The Street Sweeper Social Club: The Ghetto Blaster EP
Formed in 2006, the coming together of Tom Morello and Boots Riley had leftist revolutionist rubbing their hands together in sheer joy at the prospect of an all-star political supergroup. Unfortunately as if often the case with the majority of supergroups, this optimism was somewhat hindered by the bands self-titled debut offering, an LP full of style and swagger that despite being charming lacked that killer punch. Undermined by cheesy choruses and a surprising lack of substance, the album’s at times rushed, diluted party themes failed to live up to the pairs politically conscious past accomplishments. READ MORE…
Black Rain: A Flashback
Airing on US Radio Stations today, the highly anticipated Soundgarden reunion at Lollapalooza has been intensified by the leaking of a previously unreleased song, Black Rain. Recorded during the Badmotorfinger sessions the track is characteristic of the band in their prime, illustrating in a nostalgic fashion Chris Cornell’s intact, piercing vocals together with Kim Thayil’s aggressive, grinding guitar.
Due to be released next month on their greatest hits compilation Telephantasm, I have uploaded a link with the hope that it wont somehow disappear within the hour as it has done on numerous other sites.
OHZ’s SONG OF THE MONTH: July 2010 (#2)
Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire: Nuthinduan Waltz.
As this song doesn’t appear to be available anywhere online for live streaming, in order to share with you OHZ’s song of the month for July I am left with no choice but to provide a download link.
Thankfully in my current work environment –a warehouse full of boxes- we have been generously donated a CD player in order to numb the pain and escape from the tediousness the job tends to offer. As my colleague has conveniently placed himself next-door to this holy device, he up until now has had almost full reign on the daily playlists. While this dictatorship has brought with it many arguments regarding music tastes, it seems my predecessor’s obsession with playing random soundtracks has traumatised him to the extent whereby my colleague now sceptically chooses to stubbornly play only his own music.
As a consequence while being forced to endure the likes of Supergrass and Mumford and Sons, there has been besides the distressful, moments of mutual satisfaction. Among these comes the multi-instrumentalist, versatile, Chicago-born musician Andrew Bird’s effort The Thrills, a CD packed full of soothing, nostalgic pop tunes. Employing a hybrid of old music melodies, the CD illustrates influences as diverse as Django Reinhardt, Brecht and arguably to a lesser more contemporary extent even Tom Waits. Helping to bring light to my otherwise dull and monotonous duties as well as pacify hostile scowling, the song that has been spinning most frequently within my head this past month is Andrew Bird’s fresh and seductive Nuthinduan Waltz.
The Pros and Cons of Music Piracy: Contemplating the Controversy Surrounding the Pirate Generation
Over the past 10 years it has become a common assumption that the music industry is dying as a result of an increase in illegal downloading. Citing programmes such as Napster, Audiogalaxy and Kazaa together with bitorrents and various other uploading sites, the internet’s technological developments has caused many to point out the defects of a phenomenon that has seen record sales plummet to levels previously unheard of. Emphasising the recent words of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, modern-day downloading and the subsequent gradual decadence of commercial sales will inevitably ensure that “the music business establishment completely folds.” Representing something of a modern-day philosophy, the fear echoing from many quarters symbolises the bewilderment facing this grotesque dilemma, namely how to convince today’s generation to pay inflated prices as opposed to downloading music for free. READ MORE…
Jester J is back with ‘More of the Sane’
Back on the scene following his debut release Mental Disorder, UK comic-rapper Jester Jacobs has returned to the studio in preparation of a six song EP titled More of the Sane. Papering over the cracks while perfecting his style, it is clear that Jester J is clearly developing into an emcee of stature. Sounding this time round slightly more confident on the mic, More of the Sane ultimately builds on the seeds of potential displayed throughout the duration of 2008’s largely impressive release Mental Disorder.
