"FOREVER SHIT" (copyright Ghostface)
Hairy Moody
36 Posts
Discuss and/or add on:
- the voice of Sam Cooke
- the appeal of Debbie Harry
- hearing U-Roy come in
- the hair extensions of Al Jourgenson
- college-age Steve Albini being too broke to afford a Walkman and consequently walking the campus of Northwestern listening to a drum machine through headphones
- "I would prefer not to."
- This Heat
- Sly Stone's opening "Ahhh!" on "Skin I'm In." An entire soul examined, expressed, exhaled, and exhausted, all in a single breath.
- George Clinton's excited "Hey, Glen!" from the Houston '77 "Mothership Connection"
- Proper creepers. Fuck the cornball rockabilly shits with, like, zebra stripes or flames or whatever.
- Thin Mints in the freezer
- Jean Toomer's Cane
- Charles Stepney and the drums of Ter Mar
- hearing The Blackbyrds on the radio
- "The 900 Number"
- Fuzzy Jones intros
- the organ sound of Booker T. Jones
- "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells
- the sound of The Bar-Kays' "Holy Ghost." Did anything else ever sound like this, ever?
- Iggy & The Stooges' "Tight Pants"
- Farfisa
- the voice of Bobby Womack
- The Phenix Horns
- Denise & Co.'s "Boy What'll You Do Then." How is Jann Wenner still up and walking around after this?
- "Sleng Teng"
- good French filter house
- Built To Spill's "Twin Falls"
- Ultimate Breaks & Beats
- the demo of "Raw," with Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap
- Strafe's "Set It Off"
- the "Grindin'" beat
- James Mason / Mae Jemison
- the Coasters' "Shoppin' For Clothes"
- Large Professor, unapologetic but not unsympathetic, in some interview several years back talking about all the crazy shit--beats, music, A-list collaborations, etc.--that he's got on various tapes and that we will never get to hear: "Some things just aren't for sale, you know?"
- the boozy, undead trumpet in Cousteau's "Last Good Day Of The Year"
- Harry Belafonte on The Muppet Show doing "Turn The World Around"
- the panned synth ricochet that opens Inner City's "Good Life"
- Courtial's "Losing You"
- the first minute of David Essex's "Rock On." More abstract, fucked-up, and sonically arresting than ninety percent of the records you own, plus it's playing out loud on some radio somewhere right this very second.
- the audible smile of Lee Dorsey
- Suicide. The band.
- the liner notes of De La Soul
- dinosaurs
- the jingle for Li'l Cricket
- the genuinely patient smile of Kate Bush in all those tv clips where she's on some talk show putting up with fucking idiots
- the "I even let you watch the shows you wanted to see!" in Dramarama's "Anything Anything." For a second it feels small and childish, the belief that letting someone watch the television shows they want to watch will make them stay, but the more you think about it, the more the everyday enormity of it grows. How devoted would you have to be to offer something like that? How desperate would you have to be to expect it to make a difference? How much of a betrayal would it feel like to have it go unappreciated? And how much would it hurt to have to say all of it out loud?
- Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out"
- "Benny And The Jets"
- ESG
- Fiona Apple impersonating Posh Spice
- Fred Williams & The Jewels Band's "Tell Her"
- that period of time after you knew who Dilla was but before he became a saint
- Jake One's "Home"
- knowing the words behind the M.A.S.H. theme
- James Brown, at the end of his rope, screaming "Wait! Wait!" in "Get Up, Get Into It, And Get Involved"
- LL Cool J's "heeshy!"
