Shiver me timbers, or piracy and record sales

The validity of the recent BI study that claimed pirates buy more music is being questioned by Maura @ Idolator and cohort Eric Harvey, and rightly so. The soon to close Dotshop, a connoisseur's internet shop of sorts, may well be in the right when they claim that they are victims of illegal filesharing.

Thing is, though, I have in fact bought more music because of the availability of free music on the internet, from the simple cause and effect that more music has been more easily available for me to hear before I buy the damn thing. Now while I do not claim to be a typical consumer, whose to say I'm only one in a million? Furthermore, most music fans I know prefer the physical LP or CD to mp3/FLAC/what have you, but this is a banana skin on par with the Nixon "qoute"; I don't know many people and other people may not give a toss or two about what format they listen to, much less how they obtain it. Those people do in fact hurt sales.

Thankfully, the likes of Spotify and their increasing libraries of music may make illegal filesharing for the sake of "getting a taste" increasingly redundant. They are the listening posts of the future, me thinks.

First reports from EMP Pop '09

Ned Raggett steps up to the plate (1+2+3+4). Haven't read anything myself yet, but thought I'd post a link here anyway.

EMP Pop '09 - who's blogging?

The EMP Pop Conference kicks off this Thursday, and I know KEXP 90.3 will blog about the goings-on, but if anyone else are doing any form of writing or updates on the thing, I'd appreciate it if you let me know. Btw, Twitter won't cut it, but if there's nothing else...

Coleman to curate Meltdown '09

Got an e-mail from a friend that alerted me to this. Hmmm, London in June. Why not?
More from FACT magazine.

Music of the Week 13/09

• Abdullah Ibrahim: Senzo (Sunnyside)
  
• The-Dream: "Rockin' That Shit/Thang" (Universal)
  
• The Thermals: "When I Died" (Kill Rock Stars)
  
• The Brakes (aka. brakesbrakesbrakes): "Ancient Mysteries" (Fat Cat)
• Bat For Lashes: Two Suns (Parlophone)
  

Blender no more

X-gau's thoughts on the fall of Blender.

RAPHAEL SAADIQ @ LA BELLEVILLOISE, PARIS (30/01/09)

Received this video from Saadiq's show in Paairs in the mail box the other day. Thought I'd post it here.

Edit: Video removed as it messed up the lay out. You can watch it and a few others here.

Music of the Week 12/09

Slight change of format in the hope I can get things rolling on a regular basis. The basics are the same: music I've enjoyed during the past week, sans write-up, just putting it out there.

• Bat for Lashes: "Daniel" (Parlophone)
  
• Death: "Politicians In My Eyes" (Drag City)
• Henry Threadgill (Sextet): Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (1983, About Time) & Subject to Change (1985, About Time)
  
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Heads Will Roll" (Polydor)
• David Byrne: live in Oslo, 19.03.2009
  

Death - "Politicians In My Eyes"

I wrote a piece on a closed forum yesterday about the incredible proto punk-band Death (no relation to the metal band), and this morning there's an article on Popmatters using almost the exact "headline" as I did. Oh, well. I'm not accusing anyone. The forum is "invite only", so it may be a case of "brilliant minds think alike." Articles about the band have been written a few times already these last few weeks, in the NY Times, the Guardian, and Stereogum to name a few.
Now, Death. A mid-seventies three piece from Detroit who played an energetic blend of P-funk and Stooges-type rock. The meme that has been going around is that they are precursors to the Bad Brains. In some ways that may be true, especially considering the wailing voice of the singer. But the frenetic bassline, skittering drumming, and accentuated guitars in the verse part of "Politicians In My Eyes" (from 1975) sounds more like something the Minutemen would play a few years later, though the refrain and coda is more in line with the "rock-ier" sides of Funkadelic (I've been told that they shared a studio with the Detorit branch of Funkadelic, which may explain some of the influence) and proto-punk bands like Rocket From the Tombs. Hear for yourselves below.



The compltete recorded output of Death, a mere seven songs, was released by Drag City earlier this year as ...For the World to See.

Wilson, Colbert, taste & Dion

In case you missed Carl "Zoilus" Wilson's appearance on the Colbert Report last week the whole episode can be seen here (the interview with Wilson is in the final part of the show).

by:Larm Friday 20th - short version

Three fairly good gigs yesterday, all of them small in scale but not in ambition. Percussionist Thomas Strønen under the name Pohlitz and saxophonist Håkon Kornstad played solo augmented by samples of their own playing, while the minimalist jazz duo Ballrogg balanced between simple chord structures and melodies and the atonal.

That's it.

by:Larm Thursday 19th - uncut version

It seems by:Larm news' proof reader didn't see eye to eye with me, and cut pieces from some of my reviews that he may have regarded redundant, but that I consider important in getting my view of the music across. Since the paper was printet last night, I see little problem in me posting the original (more or less, I had to rewrite parts of one from memory) reviews on this blog in order to save some face.

REVOLVER! - Mono, Thursday Feb. 19. 18:00

Since much noise and improvisation is based on the physical aspects of sounds rather than musical patterns that more easily appeal to the mind, the music often works better in live settings, where the physicality of the sounds comes more to the fore, than on record. That being said the duo REVOLVER! reveal themselves as no ordinary noise makers. Sure, guitarist Kim Johanessen scratches and pulls the guitar strings in ways that create a wide variety of sounds and noises, though at times it seemed a bit forced. Maybe that is a bit unfair because often enough the sounds he did get out of his instrument were quite riveting. Drummer Fredrik Kirkevold has great chops, variation and drive, not unlike renowned Norwegian jazz and impro drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, and may be a star in the making. When the duo lock together, they create purposeful grooves, at times both jazzy and heavy, and seeing as they are not afraid to slow things down, their music has great range and possibilities.

