Patrick Sisson - Writer, Journalist, Cultural Documentarian, Music Lover

PATRICK SISSON

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Somewhere: Stockholm, Sweden

Article
XLR8R
January, 2007
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Neither Arctic chill nor a buttoned-down reputation has kept a healthy homegrown hip-hop scene from taking root in Stockholm. The capital city teems with record stores, where you can pick up the latest from local labels like JuJu Records, DvsG (David vs. Goliath), and Raw Fusion, which has successfully exported beat-makers like Up Hygh and Freddie Cruger to the US. Numerous American acts have performed here, especially at now-defunct clubs like Fatmilk and the Jump-Off. You can even check out the “hip-hop school” in the suburb of Farsa, where students learn breakdancing and beat-making.

Sweden’s first hip-hop records were reputedly released in the mid-’80s, adapting American style and slang and setting a template for the genre’s development. Artists rapped predominantly in English until the early ’90s–spurred on by a long-running hip-hop video program called 1200–until The Latin Kings (TLK), a group of Venezuelan and Chilean immigrants from the Stockholm suburb of Botkyrka, started spitting in Swedish, recording their hit album, Välkommen Till Förorten (Welcome to the Suburbs), in a slang dialect known as Rinkeby (named after the highly African-populated suburb of the same name). Stockholm hip-hop names like ADL and Petter followed suit; the latter’s 1999 album, Mitt Sjätte Sinne (My Sixth Sense), helping to usher in a huge expansion in the country’s hip-hop community. Now, rappers like Ison & Fille and Promoe and producers like Drumz, DJ Large, Embee, Breakmechanix, and Soul Supreme are redefining Swedish hip-hop.
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Lily Allen: Mighty Aphrodite :: Is the Foul-Mouthed Sweetheart Really the First MySpace Music Star? Or Did an Old-Fashioned Hustle Push Her Into the Spotlight?

Cover Story
URB
March 2007
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When Lily Allen steps onstage at Chicago’s Double Door, one of the year’s most talked about new singers suddenly becomes an enigma. Her face, framed in strands of jet-black hair and a jade headband, is greeted with applause as she strolls past a trio of horn players limply bobbing to the carnival-esque melody of her song “LDN.” And when she sings, the crowd reacts warmly to her sweet voice and wry lyrics about the dark side of London life-no surprise considering that only a few months ago, critics were tripping over each other to find new ways to praise her breezy debut album, Alright, Still.

But on this, the final stop of her first American tour, England’s Lily Allen is more than just hype generated by glowing reviews and MySpace downloads. She is a slightly nervous 21-year-old squarely in the spotlight. She sings softly but not quietly, bantering briefly with the crowd between songs and periodically borrowing a lighter from the front row to spark a cigarette. She is far from a seasoned vet, but she shows cheeky confidence. After she announces that the two new songs in her abbreviated set might sound terrible (they don’t), she plunges right in. Allen is just being herself, which, more than any buzz or online marketing, has made her a singer who is capable of more than a few hit singles.

“I’d tell you all to buy my album,” she deadpans, “but it won’t actually be out here until January.”
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Payback for a Hip-Hop Pioneer

Interview
Chicago Tribune
January 12, 2007

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“The Payoff Mix,” a Frankenstein according to one of its creators, was a song that raised questions that still haunt artists and record labels.
In 1983, New York producer Steve Stein and his friend Douglas DiFranco, a studio engineer, created the tune, a technically precise and occasionally humorous reworking of “Play that Beat Mr. D.J.” by G.L.O.B.E. & Whiz Kid, and entered it in a remix contest sponsored by the Tommy Boy label.

While it wasn’t the first track to juxtapose samples, it was certainly memorable. Recording under the name Double Dee & Steinski, the pair blended the original track’s early hip-hop beats with dozens of unauthorized musical samples including a snippet from a Boy George song and a Humphrey Bogart vocal clip from “Casablanca.”

