Rock Candy: April 2008 Archives

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Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 16:08:40

Al Green, leaking

Because Rock Candy exists for the people, not just the straight arrows and the fly rights, but the unscrupulous and freeloading, I'ma tell you: Al Green's HUGELY anticipated new collab with ?uestlove and James Poyser, "Lay it Down," due out on May 27, leaked today. Early word is that it bites 1970s Willie Mitchell. If only other contemporary producers were so smart.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]

Tonight: Gov't Mule and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

They don't travel light: There's a semi and a giant tour bus in the lot behind Revolution, lugging Gov't Mule and all their gear. The Southern rawkers are at Revolution tonight, with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals — roots rock by way of Vermont —opening, 8:30 p.m., $30.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - 16:35:30

Local flavors, volume 1

Click.

I've finally jumped into the Muxtape game with a Rock Candy special. Back in the day, I did mixes for Localist and have been clamoring to get some kind of streaming player introduced to our site. Until that happens, I'm gonna keep Muxtaping monthly with mixes of local jams, old and new.

1. David's Pegasus- Stop Saying Hardcore (Buy "Choose the Game;" here's our review) There are far too few one minute songs. Used to, maybe still, you could buy "Stop Saying Hardcore" David's Pegasus' shirts. They'll be at Vino's on Saturday.

2. Goines- Know What I Mean? (You'd probably have to track down Goines to get him to sell you "Lead by Example;" read about it here.) There's not been a local hip-hop cut that I've loved as consistently as this one. Suga City (Goines and Arkansas Bo) better bring it hard for their Koch debut. I'm counting on them breaking through.

3. Michael Jukes- Becomes You (Buy "Bright Room;" check our review in this week's paper.) New summer pop goodness from the semi-reclusive singer/songwriter. From "Volume 3, Album no. 5 of a perpetual ongoing series."

4. Hector Faceplant- Mikey & Fluke (Buy "Songs You'll Never Hear;" check our review in this week's paper.) Dig the title, local messageboard regulars. I like HF when they're doing the X-style back-n-forth crunch, but the badabadababas go nice with short-sleeve weather.

5. SoundChild Crew- Paid (I'm not sure where you can get this track, but you can download a free mixtape, hosted by SoundChild here; previously) The winners of Southern Entertainment Awards Indy artists of the year bring it on this no frills head-bobber. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it sticks. I'm all for a return to associating wealth with girth: "We eat a lot now/We eat a lot later." Look for dudes to make noise in the not-too-distant future.

6. The Gossip- Yr Mangled Heart (Buy "Live in Liverpool") White County, represent! The British press, for once, might not have over-hyped something. Here's to hoping Beth Ditto and co. blow-up stupid big.

7. American Princes- Don't Ever Promise (Buy "Other People") Allowing arrangements to breathe, really utilizing three guitars well, adding drama — that's the move forward for the Princes on the new one, no where more evident than this song.

8. Howlin' Wolf- Spoonful (Buy "The Howlin' Wolf Album": good luck) Way before Fat Possum went all remix-y on old North Mississippi bluesmen, Cadet turned Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters standards psychedelic. It's a little over the top in spots — Cadet made no bones about Wolf and Muddy hating the resulting albums, even using their disapproval as a teaser on the album sleeves themselves — but there are some gems in the mix, too. Definitely worth crate digging to find.

9. Riverboat Crime- Speeding (Buy "Walking Shoes") From the North Little Rock pop-rock favorites' debut. What's that opening organ bit a nod to? It's on the tip of my tongue. Look for a review soon.

10. Little Beaver- Good Times (Buy "The Very Best of Little Beaver") Born in Forrest City, LB (real name William Hale) moved to Florida when he was a teenager and later became a major player in the Miami soul/disco scene, writing, doing session work and recording for TK Records. Jay-Z sampled his "Get Into the Party Life" prominently on "American Gangster."