Bellman - Christianiasalen, Thursday Feb. 19. 20:30

Bellman played a packed Christianiasalen on Friday, which suggests that quite a few had been eager to hear his slightly orchestrated pop with a leaning towards sad beauty, elements that tend to go down well among many Norwegian music fans. Bellman's distinctive voice, high pitched and more than a little androgynous, coupled with the ambient feel of the music could easily be likened to Iceland's Sigur Rós. Bellman's music is more rooted in melodic pop, however, but it follows a similar pattern: slow to mid-tempo songs, where instruments are added as the songs progress and build up to crescendoes often exemplified by ringing guitar tones. The sadness of the songs are underscored by Bellman's singing, along with lyrics like «baby, I'm losing my way» and the telling title of his final song, «Requiem». Still this focus on sadness makes the music seem emotionally one dimensional, but to those more inclined towards the melancholy Bellman may be one of this year's stars of by:Larm

Zanussi 5 - Christianiasalen, Thursday Feb. 19. 22:30

Calling Zanussi 5's music «free jazz» is not entirely wrong, since they play free of the harmonic structures of traditional jazz. In terms of sound and attitude, though, their music has more in common with New York's Down Town music scene of the late 70s and early 80s that mirrored the varied culture of the area with a mix of jazz, funk, folk music, and punk's attitude and energy. Think Lounge Lizards, Last Exit or even James Chance and you are on to something. Zanussi 5 are no traditionalists, however, a point made clear with their closing number, a punkish and playful Balkan-inspired piece. Main man Per Zanussi played an electric bass instead of his acoustic on Friday (he didn't see that, should've been Thursday) , and the addition of Stian Westerhus on electric guitar has added power to their sound, while the interplay between the guitarists, the two sax players and the drummer was frenetically groovy. Zanussi 5 are normally one of Norway's best live bands. Last night, they played like the greatest working band in the world.

Carl Wilson on speech & music, plus rare Air recordings.

Fantastic post by Carl Wilson (Zoilus) where he goes through some of the most notable efforts made by musicians to transform the human speech into music (or connect human speech and music). He has also posted some videoes and sound bites for further insight. It's like the blogging of old, when we had had the time and took the effort to write longer posts on interesting themes.

Not completely unrelated, the other week I came across some rare rocordings of Air with the poet Amiri Baraka (thanks to the Rare Music Curator) made by German radio. I've been able to separate those recordings from the podcast and have uploaded them for your listening pleasure. In my opinion, they represent a fairly successful marriage of poetry and jazz, much due to Baraka's reading, since he seems to be in tune with th music, raisng his voice and tempo according to the music as well as the words (much like a singer would, mind you, althoug Baraka does not sing).

Air (Fred Hopkins, Steve McCall, Henry Threadgill) feat. Amiri Baraka, 20. March, 1982 Koln, Germany, WDR radio broadacast:

"I Love Music"



"Against Bourgeois Art"



"Class Struggle In Music"

by:Larm and Pop Conference '09

A busy week ahead, with by:Larm 2009 kicking off tonight. I hope to catch Ballrogg and Zanussi 5, but will most likely be reviewing gigs by virtually unknowns as well, which is what by:Larm really is for. There will also be a couple of conferences worth checking out.

Speaking of which, the schedule, panels, and abstracts for this year's Pop Conference are up on EMP's website. Haven't had any time to look through any of the abstracts yet, but will soon.

Air Song reissue

Good news. The label Why Not is about to re-issue Air's first album, Air Song, (from 1975, originally on India Navigation) on February 17. Hopefully, this will mean that Air Raid, my favorite of the two India Navigation-records, is on the way too. Let this be the year when Air finally get's the recognition they deserve.

Songs of the Week 01-05/09 (well, album, really).

Been catching up on some lost records of 2008 (tracking Pazz and Jop and what not) recently, but the best new record I've heard so far this year, by a mile, is David S. Ware's Shakti. New quartet, only William Parker remains, but man, there is some lovely playing on there. Here's hoping he has found a donor.

Raphael Saadiq, Cosmopolite, Oslo (no.) 28.01.09

The very enjoyable, close to two hour long gig, recorded by radio and on film, started off like this.




More clips will most likely become available in the following days,

Benjamin Gump?

I rarely comment on movies on this blog, but the video below made me laugh. Considering how The Curios Case of Benjamin Button recieved umpteen nominations for this year's Oscars, the "Academy" really should be sent a copy of this. Who do they think they are fooling?

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

Pazz & Jop '08: where's the pazz?

Pazz & Jop '08 results are up. Quick thoughts: agree with the winner, 'though I'm dissapointed with the lack of jazz (pazz) on the list. Glad to see MOPDtK and Vijay Iyer get a couple of votes, as well as Sonny Rollins (highest placed jazz record, as far as I can tell, on no. 215). William Parker too, but not the album I preferred. It may have to do with the (sad) fact that jazz criticism has increasingly become a field of specialists, and it does highten the importance of the VV jazz poll. Maybe they weren't asked or maybe they didn't bother. It is a bit sad, really, that the fields have to be separated, but that's how it has come to be (and has been for a while, admittedly). A qiuck browse reveal that at least Tom Hull carries a torch for both (new) jazz and rock/pop (but we knew that), and one Martin johnson, plus a few others, seem to be of similar interest. But are we a dying breed?

Generic

Flipper's classic Generic Flipper has just been reissued by Water, the same record company that was scheduled to reissue the Feelies' Crazy Rhythms last year. This time I know for a fact the record has made it to the stores, I've seen the physical copies myself.

Two apologies: one for the abundance of the word "excellent" in my previous post - repetition of the same descriptive word takes away the salience from the it every time it is used, not to mention that "excellent" barely says much at all. That doesn't hide the fact that I intended to be positive about the music I used it for. A second one for no Songs of the Week or any other updates. I'll get it together soon.

Favorite Jazz of 2008

May as well get it over with, especially since the Village Voice Poll was posted last week.

