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Samm Bennett
Dutch pop / Spanish pop / Chinese pop

Profile views reset to 0, daily! And, new CD out!



Never been to the,
Cocoa (Keeling) Islands

Profile Views:  18




Last Login:  7/3/2009
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   Samm Bennett: General Info
Member Since6/17/2007
Band Websitewww.polarityrecords.net
Band MembersMostly just me, as in solo. Sometimes guitarist and blues harp maestro Ken Kawashima joins me, though not nearly often enough, as he lives several thousand miles away. You can hear Ken's guitar on "Lexington Avenue Line", here on the player. Otherwise, I play with lots of other folks, here and there, from time to time.
InfluencesPeople and bands: Skip James, Hank Williams, Ali Farka Toure, Dock Boggs, Randy Newman, Tom Zé, Ishman Bracey, Elliott Sharp, Roscoe Holcomb, that Zimmerman fellow from Minnesota, Son House, Richard Thompson, Al Jackson, Jr., Gillian Welch, Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste and The Meters, Guided By Voices, Muddy Waters, Captain Beefheart, Stevie Wonder, Mississippi Sheiks, John Prine, Dimi Mint Abba, Merle Haggard, Bo Diddley, the Grateful Dead, Clarence Ashley, Al Green, Little Feat, Fela, the Allman Brothers, Willie Dixon, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sid Smart, Oumou Sangare, Howlin' Wolf, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Vera Ward Hall, Sly & the Family Stone, Hermeto Pascoal Toumani Diabate, Tommy Johnson, Levon Helm and The Band, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Los Lobos, Ray Charles, Tom Waits, John Lee Hooker, Charley Patton.

Genres and styles and records: The Anthology of American Folk Music, Shona Mbira, Nigerian Juju, Fuji and Apala, just about everything I've ever heard of traditional African music, 70's funk, Ethiopian pop, Mississippi delta and hill country blues, pre-1980's country & western, Pygmy music, old-time and mountain music from Appalachia, the Deep River of Song series (Lomax recordings), Korean Shinawi and drumming, Jaw harp music from round the world, Stax.

Filmmakers, writers and artists: Stanley Kubrick, Paul Klee, Charles Bukowski, the Coen Brothers, Dr. Seuss, Andy Goldsworthy, Buster Keaton, Wassily Kandinsky, Frank Stanford, Joan Miro, Sidney Lumet, the Marx Brothers, Marcel Duchamp, Federico Fellini, R. Crumb, Kurt Vonnegut, Henry Miller, W.C. Fields.

Animals: crickets, frogs, cicadas, whales, loons, bowerbirds.

Sounds Like
Record LabelGot a label? Make me an offer!
Type of LabelIndie


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   About Samm Bennett
My new CD, ROOMFUL OF GHOSTS, is out NOW! Information, song lyrics, photos, reviews and more can be found at the official Roomful of Ghosts site. I'd LOVE to provide a direct link here to that site, but MySpace has inexplicably deemed it an evil page that they won't link to. This despite the fact that the site (a Blogspot blog) is as pure as the driven snow, and will not put an evil curse on you. So, just Google "roomful of ghosts", and you'll find it. You can also click the CD Baby button below, where, among other things, you'll find a direct link (CD Baby does not think it's evil) to the Roomful of Ghosts website:

SAMM BENNETT: Roomful of Ghosts
Are you a music writer? Or do you have a show on some hip (probably college) radio station? If so, would you be interested in reviewing the record, or having a copy for your radio station? Well then, please get in touch, with some information about yourself (links to published articles welcomed) and we'll see about get a review copy to you, while the release is still new! Send a MySpace message to me, or write me at: polarity_records (at) mac.com

***********************************************************************

I FREQUENTLY RESET MY PROFILE VIEWS TO ZERO.

It's a habit I got into back in the Great Playcount Erasure of September '08. Now, my friends here at MySpace finally fixed that, and my music player playcounts are back where they should be, but I've gotten used to seeing an absurdly low number of profile views (I'm particularly fond of the number 0) here on my page. So, I think I'll keep doing it! What the hell, right?

