Mirah: “The Light”
From C’mon Miracle (K Records, 2004)

The Black Keys: “When the Lights Go Out”
From Rubber Factory (Fat Possum, 2004)

Both of these albums are hot, and I could easily upload like 3/4 of the tracks from each of them, but I’d like to believe that blogs like this encourage (rather than replace) music purchases, so I’m limiting myself to just two songs.

If I had to map Mirah, I’d place her somewhere in the space separating Liz Phair and Bjork. A more important middle ground, though, is the balance she finds between immediate, pop appeal and the kind of depth (both sonic and lyrical) that encourages repeat listens. “The Light” begins with Phil Elvrum’s drum machines stomping through puddles of filtered distortion, before suddenly dissolving into a weightless acoustic tremble halfway through. The effect is something like being sucker-punched, then softly kissed on the mouth.

Despite the similarities in lineup (guitar/drums duo), origin (Midwest), and name, don’t confuse The White Stripes with The Black Keys. The BKs actually recorded their latest album in an abandoned rubber factory, but there are no pretentious statements about the post-industrial urban landscape here, only blues-tinged bangers like “When the Lights Go Out”. Dan Auerbach sparks it with a piston-pounding levee (drum) break, while Patrick Carney adds just enough vocals and guitar to maintain the song’s lovely slow burn.

Lou Rawls “For What It’s Worth”
From Feelin’ Good (Capitol, 1968)

Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 “For What It’s Worth”
From Stillness (A&M, 1970)

Damn, just when I thought I had come up with a nifty name for this post, I do a little searching on the internet to find this. As if I haven’t bitten O-Dub’s steez enough, I’ve gotta keep this title cause that’s what this post is all about: great covers covering already great songs, in this case the immaculate “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield.

The idea stemmed from a recent “ipod on random” session when it flipped to Lou Rawls’ version of “For What It’s Worth” produced by the almighty David Axelrod. Taking the originally somber piece and flipping it completely, Axelrod provides Rawls with an upbeat funk backing to play with. For me, literally anything Axelrod touches is golden and this one is no exception.

Sergio Mendes’ version is another fine example of a great cover, using a minimalistic soundscape and sultry female vocals. This track along with the break at the beginning makes this record one of Mendes’ most sought after, even though it’s a fairly easy find if you’re a persistent digger.

Covering songs is tricky business cause it’s easy to come off wack, but I think these two are wonderful examples of how artists can take already classic songs and remake them into something of their own. For a more in depth look at how dope covers can be, definitely try and track down O-Dub’s Deep Covers mix CD as he drops a lot more knowledge than this measly post.

Sorry for that unexpected outage. We’ve relocated to another server so hopefully bandwith will no longer be a problem.

Anyways, thanks for making earfuzz a huge success in its first month of existence. I don’t think any of us expected it to blow up as much as it did, and I think we owe a lot of credit to soul-sides and all of the other blogs and websites that deemed us worthy enough to link. Thank you.

So keep coming back. We have so much more to share and say, as well as a site redesign coming soon.

Try listening to Paid In Full on your day off from work and/or school. I’m sure Eric B could serve George W.

We’re approaching our bandwith limit for the month here at earfuzz, so if our site goes down in the next week you know why. If that’s the case please come back in March.

But until that happens, updates per usual.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth: “I Got A Love (remix)”
From I Got A Love 12″ (Elektra, 1994)

[It seems I that have the honor of being the first one to post here after we got put on blast. In light of this, I'm throwing up something that will (I hope) promote peace and level-headedness rather than blog beef.]

“I Got A Love (remix)” is one of my absolute favorite songs for just cooling out at home on the late-night/early-morning tip. I know I’m a little late in hopping on the Pete Rock remix bandwagon, but the interaction between original and remix for “I Got A Love” has always impressed me. Following the woofer-testing bass and hands-in-the-air chorus of the original, the remix provides a subdued (yet equally dope) complement: Pete Rock slows down the drums, coats the track in thick layers of keyboard, and chops the hook down to a single dubbed-out syllable. Aiiight, chill…

Prefuse 73 feat. Ghostface and El-P: “Hideyaface” and “Hideyaface Reprise (Shaolin Finale)”
From Surrounded by Silence (Warp, 2005)

So I heard this rumor a while ago that Prefuse 73, Ghostface, and El-P were working on something together, although the exact details always remained elusive to me. A hot collab in theory, the idea of it being true seemed unlikely just because the involved artists seemed to be on totally different pages music-wise, but Ghostface over just about anything, especially some Prefuse heat, sounds like a good deal to me.

Well, rumor no more, Prefuse’s single called “Hideyaface” featuring Ghostface and El-P is dropping February 21st on Warp records. I’ve never really iked El-P as an emcee, and it’s no different here, especially next to Ghostface who kills it as usual. Yeah, it takes some time getting used to hearing him over Prefuse’s signature sound, but like I said before, Ghostface almost always comes correct.