- the rainstorm break in "Ojala Que Llueve Cafe"
- Sinead O'Connor doing "Troy" at Pinkpop '88
- Meters 45s with the peach Josie label
- "Planet Rock"
- the last "you" in Little Anthony and The Imperials' "Tears On My Pillow"
- the "I'm trying to be all yours / although I'm ain't answering your calls" from Luomo's "Tessio"
- the seven-trumpets guitar drone that opens "Iron Leg"
- the first verse of "Shook Ones Pt. II"
- Trouble Funk Live
- the tremolo on Magic Sam's West Side Soul
- Mary J. Blige
- that rehearsal video of an embryonic New Edition working out "Candy Girl", with Ralph on the kit, Ronnie on synth drum, Ricky on clavinet, and Bobby Fucking Brown on congas, recorded in one ear and deeeeeep in the red. If you like or have ever liked breakbeats, distortion, r&b, the 1980s, youth, party and/or bullshit, this will never not cook your whole shit down to crystal.
- the moment when the sunny opening clang of "Debaser" capsizes into Black Francis's pinched, murderous vocal. Here is perhaps the secret reason why Nirvana ultimately couldn't even carry The Pixies' shoes: there are reservoirs of frustration, fatigue, resentment, and rage that simply are not accessible to those who grew up skinny. Ask Poly Styrene, De La Soul, David Thomas, Biggie, Damian Abraham, et al.
- Prince
- Outkast's "B.O.B." It took the 1990s and the 2000s just to contain this shit.
- the strange weight of the knowledge that "Boys Of Summer" was first shopped to Tom Petty
- Phil Phillips & The Twilights' "Sea Of Love"
- the fact that "It's All About The Benjamins," in some ways the absolute era-defining pinnacle of nickel-slick Bad Boy/Hitmen big-money rap production, climaxes with a verse rocked over the same swampy loop that opens motherfucking Death Mix
- the "Silver Child" drums
- the voice of Michael Stipe
- the name "Rainy Davis"
- "Satta Massagana"
- "Here We Go (Live At The Funhouse)"
- the disconcerting realization that Sade is not beamed in from some other planet where all is cool and confidential and the color of cafe au lait, but in fact walks among us. This realization usually hits right around the first time you hear "Maureen."
- Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk"
- Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Simoon"
- The Spinners' "I'll Be Around"
- driving around to Willie William's "Armagideon Time"
- in Stone Coal White's "You Know," the close-miked "It makes my heart...beats a little faster" slow-drizzling into your ear like liquid syphilis
- Tori Amos's voice fraying in the last verse of "Caught A Lite Sneeze"
- "and all the love and everyone"
- Whitelily's Bottom Of The Universe
- bonus beats
- Rakim
- red-label Polydor
What else?
- the voice of Sam Cooke
- the appeal of Debbie Harry
- hearing U-Roy come in
- the hair extensions of Al Jourgenson
- college-age Steve Albini being too broke to afford a Walkman and consequently walking the campus of Northwestern listening to a drum machine through headphones
- "I would prefer not to."
- This Heat
- Sly Stone's opening "Ahhh!" on "Skin I'm In." An entire soul examined, expressed, exhaled, and exhausted, all in a single breath.
- George Clinton's excited "Hey, Glen!" from the Houston '77 "Mothership Connection"
- Proper creepers. Fuck the cornball rockabilly shits with, like, zebra stripes or flames or whatever.
- Thin Mints in the freezer
- Jean Toomer's Cane
- Charles Stepney and the drums of Ter Mar
- hearing The Blackbyrds on the radio
- "The 900 Number"
- Fuzzy Jones intros
- the organ sound of Booker T. Jones
- "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells
- the sound of The Bar-Kays' "Holy Ghost." Did anything else ever sound like this, ever?
- Iggy & The Stooges' "Tight Pants"
- Farfisa
- the voice of Bobby Womack
- The Phenix Horns
- Denise & Co.'s "Boy What'll You Do Then." How is Jann Wenner still up and walking around after this?
- "Sleng Teng"
- good French filter house
- Built To Spill's "Twin Falls"
- Ultimate Breaks & Beats
- the demo of "Raw," with Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap
- Strafe's "Set It Off"
- the "Grindin'" beat
- James Mason / Mae Jemison
- the Coasters' "Shoppin' For Clothes"
- Large Professor, unapologetic but not unsympathetic, in some interview several years back talking about all the crazy shit--beats, music, A-list collaborations, etc.--that he's got on various tapes and that we will never get to hear: "Some things just aren't for sale, you know?"
