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Dusted Features
Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists compiled by our favorite artists. This week: Brooklyn noise-pop band Cause Co-Motion! and Baltimore pianist Lafayette Gilchrist.
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Listed: Cause Co-Motion! + Lafayette Gilchrist
Cause Co-Motion!
Cause Co-Motion! is a pop quartet featuring Arno on rhythm guitar and vocals, Liam on bass, Jock on drums, and Alex on guitar. They’ve been around since 2002 in a handful of lineups and released a bunch of singles on the What’s Your Rupture? label (home to Swedish pop dynamos and tourmates Love Is All, England’s Comet Gain and Nodzzz). We liked them so much, we tabbed them with a Destined pick back in 2006. Now, the band calls Slumberland Records home and is re-releasing its catalog on a single, 14-track disc titled It’s Time! in October. The band also has a new EP coming soon on Slumberland called I Lie Awake, which you can pre-order here if you feel like it. All four bandmates are serious record collectors, so there’s some real gems in this week’s Listed.
1. Candy Jo Tyler - "Mr. Tambourine Man"/"Marvin (Da Dum Doop)" (Laurie)
A way upbeat version of "The Tambourine Man." Handclaps, xylophone, stops and starts, along with Candy’s low-range singing. It’s the most unexpected take on this song I’ve heard, and pretty great. (Arno)
2. The Tights - "Cracked"
I think this song is stuck in my head most of the time. A perfectly poppy punk song with a really cool raw guitar sound that’s all but drowned out by the plodding bassline, inexplicably high in the mix. This band was from Worcester, England, and I’m from Worcester, Mass. (Alex)
3. The cover of Swamp Dogg - Rat On! LP
The thing is that even though the music on this record is actually pretty great, the cover is what kills me – Swamp Dogg looking off somewhere beyond the camera, his dolorous expression belied by his triumphantly raised arms, while riding on top of a disproportionately large smiling white rat with bright pink eyes. I would say that this record is great for animal lovers and music lovers alike. (Liam)
4. Ola & The Janglers - "Eeny Meeny Miney Moe"/"I Can Wait" (London)
WHAT exactly is this, besides the uppest song around? A wild platter of nonsense rhymes, bubblegum soul and monster momentum from a gaggle of silly Swedes with a fair share of substandard material under their belt. One of several records they had out in 1967 - are any of the others as amazing? Not the few I’ve heard, but check out the great flip on this one for an added pinch of The Association in the mix or their 1968 "What A Way To Die" for a ripoff of - and improvement on - "Whiter Shade Of Pale." Lots more digging still to be done here! (Jock)
5. Bez - Freaky Dancin’
Imagine The Sheltering Sky sorted for E’s and whizz and set to the baggiest beat ever and you’re getting close to Bez’s autobiography. It’s funny and vicariously humiliating and weirdly inspiring all at once. By the way, if you haven’t listened to the Mondays’ Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches for a while, I would highly recommend purchasing the cassette for a dollar for your next car trip. (Liam)
6. Tommy James & the Shondells - "Crystal Blue Persuasion"/"I’m Alive" (Roulette)
An American "Waterloo Sunset." (Arno)
7. The Clique - "Superman"/"Sugar on Sunday" (White Whale)
"Sugar" is a Tommy James cover and the hit for the Clique, but the hit for me is definitely the flip. "If you go a million miles away, I’ll track you down, girl." This part of the song always makes me think of Wreckless Eric’s "Whole Wide World." They both have that thump thump thump. (Arno)
8. The Tammys - "Egyptian Shumba"
The wildest girl-group song I’ve ever heard. Non-stop crazy lyrics, screams, monkey sounds and orgasmic yelps. A real ‘I’m-scared-but-I-like-it’ appeal. "I’m gonna make that dream come real / I’m gonna dance the way I feel." Totally bonkers. (Alex)
9. The Summer Hits - "Groovier Drugs/California Summer" (Small-Fi)
The Summer Hits were around from 1992 to 1996 with a diminished return in 1999. Back at the turn of the century I liked to say they were the best band of the ‘90s, especially after the other frontrunner - Comet Gain - ended up disqualifying themselves by becoming an even better band of the 00’s. The Summer Hits were always a little confusing. I bought each single in a frantic haze as it magically appeared in the racks, and to this day my gut understanding of their discography is based on the order I found them, which is completely the wrong way round. It didn’t help that there was no readily available information floating around, or that their 1996 compilation CD on X-mas Records presented the songs out of order and (but thankfully) included a couple of unexplained tracks that were, as far as I know, never released elsewhere. When the first germs of Cause Co-Motion! were being cultivated in the 4-track and we were starting to think about getting a real band going, I had a wild dream that I heard our as-yet unrecorded record played some sunny afternoon on WZBC and that it sounded kind of like "Jackanory Stories" played by The Summer Hits... So that’s what I was going for at first, anyway. (Jock)
10. Dwizz
