The Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional - Stepping Forward into the New Year!!!

With year 2007 around the bend Andy G along side the Special Agent K have been deeply immersed in the Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional Audiovisual Laboratory. We have just completed our new logo and updated our website. We've been working on new musical matters which are getting airplay across the globe, via digital dubplates. To top it all off, we have been gearing up for an exciting year of STATELESS.

Our first event of the new year will be 1.12.07 at the Rickshaw Stop. Topping the bill is Rio's rising underground star Maga Bo (Soot Records). Maga will be mashing it up with borderless beats - from Capoiera to Drum & Bass and beyond.

The Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional will be dubbing tabla virtuoso (from New Delhi, India) Ustaad Vishal Nagar over fierce original dubstep productions and ragga jungle riddims inna raw session style!

San Francisco band, Lemonade, will be playing their own brand of experimental punk sounds that sit somewhere between the sounds of CAN and Tropicalia.

Rounding it out will be the mighty Worker with a dancefloor ready set of tasty selections.

It will be massive no doubt.

Finally, in case you have not peeped it yet make sure you check the new Roots and Wires website:

www.rootsandwires.com

More content soon come.

On the Blog sides, Special Agent K will soon be breaking down the origins and archetypal significance of the labyrinth and the squared mandala which have been incorporated into our new logo:



So sit tight, listen, and look keenly as Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional high steps it into the future 2007 style!

The Stateless Pounding System - 9/30/2006

The Sun was just dipping under the tree line of Golden Gate Park. 6:00 PM, Saturday 30 September 2006. Darkness would soon descend over San Francisco City and yet another chapter of “Stateless” would unfold deep in the Mission at Club Amnesia. As I walked down the way premonitions of sounds filtered through my sonic mind’s eye…Blink forward…Sound check…1, 2, 1, 2…Just right? Maybe not, but no reason to fuss and fight. Just sip a whiskey and let the stress digress and the night progress…

And progress it did. This particular evening of sonics went down in serious fashion. Marking his first appearance at “Stateless” was DJ Vanka. The Belgian born Vanka dropped some serious Afro-Beat-Brazil-Poly-Rhythmic-future funk that reached a boiling point by the end of his two hour set. Having never reached his legendary “Misturada” sessions at Club Six, his aura preceded him in my eyes. I, along with the bubbling Amnesia masses, no doubt were fully engaged by Vanka’s set. Big. If you ever see that he is playing in your neighborhood, check him out! You won’t be disappointed.

By the time Vanka was done, the warm glow of Amnesia was burning just right. Next up was the “Stateless” foundation, the man that holds it all down, the Worker. The big beat pieces of plastic selected by the Worker bounced from rough ragga-tinged breakbeats to full force techno. The Worker rode the energy Vanka laid out early on and pushed it up a notch even so.

In keeping with the “Stateless” mission, the night switched it up to a live vibe. The Wailing Junktet, a Brazilian influenced drum ensemble pounded some serious poly-rhythms that landed somewhere between São Paulo, San Francisco, and a stateless commune run by Orishas from outer space. Echoes of DJ Vanka’s set took on a live presence through this very talented ensemble. Kinetic and propulsive to the core.

Check an audio clip here:

link

Closing out the night was Roots and Wire Hi-Fi. Our set ran the gamut from vintage dubwise evergreens from the Tubby’s, Bullwackies, and Yabby You stables on through uptempo ragga jungle tunes and two blazing Roots and Wires exclusive dubplates with production by Special Agent K.

You can check our set here:

link

A big thanks goes out to Amnesia and especially Ben who did double duty as sound man and bartender. No easy task given that the club was corked with dancing bodies working up a healthy thirst.

So hold tight until the next “Stateless” storm comes your way. If you missed this time, make sure you reach next time.

Peace,

Andy G

Roots and Wires Hi-Fi

Stateless - 8/25/06 - Grey Filastine Meets the Roots and Wires Hi-Fi!

first off, we've finally joined in on the myspace thing:

http://www.myspace.com/rootsandwires

it's still sparse and basic, but does host initial drafts of some of my own works in progress...

thanks to all that came out to last month's stateless. this was a serious soundclash - stateless sound meets the roots and wires hi-fi - featuring the special agent k and andy g (roots and wires hi-fi) and the worker (stateless, six degrees), dropping some wicked tunes... andy g and i closed out the night with some thundering UK steppers and soulful roots and dubwise sounds for an appreciative dancefloor, who were whistling and hollering for more. i really enjoyed my debut with the video manipulation as well - this will continue forward with stateless episode 8...

so please mark your calenders for STATELESS, this august 25th (friday) at amnesia (voted best dive bar in the bay guardian) in san francisco's mission district (853 valencia, between 19th and 20th) starting at 9 PM and continuing until 2 AM. for this next event, we return to our model of guest dj, resident soundsystem, and live act. for our live act, we will be flying in grey filastine from seattle, to debut material off his new album... grey will be playing a live set and will be featuring music off his recent release on DJ rupture's soot records. the album has already been receiving top ranking reviews:

"filled with both with jagged edges and moments of sad sweetness... Burn It is sure to win fans across multiple scenes" - XLR8R