The duo went on to record two similar tracks, “The James Brown Mix” and”History of Hip-Hop,” which together with “The Payoff Mix” are collectively known as The Lessons, before amicably splitting up in 1985. The pair received$100 and a few T-shirts for their contest victory at the time, but the tracks have since lived on as early examples of the potential and artistry of sampling.

“There was nothing that got in our way, certainly not copyright,” said Steinski, who appears at the Smart Bar on Friday. “The vapor and fog of intellectual property was not so thick as it is now. We had completely molded this piece and made this Frankenstein monster.”
While “The Payoff Mix” received limited radio play after it won the contest, the “monster” never saw official release, since clearing all the samples would have been a nightmarish task for the Tommy Boy legal staff.(While numerous bootleg versions of the tracks have been pressed, Steinski says the original prize from Tommy Boy is the only money he’s ever made from The Lessons.)
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Greenskeepers: Character Study

Interview
XLR8R
December 2006
Link

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House music has eccentric artists aplenty, but few can consistently turn out tracks with the twisted humor of Greenskeepers and keep a straight face. A live house outfit from Chicago, started by former golf caddies Nick Maurer and James Curd, the group delivers serious, floor-burning funk amped up with silly and endearing lyrics. They’ve turned The Silence of the Lambs psycho Buffalo Bill into a house diva (on “Lotion”) and revived the career of Fantasy Island midget Hervé Villechaize in the music video for their song “Filipino Phil.”

Now a quartet–with the inclusion of bassist Coban Rudish and guitarist/keyboardist Mark Share–Greenskeepers has just released Polo Club on San Francisco’s OM Records. Overflowing with loony lyrics and an excellent Huey Lewis cover, it begs the question: Where do these guys come up with this stuff? XLR8R spoke with Rudish, who comes from a very animated and artistically inclined family, about where he gets his creative inspiration.

XLR8R: Tell me about your brother, who works as an animator.
Coban Rudish: My older brother Paul started out as a character designer on the Batman cartoon, then worked at Hanna-Barbera. Then he moved on to [Cartoon Network show] Dexter’s Laboratory as a character designer and storyboarder, which led to Powerpuff Girls. Then he did Clone Wars, the Star Wars cartoon, and won an Emmy for it. Now he’s trying to start his own studio in partnership with the Orphanage, a computer-effects studio that wants to do 3-D features. They already hired on Genndy Tartakovsky (who created Dexter’s Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls). Paul is kind of Tartakovsky’s right-hand man. And he is a dork just like me. We talk about Star Wars all the time and have our own dork support system.

It seems like this creativity is a very big part of the family, since your dad Rick also drew.
It was a big part of growing up in my household, since my dad was an artist. But his main interest was horses. While he was in veterinary school, he was caught drawing a horse by an art teacher, who then got him to switch to art school. He graduated in 1964 and was recruited by Hallmark. He was drafted to go to Vietnam before he could start, but avoided real service by doing propaganda illustrations. After he finished that, he went to work at Hallmark. Then my dad started up a little farm and raised horses. The cutesy Hallmark art was kind of his way to afford his hobby. He also judged horse shows and was actually pretty high up in the Arabian Horse Association, which is unfortunately now associated with that dumbass [Michael] Brown, [director of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina].

Did you and Paul draw a lot with your father?
We would sit in his studio, across his drawing table in our high chairs, and draw along. Of course, when my dad would put on a Bee Gees record’ would get distracted and dance, while Paul would keep drawing.

How did your dad become involved with Rainbow Brite?
Hallmark decided they needed a property to compete with Strawberry Shortcake. My dad was asked to help create the character. Of course, my dad put a horse in it. Mattel picked up licenses to do toys, and then it kicked into gear and they made a full-length movie.

Did you get to work on the movie at all, since you were a kid at the time?
My dad went to work for the studio that made the movie–he was the art director–so Paul and I got to go and help design characters. Our names are in the credits as character designers. I designed the wise old wizard-sprite in the movie. Paul and I got to sit in with the writers, kind of like kiddie consultants.

Was there any notoriety to being the kid whose dad created Rainbow Brite?
I definitely tried to use it to my advantage trying to get the girls at school to have a crush on me. That’s also the reason I started playing music, I’m not afraid to admit.

