I cannot WAIT for this new Lee Fields and the Expressions record, My World, to come out on June 2nd. Consider the tip on this one a gift, as this funk/soul masterpiece looks to be a guaranteed winner, but has a good chance of ending up a sleeper for a while unless the promotional machine behind it is still to come. I haven’t heard too much about it (kind of stumbled across it), but Stones Throw is hyping it up a bit, so we’ll have to see. The session musicians on the record worked on tracks from the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, etc. as well, so no worries about the quality and authenticity of the funk on this one.
Listen for yourself at Truth & Soul. Stones Throw has a download of “Ladies” available too here. The only thing I’m not terribly excited about is the re-recorded version of “Honey Dove” which originally appeared on Lee’s Soul Fire LP Problems. The original version is ultra-gritty, just how I like it, but it’s a great track either way. Even so, Truth & Soul has recently issued a 7″ version of the original, so no harm done. I think I’ll be placing a pre-order for the 2xLP of My World this week.
Finally made it through the copy of Lady Terminator that I picked up at the flea market a week or so ago. I’ve got a short attention span / lack of large chunks of spare time, so it usually takes a few sittings for me to make it through any movie or long TV show, but I finally got this one finished up. That was 83 minutes very well spent.
I’m not even going to bother explaining the plot as that is secondary to the main allure, the absolutely appalling quality and sheer ridiculousness of the film. What I thought was just going to be a lousy action film with a few laughable moments ended up being WAY over the top, with really bad production quality to sweeten the deal. It is seriously like if Ed Wood made an ’80s Asian grindcore film. An Indonesian Plan 9 From Outer Space. Yeah, it’s like that! Classic re-use of clips, low-budge special effects, the whole deal. Granted, it is a bit above Plan 9 as far as quality goes, but they came a lot further than THAT in 30 years. This is actually an Indonesian film from 1988 called “Pembalasan ratu pantai selatan,” and I found a trailer where it is also titled Nasty Hunter.
Here’s a clip from YouTube (note the segment where she’s walking with the gun on her shoulder, it is used over and over again):
The fine folks at Mondo Macabro have released Lady Terminator on DVD, so you too can check out a copy for yourself. I’m sure Quentin Tarantino had to have watched this at least a dozen times while preparing Death Proof. Believe me, you’ll see why.
This is SERIOUS! I’ve been waiting on the LAUSD tape since I posted up about Blu & Jack Davey’s track iFeel when the sampler came out a few weeks ago. The full tape, Curly Tops and Nautica Jackets, came out yesterday, and I’ve got it on heavy rotation since I first checked it out last night. Dig out the Starter jacket and hit up zShare for a copy.
Good day for flea market rummaging today. Here’s the rundown:
Vinyl
The Brothers Johnson – Right On Time
Commodores – Midnight Magic
Dazz Band – Keep It Live
Earth Wind And Fire – Spirit
The Isley Brothers – Shout! (1990 reissue)
Jimmy Castor Bunch – Butt Of Course…
Newcleus – Jam On Revenge
Sly & The Family Stone – Stand!
The Best of The Stylistics
VHS
Now, I’m not really into VHS. As far as home video formats go, it is rather awful, and the tapes don’t age well (although a played out VHS tape has a built-in “back in the day” vibe, it is generally undesirable). With that said, rifling through a ton of decomissioned VHS tapes can often turn up some rare gems if you’re into oddball cult b-movies (I am) that are either unavailable on DVD or need to be special ordered through people that are more obsessed with this stuff than even I. I’ll take a chance on anything that looks truly awful, as I clearly have some sort of weird masochistic relationship with film. Anyway, here’s what I brought home today:
Let it be noted that what I was really after was a copy of Superfly T.N.T. I picked up Friday Foster and Willie Dynamite, which are both readily available on DVD but I don’t have them, but no luck with Superfly. The search continues…
Friday Foster
Willie Dynamite
Lady Terminator
1980s Indonesian action film. Ridiculous premise and horrible acting. A winner.
The Weird Ones
Apparently a retitle of 1971’s The Irv Carlson Show starring Arch Hall, Sr. The one review I’ve found makes it sound painful to watch, so it should be great!
Secret Agent 00 Soul
Looks like a lousy Billy Dee B-film. Looking forward to checking this one out.
This track started going around on Wednesday (courtesy of Miss Jack Davey herself) and I can’t stop listening to it. Definitely a staple of my playlist this weekend. It features the dream collab of Blu & Jack Davey on a track by L.A.U.S.D. You can download the album sampler here for the upcoming record Curly Tops and Nautica Jackets (out 3/24) which includes iFeel.
Check it out below.