"worldly field recordings, sound collages and electro burners line a tracklist with concealed explosives that loom in the splitting beats and impending ruin of cuts... promising paranoid sleeplessness for all in earshot" - Remix Magazine

'It’s a news clip you can dance to, a “report from the frontlines” given a beat'... a distinctly inclusive style of music" - PopMatters

"reminiscent of the murky drama of Ninja Tuners like Amon Tobin and DJ Food, and throughout the album the lines between live performed contributions and meticulously contextualized samples is slurred and burnt... feels like a thrillingly tense interaction between these ideological factors and the gold-toothed, whip-riding luxury of hiphop culture" - The Stranger

"easily one of the best records that will be released this year, electronic or otherwise... a thinking-man’s record, assembled by the thinking-man’s DJ" - Slug Magazine

"This is grit. This is raw. This is...actually...a bit spooky... One of the more interesting releases to land on our desks in quite a while." - Kotori Magazine

"a hypnotic variety of both sequenced and live percussion. Murky hip-hop beats melt into rapid tabla workouts and then further transform into intricate patterns... a musical tincture that’s simultaneously aggressive and lovely" - Missoula Independent

wow - some serious soundbwoy business! the night will start out with guest dj cyan, who will drop a downtempo, dubwise, and dubstep set. the worker will follow and drop his mix of microhouse, electro and ragga breaks, as well as other outernational sounds. headliner grey filastine will play next. finally, the roots and wires sound will close off the night, with the special agent k and andy g manning the turntables, laptops, dubwise sirens and effects units, analogue delays, melodica, and perhaps even some tabla. also, prepare for more original dubplates from the special agent k - steppers, dubstep and drum and bass meets sarod, sarangi and classical indian vocals... so please join us for a night of bass heavy, diverse and eclectic sounds, spanning roots, lover's rock, dub, dubstep, UK steppers, electro, asian underground, bhangra, old school bollywood, ragga jungle and drum and bass, with a touch of baile funk and afrojazz...

My Operator, My Selector: White Mice in the Area

As Khenu a.k.a. the doctor, and many others, well know there are very few conversations about music in which I do not utter the words “Roots,” “Steppers,” “Shaka,” or some such dubwise variation. So keeping with form, I have to give my 100% Roots and Wires sound-dimensional props to the basic channel crew for their hotly anticipated recent reissue of four purely wicked 7” singles.

All serious selectors take note: These singles from the mid-eighties Jamaican singer White Mice are pure worries. The Basic Channel site tells the story so:

“Born in 1970, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Allan Crichton aka White Mice is a graduate of three sound systems - Sugar Minott’s Youthman Promotion, Jammy’s Hi Power, and his hometown Ticka Muzik. His first break came at Sun Splash in 1985, when he and Little Kirk were called on stage to perform with Tenor Saw. Recording at King Jammy’s and Channel One studios, with Junior Delgado at the controls, over next the few years Mice let off a series of records amongst the very deadliest of digital reggae - nearly all on his brother Blemo’s Intellitec imprint, out of Miami…”

The four singles that make up this particular brace of White Mice tunes are “It’s A Shame,” “Try a Thing,” “Youths of Today,” and “Tallawah.” Each one is a slice of serious mid-80s computer riddimized roots. Like Little Kirk’s “Ghetto People Broke” from the same era, these singles retrospectively bridge the gap between the anachronistic roots-steppers vibe of the 70s and the nascent UK digital roots that was soon to give birth via such artists as Dred and Fred from the Jah Shaka stable and Nick Manasseh/Sound Iration via the Mr. Modo imprint.

I first heard White Mice’s minor-key digital classic “Youths of Today” on a Jah Shaka sound tape from around 1986. With Shaka chanting over the dub I was hooked. Since that time, the mythology around these White Mice singles only increased as my luck in finding them hopelessly decreased. Soon come…

About a month ago, I received the four singles in a printed white paper bag. Crisp, solid pressings ready made for pushing bass bins in a dance. They have been rotating on and off my turntable ever since.

“It’s Shame” starts with a wicked digital drum roll before White Mice wails “Oh it’s a

shame, oh it’s a shame to see my brother’s blood running down the drain….” From there White Mice licks lyrical shots at world leaders that build nuclear weapons to ghetto youths that kill one another. Sub-bass lines rumble under the propulsive digital riddim. The version accentuates the snapping snare in counterpoint to the rolling bass line. “Oh it’s a shaaaa…..mmeeee” echoes out, guitar and keyboard licks bounce around the echo chamber in fine fashion.

“Try a Thing” is a 4/4 mid-paced marching stepper with the Mice once again singing lyrics dedicated to all those sufferahs trying get by in the ghetto – “Just try a thing… Brother and Sister try a thing…” The guitar evokes Black Uhuru circa “Red.” The version on the flip, is proficient if a bit unadventurous. The kick drum and staccato guitar dominate with snare shots echoing in and out alongside shards of White Mice vocals.