How does Greenskeepers capture that sense of fun so many bands lack?
I think it’s a little more magical than that. Nick and Jim started Greenskeepers, and Nick is just a silly dude. He’s just a crazy, fantastical mind. At the same time, that vibe comes naturally for all of us.

How did you guys come up with “Lotion?”
I think Nick came up with the idea. Mark came up with the guitar riff and Nick just started flowing with the creepiness. I personally thought the song was a joke, and lo and behold, it was the breakout hit of the record.

Was it tough for you to adapt to playing house music?
In my mind, it was electronic disco, in many ways. I was disappointed with the way the hip-hop stole from all these old records I had. It was like, if you like that beat, let me play you the real song by Roy Ayers, because it’s even better. But James is so good at disguising, and picking and editing things.

What inspired Polo Club?
The title track was one of Nick’s whims. He started singing “polo club” over and over again. We were like, ‘Why the hell do you want to get into the damn polo club?’ We try not to be political–we usually just try to put some humor back into things–but it was a ‘Screw you’ to rich people. And once Mark re-edited it, it sounded awesome.

It seems like a real ’80s vibe is going on here with the Huey Lewis cover and the Talking Heads-style singing.
People talk about the David Byrne stuff, but that’s just what came out. We weren’t thinking about it at the time. I grew up in the ’80s, so when I started digging in my mind for rock riffs, that’s what I looked for. We’re products of where we came from, and I listened to a lot of INXS songs growing up.

Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn and Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-68

Review
Stop Smiling
November 2006
Link

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If you were booking jazz shows in Chicago in the late ’50s, a press release with the following exhortation might have crossed your desk: “Be good to your mind’s mind/eye Earthlings… Give is a chance to do what all Earthlings must do before they cross the River Styx… be bombarded with the living-cosmic-soul-force-vibrations of Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra!!!!!” It’s a bold and wildly eccentric pitch for a band to make during the Eisenhower era, or any era. But it also boldly proclaims the unapologetically deep philosophical and musical forces ushered in by one Herman Poole “Sunny” Blount, better known by the name he later chose for himself, Le Sony’r Ra, or Sun Ra.

Many fans and curious cultural onlookers first encountered the fringe figure and jazz experimenter as he presented himself: a robed mystic from Saturn. The remarkable thing about Pathways to Unknown Worlds, a new exhibit of Sun Ra ephemera at Chicago’s Hyde Park Art Center, is the way it gradually reveals the intense dedication and rigorous reflection that coalesced into Ra’s main theories, many of which influenced artists from Parliament to hip-hop producer Madlib and beyond. Space is certainly the place, but Ra’s path to the cosmos intrigues not only because of the ultimate destination but because of the singular way he achieved liftoff.

The main portion of the exhibit is a collection recovered from the home of the late Alton Abraham, who John Corbett, one of the exhibit’s curators, had previously interviewed for his 1994 book Extended Play: Sounding Off from John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein.

“When I first met Alton at a restaurant in my neighborhood, he told me he would show me something that proved he was who he said he was,” said Corbett. “He then produced the forms documenting Sun Ra’s name change. My heart stopped for about 10 minutes.”

A fellow mystic, Abraham managed Sun Ra’s business affairs under the corporate banner Saturn Research and also was part of Thmei Research, a secret society that the bandleader formed on the South Side of Chicago to study everything from African history and numerology to future technology and the paranormal. The rare art and artifacts, almost all from Abraham’s home, document the period Sun Ra spent in Chicago, when he grew from a composer and arranger to a visionary bandleader of a forward-thinking jazz ensemble.

Sketches and album covers dominate, all containing a mix of elemental and futuristic motifs like crashing waves, Egyptian symbols and dime novel sci-fi images. But there’s a lot of philosophical heft behind the images, some of which recall B-movie posters. Strewn between the visuals are scores of press releases, record catalogs and wood printing blocks for decorating record sleeves, all evidence of the revolutionary independent business Abraham and Sun Ra were running. According to Corbett, the duo would strike deals with labels to print small runs of records and would make their own covers, all in an effort to spread their beliefs through music.