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Just caught a clip of 88-Keys’ video for Stay Up (Viagra) last night on MTV2, and it looks so good. 88-Keys and Kanye go all out with the old man makeup, and from what I’ve seen it looks hilarious. Good to see this record getting some airtime.
While we’re on the subject, I’ve had a little time now to let The Death Of Adam fully digest, and it has to go on my essential list. It’s one of those albums that is great the first time around, but keeps getting better with repeated listens. There’s just too much going on there to absorb it all on the first pass. Now go buy it already! For the record (bad pun), if Decon presses up some more vinyl, I’ll buy another copy.
Anyway, the video for Stay Up looks like it’s getting a big blitz on Monday on MTV networks, and I’m sure it’ll be all over the web too. I don’t think MTV even shows videos anymore, so I would keep an eye on MTV2 or MTV Jams, MTV Hits, etc. MTV2 is running a special premiere sort of deal, so that’s probably the best bet.
Two new videos from this week that are required viewing. The first is the Day ‘N’ Nite video from Kid Cudi that just debuted last night (found via okayplayer).
The second is the new Kanye West video for “Welcome To Heartbreak” feat. Kid Cudi (found via Kanye’s blog). Enjoy!
Just ran across some nice remixes of Chromeo’s “100%” from the Fancy Footwork LP. I’ve had that record in heavy rotation for a while, so it’s nice to hear some great alternative versions in addition to the generous helping of remixes that was included in the Deluxe Edition. Anyway, they look to have been made for some sort of viral mp3 sharing pyramid scheme type of deal for Bacardi, which looks pretty cool, but I’m just not getting into it tonight. RCRDLB has the files, and they’re totally legit shares, so feel free to stream/download them there. Well worth checking out.
On that note, this is from a while ago, but deserves a mention. If you haven’t already seen Chromeo’s appearance on Live From Daryl’s House with Daryl Hall, you should go watch it now (or at your nearest convenience). The whole show is probably better than anything that’s on TV tonight, and P-Thugg singing Family Man through the vocoder is absolutely priceless.
Today’s vinyl find is The Dramatics’ 1979 LP “Anytime, Anyplace.” As far as I know, this record has not been released since it’s original vinyl release, save for perhaps a few repressings into the ’80s.
It was common practice in the late ’70s to retool some of the soul greats for the disco era, and this record is a prime example. Sure, it’s nowhere near the same league as The Dramatics’ work for Stax, but there are a few decent tracks here nonetheless. Definitely a few nice samples to be harvested, and that’s really part of what this little vinyl excavation project is all about: finding ultimately forgettable records from decades ago, and digging out a few gems. Even though it’s kind of sad that what these guys put at least a few months of work into only produces a few seconds of truly enjoyable music 30 years later, it shows that there was still something there in what was probably a contractual obligation. As long as it provided a paycheck for them, I’m happy. I sure love tracks like What’cha See Is What’cha Get, and I would feel good if putting out what amount to ultimately sub-par records put food on the table, ya know? You’ll notice that Love Birds starts out an awful lot like In The Rain.
Anyway, here are a few of the better tracks to check out.
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I Think About You
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Stranger (In My Life)
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Okay, so I was WAY late to the party on this one. I’m sure a lot of people have already heard this record, but consider this a PSA to anyone like me who missed it. Adam’s Case Files (free download at link), the prequel mixtape to 88-Keys’ full length The Death Of Adam is one of the most ridiculously amazing things I’ve heard in a long time.
Here’s the video that got me on track. Caught it on Subterranean on MTV2, of all places to get the scoop on a hip-hop video.
Anyway, this tape could have easily been put out as a record and have been legendary. Where else will you here Andrew Gold, Bonnie Raitt and Dr. Hook in the same mix with Kleeer and Carl Carlton? Check it out, and buy the record The Death Of Adam too. And visit 88-Keys’ blog while you’re at it. His love for PRL outshines even my fixation on Original Penguin.
So, yeah, late to the party. But at least I showed up, right?
I cannot WAIT for this new Lee Fields and the Expressions record, My World, to come out on June 2nd. Consider the tip on this one a gift, as this funk/soul masterpiece looks to be a guaranteed winner, but has a good chance of ending up a sleeper for a while unless the promotional machine behind it is still to come. I haven’t heard too much about it (kind of stumbled across it), but Stones Throw is hyping it up a bit, so we’ll have to see. The session musicians on the record worked on tracks from the Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, etc. as well, so no worries about the quality and authenticity of the funk on this one.
that I 
Just caught a clip of 88-Keys’ video for Stay Up (Viagra) last night on MTV2, and it looks so good. 
Okay, so I was WAY late to the party on this one. I’m sure a lot of people have already heard this record, but consider this a PSA to anyone like me who missed it.