“Youths of Today” is the tune that brought me to White Mice in the first place. It is, to my mind, the centerpiece in this serious brace of reissue 45s. “So the youths of today will be the man of tomorrow, but when your old and getting grey…and we are the youths gonna lead the way… and try and try youth to get a bly…” The riddim on this one hits harder than hot iron to anvil. The drums move back and forth from full-fledged digital roots riddim to pared down kick-kick-snare dancehall roughness. The dub version begins with an unorthodox skipping echoed shard of White Mice vocals before the strident riddim kicks in. From there out it is dubwise marching time.

“Talawah” in Jamaican parlance means sturdy and strong. On “Talawah,” White Mice comes in a strong fashion. Over top of yet another blistering minor-key steppers, the Mice warns all upstarts not to judge a book by its cover. By this point, they should know White Mice a come in “Talawah.” The version is a rudimentary dub unhindered by major studio trickery. The marching riddim is given space to breath. Time to clear out the living room and start stepping.

So once again the reissue folks at basic channel/basic replay come with pure sound quality. For all folks interested in a few 7" singles of serious minor-key mid-80s digital roots reggae these White Mice tunes are for you. Check them and support the labels that tread the lonely waters of diminishing record sales to uncover beautiful music such as this.

In coming installments of the Roots and Wires blog I am going to highlight more of my favorite recent roots-dubwise reissues. Likewise, in the coming months make sure to stay tuned to these pages as Roots and Wires Hi-Fi spreads the word in the San Francisco-Bay Area and beyond.

Peace,
Andy G, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi

Stateless Six Month Anniversary - Photos & Audio

It's been a nice, deeply synchronistic flow during these first 48 hours in Seattle, my first return to the Pacific Northwest in three years... I'm taking off tommorrow early morning for a four day backpacking trip into the "Enchanted Valley," in the Olympic National Park, and pretty excited about this (as long as I don't get mauled by bears).

Thanks to everyone who came and made a special six month anniversary of Stateless... Our two live acts were great, a nice contrast to one another. Micropixie was ethereal, dreamy and wonderful. MC Rai producer Jeff Stott composed some amazing beats, played oud, and had two guest percussionists.

Check it for yourself and post some comments:

Micropixie Set

stream (pending)

Embarka Soundsystem Set

stream

Special Agent K Set

set one (check out the electro set!)

stream

playlist:

punjabi mc - jogi

asha bhosle - chura liya (from yaadon ki baaraat 1973)

special agent k feat. kishu nagar (vocal) and preetam ghosal (sarod) - dubstep 13

e.m.s. - close encounters

freezie freekie - flow (with an original recording of ghanshyam sisodia on sarangi mixed in)

errol davis - path i have taken

irration steppas - rasta headquarters

irration steppas - revelations dub

irration steppas - rejection remix

special agent k feat kishu nagar (vocals), preetam ghosal (sarod), ghanshyam sisodia (sarangi) - classical roller

set two (some ragga jungle in this one!)

stream

playlist:

navdeep - amrit

bally sagoo - tum bin jina (strobe's drum and bass remix)

andy c and dj hype - potential bad bwoy

congo natty feat. top cat - over u body

chopstick dubplate feat. general pecos - got the lovin'

mighty three's - nearer to dub

The Worker Set

stream (pending)

Ok, there's more audio to come soon...

Peace,

khenu

Outernational Travels through the realms of pounding Percussion

The early hours of June 22nd saw my brother and I make our way to LAX on course to catch a flight to Toronto, Ontario. My recollections of this great metropolis were informed by the bitter winter I experienced there in January 1997 so I was looking forward to landing during the summer. June, no doubt, would be a mellower affair. What was not mellow was the security we had to navigate as we checked in at the desks of El Al, the national airline of Israel. The tension was palpable as security eyed our passports intensely. They peppered us with questions pertaining to our intent to carry nefarious cargo aboard. The experience offered a brief window into the negative human costs of the perpetual Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ironically, the history of diasporic displacements experienced by the Jewish and Palestinian peoples would find parallels in our outernational travel through the realms of pounding percussion.

Our central reason for journeying to Canada was to attend a two-day percussion retreat outside of Toronto co-sponsored by the wonderful people of the Tanglefoot Lodge and Mountain Rythym drums. The Tanglefoot Lodge is part yoga studio and part retreat house run by Russ and Nicky Hazard. Nestled in the woods Northeast of Toronto, the lodge made for the perfect zone to commune with nature and the nature of sound. These two know how to run a retreat space. Their tranquil and positive vibe was apparent in all of they did during the weekend. The vegetarian meals they cooked were some of the best I have ever experienced. Ital and pure! I highly recommend checking their website and definitely encourage one and all to visit them.

The other sponsor, Mountain Rythyms, is one of the premier makers of high quality hand percussion. They innovated the “simple twist” tuning system. For anyone who has tried tuning or retightening an old style Djembe this system is a godsend. Mountain Rythyms very own resident percussionist and teacher Ray Dillard, along with Russ, created a two-day introduction to “rhythmic teachings from around the world.” Entitled “Rhythms of the World”.

