DAMPER DOWN POPCORN

Listen to DAMPER DOWN POPCORN by Calypso King And The Soul Investigators.

This is a track I've played to death at least four different times, but it keeps coming back. There are a lot more hooks in it than you might think.

EARTHQUAKE DUB

Listen to EARTHQUAKE DUB by The Revolutionaries.

What a strange time, huh? The President is on TV, and I've got my facebook feed blowing up, both pro (Susie is Obama!), and utterly disbelieving (HYPERINFLATION!!! ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!!! etc). Meanwhile I'm watching this mind-blowing video of Nouriel Roubini getting asked for stock tips on CNBC. Not to mention that forty story torch in Beijing. Things are going weird.

JOALA

Listen to JOALA by Hugh Masekela.

I loaded this song up to post a couple of weeks ago, but it's just been sitting here. Until Friday, when the coffee shop around the corner was playing some obscure Masekela track, and it was a moment of "this is how things would be if I was in charge." Stroll over, have some coffee, and Hugh Masekela playing on the radio.

Hope y'all had as good a weekend as we did with the nice weather and seeing friends, and now, a good tune!

THEY DON'T KNOW

Listen to THEY DON'T KNOW by Brownout.

500 pixels it is. I'd like to have bigger, but 1,000 pixels is just too much, and I don't want to have to reupload all of my photos. This is the second tune I've put up from Austin's Brownout. I really like this whole album. I'm not even repping this track as my favorite. In fact, it's not, but I've played quite a few times recently so why not share it around?

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE (BUT YOU'LL LOSE TO EVERTON)

Listen to YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE by Mario Lanza.

Well how about that. I thought I'd never get a chance to break these out again, given Liverpool's admirable undefeated streak. Clearly Robbie Keane bought some voodoo dolls on the way back down to London, because that's some bad karma. Lose to the Blue Noses, after 120 minutes, with ten men, in the relatively unimportant cup competition, Gerrard & maybe Torres hurt. Not in the script. "At least Lucas is suspended!" I hear you say. There's always a silver lining, as the song sorta (not really) says...

Pixellation

I shouldn't bother with such things too much in this low-maintenance era of the blog, but I have to decide this. Setting the picture width at 560 pixels makes the picture linked from Flickr a little pixellated and wrong-looking. I could ignore it, or I can either set the width at 500 pixels, or at 1,000 pixels. Either one would give a crisp image. I'll probably decide before the next post, but if you have an opnion about it, email me or leave a comment.

YO NO SE

Listen to YO NO SE by Los Dug Dug's.

You know you all have them -- your own list of songs where if you were in charge of that movie soundtrack, would play over the opening credits, or that awesome fight scene, or that montage of you and your buddies rollin' out to the house party.

Yo No Se would definitely make my soundtrack. Crunching gee-tars, great riff, over the top vocals. Familiar enough to appeal to the squares, obscure enough to impress the music dorks.

Gimme a call Wes Anderson!

AFRICA SPEAKS

Listen to AFRICA SPEAKS by Bo Diddley.

There's something wrong when I'm reading a book instead of watching the Super Bowl. How about let's not dwell on that and instead say when a cool Bo Diddley song this is. Especially since if I didn't tell you it was Bo Diddley, you wouldn't have known. No guitars, no lyrics (some singing, kinda). The funkiness is a good hint but not sufficient. Play it loud.

Now, back to pretending like watching the E Street Band is a big deal.

PAVUNA SADDAM HUSSEIN

Listen to PAVUNA SADDAM HUSSEIN by As Melhores Do La.

This one is very 2005. I don't know what a "Pavuna Saddam Hussein" is..."Pavuna" is supposedly a rough neighborhood in Rio. Maybe they were trying to tell us where Saddam was hiding before he found his spider hole.

KO-WO, KO-WO

Listen to KO-WO, KO-WO by Cachao.

I think I picked up this song by the late Cachao on the recommendation of Damon Albarn about ten years ago. Funny, I doubt he even remembers hearing this song, much less listing it in some interview somewhere. (Is it still on the internet? Why, yes it is!)

I also remember that Corbett didn't like this song, but you can't please everybody. I'm happy with it, and a little disappointed I've never heard any other of Cachao's tracks that are this hypnotic. Must try harder.

MER DU JAPON

Listen to MER DU JAPON by Air.

Shiny.

EI MORI ROUJKE

Listen to EI MORI ROUJKE by Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares.

In honor of Mr. Berbatov's goal today (not really, but you have to introduce these songs some way) (by the way, apparently it's pronounced ber-BA-tov by Bulgarians), here is a short beautiful piece by the "spine chilling" Mysterious Voices of Bulgaria.

BAPIKEK BALAM

Listen to BAPIKEK BALAM by Samsimar.

I first heard Samsimar on an "I Love Music" project back in maybe 2005. That made me put a compilaton called "Folk and Pop Sounds of Sumatra" on my wish list, where it stuck around for a year or two. I think I eventually got it at Christmas from someone who must've thought it would be perversely funny to gift such an obscure-sounding title.

This isn't an Indian raga by any stretch, but there's a droniness about it that make you think about how repetitive most pop music is (by design, and to good purpose). If you can get away with it, play it really loud, and it starts to sound funky.

AIN'T IT FUNKY NOW (PART TWO)

Listen to AIN'T IT FUNKY NOW (PART TWO) by James Brown.

Well, ain't it?

Hey...Hey you...COOme-here... ...hey you...llooky here...can you play that thang..can you play that thang...nowgimme a little taste.make you melt ... heh... let it oooze out... ...huh-huh...maceo...bring it in... ...g-god...good god...heh heh... ... ...mmake it funky... ... hehhah.... haha... ...say Jabo...brother... do you like it... ... do you like it... ...good god... ...do you like it... ... huhhaHA hmhm.... hey ......ehehehehehehehe...mm..m. brother... ....MACEO QUIT THAT NOISE OVER THERE... take it down...LET ME CONCENTRATE...heh...bring it down...good god...kush... heh...fred.heavy...play kush part fred so I can let kush solo... ... ... . . . .. ...kushyououghttabeashamed of yourselfleave that lilhorn alone...hhuh...good god... huh...be quiet....heh...let me get in my thang ... heh...mmmheuh...hh...nnnnhuh...HAAA...googod....

Credits:

Richard "Kush" Griffith - trumpet
Joe Davis - trumpet
Fred Wesley - trombone
Maceo Parker - tenor saxophone
Eldee Williams - tenor saxophone
Jimmy Nolen - guitar
Alphonso "Country" Kellum - guitar
"Sweet" Charles Sherrell - bass
John "Jabo" Starks - drums

JUST A MOMENT

Listen to JUST A MOMENT by George Danquan.

Today, we have music. And a photo. No words, but music. And a photo. Tomorrow is a new day.