- the boozy, undead trumpet in Cousteau's "Last Good Day Of The Year"
- Harry Belafonte on The Muppet Show doing "Turn The World Around"
- the panned synth ricochet that opens Inner City's "Good Life"
- Courtial's "Losing You"
- the first minute of David Essex's "Rock On." More abstract, fucked-up, and sonically arresting than ninety percent of the records you own, plus it's playing out loud on some radio somewhere right this very second.
- the audible smile of Lee Dorsey
- Suicide. The band.
- the liner notes of De La Soul
- dinosaurs
- the jingle for Li'l Cricket
- the genuinely patient smile of Kate Bush in all those tv clips where she's on some talk show putting up with fucking idiots
- the "I even let you watch the shows you wanted to see!" in Dramarama's "Anything Anything." For a second it feels small and childish, the belief that letting someone watch the television shows they want to watch will make them stay, but the more you think about it, the more the everyday enormity of it grows. How devoted would you have to be to offer something like that? How desperate would you have to be to expect it to make a difference? How much of a betrayal would it feel like to have it go unappreciated? And how much would it hurt to have to say all of it out loud?
- Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out"
- "Benny And The Jets"
- ESG
- Fiona Apple impersonating Posh Spice
- Fred Williams & The Jewels Band's "Tell Her"
- that period of time after you knew who Dilla was but before he became a saint
- Jake One's "Home"
- knowing the words behind the M.A.S.H. theme
- James Brown, at the end of his rope, screaming "Wait! Wait!" in "Get Up, Get Into It, And Get Involved"
- LL Cool J's "heeshy!"
- the rainstorm break in "Ojala Que Llueve Cafe"
- Sinead O'Connor doing "Troy" at Pinkpop '88
- Meters 45s with the peach Josie label
- "Planet Rock"
- the last "you" in Little Anthony and The Imperials' "Tears On My Pillow"
- the "I'm trying to be all yours / although I'm ain't answering your calls" from Luomo's "Tessio"
- the seven-trumpets guitar drone that opens "Iron Leg"
- the first verse of "Shook Ones Pt. II"
- Trouble Funk Live
- the tremolo on Magic Sam's West Side Soul
- Mary J. Blige
- that rehearsal video of an embryonic New Edition working out "Candy Girl", with Ralph on the kit, Ronnie on synth drum, Ricky on clavinet, and Bobby Fucking Brown on congas, recorded in one ear and deeeeeep in the red. If you like or have ever liked breakbeats, distortion, r&b, the 1980s, youth, party and/or bullshit, this will never not cook your whole shit down to crystal.
- the moment when the sunny opening clang of "Debaser" capsizes into Black Francis's pinched, murderous vocal. Here is perhaps the secret reason why Nirvana ultimately couldn't even carry The Pixies' shoes: there are reservoirs of frustration, fatigue, resentment, and rage that simply are not accessible to those who grew up skinny. Ask Poly Styrene, De La Soul, David Thomas, Biggie, Damian Abraham, et al.
- Prince
- Outkast's "B.O.B." It took the 1990s and the 2000s just to contain this shit.
- the strange weight of the knowledge that "Boys Of Summer" was first shopped to Tom Petty
- Phil Phillips & The Twilights' "Sea Of Love"
- the fact that "It's All About The Benjamins," in some ways the absolute era-defining pinnacle of nickel-slick Bad Boy/Hitmen big-money rap production, climaxes with a verse rocked over the same swampy loop that opens motherfucking Death Mix
- the "Silver Child" drums
- the voice of Michael Stipe
- the name "Rainy Davis"
- "Satta Massagana"
- "Here We Go (Live At The Funhouse)"
- the disconcerting realization that Sade is not beamed in from some other planet where all is cool and confidential and the color of cafe au lait, but in fact walks among us. This realization usually hits right around the first time you hear "Maureen."