***********************************************************************

I write and sing songs. I started doing that around 1991, when I released my first record Life of Crime, featuring a group I used to lead back in NYC called CHUNK. After that followed a release called The Big Off (1993) which featured about 17 musicians from the New York scene of the time, and after that Samm Bennett's History of the Last 5 minutes with guitarist Hahn Rowe. During those years I did shows in NYC as well as some tours in the US, Europe and Japan. Upon moving to Japan, though, in the year 1995, I pretty much stopped writing and performing songs for about 10 years or so. But during the last couple of years I've gone back to it in a big way, writing a LOT, as well as going out to sing all this new stuff at gigs around Tokyo, with some frequency.

I play drums and percussion, mouthbow, jawharps and the strumstick, which is very similar to a mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. I often use drones that I create using one synth or another (my beloved old JUNO 60 comes in handy for this purpose). The percussion in my tracks very often has a melodic function as well, whether it's in how a drum is tuned, the note from a tiny bell, whatever. I enjoy playing the drum kit, though I'm more likely to use a variety of other percussion rather than the standard trap set when recording my songs: I think it's often more interesting and leads to different types of rhythmic expression to go that way. Some of my favorite drums to work with when putting tracks together are talking drum, frame drums, udu, darbuka, bombo and that amazing electronic marvel, the Korg WaveDrum. Otherwise, all manner of shakers, scrapers, bells and miscellaneous soundmakers find their way into my music. Sanzas, ukuleles, tin cans... I like to mix it up a lot. And by the way, the acoustic guitar you hear in "Lexington Avenue Line" on my player is by my buddy Ken Kawashima. Otherwise, all tracks on the other four songs you hear on this page are performed by yours truly.

My latest collection of songs, ROOMFUL OF GHOSTS, is out now.

Now, if you want a really exhaustive biography (it'll take you about 3 or 4 days to read it) you can check here.

I did an interview last year for online magazine based here in Japan called GYAKU. If you'd like to read it, it's here.

I've posted some songs and whatnot at Metafilter Music (under my Metafilter username "flapjax at midnite") which you can find here.

I'm also a frequent contributor to MetaFilter with music-related posts (again, as "flapjax at midnite"), covering a wide range of musicians and genres that interest me. You can see a collection of my music-related MetaFilter posts here.

***********************************************************************

Concerning TOP FRIENDS: The whole "Top Friends" thing, as I'm sure many of you might agree, is a little weird. But I think about it like this: it's just a way for me to call attention to music and musicians that I find interesting or exciting. They may be musicians I know personally, or they may be folks I've never met. They may be living, they may be dead. Whoever they are, they're there so that anyone who happens to wind up on my page can get some idea of what I dig musically, and, more importantly, perhaps click on the links and go check out some folks they may not already know. So the whole ranking aspect, the whole "top" bit, that's not why the "Top Friends" are there. They're just there cause I like their music. And I like to change them around from time to time, too, so if you happen to be a "Top" friend, then later find that you've dropped off the page, please be aware that it was only to make way for some other interesting musician. It'll be a rotation. Doesn't mean I don't love you anymore! I still love you!

***********************************************************************

Concerning COMMENTS: I'm of the opinion that comments here should (ideally) say something to me personally. For myself, whenever I make comments on other folk's pages it's always to say something to them about their music, or to respond to a comment of theirs, as part of a discourse or exchange. Honestly, all this "thanks for the add" business, doesn't it get a little bit tiresome? I don't really need folks to just say "thanks for the add" or "thanks for the request", if that's really all you have to say. Not that I don't think a "thank you" is a good thing, but, really, it's not necessary, as far as I'm concerned. If you want to say something about my music, tell me about that time the doorknob broke, or quote your favorite line from Miller's Crossing, that's great. You know, something interesting! But there's absolutely no need to send me a pre-fab graphic thank-you note or suchlike. In fact, if you don't even bother to address it to me, to personalize it in some little way, I'll probably just delete it. Cause it can wind up just looking like advertising for your band or whatever. Sure, maybe it's not, exactly, but it can feel that way. So if there's an add, I'll assume that you are thankful for the add, and I'll assume you'll know that I appreciate the add when the situation is reversed! And you can save your comment for such a time as you have something to say about how outta tune I'm singing, or how you think I'm the next Barry Manilow, stuff like that.