As the lattice of coincidence would have it, Ray is originally from Texas. Fresh from leaving Houston for San Francisco, I could only smile when he told me. Mirroring Khenu’s previous posts, the synchronistic moments that mark beginnings and ends; births and rebirths never ceases to amaze. While living in the Lone Star state Ray spent much of his time as a member of the Music and Audio Engineering faculty at San Jacinto College Central in Houston. He spent three years studying tabla in India. He has studied and played in Cuba. He has toured throughout Europe. He can jump from a Samba to an Indian Tal before he ends with a Cuban Clave. More importantly, he can teach it. Ray’s ability to convey his knowledge and passion for rhythm makes me wish I knew him ten years ago. I would be much further along in my own musical journey no doubt.

Outside of Ray, the organizers brought in two other superb instructors. Along with being an instructor at Humber College of Music, Rick Lazar is the creator and artistic director behind Samba Squad, one of Toronto’s main Samba schools. Rick was a seriously feisty cat. He had twenty people who had never met and even some complete novices like my brother and I playing serious samba in unison. The sound we created rivaled the sonic dominance one hears in a sound system dance. Our ears were pounding after Rick’s session on the seminar’s first night.

The following day Andy Morris connected the diasporic dots from Brazil back to Africa. He dedicated his session to various aspects of Ghanaian drumming. As would become a theme throughout the weekend, there were numerous points of overlap; a kind of sameness within differentiation that penetrated through the various sessions. Rick’s Afro-Brazilian lessons bled seamlessly into Andy’s discussion of West African traditions. The West African session provided a kind of centeral axis around which the other African diasporic traditions coalesced. Moving out of Andy’s session into Ray’s lesson on Afro-Cuban percussion gave one the sense of a resonant connection between the rhythmic patterns we were playing and their historical roots in the forced dispersal of African-descended peoples.

The serious mental work came when Ray broke down the some of the most common Tals in Indian music. As Ray states, “Tabla repertoire is traditionally taught orally, so no standardized notation exists.” This lack of a written musical nomenclature presents many difficulties for most western-trained musicians. Indian classical music’s eschewing of 4/4 time in favor of 7,10, or 16 beat measures, to name just a few possibilities, also had many of the participant’s looped. Asian massive cut-and-paste tabla this was not.

More could be said about all of the nuances present in the various percussive forms we experienced over the weekend. Suffice it to say, throughout the two days I was trying to work out basslines in my head that might fit over top some of the rhythms presented. With the unfolding and always synchronistic flows of the roots and wires I have no doubt that new rhythmic and musical discoveries will unfold in a home studio or two somewhere in the city of San Francisco…They will no doubt be partially influenced by my experiences over this weekend in the rolling hills northeast of Toronto…stay tuned

...But before I go let me give one last shout out to all the crew of the Tanglefoot Lodge and Mountain Rythym not to mention all of the great warm and welcoming Canadians that we met at the seminar and while wandering the streets of Toronto. Big up to the Canadian crew...

Endings and Beginnings

I might brave potential moments of dripping wax, to check out Jah Shaka at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival this Friday. I’m expecting a different experience than when I last checked him at the Africana Center in London, in the mid-90’s. It was such a powerful experience then to see, hear and feel the "mighty zulu warrior's" sound – especially that feeling of his mighty tube-powered soundsystem thundering in my chest…

Transition and synchronicity have been strong in the air. I was at Maneesh the Twister's wedding last weekend, witness to the creation of a wonderful union. The next morning, while still in San Diego, we learned that my wife's grandmother had transitioned into the Mystery. Of all days, the funeral happened to be the same day as my entrance into the San Francisco Jung Institute, as a preliminary psychoanalytic candidate… So beginnings, endings, and beginnings again…


On another note - the last Stateless was wicked – mad props to Kush Arora for a next-step ragga-bhangra set! Friday, June 30, we will return to Amnesia (b/w 19th and 20th on Valencia, in SF's Mission) with our six month anniversary of Stateless. This should be an extra special event – first off, we have two amazing headliners. Micropixie will be playing with a live tabla player. Then, Jeff Stott, MC Rai producer and founder of Embarka Records, will be performing beats and oud, with a violinist and arabic percussion. Michael (The Worker) and I (Special Agent K) will be dropping opening and closing sets - spinning roots, dub, bhangra, outernational breaks and jungle, afrojazz, dancehall, dubstep and so on... I'll be doing my usual soundsystem business, with siren unit and analogue delays. I’m also planning on dropping some dubplates of original south asian dubstep and drum and bass. Finally, we will have visual art by Sue C. and live visuals by Yasi (Flaming Lotus Girls). Make sure and check it!

Stateless - Come Again!

Join us for the fifth Stateless this friday, May 26th. Our featured guest will be Kush Arora, a talented Bay Area producer and multi-instrumentalist who has been blowing up recently. One testament to this includes a b-side track on an upcoming Alpha and Omega release - featuring Juakali...

Check out this special dub - an exclusive to the roots and wires hi-fi:

audio stream

Kush's unique sound draws together Punjabi and Jamaican elements, with fierce programming and Kush on tumbi, algoze, double flutes, melodica, and percussion (as well as multiple other guest instrumentalists and vocalists)... On this particular track, Kush collaborates with MC Daddy Frank - Kingston meets Jalandhar dubwise!

Resident DJ's The Worker (Six Degrees, Stateless) and special agent k (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi, Stateless) will also drop extended sets. Expect some roots, dub and lover's rock from me early on, some afrojazz somewhere in the middle, and some dubstep and drum and bass as the night gets thick and sweaty...

