NDIM Jazz Guide: Part 1
Jazz music, heavily influenced by ragtime and blues music, first appeared sometime in the 1890s and is typically thought to have originated in New Orleans.
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Zombie Birdhouse Reissued
Iggy Pop’s ‘Haitian Nightmare’ turns into a quirky album
Zombie Birdhouse, Iggy Pop’s strange and long out of print album from the early 80s, is being reissued in June 2019 by Caroline Records. Most listeners were pretty confused by the album, which wasn’t like anything else in his discography (and remains unique) and it quietly disappeared into the used vinyl and CD market. It’s interesting to hear the record now being marketed as something of a ‘lost classic,’ but the time may be right to hear what the influence of this album might have been.
Continue reading Zombie Birdhouse ReissuedBill Laswell: Book of Exit, Dub Chamber 4
Bill Laswell’s experimental dub series concludes with Book of Exit, a recording that seamlessly blends dub with Eastern music. Produced and arranged by Laswell, Dub Chamber 4 features vocals by Ejigayehu “GiGi” Shibabaw, drums and tabla by Karsh Kale, and percussion by Aiyb Dieng. Laswell , who also acts as producer/arranger, provides bass, guitar, and keyboards.
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The NDIM Guide to Dub
Dub music is generally considered a subgenre of reggae, and that is where its roots lie, but it has gone through several periods and a variety of innovative artists so that it no longer seems beholden to any genre. Indeed it has influenced nearly everything it has come into contact with. Musical genres as varied as punk rock, hip hop, trip hop, techno, house, and most subsequent permutations of dance or electronic music have all been imprinted heavily with the heavy sounds and trippy legacy of dub music.
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Black Uhuru Gets Dubbie with Sly & Robbie
A look back at Sinsemilla, Red, and The Dub Factor
Back in my college days I attended a Black Uhuru concert in St. Louis. I was interested in reggae largely because of the influence of punk bands of the day, such as the Clash and the Members, who were incorporating reggae into their own sounds. Uhuru was working with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, the rhythm section responsible for laying down tracks on some of Peter Tosh’s best-known albums, including Equal Rights, Legalize It, and Bush Doctor.
Continue reading Black Uhuru Gets Dubbie with Sly & RobbieI Am Shelby Lynne: 20 Years After
10cc: Art For Art’s Sake
10CC was one of those bands that were simply too clever for their own good. Once they had established themselves as a band of gifted songwriters with a knack for puns and a slightly warped sense of humor as well as instrumentalists who could play in almost any popular musical style, their more genuine, pop-oriented work was viewed with suspicion. Yet those lured in by the pop songs could never quite warm up to the group’s cynical humor and offbeat musical styling.
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King Crimson Catalog Coming to Spotify
King Crimson’s 13 album catalog will become available on the Spotify streaming service in the summer of 2019, a year of outreach for the venerable prog rock band. Crimson’s has been one of the rare substantial catalogs of recordings that have never been available for streaming.
New Directions in Music is re-posting it’s King Crimson: A 21st Century Guide Part I, which covers the years 1969-1974. Part 2, which will cover Robert Fripp’s work during the period when Crimson was inactive will be published in May, and the final parts (covering the King Crimson catalog from 1981-1984 and 1994-present) will be published to coincide with the tour. Also check out The Art of the Album entry on Barry Godber’s iconic cover art for In the Court of the Crimson King.
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