wilson shock treatment - lords of the infinite cosmos - slutfish 067 -- remarkably good psych/pop, released in 2006 in greenpoint! with all the fx of piper at the gates of dawn...

shadows of knight - oh yeah - dunwich 45-122
les sunlights - c'est fini - disc az 1034
beach boys - little honda - capitol p-4093
rolling stones - jumpin' jack flash - london 45-lon-908
knickerbockers - lies - challenge 59321
los in - el septimo hijo (seventh son) - cbs 21.537 (argentina)
easybeats - friday on my mind - united artists 50106
hank ballard & the midnighters - let's go, let's go, let's go - king 45-5400
freddie king - me and my guitar - shelter 7320
the legendary tiger man - fuck x-mas, i got the blues - munster ref 7185 - ok, most of this guy's stuff isn't that good, but this one is ridiculous enough to make it.

the new lou reeds - looking for a boogaloo - exit stencil recordings esr 008 - totally 70's/southern rock. the way they give a shout out to "ZZ TOP!" is priceless.

fats domino - i'm walkin' - imperial x5428
norris turner - give god a chance - hse 384 - gospel, it's a handclapper, not a shouter, and kinda danceable.

mar-keys - last night - satellite s-107
paragons - hey little school girl - winley 215 - never played this side before. the a-side is doowop, this is great r'n'b.

rolling stones - let's spend the night together - decca f 12546
first edition - just dropped in (to see what condition...) - reprise 0655
martha duhalt - las botas que pueden caminar - cbs 5872 (mexico)
arthur conley - sweet soul music - atco 45-6462
ricky nelson - travelin' man - london/american 45-hlp 9347
amos milburn, jr. - gloria - shalimar s-105 - never played this side of the record before, more r'n'b from the late 50's.

enoch light & the light brigade - take the a train - project3 45-1394
arthur murray / big dave and his orchestra - let's bop - capitol (ep) 640
bill haley and his comets - thirteen women (and only one man in town)
- decca 29124
human beinz - nobody but me - capitol 5990
music explosion - little bit o'soul - laurie 3380
philip upchurch combo - you can't sit down pt. 1 - boyd ua-329
eugene church - good news - rendezvous records r-132
jerry lee lewis - turn on your love light - mercury 73296
joe tex - i gotcha - dial d-1010
sam cooke - twistin' the night away - rca victor 47-7983 - classic. got this at the wfmu record fair at a decent price, finally!

isley brothers - this old heart of mine tamla 54128 - one of the best motown singles (and that says a lot), sadly my copy is too shoddy for another outing...!

sam cooke - chain gang - rca victor 47-7783
archie bell & the drells - tighten up - atlantic 45-2478
hugh masekela - grazing in the grass - uni 55066
israel "popper stopper" tolbert - big leg woman (with a short short mini skirt - warren waa-106
*********
LP TRACKS
*********
the flamingos - i only have eyes for you - roulette r 25251 "20 original winners, vol 2"
howlin' wolf - killing floor
johnny cash - get rhythm
chuck berry - school days
all from: rockomotive - die story von rockabilly und rhythm & blues - bellaphon bls 5527
slim harpo -baby, scratch my back // tip on in ... both from: the best of slim harpo - excello 8010 - another one from the wfmu record fair. great mid/late 60's blues.

johnny burnette & rock'n'roll trio - rock billy boogie - s/t solid smoke ss-8001
dr john - zu zu man - 16 greatest hits - trip top-16-1
isley brothers - i turned you on - the brothers: isley - buddah / tneck tns 3002
bruce springsteen - born to run - born to run columbia pc 33795
the 13th power / max frost & the troopers - the shapes of things to come - wild in the streets OST tower skao 5099
the throb - fortune teller - raven ep lp vol 1 - rvlp 05
jimmy mcgriff - bump de bump - blues for mister jimmy - sue 1039
jazz crusaders - thank you falettinme be micelf agin - old socks new shoes - chisa cs804 -- finally played this. great cover of the sly stone track in my opinion.

