Fly My Pretties – Live at Bats

Often times finding music from other parts of the world is difficult, but it is made much easier when you have friends who have traveled and lived in wonderful places. One such friend of mine has been nice enough to share with me a few favorites from New Zealand. The second of these acts (first being The Phoenix Foundation) is Fly My Pretties from Wellington, NZ. They are fronted by the Black Seeds’ Barnaby Weir and he is backed by anywhere from 8-18 of his musical friends. Musicians from other NZ bands join in the merriment, while Mr. Weir takes song-writing credit for most of the tunes they perform. Fly My Pretties is not your typical band who practice, record an album, tour, write new songs then repeat. On the contrary, Fly My Pretties pretty much just tour and play live. With this great melting-pot of talent, it comes as no great surprise that the music is eclectic; from folk, funk, reggae, rock, to soul. Each song takes on a life of its own, yet sounds distinctly like it could only come from Fly My Pretties.
The debut live recording release Live at Bats was recorded over 5 sell-out shows at Bat Theatre in Wellington. It’s somewhat surprising that with 5 shows recorded the album is only an hour long. There is probably some great material sitting on tapes in a basement somewhere in Mr. Weir’s house. Luckily, what is included is a great selection showcasing the various styles and genre-hopping Fly My Pretties can accomplish on a nightly basis. While not a huge fan of reggae (because it mostly all sounds the same), their foray into the genre sounds fresh and relaxed and authentic. A couple of the tunes even sound a little bit like Pat McGee Band from way back when. The most endearing songs come as solos or intimate arrangements from Mr. Weir and are more in the folk variety. One such song “Champion” is below from the concert video…and today we’re going AV with YouTube!

Fly My Pretties – Live at Bats

Often times finding music from other parts of the world is difficult, but it is made much easier when you have friends who have traveled and lived in wonderful places. One such friend of mine has been nice enough to share with me a few favorites from New Zealand. The second of these acts (first being The Phoenix Foundation) is Fly My Pretties from Wellington, NZ. They are fronted by the Black Seeds’ Barnaby Weir and he is backed by anywhere from 8-18 of his musical friends. Musicians from other NZ bands join in the merriment, while Mr. Weir takes song-writing credit for most of the tunes they perform. Fly My Pretties is not your typical band who practice, record an album, tour, write new songs then repeat. On the contrary, Fly My Pretties pretty much just tour and play live. With this great melting-pot of talent, it comes as no great surprise that the music is eclectic; from folk, funk, reggae, rock, to soul. Each song takes on a life of its own, yet sounds distinctly like it could only come from Fly My Pretties.
The debut live recording release Live at Bats was recorded over 5 sell-out shows at Bat Theatre in Wellington. It’s somewhat surprising that with 5 shows recorded the album is only an hour long. There is probably some great material sitting on tapes in a basement somewhere in Mr. Weir’s house. Luckily, what is included is a great selection showcasing the various styles and genre-hopping Fly My Pretties can accomplish on a nightly basis. While not a huge fan of reggae (because it mostly all sounds the same), their foray into the genre sounds fresh and relaxed and authentic. A couple of the tunes even sound a little bit like Pat McGee Band from way back when. The most endearing songs come as solos or intimate arrangements from Mr. Weir and are more in the folk variety. One such song “Champion” is below from the concert video…and today we’re going AV with YouTube!

Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass

Ian Bavitz (aka Aesop Rock) comes from the school of underground hip-hop in NY that made its way to the forefront in the late 1990s/early 2000s. While he has been making music since his debut Music for Earthworms (1997), the spotlight has only been getting brighter since the release of Labor Days (2001) on Def Jux (El-P’s Manhattan-based label). This particular release saw Aesop tackle the American labor society and how so many people are essentially slaves to a paycheck. In addition, the single “Daylight” was re-released as an EP all to itself. Aesop Rock’s claim to fame is in large part due to his voice and lyrical content. Sometimes he is barely comprehensible, other times his lyrics only vaguely make sense. In some ways, his voice isn’t just to spout personal opinions but rather to be part of the production as an instrument or sample unto itself. His production is usually dark, dirty, yet melodic in tone.

None Shall Pass is a great album compared to most of the rubbish hip-hop artists are producing currently. On the other hand, None Shall Pass is just a good album when comparing it to the upper echelons of other underground hip-hop. The main difficulty with the album is the uneven quality of the production. The standout tracks come from guest producers rather than the the ones produced by Aesop himself. Had he stayed away from the production a little more the album would be extremely tight and eclectic from track to track. Unfortunately, when there are a few tracks by Aesop back to back they meld together and become somewhat monotonous. The bulk of production comes from Blockhead, Aesop’s long-time producing partner. It’s possible that Aesop has learned mostly from his friend, and therefore his sound is too close to that of his buddy’s. Aesop Rock’s lyrical content on the album is sometimes hard to understand both aurally and technically. His message is usually pretty opaque, but that doesn’t mean it’s not highly enjoyable. It probably could have been much better had he brought in El-P to produce a couple more tracks or had a guest spot from Percee P. Any way you slice it, this album is incredibly more interesting and nuanced than 80% of the hip-hop currently circulating stereos and headphones today.