Everyone likes girl group songs. Why? Because they combine what was then considered cutting-edge, uptown R&B with commercially successful teenage pop. Perhaps more than any other genre in American music history, the songs produced by all female or female-led groups in the 1960s continue to be recycled and revived. Pop stars struggling for hit singles today often return to these original gems--Sheryl Crowe's "The First Cut is the Deepest" is one that comes to mind.

The Shirelles formed in 1958 as a high school singing group near New York City.  Four close friends (Shriley, Doris, Addie and Beverly) wrote the song "I Met Him on a Sunday" and performed it for their high school talent show. Lightening struck, and by the year's end, the song would enter the Top 50 chart.

The group continued to produce singles, like "Tonight's the Night" and "Dedicated to the One I Love", but didn't really blow up until they released "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" in 1961, the first hit song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.  The song is considered by many to be the hit that solidified the girl group genre.

1. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" - The Shirelles (1961, re-cut in 1978)

2. "Party Lights" - Claudine Clark (1962) 

3.  "Boy From New York City" - Ad Libs (1965)

I've included Claudine Clark's "Party Lights" here, which was an early girl group gem that climbed to the US top 5 in 1962. Clark's song contains the same R&B sound that paved the way for groups like Ad Libs. The Ad Libs song "Boy From New York City", is an American classic. Not surprisingly, the song has seen many revivals, including hit versions by the Darts and Manhattan Transfer. 

Unless you are part of a major touring act, life as a musician can be difficult (it can be even when you are part of a major touring act too). It’s actually rather common for musicians to play for several groups to make ends meet in addition to working day jobs.

Take for example musical virtuoso Mike Effenberger . As a childhood piano prodigy, Effenberger was exposed to a wide variety of music that is clearly reflected in his work across various genres today.

Interestingly, this crosses not only genres, but also various instrumentations with Effenberger demonstrating skills on instruments as broad as piano, keyboards, farfisa organ and moog synthesizers to brass such as tuba and trombone as well as the bass.

The music these days ranges from more traditional acoustic jazz which can be heard in the Masahiro Yamamoto Quartet pieces he composed and arranged (he won the 2004 Young Beacons in Jazz Award), or the many member northeast group Amorphous Band to electroacoustical styling with experimental group Elliptical Ferns and ambient as heard on the self-released album “inverse regioneering” (released under the name f).

On “quilt” which he wrote for the Masahiro Yamamoto Quartet, you hear what could be considered a more traditional jazz piece. A saxophone feature that is often adventurous with bass and drum parts that standout; diverging from each other without losing focus on the main “feel” of the song and coming back together beautifully. It builds itself up gradually and surprisingly before slowing things back down at the end.

With Elliptical Ferns, you can see that Effenberger’s skill is at times even bolder on synthesizers. “Bud”, a classic dub track, is a standout. The drums and bass provide your steady backbeat with Effenberger’s synthesizers giving the song its identity.

On his ambient solo release, you find an artist at his best. This is high praise since (at least in my opinion) a lot of contemporary ambient music can at best be categorized as boring or uninventive. Experimenting with everything and finding inspiration with sounds you wouldn’t expect is par for the course. Peeling back the layers and listening for particular sounds is just part of the fun. On “blue and electric” for example, you clearly hear the ripping of paper towards the end, just underneath the rich piano, farfisa organ and what is either a guiro or, perhaps, chalk on a blackboard. Interestingly you can hear parts of the other bands Effenberger belongs to in the album’s music. The rich jazz piano, occasional traces of dub and interesting instrumental arrangements such as the percussion on “indoor neon sky” (Do I detect a smidgeon of NIN?) show diversity on the album.

All and all an artist worth checking out. And seeing as how he is only in his early twenties, people will have a lot to look forward to in the future.

Download the album "inverse regioneering" for free here.

Masahiro Yamamoto Qaurtet - Quilt  (Effenberger)

Elliptical Ferns - Bud (Effenberger)

f - Blue and Electric (Effenberger)

f - indoor neon sky (Effenberger)

Monday is "Dueling Records Day." Today's theme: guitar virtuosos of the 1960s and 70s.

Up first, is the dreamy Baden Powell of Brasil (and Germany and Paris) with his record Apaixanado (meaning "Passionate").

