In The Beginning There Was Rhythm

The Slits, "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" (YSI link)

The Pop Group, "She Is Beyond Good and Evil" (YSI link)

I've been talking about digging deeper into that epic period in the late 70s and early 80s which helps inform so much of what this blog is about. When rap and disco and electro and no wave were all beginnging to bubble up. This particular compilation, In The Beginning There Was Rhythm, chronicles the aftermath of the fall of punk. It was one of, if not the key, moment for Pound for Pound, when dance and rhythm reemerged in rock and punk. I don't hate punk music, I just hate the mindset and biases that informed so much of it. Anger and politics and youth are all great things and the culture produced some powerful stuff, like The Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols, etc. However, it also bred this ridiculous, elitist, borderline homophobic, sexist and racist mindset that dancing and rhythm were horrible, embarrassing things.

The songs above are two favorites from the Soul Jazz compilation. Y'all know I love The Slits and it seemed stupid to not include the song that gives the CD its amazing name. It's perfect Slits, angular, forceful, bass heavy bottom. The Pop Group are a lesser known name from this period, the defining group in the Bristol sound. Their sound was, like The Slits, most influenced by Jamaica and the sounds coming out of that country. While neither has an explicit reggae sound, it's a clear influence. The Pop Group's first single, "She Is Beyond Good and Evil," was produced by legendary Jamaican producer/artist Dennis Bovell and dub is a major part of their steez.

What you'll notice with both songs is how un-punk they sound, how open and experimental this ish is. It's everything that music should be for me, open to new sounds, wild, crazy, danceable, fun, political. In other words, human and complicated. It doesn't surprise me that this is the music we return to today, as opposed to the stale, orthodox sounds of punk. We're going to dig a lot deeper into this period and of course all of the stuff that was breaking around this time.

-Congrats to Nancy Pelosi, first woman Speaker of the House. It's sad that it took this long, but it's happened and this is a great thing. P.S. Wearing purple in honor of the suffragettes at your inauguration, so gully.

-John McCain is a man of convictions, a truth teller, say the pundits. He is not. He is a panderer and The Carpetbagger Report lists his many flip-flops over the past few years. Democrats and liberals, please see this man for what he is, not what you want him to be.

-Great weekend. I had a chance to check out the Man Man/Plastic Little show at the Bowery Friday night, an early contender for show of the year (2007 is all about hyperbole and overusing the best-of concept). Philly took over NYC and destroyed as usual. Man Man were amazing, so great to see a sold-out crowd going crazy in this big space. PL were great, crowd was into it despite the early start. So great to see lots of Philly people, as usual. I got to check out the People Don't Dance No More party, although got a later start than intended. I'm hoping that David et al do it again, as this one has so much potential.

Sadly, the F train and my own inability to figure out the D train map meant that I missed my friends at Home Sweet Home and was in a pissy mood for Project Matt's Saturday night throwdown with the Baller's Eve bols. Sad, as it was a great crowd, sweaty, dancers, Dirty South bangers, a gorgeous bartender a.k.a. the blueprint, but I didn't have it in me. Next week...

-E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!!!!!