A little further away is our 6-month anniversary - this Stateless will be an extra-special one... We will be featuring two live acts: Micropixie and Jeff Stott, founder of Embarka Records... We will also have video art from Sue Costabile, a photographer and video artist who works with a combination of analog and digital processes, doing "live improvisational video performances using a custom built system in the max/msp/jitter software environment"...

Hopefully I will also have my tablatronix setup in effect by then as well...

Coming back to the present, please join us this friday, May 26th, at Amnesia (853 Valencia, between 19th and 20th in SF's Mission District). The event starts at 9PM and goes until 2AM. The cover is only $5...

Stateless - 4/28/06 - Photos and Audio!

Mad respect to Tim Barsky, for playing an amazing battle-flute set! It was one of those nights filled with many memorable and even moving moments... At the end of the evening, Tim and I were outside chatting about sound and mysticism (check out Hazrat Inayat Khan's "The Mysticism of Sound and Music"), as well as some particular cross-cultural instances of sound and healing (check out "Dancing Prophets: Musical Experiences in Tumbuka Healing"), while The Worker was dropping a solid set inside the warm, cozy walls of Amnesia. While we were chatting, a woman approached Tim and told him that he had "made their evening." She even jokingly added that if they ever decided to become groupies, they would be his! It was a sweet moment and just nice to see people enjoying the night's sounds... Hopefully the sonic dialogues will continue, with indian classical meets beatboxing collaborations to come later this year - keep tuned...

In the meantime, here are links to the evening's music:

(1) Tomas (XLR8R, Votage Music) - audio stream pending

(2) Special Agent K (Stateless, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) - stream set

-there are some technical glitches (including a sound guy that dropped the levels a few times during my set), but I'm pretty happy with it otherwise. check out the second track for some original, digi-dubplate pressure (but also still a work in progress)...

i'll have the playlist up soon...

(3) Tim Barsky - stream set

(4) The Worker - audio stream pending

We'll be coming at you with Stateless 5 this May 26th, again a friday at Amnesia. Our live performer for the night will be Kush Arora - bringing his unique and edgy original dubwise, bhangra productions... I'll also be unleashing some more dubplate pressure - classical indian sarangi and sarod cradled in some fierce junglist breakbeats. We're also hoping to get some visual artists on board... It just keeps on getting bigger!

Stateless - Rewind Selecta!

Thanks to all the made it out to the last Stateless (a part of Dhamaal's Sights and Sounds Festival) - Amnesia was once again packed with thick sonics and a diverse crowd of revelers and music afficiandos. MC Rai played a beautiful arabic set and the DJ crew (Radiohiro and DJ Warp) from Chicago was solid... We'll be steppin' forward with the fourth episode of Stateless on Friday April 28, again at Amnesia. This go round will feature this following line-up:

Tomas (XLR8R) will open the night with dubwise and minimal techno sounds...

Special Agent K (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi, Stateless) will drop a set of diverse sounds, spanning from bhangra, ragga breaks, asian massive to drum and bass - all with his live dubwise samples, sirens, and effects... He might even bring his tabla/MIDI controller setup which he has been developing...

Tim Barsky is our featured live act. He's self-described as a story teller, folk-historian, and battleflutist, he will bring his combination of hip-hop, street theatre, and Jewish folklore to Amnesia on Friday April 28th. He beatboxes, scratches, manipulates beats, drops classics with the aesthetic of a battle DJ while integrating it into the flute... You folks have seriously got to check him out... You can check out some samples of this and his other projects at his website.



D Wurker (Six Degrees, Stateless) will close out the night with his ecletic sounds - from breaks to baile funk...

We have good things in store for you this next year, so make sure you come out and represent!

Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City

Big up to Roots and Wires Hi-Fi selector Andy G for a wicked set of UK Roots - make sure you check it out (see the link below)!

This saturday, March 25th, Six Degrees Records and Roots and Wires Hi-Fi bring you the third round of Stateless. I'll be out of town, so won't be dropping my dubwise antics, but the lineup looks stellar:

MC Rai performing live with Jef Stott (Embarka Records) and Omar Fadel...

Guest dj's from Chicago's 'Bombay Beatbox' crew: Warp and Radiohiro

and a dj set from resident dj, D. Wurker

"Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City," refers to a UCSF Department of Psychiatry event I've organized. This thursday, March 23rd, there will be a special two-part presentation and clinical case conference at the San Francisco General Hospital - "Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City." Neil Altman, author of "The Analyst in the Inner City: Race, Class and Culture Through a Psychoanalytic Lens," and co-editor of "Psychoanalytic Dialogues: a Journal of Relational Perspectives" (a major journal for contemporary psychoanalysis), will be visiting from New York City to speak on the value of modern psychoanalytic perspectives in public-sector work. The lunch and evening events will be open to providers and trainees throughout the city, so send me an e-mail @ bruceleehifi@hotmail.com if you're interested in checking it out...

