Category Archives: Connections

RIP Mack Emmerman, Founder of Criteria Recording Studios

Fascinating obits ran recently, noting the passing on May 17th of Mack Emmerman, founder of Criteria Recording Studios in North Miami, Florida. The story of Criteria is not too different from the story of Sound City in Los Angeles, which was richly chronicled by Dave Grohl in his recent documentary (see our earlier post Dave Grohl’s “Sound City”), though Criteria was arguably even more successful.

Opened in 1959, Criteria’s history of landmark recordings includes The Allman Brothers’ “Eat A Peach” as well as Eric Clapton’s “Layla”, which featured the iconic slide guitar work of none other than Duane Allman.

Savor these tracks from Criteria’s catalog.

Criteria was purchased by New York’s Hit Factory in 1999 and continued to put out big albums including Michael Jackson’s last studio recording “Invincible”.  While the Hit Factory’s original New York location closed in 2005, the Miami facility lives on to this day, apparently a favorite of many rap and hip-hop acts.

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Jake Bugg Crosses the Atlantic

Jake Bugg’s eponymous debut album hit #1 on the British charts shortly after its release in October 2012.   Mining a different folk rock vein than his countrymen, Mumford & Sons, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter claims influences that include Johnny Cash, the Everly Brothers and Don McLean.  The album is now availabe in the U.S., and Bugg will be performing throughout the States later this year.

Give a listen to these tracks, and his website (Jake Bugg) features videos covering a good part of his debut release if you want to hear more.

While Bugg dismisses comparisons to a young Bob Dylan, pretty much every music writer has gone there.  If you want to make your own judgment, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was released shortly after Dylan’s 22nd birthday and also reached #1 on the British charts.  We won’t hold Jake to writing the next “Blowin’ in the Wind” yet, but here are two pure acoustic performances to consider.

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Daft Punk, Pharrell and Nile Rodgers Get Lucky

One of 2013’s most anticipated releases is Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” due out May 21st. The last album by the French electronic duo was “Alive 2007” which featured the track “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. Both the track and the album won Grammy’s.

The first track released from “Random Access Memories” is “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell Williams and legend Nile Rodgers. Watch the teaser video, then listen to the whole pristine production.

Singer, songwriter, rapper, fashion designer Pharrell Williams provides the vocals on “Get Lucky”. Pharrell (accent on the second syllable) is maybe best known as a producer, helping to assemble tracks for half the names in hip hop. Among his latest production credits was Frank Ocean’s 2012 album “Channel Orange” (see our earlier post Frank Ocean’s and Stevie Wonder’s Best Albums).

Nile Rodgers, who brings the funky guitar work on “Get Lucky”, has the same broad set of talents as Pharrell on a grander scale spanning nearly five decades. His production credits are completely ridiculous (click on the Wikipedia link here Nile Rodgers to read about them), and as a member of Chic he played on one of the best selling singles of all time “Le Freak”.

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Cayucas Gets Us Ready for Summer

Summer is just around the corner, and this year’s beach music will definitely include tunes from Cayucas’ freshman release “Bigfoot” due out this week.

Cayucas began a couple of years ago as a one-man, bedroom studio recording effort by Zach Yudin.  He put his first tunes out under the name “Oregon Bike Trails” but apparently decided that a variation on the name of a California seaside town suited his vibe better.  “High School Lover” was first recorded under the OBT name a couple of years ago.  The video for “Cayucos” sets us straight on the proper spelling of the town but is otherwise baffling.

If you need a couple of other tunes get you in the mood for summer, it’s hard to beat these two classics.  Feel free to send us a comment or email with your favorite summer songs, and we’ll round them up for post when the weather gets hotter.

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Reader Suggestions: Justice, Hundred Waters, and Vintage Trouble

Over the past few months readers have suggested some bands definitely worth a listen.

First up, Justice, a French electronic duo who gained notoriety (Grammy nominations, etc.) with the release of their debut album “Cross” in 2007.  “New Lands” is from their 2011 release “Audio, Video, Disco”.  This track and others from the album pay homage to older synth-rock styles, funk, disco and more.  And the video’s Rollerball theme is more evidence that Justice enjoys updating the past.  Thanks for the suggestion, Cliff!

Next is Hundred Waters performing “Boreal”.  A close-up of musicians recording with a mix of vocals, classic instruments and electronics makes this video especially fun to watch.  Looks like this band is set for take-off, too, touring with The XX beginning in May. A link to their website is also included below – some really cool art work on the “Images” page. Thanks for the link, Charlie!

http://www.hundred-waters.com/

As for something definitely NOT electronic, check out “Blues Hand Me Down” from Vintage Trouble. The track appears on their debut 2011 release “The Bomb Shelter Sessions”. The rock and soul band is opening for The Who on a number of tour dates in 2013, has been hitting all the big festivals, and has recently made the late night talk show circuit. Got to be a good band to see live! Thanks for the tip, Rainer!

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