AS ADVERTISED, AWESOME, FROM AFRICA

Several months ago I posted a couple songs by Zara Moussa, a rapper from Niger, West Africa. In the post I mentioned "this might have been the sort of thing that the re-formed Slits would have been headed for had the late Ari Up still been alive". I finally figured out why I thought that. Listen to Moussa's "Soyeye" and then the Slits' "Ask Ma". Kinda similar. Shove that aside and listen to more Zara Moussa at Awesome Tapes From Africa.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Zara Moussa - Soyeya mp3 at Awesome Tapes From Africa
The Slits - Ask Ma (streaming) at YouTube
Zara Moussa - Femme mp3 at Awesome Tapes From Africa
Zara Moussa - 11 more songs at Awesome Tapes From Africa Go there to get them
Video:

 Zara Moussa (ZM) - "Maté Gaté" Live at YouTube

OH YES IT'S LADIES NIGHT

Seriously, that photo above is so totally badass. It's the Liverbirds, who have been here before. But this week I started obsessing about the vocal delivery of Valerie Gell on their cover of "Peanut Butter". I'd compare it to a cartoon of a sneer but she really does sound tough enough to interpret it as a bona fide I don't give a fuck. Check them live (link also below).

That wasn't the only cover I was obsessing about this week. I'm reading Viv Albertine's first book, she was in the Slits,  and was reminded what a young band they were when they recorded "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". One thing I didn't realize is that it was their first record. Wow. Ari Up was, what, fifteen? That's a pretty inventive interpretation despite their lack of experience. Oh yeah, the released version was a first take.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Liverbirds - Peanut Butter mp3 at Internet Archive
The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Video:
The Liverbirds - Peanut Butter (live) at YouTube
The Slts - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (live) at YouTube

GAGA WISHES

Well I'll be dipped in shit, a Slits movie, forty years on. That calls for a good ol' fashioned Slits roundup. The trailer's below, and at the bottom a few songs and what-not. If you're unfamiliar with the Slits, start with their cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for a point of reference. If you aren't familiar with any version of that song, there is no hope. You're in the wrong place.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Slits - I Heard It Through Grapevine mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Slits - Typical Girls mp3 at Popboks
The Slits - Love and Romance mp3 at ATumblr (?)
The Slits - New Town mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Live set:
Slits live at Primavera Sound 2010 (streaming) at Free Music Archive
Visit:
The Day I Joined the Slits by Simon Fellowes at 3:AM Magazine

COOL PHOTO NIGHT

I know I just posted the Slits not too long ago, but I ran across a non-LP version of "Instant Hit", a harder sounding version. Might be a Peel Session or something, I don't know. I was still on the fence about posting it when I ran into the photo below, by Caroline Coon. It's Paul Simonon from the Clash glancing at Ari Up, likely backstage at some show. But that's not what's why I dig it, nor is the vintage of the photo (1977). What I like about it is that it's a candid shot that captures a specific era in an everyday manner, an accidental Robert Frank. (A larger version can be found here.)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Slits - Instant Hit mp3 at Said the Gramaphone Go there to get it.
The Slits - Adventures Close to Home mp3 Ditto

THAT WAS A GOOD EPISODE

Not messing around tonight. I was going to post the first song picked at random that was what I considered a really good record. The Slit's cover of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" fit the bill. I've heard all four of the versions below many times, and the Slits is far and away my favorite, though technically it's probably, no, certainly the worst. But I identify with it, like many of you who know it, because if you are of a certain age, the Slit's version came out during a crucial period in your life. And if you can't identify a good song with an episode, what good is it?

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at William Burkey (?)
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Chilthorne (?)
Gladys Knight and the Pips - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at Zatoon (?)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (streaming) at YouTube

RIDDIM DEPOT. YEAH, WE GOT THAT.