1. Mostly Other People Do the Killing: This Is Our Moosic (Hot Cup)
2. Fieldwork: Door (Pi Recordings)
3. Ben Allison & Man Size Safe: Little Things Run the World (Palmetto Records)
4. Anthony Braxton, Milfor Graves, William Parker: Beyond Quantum (Tzadik)
5. Rob Brown Ensemble: Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity)
6. Vijay Iyer: Tragicomic (Sunny Side Records)
   
7. Roy Campbell: Akhenaten Suite (AUM Fidelity)
8. William Parker: Petit Oiseau (Aum Fidelity)
9. Vandermark 5: Beat Reader (Atavistic)
10. Mike Reed People, Places & Things: Proliferation (482 Music)

The rest, in no particular order but all graded 7 or better (i.e. recommended):

• By Any Means (Rashied Ali/Charles Gayle/William Parker): Live at Crescendo (Ayler Records)
• Hamid Drake/Anders Gahnold/William Parker: Last Dances (Ayler Records)
• Adam Lane, Lou Grassi, Mark Whitecage: Drunk Butterfly (Clean Feed)
• Bill Dixon: 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound: Darfur (Aum Fidelity)
• William Parker: Double Sunrise Over Neptune (Art for Arts/AUM Fidelity)
• Fight the Big Bull: Dying Will Be Easy (Clean Feed)
• Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet: Tabligh (Cuniform)
• Atomic: Retrograde (Jazzland Rec.)
• Mattew Shipp Quartet: Cosmic Suite (Not Two Records)
• Empty Cage Quartet: Stratostrophic (Clean Feed)

(the links go mostly to CD Baby and Jazz Loft, but the records may also be available from other retailers).

I'm tempted to borrow Christgau's phrase from his review of Air's Air Lore in order to describe Mostly Other People Do the Killing: "Demonstrating not only that ragtime (...) and New Orleans (...) are Great Art consonant with Contemporary Jazz, but also that they're Corny. And that both Great Art and Corn can be fun."

MOPDtK rip out the intervoven molodies and the joie de vivre of vintage Dixieland and fuse that with the power and speed of post bop and hard bop, verging on the avant garde, at least in terms of their fondness for the odd skronk. There is also a post modern wit to their music, which makes me want to pit them with Pavement, of all bands, also due to their loose approach. This Is... may on occasion feel darker (e.g. "East Orwell") than their previos record, but then again think of the duality of their excellent moniker: the serious accusation that we're not as evil as the others sounds quite funny at the same time. I liked This Is... so much that I picked up and played 2007's Shamokin!!! again, and it is just as good.

The other "winner" this year may be Vijay Iyer, who has two entries on my list: the powerful and percussive Door by his trio Fieldwork (with last years newcomer of the year Tyshawn Sorey and Steve Lehman), and the straighter quartet session Tragicomic.

Ben Allison demonstrated the simplicity can be more, musically, on Little Things...

2008 was in some regards Anthony Braxton's year, not only because of great records like Beyond Quantum (with William Parker and Milford Graves), but also due to the Mosaic box set that re-issues his Arista records. Finally the excllent Creative Orchestra Music 1976 is available again.

William Parker was all over 2008, a testament to how highly I and others hold him in the world of contemporary jazz. He played bass on Beyond Quantum and Rob Brown's excellent free bop quartet session Crown Trunk..., among others. As for his records as a leader, I preferred the groovy quratet album Petit Oiseau to the large ensemble Double Sunrise... (I'm still not 100% comfortable with the vocals of Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay).

There are still some records I am sifting through, Matana Roberts The Chicago Project among others, but the top 10 should remain unchanged.

Best jazz record originally released in 2007 that I discovered in 2008: Sonic Openings Under Pressure: Muhheankuntuk (Clean Feed)

Happy New Ears

I've been on the road for much of the festive period, hence the lack of updates and Songs of the Week. Regular posting should resume by the end of the week, including my annual year in jazz thing-a-ma-jig. In the meantime, you can have a look at this year's Village Voice's jazz poll, won by none other than Sonny Rollins.

Happy New Year to all.

Knee jerk

"I would say that the desire to tell people about good music they're unaware of is one important reason to do the work. But so is elucidating the known. Kneejerk vanguardism is an important reason so much online record reviewing sucks." - R. Christgau.

Little time to elaborate on that one, but I see his point and wholly agree.

Out of Step...

...with the (Northern) European mentality that favors celebration of tragedy (fetal position) as more "artful" than the defiance of a tragic state or life. This mentality has put Glasvegas' debut on top of most year-end lists in Norway. To me it sounds like a perpetual whine. Cue lyrics from "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry":

so this is the grand finale
the crescendo of demise
this is the happy ending
where the bad guy goes down and dies
this is the end
with me on my knees and wondering why?
cross my heart, hope to die
its my own cheating heart that makes me cry

There's nothing quite like feeling sorry for yourself. No, to hell with that. It's a town full of losers, I'm pulling out of here to win!

Listmania

A few weeks ago, I was asked by PlanB to submit a list of my favorite records of 2008. The list was published online earlier today. You can find it here. It's pretty much a carbon copy of the list I keep at this blog, bar a few things. For one, I didn't include Girl Talk's tons-of-fun Feed the Animals, though I have no idea why. I also slipped in Bottomless Pit (which is also on the blog list, though it probably will miss out on a top 15 spot upon next review) although it was sticktly released in 2007. When I have more time, I'll make a comment on a few more of the records. Among other things, I have a text on the new MOPDtK in the pipeline.

If you can read Norwegian, I've also written a few words on Randy Newman and Harps and Angels.

Songs of the Week 49/08

Skipped weeks 46, 47 & 48. Had too much else goig on. Here are some old and some new faves.

• White Denim - "Shake Shake Shake" (Self released)
• Gang of Four - "What We Want" (EMI/Warne bros.)
• Q-Tip - "Manwomanboogie" (Motown)
  
• The Blacksheeps - "Gold Lion" (Yeah Yeah Yeahs-cover)
• Loui$ - "Pink Footpath"
  

It's a love story baby just say yes

"The thing is: there's an angsty teenager inside all of us, a grumbling undercurrent insisting that the world is shitty and we are all diseased and there's no one you can trust. To that inner goth, pop screeches and wails with dissonance. But it doesn't have to. Cultural critics worry that things distract us from reality, help us avoid reality, obscure reality. But sometimes reality, as they say, bites, and to take that tragedy and turn it into a comedy would not be the worst thing. Pop's power is, in no small part, its ability to imagine a world much like this one, but shinier--and to make it, whether you submit to its charms or not, believable."

Mike Barthel on Taylor Swift's "Love Story".

Black Saint & Soul Note on eMusic.