As can be expected with a Jester J CD, the crazy, rapid-fire flows evoke instant smiles and head-nodding approval as both the energetic charisma and laugh out loud punchlines establish the artist as being the UK heir to Eminem’s throne. Not content with merely sounding good, Jester has a knack for introducing random discourses, catchy hooks and commercial viability whilst fundamentally remaining firmly underground.
Fresh and ultimately better than the other UK urban garbage currently on the radio, More of the Sane can be downloaded for free by clicking on the following link… http://jesterjacobs.bandcamp.com/
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Martin Grech: Meta and The Watcher
Contrary to previous reports regarding a new Martin Grech album titled ‘Shadow Secrets‘, the ambiguity of the UK soloists’ current status / projects has finally been confirmed thanks to the opening of an official facebook page. Dubbed as the “new information source for all news concerning the artist Martin Grech”, it seems the artist -or rather his publicist- has decided to abandon myspace in favour of newer more populated pastures.
Included on this insightful page is a log titled the “Current State of Chaos Update”, in which the singer-songwriter confirms: “Meta a 2disc collection of unreleased demo’s including a selection of ‘meatsuit‘ demo’s and much more is ready and waiting on legalities to be released.” Furthermore in regards to new material Grech additionally professed that, “‘The Watcher‘ (4th studio album) is recorded and waiting on mixing, mastering and artwork to be ready for release.”
So for those of you outside of this borderline secretive loop, the new LP is actually titled ‘The Watcher‘ and like the mysterious ‘Shadow Secrets‘ contains a rather bizarre and limited promotional trailer. Nonetheless it is surely a good sign to see such a talented musician return to the public eye bearing potential gifts for his starved, fiercely loyal fans. In light of this awakening I shall once again post up the new promotional trailers -there’s two of them- together with a music video made with his “loving partner” Lily Huffman.
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The Watcher (Trailer 1)
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The Watcher (Trailer 2)
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Martin Grech and Lily Huffman: Sleepdancing
OHZ’s SONG OF THE MONTH: June 2010 (#1)
In line with the varied projects already achieved within the seldom-updated music hub of OHZ, I have decided to introduce a new feature: A Song of the Month Award. Spawning from a desire to document my own various cycles of music tastes, each month I will post up a video clip of the song I have listened to most over the course of the month. Representing a break from the pages of text and theory, this feature should hopefully offer the site something different as well as presenting yet another interesting topic of debate.
With June coming to a close the elected track of this month is Rufus Wainwright’s catchy pop/cabaret effort, “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”. Being the opening song on his critically acclaimed album Poses, the track addresses personal addictions while hinting at just how much our compulsions rule our everyday lives.
Ironically I first discovered Rufus Wainwright when listening to Antony and the Johnson’s I Am a Bird Now. With Wainwright appearing on one of the album’s standout tracks “What Can I Do”, there was something about his emotive yet flat, clumsy drone that instantly compelled me. Despite this instant fascination with his voice, it wasn’t until this year that I finally began to fully explore his own solo catalogue. While somewhat belated this experience overall has been very much satisfying, as the monotony of his vocals never really seems to climb within the dreaded realm of overriding boredom.
Containing a catchy, sing-along melody together with a simple but effective piano backing, the song is charming, seductive and above all a great selling-point for the Canadian-American’s distinct, intoxicating, aching vocals.
Following Thom Yorke’s recent outburst concerning the music industries inevitable demise, It appears Radiohead are indeed still active in the field as they look to put the finishing touches to their first album since 2007’s critically acclaimed effort In Rainbows.
Quoted by guitarist Ed’ O Brien as almost complete and hopefully slated for release this year, the band have been reportedly working on the project for almost a year now. Speaking to Adam Buxton of BBC 6 Music, O’ Brien declared, “We’re in the heart of the record. It’s genuinely exciting. It’s very different from what we did last time. It’s really nice to be doing this. It’s so good to be making music with the band that you feel it’s still as good as it’s ever been.”
