Eddy Grant “Nobody’s Got Time”

Eddy Grant

Nobody's Got Time b/w Where Are You Going To My Friends

scum stats: seems like this was a hit, but in a tiny country. who knows!

Oh. My. God.

This song is so damn good. Was shared with me by extremely great dude of the highest persuasion Chris Schulist (DJ on the Jack White 2022 tour). Sat in my inbox for a month or two before I ever even cracked the message because that's the state of my email affairs these days. 

I finally opened about three weeks ago and have not stopped listening to this song since. 

There's a simplicity to the groove here, coupled with an unusual heaviness, that puts the overall feel in rarefied air. It's likely the only record I own from Trinidad...and if any more sound like this, I will clearly need to find more.

My immediate thought upon grooving to this jam is that I want to play drums to this with Pat Pantano and that's already enough said. The plonky fuzz with the sparse, pick-and-choose bass...it's unmitigated perfection. I do not say that lightly.

There's a bootleg 45 out there that's a little more of a recent DJ "edit" with some added effects and shit, which is good too, but I have absolutely no qualms or quibbles with the original here.

I have not liked an OLD song this much in quite some time. A nice reminder that there are still gems out there that can connect to the innermost rhythms in our soul. Keep searching them out.

Star/Time “Like An Owl Exploding”

Star/Time

Like An Owl Exploding 

scum stats: I know this is limited. 250 copies? 300? the specifics escape me

There is a joy, a pure joy at listening to one of your most favorite instrumentalists.

Patrick Pantano, the drummer of Star/Time, is that joy for me.

For over a solid decade he sat behind a kit directly to my left as we commanded the backbeat across the globe with the Dirtbombs. He is tight and crisp. Me is sloppy and over-relying on the visual apparel of long blonde hair flying and swirling about to distract from the fact that I often had no idea what in the hell I was doing.

While Pat has always had other musical projects, the slow creep of age and his physical relocation to the southern hemisphere makes this all the more bittersweet. I feel like I'm listening to my phantom limb, calling out to be reunited with the rest of its body.

Specifically, "Cockroach Bikini" (GREAT title) repurposes the drum pattern that Pat and I had nailed in a syncopated manner whenever the Dirtbombs played "Granny's Little Chicken." Known amongst us simply as "Granny's," that song features a wholesale lift the hook from Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500" which is just a straight sample of the indomitably funky "Nautilus" bass line by Bob James.

The repurposed borrowing of a steal of a sample leaves this guy here smiling and wistful. Artful with intention.

Most of these beats I've heard Pat play a thousand times before, he's definitely the groove and playing in the style and intensity that he wants. And doing so with flash.

The entire album gives a strong improvised feel and with that comes the bold statement that it really gives the impression that the drums are the lead instrument here.

And that's a-ok by me.

Skronks of horn here and there, jitty little guitar stabs, some ancillary kitchen sink percussion...this is a groovy, tastefully experimental slice with flashes of weight and sinister underpinnings. Experimental without clearing the room. Funky without sounding white. Atmospheric without seeming like someone just stepped on an effects pedal to make that happen.

The essence of soul here is the confidence and motivation for forward movement. It relieves as much as it causes pauses and invites debate. I need more records like this to magically appear in the world.

I highly recommend picking up this record. I feel like it is worth your time.

like an owl exploding by STAR/TIME</a></iframe>

My Recommendations from 20 Years Ago Are Still Rock Solid...

Junior year of high school, Spring of 1998, a classmate named Al told me that he'd found a record store that sold local music. In one of the coolest questions ever asked of me, he said "What should I buy?"

Good thing the store was Car City Records, which basically served as my reason for being back then.

The scan above is the hand-written notes and recommendations I gave him back when I was still sixteen years old.

(Pay no attention to Ass Ponys, Mud Hunnie, Pestiside, Blood Rust, The Reble Rousers, Punk U, My Ass the Vampire, NoFX, KRS-One or Suicide Machines...he must've been getting info from some other punks who's tastes seem to not have aged as well.)

Al posted this on Instagram recently and I was shocked at how much I STILL stand by all of these claims and suggestions twenty years later. Either I'm extremely stunted, incredibly reliable, or a combination of the two.

The Dirtbombs Live, University of Toronto radio, July 31st, 1997

A garage rock time capsule to say the least.

Unheard since 1997, please relish in a time in the not-too-distant past where I was actually not a member of the Dirtbombs. The performance is the EXACT reason why I fell in love with the band and the interview with Mick is revelatory. I could go on and on, but just trust me when I say it's worth the listen. Much respect to Allyson Baker, the then-teenaged CIUT DJ (and now dear friend) who was able to convince these guys to do this performance and was smart enough to tape it! University of Toronto radio...hell yeah.