The Armpit Collection XLII: Medecinal

Originally announced in 2010: “Madlib is launching Madlib Medicine Show, a 12-part music series (12 CD's, 6 LP's) on his own imprint, Madlib Invazion. Odd numbers, beginning with #1 in Jan. 2010, will be original hip-hop, remix, beat tape and jazz productions; even numbers will be mixtapes of funk, soul, Brazilian, psych, jazz and other undefined forms of music from the Beat Konducta's 4-ton* stack of vinyl.

I originally came to this series through another Madlib release, Shade of Blue. I was really intrigued by the idea of a hip hop producer cutting up jazz recordings, and the album didn't disappoint. I started looking for other Madlib releases and found High Jazz, one of the installments in the Medicine Show. It was convenient that my search led me to this release, being Madlib's foray into jazz via his "Yesterday's Universe" band. Once I became aware of the series itself, I started snagging them up.

As I began to acquire the various Medicine Show releases and take them in, I was more and more blown away at how prolific of an artist Madlib is, and at how ideal and awesome of an undertaking a series like this is.

I listen to these a lot. I've had a lot of different reactions from various friends, visitors who've taken them in with me. It's not for everyone, but it's a deeply intriguing vantage point into the world of hip hop record creation, producing, and the world of music re-creation.

The Armpit Collection XLI: Interventionist God? Nah.

This offering may come off as quite tame for "Nick Cave," but I can assure you, it's ripe. The opening line of the first song...

Also, I love this idea in "Brompton Oratory," which basically tells the story of walking into a church and hearing a sermon. There's a wonderful drift that is present in almost all of the songs. A lightness to contrast the heaviness of the lyric.

Apparently there's a bunch of material left off the album that can be found as B-sides. Still need to check those out. Dig it.

The Armpit Collection XL: I Know

A man whose work is ripe for exploration. Shepp has a deliciously broad approach to musical form, though his tone and sentiment is singular. A Sea of Faces illustrates this characterization very well.

Here's a great piece about Shepp's life and work.



"I did learn to accept whatever my limitations are..."

"I think of myself mostly as a man."

"Music is an intelligent pursuit."

"I really am bitter."

The Armpit Collection XXXIX: Need = Sunshine

"I found empathy in madness, deliverance from malaise."




Timber Timbre - Creep On, Creepin' On

This album makes me smile. It's dark, and I smile cause it hits so close to home. All the sounds I love are right there. It's not long, and there are instrumentals, nice transitions. The grooves are inviting. There's a lot of mood with a lot said: a cool-y confident voice rings effected and quiet, but also cuts. There's so much space. Respect the space and flow of things in space. I feel somewhere and also feel them somewhere. "Too Old to Die Young," damn near brings me to tears (with those background chirps).

Do YOU have power??? Over "it"?

The video I posted is for "Black Water," a wonderful lyrical journey that I've quoted above as well.

The Armpit Collection XXXVIII: Whoever Told You That Is Your Enemy

The Armpit Collection XXXVII: Put God Away

Why did you choose to end the album with “It’s time to put God away”?

Because it really is! And it's a culmination song. It's a time-suspending song. You have to put it at the end. Can I just say this is a great record?

This record struck me very clearly with how good it sounded. There's a calm nature to not only the sound, but the opening line. "I started out in search of ordinary things." Sometimes we revel in the abstract because of a disconnect or inability to express realistically. Those journeys may begin with a pining for normalcy, clarity, a direct path to understanding. The relativity of ordinary offers similar comforts among us.

There's a very humble way about Callahan's approach that I find comforting, and that I feel sets this record apart from most singer/songwriter efforts. It doesn't feel forced. He can relish in the weird or intrigue without being contrived. Lyrically speaking, there is great literalism.

Armpit-technically, this album should be an addition to the 21st C. Singer/Songwriter Dilemna. Looking back, it makes more sense for Eagle to be included, than Wicked Grin.

This post was spurred by the release of Callahan's newest, Apocalypse.

The Armpit Collection XXXVI: Heroes & Villains

Never had a single in the collection... The more I listen to this song, the more I'm fascinated by it. Musically speaking, it's quite simple and yet also contains some passages that are complex. Lyrically, I could say the same. The ideas it invokes become more and more relevant to my own perspective the more time I spend here in NYC, amongst artists, thinking about cultural politics.

