Mucca Pazza- Safety Fifth (Electric Cowbell Records, 2012)
Mucca Pazza are a few-dozen strong group from Chicago, an ensemble that blends a bewildering array of styles (tango, spaghetti western soundtracks, and heavy funk, to name just a few), delivers the resulting musical stew with instrumentation befitting a traditional brass marching band, and throws in some accordions and surf guitars, just for good measure. This, their third album, is the first to be released on Brooklyn’s Electric Cowbell Records, and it fits well with the label’s “anything and everything funky” aesthetic. The tunes range from madcap carousel fanfares to slithery groove monsters to pastoral waltzes to stomping oom-pah shanties. Some selections come off like soundtracks to cop shows from far-distant cultures, some like marches performed by a group that just discovered the Sousa songbook at the bottom of a bottle of whiskey, and occasionally, the band’s improvisational nature and experimental impulses shoot straight past traditional forms and towards some distant free-jazz galaxy. It’s an album I’d recommend to anyone with an open musical mind; a record that’s insanely diverse, completely unpredictable, and thoroughly endearing.
Safety Fifth is available on CD or as a digital download.
DJ Rob Swift- Roc For Raida (Self-released, 2012)
The world of hip-hop suffered an incalculable loss when Grandmaster Roc Raida passed away in September of 2009. Over the previous two decades, Raida took the art of DJing to new levels: participating in competitions and winning a world championship title, inventing and refining new scratches and techniques, producing records for a variety of respected artists, and with his group The X-ecutioners, bringing the art of turntablism to a worldwide audience. He was a tireless ambassador for the art form, and one of the greatest DJs of all time.
And now, a few years after his passing, his collaborator and bandmate Rob Swift has released a new mixtape honoring his fallen friend. The 18 tracks encompass some of Raida’s classic productions and performances, interview segments with Raida and the artists he influenced, and new recordings of his DJ routines as re-interpreted by his fellow X-ecutioners (Mista Sinista, Total Eclipse, Precision, and Swift himself). It’s a history lesson, a fine reminder of the artistry that mixing records can ascend to. And though it’s a tribute disc, it never veers too far toward melancholy; the vibe stays laid-back and funky throughout. Raida’s compositional style tended toward the moody and melodic, and it’s fitting that one of his closest friends now uses those sounds to pay tribute and mark his memory. If you’re a fan of hip-hop, turntablism, or deep groovy sounds, this is an essential purchase.
Roc For Raida is available on CD or as a digital download (in a variety of formats) from Rob Swift’s bandcamp site. Proceeds go to Roc Raida’s family.