I picked this up at Oxfam this afternoon for a mere £1.99. I already had the track below and I don't think any of the others on the album will nudge it from the top spot, but one never knows. Besides I love the sleeve art - it reminds me a bit of Blue Note. And he's smoking a pipe - swish."What a Bringdown" is pretty close to a perfect track - everything about it seems light. I'm not a big fan of samples, they usually strike me as clumsy, but the woman's voice on this is great: strange and distracted, possibly a bit stoned. It reminds me of Sissy Spacek in Badlands or "Little Fluffy Clouds". I did some detective work (the internet is a powerful tool) and it's from an album called "Motor-Cycle" by Lotti Golden.
MC Honky: What A Bringdown
I likes it - very spring/summer.
ReplyDeleteNever heard this before and i second Mondo's position.
ReplyDeleteIt's great isn't it. Despite the air of wistfulness it's somehow very uplifting.
ReplyDeleteGreat job in checking into the sample! So cool that you found it's the voice of Lotti Golden, from her "Motor-Cycle" LP that's gaining a pretty big following online. (Atlantic hasn't yet reissued the LP on CD.) Mark Oliver Everett of the Eels is a genius, and it was a stroke of brilliance to use Golden on the track. I'd love to see Everett and Golden work on a project!! (Golden's voice is amazing and so are her lyrics.)
ReplyDeleteHello, thanks for leaving a comment. Mr E is dead good isn't he, and so prolific. I've got a couple of Eels albums and I keep meaning to pick up the others but I keep getting distracted.
ReplyDeleteAs you say Golden's voice is amazing, but very full on - the sample doesn't really give you a taste of what you're in for. I meant to mention Susan Christie in the post as well, her vocals are more like the sample - a bit languid.
Love "What A Bringdown" by MC Honky. Lotti Golden's voice used as a sample (she's talking) sounds very cool. Golden, in fact, sounds so relaxed, her voice reminds me of a Brazilian Carlos Jobim samba, like the matter of fact, ultra mellow Astrud Gilberto vocal on "Girl from Impanima" ---only Golden is talking--not singing. "What A Bringdown" a very cool track brought to us from E in disguise. What a great idea to use Golden's voice!
ReplyDeleteHello Anon, I hadn't thought of Astrud Gilberto, but now I am. So thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteThis is near perfect! Mark Everett's genius is in play as he builds "What A Bringdown" around Lotti Golden's amazing spoken voice. Her vocal sample is from "Gonna Fay's" a song on her 1969 epic LP "Motor-Cycle" (Atlantic). Tiny Mix Tapes describes Golden as the Velvet Underground meets Motown.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hear a bit of Astrud Gilberto too--. It's amazing that Lotti Golden's spoken voice can have such a hypnotic, mesmerizing effect, but it sure does, and Mark Everett uses her vocal sample brilliantly in "What A Bringdown." Golden's original songs, from which the sample is taken (Gonna Fay's) was posted on YouTube recently.
ReplyDelete