The emphasis will be on the value of contemporary psychoanalysis in inner city work - let me paraphrase some perspectives from Dr. Altman's book:

Classical psychoanalysis emphasized the need for analytic anonymity and abstention from action, which isn't really possible in most public sector settings where there are multiple domains in which the therapist needs to be more active. For example, the therapist often also provides active case-management functions such as working towards housing and government entitlements (such as SSI). These far from neutral actions would have been considered incompatible with a classical psychoanalytic approach, but are not incompatible when the analyst's subjectivity and presence are acknowledged and revisioned in the contemporary, relational psychoanalytic frame.

The classical criteria for "analyzability" often excluded most patients served in the public sector, since there was an emphasis on the capacity to tolerate frustration and on verbal intelligence. Relational or intersubjective psychoanalysis, focuses more on the capacity to utilize relationship, so this opens up new and less exclusionary possibilities for "analyzability."

In intensive case management programs, case managers often visit patients in their environment, which can intensely pull for enactments of object-relations related to early attachment figures. Thus "case managers may appear to their patients as omnipotent rescuers, controlling and punitive intruders, potential rapists, lovers, friends and so on." Contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives can help make sense of these enactments and the various countertransference/transference manifestations that can arise. This is one example in which these perspectives are useful clinically in the public sector, even outside of psychoanalytically informed individual psychotherapy...

Classical psychoanalysis has been described as a "one-person psychology," where the analyst was a considered a blank slate for the patient's transference projections. This gradually developed into what has been referred to as a "two-person psychology," where the analyst is acknowledged as a subjective being with his own presence in the relational field. Finally, in a "three-person psychology, " the "third," refers to the systems and sociocultural context in which the therapeutic dyad is embedded, allowing us to more reflexively take into account things such as race, class, and subculture/culture...

... As I write this a Heptones song ("World") comes to mind, bringing us back to roots music:

World, for everyone…
But somethings are shared only by some…

... And we'll leave this post with some words, a fitting invition of sorts, from Aswad ("Pass the Cup"):

And yes my friend I know it's not hard to see,
What's good for you is so good for me...
Pass the cup,
Pass the cup,
You let it touch your very very soul,
Pass the cup I beg you, pass the cup around from one to another...

Respect to all who listened. Here is the play list and the link for those interested in a stream. Should be up for about two weeks. I'll try to get it permanent on my site.

Respect the UK roots legacy...everytime...

http://archive.kpft.org

Just scroll down to "Music Beyond Borders: Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 4 am" and forward the roots...

1) Groundation – Juggernaut
2) Bagga Matumbi – Daughters of Zion/Version
3) Aswad – Its Not Our Wish (Disco)
4) Reggae Regular – Black Star Liner (Disco)
5) Black Slate – Live Up to Love (Disco)
6) Delroy Washington – Cool Dubbin
7) Human Cargo – Carry us Beyond (Shaka Cut)
8) Mystery UK – Kunte Kinte Dubplate
9) Ras Imhru Asher – Cali Bird (Disco)
10) 4th St. Orchestra – Half Way to Za-Ion
11) Matumbi – Jah Movement
12) Pablo Gad – Reggae Music
13) Danny Henry – African Gold
14) Dambala – Zimbabwe
15) Misty in Roots – Earth
16) Misty in Roots – Zapata
17) Johnny Clarke and Dub Band – Guidance
18) Black Slate – Live a Life (Disco)
19) Junior Brown – Jah Find Babylon Guilty
20) Sons of Jah – Psalm 72 (w/Ranking Rueben)
21) Aswad Dub Charge
22) Alan Kingpin – Little Jimmy

Andy G
Roots and Wires Hi-Fi

Roots and Wires Presents Classic UK Selections

Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Presents Classic UK Selections:

Once again, another installment of Roots and Wires on the radio will hit the FM airwaves and the internet audio streams. This Tuesday, 21 March 2006 I will be presenting a two-hour special consisting of 100% ever green roots and culture classics culled from the late 1970s/early 1980s UK reggae scene. Rare sides from the likes of Pablo Gad, Aswad, Black Slate, Capital Letters, Matumbi, Misty in Roots, Delroy Washington, and Sword of Jah Mouth will be the order of the day.

The prevailing opinion amongst the majority of reggae aficionados is that singers and players from the UK never quite hit the high water mark that their Jamaican counterparts did during the so-called “golden era” of roots reggae’s global ascent. When I first heard Aswad’s “New Chapter of Dub” and its vocal companion “A New Chapter” back in the 1980s my ears told me otherwise. Since that point, I have been on the constant hunt for UK roots productions from this era.

Nearly twenty years on, I hope this two-hour radio foray into all things UK roots reggae dispels some of the myths that the only good drum and bass comes from JA.

Musical pleasure without measure...True

You can tune in live from 4 to 6 AM Central Time on 90.1 FM KPFT Houston or stream it 24/7 by visiting this link and scrolling down to “Music Beyond Boarders Tuesday, March 21, 2006 4:00 am”

Stateless - 2/24/06 - Photos and Audio!

Announcement:

The third installment of Stateless Version 2 comes to you 3/25/06 (again on a saturday). We are a featured act in the Third Annual Dhamaal Sights and Sounds Festival. I will be away for the weekend but the lineup looks stellar:

DJ Tomas Palermo, DJ Warp and Radiohiro (from Chicago), DJ D. Wurker

and as the live act: MC Rai w/ Jef Stott and additional percussionist (with kit drum set up)

Back to the blog posting...

