The Bar-Kays - Holy Ghost

This morning as I was getting ready to not go for a run, I was looking forward to jamming out at turtle speed to the latest Holy Ghost disc (released in May 2010 on DFA, and is highly recommended). Instead I stumbled across this jam on a Memphis Soul playlist I have stored on my iPod. All I can say is that sometimes the gods shine on you.

In addition to not running, I was hoping the DFA beats would get me motivated for work and whatever fresh hell awaited the day. Nothing James Murphy's crew of euro centric house beat stealing acolytes were spinning could have made the ass drop and heart soar like this band of funk brothers did.

Originally the Bar-Kays were a session band for Stax, playing with Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes. They were able to score a couple of hits in the late '60s (Soul Finger) and 70's (Son of Shaft), but this 8 minute workout is probably their crowning acheivement.

On a side note, original bass player James Alexander is the father of Jazze Pha who in addition to being famous for dropping "Ladies and Gentlemen" on numerous tracks, has also produced for 2Pac, Ciara, Bun-B, Usher and many others.

Link: The Bar-Kays - Holy Ghost

Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down the Crazy River

I was pleasantly surprised when this track recently popped up on my iPod while letting it shuffle. The track is solid all the way around and immediately brings to mind other Daniel Lanois produced tracks of that era (1987), especially his work with Dylan and U2.

On a more nostalgic note, I remember buying this cassette and having no idea who Robbie Robertson was. Even more ironic, I bought this cassette at the same time as a cassette of Dylan & The Band's live "Before the Flood" album. Specifically I purchased the Dylan tape after having just seen Guns N' Roses live where they closed with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and I was desperate to find a live version of that track. Little did I know at the time that Robertson was playing on that tape.

Levon Helm excluded, I still maintain that The Band is the best Canadian band ever. Period. Sorry Triumph and Loverboy fans.

Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison

I am sure "Mama Said Knock You Out" would have been a nice leadoff into the new CC07 format, but since it isn't really a comeback I am going with some different flavor.

That being said, during 1996, this UK banger was hotter than Manchester United, yet Mark Morrison's career ended up going the route of the Bolton Wanderers within the same year. Prison tends to do that to a bloke.

In the words of Morrison I am just, "Letting all the people know That I'm back to run the show."

And here it is, post #1 on the new CC07.

Country Club of the Zero Seven v 2.0

It has been a while since I have posted here, and the delay has helped me come up with a new plan of attack for the site. Instead of posting random one off reviews or cramming the site once every other month with extended playlists, I am going to post shorter blasts on a daily basis (we can start wagers now on how long that will last).

The easiest way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, so with that in mind I am going to start posting a "Track of the Day" if you will. One song, a little bit of detail and the link.

Hopefully this will help pick up a little added interest, and make the posts easier for readers to digest. Although I will admit I am already seeing problems. I knew what I wanted post #1 to be, but have 4 others that I am contemplating, so discipline will have to be used on my end.

That being said, welcome to CCO7 v 2.0!

Enjoy!!!

Ronnie James Dio - RIP

RIP – Ronnie James Dio

I am sure there will be plenty of wizard and dragon jokes (trust me, I would probably make one if I had one at the ready), but in all seriousness Dio’s passing is truly a sad loss for music.

Be it in the boogie woogie blues of Elf, climbing the Silver Mountain with Rainbow, raising the bar for vocalists replacing already mega-successful vocalists in Black Sabbath or just plain scaring the bejeesus out of Baptist parents raising teen boys in the 80’s, Dio was/is f*cking legend.

I am pretty sure I still have “Holy Diver” on vinyl (from Columbia House no less ) in my closet at my parents.

Slay a dragon for me little man.

Here is a small Dio playlist I put together on the fly this morning.

link: http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com/

What's the Deal? Sugar Hill!!!

I was digging around through some old cd's and stumbled across this mix that I put together for a friend's birthday party a few years back, and thought it was worth posting.

I made a couple of tweaks here and there, but it is largely the previous mix in it's entirety plus some extra tracks, including my favorite disco era track "I Get Lifted", the KC and the Sunshine Band version. Outside of a couple disco tracks, and maybe one or two roller boogie classics, this is all standard issue classic Soul Train era funk, jazz and hip-hop.

If some of these songs sound familiar, it is probably because minus one or two, they have all been sampled extensively over the years. At least 2 or 3 have been picked up by the Beastie Boys, and a couple by Dr. Dre. In the meantime, feel free to shake yo' ass while you are trying to figure out where you might have heard these songs before.

Enjoy!