Before we even play this record, Baden scores some early points with a pop-up video fun fact: he's actually named after the dude who co-founded the Boy Scouts in 1904 (Baden's father was a scout leader and idolized Powell senior). 

Now, onto the music. Powell dances into the ring with a rocking instrumental piece named "Igarape", a jazz and bossa inspired track supported by a killer septep. Immediately following "Igarape," Powell takes it down a notch with the aptly-named "Abstracto." Here, Powell confounds the listener with a track that is both experimental and strikingly simple. We at Eggs for Becky cheer, "Yay for the echo peddle!" This track is followed by a cocktail-shakin' ditty perfect for entertaining company.

1. "Igarape" - Baden Powell
2. "Abstracto" - Baden Powell
3. "Balantofede" - Baden Powell

Up next, the wavy-haired gypsy from Spain, Manitas De Plata.

Manitas de Plata is so badass, that he's not even competing. He just strolled into the arena, muttered some obscenities in an unknown language, and began fingering his six string guitar.

This guy is a guitar legend. He can't read or write, and he's missing some teeth, but DAMN! can he play the gee-tar. These tracks are off his entirely improvised album "Flamenco - The Spain of Manitas".

1.  "Malaga" - Manitas De Plata
2.  "Fandango por Soleares a Dos Guitarras" - Manitas De Plata
3.  "Seguiriya por Fandangos del Hijo" - Manitas De Plata 

Even though I enjoy Powell's music more, Manitas wins. Why? Because he scores with the hot French chick, of course!

In college, I took an introductory electronic music class with one of the genre's early pioneers, Joel Chadabe. Chadabe was long on words and short on instruction, but the class never seemed to mind. His directionless rambling was like listening to a genius think. One story, involving a spanish omelette, was related to us by Chadabe at least a dozen times throughout the semester. By the fifth or sixth rerun, we started chuckling quietly to ourselves, or looking around at the others. But by the eighth or nineth "spanish omelette" retelling, I think we had all decided it was part of Chadabe's charm.

The funny part? I don't even remember the story.

RadicalFashion broke open the vault of Chadabe's instruction. Suddenly I remembered him asking the class to start moving through the day with our ears open, listening to every sound as if it were music. The rain running into an underground gutter. The window fan slicing through the humid summer air. The tiny shoots of air moving through your lover's mouth as she sleeps. RadicalFashion's creator, Hirohito Ihara, does just that. Combining elegant piano compositions with everyday sounds. The result is a startingly beautiful, textured soundscape.

I discovered RadicalFashion through a posting on 3Hive, so I'll post that track here, as well. In February 2007, RadicalFashion released his debut full-length album Odori. It's incredible, and I highly recommend you purchase it. (Buy it at iTunes)

1. "Shoushetsu" - RadicalFashion (Originally posted on 3Hive)

2. "Toh-Koh" -RadicalFashion

3. "Photo Dynasmo" - RadicalFashion 

I didn't fully appreciate Chadabe's instruction until now. Maybe it's time I started exploring experimental electronic music more. Please drop me a line if you know of any other artists worth looking into.

-- Jess 

Much has already been said about The Good, the Bad and the Queen on the web, but I still think they're subject worthy of discussion. It seems to me that, for most people, this band falls into a love it or hate it camp.

Put me in the former.

I admit, my first impression wasn’t exactly favorable. When you take into consideration the level of talent involved in the project, you can have very lofty expectations. But I think those expectations can prevent you from appreciating the quality of work they produce.

Take first, the members. Damon Albarn is, in my opinion, one the best songwriters to emerge in the past 20 years. His work in bands like Blur and the Gorillaz speaks for itself with its catchy hooks and lyrics. Then you have Simon Tong of the Verve who, while probably less well known, is a talented musician who uses an interesting variety of rhythms and sounds in his work. Tony Allen is probably the most underappreciated member of the group. His work with Fela Kuti  is amazing and perhaps worthy of a post later on…And then of course there is Clash bassist Paul Simonon, who is known for his strong reggae/dub influence. Don't forget that the album was produced by Albarn favorite Danger Mouse. With a crew like that, you can see why expectations are high.

