Nomad War Machine and Susan Alcorn “Contra Madre”
When internationally revered pedal steel legend Susan Alcorn died last January, the city’s heartbreak took on the sound of a swooping, bent B string. Alcorn brought the pedal steel guitar out of the honky-tonks and into the art houses. Though she could also play it as well as nearly anyone in country music, Alcorn used the instrument in unique ways that can truly be called experimental, and, as such, was a constant collaborator and supporter of Baltimore’s underground, avant-garde scene centered around the annual High Zero festival of improvised and experimental music.
It’s somehow fitting that Alcorn is still breaking new ground on “Contra Madre,” her new posthumous album in collaboration with Philly-based experimental death-metal duo Nomad War Machine. The name “Nomad War Machine” refers to the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who saw the Nomad War Machine as a fluid, rhizomatic motion based on forces and function, as opposed to the State Apparatus, which uses hierarchies, categories, and kinds in order to control. That name is apt for this drifting, droning, blinging and wailing storm of an album, coming on at times as a soothing drizzle and at others a raging vortex.
Over the course of seven tracks (one is only digital), Alcorn’s pedal steel weaves around and bounces off of Julius Masri’s layered and often subtle percussion and James Reichard’s fretless guitar in counterpoint, echo, and call-and-response riffs in a series of improvisations that feel like they must have been really fun. It’s somehow a mix of free jazz, metal, honky-tonk, and Harry Smith “Old, Weird America.” After a brief “Invocation” kicks off the record, the gorgeous nearly 10-minute “Grotto That Returns the Echo of My Cry” leads us through a shimmering, pulsing landscape that feels like a sonic distillation of some odd Tiepolo etching of satyrs and children.
And something about the bounce, the time-changes, and the ever-ascending notes of stand-out track “Face of Unknown Stars” makes me break out in a big grin that is both buoyant and sad every time I hear it. The effect reminds me of nothing so much the joy, humor, and pathos in the late Albert Ayler’s saxophone on something like “Ghosts.” It is simultaneously ancient and completely new.
The label, VG+, was founded by Lee Gardner (who, full disclosure, was City Paper editor and has various connections to people at the Beat) in order to release Alcorn’s music, and “Contra Madre” feels like a real gift this winter, a strange soundtrack to a strange time. “I listened to the one free song and I feel like my brain went through a car wash,” said Deanna Dombroski, who copyedited this piece. And I think we could all use that.
Purchase the album on Bandcamp: Nomad War Machine and Susan Alcorn “Contra Madre” on Bandcamp digital and vinyl.
(Baynard Woods)
DJ Dolla “TWRK” and “FINESHYT (Club Remix)”
Baltimore-based DJ Dolla, known for his club, house, and jungle mixes, starts the year strong with two singles. “TWRK” is a club anthem that gets you moving, giving you no choice but to join the others on the dance floor. With a bass so boosted you feel it in your chest combined with echoed lyrics like “Twerk that back / Put your hands up high,” it almost feels wrong to not dance.
The second single, “FINESHYT (Club Remix),” is Dolla’s spin on the song “Fine Shyt” by rapper Lisha G. Giving the daydream trap song a second wind, Dolla lets the track stay true to its hip-hop roots while inserting the club element into the remix. Letting the lyrics breathe between each clap, snap, drum, and kick, the track gives the listener time and space to move freely with the beat.
Together, these mixes create a rhythm that shakes in all the right places.
Listen to STRICTLY 4 SHAKERS playlist online for free on SoundCloud.
(Chinarose Riley)
Dancing Bari featuring Turk P. Diddy “Party at Biddy’s”
Let’s take a ride. Get busy / Tell your friends we havin’ fun in the city / Yeah. They like the way we get litty / Come fuck it up with me / Yeah. We finna party at Biddy’s.
Baltimore Club dancer and influencer Dancing Bari digs into his hit-making bag with this uptempo bop. The Bee Gee’s 1977 hit “Stayin’ Alive” has been sampled many times, but nobody has ever put that Baltimore Club stank on it like producer Toan Tracks does here. The song is a nod to Ivan “Biddy” Baker (featured in this issue) and his new East Baltimore lounge, Biddy’s Place. Bari is joined by Turk P. Diddy as they take you on a wild night. The two rappers slide on the beat effortlessly, going back and forth with a catchy, undeniable hook. No need for crazy wordplay, the song is a must for dance floors.
“Nice arch in your back let me see sum’n / Another shot? No I’m turnt I don’t need nothin’,” Turk declares on the second verse.
The visuals capture the party vibe as the duo cuts from scenes of riding through the city hanging out the window, smoking big loud in the whip, to dancing on location in the lounge, standing on couches as one does. If you’re not shaking ass to this one, I’m sorry to tell you your soul might be dead.
“See me and Turk trying to make music fun again without all the guns and killing and really bring a new light of fun dance music back,” Bari told me via Instagram.
It’s perfectly aligned with Biddy’s vision of partying.
“Party at Biddy’s” is streaming on all platforms.
(Eze Jackson)