Stef at Free Jazz blog, brought the news recently that eMusic now have ECM titles available for download, which reminded me that I've forgotten to write that they (i.e. eMusic) have also acquired a large amount of the back catalogues for the Italian labels Black Saint and Soul Note.

I have an ambiguous relationship with ECM, but I love a lot of Black Saint and Soul Note records. A quick history: Black Saint and Soul Note became refuges for some (though not all) of the most adventurous American jazz musicians in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. Most of David Murray's best work (e.g. Ming, Murray's Steps, Home, The Hill, Sweet Lovely) were recorded for Black Saint, though these have been available on eMusic for a while. The new batch includes records by Air, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, John Carter, Julius Hemphill, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, Don Pullen, Cecil Taylor to name only a few.

Unlike ECM, Black Saint and Soul Note records can be hard to come by in some corners of the world. The fact that eMusic now have them for download is nothing short of fantastic. What's more, eMusic's prices are so good that you can easily afford to by a physical copy of a record you may come to love, that is if you can find it.

I should add that the Jazz Loft carry many titles by Black Saint and Soul Note at reasonable prices (SquidCo also have a few titles). You could also try Black Saint's homepage.

Wildflowers on CD

Wildflowers, the intriguing snap shot of the 1970s New York Loft Jazz scene, looks to be available on CD again ('though, it's been available as a download through eMusic for a while). This seminal compilation gives a look into one of the most interesting scenes in recent jazz history, and features tracks from Air, Anthony Braxton, David Murray, Sunny Murray, and Sam Rivers among others. Neither JazzLoft nor SquidCo look like they have it in stock, but I have seen it in stores. Try Douglas Records' homepage for info.

To whet your appetite, have a listen to the opening track, "Jays", by Kalaparusha (Maurice McIntyre) on tenor sax, feat. Chris White on bass and Jumma Santos on drums.

Music Crits too tolerant? What's Indie? Informed opinions? Target audiences?

A post by Mike Barthel on Idolator yesterday, which starts off asking why it is Metacritic's average scores for records is higher than they are for movies, then proceeds to guess it has something to do with a indie mentality: "The indie audience and the critics that spring from it have become so catholic in their tastes that they can see the good in almost anything that's not bad on a very basic technical level." (My highlights).

And the piece kind of sprawls from there, taking in questions of how one can write about music without knowing enough "to have an informed opinion" with an "audience for my review" that "would be people that are highly informed".

The comments are all over the place too, but I liked Matos' point: I'd rather read a critic who's actually made an effort to understand something and then dismissed it gleefully and with malice aforethought (...) than "are you kidding?" disdain for something the writer plainly isn't getting."

If I had more time, I'd join in on the debate, and there may be some points, either made by Mike or in the comments, that I'm missing here.

But if there was one thing I'd hope would come out of the poptimist/rockist debate, whichever side you were on, it was that people would stop having such hangups with genres. And they're back at it here. Broad taste is defined purely by genre, as one commenter says " But I see kids with everything from Modest Mouse to Jack Johnson to Ciara to Trace Adkins to Mastodon. There's a healthy mix (...)".

One who calls himself RaptorAvatar is on to something: "Even if you're like me and know that you're partial to a certain set of values that often crystallize most readily in indie rock, chances are that you have at least an ethos-level sense that you should maybe listen to "Year of The Gentleman (...)" (=Ne-Yo's latest, my comment).

Only I'd add to his "indie rock", jazz, rap, pop, r&b... See, what I've found over the years is that the values and expressions I seek and like - not only in music but in literature and films as well - are not confined to one genre specifically (though I may concur that some values, which RA touches on, are probably more likely to be found in one genre over another). Similarly, what I don't like in music can be found in alomost every genre as well. E.g. indie as a genre does not in and of itself express one coherent set of values, nor do indie bands and musicians express them equally well. The same goes for any other genre.

Before I'm labeled as a relativist here, let me just say in one respect, one can claim that my taste is actually very narrow in that I know exactly which kinds of values, expressions etc. I like and dislike - though music has a way of surprising you sometimes.

This, I maintain, is what gives me the right to have an opinion on almost anything I want to write about. What I take the time, and money, to write about is another matter all together.

(A belated and retro-influenced Songs of the Week will appear shortly).

Songs of the Week 45/08

• Mostly Other People Do the Killing: "Allentown" (Billy Joel-cover)(Hot Cup/CD Baby)
• Billy Joel: "Allentown" (Sony)
• Taylor Swift: "Fearless" (Big Machine)
• Britney Spears: "If You Seek Amy" (Jive Records)
• The Widow Babies: "Mike Watt Created the Universe With a Bass Solo" (Sounds Are Active)
  

Reagan, PATCO, and the Minutemen

A few weeks ago, I did a talk at my University about Ronald Reagan's handling of the Air Traffic Controllers' Strike in 1981. Talking about the aftermath and legacy of Reagan's firing of the strikers, I was able to weave in some music, more precisely the Minutemen. The following is an excerpt of that section.

The notion that Reagan's strict line towards the PATCO strikers weakened labor unions and made it easier for employers to fire dissenting employees in the ensuing years was reflected in other aspects of American culture as well. In 1984, the politically aware punk and folk inspired rock band Minutemen released a video for their song "This Ain't No Picnic", taken off the album Double Nickels On the Dime, which was released that same year. The song is one of the groups most striaght forward: it has what I would describe as a rampant or charging beat, and the chorus is shouted more than sung in a style that can be likened to protest calls at a rally. The lyrics describe the tension between a working man, his work and his employer. Below is the second verse of the song.

"Hey mister, don't look down on me
for what I believe
I got my bills and the rent
I should pitch a tent
but a man isn't free
for what he believes
so I'll work my life away
in place of a machine"

The video for "This Ain't No Picnic" takes into use black and white footage of a young Ronald Reagan in a World War II fighter plane, intercut with old footage of factory workers and footage of Minutemen outside of what appears to be a factory. The band lipsync the words of the song, shaking their fists in the air while singing the chorus, "This Ain't No Picnic", as if they were having a protest rally. As the video progresses, the fighter pilot in the guise of Ronald Reagan starts to fire the plane's guns. The footage shifts back to the band on the ground being fired at. There is an explosion, and we finally see the band, or the protesters, laying in the rubble. The image is quite striking: the protesters have effectively if violently been defeated at the hands of Ronald Reagan.

