The misperception that black people aren’t into rock just won’t go away, no matter how many times examples from Jimi Hendrix to TV On The Radio are brought up. Assuming their unreleased 1974 LP becomes available, you’ll soon be able to add Death to the legacy of great and influential black rock ‘n’ rollers.
According to a post on Detroit label Livewire Records’ forum, Death were a proto-punk trio of African-American musicians in the Motor City whose deal with Columbia collapsed when they wouldn’t change their name. Whether this part of the story is true, Death did leave behind a blisteringly frenetic 7-inch in ‘76, “Keep On Knockin” b/w “Politicians In My Eyes,” which now sells for hundreds of dollars on eBay but which you can download for free. The campaign to get the LP a proper release starts here. (http://tinyurl.com/54vftw)
COVER ME
If Totally Wired feels light this week, blame jamsMatch, the ne plus ultra of addictive music trivia gaming. It sounds stupidly easy, dragging the album cover to the square on a grid marked with the respective album title in a short span of time. But when the covers are small enough that you can’t read them, that’s when you have to tap into your years of crate-digging. (http://jamsbio.com/games/jamsMatchSolo)
MP3 OF THE WEEK
D’Angelo, “Cruisin’”: Meet your summer jam. So what if it isn’t new (‘96), or rare? If anyone asks “Is this a Huey Lewis song?” you are allowed to push them in the pool, guilt-free. (http://tinyurl.com/4ogkdv)