Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Ally - "Action"

"If you're free to choose which model you employ / might as well pick the one that brings you joy" -The Ally, "Amop"-

These days it's easy to take for granted the music that we are lucky enough to hear on a daily basis. It is available to us nearly everywhere; from established mediums like radio and music stores to the newest and most accessible venue, the internet. Practically any music imaginable is available right at your fingertips every minute of every hour of every day.


Gone are the days of going to the record store on the day an album dropped or seeing your favorite bands new video on television for the first time. These traditions have been replaced by the “convenience” of iTunes and YouTube. Every once in a while, however, you stumble across something meaningful in such an unpredictable and capricious manner that it reminds you of how fortunate we all are to be able to enjoy the music we listen to.


It started with The Disco Biscuits. When you delve into the catalog of a band with such a massive base of live recordings to choose from you will inevitably come across that group’s side projects which, for the Biscuits, are many. One of those uncovered side projects was JM2, a group that existed briefly toward the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. JM2 consisted of Marc Brownstein (bass) and John Gutwillig (guitar) of the Disco Biscuits along with Jamie Shields (keys) of The New Deal and Mike Greenfield (drums) from a band I had never heard of called The Ally.


Already familiar with the work of the first three members I decided to see what I could find out about this new group The Ally but was met with brick walls in every direction. Nothing on Wikipedia, no MySpace page, no listing on All Music, not even Google could help. Jambase offered a hint of an album called “Action” but the link to buy it was long dead. More confused than angry I gave up the search and called it a day. They must not have been that good anyway.


Not long later, however, I was reading a music blog not too dissimilar from this one and the writer was describing his admiration for a “hidden gem” of an album called “Action” from a now defunct Philly band called The Ally. I couldn’t help but ask for a copy and he thankfully obliged. It took one listen for me to be hooked by The Ally’s self described “roots fusion” sound. Having emerged from the Philadelphia jam band scene at the same time as The Disco Biscuits, their lone release is fittingly tinged with multiple musical influences ranging from funk and reggae to electronica and drum and bass.


For me, the highlight of this album are the vocals of lead singer John Yohan Kim (Kimbo) and bass player Ira Wolf Tuton. While the style of their songs range from one genre to the next, Kimbo and Ira’s voices have no problem keeping up. Their smooth harmonies create an extremely infectious, chilled out vibe and gives the songs an ambiguous familiarity like you’ve been grooving on them for years. In addition to Kimbo’s singing he also displays his chops on violin and sax. The album also features the drumming of the aforementioned Greenfield, as well as Eric Zeiler’s guitar.


Since no decent recording of the albums songs exist on the web I've uploaded a few tracks from "Action" for you to check out. Once you click the links you have the choice to either stream the track or download it.


"Wooden Boat" is the first track on the album and does a great job of setting up the rest of the album. Tight harmonies and rhythm section and a flowing upbeat groove throughout.



On the fourth song on the album, "Options", The Ally shows their affinity for reggae and Kimbo's voice really shines with a little added edge to his delivery.



The biggest grin inducer of "Action" comes with the fifth track, "Amop". Unabashedly poppy but equally as optimistic this song has the most infectious chorus of the entire album.



As we get deeper into the album things get a bit heavier and a lot more experimental. Tracks 6 through 9 all flow seamlessly into one another creating a 21 plus minute block of eclectic groove. It starts of with the blues/funk of "Inner Pilot" which then, without warning, drops into the thumping beats of "Dear Mr. Gold". Next is the more subdued and cerebral electric groove of "Touching" which gradually climaxes into the Latin and hip-hop infused "2CE".



I hope you enjoyed my first post on Top Shelf Audio Daily. Be sure to share our blog with your friends along with your own music and experiences. See you next Tuesday.


Steve K

20 comments:

  1. That is the quintessential jam band picture: on stage in the middle of the day, clearly at a festival of some sort, with no fancy lights or stage production. How many bands have we seen in that exact same setting? 100?