(Video for "This Ain't No Picninc" (SST Records, 1984))

Songs of the Week 44/08

• The Bronx: "Young Bloods" (Witchita)
• William Parker: "Freddie's Dead" (AUM Fidelity)
• The Muslims: "Parasites" (1928 Recordings)
• Los Campesinos! "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" (Witchita)
• Black Milk: "Bounce" (Fat Beats)

Fingers crossed

(Via Destination Out!)

Songs of the Week on hiatus, but I'm searching for Bernstein

More presicely Leonard Bernstein conducting The New York Philharmonic playing "Le Sacre du Printempes", a work that never ceases to amaze, recorded in 1958 and released on Columbia Records at the time. This is by many regarded as the recording of the piece. Stravinsky himself is said to have uttered just one word after hearing it: "Wow" (see this article from the NY Times).

Peter Gutmann of Classical Notes has this take on the importance of the recording:

"Nowadays The Rite presents a vexing performance problem – how to restore the original impact. The score was intended to assault audiences with startling freshness, yet listeners now take its innovations for granted and thanks to Fantasia remember the work more as a cartoon soundtrack for dancing dinosaurs than as the bold cornerstone of twentieth century music. In a stunning January 1958 record, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra restored The Rite to its rightful place in musical history.

Bernstein's solution to the problem of historical perspective was brilliant and yet, as so often with artistic triumphs, disarmingly simple. He was well aware that what shocked audiences in 1913 would seem pretty mild stuff two generations later. He couldn't expect audiences to turn back the clock, forget what they knew and participate in an aesthetic masquerade. Nor would he falsify the score by adding more “modern” elements. There was only one way to jolt contemporary listeners while preserving the integrity of Stravinsky's original conception: to generate a level of energy so intense as to restore the disparity between what the audience expected and what they had to feel. Bernstein's performance explodes with huge crackling sparks of rough, untamed excitement." (Click here for the full original article).

Sounds intriguing indeed. The original cover looked like this:


The recording has since been re-released on CD in a Roayl Edition by Sony Classical (SMK 47629, with a recording of "Petrushka" as a bonus, recommended by Gutmann.


Apparently, this edition has been discontinued and is currently out of print. (There are other recordings of Bernstein conducting "Rite...", but they don't seem to have garnered as much praise).

As an avid music fan and record collector, I'm used to records being out of print, even highly praised and "important" works (I'm currently pushing Arista to release Air's Air Lore on CD. Altough I do own that record, you may not, and you deserve one). It's none the less a crying shame.

It seems the only way to get this particular recording is to fork out a whooping 99,99$ for a used copy on Amazon (ain't gonna happen buddy), or go for the The Original Jacket Collection-box set, but that too seems to be out of print and very expensive.

Am I missing something here?

EDIT: found a version of the original LP on eBay a month or so after this was posted. Moral of the story is: seek and you shall find.

I don't see no ring on this finger

Me and S/FJ don't always see eye-to-eye, but we just as often do. In his New Yorker blog today he has a nice little list of Beyoncé's many confusing love tips, ending with this gem dissecting her latest song "Single Ladies":

"If a man values your relationship, be prepared to demand a commitment. Suggest that he signal the value of his commitment by buying you an enormous piece of jewelry, something big enough to kill a hamster with one mild blow."

Sums it up nicely. The fast beat seems to imply that you're in a hurry, too: "Demand a ring, NOW, before it's too late". Don't take that advice. (Plus, that dance is just plain silly (and others have pointed out the obvious inspiration, so I won't)).

Songs of the Week bonanza 41+42/08

• Blitzen Trapper: "God & Suicide" (Sub Pop)
• The Knux: "Bang Bang" (Interscope)
• Mostly Other People Do the Killing: "Drainlick" (Moppa Music/CDBaby)
  
• Lucinda Williams "Little Rock Star" (Lost Highway)
• Fucked Up: "Black Albino Bones" (Matador)
• Dog & Sky: "Twilight" (Crispin Glover Rec.)
  
• Love is All: "New Beginnings" (What's Your Rupture)
• Oscar Brown Jr.: "But I Was Cool" (Sony)
• Annie: "My Love Is Better" (Island)
• Taylor Swift: "Change" (Big Machine)

A few thoughts on people wanting change and their critics

I’m always baffled as to how certain Amercains attack people who want to change certain aspects of their government and country with such comments as “if you hate the country so much, why don’t you leave” and calling them unpatriotic.

Don’t you see, it is exactly because people love their country that they want to change things, to make it even better for themselves and their fellow citizens (re: the Constitution: “to form a more perfect union” (my emphasis)).

A question for you: If someone you love becomes an alcoholic, do you help them get on the right track or do you leave them be?

CMJ 2008 Schedule

The schedule for this year's CMJ Marathon, one I cannot attend (damnit), has been announced. Full list of artists here, the panels here. Looking at the list of artists hurt my eyes, but from what quick glance I could muster, I did see David Banner, Dead Prez, Jay Retard, Love as Laughter, Lykke Li, and Roisin Murphy (purr) there, plus the hilariously named Ex Norwegian, who I know nothing about. These may or may not be the highlights.

Oh, and catchy hard core-faves The Bronx will be playing, and coincidently you can listen to their new song "Past Lives" here, courtesy of Blender. Their new album will be out on Nov. 11th.

Hilliard Greene and Sonic Openings Under Pressure - an overlooked gem from last year

Having become smitten with the talents of bassist Hilliard Greene lately - particulalry on last years Matt Lavelle-led Spiritual Power as well as Akhenaten Suite by the Roy Campbell Ensemble, which came out earlier this year - I was recently browsing the web for other projects he's been involved in. Turns out he has had quite a varied career.

He played on Charles Gayle's Repent from 1992, a record I own but haven't listened to in quite a while (there are some recent videos on YouTube of him playing with Gayle also). Since then he has played on records by such creative musicians as Dave Douglas (Sanctuary), Leroy Jenkins (Leroy Jenkins Live!), and notably Little Jimmy Scott, with whom he is still the bassist of choice, as far as I know.

