The Amen Break Is Everywhere

This link found the other day over at BoingBoing points to an absolutely fascinating documentary/video installation about the "Amen" break, a break beat from a 1969 B-side by soul act The Winstons that has been sampled so often in so many scenarios that filmmaker/narrator Nate Harrison believes the beat has entered into a "collective audio unconscious." Harrison offers clips of the beat being used by 3rd Bass ("Words of Wisdom"), N.W.A. ("Straight Outta Compton") and Mantronix ("King of the Beats"). The beat is the primary foundation for Jungle music. Frankly, the beat's ubiquity as described by Harrison is astonishing. A heavy-duty music fan may have spent the equivalent of entire days of their lives listening to the beat in various iterations. Squarepusher used it in '97, Hrvatski in '98. There's an Internet radio station that plays an endless loop of music based on the beat. The beat is everywhere, it's like oxygen. Hit this link and watch the video. It is the most interesting piece of media you will consume this month, easily. Oh, and The Winstons? They've apparently never made a cent off the beat being sampled. Harrison goes further, finding versions of the beat actually being sold by third parties who have never licensed it.

Today's Hotness: Twilight Singers, The Cure, Bad Brains

>> Billboard reported here Wednesday that Greg Dulli, who in the late '80s and '90s led alt.rock heroes Afghan Whigs, has completed his fourth record as Twilight Singers. The forthcoming set Powder Burns will street on One Little Indian May 16. The record has 12 tracks and features contributions by Ani DiFranco and former Whigs bassist John Curley. Dulli plans to debut the material during two shows at SXSW and he will support it with a couple dozen dates beginning May 20 according to the Twilight Singers news page here.

>> It's a twofer for Billboard today. Turns out that for some reason Rhino is reissuing the first four Cure records March 28, despite the fact that all of them were reissued in awesome remastered and expanded versions last year. Rhino's reissues are remastered and include new photos and full song lyrics. I can't think of why this would appeal to anybody as long as the expanded versions are in print, but perhaps there is some solid business motivation here I am not seeing. Here's the Billboard report [second item].

>> Word on MySpace is that the original Bad Brains are back and touring and have a new album in the can produced by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. This sort of sounds like old news to me, but perhaps I am getting it confused with the recent shows the band played with Cro-Mag John Joseph. Keep your eye on the Bad Brains MySpace site for further bulletins as events warrant.

>> Finally, it turns out all but one of the Witch dates we posted last night (see below) are confirmed, per the band's press guy. The first date, March 18 in Austin, Texas, is apparently not happening, and as such we've put a line through the listing. That said, if you see four guys walking around Austin that day with hair in their face and they are carrying gear, it might be a good idea to follow them. You never know.

Review: Witch | Witch

There's nothing particularly distinctive about Dinosaur Jr. fronter and guitarist J. Mascis' drumming, despite drums being the instrument he initially cut his musical teeth with while playing in the early '80s Western Massachusetts hardcore act Deep Wound. Far from innocuous, certainly, but it's not like each snare crack screams out "J!" "J!" "J!" either. As such, there aren't any real Dinosaur Jr.-ish fingerprints on the eponymous debut from stoner rock purveyors Witch, a combo in which Mascis once again mounts the drummer's stool. But then again nobody said Witch was simply the J. Mascis show. The coven also includes bassist David Sweetapple as well as considerably younger cats Kyle Thomas and Asa Irons of Vermont free-folk octet Feathers on vocals and guitar respectively. The whole package is mid-tempo, smokey and sludgy, and it calls to mind the more mystical side of early Black Sabbath (the Witch track "Changing" even seems to give a nod to Sabbath's classic "After Forever," which has been covered by krishnacore act Shelter and Biohazard among others). "Hand of Glory" roars to conclusion with some screaming lead guitar and is an album highlight, as is opener "Seer," a seven-minute epic packed with van-rocking guitar that swirls like bats overhead as it navigates a nefarious bridge at about the five-minute mark. Witch streets March 7 on Tee Pee Records. Dino Jr. fan site FreakScene.net's forums seem to have some solid data on Witch live dates, which have to be wedged in whenever possible inbetween the spate of Dinosaur Jr. dates that are now inked. We're working on confirming these, but they look pretty reputable:

