Sting Like a Bee
Licking my wounds from last weekend's WFMU record fair, I wasn't actively look for any new music this weekend. Funny thing though -- as luck would have it, this opera singer guy around the corner from me had a record sale, if you could call it that. He put three cases on his stoop, trusting us to use the honor system and stick two dollars through his mailslot if we took anything.
I knew the guy was a singer because I had met him flipping through his stuff at a sale of his back in July. None of his stock had changed at all, I was looking at the same records. Except now I eagerly grabbed something I didn't know about on the first go round, a copy of Sting Like a Bee by Bumblebee Unlimited.
Lots of blogs have recently salivated over Bumblebee Unlimited's "Lady Bug", particularly Fluxblog and Daughters of Invention. The reason for this is that it's not only prominently featured on Annie's DJ Kicks, but also shows up on other compilations this year by Rub 'N' Tug and hipster catnip Colette No. 7. "Lady Bug" is an incredible disco oddity, it's one of those songs that makes you scratch your head and wonder why it wasn't resurrected sooner. What happened here, did a good bootleg pressing circulate or did some influential BBC DJ start playing it all the time? It's strange that something would lie dormant and then get picked up on by everyone simultaneously.
"Lady Bug" is definitely the highlight of the album. It's the second track, preceded by another oddity, a rework of Donna McGhee's "Mr. Blindman". Hearing the pitched up novelty bee voices on "I Got a Big Bee" led me to first think it was some sort of parody remake, though I know it isn't. Its saving grace are some excellent bongo breaks peppered in the middle.
Bumblebee Unlimited - I Got a Big Bee
**Buy it at Vinyl.com**
Donna McGhee - Mr. Blindman
**Get it from Tigersushi**
Licking my wounds from last weekend's WFMU record fair, I wasn't actively look for any new music this weekend. Funny thing though -- as luck would have it, this opera singer guy around the corner from me had a record sale, if you could call it that. He put three cases on his stoop, trusting us to use the honor system and stick two dollars through his mailslot if we took anything.
I knew the guy was a singer because I had met him flipping through his stuff at a sale of his back in July. None of his stock had changed at all, I was looking at the same records. Except now I eagerly grabbed something I didn't know about on the first go round, a copy of Sting Like a Bee by Bumblebee Unlimited.
Lots of blogs have recently salivated over Bumblebee Unlimited's "Lady Bug", particularly Fluxblog and Daughters of Invention. The reason for this is that it's not only prominently featured on Annie's DJ Kicks, but also shows up on other compilations this year by Rub 'N' Tug and hipster catnip Colette No. 7. "Lady Bug" is an incredible disco oddity, it's one of those songs that makes you scratch your head and wonder why it wasn't resurrected sooner. What happened here, did a good bootleg pressing circulate or did some influential BBC DJ start playing it all the time? It's strange that something would lie dormant and then get picked up on by everyone simultaneously.
"Lady Bug" is definitely the highlight of the album. It's the second track, preceded by another oddity, a rework of Donna McGhee's "Mr. Blindman". Hearing the pitched up novelty bee voices on "I Got a Big Bee" led me to first think it was some sort of parody remake, though I know it isn't. Its saving grace are some excellent bongo breaks peppered in the middle.
Bumblebee Unlimited - I Got a Big Bee
**Buy it at Vinyl.com**
Donna McGhee - Mr. Blindman
**Get it from Tigersushi**
posted by Miguel
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