Doing The Spectral Boogie...

After about hour ten of driving through middle-America, you might find yourself needing a little sonic pick-me-up. The interstate stretches on, the drive broken only by the intermittent appearance of a rest-stop Star**cks and you find yourself shaking your head and blinking rapidly to snap out of the daze that has set in. The solution? Ann Arbor, MI band Nomo and their latest release, Ghost Rock!

I went back to the well several times on this album during the gazillion mile drive and it never failed to revive me and what's more, the record held up to repeated listens and revealed new textures and elements with each successive listen. Ghost Rock is the follow-up to the equally solid New Tones (Ubiquity, 2006), though this new record finds the group exploring some new sounds and moving beyond the Afro-beat Tones to incorporate Kraut Rock and noise elements into their sound.

Led by Elliott Bergman the band has coalesced over the past few years into an octet and the firming up of the numbers has resulted in an arguably tighter unit augmented by the addition of a ninth individual who on the face of it is a surprising participant: Warn Defever. The His Name Is Alive founder/member produced Ghost Rock and Defever brought a fresh batch of ideas to the studio as Bergman related in my recent interview with him. The funk is still there and the band continues to create some of their own percussive instruments, but the way in which Defever drew out those sounds is the new element that sets Ghost Rock apart from New Tones.

Speaking of New Tones, check out this sweet video before you click on the link to my interview with Elliott Bergman.

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Then head over to Nomo's Myspace page and official website.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

K is for Kutiman

There are some things I just feel a little foolish saying on my radio shows - the name of the latest Spoon full-length was one, and the subject of this post is another more recent one.
Try saying 'Kutiman' out loud - doesn't it sound like the villain in a story written by a third-grader? Granted, it'd be spelled Cooty-man and he'd probably be battling Captain Underpants...
The Kutiman moniker undoubtedly comes from Ophir Kutiel's last name (though I can appreciate the notion that it's a tribute to Fela Kuti) and the singular 'man' is as important as the 'Kuti' because the fantastic self-titled full-length released recently on Groove Attack is entirely Kutiel's creation. Recorded at his home studio with a handful of guests, Kutiel came up with the album "as a reaction to a confusing return to Tel Aviv after a long trip to Jamaica, where he cut his teeth working with artists such as Damian Marley, Stephen Marley and Turbulance."
You read that quote right - Kutiel lives in that suprising hotbed of funk and electronic production: Tel Aviv. Looking at the links on the Kutiman Myspace page it would appear that Kutiel is involved in half the projects listed, including Anikuku and Funk'n'stein.
He's taken his experiences with those groups as well as his time in Jamaica and come up with a unified and unique record that blends psych guitars, funk breaks and Afro-beat horns into a glorious racket that connects with every listener I've played it for. The second track on the album, "No Reason For You" is especially winning and was released as a 7" prior to its inclusion on the full-length (it's the first track on the Myspace media player).
In addition to his musical acumen, Kutiel is also a pretty decent animator who has created videos for some of his own songs, including a hilarious one for "Chaser."


And here's Kutiman with Funk'n'stein live:


Finally, don't forget to check out the Kutiman Myspace page.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...