The Congos: “Children Crying” and “Sodom and Gomorrow”
From Heart of the Congos (Black Ark, 1977)

“Solid Foundation (Disco Cork Mix)”
From Heart of the Congos: Original Recording Remastered (Blood & Fire, 1996)

I always have trouble compiling best of lists, but this album may very well be in my top twenty or so favorites. Despite my general unfamiliarity with reggae, and more specifically roots, this is the most complete such album that I have come across which has now become one of the defining statements in Jamaican music. Credit should certainly go to The Congos, comprised of Cedric Myton and Roydel “Ashanti” Johnson, but most will agree that the true greatness of the album is the result of the production genius of Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Released in 1977, Heart of the Congos utilized a lot of the limited studio technology that was available at the time. Using equipment like the Echoplex reverb, Mutron phaser, and filtered through a Soundcraft board, Perry created a near dream state of sounds that complimented the vocal harmonies of Myton and Johnson perfectly. Everything is so seamless, beautiful, and undeniably sublime that they practically melt in your ears.

“Children Crying” is a perfect example of Myton’s falsetto blends layered with Johnson’s tenor, and despite the track’s title, it’s about as beautiful as songs can get. What’s crazy is that Perry used distorted cow noises throughout the track, something I never realized until someone pointed it out, but it just demonstrates the sheer brilliance of his production and creative control. The album also includes backing vocals from Gregory Isaacs, the Heptones, the Meditations, and Perry himself.

I can see how it would be hard for some people to get into this album at first since it’s really quite unorthodox when it comes to reggae music, but it’s definitely one of those things that just gets stronger after each listen. Currently there is a remastered edition that contains an extra disc of rarities and alternate mixes that is definitely worth picking up. This was the version I bought when I first heard about the album, then I found the OG for $20, and finally the vinyl special edition for cheap. To me it’s not crazy having three copies of this wonderfully realized piece.

As influential as much of Perry’s music is, Heart of the Congos is perhaps the defining moment in his career, and seminal in every sense of the word. If anyone can recommend albums like this one please do.

Presage: The Media
From: Outer Perimeter (Future Primitive, 1998)
Presage: Aliens
From: Outer Perimeter (Future Primitive, 1998)
Presage: One Breaker, One Move
From: Breakin Rules EP (Devious, 1997)
Presage: Invitation 2 Hell
From: Urban Revolutions (Future Primitive, 2000)

So the rad thing about this whole mp3 blog phenomenon is that it’s like being a DJ, but with a more captive audience that you get to yammer at for a little bit. It’s like when you lived in the dorms, and would invite your little crew over, sit in beanbag chairs, and stare at the stereo for a half hour. Appropriately enough, for my first foray into this internet music opium den, I’m pulling out a couple records by a crew whose music received its fair share of late night blacklit appreciation.

Presage’s Outer perimeter pretty much split my wig as far as what could be done within the dj mixtape format. I dig a lot of rock concept albums; but with the addition of found dialogue and a wide variety of sampled source sounds, not to mention an above average balance of focus and abrstraction, Mr. Dibbs and Jel really push the shit over the edge. You get President Bush, Visa commercials, Frank Zappa, and Jello Biafra all in your ear over rough ass drums, making you check over your shoulder and under your bed for Big Brother. It’s suitably dark, neck snappingly funky, unreasonably paranoid, and dead fucking accurate.

Predating the Illuminati centered “Outer perimeter,” Dibbs and Jel did a couple tracks as Presage for the Breakin’ Rules EP, a record of cuts aimed at breakdancers put together by Ohio’s Illstyle Rockers b-boy crew. It has the same aesthetic of hard drum breaks and topical vocal samples as the LP, but isn’t really as fleshed out or interesting.

For more of what made the full length so cool, you’re better off checking out “Invitation to Hell,” from the Future Primitave’s Urban Revolutions comp and Dibbs’ Random Vol. 3 (both of which are considerably easier to find, anyway). This one gets back in the “I sit alone in my 4 cornered room staring at candles” vein, meditating on the dark side of religion, and opens with a nice usage of Can’s “vitamin C,” which Maru featured last week.

I wouldn’t mind running off at the mouth about Mr Dibbs and Jel’s respective backgrounds and current activities, and all that business about underappreciation etc, but I’m new to the blog thing (the writing therof, at least), and probably shouldn’t blow my load on the first post…

Wu-Tang Clan: “Protect Ya Neck (Bloody Version)”
From Protect Ya Neck 12″ (Loud, 1993)

The other day I copped The Wu-Tang Manual. There’s some pretty interesting stuff in it – annotated lyrics, essays on influences (chess, comics, PCP), and even a section on RZA’s beatmaking techniques for production nerds like me. One thing that isn’t there, though, is an explanation of why the f*ck they put a censored version of “Protect Ya Neck” on 36 Chambers, which is something that always bothered me. So, while I may not have an answer, I do have a dirty version, for anyone who wants it.