As the above list would suggest, Mr. Greene's approach to bass is as varied as his collaborators, equally comfortable playing smooth, long notes, as well as speedier runs, while at the same time keeping strong and clear tones. One of the biggest joys of his playing, however, is his willingness to lock into grooves and plays powerful riff-like themes.



Wich brings me to Sonic Openings Under Pressure, which in addition to Greene is comprised of Patrick Brennan on saxophones and David Pleasant on drums (who replaced Newman Taylor Baker, as far as I can tell). Last year, the group released Muhheankuntuk on Clean Feed, a record I feel recieved unfairly little notice and was underappreciated. I, for one, am with Stef at Free Jazz in thinking that it's a great piece of modern imrpovisational jazz, intense and open ended at once, with the frenetic "Hardship" as some sort of centerpiece, a groovy spoken word/punky number that wouldn't have sounded too out of place on a Minutemen record. Great song, great record.

Preview/download at eMusic.
Buy the CD from Jazz Loft or directly from Clean Feed.

Songs of the Week 40/08...

...will be entirely dedicated to Robert Forster, who I went to see play at the lovely Passionskirche in Berlin last weekend. Picking a top 5 from that set-list seems unfair, however, though highlights certainly included "Surfing Magazines" ("Be the kind of people the authoroties can't reach"), "Spring Rain" (which apparently left members of the audience in tears), a theatrical/Presley-esque rendition of "Heart Cut to Tender", "He Lives My Life", and the closing "Caroline and I", of which I found a grainy and lo-fi 'tube video I've posted below.

Defective Modern Dance CDs in Norway

I recently discovered that there seem to be a batch of defective copies of Pere Ubu's The Modern Dance-reissue (Cook CD 141) on sale through the distributer of Cooking Vinyl in Norway, presumably from the same batch that was initially recalled in June 2008. I've notified David Thomas/Ubuprojex (who have put a note up on the web page with additional info). Hopefully, new faulty-free copies of the reissue should become available soon.

In additional Pere Ubu news, a 2008 remastered edition of Dub Housing will be available in November. Also, visit hearpen.com for downloadable Pere Ubu stuff.

Belated Songs of the Week 39/08 + Berlin and Robert Forster beckons

• Sonic Opening Under Pressure: "The Hardships" (Clean Feed (teasers at eMusic))
• Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse: "Liz the Hot Receptionist"
• Report Suspicious Activity: "Lipstic on a Pig"
• Dr. Dooom: "RIP Dr. Octagon" (Threshold Recordings, LLC)
• Robert Forster: "It Ain't Easy" (Yep Roc)

I'm heading to Berlin for the weekend, among other reasons to see Robert Forster play at the Passionskirche. Songs of the Week 40/08 will prbably be delayed too. In the meantime, enjoy the video for Jesus H. Christ's "Liz the Hot Receptionist".

Lipstick on a Pig

Report Suspicious Activity, who released Destroy All Evidence earlier this fall - a great and dynamic album powerful enough to give any supporter of the current US administration an aural kick in the teeth and smart enough to tell them why they deserved it - are keeping up with current events and have just posted a song on their MySpace called, appropriatly, "Lipstick on a Pig". While I don't think it's their best moment, it's good for a laugh as well as a pretty decent fist pumper.

Lipstick on a Pig

Songs of the Week 38/08

• Raphael Saadiq: "Keep Marchin'" (Columbia)
• Jay-Z: "Jockin' Jay-Z/Dope Boy Fresh" (web/Rock-A-fella)
• Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: "War" (MySpace/YouTube)
• TV on the Radio: Halfway Home" (Interscope)
  
• The Mopes: "You Look Like a Gorilla" (Lookout! Records)

Clean Feed Fest NY III + No Songs of the Week 37/08?

This coming weekend, the Portugal-based jazz label Clean Feed will host a festival to showcase some of their artists at The Living Theatre in Manhattan, New York.

Clean Feed is fast becoming one of the most intersting jazz labels to my mind, releasing records by artists, both young and old, who explore the various posibilities in modern jazz. The company has released records by among others Anthony Braxton, Evan Parker, Steve Lehman, Tony Malaby w/William Parker, Joe Morris, Ken Vandermark, and notably Adam Lane, one of my favoite up-and-coming "young" jazz composers/artists. Full catalogue here (by year).

The festival runs from this Friday (Sept. 19th) through to the following Wednesday (Sept. 24th). The program can be found here. I would recommend the double bill of Adam Lane w/ Mark Whitecage and Lou Grassi, and Michael Dessen Trio (w/ the talented Tyshawn Sorey on drums) on Friday, as well as Tony Malaby's Tamarindo (w/ William Parker and Nasheet Waits) on Monday the 22nd. But I'm sure it will be worth seeing all gigs if you have the time and the money.

No Songs of the Week as for some reason I've only been listening to two records this past week; Jeffrey Lewis' quirky, politically charged and often spot-on 12 Crass Songs (Rough Trade), which I admittedly arrived at a bit later than others, and Beyond Quantum (Tzadic) by Anthony Braxton, Milford Graves and William Parker. Both are very good records, and I could easily have picked five songs off each (B.Y. has just five "songs") and presented them as SotW, but I'm not going to.

Songs of the Week 36/08

• Conor Oberst: "I Don't Want to Die (in a hospital) (Merge)
  
• Report Suspicious Activity: "Destroy All Evidence" (Alternative Tentacles)
• Opiyo Bilongo & Extra Golden: "When I Was in U.S." (Thrill Jockey)
• Carsten Byhring as Jens Hetland anno 1913: "Erru Idiot Du'a?"
  
• Charles Mingus: "Prayer for Passive Resistance" (Live at Antibe-version) (Atlantic)
  

Random Rules: Zoilus interviews a Silver Jew

Carl Wilson has posted an interview with David Berman of Silver Jews fame - whose work I respect more than enjoy, with notable exceptions - where he among other things discusses the poet/lyricist "problem" we've touched on earlier this summer. A good read.