11. Richard Leo Johnson and Greg Bendian- Superman (Buy "Who Knew Charlie Shoe"). El Dorado guitar hero Johnson got bored or as the press info has it wanted "to get inside the music," so he invented a character, Charlie Shoe, with a fairly elaborate back-story: He's a self-taught musician from Marked Tree, who's developed a unique way of playing guitar. Then there's Junk Fish, a successful drummer back in the 70s, who lived too fast and ended up in Marked Tree, working at a salvage yard. Charlie and Trash Fish play guitars found on eBay, salvaged instruments and use simple tape effects to create a pretty compelling piece of backwoods psychedelia.

12. Isaac Alexander- Angel of Death (Mark your calendars to buy it on May 30) One of Little Rock's best singer/songwriters gone solo. Hear more on new ones on MySpace.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments [2]

Eye candy: Inky Fingers

A good way to kill the minutes: Marvel Comics artist Mitch Breitweiser, who calls Little Rock home, recently launched a new blog, Inky Fingers. So far, it's filled with warm-up sketches of Daredevil, Captain America and Spiderman — essential viewing for any local comic nerd. Look for Breitweiser’s “Young Avengers Presents, #5” at your favorite local comics store on May 28.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Make plans: 607's download extravaganza

Online stores are for suckers. 607 is bringing technology back to the streets. Or the park. On May 20, from 4-8 p.m., he and g-force will be holding court at Kanis Park with an external hard-drive, a laptop and a lot of cords. Six invites fans to bring blank CDs, jump drives, iPods, whatever. Songs from his catalog, stretching back 10 albums, will be available in digital form, 320 bitrate. $1 a pop.

PLUS: Eager fans can pick up "Nobody But Us," the new album from 607 and Bobby (Mr. Morbid in "light and fun" mode, says 607) before it's officially released at Riverfest, before and after Six's performance on Friday, May 23, 7:30 p.m., Triple-S Alarm Stage. $10.

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Monday, April 28, 2008 - 10:51:11

Pitchfork on Dickson St.

Domestic projects kept me in LR this weekend, but Pitchfork was in Fayetteville for the festival. With pictures and a review round-up.

Anyone go?

Posted by Lindsey Millar at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]

Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 03:39:29

Notes from a Little Rock rave

I don’t much like techno music. New Order is about as close as it comes, and they have guitars. I’ll maybe listen to Daft Punk when I’m feeling particularly mindless. So my trip to the Village tonight to see DJ Baby Anne and Josh the Funky 1 was really a foray into cultural anthropology. Who’s into this stuff, anyway?

It was hard to tell. The Village is a theater, and about half the ravers were sitting down, taking in the laser light show and big screen computer graphics, decidedly not raving. Even the people on the floor weren’t that into the scene. There were no more than 75 people in the thick of it, including: four or five dancers waving glow sticks around, stuck in their own heads; several shirtless men, most unadvisedly so; one fellow with a Cat-In-The-Hat style hat that I vaguely remember as being essential rave apparel back in the day. But nowhere near as much sketchiness as you might expect.

Why the low energy and lack of perversion? Chalk it up to the tunes. I’m not the best person to judge this sort of music – I’m vaguely aware that there are differences between house and jungle and trance and whatever else, just don’t ask me what they are – but it was obvious that the DJ was playing some uninspired and repetitive stuff, with pretty boring samples. (Snoop Dog’s “Sexual Eruption” got some play, as did a line about ‘Walking down the street with my Nikes on” that I’m sure a Rock Candy reader will kindly identify in the comments.) This was all mixed into a house beat (said source at the rave), a style driven by a thick bass that the DJ periodically cut out in order to build tension.

But I can’t imagine that many people in the room were giving much thought to what they were hearing – the real indicator of quality at this sort of show, apparently, is how much excitement it generates. Tonight there was next to none.

Posted by John C. Williams at 03:39 AM | Permalink | Comments [0]