Viddie: September

Earlier this month I realized that I'd let the entire month of September go by without blasting Earth Wind and Fire's "September," which is just wrong (and a sign of how little I listen to commercial radio these days, even in the car). So there was something cosmically satisfying in the fact that a college friend of mine posted the video above on Facebook.

Who is Pamplamoose? Hell if I know. The Bay Area twosome have a dedicated following on the hipsternet and have posted similarly delightful light-handed covers (Single Ladies, Mrs. Robinson, for example) on their YouTube channel, along with songs of their own. On his music blog Pampelmoose, Dave Allen, the bass player for Gang of Four says:

Artists like Pomplamoose who embrace the social web are not a subset of savvy marketers, they are disrupters and re-purposers who break the record companies business models. This is a good thing.

All of which seems a little ponderous to contemplate on a drizzly Friday. One thing I'm sure of is that one mark of good cover is that it reminds you of what was great about the original (like when EWF covered the Beatle's "Got To Get You Into My Life," for example). And adding a dancing granny never hurts.

So enjoy the video. And while you're at it, enjoy the original.

TNLD Podcast 02: Rhythm and Ribs Flashback

Drum roll, please…

The New Low Down podcast is back!

This time around we take a trip back in time to the 2007 Rhythm and Ribs Festival in Kansas City, MO. Why? Because I was there, microphone in hand.

And why now? Sadly, the 2009 edition of the festival was canceled. But TNLD wishes the organizers the best of luck in 2010.

Also in this podcast, new summer mood music from The Sons of Brazil, Kansas City's longest-gigging Brazilian jazz combo. Their sunny 2009 release While You Were Out is available for order from Stan Kessler's website.

Listen now:



Download the podcast | Subscribe on iTunes

You'll also be interested to know that my friend Michael Byars, who appears in this podcast, has a weekly new music podcast of his own called The Mailbox. TNLD says check it out!

Notes on TNLD Podcast
I plan to get these podcasts onto a regular schedule, which will take a little doing. The logistics of equipment and editing and feeds and so on, have proven to be a big time suck, particularly when I've got paying work to do. So while that's all getting sorted out, I thank you for your patience.

Comments please
I would love to hear any feedback you have, either in the comments or emailed to lowdown@newlowdown.com.

Finally a loudly hollered thank you to Jake Blanton for our theme music. Jake, wherever you are, you are awesome (but you already know that).

New: Ben Allison's "Think Free"

"Think Free," bassist/composer Ben Allison's next album drops officially on October 13, but the whole shebang is available for download and/or streaming on the Palmetto Records site.

[Palmetto's embeddable player doesn't seem to work on my browser, but here goes:]


The album is the third in a cycle that started with "Cowboy Justice" (2006) and "Little Things Run The World" (2008). "I wanted a band that rocked," Allison says, and he clearly got his wish. The first two albums featured a fusion (note the lower-case f) of the rock and jazz idioms, marked by the pairing of Steve Cardenas's guitar with Ron Horton's trumpet over the rhythm section. Think Free continues the theme with Shane Endsley replacing Horton, but Allison ups the ante by adding violinist Jenny Scheinman to the mix. It's a brilliant choice.

The first two albums were direct, often angry responses to the George W. Bush era (with titles like "Tricky Dick" and "Man Sized Safe," Allison didn't exactly qualify as a Bush Ranger). Think Free carries a lot of the same rage, but it seems to be resolving into something more hopeful. By the time you reach "Green Al," the final track, you get the sense that things may be looking up. Let's hope.

New: Ghosty's "A Mystic's Robe" EP

Just finished listening to Ghosty's new three-song EP "A Mystic's Robe."

TNLD verdict: two thumbs up (one for each hand, see?). It's everything you depend on from the Kansas City band: Peerless pop construction, beautiful harmonies and tasty lyrics. My only complaint would be that there isn't more.

It's available for streaming or download now. Do yourself a favor and lend your ears.

Related post: TNLD interview with Ghosty's Andrew Connor

Learning to listen

Darcy Jame Argue has an excellent post on Jelly Roll Morton, but this passage struck a chord with me.

Listening to pre-WWII records is an act of imagination, and the further you go back, the more imagination it takes -- in order for you to really hear what's going on, your "mind's ear," so to speak, needs to fill in a lot. This is something that I think people who were born before 1960 or so don't fully grasp, because those people have completely different expectations when it comes to recorded music -- the technology was maturing at the same time they were. (I mean, the Beatles didn't fully embrace the radical concept of stereo until after the White Album.) Obviously, this is a vitally important skill that anyone who's serious about music needs to develop, but it doesn't come naturally to most. It takes a considerable amount of practice and effort to develop.

TNLD says read the post, then follow the links.

Viddie: Ben Folds covers Such Great Heights

Something light and frothy for your Friday. Ben Folds and three percussionists improvise this cover of The Postal Service song on Australian television. (MP3 available here.)

Viddie: Caetano Veloso's Billie Jean

The Brazilian star shedding new light on classic pop. (Tip via Groovenotes.)