ON REPEAT: Robert Wyatt, The Belair Lip Bombs, Polyrhythm Addicts, Heartworms, Salamanda, Debby Friday
PIGS...in there? PIGS? Huddled up in there?
Hello. Before we go into my little opinions, please allow me to plug the newest episode of The John Gentle Show, available on the Best Show Patreon. This episode John does a Holdovers with an unimpressive student played by Rachel Kaly. Doing this show has been so much fun, and spending so much time on John Gentle is making me go mildly insane:
Ok, now enjoy my little opinions on songs, compiled in playlist form here.
The Belair Lip Bombs “Say My Name”
The Belair Lip Bombs are a group from Melbourne, who are blowing up. There’s a bit of Brett Davis gimmick infringement going on with their previous EP, Songs To Do Your Laundry To, that I will overlook due to their good songs, like this one. But something else troubles me that I cannot overlook.
When I see a band that looks fresh out of high school that plays music that sounds like the stuff I listened to in high school, I know something is up. Then I read this interview with Maisie Everett, one of the band’s vocalists, describing where the band’s weird name comes from:
“There's this skateboard wheel from the eighties and it was called a Belair Lip Bomb. My Dad is a bit of a skater and he just suggested it and I was like, yep, sweet.”
“My dad is a bit of a skater.” Yeah, fuck you. I hate cool dads. While “nepo babies” are a thing people talk about more these days, we don’t give enough shit to cool people who had cool dads.
You’re culturally privileged! People in bands need to readily admit if their dad was blasting Arctic Monkeys or something when they were little.
I grew up in a mostly a LiteFM/Z100 house. I didn’t have a dad growing up, and the coolest thing my mom did when I was a child, was sitting on the floor of her office, putting on headphones and blasting Vanilla Fudge while chain-smoking, which was scary to me. When it came to discovering cool new music, I was mostly on my own. (Though I did have older siblings, like my untz untz clubbing sister.)
I give this band a pass because they are Australian, and Australian dads have different rules. I imagine them looking like this.
Heartworms “May I Comply”
YUP
Polyrhythm Addicts “Big Phat Boom”
I’ll own up to what leg-ups I had. My brother left for college in the early 90’s before I could benefit from having an older brother home daily to casually show me stuff or learn about cool shit via osmosis.
What he did do, was leave behind some of his CDs. Not like, “here is my gift to you, younger brother” but more like “I can’t bring Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em to college because my dormmate will make fun of me.” But his scraps were my treasure, and my being into MC Hammer at 7 years old made him go, “Oh no—that sucks, here’s A Tribe Called Quest—it’s much better.”
Because of this, I have a refined taste for old-school hip-hop that has remained throughout my life. And when I see a song called “BIG PHAT BOOM,” I’m like, “This is gonna be good.” And it is.
Polyrhythm Addicts is composed of composed of DJ Spinna, Mr Complex, Shabaam Sahdeeq, and Tiye Phoenix, and was only meant to be a one-off, but led to more albums. They put this out in 1999, and this track in particular samples ATCQ’s “Rhythm (Devoted To The Art Of Moving Butts).”
DEBBY FRIDAY “let u in”
Another jam from the Debster, whom I’ve talked about quite a bit here.
Salamanda “Sun Tickles”
Salamanda is an ambient/DJ duo of Uman (Sala) and Yetsuby (Manda) from Seoul. This is first-thing-in-the-morning music and for a while every time I typed in YouTube, it autofilled to this video and I just left it because it was so pleasant.
Robert Wyatt “The Age of Self”
Robert Wyatt’s impact on music defies easy categorization. I can’t even tell you what genre this is—if pressured I’d just say avant-garde and quickly change the subject. Wyatt first gained prominence as the drummer and vocalist (that’s always weird) for prog rock band Soft Machine in the 1960’s. After a fall in 1973 left him paralyzed from the waist down, Wyatt's career took a deeply personal turn, leading him to pursue a solo path that is still going strong.
I’m still making my way through his huge catalog but this one has been on repeat recently, for 2024 reasons. It was recorded in 1982 in support of mining unions, with proceeds going straight to supporting the cause
They say the working class is dead, we're all consumers now
They say that we have moved ahead, we're all just people now
There's people doing 'frightfully well' there's others on the shelf
But never mind the second kind this is the age of self
They say we need new images to help our movement grow
They say that life is broader based as if we didn't know
While Martin J. and Robert M. play with printer's ink
The workers 'round the world still die for Rio Tinto Zinc
And it seems to me if we forget
Our roots and where we stand
The movement will disintegrate
Like castles built on sand
THE GOLD STANDARD:
Robert Wyatt “Pigs…(In There)”
This one is on repeat forever. I love a song that tells a beautiful story.
(I need a Top 40 rapper to sample this.)
"Pigs," what a great song, one of those 2-3 minute tunes you wish went on a lot longer... Robert Wyatt is such a special guy! The 80s stuff is less celebrated IMHO but so rewarding.