Yes Yes Bredren! Another wicked round of Stateless has come and gone. Thanks to all that showed up for a night of diverse sounds...

(1) special agent k - opening set

The special agent k brought in his trusty (and newly repaired!) analogue delay box for this round of heavyweight sounds, dubbing out his set live (with some nice, new samples from "Life in Debt"). He started out with some sublow sounds, progressed through some roots and steppers, took a turn through some bhangra, and ended with some dubstep, breaks and drum and bass! No pictures of him, but see above for a photo of L'emiere who dropped some melodica and live percussion over his set... And here is the audio and a playlist to match!

link to audio

playlist:

loefah & skream - fearless

linton kwesi johnson - dread beat an' blood

jacob miller - roman soldiers of babylon

various (from african roots act 2) - journey rock

creation rebel - mountain melody

jacob miller - land called home

sugar minott - war is inna dance

kenny knots - watch how the people dance

eight frozen modules - low bite riddim

bandish project - electronik dausa

punjabi hit squad - nachie moranie

punjabi mc - sarwan phuter

saqi - bolian

punjabi hit squad - hai hai

al haca soundsystem - screw

visionary underground - urban uproar

skream - acid people bass

artwork - round sound

jacob miller - forward ever

grooverider - c funk

fernando porto - sambassim

(2) d wurker

Next, D Wurker rocked a packed dancefloor with his usual buttery smooth mixing dancefloor selections. Again, L'emiere dropped live accompaniment. Unfortunately, we couldn't get my dubwise setup to work over as planned.

link to audio

(3) maneesh the twister, ferhan, and MC daddy frank



The headliners played a diverse and unique set - with Maneesh on the turntables, Ferhan dropping some wicked tabla bhols, and MC Daddy Frank toasting and freestyling over the mix...

link to audio (soon come!)



(4) tomas palermo and nada

Closing off the night with some nice sounds. Nada dropping samples skillfully over the DJ set. Wicked Lion!

link to audio

Stateless - 2/24/06 - Soon Come!

Trodding forward with more thick and serious sounds to rock the foundations of Babylon, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi and Six Degrees Records present another round of Stateless:

Friday, 2/24/06, starting at 9 PM, again at Amnesia (853 Valencia, between 19th and 20th)...

The special agent k (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) and D. Wurker (Six Degrees Records) will be dropping opening sets. As usual, the special agent will be playing a wicked selection of roots reggae, lover's rock, outernational dub, UK steppers, bhangra, dubstep, and south asian breaks - all while dropping rootsical samples, playing the siren unit, and tweaking the mixing board in his usual dubwise style... D. Wurker will once again work the crowd into a dancing frenzy, this time with the special agent providing dubwise treatment to his set. As well, Alex (Lemonade), will be playing kit drum and electronics for parts of both their sets.

We also have a special guest for our live performance this go around. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will be spinning his usual wickedness, with Ferhan on live tabla, and MC Daddy Frank in from NYC on the mic.

Finally, Tomas (XLR8R, Voltage Music) will again join us as guest DJ, but this time with a special guest providing dubwise sounds on keyboards and via effects units.

We will continue in March, this time as part of the Dhamaal Sights and Sounds Festival - stay tuned for more details!

Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Delhi Recording Session

More details are soon to follow, but we have another round of Stateless coming to you Friday, 2/24/06 @ Amnesia. We again feature DJ Tomas (XLR8R) as the guest DJ. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will also drop serious beats, with Ferhan on tabla and MC Frank on the mic. L'emire (Alex from Lemonade) will be playing kit drum and electronics over D. Wurker's and the special agent k's sets. The special agent k will continue to drop rootsical samples, play the siren unit and dub his set live on the board...

Get ready for another evening of raw, bass-heavy, experimental (yet dance-floor friendly) sounds from the Stateless/Roots and Wires Hi-Fi crew... Be sure and check it.

On with the blog posting... The special agent k was married this winter in India. The joyous occasion was itself full of music, with live dholak and bhangra a constant pulse throughout the several days of ceremony...

The last day in India was a perfect conclusion to the trip, a significant sonic thread that wove together as part of the larger, synchronistic tapestry of events. We had a full-night recording session with some of India's finest classical musicians... In 2006, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi will be coming to you with original tracks that incorporate dubstep, grime, breakbeat, UK steppers, and dubwise elements - organized around virtuosic classical Indian compositions... This won't be any lightweight business (e.g. the usual sample of an instrument looped ad naseum), but will instead aspire to highlight the classical compositions in a deeper manner...

The recording experience itself was a truly wicked experience. My tabla guruji, Vishal (above, on the right), and I have been dialoguing about this project for a few years. I've introduced him to everything from Asian Massive artists such as Karsh Kale, to UK steppers artists like Jah Warrior, and even grime/dubstep/sublow producers such as Vex'd and Skream. These sounds have been percolating between us and led to the selection of specific musicians to create the mood we're aiming for with this project. Vishal picked a truly gifted selection of musicians - I felt deeply honored to be in their company and will introduce them now (though wait until you hear the recordings)... We were blessed to have Ghanshyam Sisodia (above, left) record sarangi with us (over dark and gritty grime beats!)...

