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Pavement resurfaced
Ever wondered what Pavement songs would sound like if interpreted by the best of the new suit jazz crew? Neither have I, but Alan Suback and some fellow Pavement fans went to a benefit concert and thought, “What if Wynton Marsalis ‘s kick-ass band – Cyrus Chestnut , Reginald Veal , Ali Jackson and James Carter – lent their serious chops to Summer Babe, Cut Your Hair, Trigger Cut, etc?” The entertaining results are found on Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers), which just underscores what most Pavement fans already knew: despite all the lo-fi foolery and silly in-jokes, those Stockton smart-asses came up with some damn fine melodies. I’d take this over a Jicks album any day.
Breau’s art
Guitar nerds from Vancouver to Prince Edward Island will be cheering the ridiculously overdue first CD release of the fab Guitar Sounds Of Lenny Breau album cut by legendary Canuck picker Lenny Breau in 68, which shows off his impressive facility for simultaneously comping and playing the melody with the same hand. But even though the Chet Atkins -produced set of standards and hits of the day contains a bonus cover of Tony Hatch’s muzak fave Call Me, celebrations may be dampened by the fact that the disc isn’t available domestically. Sony BMG has licensed the album to U.S.-based budget reissue house Wounded Bird Records so they can sell it back to Breau’s Canadian fans at a profit. Hey, better they put it out than wait another 37 years for Sony BMG to get around to doing it.
Portland Cavaliers?
In a welcome turn from the slapdash style of reissuing funk rarities typical of the School House Funk series, Cali-Tex label boss Josh Davis , aka DJ Shadow , has released a 7-inch by little-known Portland R&B bashers the Cavaliers Unlimited with a label claim that the two breakbeat killers Soul Vein and The Nasty were “licensed from the Cavaliers,” and a picture sleeve with a vintage shot of the band! It should be noted that session producer James Thomas is not the same James Thomas who was briefly signed to the Cleveland Cavaliers, nor is he the James Thomas who recorded J. Frank Wilson ‘s hit Last Kiss, even though Wilson’s backing band was called – yep, you guessed it – the Cavaliers. Just wanted to clear that up.
DFA1979 go disco
Skipping through tracks on Death from Above 1979 ‘s Romance Bloody Romance remix disc, I was getting ready to chuck it after the first three dead-boring revisions of Black History Month. As it turned out, the fourth time was the charm. The Final Fantasy “Girl On Girl Revision” makes good use of Owen Pallett ‘s string arranging skills to pimp out the track in a throwback disco style à la Curtis Mayfield circa 76. DFA1979’s own MSTRKRFT tweak of Sexy Results is similarly ready for the dance floor. Sweet.