The GtBatQ’s record is definitely on the dark side, which is really kind of surprising giving the upbeat influences from the members. Initially this put me off of it. There were catchy hooks on songs like “Northern Whale”, “Herculean” and “History Song” but really nothing that jumps out. What’s more interesting is the different styles and tempos. Take for example “80s Life” which is sort of an eerie waltz; exactly the eclectic sound that a band like the GtBatQ can pull off.

But really the more you listen to it; the more clever you notice the music is. It is really an interesting blend of sounds. You take dark pop and rock melodies with dub bass and Afro-beat rhythm and you start to see something.

This really hit me seeing it live at the 9:30 club. Despite the Post review, I thought it was a very entertaining show. Simonon clearly has an amazing stage presence, which is saying something as he really doesn’t sing lead. Nevertheless, there he was with his black fedora and cigarette dancing over the stage with an aura of cool that was unquestionable. Watching the band interact you could tell they were on the same wave length. In some of the later numbers such as “Green Fields” and the self-titled track as well as the unreleased “dog house” you could see the parts working beautifully as parts of the song almost broke into jam sessions with the group.

Allen in particular, I think, stood out. In an age where most rock drummers who have talent just flaunt it with crazy double kick drum solos or unnecessary fills, Allen blends in to the rest of the sound in the band. He knows when to play a really simple beat so as not to overshadow the rest of the parts in a song. At the same time, if you listen to some of the drum parts you can hear some great, complex beats. It just shows how it can all come together.

If you want to truly appreciate it, you should see the live show. It definitely influenced how I saw the band.

Take a listen and share your thoughts.

Listen/Download the concert in Washington via NPR here.

The Good, the Bad and the Queen - History Song

The Good, the Bad and the Queen - 80s Life

The Good, the Bad and the Queen - Herculean

 -- Kevin

[Wait, I need another beer if I'm going to write about my freshman year in high school.]

\

Okay. It's 1995. The last gasps of grunge, before Courtney Love had gone completely bat shit crazy on drugs. I remember those school days as endless and always overcast. Staring out from the large cafeteria windows. Stealing cigarettes behind the library (yes, I was a 14-year old smoker). Constantly bemoaning our suburban teenage wasteland. Depressed and awash in the novelty of angst.  

We were all obsessed with new music back then. Maybe it was the after-effect of Nirvana's glorious ascent, that was only made more mythic by Kurt's shotgun blow to the head. Freshman year was an awkward time for me musically (as it was in other ways). I still listened to mainstream rock (Nirvana, Hole, Better Than Ezra, Nine Inch Nails), but was also veering off into indie and punk.

"Jingle Jangle Morning" - Mary Lou Lord

"Step Into the Light" - Archers of Loaf 

1995 was also the year my friends and I started our own [mostly] all-girl garage band. The year that I spent taping "My So-Called Life" marathons on MTV. The year we discovered alcohol, and the danger in mixing the contents of our parents' liquor cabinets.

So raise a glass of beer to those wilted teenage innards of yester-year. Thank goodness for wisdom and experience. And better tolerance to alcohol.

-- Jess 

Marcel Mouloudji was born in Paris on September 16, 1922, and came of age during the surreal chaos and uncertainty of WWII and the Nazi takeover of Paris. He began acting in films and theatre as a child, and by the 1940's and 50's, had become a permanent fixture in the French art scene. He acted in the theatre and in films. He wrote hipster poetry. He even dappled in oil painting. But he is perhaps best known for his voice, which brought him great success in his forty-something year career.

Now, I found this record in the dollar bin. A good investment? It certainly seems so. First of all, I really like this record. I'd go so far as to say it's one of my favorites. Second, someone is selling this record for $119 U.S. dollars. Hm. Imagine that.

Curious why someone would ask for more than one hundred bucks for a 30-year old piece of vinyl? Hear it for yourself. These are the first three tracks of the 1971 record Mouloudji Chante Jacques Prevert.

1. "Les Bruits De La Nuit" - Marcel Mouloudji

2.  "Les Feuilles Mortes" (Autumn Leaves) - Marcel Mouloudji

3. "Les Enfants Qui S'Aiment" - Marcel Mouloudji 

 p.s. I realize that I've been posting mostly male musicians. Sorry! On my next post, I promise to give a female artist some much deserved attention. Been thinking of posting some Mary Lou Lord...or maybe a female Peruvian singer from the dollar bin.

-- Jess