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  2. Man, the Ally... what a fun band. Too bad Kimbo went back to Korea. They were a band from UPenn, and I was lucky enough to get to review Action for our entertainment magazine when it came out. Unfortunately, since that time, my copy of Action had a bottle of absinthe spilled on it, which rotted through the CD. If you liked Action, try to find a Cookie Dusters show from 3/4/03 at the Conduit in Trenton. It was supposed to be an Ally show, but the guitarist got sick, so Magnor and Gutwillig filled in. Spectacular show.

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  3. P.S. if there's any chance you'd be willing to burn a copy of the Ally CD for me, I would appreciate it. Thanks. gkennedy61@hotmail.com

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  4. i got to see these guys play at the 1616 club in philly sometime between 2000 and 2002. great band and a lot of fun. i, too, had a copy of Action that got destroyed. i have a ripped version of wooden boat that will barely play on the old cd it's on. i've been trying to find another copy on and off for the last few years. any insight would be appreciated.

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  5. I've got a good copy of Action and I'd be happy to burn it and send it to anyone who wants it. pbmarcotte@gmail.com.

    All I ask in return is any info regarding projects involving Mike Greenfield or Ira Tuton. I can't figure out why one of the most talented and dynamic rhythm sections of the decade has disappeared. It's a damn shame these guys didn't get huge, but I suppose that's the world we live in today.

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  6. to PB... Ira is playing in an awesome band called Yeasayer (should be very easy to find out about them) and Mike and Eric are playing in an awesome band called Xylos.

    myspace.com/yeasayer
    myspace.com/xylos
    xylosmusic.com

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  7. I just found a badly damaged copy of this album in a shoe box and was looking to replace it...great job rediscovering this!!!

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  8. A great band. I discovered them in mid-2008 and have not gotten tired of their sound.

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  9. I remember when I went to PENN my friends and i were friendly with the bassist.

    They were better than the biscuits.

    Check out Yeasayer.....

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  10. I remember the Ally as the most wonderful band I have ever heard live. And I heard them over and over and over - one of the lucky ones I guess. I recently listened to my copy of Action, I finally uploaded it to my iTunes.
    I ain't got no money/All that I can give you/Is my love, love love.

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  11. Damn I miss The Ally. Their shows were by far the best part of my time spent at Penn. And Greenfield is easily the best drummer I've ever seen live (and one of the nicest guys ever). He's playing with Lotus right now, Ira is playing with Yeasayer (the band mentioned above) and Eric Zeiler (the guitar player) has a solo project called Xylos which is really good and worth checking out.

    Kimbo is still in Korea last I heard.

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  12. I miss the Ally!!! Everyone I play Action for falls in love with it.. And they were so great live!!! I remember at an early Camp Bisco they busted out into a version of "Kung Fu Fighting" with Kimbo dancing barefoot on the stage... I was lucky enough to see them live a few times.. I think I may have even been to the concert that the top picture is from (if that's from Bisco Nights anyways) So glad that their music is living on....

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  13. And thanks for the update Benjamin! I had no idea that Ira was involved with Yeasayer (who's music I also love & Greenfield w/ Lotus- nice! I've definitely been diggin' those bands and absolutely clueless that there were some Ally members in them...

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  14. It's def. hard nay impossible to find another band with this assortment of style using these instruments (fretless bass, Violin/cello, horn section, fluent drumming, and spot on guitar) with the talent to drive so far ahead in such short time. Glad I got to see the reunion at a wedding reception show for one of their close friends! May have been the last reunion, tho I always hope not!

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  15. I used to own this album and unfortunately it's long been lost. I downloaded the mp3s that you offer on this page. Any chance of getting the remaining songs from this album? I think Church Bells and Happy Day were the names although I'm not sure. Please email me at christopwall10@comcast.net if you could possibly do this. I would greatly appreciate it.

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  16. My copy of this album got trashed :( If anyone knows where I can get another please let me know (I would be so grateful!).. laytonak12@gmail.com

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  17. My twin sister's CD was in her in-laws' car which they traded in. Horror! We are hunting for the track "Fallin' "

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  18. How do I get a copy of The Ally CD? I grew up listening to it over and over and I can't find it anywhere. I believe it was the baby blue cd.... PLEASE let me know!!!

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  19. I have been looking for this everywhere. I listened to it a ton in college. If you could ever post more that would be amazing.

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