django django

Surprise! This will be the third installment of a retroactively initiated series called Psychedelic Folk Pop (or P.F.P. for short). This series, created more for me than you, is loosely based around current artists that create music that is both old and new sounding for this developing genre.
The first two (secret) installments were Mickey Moonlight and Connan Mockasin.

The third is Django Django, a four-piece London-based band, but originating from Edinburgh, Fife, Derry and Leeds. One of the band members (Dave Maclean) is the brother of one of the members of the legendary Beta Band (John Maclean), which could explain the easy comparison. But their sound is more diverse than the Beta Bands', drawing from a wider range of direct influences, such as Arthur Russell, Moondog, Sun Ra and Devo. There is not much more credible or sensible info on the Django Django project, as searches quickly lead you to the same four mp3's, hyped-up fluff bloggers, and the bands official overzealous and utterly unhelpful self-description.

So then we'll just let a few fun facts and trivia found in a Pinglewood interview round off the research-based portion of this post.


3 FACTS

Dave Maclean: "1. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

"2. In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.

"3. Hitler was a vegetarian."


2 SONGS

DM: "My one would have to be Purple Haze [by Jimi Hendrix]. I found this really bright, exciting looking record cover in amongst my dad’s old albums when I was really young and when I put it on I was blown away by how raw it sounded. I was used to listening to Black Lace tapes on my massive walkman, so it was a real turning point. I also dug out the Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd and um..... the Humble Bums. I think this may be a familiar introduction to great music for a lot of our generation.

Vinny: "I was about 13 or 14 when I heard Radio Babylon by Jack Dangers [AKA Meat Beat Manifesto]. Until that point I'd a pretty traditional outlook on song structure, melodies and instruments, listening to a lot of 60's psychedelic stuff. That song was so exciting and changed a lot of my views. A simplistic two chords change on a massive sounding bass, with cathedral like drums and a 'wooo.. alright' dropped in intermittently. On paper it wouldn't work. But it did, and really emphasised the importance of what a good beat can do for a song. It’s still what I look for in music I love today."



Personally, my interest in the band is mild to lukewarm. I suppose they fit into the more-important-than-good category for me, as what they are doing is unique and inspiring, but a bit too spaghetti western. I really like their track Storm, and have been playing it for a while inspite of the strange looks I get when I do. I am trying to warm up to the other tracks now. Their live show is helping with this.


Storm and Waveforms on BBC Radio 1







Love's Dart



WOR (outrageous video by Django Django)



DL Django Django - Storm / Love's Dart Promo EP


And out on The Bonjour Branch (7" inch vinyl label) Django Django WOR / Skies Over Cairo
(buy)


My Tiger My Timing - This Is Not The Fire (Django Django Remix)[right click, save as here]

Clock Opera - White Noise (Django Django remix) [right click, save as here]


Stated as one of Dave Maclean's early influences, I had never heard The Humblebums before. Cool stuff for the 60's. Here's Rick Rack by the Humblebums. Sweet.


The Humblebums - Open Up the Door (1970)