The Beach Boys have already been considered a Period Piece. To many, they are seen as just such. Brian Wilson, though, pushed his music beyond simple trappings to the point of self-destruction. This song comes right out of that tumultuous period of both his life and culture at large.

The great thing about Heroes & Villains is it's ability to maintain a dichotomous aura. I found this video the other day and was just blown away by it. I submit it as evidence that the Beach Boys escaped shallow cultural perspectives and eventually sought to express ideas more intellectually than most may give them credit for.

The Armpit Collection XXXV: "It's Night Time in the Big City...

...a metronome falls from a second story window... smoke fills the booth of a Mexican restaurant... a squatter eats Doritos from his chest... bobble-heads shake their faces at one another... it's Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan."

In 2006, Bob Dylan embarked on a journey that I found utterly fascinating. He hosted a themed radio program on XM radio.

Enjoy them.

The Armpit Collection XXXIV: Black, Saint, Sinner

Charles Mingus is relentless in what he does. His music contains a ferocity and intensity that is unmatched. Nowhere have I been more attracted to stoking chaos in the midst of intellectual forms. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is his most accomplished work. And you can also enjoy him here.

1. Track A - Solo Dancer (6:20)
Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!

2. Track B - Duet Solo Dancers (6:25)
Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces

3. Track C - Group Dancers (7:00)
(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries

4. Mode D - Trio and Group Dancers (17:52)
Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!

Mode E - Single Solos and Group Dance
Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front

Mode F - Group and Solo Dance
Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day

Taken from the extensive liner notes:

"Last and least is me. Mingus. I wrote the music for dancing and listening." - Charles Mingus

"To me this particular composition contains Mr. Mingus' personal and also a social message. He feels intensively. He tries to tell people he is in great pain and anguish because he loves. He cannot accept that he is alone, all by himself; he wants to love and be loved. His music is a call for acceptance, respect, love, understanding, fellowship, freedom - a plea to change the evil in man and to end hatred. The titles of this composition suggest the plight of the black man and a plea to the white man to be aware. " - Doctor Pollock (his psychologist)

The Armpit Collection XXXIII: Before the Dark Side

I recall a delightful evening in Norfolk, VA when some fellow friends and I went swaggering into a club to see a rejuvenated rock n roll band. Freshly reformed and rehearsed, the Black Crowes played a handful of covers over their two (?) sets. One of those covers was "Fearless," a song that I knew quite well at the time. Though the original version is quite rhythmic, it's tame due to it's acoustic production. Hearing it fleshed and attacked, overdriven by electric guitars made a lot of sense. Sadly, the crowd on hand couldn't replicate the overdubbed field recording of "You Never Walk Alone" chanted by fans at a Liverpool F.C. match.

Meddle also contains a song that has made it's way on to as many J Seger mixes as any other song, "San Tropez."

The Armpit Collection XXXII: Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon - The Chess Box Set

This is one of the best record purchases I've made over the past few years. 3 discs of the finest modern blues, the guy basically wrote everything. A blueprint of the rock n roll that was to come.

The Armpit Collection XXXI: Go West

Update:

I was just browsing back over the old Armpit posts, had to spruce up a few images, touch up some tagging, tend the garden. It'll be a couple of years this coming August and I've only dished out 61 records so far (and a couple of abstracts). In my mind, I could easily tuck this many records under my arms if need be. More. There will be more. Since beginning this series, I've delved heavily into guys like Art Blakey's catalog, Tom Waits periods, Miles Davis bands, other wild cards that will all make an appearance. Not too mention the extensive back tracking I need to do, like where's Tom Petty? Where the fuck is Tom Petty? GH's or Wildflowers? If you have any "Where the fuck is _______ suggestions for the Armpit Collection, please comment. Let us open a dialog.



I can't believe I've left this record out. This was the first Sonny Rollins record I purchased. Picked it up in Montreal. When you see a record with a cover image like that... After having heard and explored Sonny's work, this is my favorite record of his. Previous posts (XVII & XXII) may speak to some of his other work, and I still think The Bridge is his best record, but this remains my favorite. Trio format, Sonny saddled with the cool rhythm section Ray Brown and Shelly Manne (who I realized last night went on to record a few records with Tom Waits nearly 20 years after this release). Sonny does very well pianoless, which if you can imagine drums, bass, and saxophone, you get the idea that "no one" is playing chords. Sonny's romantic tinges and disciplined playfulness lend itself very well to this format, especially given thematic material like Way Out West. This is like jazz horse-ridin' music, which any ol' Swaggard can swagger to.