Lucky Charms 2010

And the award for editing goes to… not me. I tried to cut this playlist down to about 20 tracks, but just couldn’t do it. I figured that I have been able to crank these things out so few and far between lately that if I could squeeze a couple extras in there, go ahead. Needless to say this thing might not flow the best…

So with this mix I was hoping to highlight some of my favorite new tracks and sprinkle in a few Irish tracks to celebrate St. Patty’s Day. This final draft is significantly different that my original, which featured enough Irish pissers to make me consider going and setting my own car on fire. I decided to scale back with a couple of Sinead O’Connor tracks, one a cheesy but awesome duet with the dentally challenged Shane MacGowan the other her incendiary live cover of Bob Marley’s “War” from SNL that pretty much got the ball rolling against her here in the states thanks to her shredding a poster of the Pope while crediting him as the root of all evil. Elsewhere have a tipple of Guinness while enjoying the Spanish/Celtic acoustic cover of Metallica’s “Orion” by Rodrigo y Gabriela.

On the new music front, 2010 has been off to a killer start. After about 5 years of sparse greatness so far 2010 is on pace to top 2009, which was pretty amazing. Here is a quick roundup:

I cannot say enough good things about the new Xiu Xiu disc. It comes pretty close to topping Fabulous Muscles, and when the smoke clears it might be their best release to date. I never thought I would see Xiu Xiu do bluegrass, but they give it a game try. I have included the title track here which would feel equally at home on a Morrissey disc if it didn’t have so many bells and buzzes. Also on here is my favorite track about giving birth to a cub, or abortion or childbirth or all of the above by The Antlers. I have also thrown in new tracks by Gonjasufi, Ariel Pink, Neon Indian and the stellar leadoff track from Broken Bells (which has been mostly a disappointment).

There a couple additional covers here including Sonnymoon’s hazy take on Drake’s “Houstatlantavegas” and Zooey Deschanel’s take on Nancy Sinatra’s “Sugar Town” (one of my all time favorite songs). Don’t get me wrong, She & Him are a little on the cheesy side, but there is much worse cheese out there (check out the Butch Walker b-side also on here). The ironic thing about Zooey Deschanel is that I love her voice, love to see her in videos, but as an actress I can’t help but want to drop a falcon punch on her. Especially in the movie that this track is from; 500 Days of Summer. I know, I know; everyone loved it. I just found it painfully pretentious. But I digress…

Anyway, the mix is a little long and maybe disjointed but enjoy. A little of the green may make it more palatable (green beer that is).

Btw, this mix sponsored by parentheses.

Enjoy!!

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com

Ryan Bingham & Dead Horses

On first glance winning an award that Eminem, Celine Dion, Jon Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Survivor, Kenny Loggins and Peter Cetera have been up for might seem like a backhanded compliement. But on second thought, being in the same company as Bob Dylan, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Shel Silverstein, Elliot Smith and Isaac Hayes is nothing to sneeze at.

Long story short, thanks to his work as songwriter for the Jeff Bridges flick, Crazy Heart, Bingham is now the owner of a Best Original song Oscar. I have yet to see the movie, but can testify that Bingham is the real deal. I have been preaching about this Topanga Canyon via Austin, TX cowpoke for a couple of years now, and highly recommend anything he has recorded.

He is currently on tour with Jamey Johnson, The Lost Trailers, Jack Ingram and a handful of others, stopping of in Charlotte, NC on 5/27/10.

Here is a small sampling of some of my faves, including the one that earned him the gold statue.

http://countryclubofthezeroseven.blogspot.com

Citay - Dream Get Together

Although it is still too gray, murky, cold and wet to start thinking about spring, the new disc from San Francisco psych rock freakout band Citay helps set the tone for chasing wood gnomes around the forest and helping the May Queen with her spring cleaning.

As a rule I prefer my tripping balls music to be more dark and sludgy (Bardo Pond), and less wondrous and flighty, however "Dream Get Together" works amazingly well.

"Dream Get Together" might best be described as a soundtrack for an evening of Anton Newcombe being seduced, roofied and raped by Pan, at a Terrastock festival, with only a magic flute and Courtney Taylor-Taylor's phone number scratched on a mushroom cap remaining as the sun rises on the dense, sticky moss.

Or it is just a better than average Led Zeppelin ripoff. You can decide.

Enjoy!!

Everyone Wants VD!!!

It has been over a month since I have posted anything, so I am taking a minute to throw up a Valentine's Day mix. Feel free to claim it as your own and score some hot VD nookie. A mix might not be the most original idea, but it is a hell of a lot less expensive than roses dipped in gold and more internet friendly than that video you were thinking about making (I am talking to you John Edwards).

Nothing to sappy on here just a few nice eighties nuggets, some well executed covers and a hodgepodge of others. I fought the urge to drop Young Money's tender ode to puppy love, "Bedrock", but couldn't resist adding some Dr. Octagon.

Link to mix: VD 2010 Mix