03/18 -- Redrum Annex -- Austin, TX
03/22 -- Black Cat -- Washington, DC
03/23 -- NorthSix -- Brooklyn, NY
03/24 -- Abbey Lounge -- Cambridge, MA
03/25 -- Iron Horse -- Northampton, MA
04/29 -- Wesleyan University -- Middletown, CT

Today's Hotness: Matthew Herbert, Eels, Neil Young

>> Pfork touted this exclusive Tuesday on news about British electronic provocateur Matthew Herbert's forthcoming !K7 set Scales. Herbert is known for didactically conceptual records, and has undertaken sonic explorations of consumerism, domesticity and the human body in the past. Scales concerns "the idea of distance in our lives." This doesn't sound like the words of a guy known for sticking it to The Man. Fear not. Herbert also offered this in his email swappery with Pfork: ""My goals, as always these days, are to bring down Tony Blair [and] the American empire, a withdrawal of troops in Iraq and bring[ing] about an end to our reliance on oil." Expect a double A-sided single in May for the tracks "Movers and Shakers" and "Harmonize." A second single will street in July, a month before Scales' release date.

>> PunkNews here points to a stream of the new Eels record With Strings: Live At Town Hall. If you can stop listening to Destroyer and the Lilys records you bought today, check this one out. The only track we've heard so far features a vocal that is very Eric Bachmann. Well, Eric Bachmann doing his Neil Diamond thing.

>> On the heels of Buddyhead's posting three tracks from Neil Young's rare 1973 record Time Fades Away earlier this month, Scenestars ups the ante by streaming the whole damn thing. It's seriously top shelf. Here's the link [scroll to the bottom of the item]. Time Fades Away is a live record committed to tape during Young's Harvest tour, during which Young stymied audiences by playing only brand-new unrecorded material instead of crowd-pleasers like "Heart of Gold" and such. Time Fades Away was never released on CD, but the recordings Scenestars is streaming are pristine -- there is no indication they are ripped from vinyl at all, which makes us wonder if someone has gotten their hands on the master reels. Here's the track list:

1. Time Fades Away
2. Journey Through The Past
3. Yonder Stands The Sinner
4. L.A.
5. Love In Mind
6. Don't Be Denied
7. The Bridge
8. Last Dance

>> Hype merchants Billboard and NME breathlessly reported here and here respectively that Radiohead are embellishing an old number from the OK Computer days called "Nude" as part of its current recording efforts. NME insists fronter Thom Yorke has confirmed the song will be on the band's forthcoming set, but doesn't back up its assertion at all.

Coming To Your Local Bandstand: Mogwai

Scottish post-rock dynamo Mogwai hits U.S. shores next week to support the March 7 release of the act's new skull-crushing Matador release Mr. Beast. The 11-year-old quintet's latest record, its fifth full-length, is "only about 25 percent" noise, according to some musings of guitarist and vocalist Stuart Braithwaite posted at the Matador web site. In the event you've been sleeping on this one, head over to the Matador MP3 page and check out "Folk Death 95," a track from Mr. Beast. To get the kids pumped up Mogwai Monday released a new digital single, a live version of "Glasgow Mega-Snake," recorded in London in January. You can snatch it at places like ITunes. Here are the dates:

03/01 -- Chicago, IL -- Logan Square Auditorium
03/02 -- Columbus, OH -- Wexner Center for the Arts
03/03 -- Lexington, KY -- The Dame
03/04 -- Charlottesville, VA -- Satellite Ballroom
03/06 -- New York, NY -- Avalon
03/07 -- Baltimore, MD -- Sonar
03/08 -- Chapel Hill, NC -- Cats Cradle
03/09 -- Asheville, NC -- Orange Peel
03/10 -- Nashville, TN -- Mercy Lounge
03/11 -- Atlanta, GA -- Whirly Ball Atlanta
03/12 -- Atlanta, GA -- Whirly Ball Atlanta (matinee)
03/14 -- Houston, TX -- Numbers
03/15 -- Austin, TX -- Stubbs

So What Else Is New With Alex Kemp?