During his Chicago years, Sun Ra also literally spread the word through broadsides and leaflets, which he read from and handed out at local parks. Ra’s written work and poetry, collected in The Wisdom of Sun Ra, a book available for purchase at the Hyde Park Art Center, is a vital part of this history. Pivoting and playing with words like Muhammad Ali taunting an opponent, Ra opined on the dire truth about race relations and personal freedom for black Americans. He often used jovial language and homonyms — one of the only instruments on display is a cymbal covered in symbols — but they don’t mask his strong feelings. As Ra said in his 1976 film Space is the Place, “The negro in America is a myth.”

Sun Ra wanted to take his listeners to the space age, but he didn’t mean Sputnik and space stations. As the text and images of this exhibit demonstrate, his seemingly outlandish personal image and artwork were in large part an extension of his belief in self-determination — that we could build our own myths through force of will and inhabit our own space. Sun Ra traveled the spaceways, but Pathways to Unknown Worlds makes it clear more earthly concerns and conceits led to his exodus.

Smog Veil Records creating green digs in Chicago

Feature
Chicago Tribune
October 16, 2006

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The building at 1825 W. Wabansia Ave. looks commonplace by current Bucktown standards. A hollow two-story structure ringed by Dumpsters and construction barricades, it’s another example of the rehab frenzy that has brought million-dollar homes to this gentrifying bohemian ‘hood.

But that will all change once the wind turbines and solar panels are installed on the roof. Set to become a combined living space and label office for Smog Veil Records, which moved to Chicago from Reno, Nev. last year, the building will be an example of how small businesses can utilize sustainable construction. Designed with numerous eco-friendly features, the site will be the centerpiece of the company’s efforts to be greener, according to co-owner Frank Mauceri.

“I really want to be an example of sustainability in our business,” he said. “I want to prove that you can follow sustainable practices and not only keep your business going but possibly be more profitable than you were last year.”
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Westbam: Off The Wall

Interview
XLR8R
October 2006
Link

westbam

What’s in a name? Quite a bit if you’re 41-year-old Maximilian Lenz, better known as Westbam. The moniker–a combination of his home province Westphalia with that of his musical idol Afrika Bambaataa–dates him as a teenager of the ’80s, and suggests what he would eventually become famous for: being one of the first DJ/producers to incorporate hip-hop influences (especially breaks) into house and techno. Though the name Westbam may be dated, Lenz stands for ideals that are timeless. He’s a Berlin legend, channeling punk energy to the dancefloor with his Low Spirit label (founded in 1985), co-founding the Loveparade and Mayday raves, and even representing his country during a 1988 DJ performance at the Seoul Olympics. XLR8R spoke with Lenz about the effects of reunification on the club scene.

XLR8R: What was your first encounter with hip-hop, which initially got you into DJing?
Westbam: As a teenager, I was into punk rock. In the early ’80s, a lot of punk rock was new wave and electronic. It was about trying something new and innovative. So when I first heard hip-hop, especially tracks like Bambaataa’s “Death Mix” that focused on mixing, it struck me as a new form of minimal electronic music. It was hardcore and not commercial and appealed to me.
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Melted Mailbox: Singles Club

Story
XLR8R
September 2006
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Twenty-four-year-old Matt Kimmel gets a rush from discovering obscure bands. But he’s noticed that even in a hyperlinked world, deserving artists go unappreciated–hence the inspiration to start Melted Mailbox, a new psychedelic singles club. “It’s a low-tech solution to the modern problem of finding out about new bands,” says Kimmel. “If you like experimental music, and you like your mailbox, there’s no reason not to sign up.”

Becoming a Melted Mailbox member may seem expensive–$70 for U.S. addresses, $90 for the rest of the world–but it’s a bargain for those craving out-there audio. Special records are shipped roughly twice a month–each 12″ has art and etching on one side and a single (unavailable outside the club) from the likes of Keith Fullerton Whitman, Brooklyn noisenik Carlos Giffoni, or Ariel Pink (who submitted a 15-minute freakout recorded immediately after he found out about 9/11) on the other side.