The Armpit Collection XXX: The Masterpiece

KIND OF BLUE - MILES DAVIS

The Armpit Collection XXIX: It Was A Wonderful Life

Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life

Spurred by Mark Linkous' suicide, please check out It's A Wonderful Life. I only very recently started listening to this record, despite multiple attempts by my old lady to turn me on. I didn't connect with it at first. I've now come to find it to be a gorgeous record, deeply melancholic, but also melodic and very, very rich. I rather enjoy it's listening experience from headphones; sonically speaking, it's very intelligent.

Also see Dark Night of the Soul.

The Armpit Collection XXVIII: Soul Jazz

"Soul jazz was a development of hard bop which incorporated strong influences from blues, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups...Soul jazz tends to use an 8th note groove (similar to what developed in rock and R&B music), while hard bop generally uses a shuffle rhythm, although there are soul jazz songs with shuffle rhythms and hard bop songs with steady 8th note grooves (although the latter are arguably definable as both hard bop and soul jazz."

This is a unique posting in the Armpit Collection because it depends entirely on your motivation and research to fill in the big blank _______. No specific record is officially chosen for slot XXVIII for a few reasons, one of which being that I'm personally still researching this whole Soul Jazz / Studio One phenomenon myself.

Basically, there's this great record label in the UK called Soul Jazz. I first ran into Soul Jazz during my year-long free record spoilings courtesy of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" 45 dangling from a chain around my neck. The consequence of wearing this necklace was winning a free record each month for a year from Harvest in Asheville. One of these records was Studio One's Rockers. Studio One is Reggae music the way you want Reggae music. Soul Jazz has been blessed with free range over the Studio One vaults, to which they're doing incredible justice by re-issuing and compiling a virtual historical retrospective on many aspects of not only Reggae music, but also musical culture of the mid twentieth century.

My palette is ripe with the possibility of how many of these compilations I can justify getting. At this time, I only have two, the aforementioned Rockers, and Scorchers, a collection of Reggae Soul Instrumentals. I'll continue with the second Volume of Scorchers and likely move on to the 3 Volumes of Roots and the 2 highly coveted Volumes of Soul as soon as possible. I urge you to browse the vast and compelling catalog of Soul Jazz.

"Roots music flourished in the 1970’s as Rastafarianism, Black consciousness and self-determinization became the most important aspects of Reggae music."

"Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the civil rights movement of the 1960s loom large as self-determination, economic power and musical freedom led to jazz artists finding new paths – both musical and economic."

See Also:

Trojan Label and Box Set Series

The Armpit Collection XXVII: Prize Fighter

There he is, sandwiched between Black Sabbath and Television...Or Duke Ellington and Elvis Presley. But given a spot in history nonetheless, and still appreciated in retrospect.

Hank Williams is profoundly important in American music. Country music could have began and ended with him and I'd feel the same about it as I do now. He is it, and yet now in retrospect, more. He wrote the playbook. He built the myth. So many couldn't of _____ without his songs. He supersedes the unfortunate cheesiness that's utterly dismantled a culture he embodied. A twinge of tongue and cheek, a thick grin and tilt of the hat, a skeleton frame boxed in stiff tailored linens.

I've seen this shenanigan before (or after)...

Get the full rundown here.

Unfortunately, I don't have this, but my birthday is coming up.

The Armpit Collection XXVI: Spectrum

Good Old Boys/Sail Away - Randy Newman
Darkness On The Edge of Town/Nebraska - The Boss
Beggars Banquet/Let It Bleed - The Stones
Music From Big Pink/The Band - The Band
Harvest/Time Fades Away - Neil
Workingman's Dead/American Beauty - The Dead


These albums are all gamers in terms of American or classically American influenced song form and themes (being recorded by Americans, Canadians, and Brits).

I recently got the pleasure of hearing the deluxe version of Good Old Boys in which Randy Newman narrates the sketches of his songs and planned record as he's in the studio demo-ing them for the impending album recording. These are my favorite Newman: thematic, gritty, classy in the arrangements. Look for "Mr. President...".

Darkness is an interesting record in the Boss' canon. The follow up to BtR, it has a very definitive rock sound, but the songs are less dramatic and more a step in the working man direction that Bruce would continue and maintains his grasp upon. Then of course Nebraska has gained a lot of mileage through they years, serving as a pillar for many indie hipster songwriters at this point who wear the lo-fi badge. I think the truth was that Bruce recorded the songs as demos for the band, carried the tapes around in his back pocket and was finally convinced to release them as is. I urge you to find the Hank Williams III version of Atlantic City.