*******************************************************************




   Samm Bennett's Friend Space (Top 40)
Samm Bennett has 4025 friends.
 Morgan’s Organ 


 TOMO (Transcendental Organic Magical Objective) 


 G.B. Grayson 


 Buster Keaton 


 Paul Metzger 


 Hahn Rowe 


 Fred Lane 


 Tommy Johnson 


 Posuposu Otani 


 Nicholas Vroman 


 zia mohiuddin dagar 


 the Kropotkins 


 Roscoe Holcomb 


 C.O.B.CHARACTER NANA 


 Susan Alcorn 


 Peter Joseph Burtt 


 Rebecca Moore 


 helena espvall 


 Memphis Minnie 


 Bassekou Kouyate 


 howardAmb 


 Juldeh Camara 


 TONY ALLEN 


 Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation 


 Andrey Vinogradov (Russian hurdy-gurdy tunes) 


 Skist 


 Sun City Girls 


 Marcos Fernandes 


 Wally Deane & The Flips 


 Ned Rothenberg 


 oren bloedow 


 Hermeto Pascoal 


 Johnny Bitterman’s Records 


 ROOM40 


 Howlin' Wolf 


 Asha Bhosle 


 Leon Payne 


 Trefor Goronwy 


 Kunzwana Mbira Group 


 秋福音 (AKIFUKUIN) 





Samm Bennett's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 695 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
helena espvall





Jun 30 2009 1:23 AM

hey samm! i tried to send you a message over a week ago, but seems like you never got it? xxoo
Outlaw Jesse James





Jun 26 2009 11:46 AM

grwknd
Nicholas Vroman





Jun 22 2009 12:53 PM

Back at ya! Though I like yours better!
xx
N


Richard Nelson





Jun 20 2009 1:14 PM

Greetings from Maine!
David F. Hoenigman





Jun 5 2009 12:42 PM

Photobucket
 
PAINT YOUR TEETH 3 @ Gamuso in Asagaya on Sunday, June 7th  
SCHLEUSOLZ





Jun 4 2009 7:14 PM

NEW: SCHLEUSOLZ album "Running out of time" is out now


available on iTunes,
Amazon



and here:

SCHLEUSOLZ: Running Out of Time

NiCoLaS JuLeS





Jun 1 2009 9:05 AM


howardAmb





May 26 2009 9:39 PM

Destruments


Online Now!


May 23 2009 11:11 PM

Greetings from your good friend Destruments .
WILD MARMALADE





May 18 2009 9:25 PM

Wild Marmalade Japan Tour 2009 See you on the dancefloor !! Photobucket Photobucket
alicefayelove





May 16 2009 9:33 PM

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
howardAmb





May 16 2009 7:34 PM

YOU...make our world turn...GENIUS
Koan Loop Ensemble





May 15 2009 3:03 PM

First International Live Looping Festival - Best of the ShowFirst International Live Looping Festival - Best of the Show
Mikey McKernan





May 14 2009 7:42 PM

portland.

thanks for clicking.
David F. Hoenigman





May 12 2009 12:43 PM

Photobucket


PAINT YOUR TEETH 3 @ Gamuso in Asagaya on Sunday, June 7th  

Ashim Shanker and the Hentai Chefs + Kenji Siratori
- performing "a noise opera", Ashim will read from his novel Don't Forget to Breathe
accompanied by legendary area noise musicians

Steve Finbow
- UK writer reads a piece of Autistic Realism

she's my octopi
- David F. Hoenigman reads from Burn Your Belongings accompanied
by Anthony Magor on saxophone and Herman Bartelen on percussion

