reggae

Come Over

annette — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

By Patty Carpenter and Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band

Patty Carpenter and the Dysfunctional Family Jazz Band (PCATDFJB) are a troupe of musicians who are also family members. Singer Patty was married to saxophonist Scotty, and they had daughter (who is also the band’s other singer) Melissa. Patty and Scotty broke up, and Patty married the band’s manager, Charles, and together they had son Travis who plays bass. This album is essentially like being trapped on a couch in the living room of your new neighbors watching an endless slide-show of their family’s summer vacation.

Little did you know how creepy your new neighbors were. “My Baby” stomps in with snarling saxophone and electric guitar. The song’s lyrics are about a rebellious child growing up, “My baby’s going away. And I hope it will be okay/Such a young girl hurrying out the door.” Okay, fine so far. But then the song gets a little bit too, er, tactile? “I can hold her when she needs my touch... Someday I know that she’ll go away/But I will stay close to her heart.” Now I’m confused. I thought this was a song about mother/daughter relationships? Is this the kissing family from Saturday Night Live?

PCATDFJB waffle between Sonny Clark-esque jazz, zydeco, and reggae. “Love Bound” is a song about daughter Melissa and husband Alan getting married in Jamaica. I know this because it says so, under the lyrics to the song in the liner notes: “we cooked up this song to celebrate the first anniversary of Melissa and Alan. Their wedding in Jamaica required a reggae saga. You had to be there. Now you are.” It really is great that this family willingly shows so much affection for each other. Frankly, though, I don’t really want to be invited to their wedding. I just don’t know them well enough to be interested. I suppose you could argue that there are plenty of great songs out there written about people and events that most listeners have no personal connection to. Paul Simon wrote about wife Peggy Harper in songs like “Run That Body Down,” and it works. But then, Mr. Simon didn’t write in the liner notes to his album, “My wife and I were going through a very difficult time, which would eventually end in a bitter divorce. You had to be there. Now you are!” Speaking of Paul Simon, he also made reggae work for a white dude. Unfortunately, PCATDFJB are more reminiscent of Willie Nelson’s attempt at reggae, which (needles to say) was both bumbling and strange.

On the track “Summer Love,” PCATDFJB get creepy again, for along come the sultry sounds of what can only be a mom singing about making whoopie in a corn field: “The corn’s silky tassels are luring me in [...] come on, baby, roll me in the grass.” Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. The teenager in me just threw up a little in my mouth. This is a family band! What are you doing, hippie parents? This song feels a bit like Maeby Fünke and Michael Bluth singing “Afternoon Delight” together. That moment on Arrested Development was funny because it was unintentionally creepy. This is just creepy.

It’s great that these folks enjoy making music together and seem to love each other so much. I just think you may need to be a part of their family in order to really get it.

Written by: Emily S. Dunster, April 20th 2011

Trapped Animal

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:36:00 +0000

By The Slits

Narnack

If you're expecting to hear the frenzied, skittish, punk sounds of The Slits' 1979 album Cut, prepare to be disappointed, perplexed, upset, or some combination thereof. Original Slits members Ari Up and Tessa Pollitt reunited and brought on board the talents of Hollie Cook, Anna Schlute, and Adele Wilson in recording Trapped Animal. The first full-length album in a quarter century, this album departs so far from The Slits' signature sound that it's surprising they've kept the name. This is not The Slits as you know them.

In this departure, The Slits have replaced an unpredictable punk aesthetic with faded rhythms that emerge from Jamaican and world music influences. Heavy bass lines, horns, and dub-y echoes characterize most songs. Unfortunately, The Slits fail to differentiate themselves from any other mediocre reggae band. I wondered if the inclusion of "Babylon" was meant to be facetious. There must be hundreds of similarly titled songs, and The Slits' version certainly offers nothing new. Particularly disappointing was the cliched use of a vocoder in "Lazy Slam," which recalls the sound of a mainstream pop song rather than anything remotely punk or reggae.

But not all is lost. The Slits come through with "Reject" and "Trapped Animal," in which The Slits take what they used to do best and build upon it. "Reject" is a stripped down punk song interrupted with fragmented staccatos, falsetto vocals, and gypsy breakdowns. Adorned with the album's name, "Trapped Animal" is fast and unpredictable, chaotic and liberating, and ironically, the most divergent song of the bunch. Quivering vocals and bouncing melodies clash with relentless, uninhibited screams to produce an exhilarating and well-crafted jam. Both songs infect with raw Slits energy, and if Trapped Animal has a saving grace, these songs are it.

While perhaps not groundbreaking, but to their credit, The Slits preserve their unique lyrical style of the provocative questioning of accepted social norms. Songs like "Ask Ma" and "Pay Rent" fuse reggae flow with catchy, though sometimes corny, synthesizer grooves, and in "Pay Rent," the result is a dance anthem. The song urges you on your feet and sends a somewhat unconventional yet uplifting message: "We wanna pay rent with our passion." "Ask Ma" questions gender roles and attacks conventional male treatment of women: "Men who need us to be their mother, or hate us cuz of their mother!" But the song takes a step further in offering a remedy for the problem: "So it's up to us to break the cycle, rearrange, and look at how we can bring up our boys to be more loving."

While I applaud The Slits for exploring a new genre and sound, _Trapped Animal _lacks cohesion and personality.

Written by: Sofia Marin, October 20th 2009

Revenge of the Killer Slits EP

admin — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 13:30:00 +0000

The Slits

s.a.f. Records

The Slits are back! If you are not familiar with this band, the most recent release, _Revenge of the Killer Slits _EP, is a good introduction. For those who relished their punk and dub fusion back in the '70s, this sample of three songs is enough to get you back in the mood. Reggae calls are answered by techno-alternative dance beats in the first track, “Slits Tradition.” The beat is basic and backs up nicely the chanted lyrics and bits of spoken word. The Slits even find room for a couple of quick jazzy riffs. The second track, “Number One Enemy,” is Joan Jett-ish, including a snotty solo with predictable back up singing; this is easy listening for fans of soft-core punk. The third track, and my personal favorite, “Kill Them With Love,” is as close to what I would call an R&B torch song as you can get. The track finishes, with vocals that are intriguingly similar to the caterwauling of Diamanda Galas, an end that is both fun and pleasantly ludic. This album is fun, refreshingly eclectic, and packed with sweet “revenge.”

Written by: Aaron Nugua, February 24th 2007

Cinescope

admin — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:40:00 +0000

By Thunderball

ESL Music

Thunderball is an arty, urban collaboration of DJs that is comparable to a modern version of Dee-Lite. Cinescope is their latest offering to the tripped out gods of the discothèque. You could liken this 46-minute disc to Ali Baba and his forty thieves getting down with Shaft in Africa. Melding elements of Latin jazz, funk, reggae, disco, break beat and Indian strings, Cinescope takes listeners on a twelve-song magic carpet ride that is vibrant and worldly. The songs are catchy and flow nicely as they hover around the four-minute mark – long enough to develop character, but not so long that they become monotonous. Though the concoction might be a little too pompous for more grounded listeners, the sort of sexploitation doing lines in the bathroom with blaxploitation, Indian hipster funk set to the vibe of a Charlie’s Angels marathon vibe might appeal to the jet setting dilettante crowd.

Written by: Patricia Valery, January 22nd 2007