Garret Mimms's "A Quiet Place" was just a slow tempo soul song when it was released in 1964, making it to #78 in the charts. Hardly a smash hit. But when it crossed the water over to Jamaica, boy, did it ever get legs. The Paragons recorded it at Duke Reid's in 1968, and the riddim (rhythm) that it was laid over has been mined for the past four decades. Usually referred to as the "Man Next Door" riddim, it's been used by U Roy, Doctor Alimatado, and I Roy, to toast over, and the song itself, with the riddim (as opposed to Simms's original version), has been covered by everybody from Horace Andy and Dennis Brown to the Slits. My personal favorite (which you should rightly not give a shit about) is Dr. Alimantado's version, "Poison Flour", because he incorporates Horace Andy's vocal tracks as well as the riddim, and, of course, his own spouting off . He must have like the song, because he used it twice, as did U Roy, John Holt (solo and with the Paragons), and Horace Andy (solo, with the Paragons, and with Massive Attack). And you just know the session musicians that came up with the riddim probably got the paid for the session, but squat for coming up with the very part of it that has proved so enduring. I've no clue if you can be paid royalties for just playing a song differently, but that opens up the biggest can of worms in reggae, who did what? It's like a damn free for all over there.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Songs:
Garnet Simms - A Quite Place (streaming at YouTube
The Paragons - A Quiet Place mp3 at Essentially Eclectic
Horace Andy - Man Next Door (streaming) at YouTube With dub version.
Dr. Alimantado - Poison Flour mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
I Roy- Noisy Place (streaming) at YouTube
U Roy - Peace and Love In the Ghetto (streaming) at YouTube
Dennis Brown - Man Next Door mp3 at Essential Eclectic
The Slits - Man Next Door (live) mp3 at Essentially Eclectic

GENRE ISSUE

In looking for an image for this post, I thought I'd do an image search for "punk women," just for the hell of it, fully expecting to be disappointed. I was, more than I expected. I'm here to tell you, "punk women" doesn't mean what it used to. Neither does "punk men" for that matter. Slap me silly, there's some godawful missuses of the term, especially online where everything is packaged and marketed to death; be it gender, genre, or attitude. It's clueless, it's a haircut, a pair of shoes, a fashion spread, and uninformed editorial self indulgence.

Anyway, Network Awesome recently posted a five part video compilation series called "The Women of Punk." Band wise, there's a whole lot of favorites, most I never really identified as one gender or the other. Some I wouldn't even think of as punk. Regardless, if they're going to take the time to round up (or curate as they put it) that comprehensive of a playlist, they can call it "Pea Soup" for all I care.

If you haven't been on Network Awesome, there's a couple things to note. One is that in each series of videos, they have interspersed short promos for other stuff on their site, along with old commercials, primarily from the 70s and 80s. You can bypass any of these, or any of the music videos, by pulling the slider all the way to the end. It'll automatically go to the next clip or video.

At the very bottom below is a link to a really good recent video of Vivienne Westwood (wife of Malcolm McLaren, and co-clothier to the Sex Pistols) speaking her mind about art, punk, education, status and other related subjects.

Watch:
The Women of Punk, Part 1 at Network Awesome: Suzi Quatro, The Runaways, Joan Jett, X Ray Spex, Bush Tetras, B-Girls, The Cranos, Shonen Knife, Pink Section, The Au Pairs, Bikini Kill
The Women of Punk, Part 2 at Network Awesome: Souixie & the Banshees, The Slits, Penetration, Sexsick, Kleenex, Kas Product, Suburban Reptiles, Kleenex, Neo Boys, Castration Squad
The Women of Punk, Part 3 at Network Awesome: Mo-Dettes, Model Citizens, Blondie, Delta 5, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill, Pandoras, Knetics, Patti Smith Group, Nina Hagen, X
The Women of Punk, Part 4 at Network Awesome: Plasmatics, The Rezillos, 45 Grave, Vice Squad, Auróra Cirkáló, The Bags, UXA, The Raincoats, Avengers, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Spitboy, The Gossip
The Women of Punk, Part 5 at Network Awesome: Slant 6, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Chalk Circle, Huggy Bear, Tiger Trap, The Gits, Bratmobile, Heavens To Betsy, Excuse 17, Babes In Toyland, L7
Definitely watch this:
Vivienne Westwood interview at the Guardian UK