Preetam Ghosal (above), a top disciple of Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, brought tears to our eyes with his sarod work. Stay tuned for some wicked jugalbandi between Preetam and Ghanshyam floating over two-step drum and bass breaks...

Finally, Ujwal Nagar, brother to Vishal Nagar recorded some moving classical vocals. Prepare for the next step in classical vocal vs. breakbeat riddims...

As well, I definitely have to give mad props to sound engineers Dhiman Bhattacharya (above) and Tapan Roy for staying strong until 4 AM!

Anyway, stay tuned for the first Roots and Wires Hi-Fi dubplates. I will probably drop some at the March edition of Stateless... If all goes well, we will then shop the tracks around to various labels afterward... Soon come!

Stateless - 1/28/06 - Audio Snippets!

As promised, here are some audio snippets +/- playlist info for the last Stateless Event:

(1) Special Agent K (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) - opening set

link to streaming audio

playlist:

Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama - Cloud Rack
Karukaya Makato - Family Plan (HAV remix)
Unknown - from Roots and Culture We a Deal Wid
Bitty Mclean - Tell Me
Iration Steppas - No War Dub
Kenny Knots - Run Come Call Me
Selah Collins - Pick a Sound
Manasseh - Bonafide
Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama - Light and Wind
with Jawaharlal Nehru - Speech
The Mighty Three's - Sinking in the Mist
Kode 9 - Dislokated
with Winston Rodney - Jah no Dead
DJ Abstract - Boozey
with Jawaharlal Nehru - Speech
Freestylers - Bad Boy Love
Horsepower Productions - Special 131

(2) DJ Tomas Palermo (XLR8R, Voltage)

link to streaming audio

playlist unavailable

(3) Lemonade - Live Act

link to streaming audio

recorded off the board - unforunately the drums and bass weren't mic'ed, so the mix is off

(4) DJ D Wurkur (Six Degrees)

link to streaming audio

the minidisc recorder turned off after 30 minutes, so this and my closing set (south asian and ragga drum and bass) are recorded only as memories...

Stateless - Mashin' Down the Walls...

Thanks to all that came out and rocked Amnesia this past Saturday - a packed house was treated to some serious beats and live sonics. I will be posting some audio over the next week, so keep checking back...

The special agent k started out with an early set, starting with roots and lover's rock, progressing into UK steppers, and then ending with some dubstep. All with his usual dubwise soundsystem approach - dropping siren sounds, reggae vocals, and even a speech by Nehru, (India's first prime minister) and dubbing it out with tape delays and spring reverb... Hold tight for his dubwise tabla sets which will be coming your way soon...

Tomas took the stage next as our featured DJ, and played some deep and dubby techno and house. I've never been much into house, but this was some spatial and soulful business here. Big up to DJ Tomas for a wicked set.

Lemonade came on next, our featured live act. They are a three person project with vocalist, bassist and kit drummer. It was a sort of Liquid Liquid meets Systemwide type of thing. I seriously enjoyed their set which was nice and raw, both noisy and thick with soul...

D Wurkur played a great set next, one which made the packed dancefloor dance and holler like crazy. I'm bummed that the minidisc player cut off halfway through his set, but it's still a tasty 30 minutes to listen to.

Roots and Wires Hi-Fi selector special agent k closed the evening with some drum and bass, mainly with south asian and reggae elements - including some killer more rockers tracks.

Make sure and make it out to the next Stateless in Febuary. We will have a soon to be announced guest DJ and live act. As well, we are working on getting some visuals going, so stay tuned as 2006 is going to be a good year for the Roots and Wires Hi-Fi sound!

Khenu

Peter Broggs & Dub Creator - Igzabihier Yakal

Carrying on from my Music Beyond Borders show, I wanted to drop a post to highlight a recent album by Peter Broggs and Dub Creator.

For those who are not familiar, Peter Broggs is one of many reggae journey men who have been quietly blessing the world with their beautiful music despite very little in the way of monetary gain. Broggs has been recording since the late 1970s.

I was first exposed to him way back in the mid-1980s when I came across his 1982 album "Rastafari Liveth." It was a revelation to my young ears. More recently, music lovers have been able to hear the reissue of his debut album, 1979's "Progressive Youth." A cracking Roots Radics backed set with Scientist at the mixing boards.

Peter has been championed by the UK digital roots movement as well. In the early 2000s he recorded with the UK's Steve "Jah Warrior" Mosco. Out of this creative firmament came the brilliant vocal album "Jah Golden Throne."

A dub set, "Jah Golden Throne Dubwise," followed on the now defunct BSI records out of Portland, Oregon, USA.

Unfortunately, hard times have befallen Peter as he had a stroke some time ago. All of the revenue from his latest set backed by Amsterdam's Dub Creator and released on the King Shiloh Imprint will go to pay for his medical bills in Jamaica.

I would encourage all lovers of strong digital roots stepping time dubwise to check for this album. At the time of writing EBreggae and ReggaeMusicStore have it in stock.

Peace,
Andy G