Eddy Grant
Tremble Under Boom Lights
Pap and pabulum for the post-modern proletariat.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Eddy Grant “Nobody’s Got Time”
Nobody's Got Time b/w Where Are You Going To My Friends
scum stats: seems like this was a hit, but in a tiny country. who knows!
Oh. My. God.
This song is so damn good. Was shared with me by extremely great dude of the highest persuasion Chris Schulist (DJ on the Jack White 2022 tour). Sat in my inbox for a month or two before I ever even cracked the message because that's the state of my email affairs these days.
I finally opened about three weeks ago and have not stopped listening to this song since.
There's a simplicity to the groove here, coupled with an unusual heaviness, that puts the overall feel in rarefied air. It's likely the only record I own from Trinidad...and if any more sound like this, I will clearly need to find more.
My immediate thought upon grooving to this jam is that I want to play drums to this with Pat Pantano and that's already enough said. The plonky fuzz with the sparse, pick-and-choose bass...it's unmitigated perfection. I do not say that lightly.
There's a bootleg 45 out there that's a little more of a recent DJ "edit" with some added effects and shit, which is good too, but I have absolutely no qualms or quibbles with the original here.
I have not liked an OLD song this much in quite some time. A nice reminder that there are still gems out there that can connect to the innermost rhythms in our soul. Keep searching them out.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Mary Jane Dunphe "Fix Me" b/w "Seasons"
Mary Jane Dunphe
Fix Me b/w Seasons
scum stats: limited to 835 copies on clear vinyl
By the sheer titles, I anticipated this being a Black Flag cover as the a-side and a solo Chris Cornell cover on the flip. You never know what you're going to get with the Sub Pop Singles Club and this waxing puts Dunphe on my radar.
"Fix Me" has is a catchy melody with propulsive drum heavy backing, prime for singalongs in a guitar focused manner. I don't know anything about Mary Jane, if you told me she's primed to be the next big pop star, shit, I'd believe it.
B-side is a little bit more in the feels, light synth interludes that recall bouncing ball marimba (more serious than cheeky) with emotive, heartfelt voicings. The more I sit with these recordings, letting them replay over and over, the stickier they become. I'm more entranced by the drum programming/production of recalling bits of Saint Etienne's cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Will Break Your Heart" with a bit of that early 90's trip hop vibe. I'm also getting the slightest hints of the LimiƱanas here, another outfit that just hits that spot with me. Crisp and gritty at the same time.
All in all, a promising introduction to an artist I'm stoked to learn more about. Good luck finding a copy of this subscriber only record, so in light of that go and stream the shit out of this one.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Watching MrBeast and Drinking Ghost Energy Drinks
This
Is what
I imagine
New Year’s Eve
At age twelve
Looks like
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
I Somehow Weaseled An Essay Into The Detroit Free Press
If you would've told ten-year-old Ben Blackwell, daily devoted devourer of the Detroit Free Press, that a mere text message to the music editor of the paper, some 31 years later, would get my own writing into the newspaper...I would have asked you "What's a text message?"
Click the link below to read the whole shebang, I worked very hard on it and am very proud of it and I don't say that too often.
I'm Finding It Easier To Be A Gentleman -OR- Forever The Union
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Young Losers “All Gone” b/w “Private Affair”
All Gone b/w Private Affair
scum stats: two variants, the "table sleeve" is the rarer one here
Young, loud and snotty with hand-written labels, colored vinyl (blue) coupled with a black-and-white photocopied sleeve and Saints cover on the b-side...was there any other way for a punk single to exist in 1998? I feel on the verge of wistful when I consider that this "style" or "approach" may actually just kinda fade away. I don't see kids doing shit in this manner any more.
Life is LONG but time is short. So soak it in. What feels omnipresent or indefatigable is always just a generation away from disappearing. Live it while you can.
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