CUT by CUT: London Posse x Charlie Feathers x Ghetto x Fugazi
Time for another edition of our CUT by CUT feature — a conversation with the notorious Chop Shop barbers about the tunes they’ve been clippin’ to lately. Always unique, always insightful. [Click here to read the last edition.]
FRANK151: What have you guys been playing the last couple weeks?
MR. BEE: Well, everybody loves Santogold right now. We’ve been playing a lot of Santogold. We got this really new compilation, An England Story — it’s 25 years of the history of MC’s in England.
FRANK151: Is it the one from Heatwave? We posted that mixtape, plus videos for a lot of the tracks, like a month ago.
MR. BEE: Oh, no way! That got by me. I just saw the cover in a record store, and I thought, “That’s me.”
FRANK151: It’s from The Heatwave, this amazing dancehall, dub and grime site in the UK. They do podcasts and stuff too. It’s a great site.
MR. BEE: My favorite track on there is London Posse’s “Money Mad”. Basically, Big Audio Dynamite — you know, Mick Jones [of the Clash] and Don Letts — were hanging out in some club in London and saw these kids rapping [including UK legend Rodney P]. So they’re like, “Yo, come on tour with us. We’re Big Audio Dynamite.” And these kids didn’t even have a group. They were just kids, just kind of spitting, doing their reggae/hip hop thing. So they called it a group, real quick. Next thing you know, they were on tour with Big Audio Dynamite. They were about 14 years old, and they got this track, “Money Mad“… You know, Mad Lion was known in New York City as the Jamaican hip-hop guy, but these guys were doing it way before him. They’re sort of the foundation to that reggae/hip hop fusion. So that’s my track, man. I love that one.
FRANK151: Chris, anything you’ve been rocking in the Shop a lot lately?
CHRIS: Charlie Feathers.
FRANK151: Isn’t that – what, country music?
CHRIS: He was a Sun Records songwriter. Very cool. Old rockabilly stuff. He’s really, really good.
FRANK151: Sun Records, as in Johnny Cash and Elvis, right? Any specific albums or tracks to run to?
CHRIS: “Uh Huh Honey” [from the album Jungle Fever]. It’s got this super-underproduced, really raw quality to it.
FRANK151: They used his songs on the Kill Bill soundtrack, didn’t they?
Charlie Feathers (in the middle)
MR. BEE: Yeah. But ever since Dizzee came to town, we’ve just been bumping a lot more grime. It’s good music for the transition into spring and summer. It’s good party music. I get annoyed, though, when I see the UK grime kids trying to imitate what US hip hop artists do — which is everything I hate about US hip hop right now. I mean that bullshit material persona, where image comes before content. Image can’t come before content, because what those UK kids are doing is so fresh and original on its own – that’s what makes us like it, you know? So we’re playing Wiley a whole bunch — his last album, Playtime Is Over. Also, Ghetto’s newest record, Freedom of Speech, which is amazing. Especially that song, “Mountain” — which is, like, the best song to cut hair to, ever. If you’ve gotta bust out a cut real fast, put that track on.
FRANK151: What makes that such a good song for cutting hair?
MR. BEE: It’s just really progressive. When you listen to it, it just keeps you building up to, like…
FRANK151: A finished haircut?
MR. BEE: Exactly. Otherwise, basically we’re playing all that upbeat stuff… Spank Rock, M.I.A… trying to get psyched up for better weather. I was playing Fugazi’s The Argument for the last couple weeks. That’s a great album.
FRANK151: So, going throwback a little.
MR. BEE: Yeah. Fugazi’s cool, just because of the development of their sound — from Repeater to The Argument, they’ve grown. Even with Minor Threat, you watch Ian [McKaye] and the rest of them growing as musicians.
FRANK151: Have you heard what he’s doing now?
MR. BEE: You mean his duo with that girl, The Evens? Who is she? Is she his wife?
FRANK151: I don’t know who she is.
MR. BEE: It’s folky, isn’t it?
FRANK151: Yeah, it is. They even play children’s songs.
MR. BEE: I have a lot of respect for Ian, but I’m a little skeptical, because that sort of post-punk, “everybody write folk songs” thing is always kind of a turn-off for me.
FRANK151: I always loved the guys from Born Against who didn’t go the folky route, but instead went even more inaccessible and did Men’s Recovery Project. So, what was the last great show you saw?
CHRIS: I caught Porter Wagner and Marty Stewart last year, at Joe’s Pub.
FRANK151: And you haven’t seen anything good since then?
CHRIS: Not even. It’s all just been friends bands and shit. I’m forced to go. Actually, a couple months ago I saw my friend’s band, Modern Bummer, and they’re pretty awesome. Good guitar riffs.
MR. BEE: So, wait — when is this going to be up?
live from Joe’s Pub last year….