- Santo & Johnny's "Sleep Walk"
- Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Simoon"
- The Spinners' "I'll Be Around"
- driving around to Willie William's "Armagideon Time"
- in Stone Coal White's "You Know," the close-miked "It makes my heart...beats a little faster" slow-drizzling into your ear like liquid syphilis
- Tori Amos's voice fraying in the last verse of "Caught A Lite Sneeze"
- "and all the love and everyone"
- Whitelily's Bottom Of The Universe
- bonus beats
- Rakim
- red-label Polydor
What else?
Comments
Welcome!
I would add:
- That feeling you got and still get when you first heard Marlena Shaw's "California Soul"
- Those times when you sang along to the chorus of C.R.E.A.M
- The Spinners "It's a Shame"
- The Sylvers II "We Can Make It"
- Pamoja's "Ooh Baby"
- Lyn Christopher's "Take Me With You"
- Bobby Reed's "The Time Is Right For Love"
- Flamingos "I Only Have Eyes For You"
- Capprells "Close Your Eyes"
- The opening horns in Sister Nancy "Bam Bam" and everything else with it before the bass comes in to completely take you over.
- The first time you heard Bob James' "Nautilus"
- etc. etc...
I just glanced and saw Phenix Horns.
Hello I Must Be Going is one of my favorite records of the 80s. Phenix Horns killed it on this track:
and this one too:
powder boarding
skateboarding
one of the biggest pains working with stuff you don't care about is waking up knowing this most probably will be the rest of your life. i have now found a temporary cure. change job every year or so.
it's either that or moving to the Philippines to make a load of money and then open a bar in some country.
Yes. And that weird noise that Method Man makes--that sucking-air-in-the-corner-of-his-mouth thing that gives his flow all those little ghost syllables, you know? like immediately before he says "dollar dollar bill, y'all..."--has proven to be quietly influential. I don't remember anyone doing that before, but I know I've heard a ton of dudes do it since. The Mark E. Smith-uh of hip-hop-uh.
Again, yes. Her little "yunno?" right before she dips into her first verse is pretty adorable, too.
Strong list.
When I got home I realized the gum inside the pack of cards was still intact. That was the good news. The bad news was that it had fused with the foil wrapper. The worse news was that I made the questionable choice of going ahead and chewing it anyway, foil and all, because it was like thirty-year old gum and the days seemed longer back then, you know? Anyway, my teeth gnashing the metal made this awful skree-ing noise that sounded like robot grief, and I had multiple uh-oh feelings at once, so I expectorated that shit into my sales receipt posthaste. Still, I tasted that stuff for days afterward, imagining the chemical dementia that might someday result. "He's so unusual!"
So, yeah. Don't chew metallic shit.
(Peace to Richard Kiel, though.)
I'm conflicted and confused. I read it as "forever shitty" but then dude posted Sam Cooke's voice and Booker T's Hammond B3....which are both blasphemous accusations; if that's what he means.
"Those were the dayyyyyyys..."
He's always worth reading.
Lotta worthy Farfisa bangers, though: Brenton Woods's "Gimme Little Sign," The Swingin' Medallions' "Double Shot Of My Baby's Love" (originally recorded by the unfadeably named Dick Holler), The Soul Vibrations' "The Dump." I think that's one on Aretha's "I Never Loved A Man." A gang of good New Wave shit,
I know Fela fucked with the Farfisa a fair amount, but I don't really fuck with Fela. (Try saying that three times fast.)
The mental inventorying necessitated by this post has made me dimly recall a party-breaks remix of J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" that I think I heard this one time in the nineties, so I'm gonna go check on that and see if it really exists or if I just really want it to. Then I'm gonna listen to some of this Jamal Moss Gherkin record and go to bed.
Good night, internet.
Here's it on 'ludes.
PAP’S REDEMPTION!
