Random Artist Sampler - Wolf People - The Bear and Badger

Moot_Geeza

Got them on Spotify shuffle now. Dick, Dale, Rick and Ricky. I get the Dick, Dale part (it's a solid instrumental surf guitar track), but the Rick and Ricky part has gone over my head. Any ideas? Dick Dale's name was Richard but I'm after the full answer now...

poprock

I only ever got as far as you, I’m afraid – Dick Dale’s real name being Richard.

afgavinstan

I'd like to do one. Either on "lesser known Jimmy Eat World cuts" or "Manchester Orchestra".

Moot_Geeza

Gav on the list.

I listened to the album Comforter on Spotify (non spesh ed) as I couldn't handle putting those Youtube links through my nifty headphones. I quite liked it, especially Rapejacket, Air-Raid and Dick, Dale et al, but I don't think there was quite enough to hook me into any further listening. I enjoyed it but I'm not really up for more of the same (or more of similar + electro). Still, I liked them more than I thought I would considering they look like the soundtrack to A Life Less Ordinary and the cast of Hackers having a Courtney Love-in. The band sound decent but it's pretty obvious they'd be better live (Bad Cooking, for example - I'd guess that's a belter on stage). [6] from me.

Moot_Geeza

I'm killing time at work before a drink so I listened to The Future is Medium too. It's mostly a sort of driving pop metal, which they do quite well. Not as good as the other album, probably a bit more Dave Mirra's BMX-ish, but it's not bad.

Roujin

I really liked those Poppo, nice selection!

As a typical angsty teen I was all about anything loud with guitars in, however being an absolute pleb in the time before the internet from a quiet suburb it was mainly only whatever was popular that managed to reach my ears, so all the usual suspects for mid 90's metal/punk/rock like RATM/Pearl Jam/3 Doors Down/Dookie from Greenday, all that jazz.

So this was a really cool little peek into what the actual cool kids were listening to haha!

I think Basket Case was my favourite, but the Mall Monarchy vid was pure chef's kiss nostalgia greatness with added bonus of being a decent live performance imho ymmv, etc.

Moot_Geeza

I've always disliked the nu metal/rap metal sound, so RATM have always been a nope from me (can't seem to get on with FNM either), but I'm a big fan of Pearl Jam's classic rock grunge slant, got a lot of love for all their albums up to and including Binaural. Got into them late too, it's not like I was a grunge boi in the early 90s, I just injected most of it ever-so-heavily into my veins between 1999 and 2002ish.

Roujin

Nu metal is a weird one, people shit on it hard these days, but I think it was something that was just of it's time and then came and went.

I swear down a lot of people my age who are like "URGH DATS FUCKING SHIT FAM, DRAKE MEME NO FACE FOR ME" were 100% in Snobs in Brum on a Friday night going fucking ham sandwich when Last Resort/Take a Look Around/In the End/My Friends Over You (okay that's not really nu metal at all but it's the same effect imho) got played.

Facewon

Fuck.

poprock

Fuck?

JonB

I'm supposed to have a go at this today then.

So, the thing is I basically don't listen to any new music anymore. Haven't for over a decade. So I was always going to choose something I used to enjoy in the past. I also didn't want it to be just hip hop, which is what I mostly used to listen to, because we've already had some of that and I thought it would be nice to have something with potentially wider appeal. In the end I settled on

Ozomatli

From the wikipedia page:

Ozomatli are an American six-piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others. The group formed in 1995 and has since released seven studio albums. The group is also known for advocating for farm-workers' rights and immigration reform. The band has performed in various countries all over the world, including China, Tunisia, Jordan, and Burma. Although the band has had many member changes over the years and has sometimes had as many as ten members, the current six members have been in the band since its debut album.

They're basically good guys who sing in Spanish and play Latin themed funk/rock with occasional guest spots by rappers. TBH I'm only really familiar with their early albums. I first heard them around 1999 and took an interest because of their work with Jurassic 5 MC Chali2Na, but also got into their non-hip hop stuff. Just looking for tracks on Youtube now I get the impression that their more recent albums aren't quite as good, but then what is?

So here's a taste from the first 3 albums, with 1 of the tracks with rap and a couple without:

poprock

Great choice Jon! One of the quintessential Los Angeles bands, for me. I definitely saw Ozomatli back in the late ’90s, when Cut Chemist and Chali2na were both with them. Can’t remember whether that was in ’98 in the States, or the year before/after here in the UK. Wherever, I do remember the vibe – blazing sun, blue sky, and this rolling, Latino-sounding, joyful sound that felt like an antidote to gansta rap at the time. The skater kids loved Ozomatli.

Moot_Geeza

Will give these a listen tomorrow. I bought the album the bottom track is from when I was on my J5 kick, but I focused on the 2NA bits tbh. Love the sound of him rapping, the voice does a lot of heavy lifting but some of his words are top too.

Facewon

Well, 3 out of 6 tracks worked on work connection, will try at home.

Compulsion: Live track is sloppy. I realise that is a punk thing a lot, but it always frustrates me. There's deliberate sloppy and there's keeping bad time. having said that, can hear the catchiness pop mentions immediately. Third track is the other one that loaded, and that's very good. Do dig catchy melodies and hooks in an incongruent place.

ozo: Saw em live. Think my housemate's band was supporting them, or they were out with J5, can't remember. Either scenario equally possible. Good fun. Although I think my reaction to them is the same as grem and others to the Roots. A case of realising they should be in my wheelhouse, and liking what they're about, but also being a bit....meh.

