The well is finally dry, and this will be the last one of these. But six parts seemed like bad luck, so I decided to say this one is both 6 and 7, and who’s going to stop me? Bwahahaha!
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Parts 6 & 7: Knowledge with Magic”Year: 2022
Original Format: mp3
Yesterday I picked up David Katz’s People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee “Scratch” Perry to look something up, and found an old post-it with this LSP quote written on it:
I am sure Jesus Christ is black, because Jesus Christ is my sweet cock.
The man certainly had a way with words. Sound too. As for power, well, he had some. Remember:
It was four tracks written on the machine, but I was picking up twenty from the extra terrestrial squad.
Hmmm, “Extra Terrestrial Squad” would be a hell of a band name… though hard to live up to.
Anyway, let’s listen to some music.
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Part 5: Sound, Words & Power”Year: 2022
Original Format: mp3
I didn’t really mean for this series to go on and on. It’s slipped a bit out of my control, but not necessarily in a bad way. The next one will be the last one; I’m 99% sure of that. Maybe 95%. Well, we’ll see.
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Part 4: Music Like Shower”Year: 2021
Original Format: mp3
This one was like 90% done for about a month, but those last little adjustments proved difficult for some reason. I think it’s right now. I wouldn’t say perfect, because that’s not a thing, but I find it quite satisfying.
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Part 3: Such Is Life”Year: 2021
Original Format: mp3
This one is a little shorter, a little tighter, a little lighter in tone. It’s been sounding pretty good to me on this strangely sunny Humboldt afternoon.
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Part 2: Openly Reggae”Year: 2021
Original Format: mp3
Q: Why a reggae mix?
A: In 1997 I was a reggae dilettante — owner of a few Bob Marley and Peter Tosh albums, and the The Harder They Come soundtrack — when I decided to take a flier on the Lee “Scratch” Perry Arkology box set after reading an article about it. I’ve never been quite the same since.
Something about the way my brain processes music was rewired, and while I still don’t like all reggae — because a lot of it is boring and repetitious, just like the haters say — I’ve come to appreciate much of it in a way my younger self wouldn’t have anticipated. The problem is that it can he hard to mix with other things. I’ve been toying with the idea of making a reggae mix for a while now but lacked an organizing principle.
When Scratch passed away recently,1I decided that it would be fun to salute him with a mix where every other track is one he produced, in order to salute his towering genius while still leaving room for a full spectrum of stylees.
So here it is. There will be at least one other installment, maybe two, we’ll see.
Q: I’m not into reggae.
A: That’s not really a question, but…. I’d like to think I’m going to change your mind with this magical collection of sounds, but over the years I’ve learned that the taste for reggae is the like the taste for cilantro — some people have it and some don’t, and you’re not going to talk anybody into it. As always, de gustibus non est disputandum. I won’t be offended if you want to sit this one out.
Q: Will it help if I’m high while listening?
A: I mean, it isn’t going to hurt. But I think that the music is strong enough to stand up on its own, with or without herbal assistance.
Q: Isn’t an hour too long?
A: Yeah, probably. But once you get into that groove it’s hard to stop.
OK – without further ado — let us now Blow Away the Wicked.
Continue reading “Blow Away the Wicked, Part 1”