ARI UP DEAD

Just minutes ago, I opened an email from my friend Mikel, who I've known since our fanzine days back in the early punk scene. Reading the email, my heart sunk. It was just a forwarded press release, saying that Ari Up, lead singer of the Slits, had passed away at the age of 48:

"Ari Up (born Ariane Forester), the German-born lead vocalist for seminal British punk band The Slits has died at the age of 48 after a long battle with illness. Her immediate family has asked for privacy at this time and no public service is planned. She is survived by three sons, her mother Nora, and stepfather Johnny Lydon (also known as Johnny Rotten)."

Video of "Lazy Slam", just released today

Regulars here (all four of you) will know that know that she held a special place in the Trastos heart (uh, punk crush #17). I wrote about her a little over a year ago, when the revamped Slits had just released a new album, their first in years (that post can be found here). A certain amount of innocent exuberance has been lost, but photos of that smile will be be around to remind us of the joy inherent in following one's own path. And something tells me that she's not one to rest in peace, more like run amok in peace.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

The Slits - Ask Ma mp3 at Limewire
The Slits - Live set from the Primavera Sound Festival (2010) at the Free Music Archive (Once there, click on arrow to the right to download)
The Slits - The World of Grown-Ups (live 2008) mp3 at Pitchfork
The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at One Sweet Song
Ari Up's bio, in her own words at Pitchfork
The Slits at MySpace

THE SLITS LIVE 2010

If you would have told me thirty years ago that I'd be posting a link to a legal download of a May 2010 live set by the Slits, recorded at a festival in Barcelona, I would have asked if people got there in flying cars and jet packs. Seriously, it seems so odd to even be mentioning the Slits long after they were the goofy kid sisters of the UK punk scene. But, listening to the between song comments of this set, they still seem like goofy kid sisters. And therein, to me, lies the appeal.

I found the link to the set on WFMU's Beware of the Blog, always a deep well of esoteric shit. They posted the set, among others, on the Free Music Archive, a site with legal downloads of all sorts of oddball acts, including one by the Almighty Defenders, a stuporgroup made up of Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ (which gives me the excuse I've been waiting for to post the photo below of the Black Lips in North Ocean Beach, significant only because I pass by that very spot every night on my way to a swim).

~ NOTE: ONCE AT THE FMA SITE, CLICK ON THE DOWNWARD POINTING ARROW TO THE RIGHT (NEXT TO THE "+" SIGN) TO DOWNLOAD ~
The Slits, Live at the Primavera Sound Festival
The Almighty Defenders, Live at the Primavera Sound Festival
The Free Music Archive

ARI GROWED UP

Though it's been thirty years since the first Slits LP Cut, there's no mistaking the voice and the phrasing on the song "Ask Ma" from the upcoming Trapped Animal. Even if the sound isn't as all together organic as the first album (who can follow up using dropped silverware as a rhythm?), and there is more than a touch of electronically produced sounds, the feel (from the one song I've heard, at least) is still full-on Slits. And, surprisingly, even with all the time that has passed, it isn't as removed from the early work as you'd expect. But there's no mistaking that it is an update, and not a reunion.

It's comforting that Ari Up, punky reggae's Pippy Longstocking, hasn't changed much since the early days of the Slits. She exudes all of the characteristics of being comfortable in one's own skin. (And if it works, why change it, right?) Turns out, even with constant moving around, living in jungles and becoming a mother, she's still the same gangly wide-eyed girl she's always been. She's like the six year old that rides up on their bike while you're working on your car and says "Whatcha doing?" Without an ounce of fanboy (too old for that anyways), I have to say, I really missed her.

.

The Slits - Ask Ma mp3 at LimeWire

The Slits - The World of Grown-Ups (Live 2008) mp3 at Pitchfork

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine mp3 at One Sweet Song

Ari Up's bio, in her own words, at Pitchfork

The Slits on MySpace (w/semi-recent videos)