roosevelt sykes - dirty double mother - dirty double mother - bluesway
(abc) bls-6077 - finally played this, a raunchy blues track from the 70's with plenty of double entendre...

the drifters - save the last dance for me - up on the roof - the best of - atlantic 8073
betty wright - clean up woman - i love the way you love - alston - sd 33-388
jean knight - do me - stax of funk - ace/bgp bgp2 133
santo & johnny - summertime - s/t - canadian american calp 1001
mashmakhan - days when we are free - columbia els-365 (canada) -- amazing canadian psych/rock, another wfmu find, this one is longer than the single version...

new york dolls - personality crisis - s/t - phonogram srm-1-675
pink floyd - astronomy domine - piper at the gates of dawn - emi/harvest c064-004.292 (spain)
beresford creek - light my fire - live oak lor-s-1001 -- finally got the chance to spin this one up north. weird bluegrass cover version, but the solo really takes off.

'til next time...

Live Music Report: 9.Nov -> 15.Nov // Les Savy Fav, Electro, Free Jazz, Detroit Cobras & a Guy in a Dress

It's been a busy live music month for me, here's a quick report on a few shows I've managed to catch:

9.November.06 -- Les Savy Fav @ E&L Auditorium (NYU), Manhattan -- I was a bit wary about going to this one with all the college students and no beer in sight, but I couldn't make the (more expensive and more trendy) show at Moma earlier in the week, and a friend from LA was in town, so this seemed OK. The place is what is sounds like-- an auditorium. We caught the last 20 minutes of The Big Sleep, who were a bit longwinded for our taste-- some interesting grooves but they didn't end up going anywhere too different.

LSF came on, with Tim Harrington in Professor of Egyptology mode, making the most of the location, pretending that he was showing slides to the "class" and then launching himself into the crowd over the frenetic punkier moments of LSF's music. Soon enough, Harrington was off playing a video game while singing, throwing a rope up the balcony and being pulled up, changing getups on stage, and even crawling along the floor (and surprising my friend who was digging in her purse, by making her drink some water from a bottle).

I *do* eat this kind of buffoonery/performance art/leftover remnants of providence background up, but at a certain point, you wonder if the show is way more important than the music ? Frequently his vocals are lost as he's clambering through the crowd, with the band left on stage. On the other hand, the "new" guitarist makes amazing u2 with authenticity like guitar noises on stage that are really something. Is there a new album coming, or is this finally a party band ? I'm not sure... stay tuned!

10.November - Services @ The Cake Shop, Manhattan -- we meant to catch some providence (again!) bands but we only caught the headliners on this weird night-- brooklyn electro, the whole 2 men and a sampler/keyboard/noisemaker kind of thing. But they had lights! And a sense of humor. This was actually good!

11.November -- BAD (of course!) Free Jazz @ The Cake Shop -- we thought we could catch random greatness at the Cake Shop two times in one week. We were wrong, of course. These guys go for the "No. Let's sit IN the audience, man!" method of free jazz. And they sat right in front of us. Challenge accepted, dummies.
(above: my friends accepting the free jazz challenge)

14.November - Detroit Cobras, Greg Cartwright, Death Machine @ Mercury Lounge, Manhattan -- This one promised to be great but turned out so-so in the end. "Death Machine" was one of these underage bands with the dads in the audience and acting as roadies. The guy can play guitar, OK, I get the 70's rock mixed with garage references, but there's something lacking as yet. Cartwright on the other hand, frontman for the Reigning Sound and ex-Oblivians, performed some of the RS material solo acoustic and it was interesting, but showed us what we were missing when he picked up his electric for one last song and it was great.

Finally, the Cobras took the stage after 30 minutes of waiting. And then we (and the band) waited another 15 minutes for the singer, Rachel, to finally come to the stage (drink in hand as always). Maybe there was a good reason for this, but the place was pretty packed by this point and it was somewhat maddening. This feeling grew as it became obvious that the singer (not the band) was phoning it in during the first few songs. Thankfully a rowdy (and odd) crowd woke her up a bit for better renditions of a few classics. Still, I haven't seen the definitive show from this band that I've been looking for...