Membership has other rewards, including surprise CD-Rs, a poster, unique artwork, and a handmade storage box for the vinyl. The first series, which started June 25, ends this month, but sign up soon for the second wave of this mind-melting sonic attack.

Psalm One: Something Explosive

Interview
XLR8R
September 2006
Link

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“You’ll never be more than that girl who raps good for a girl/But really those titties is giving wood to the world.”

As this line from “Rapper Girls” demonstrates, Chicago MC Psalm One (born Cristalle Bowen) is familiar with the disses thrown at female rappers. She’s heard the looks-but-no-talent teases, and she’s happy to throw some out herself (as she does repeatedly on this track)–but only if they’re accurate. It’s part and parcel of the blunt, crafty style that’s made her a rising star on the Rhymesayers label.

“If you’re different or stand out in any way, that’s what people latch onto,” she says. “I’ve always just tried to be just a good rapper, period. I’m a b-girl and tomboy and I just let my personality come through.”
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Sao Necessary: Brazil’s Best

Story
XLR8R
August 2006
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Every year, American music fans are hoodwinked into listening to the newest crop of over-hyped UK bands, slavishly championed by NME and rarely worth the time. Looking for some more deserving audio imports? Follow Diplo’s lead to Brazil, where a rich heritage of tropicália, samba, and funk has mutated into myriad new styles and songs. A new generation of artists is kicking out more than just baile funk–take your eyes off the Carnaval dancers and focus on these six acts.

Cansei De Ser Sexy (“Tired of Being Sexy”)
Latest Release: Self-titled debut on Sub Pop
How They Party: Over-sexed Brazilian art school students from Sao Paulo pump out snarky, sweaty electro-pop tracks like “Art Bitch” and “Meeting Paris Hilton.”
Interesting pop reference: “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” is about getting busy to DFA1979.

Seu Jorge
Latest Release: The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions (Hollywood)
How He Parties: A folksy singer-songwriter (who takes hairstyling cues from Coolio) with a strong samba influence, Rio-based Jorge pens sparse tracks that highlight his rich, deep voice.
Interesting Cover: He anointed himself the Brazilian Bowie after covering the legend’s songs in filmmaker Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic.

Curumin (“Little Boy”)
Latest Release: Achados E Perdidos (Quannum)
How He Parties: Born Luciano Nakata Albuquerque, this baby-faced musical prodigy updates swaying ’70s Brazilian sounds with flourishes of hip-hop and electronic composition.
Interesting Cover: A version of Stevie Wonder’s protest track “You Haven’t Done Nothing”

Bonde do Role (“The Rollercoaster Band”)
Latest Release: Self-titled EP on Diplo’s Mad Decent label
How They Party: The trio of DJ/MC Rodrigo Gorky, MC Marina Ribatski, and MC Pedro D’eyrot–hailing from Curitiba, in Southern Brazil–drops relentless speak ‘n’ shout Portuguese lyrics over boisterous beats and borrowed guitar riffs.
Interesting Pop Reference: They sampled Alice in Chains on the song “Melo Do Tabaco.”

Cibelle
Latest Release: The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves (Six Degrees)
How She Parties: Originally from Sao Paulo (now living in London), this cute and challenging chanteuse pairs nightclub-ready vocals with languid strings and atmospheric, Tom Waits-like production.
Interesting Cover: She performed Caetano Veloso’s “London London” with freak-folk king Devendra Banhart on last album.

Tetine
Latest Release: L.I.C.K. My Favela (Slum Dunk)
How They Party: Also living in London, ex-pat performance art punks Bruno Verner and Eliete Mejorado (who head up the Slum Dunk collective) mix baile funk beats with fat and filthy synthesizer squelches.
Interesting Pop Reference: They compiled The Sexual Life of the Savages, a set of ’80s Brazilian post-punk, for the Soul Jazz label.

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