pop roches

it's the holidays and i've decided to catch up on the quirky and arty and underrated films i haven't had a chance to watch yet....

one such film is "please give", the opening of which is a montage of several women's breasts - in all manner of shapes, sizes, colours, and volumes - all being plopped and squished down by a glass plate for mammograms. the funny thing is, the best part of the montage isn't the breasts. nope! not at all. it's the song they play over this mammary montage: a quirky tune called 'no shoes' by the roches.

the band is comprised of three sisters who started their musical journey by singing christmas carols in their new jersey neighbourhood while in high school back in the 1960s. 'no shoes' is taken from a recent release called "moonswept".

with about 15 records under their belt (more if you count them individually or in duos), along with their lovely harmonies, quirky lyrics, immense stage and recorded presence, the roches managed to somehow fly under my radar. until i watched 'please give' the other day. i literally had to pause the film and shazam the thing.

so here's my christmas carol to you this year! hope you like.

the roches - no shoes:


related:

• nneka - africans
  
• bonobo - walk in the sky
  
• derek vincent smith / pretty lights - finally moving remix
  
• nostalgia 77 - seven nation army

get this at theroches.com

seven nation army

ahhh the city is getting ready for a whirlwind of activity as leaders from 8 and 20 of the earth's nations come together for the big talks.

yeah that's right - getting ready for the g8 and g20 in canada and right here in toronto. and i feel the way this track sounds.

counting down until it's happening
and when it's happening
we'll be counting down until it's over.

sometimes i feel like alice russell-
trapped in a grant phabao remix-
of nostalgia 77's cover-
of the white stripes' seven nation army.

and there you have it. superbly belted out by ms. russell. love how it maintains the rock and blues integrity of the white stripes' original, even with a roots reggae element and then adds a little russell to infuse it with just so much sweet soul!

nostalgia 77 feat alice russell - seven nation army [grant phabao mix]:


related:

• nneka - africans
  
• marie queenie lyons - see and don't see
  
• derek vincent smith / pretty lights - finally moving remix
  
• nina simone - sinnerman

get this at tru thoughts records

lhasa on the living road

a little something for my travels....

lhasa de sela is a montreal-based wandering soul who grew up traveling with her family between the us and mexico in a converted schoolbus, listening to everything from eastern european folk tunes to traditional arabic odes and old mexican standards.

anything but ordinary, lhasa sings in no less than three languages: english, spanish and french. she took time from her music to tour with her sisters and perform circus acts. and then there's her music... everything from marimbas to ukulele and accordion.

her voice and style are anything but typical too. long, drawn out syllables, a unique lyrical poetry and throaty, breathless crooning make for an interesting combination.

just when you think everything has already been done, along comes lhasa.

the living road is a beautiful album to soundtrack the more reflective moments of driving through the mexican countryside... perfect for a train through las barrancas del cobre - mexico`s deepest and most striking canyon system.

lhasa - con toda palabra:


lhasa - para el fin del mundo o el ano nuevo:


related or unrelated to this:

• up, bustle and out - all out king
  
• andre désilets - mission apollo
  
• amadou + miriam feat manu chao - senegal fast food

get this at amazon

footnote on my return from mexico - i was saddened to hear while in was in the yucatan that the beautiful lhasa lost her battle with breast cancer. she lives on in our heads and hearts...

see and don't see

i'd recently spent several consecutive days studying with my reiki master. what seemed like magic was happening in real life.

one tough lesson was coming face to face with hard truth. tough.

and this woman knew how tough. marie "queenie" lyons - the lady who covered try me and fever knew that even fevers eventually break... as do hearts. it's all in that voice.

there are two things that make a voice penetrate our skin, tear through muscle, infiltrate our veins and reverberate deep inside our bones. one is sheer unadulterated joy. the other is soul-shattering pain. lyons sang both like a true blues-funk-soul-sister. she turned the pain of knowing even the darkest truths into something sublime.

my reiki master knows i try to move beyond highs and lows, but sometimes my bones ache for them. my veins need a hit. and that's when i listen to the lyons.

marie "queenie" lyons - see and don't see:


related to this:

• ted taylor - houston town
  
• nina simone - sinnerman
  
• derek vincent smith/etta james - finally moving

derek... thanks for taking me back with your track, my other love.

makambo

geoffrey oryema - makambo

it was the summer of '98 that i took my first-ever business trip: a 2-hour thursday night meeting in washington, d.c.

with the rest of the weekend i explored the city... monuments, sights, georgetown u, record shops, 18th street lounge (where i met rob and eric from thievery corporation, before they became famous. definitely a highlight). one evening i wandered into a high-end persian rug and artifact shop.

inside, time stopped. hypnotized by a nostalgic melody, sensing that i was far away from home, i became drawn to the african masks, ancient giant pots and urns, beautifully crafted rugs... totally lost in time and space. suddenly, i heard a man calling me from above. i looked up. it was the shop owner. he had been watching me from the loft space above.

he had a friendly smile so i went up the steps to his loft office. he was a fascinating and engaging man. we spent a few hours engrossed in conversation over tea and music. i was falling in love.

as i was leaving, he insisted on giving me one of his gorgeous persian rugs as a gift. i couldn't accept.

instead, i asked him for a copy of the cd he was playing. yes, he said but it would cost me my phone number.

totally worth it.

the cd? the ugandan musical genius, geoffrey oryema's exile.

and here's the track that i fell in love with that night.

ps - who knew that ten years later i'd be taking work trips to uganda? funny where life leads you...

and - to answer the questions! i fell in love with this song, not the man!

find geoffrey oryema's exile at amazon

related to this...

• mama afrika forever
  
• yamasuki singers, black blood.. a.i.e.o.a
  
• mmm... mulatu
  
• more mulatu
  
• rokia traore
  
• gigi shibabaw
  

black and blue hued blues

ted taylor - houston town

oh the blues...

and in this case, the black-and-blue-hued blues.

super soul blues volume 1 on paula records: i introduced myself to this album ten years ago. i played it nonstop for weeks.

so much of it is memorable:
ike and tina turner burn down a whisky roadhouse together in 'shake a hand'...
cicero blake extols the virtues of philandering in 'dip my dipper'...
bobby rush fantasizes out loud in 'bowlegged woman, knock kneed man'...

but what got under my skin like a bittersweet, addictive drug was ted taylor's 'houston town'.

super soul blues indeed. all the conditions are right: it's raining, ted's 'broke, busted, belly-empty', pleading with god to get him out of houston town. and it only gets worse from there.

with an irrisistible blend of warm syruppy instrumentation, a few great backup singers and BAM! i wannna be right there in houston town where the drama unfolds.

but that was another time, another space. the closest i'll get for now is this. apologies - my copy at home is better quality - be prepared to hear a lot of snap, crackle, pop on this vinyl.

ted taylor - houston town:
the compilation might be hard to track down. try amazon.