15.November - King Khan & BBQ Show @ Don Pedro's, Bushwick/Brooklyn -- This one was in such a weird place it just had to be good. After pulling out of a few dates with the Detroit Cobras (including the show I went to on Tuesday!), they played this one, set up by Crypt Records, newly relocated to Brooklyn. Don Pedro's is a (frankly rundown) Ecuadoran restaurant in a (somewhat scary) area of Brooklyn. The show was run old school-- we got free beer for being there early, by walking over to the Crypt Records store, where there was a keg and a bunch of people. Then the band played a set at the restaurant. Then there was a DJ, and then another set. That's the way it should be, doncha think ? The band is a duo, garage for sure, but somewhat disjointed, definitely spirited and good party music. And the singer changed into a dress and wig on stage. All this for $6, what more can you ask for ?! whew! no wonder i've been sleeping like 10 or 11 hours each night...

6.November.06 : THE FALL @ Studio B, Brooklyn !

Never let it be said that I don't give second chances. In February of 2002, I went to see The Fall at Akropolis in Prague and even dragged two people with me! It was terrible-- Mark E. Smith's vocals couldn't be heard above the crashing din of youthful metal enthusiasts churning away in the background. Only strange snippets of pre-recorded spoken word by Smith between songs kept us chuckling through this largely wasted evening.

But my love of the Fall has only grown through the many records I've acquired in the last four years so I was crazy enough to try again-- this time, it was a whole different experience.Once again I dragged two friends with me to this show, organized by their current label, Narnack, at a disco-type place called Studio B in Greenpoint.

Once again, there was some embarrassment: the opening acts consisted of: 1. a trio trying to do Sonic Youth in a semi-goth style and failing miserably, although they are somewhat memorable for a) the great visuals behind them and b) the random and pointless ringing of a large silver bell during their set; 2. a hip-hop act, also memorable for their program listings: "yo! yo! wassup y'all, THE FALL is next, but FIRST, we are rock bottom!" and c) a "video artist" who took painfully slow, blown up clips of bloated superstars (elvis, etc) and blasted noise on top of it.Thankfully the band cleared away all the nonsense and blew us away. the songs were culled mostly from the latest record (FALL HEADS ROLL) and the brilliant "Real New Fall LP" of 2004. The lack of 'oldies' didn't matter though, as Sparta FC, Mountain Energei, and What About Us? sounded amazing, with an all-American band that was tighter than we had reason to expect and Smith's own strange but definitely spot-on vocalizing.





Hour long show with an encore (that was surprising!) -- this band is the best one for a while, from what I've read. The drummer in particular is amazing and wouldn't have been out of place during the so-called "classic" 80's period. Why can't all shows be like this ?

CMJ Roundup (2 weeks after!) Black Lips, Drones & Health !

OK, I didn't really try to do too much during CMJ. No pass or anything, but I did see:

31/October/2006: The Black Lips @ 3rd Ward, Bushwick/Brooklyn -- Another great show by these current kings of garage at a 'toddp' non-cmj show.

1/November/2006: Drones @ Soundfix, Williamsburg/Brooklyn -- Only 15 people there, apparently a Bad Seed among them. Opening band Devastations (from Australia as well but based in Berlin) were good, Birthday Party meets Bad Seeds action. The Drones themselves put on a terrific show, despite low vocals, emphasizing the noise & rock elements of the action. Never a dull moment, this band is the most underrated band (at least here in the US) I know about right now.

2/November/2006: Califone & Bobby Conn @ Tonic, Manhattan -- Califone was OK I guess, if you like folk sounds desconstructed in ambient atmospheric music (read: "boring"). Bobby Conn was OK, more progrock than previously imagined, still a good show and with a very tight band.

3/November/2006: Though I caught the end of Shackeltons at another place (they were pretty good), the only band I really liked this day was Health, at the Cake Shop in Manhattan. They sound like Lou Reed / Pavement / with a southern angle. They are from North Carolina.
http://www.myspace.com/healthyportions

Overall, the lineup of the big shows said it was a lackluster year for the indies. Hey-- 2006! It's over. Go away!