Ada Richards "I'm Drunk And Real High (In The Spirit Of God)"

Ada Richards 

I'm Drunk And Real High (In The Spirit Of God)

Some weeks will have you questioning the existence of a higher being. I like to think if there is one, they exist in a realm where this song is on loop.

That scream.

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.

Mary Jane Dunphe "Fix Me" b/w "Seasons"

Mary Jane Dunphe

Fix Me b/w Seasons

scum stats: limited to 835 copies on clear vinyl

By the sheer titles, I anticipated this being a Black Flag cover as the a-side and a solo Chris Cornell cover on the flip. You never know what you're going to get with the Sub Pop Singles Club and this waxing puts Dunphe on my radar.

"Fix Me" has is a catchy melody with propulsive drum heavy backing, prime for singalongs in a guitar focused manner. I don't know anything about Mary Jane, if you told me she's primed to be the next big pop star, shit, I'd believe it.

B-side is a little bit more in the feels, light synth interludes that recall bouncing ball marimba (more serious than cheeky) with emotive, heartfelt voicings. The more I sit with these recordings, letting them replay over and over, the stickier they become. I'm more entranced by the drum programming/production of recalling bits of Saint Etienne's cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Will Break Your Heart" with a bit of that early 90's trip hop vibe. I'm also getting the slightest hints of the Limiñanas here, another outfit that just hits that spot with me. Crisp and gritty at the same time.

All in all, a promising introduction to an artist I'm stoked to learn more about. Good luck finding a copy of this subscriber only record, so in light of that go and stream the shit out of this one.

Watching MrBeast and Drinking Ghost Energy Drinks

This

Is what

I imagine

New Year’s Eve

At age twelve 

Looks like

There is

Nothing quite

Like a new couch

It’s where life begins

I Somehow Weaseled An Essay Into The Detroit Free Press

If you would've told ten-year-old Ben Blackwell, daily devoted devourer of the Detroit Free Press, that a mere text message to the music editor of the paper, some 31 years later, would get my own writing into the newspaper...I would have asked you "What's a text message?"

Click the link below to read the whole shebang, I worked very hard on it and am very proud of it and I don't say that too often.

I'm Finding It Easier To Be A Gentleman -OR- Forever The Union 

To the city employees

On the brush clearing crew

Wearing hi vis vests

In the elementary school parking lot

Playing HORSE

With a children’s soccer ball

Just letting off steam

One of them legit dunks

And I’m happy this is where my taxes go