Remembering singer/songwriter Eugene McDaniels on his birthday

Raising a glass to Eugene McDaniels with a discussion of his hit tune "Compared To What" performed by Les McCann and more. 

Cherrystones brings the noise for Red Nails

Deep digging UK DJ/producer Cherrystones aka Gareth Goddard and Godsy is releasing a super limited version of his the forthcoming 12-track Red Nails double album in an edition of 100 copies with screen printed outer and inner sleeves as well as hand-stamped labels. Red Nails will be available September 17 but the Fat City site is now accepting pre-orders while supplies last.

A follow-up to his similarly limited run My Snow Does Not Melt album released in 2010 using his Godsy handle, Red Nails moves away from the brooding reverb-soaked dirges of My Snow with a more confrontational approach involving heavily pounding beats and snarling synths. If My Snow Does Not Melt could be considered a soundtrack for a French kitchen-sink drama that doesn't exist, then the music of Red Nails might be the backing tracks for a particularly gruesome gangsta rap album yet to be made.

Red Nails is being released on the Brutal Music label which should give you an idea of where Goddard's coming from this time out. Have a listen to Bruised Meats and the demo for Honey's Pot which doesn't sound radically different from the finished version:


Bruised Meats by Cherrystones



Honey's Pot (demo) by Cherrystones

Andy Votel recharges with Vintage Voltage

Since B-Music bigwig and hobbyist DJ and vinyl hound Andy Votel maintained an odd degree of regularity with releases of his prior Fat City mixtapes in three year intervals – Music To Watch Girls Cry (2001), Songs In The Key Of Death (2004) and One Nation Under A Grave (2007) – there was some speculation that a new collection of obscure head-nodders might be appearing in 2010. True to form, the so-called "Saxonic wax magnet" behind the FInders Keepers reissue operation has delivered Vintage Voltage, a 68-minute dazzler of a new set which takes a sharp turn from his prior mixes. Was that a sigh of relief? Yes, well Votel's cool but sometimes corny compendiums were starting to sound a little too much like the ho-hum handiwork of soundtrack-tweaker-for-hire David Holmes.

It appears that the daily ethnic psych and freak folk concerns of running an accidental world music label like Finders Keepers has sent Votel off in the opposite direction for Vintage Voltage which is largely built on hard-thumping Euro prog, robot rock, concrete pop and whirring sound library electronic jams. All of the found sounds (never any track listings from "no-tell Votel") are obscure enough to impress his cohorts like Cherrystones, Dom Thomas, Bob Stanley and Doug Shipton while steering clear of legal hassles.
If you were hoping to hear some airy-fairy drivel sung in Welsh over lightly strummed acoustic guitars and plucked harps, I'm afraid you're out of luck. However if say, the Tafo Brothers approach to plugged-in Lollywood pop is more your steez and you don't have enough jerky Japanese electro-rock, gurgling L’Illustration Musicale and MP2000-style synth drama in your life, then you'll find Vintage Voltage positively electrifying. 

Check out these sample clips...














LINKS
Fat City Recordings http://www.fatcityrecordings.com/
Finders Keepers http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/
Andy Votel's myspace http://www.myspace.com/andyvotel