Songs of the Week 35/08

• Archers of Loaf: "White Trash Heroes" (Alias)
• The Wrens: "Happy" (Absolutely Kosher)
  
• The Streets: "Heaven for the Weather" (sixsevenine)
• Adam Lane: "Last of the Beboppers" (Clean Feed)
• Report Suspicious Activity: "Bush Is Brezhnev" (Alternative Tentacles/Revolver)
  

Paper Thin Walls R.I.P.

Paper Thin Walls closes down. Spreading the word on the internet isn't always easy.

Songs of the Week 34/08

• Wampire Weekend: "Everywhere" (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
• Fujiya & Miyagi: "Uh" (Groenland)
• Jenny Lewis: "Carpetbagers" (Rough Trade)
• Big Black "Kerosene" (Touch and Go)
• Jessie Evans: "Scientist of Love" (MySpace etc.)
  

Songs of the Week 33/08

• William Parker: "Lights of Lake George" (Arts For Art/AUM Fidelity)
• K'naan: "I Was Stabbed By Satan (Track and Field inc./CD Baby)
• Bottomless Pit: "Red Pen" (Comedy minus One)
• Kronos Quartet: "Marquee Moon" (Elektra, 1990)
• Spoon: "Peace Like a River" (Daytrotter Sessions)
  

Reviews

Forgot to mention I have two recent reviews at the Norwegian free monthly Plan B; Original Silence and Lars Horntveth (both are in Norwegian).

Both are interesting records, but share one problem albeit for slightly different reasons: themes.

OS is a noise/improv band, and I've often felt that noise works best live where the physical aspect of the music comes to the fore. Listening to records is a more "intellectual" excersice, so I feel the need for some form thematic structure or propulsion is necessary to keep you listening. Luckily, OS has a terrific rhythm section in Paal Nilssen-Love and Massimo Pupillo who keep the momentum going and makes sure not everything hangs mid-air, so to speak.

Horntveth's record - a 37+ minute suite of sorts - while often quite beautiful suffers from too many ideas or themes, and sometimes you don't quite know how you got from one part to the next.

Songs of the Week 32/08

(No songs this week, but a "top 5" of the gigs at Øya '08.)

• Girl Talk (Wed. 08/06/08)
• Kenge Kenge (Thur. 08/07/08)
• Sonic Youth (Thur. 08/07/08)
• Clipse (Fri. 08/08/08)
• My Bloody Valentine (Fri. 08/08/08)

Well, I must add

• No Age (08/09/08)

Also, R.I.P. to Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac.

Need to recoup. Until then.

I Want the LP-version of Double Nickels... on my iPod. + Øya '08.

You have the CD-version. You rip it. Then you download "Mr. Robots Holy Orders", "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love", and the brilliant "Little Man With a Gun In His Hand" from the Mike Watt approved Corndogs.org. Edit in accordance with the original track-listing, and hey presto!, you're good to go.

The Minutemen - "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" live at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, 1984

Øya is up and running. I'm not, but I'm going anyway. Los Campesinos! and Girl Talk both put on good shows yesterday, but the area is too crowded this year with the addition of one more stage, meaning I just had to give up on Lykke Li and others. They have to consider whether this was a good move or not for next year (my money is on "not".)

Songs of the Week 31/08

Favorites lists on blogs: Wha'ppen?

A few years ago, when I started this blog, the blogosphere was littered with top/favorites lists. Lately, though, they are few and far between. Le Matos has none on his blog anymore, Tom Hull has lists from previous years, but has not started one for 2008 ('though I understand he has had family issues to deal with), and S/FJ, who removed his lists earlier this year but set up a new one for 2008, has added some strange rants at the end of his list, the final words being " some other album, fuck do i care".

Maybe there was a backlash somewhere. Perhaps a reaction to the "end-of-year-lists-are-stupid" comments that come up every year. Is it for fear of not being taken seriosly? Has somebody been calling them nerds? Sure, lists tells you fuck-all about the qualities (or lack of) of the things you like, or put it another way, why you like/dislike the album or song in the way a good review can do. But, c'mon, aren't they taking it a bit too seriously? Lists don't come in the way of longform reviews, they're just supplements.

To me, the blog lists were the equivalent of a buddy saying to you in a bar "have you heard the new SO-AND-SO? I think it's great", to which I'd might answer "no, I'll better give it a try", or "yes and I didn't like it but maybe I should give it another chance" or whatever and then have another drink. Point is, they are just tips or hints. We can have a conversation about it after I heard the song or album or seen the movie (or if I've heard/seen the thing and have a strong enough opinion about it I'll most likely discuss it then and there, but you see my point, no?). Where are the blog lists? I promise I'll read your reviews too.

Songs of the Week: 30/08

• Randy Newman: "Harps and Angels" (Nonsuch) ("Encore, Encore, You spoke French!" Gets me every time.)
• Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet: "Rosa Parks" (Cuniform)
• Moondog: "Paris" (Roof Music)
• Minutemen: "Little Man With a Gun in His Hand" (SST)
• Iron Maiden: "Can I play With Madness" (EMI)
  

Johnny Griffin, R.I.P.

More from Ben Ratliff in the NY Times.

Songs of the Week: 29/08 + some thoughts on Murray and Coleman

• Original Silence: "Argument Left Hanging - Rubber Cement" (Smalltown Superjazz)
• Menya: "D.T.F." (Menya/TuneCore)
• Constantines: "Our Age" (Arts & Crafts)
• David Murray's Black Saint Quartet: live at Alexandrakjelleren, Molde, July 14., 2008
• Ornette Coleman Quartet: "Lonely Woman", live at Bjørnsonhuset, Molde, July 15., 2008

Ok, so the last two are live, and Murray's a whole set. Fact: Murray was far more exciting and adventurous live than on his last record (which I like just fine, btw). The set was mostly new compositions plus a terrific version of "Murray's Steps" and a Monk-tune (which name escapes me at the time of writing. A bit embarrasing considring how much I love Monk) on bass clarinett. Luckily, the turn-out was good too, especially considering that no-one has covered him in the Norwegian press lately, as far as I can remember. Great quartet, with the always brillant Hamid Drake on drums. Jaribu Shahid (who's now a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago) added groovy basslines, and Lafayette Gilchrist, whom I spoke to briefly after the show (genuinely nice guy), had a distinct hip-hop attack on his piano to add to his otherwise Andrew Hill influenced style.
Patti Smith joined Mr. Coleman on stage, reciting a poem I only could hear bits and pieces of, but which sounded like a tribute to the main man ("a new grammar" and "joining the ancient with the new" or something to that effect). Last year's Kongsberg gig was better, but this set was good too. Standing ovations at the end, deservedly so.

