Nardwuar the Human Serviette

Being home for the holidays, my music listening/uploading has been somewhat restricted, but I thought I'd share the genius of Nardwuar "the Human Serviette" with the unfamiliar.

Nardwuar is truly a one of a kind interviewer, who has the ability to really expose the true nature of the people he interviews (mostly by pushing their buttons). The guy is a wizard in all genres, which dressed in his attire and character throws a lot of people off-guard -- and the results are always entertaining.

So yeah, there's about 10 solid pages on youtube of people he interviews, and you'd be doing yourself a favor to check them out.

Some of my favorites:

The Mars Volta pt. 1/2

N.E.R.D


Simple Plan

Even if the artists don't interest you, pretty much every interview is golden.
A lot of the time conventional interviews paint artists a certain way (like TMV being pretentious), but Nardwuar's approach really exposes the true character (and patience) of the people he's interviewing...I ended up respecting some groups I normally wouldn't care to listen to (Dropkick Murpheys) and vice-versa (Blur/Damon Albarn).

Enjoy mengs.

Happy Holiduhs

Hey all, hope you have a good holiday season/happy new year. I plan on listening to tons of new music over the break, digging out old faves, and barring any videogame marathons or other distractions, uploading the goods for you jahl.

And I hope you all got that Red Ryder you asked for.

Free The Robots

I found Free The Robots (Chris Alfaro) through his association with GLK, which was a savage find because Alfaro's self-titled EP is great. Alfaro identifies his music as hip-hop/jazz/psychedelic, drawn from a wider palette of everything from bossa-nova to rock.

Not bad for a dude who started the project as "a joke"...a definite favorite discovered this year.

Free The Robots EP
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mind the graves

Nobukazu Takemura - Child's View

I upped this album by request, thought I'd put it here too. Nobukazu Takemura is something of a musical prodigy, employing multiple instruments from an early age with a musical spectrum from jazz to glitch, surfacing with his debut album 'Child's View'. I would argue the debut is his best...not that arguing is necassary, as most his entire catalog is worth hearing.

His hip-hop roots are more evident on 'Child's View', making for some excellent mashes of beats, bloops, & orchestral arrangements that meld together perfectly. I try to refrain from over-exaggeration or calling an album "perfect", but it's hard to spot any cracks in Takemura's masterful debut.

Child's View [1994]
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mind the graves

Insight - The Blast Radius

To follow up on my Y Society post, I'll give another nod to MC/producer/DJ Insight, with one of his solo albums -- 'The Blast Radius'. After giving this album another listen, I'm seriously puzzled that Insight isn't a household name -- dude has effortless flow & lyrics for days, not to mention the oldschool vibe he reps in most of his work.

The song "Inventors" kills it...tons of great tracks though. G-G-G-Today, G.

The Blast Radius
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mind the graves

Comus - First Utterance

Comus are a British Experimental/Prog group from the 70's, whose debut album, 'First Utterance' is among my favorite albums of all time. The album is full of harrowing imagery/lyrics (not to mention the cover-art, reason I heard it in the first place) that take on a life of their own with Comus' unparalleled vocal approaches.

The vocal melodies/modulations on this album seem so ahead of their time, and even when they break out into gnome-style chants, it's hard to resist the overall artistic vision the band displays. This album is timeless (to me, obviously), because you're guaranteed to discover something new every listen, yet it maintains its crisp production and aesthetic throughout.

Def give this a chance if you're unfamiliar.

First Utterance
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mind the graves

Billy Cobham - Spectrum

Billy Cobham's album with guitar-player Tommy Bolin -- one of my favorite works of Cobham's separate of Mahavishnu Orchestra. Really not much to say, just one of the greatest drummers to ever play.

Spectrum
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mind the graves

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins - Clutch of the Tiger

*grizzly looking elderly man

Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins are underground favorites in hip-hop circles, if not for the anonymity of Clutchy Hopkins alone, whose identity has manifested into pictures of a grizzly looking elderly man*

Many believe he's the secret identity of another established producer, such as DJ Shadow or Madlib. Others think he's just another identity of Shawn Lee. Regardless of all that, the duo crafted a tight jazz/hip-hop/funk album called 'Clutch of the Tiger', a musical muscle-relexant that smoothly ebbs track to track.

Tiger masks and grizzly-dudes aside, the music is no gimmick. Don't sleep.

Clutch of the Tiger
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mind the graves

East of the Wall - Farmer's Almanac

East of the Wall are a talented instrumental/rock/progressive group from New Jersey, formed primarily from the remains of Biclops and Postman-Syndrome. I've been digging their debut 'Farmer's Almanac' -- and you probably will too.

Sometimes the production feels flat (better listen in headphones), but I imagine the material packs a punch live. Regardless, talented group of musicians worth hearing/keeping tabs on.

Farmer's Almanac
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mind the graves