The Stones had quite an evolving sound from the mid sixties to the mid seventies, a very understandable progression if compared to American popular rock n roll's evolution in the same time period. Beggar's is their true homage to American country music, and it's wildly successful in substance. Let it Bleed gives is argued by some to be their best record. It does cover a lot of ground.

The Band opened their career in historical fashion. They opened their first official release with a biting, challenging number cowritten by Richard and Bob, "Tears of Rage," a song that could be interpreted as a serious jab at the counter culture. Since Basement Tapes serves as the unofficial godfather of modern Americana music to many, Big Pink is the Band's extension of that. They crush the competition, if you look at it that way. The self-titled release confirms that.

Despite this record's desperate need of remastering, Harvest is a milestone for the weaker singer songwriters budding in the early 70's. It opened doors. It proved that a few chords, distinctive voice and wistful romantic lyrics could get a long way in folk/country rock. None of them went on to make their Harvest because in hindsight, they couldn't get that real country sound. Neil superseded these shortcomings, something few of his contemporaries did. He went on to make a series of broken,legendary, and extremely honest records that will likely be included later. This is somewhat chronicled harshly by Time Fades Away.

The Workingman's Dead and American Beauty reflect the sound of the Dead that I personally enjoy the most. I side with Workingman because of "New Speedway Boogie" and "Black Peter," two of my favs by them. It's also a great reflection of the times in terms of folk/country "rock." Europe '72 may even be a better choice, but I'm stickin' with my Workingman's. American Beauty is just shake on the packed bowl.

The Armpit Collection XXV: My Heart Should Be Well Schooled

My heart should be welded solid by rock n roll, country, blues, jazz and anything deeply soulful I've heard at this point, but no. I as any other am susceptible to the romantic, fortunately.

I first heard Chet Baker on some dusty old cassettes that had fortunately remained in the car we were wielding, riding through New Mexico. His voice is like a cloud cover. It made me wonder where it came from and why.

His trumpet playing is a different story and has a deeper complexity and more ambiguous musical legacy.

I've initially held back from including this Chet collection (it's all vocals) because I thought I would find the Chet Baker that truly called to me and I've humbly heard some of his music. It's besides the point that I've read his biography. His commercial music surpasses the personal legacy of the man. His path is nothing short of astounding; pathetic, sad and yet understandable and shockingly realistic.

It's a grower and a real blessing to be able to reach back into a quintessential era in America and feel that you're connecting to the tone of a generation, even before it was romanticized.

The Best of Chet Baker Sings

The Armpit Collection XXIV: Millenia

Found what I lost inside
My spirit has been purified

I might be wrong
I might be wrong
I could have sworn
I saw a light coming on

I thought I was smart
I thought I was right
I thought it better not to fight
I thought there was a virtue, in always being cool

Let people talk until they don't
Let's me and you keep on

It was all just a dream, Oh no
I wish it was real
All my pets they were there and they smiled
Take a shit - it was fine

All the players in the band
They can always find
Always find some number that we know

Oasis - Familiar To Millions+
Radiohead - Kid A/Amnesiac
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots^
Holly Golightly - Slowly But Surely--
The Strokes - Mixed Bag*
The Walkmen - You & Me

+ "it was not a very happy time."
^Appearance numero dos
-- Appearance numero dos
*Yes, Mixed Bag.

The Armpit Collection XXIII: Dylan Addendum Part One

John Wesley Harding
Desire
Street Legal

Bob Dylan is a modern American musical enigma. His catalog is extensive and serves as the control in understanding most other pop and rock music's relativity. His first appearance in The Armpit Collection was a well-rounded trio outlining some of his contribution to modern popular music - the rock n roll, the singer songwriter, the old weird America.

Some of us have scoured his output extensively. There's a post rock n roll element to some of Dylan's music that I find intriguing. It's the long chord progressions that repeat, and repeat, and repeat for sometimes 5, 8, 10 minutes; lyrical ideas less detached and more romantic, yet utterly bizarre at times. The three albums featured here each contain songs I could not live without, "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," "Black Diamond Bay," or "Where Are You Tonight?", and songs I'll never forget, "As I Went Out One Morning," "Romance In Durango," and "Baby, Please Stop Cryin'".