Thursday 18 December 2014


Digital Mystics: The Strange Story of the 8-Bit Reggae Underground

Isolated No More

Underground Resistance Speaks of Music and Politics

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Rock Scully (1941-2014) R.I.P.

Rock Scully crossed the great divide this morning. I got the call he was passing just as I was about to load up the car for a visit to Monterey to see him. Those of you lucky enough to have known him know that despite his human frailties, he was a loving, gentle, bright (actually brilliant), handsome, witty and especially charming rogue who brought people together, made them laugh and grow, and had a huge, generous heart.
Our fourteen year love affair felt like it was still in full swing when I spoke to him by phone in the hospital this morning. I could hear his labored breathing and his girl friend, Christina, assured me that he was responsive to my words.
His graciousness and generosity can be summed up in the words he said to me on the day back in the summer of ’69 that we knew for sure that we were in love—When I told him I was six weeks pregnant with my then separated husband, his response was, “You will be so beautiful!” Who could resist that statement at such a vulnerable moment.
He took on Spirit (Acacia) as if she were his own, and then gave me Sage, who will be having her second child, a boy, this coming March.
The years I spent with him, and through him, the Grateful Dead, were some of the most exciting times imaginable—from Woodstock to our farm in Forestville (now the California School of Herbal Studies) to Europe and Saturday Night Live, we were part of a weird kind of rock and roll royalty, and loved every moment of it. For six years we were the New Year’s skeletons, dancing on stage at midnight, often after being dropped from the ceiling tossing roses. We measured the success of a concert by how much our cheeks hurt from smiling, and those experiences set a bar that is rarely reached to this day. It was Rock’s ticket that took me to Egypt that first time in 1978.
My dear, beloved Rock, I wish you smooth, sweet travels in the next stage of your soul’s journey.
Nicki Scully

Neil Young & The Santa Monica Flyers - Palace Theatre Manchester UK (3/11/73)

1. Tonight’s the Night
2. Mellow My Mind
3. World On a String
4. Speakin’ Out
5. Albuquerque
6. New Mama
7. Roll Another Number (For the Road)
8. Tired Eyes
9. Tonight’s the Night
10. Flying On the Ground Is Wrong
11. Human Highway
12. Helpless
13. Don’t Be Denied
Info/Download

Happy Birthday Chelsea Manning!



Supporters including Molly Crabapple, Terry Gilliam and Michael Stipe send birthday wishes
HERE

Guy in Santa costume pulls off genius bank heist during SantaCon

South Shields Graffiti

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...in case you are scratching your head

Stop Working For Free

Unpaid internships rig the system. Curb them, now

Nick Cave on the Pop Group

On-U Sound All Stars featuring Mark Stewart - Hysteria (Ramsgate Music Hall 18/1114)


This one-off show had a never to be repeated line up!
Bass: Doug Wimbish (Living Colour / Sugarhill Gang / Tackhead)
Vocals: Mark Stewart (The Pop Group/Maffia)
Guitar: Skip McDonald (Little Axe / Sugarhill Gang / Tackhead)
Drums: Perry Melius (Tricky / African Headcharge / Billy Ocean)
Live Dub mix: Adrian Sherwood (On-U-Sound Master-mind)

United States of Audio - Play It All Back: A Tribute To Tack>>Head


A tribute to the world's most underrated pioneers of modern electronic music!
Starting as the house band at Sugar Hill records, Keith LeBlanc, Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald hooked up with Adrian Sherwood to form Tackhead (aka Fats Comet). Working together with Mark Stewart (as Maffia) and Gary Clail (as Tackhead Sound System) they produced some of the most exhilarating, funky and down-right experimental electronic music of the 1980s. This set charts their career from 1984-1989, mixing in rare dub mixes, alternate versions and interviews with the band members themselves. It's time they got their dues; it's time to Play It All Back: "Tackhead in the Area!"
Tracklisting:
1. Double Dee & Steinski - The Sugar Hill Suite (Castle Music)
2. Tackhead - Body to Burn (World Records)
3. Tackhead- What's My Mission Now - (On-U Sound)
4. Tackhead - Now What? (On-U Sound)
5. Tackhead - Mind at the End of the Tether (12" version) (On-U Sound)
6. Tackhead - Mind at the End of the Tether (LP Version) (Red Rhino)
7. Keith LeBlanc - I'll Come up with Something (World Records)
8. Tackhead - Ticking Time Bomb (World Records)
9. Tackhead - Ticking Time Bomb (12" version) (World Records)
10. Keith LeBlanc - Move (World Records)
11. Tackhead - King of the Beat (On-U Sound)
12. Tackhead - King of the Beat (Live) (Plus Au Sud)
13. Fats Comet & The Big Sound - Bop Bop (World Records)
14. Fats Comet & The Big Sound - Zoop Zoop (World Records)
15. Mark Stewart - As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade (Mute)
16. Keith LeBlanc - No Sell Out (Tommy Boy)
17. Fats Comet - Deejay's Dream (World Records)
18. Fats Comet - Deejay's Program (World Records)
19. Fats Comet - Eat The Beat (World Records)
20. Mark Stewart- Hypnotized (Remix) (Mute)
21. Keith LeBlanc - Heaven on Earth - (World Records)
22. Keith Leblanc - Tack Unit (Extended Interference) (Collision)
23. Keith LeBlanc - Major Malfunction (World Records)
24. Tackhead / Gary Clail- Life and Dreams (World Records)
25. Tackhead - Man in a Suitcase (Red Rhino)
26. Tackhead / Gary Clail - Reality (World Records)
27. Tackhead - Get This (Red Rhino)
28. Gary Clail - Half Cut For Confidence (World Records)
29. Gary Clail- Half a Gram a Shout (World Records)
30. Keith LeBlanc - Mechanical Movements (Yellow Ltd)
31. Keith LeBlanc - Technology Works Dub (World Records)
32. Keith LeBlanc - Technology Works (Collision)
33. Fats Comet- O.K. Bye (World Records)
34. Fats Comet - Rockchester (World Records)
35. Fats Comet - Dub Storm (World Records)
36. Fats Comet- Stormy Weather (World Records)
37. Gary Clail - Hard Left (instrumental) (World Records)
38. Gary Clail - Hard Left (Red Rhino)
39. Keith LeBlanc - You Drummers Listen Good (World Records)
40. Doug Wimbish - Freak Out (World Records)
41. Doug Wimbish - Don't Forget That Beat (World Records)
42. Doug Wimbish - Don't Forget That Beat (Alternate Mix) (Dunk Yer Funk Records)
43. Doug Wimbish - Don't Forget That Beat (Alternate Dub) (Dunk Yer Funk Records)
44. Doug Wimbish - Don't Forget That Beat (Dub Mix) (Dunk Yer Funk Records)
Download

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Unfortunately, we have now sufficient experience of terrorist incidents to formulate a simple rule: namely, almost everything said in the first few days after the event will later prove wrong

Young Edward Hopper sent this holiday card to his mother Elizabeth Griffiths Smith

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Monday 15 December 2014

Jeff Sparrow: The Logic of Torture