ORIGAMI & TEA
- back for an encore performance after their dynamic debut of
"candypop noise with odd costumes and dancing" at PAINT YOUR TEETH 2



JD Sipe





May 8 2009 8:50 PM

Hey Samm, Thanks for letting me know about the "Gone, Gone, Gone" video. Amazing stuff! You sure know how to get the maximum power out of just 2 chords. James Brown is the only other guy I ever heard do that. I love the "Used to Ride That Train" video too. Hope all is going well and that you're staying cool in the Land of the Rising Sun. Much love & respect to you my friend, j.d.
Nerd Table - Aqua Vulva





May 8 2009 2:10 PM


Hello!
Taishin Inoue





May 5 2009 11:00 PM

Life is Great!!!! in the name of Music.

Thanks!!!!!!!!



■09.05.07.thu.
『ORASP vol.13』
ORASP is ALTeRNAtive E L e K T r o n i c MUZIK pARTy in TOKYO

at 西麻布bullet's
B1F KASUMI Bldg,1-7-11NISHIAZABU, MINATO-KU, TOKYO
http://bul-lets.com

17:00 party OPEN.
23:30 party CLOSE.
entrance : 2,000yen and 1D
discount : 1,500yen and 1D
※mail to orasp[atmark]taishininoue.com

▼LIVE
Chib(Fatcat records)
miyachan akichan (daisuke miyatani + aki tomita)
shotahirama a.k.a.JANDEATH
Nakagawa Takuma
Naoto Taguchi (Lieilworks Recordings)
suzuka
TAISHIN(ORASP/WORLD)
Takahashi Seiji
ZaiSeNu/在不

▼Opening DJ
TAISHIN

▼VJ
voice.zero

▼Herb Drink Bar Paris Peking
虹釜太郎
Dustin McKamie





May 5 2009 8:50 PM

2 NEW ALBUMS AVAILABLE!

"FROM CALIFORNIA" AND "POP MACHINES"

LISTEN TO FULL-LENGTH ALBUMS NOW!!!

(LIMITED TIME ONLY)
howardAmb





May 3 2009 3:20 PM

alicefayelove





Apr 27 2009 1:45 AM

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
alicefayelove





Apr 19 2009 11:34 PM

JD Sipe





Apr 15 2009 2:17 PM

Hey Samm, Hope you had a good Easter holiday. I've been away from the computer for about a week as we were travelling to Tucson and the Sonoran desert. We arrived in Tucson riding in a tow truck since our little PT Cruiser died on the way in. We rented a car and were still able to get to the in law's family reunion and some of the Yaqui Easter ceremonies. Also got to play some music with former band mates Mitzi Cowell and Gary Mackendar. Besides being amazing musicians they are some of my oldest and dearest friends. Hope all is well with you. Much love & respect, j.d.


NY Ukulele Ensemble





Apr 15 2009 3:59 AM

Please check out our new comedic “vampire bankers” music video. The guy who directed this also directed Madonna’s first music vid. We think it’s pretty funny.
It’s available as a free mp3 download on http://www.ukejackson.com

Thanks for being our friend!
Uke Jackson and the NY Ukulele Ensemble
Roots Connection





Apr 14 2009 11:52 PM

Hi Samm Bennett
WE ARE NOW ONLINE WITH OURS CDS.
THIS IS THE SIGNAL THAT THE LIFE GOES ON.
WE WANT TO GO ON...

AND SO IN THE MEMORY OF A FRIEND THAT WE'LL NEVER FORGET HERE WE ARE:

ROOTS CONNECTION "ANIMYSTIC"
OUR SECOND LP .
(PHISICALLY ONLY IN ITALY FROM THE 1TH OF APRIL 2009).
IT'S ENRICO MICHELETTI LAST WILL.



ROOTS CONNECTION - 2003
OUR FIRST ALBUM.
IT'S A MEETING BETWEEN DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND DIFFERENT KIND OF MUSIC.



THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
KEEP THE BLUES ALIVE!
GOD BLESS YOU!!!!
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