Roujin

I started listening to the first track but then stopped cos I was enjoying it and wanted to give it a proper listen. I'm out of work early tomorrow so will post up somewhere with a nice coffee and absorb and report back.

Moot_Geeza

Listened to the three Ozomatli tracks, plus a couple of extras YouTube selected for me after the last one. It's an immense sound, they make my Playstation wireless headphones sound like Skerret approved cans. The thing is, even though I like it when it's on I know I'd usually reach for other things ahead of them unless they've got Chali 2NA in tow. Always been a huge fan of the way his voice rumbles and tumbles through a track. In my head he's what Dr. Dre would sound like if he had an extra three or four gears of vocal talent. The Cut Chemist Suite has come on while I've been typing this - that's the one I used to wear out. They're very good on the whole but not really my thing without the slayer of lyrical Yul Brynners' firstborns on the mic.

Facewon

https://youtu.be/jwzIvFYvnrA

#rock4lyfe.

I'll say it every time.....

Rock >>> chali.

(even though he goes full homophobia at the end of this vid.)

Moot_Geeza

Nope. There's no step aside, Butch moment.

Facewon

No u.

poprock

Bump.

Moot_Geeza

Happy Friday all.

Josh Ritter

American indie/Americana singer songwriter type who's been doing the rounds for years (he released his first album in 1999). Ritter tends to write songs with a heavy narrative style, often littered with religious imagery and allegory. He has a way with words so he does, as evidenced in his excellent (and only, thus far) novel Bright's Passage, which I read this week. His albums tend to be a wee bit patchy but his best songs are superb - a Best of Ritter would be brimming with absolute class. *Holy shit, I've just found out Jason Isbell is producing his next album*. Limiting this to three songs was a struggle as Girl in the War, Thin Blue Flame and The Last Temptation of Adam are all at least as worthy as the tracks I chose. Youtube The Last Temptation if anyone's taken by any of this - it's a wonderful love story set in a nuclear bunker that would make a great Wes Anderson short. In my head, anyway.

What's my favourite Josh Ritter line? Good question. Maybe 'but now talking to God is Laurel begging Hardy for a gun' from Girl in the War*

Warning: he has a bit of a punchable face.

The hugely Josh Ritter track:

(warned you about the face didn't I?)

The banger:

The late night fireside double whisky go on, spark one up track:

*or maybe it's 'Kathleen Mavourneen, Magnificat, Your Cheatin' Heart, the chords of a covenant king singing for the ark' from that last one.

poprock

Nicely done Moot. Looking forward to giving these a listen over the weekend.

Bob

Love a bit of Ritter

The Historical Conquests... is a bona fide classic all the way through

Moot_Geeza

It's a good one. I listened to Hello Starling this morning, which I had not long after release but then forgot about him for ages. I think @Tin_Robot put a track on a 'storytime for Moot' playlist a couple of years ago, which may have been what rekindled my interest. It was before I knew Ritter was a massive fan of John Prine, covering songs and singing duets with him, honest. Looking forward to his new album, which is produced by Jason Isbell and has him, his wife and his band on board too, for what's been described as 'Ritter's trademark storytelling backed by a Muscle Shoals sound'. Out next month too, which came as a pleasant surprise while I was typing the blurb up there. Please be good.

poprock

I’m definitely into Ritter’s lyrics, but his music is a bit hit and miss for me. Really didn’t gel with Getting Ready To Get Down, sadly (actually put me in mind of Barenaked Ladies, which is rarely a good thing).

That performance of Galahad is fucking GOLD though. Loved it.

Moot_Geeza

I like a good Barenaked Ladies comparison. I put a live Hold Steady track on a playlist email I do with a mate and the scathing 'Springsteen with Barenaked Ladies man on vocals - bollocks' was the highlight of his reviews.

poprock

I used to go out with a girl who loved Barenaked Ladies. Her favourite band. She had a thing about the original singer being far better than the later guy.

Moot_Geeza

poprock wrote:

I’m definitely into Ritter’s lyrics, but his music is a bit hit and miss for me.

I get this. I'm not keen on the production on Temptation of Adam, specifically the horns at the start/swirling strings near the end, nor am I particularly keen on the way he sings it on the record, yet in terms of songwriting it's one of his best. He's at his best stripped down (says Moot, quelle surprise). For the sake of example:

With studio flourishes:

But with just a guitar for company:

Moot_Geeza

poprock wrote:

I used to go out with a girl who loved Barenaked Ladies. Her favourite band. She had a thing about the original singer being far better than the later guy.

A guy at work is mad for them, even goes to see them solo (whichever ones play solo). He's obsessed with music, more than almost anyone else I know, his cd collection easily dwarfs the one I've been working on since the late 90s, and he's introduced me to some great stuff over the years (Townes Van Zandt, Vic Chesnutt, Aesop Rock), but I don't really get the appeal. They've got some songs I like, but I'm not sure they've ever recorded something he's successfully proven to be anything special.

poprock

The appeal of Barenaked Ladies will forever be a mystery to me. Their music is pleasant enough, but nowt special. And yet their fans are FANS in capital letters. How they inspire such devotion baffles me.

Josh Ritter is on my list now, though. Adding him to rotation on my YouTube playlist for the living room, hopefully it’ll focus on his stripped down stuff. I’ll let the algorithm do its thing and see how it goes.

Howdy, Stranger!

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