in/audible - Ibiblio

R E V I E W S
Recent releases reviewed by music director David Strader and DJs
Todd Pontius, Sarah Carrier and PJ Disclafani.
THE CARRIERE
BROTHERS
Musique Creole
(Arhoolie)
Bebe and Dolan Carriere
were Creole brothers
who spent their days
sharecropping in the isolated, rural town of
Lawtell, Louisiana. Until 20 years ago, they
spent nights performing their “musique creole”
for audiences, both black and white, at
raucous house dance parties (a pastime now
apparently extinct). Here is a collection of
dance tunes, both standards and originals,
that reflect upon their French and Cajun traditions
as well as African-American culture.
Check out their waltzes, two-steps, mazurkas
(central European dances) and their
cover of “Baby Please Don’t Go.” Recorded
in 1974, Bebe says, “I didn’t think American
people was interested in this French music.”
Dolan died in 1983, Bebe in 2001. – S.C.
PRINCE PO
The Slickness (Lex)
The Slickness marks an
auspicious return for
NYC MC/producer
Prince Po, who was formerly
one-half of the
pivotal early ‘90s duo Organized Konfusion
(as Prince Poetry) with Pharoahe Monch.
This is his debut solo record, out on Warpsubsidiary
Lex, which similarly convinced
another forgotten NYC rapper Jemini
(who appears on three tracks) to return to
the game for his joint record with Danger
Mouse from last year, Ghetto Pop Life. DM
oversaw this whole project (producing a
couple of tracks in the process), which also
features beats from Madlib, Anticon associate
Jel, Richard X (the electro/mash-up producer
known for his work as Girls on Top),
J-Zone and Po himself, plus guest rhymes
from MF Doom, the Wu-Tang’s Raekwon
and others. What we get is a lethal mix
of mainstream-flirting club bumpers and
streetwise confessions. – D.S.
REMARC
Unreleased Dubs ‘94-
’96 (Planet Mu)
Remarc, the “Don of the
Amen Break,” is one of
the influential British
jungle producers who
emerged around 1993, at a time when the
hardcore style of jungle was in decline, ushering
in the birth of D ’n’ B and the “jump-up”
style. Ragga junglists and mash-up Soundclash
types would be nonexistent had it not
been for Remarc’s influence. While the mid-
’90s “cut-up breaks” sound is making a resurgence,
it has been influential for years on the
drill ’n’ bass scene (Squarepusher, etc.). Also
note his influence on Soundmurderer (who
takes his name from Remarc) and breakcore
types like DJ Scud. Eleven previously unreleased
tracks accompany Planet-Mu’s 2003
“best of ” release Sound Murderer. Ragga
vibes, hip-hop flavor and funk provided by
the classic Amen break. All dark, furious
underground dance tunes save for the mellow
“Andre’s Dream.” – S.C.
RAUSHAN
ORAZBAEVA
Akku (Dunya/Felmay)
Raushan Orazbaeva is
a young woman from
southern Kazakhstan, a
large semi-arid Central
Asian country located at the crossroads of
Russia, China and the Caspian Sea. Orazbaeva
is the greatest living interpreter of the
kyl-kobyz, basically a two-stringed bowed
upright cello from the eighth or ninth century,
traditionally considered the instrument
of shamans and magicians. The range of the
kyl-kobyz is in roughly the same range as the
human voice, which makes these pieces full
of emotion. These songs would go well with
fiddles, overtone drones, the Dirty Three or
Armenian duduk music. This is startling
and powerful stuff and perhaps the most
beatiful world music release I’ve heard in
2004. – T.P.
30 IN/AUDIBLE fall 2004
LUTHER & TOBY
Karny Sutra (Hit
Thing)
Here’s some graceful and
cinematic instrumental
scenery created by
organist/pianist Luther
Hawkins and percussionist Toby Dammit,
alter ego of New York drummer-for-hire
Larry Mullins, who over the past decade has
worked with the Residents, M. Gira, Bertrand
Burgalat, Iggy Pop and others, in addition
to curating his increasingly interesting
Hit Thing label (under whose auspices he’s
put out reissues by Die Haut & Nick Cave,
Liaisons Dangereuses and enigmatic ‘50s
concert organist Georges Montalba). The
twosome effortlessly lay out stately waltzes
and ballad settings demonstrating their
fluency in all sorts of by-gone Americana
(vaudeville, exotica and whimsical production
techniques of the ‘60s among them),
also evocatively represented scrapbook-style
in the multi-panel booklet. A panoply of
sights and sounds on which to feast. – D.S.
BATTLES
EP C (Monitor)
Battles is Ian Williams
(ex-Don Caballero,
Storm and Stress), John
Stainer (ex-Helmet,
Tomahawk), Tyondai
Braxton and David Konopka (ex-Lynx).
Pretty interesting pedigree, huh? They’ve
been playing together since late 2002, and
this is their second EP. All the pictures I’ve
seen of Battles show guitarists playing keyboards
while minimal guitar lines loop and
build. Intricate keyboard parts are added
and taken away. Everything is underpinned
by interlocking rhythms. Imagine a postrock
Phillip Glass or a funky and less confrontational
Black Dice. – T.P.