I remember Diplo would promote his Hollertronix parties on here in the early 00's. I don't think there would be a Diplo today if it wasn't for her. She's the one who encouraged him and supported his parties.
Great Mix BTW!
Hearing Whitelily's Bottom Of The Universe mix for the first time is one of those singular moments when I can pinpoint when my musical tastes were broadened/changed. It's still probably my favourite mix of all time and one of the reasons my own mixes always remain unfinished - I am aspiring to something perfect that manages to make me feel sad and happy in equal measures.
Re: Amos, the older I get the the more I appreciate her. Her voice fraying there reminds me of moments in songs that I wait the whole rest of the track for:
- The "Racing against time" part of Gaye's "Time to get it together" where it beautifully (clumsily?) builds before being interrupted mid loop and starting again. It pulls me in, out and in again.
- The way Bell's Forgot To Be Your Lover builds from an opening line that conjures up images of Cocker to an impassioned please over falling strings in less than 2 minutes. Extraordinary.
Gil Scott-Heron "Whitey on the Moon" & "The Revolution..." version with full band backing
Jackie Mittoo & Winston Wright's hammond techniques/tastefulness
No doubt. I find, though, that more than changing my tastes--though it did do that to some extent, for sure--what it really changed was my idea of the kind of emotional weight that a great mix can support. I wouldn't necessarily want to make or listen to another mix that has the same musical vibe as Lily's (I still don't own most of the records in that mix, and I probably don't need to), but man, I feel like some part of me will always be chasing the feeling of it.
Last year I was unduly geeked to hear that "white...lily" sample pop up on a Laurie Anderson record that I'd had--as your people say--since time.
(And for what it's worth, Whitelily's The American Dream also comes highly recommended.)
...
Oh, I saw something today that reminded me of another one:
Carole King's reaction to Aretha Franklin doing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center Honors a few months back.
The whole thing is just great. King is jumping out of her skin the entire time, looking not so much "honored" as "decimated," in the manner of one blissfully rendering her whole self up into the all-dissolving sun that the voice and presence of Aretha Franklin can be. Even as it's this big, rarefied thing happening between these two highly-decorated and unassailably-pedigreed musical goddesses, it still somehow feels like it also belongs at least a little to every one of us who's ever lost our shit in the face of music that we love and that seems to love us right back. From first to last, it's an astonishingly pure intersection of music and humanity.
But there's one particular moment I want to talk about, even if by now it's only to myself.
First, some context: Over the last couple decades, Aretha Franklin has, in terms of image, been moving steadily away from the ivory-pounding belter of her earlier days, away from the grody pop mama of her 80s days, away even from the hip-hop-propped diva of the late 90s. She has long since transitioned into the more refined image of Aretha The Icon--stately and sophisticated, single-spotlighted at the microphone with the gowns and the polish and all that. 2016 Aretha is not the Aretha that's at the piano all fierce and emotional with her natural and banging out "Rock Steady." That has not been the scene for a looooong time now. 2016 Aretha is the Aretha that's, like, doing "Nessum Dorma" at Notre Dame or wherever. "Amazing Grace" acapella in front of a lot of tuxedoed money-stacks at Clive Davis's millionth birthday. Singing to the pope and shit. If she was once a capital-C Creator, she seems to have a while ago settled for being a capital-S Singer.
I think because of all that, for me, the singular moment of the thing is when Carole King realizes that not only is Aretha Franklin going to sing her song for her, she is--sweet Jesus--going to play it for her, too.
If you doubt that this is that big a deal, just look at King's face when Aretha sweeps aside her floor-length fur and sits down at that bench.
King is so clearly torn between wanting to watch and wanting to look around to make sure that what she's seeing is being seen by others who can, when all this is over, assure her that, yes, it really did happen that way. The wonder of it just keeps unfolding in front of her, and you can see plainly on her face that joyous agony--wanting the moment to go on, but wanting it to wait for her, too.
Mix it with some balleuraic at 85bpm