This kid is like 16 years old and the songs he makes are called things like "That Feels So Good (Feat. Donald Duck)," and then the song actually uses a vocal sample of Donald Duck. He says he makes "party music" and that’s pretty cool. The remix of his "Salt Peppa Ketchup & Hotsauce" (!) by "DJ Diamond Kuts" (!!) makes me feel like an alien that hasn’t even learned what music is. A lot of the dances that they yell about I haven’t learned how to do yet, but I’m gonna. (Liam)
Lafayette Gilchrist
Jazz may be the biggest casualty of the blog revolution, but thank god that hasn’t stopped young musicians from taking up the artform. Pianist Lafayette Gilchrist hails from the Baltimore-D.C. area, a metropolis known more for club music and go-go than late-night cocktail lounges. Gilchrist injects the personality of his hometown into his compositions, without succumbing to turntables or drum machines. His piano is lively and rhythmic, but also quite considerate, a trait he might have developed playing with luminaries like David Murray and Hamid Drake. The jazz world started paying closer attention to Gilchrist after the release of his sophomore record, Towards The Shining Path in 2005, and since then he’s recorded a third full-length, 3 and been featured on the HBO drama The Wire. His fourth album, Soul Progressin’ (Hyena), hit stores on Tuesday and the pianist will celebrate the event later tonight (Sept. 12) with a performance at New York’s Blue Note. He takes the stage with his group the New Volcanoes around midnight. (And it’s worth noting, for those of you frightened off by the Blue Note’s egregious cover fees, this one’s only $8.)
1. Duke Ellington - Money Jungle
The first ‘Jazz Album’ I ever bought and listened to. A sonic adventure the heights of which I dedicate my life to reaching. This record captured my imagination like no other. Duke’s emotional range in terms of what he could express on the piano is pretty mind blowing.
2. P-Funk - One Nation
I think I must have been about 10 when I heard my uncle playing this record. It sounded like heaven to me. Then, when my mom allowed me to spend some of my allowance money on anything I wanted, I bought this record. Fascinating cover art.
3. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Survival
One of the last of the true voices crying out in the wilderness. For Peace, Justice, Love, Soul Power, Human brotherhood.
4. Thelonious Monk - Genius of Modern Music
I never knew that anyone could make music like that. I mean, this seemed to me to be some kind of alternate universe. But I was then, and continue to be, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. His melodies, harmonies and rhythms exist completely on there own terms. I try and go there because his example inspires me.
5. Nas - iLLmatic
The return of New York Hip Hop with that fresh approach. See, to me, an MC has to have the ability to take you into his or her’s mental state. Very few MCs really have that ability. It’s more than clever hooks and rhymes. Nas’ stories convince me and move me.
6. Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
I could play this record and never get tired of it, and there are not many records I can say that about. First thing that struck me about this record was the many sonic colors happening inside that dark, blues-drenched vocals. Mos is one of the most creative and imaginative cats to come along in some time. Again, another master storyteller, even when he’s just vibing.
7. Andrew Hill - Point of Departure
One of the truest artists who ever lived. I remember asking one of my professors who he thought was the next step after Monk. He shot back at me, "You ever hear of Andrew Hill?" I had not. So Dr. Brandon proceeded to make me a cassette recording of Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure. While coming at Monk in an obvious way, he never sounded like Monk in any way. Another universe to explore, and having the pleasure of getting to know him only strengthened my resolve to go deeper into music.
8. Prince - Sign O’ the Times
Prince is always a truly great musician. Always a cat to keep your eye on. I’ve always found his music to be challenging in its honesty. I realized long ago when I first heard him, that this a cat that you have to listen to fully. See, with him, it’s always a trip. Very personal, yet all inclusive approach. Don’t know how he does what he does, but I’m glad he does it.
9. James Brown - Revolution Of The Mind Live At The Apollo Volume 3
Mr. Brown represents everything that has to do with the roots of our Hip Hop Soul Nation. His music always feels like home to me. I could talk about how his music is built, but there’s just nothing like the feeling that he puts into every note played or sung. I love the live sets because you can feel the party going on.
10. Duke Ellington - The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
This is one of Duke Ellington’s later recordings. It feels so futuristic. Ellington’s music carries me into another world. He saw the way the world is going. To me, this music sounds like the real global village predating the current world music scene. Ellington’s depth of emotion and color is breathtaking. This record not only inspires me to compose, but it causes me to think about personality in music. What a sound that band had!!!!
By Dusted Magazine
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