Sounds like a talk show, doesn't it? Anyway, a couple months back I stumbled upon the musical whereabouts of Alex Kemp, he the former bassist and singer for Small Factory, he the former Godrays guitarist and singer. We reported here at World of Sound that Mr. Kemp is now playing bass with Chicago electropop outfit Assassins, and bemoaned the fact that the act does not display a lot of Kempage. Imagine my surprise when the man himself popped a virtual note in my electronic mailbox shortly thereafter with news of Kempage aplenty. Kemp tells us he is almost finished recording a solo record, but has made no effort to find a label as of yet. He plans to start gigging the material with drummer David Suycott, bassist Rodney Jones and Erron Williams on keys -- Mr. Williams, incidentally, happens to be the brother of Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams. In addition to that and his work with Assassins, Kemp also has a new project called Bait and Switch and a bunch of other work producing and mixing acts.

For a taste of Kemp's solo stuff, check out his MySpace outhouse and his personal web site, where you will find new music that takes the songwriting you know and love and makes it over with elements of dance and R&B music. It's a curious mix, but it works, particularly on "Northside Black." Another MySpace track, "I Thought We Hated L.A.," hews closer to Kemp's '90s material and ruminates over the wreckage of a broken relationship. There's more booty at Kemp's personal site, where you can stream "Your Understand Face," which has some cool electric piano and the great Samuel Beckett-esque line "in spite of the movement we stay still instead." "Another Jail" touts intricate, polyrhythmic drumming and a surprising smooth jazz feel. "Hang w/Clique" is the track that is the most overtly R&B influenced to us, although it hits a crescendo at the end that forces the handclaps to share room with synths and a buried but wailing guitar. Like I said: It's a curious mix, but it works.

Rack And Opinion: Release Date 2.21.06

It's a big week for new releases. Merge likely has big ideas about how well Destroyer's new joint is going to do, and for good reason. Yeah, that guy at Pitchfork gave it an 8.5, but be a free-thinker and/or just take our word for the fact that the set is the best Destroyer's done so far. Call it space rock, call it unfortunately conventional, we don't care. Another seemingly known known (yes, that's two "knowns," Donny Rum-style) is the Arctic Monkeys record Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. In case you weren't paying attention, the Brit act's debut full-length became the fastest-selling debut ever or something like when it streeted in the U.K. earlier this year. Our call? It's more fratty Franz and it's a pretty enjoyable listen, based on the tracks we have heard so far. Finally, we've told everybody who will listen that the new Lilys record is the best set Kurt Heasley has created since Better Can't Make Your Life Better came out 10 years ago. Those titles and others comprising our best bets for your shopping trip this week are listed below. Links point to related commercial opportunities with your old friends Insound. Have at it.

Arctic Monkeys -- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not -- Domino
Eef Barzelay -- Bitter Honey -- SpinArt
Bloc Party -- Helicopter EP -- Dim Mak
Chicago Underground Duo -- In Praise of Shadows -- Thrill Jockey
Coldcut -- Sound Mirrors -- Ninja Tune
Destroyer -- Destroyer's Rubies -- Merge
Eels -- Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall -- Vagrant
Lilys -- Everything Wrong Is Imaginary -- Manifesto
Supersilent -- 7 -- Rune Grammofon
Victory at Sea -- All Your Things Are Gone -- Gern Blandsten