Meanwhile across the pond yet another self-confessed sceptic of modern-day music, James Maynard Keenan, has confirmed that A Perfect Circle will soon be commencing with writing duties for their upcoming 4th album. Hooking up once again with close ally Billy Howerdel, the duo’s solo projects Puscifer and Ashes Divide will be put on hold in order to concentrate on a follow-up to 2004’s cover release Emotive. 
With rumours and direct quotes in 2008 previously suggesting that another Perfect Circle album was potentially in the works, Maynard recently confirmed with Kerrang, “”We’ve got some riffs and some music. It’s just basically playing it over and over again while driving and waiting for things to fall into place.”
Whether both albums will make it on to shelves this year remains to be seen, although it’s surely a good sign that both bands are continuing to record music amidst fears of declining record sales. While both groups’ cult followings will surely ensure at least several units being pushed, both artists’ prognoses on the music industry are likely to be affirmed as it seems unlikely that the projects will penetrate previous levels of successes. However irrespective of the somewhat obvious forecast regarding the music industries melting climate, it is without doubt heart-warming to see talented groups continuing to produce music amid fears of small-scale profits being recouped.
Ghetto Blaster: Street Sweeper Social Club
While slightly slow in tracking down this piece of info –blame it on the mundane atrocities faced with a 9-5- the other day I stumbled across live footage of the Street Sweeper Social Club performing their new song ‘Ghetto Blaster‘. For those of you unfamiliar with this rock-rap combo, the group is primarily made up of The Coup’s emcee Boots Riley and Rage Against the Machines’ guitar wizard Tom Morello. Releasing their self-titled debut album sometime last year, the duo linked political consciousness material with an overall playful, party vibe. Whilst awesome at times, the CD did occasionally let itself down most notably as a consequence of it’s cheesy, tacky and clearly rushed choruses. Holding the potential ammunition to construct a modern-day version of Rage, the album’s occasional soft, generic material drained the vigour from an otherwise lethal cast of modern-day quasi-revolutionists.
Given the resulting lacklustre sales and minimal media attention, it looked highly probable that the duo would eventually disband in order to focus on more pressing, profitable commitments. Thankfully while Morello seems to have at least momentarily put the Nightwatchman project on the back-burner by involving himself once again in the momentum-gaining Rage comeback project, it seems that Boots Riley meanwhile has remained on standby. With the emcee himself affirming via his recent Twitter update that “The Ghetto Blaster EP” is set to drop next month, any rumours of disbandment can at least for the moment be firmly put to bed.
Regrettably the audio quality of the aforementioned video is of a poor quality, emphasising the energy and funky riffs of Morello and the instrumental arsenal while simultaneously drowning out Riley’s voice. That said regardless of the current audio quality the overall feeling from my part is one of utmost positivity. Clinging onto the hope that the talented duo can build upon the flaws of their debut, I will attentively be keeping a close eye on developments as well as sharing with you the clip that has ultimately reinvigorated my enthusiasm toward the Street Sweeper Social Club project.
OHZ’s 5 GREATEST ALBUMS of the DECADE (2000-2009)
As almost every major music publication has made an attempt to convey their most prized albums of the decade, despite being slightly late I have decided to follow suit by reflecting on my own personal favourites. Stemming partly from a desire to celebrate and embrace the decade that saw me grow from boy to man, my motivation is simply a case of wanting to add my own thoughts to yet another interesting debate. Of course as with all incentives there admittedly exists a subplot of desire, with mine perhaps being the chance to respond to the sometimes pretentious, predictable lists that have tended to undermine the beauty of compiling a classification. As ever it seems like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the others’ lists tend to overlook gems in favour of playing the safety option. In this case it should come as no surprise to see the mainstream media’s opinions largely mirroring one another, with albums such as Kid A, The Blueprint and Funeral finding themselves prominently amidst the elected favourites.
So after heated conversations, endless scouring of my musical collection and intense listening sessions I present to you my own personal top 5 albums of the 00’s. READ MORE…