Songs of the Week: 28/08

(I thought I'd introduce a "songs of the week"-feature here in order to try to instill some regularity on this blog. Good songs are easier to come by than good records, so I shouldn't have much trouble compiling a list for every week. I won't confine myself to strictly new material, 'though, but add any song I've been listening to and enjoying lately, old or new. I'll start with five, without comments, and see how it goes from there).

• Alejandro Escovedo: "Always a Friend" (Back Porch, 2008)
  
• Les McCann w/Eddie Harris: "Compared to What" (Atlantic/Rhino, 1969)
• Nas: "Untitled" (Def Jam, 2008)
• Bruce Springsteen: "Cover Me" (Columbia, 1984)
  
• Wire: "One of Us" (Pink Flag, 2008)
  

Speak, Brother, Speak: a mish-mash of thoughts on words and music

Stef at Free Jazz blog posted some gripes about poetry and spoken word in jazz a few days ago, and allthough I understand some of his points, especially point 2 in his list, I don't nescessarilly agree wholly. Although I prefer my jazz instrumental, I don't think putting poetry to music or vice versa is doing it with the breaks on.

But there may be some difference in what we understand as poetry here. I can't as I type this think of a single piece of music writen to accompany an existing poem that I like. But I can think of several lyrics written in a the style of a poem, or at least certainly in the style of spoken word, that I like or even love. The argument can be made though, that these texts aren't strictly poetry, but song lyrics with elements of poetry or spoken word.

Here I must re-itrate my stance that lyrics be made a separate literary category. Some commentators/critics/scholars have previously tried to elevate certain lyrics and lyricists to the annals of literature on the basis of theis supposed poetic qualities. To me this isn't necessary, since I think good lyrics can hold their own just fine. The way I see it, song lyrics may contain elemnts that are common in poetry, such as thythm, rhyme, and repetitive elements, but the language in lyrics, even most of the best ones, is more often in the vernacular especially compared to earler poetry. But even more important is the fact that lyrics are meant to be performed much like a play or a speech in such a way that the performance has impact on the meaning of the words. Stef proposes how reading poetry silently can do this too, but I have little qualms about having poetry read out loud.

Putting words to a pre-written piece of music is not necessarily the one route lyricists go about writing lyrics. As a songwriter in spe I distinctly remember having both words and skeletal pieces of music come to me at the same time (maybe because the rhythm, rhymes and the repetitiveness of the words and lyrics had musical elements, though I do not claim I was any good at either writing lyrics nor music). I have read and heard accounts of songwriters doing their work in a similar manner.

But I stray, especially if the point is talking about poetry and jazz. Like I said, I tend to prefer my jazz instrumental, but here are some examples of poetry and music that I like (though, considering what I've written above, we could just call them lyrics and leave it at that).

• Archie Shepp - "Malcolm, Malcolm - Semper Malcolm" (from Fire Music (Impulse, 1965)) May even be my favorite Archie Shepp composition, period.
  

• Charles Mingus - "The Clown" (from The Clown, 1957)

• I even like Mingus' "Original Fabous Fables" (from Charles Mingus Presents..., Candid, 1960)) with lyrics as much as it's non-word version "Fabous Fables" (from Mingus Ah Um, (Columbia, 1959))

• Though they aren't jazz as such, the Minutemen's chops and speed can easily be likend to be-bop (and X-gau said of Double Nickels... "poetry-with-jazz as it always should have been") plus they are some of my favorite lyricist of all time, so...

• and then there's this:

Wire's "One of Us"

I really, really like this, which wouldn't have sounded amiss on The A List, though I'm not to sure about the full album yet.

We're half way there, the jazz edition.

Since I'm currently out of any original ideas (though I plan on writing a few words on the new Ben Allison record) I thought I'd post my favorite jazz records (= records graded 7 or better) so far this year sans comments other than to note that there have been some very good but few great records so far, and that music from the Vision Festival (Campbell, Dixon) is represented on two records I like, 'tough I'm yet to hear the new William Parker, much praised by Tom Hull and Stef at Free Jazz, which was also recorded live at the Vision Fest. The stand-out album for me is Ben Allison's, with the Ali/Gayle/Parker record and Roy Campbell's close behind. Still waiting for the Parker record...

(alphabetically):

• Ben Allison & Man Size Safe: Little Things run the World (Palmetto Records)
• Atomic: Retrograde (Jazzland Rec.)
  
• Rob Brown Ensemble: Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity)
• By Any Means (Rashied Ali/Charles Gayle/William Parker): Live at Crescendo (Ayler Records)
• Roy Campbell: Akhenaten Suite (AUM Fidelity)
• Bill Dixon: 17 Musicians in Search of a Sound (Darfur) (AUM Fidelity)
• Empty Cage Quartet: Stratostrophic (Clean Feed)
  
• Fieldwork: Door (Pi Recordings)
• Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet: Tabligh (Cuniform)
  
• Vandermark 5: Beat Reader (Atavistic)

The problem with the new Emmylou Harris record...

...is that song by song, it keeps shuffling along in the same tempo, meaning what you're left with is no more varied than expressions of melancholy and/or gloom. The signs have been there ever since Wrecking Ball, but this time it makes me wonder if dear Emmylou is bereft of any hope and fighting spirit, let alone any emotion more positive than said melancholy. I, for one, will not succumb to such resignation. In the words of the Minutemen: "I live sweat, but I dream light years".

Visionfestival, 2008

Just a reminder that the 2008 Vision Festival started this Tuesday and continues through this coming Sunday. Lots of interesting acts are yet to play. Nate Chinen profiles Kidd Jordan, who is honored for his Lifetime Achievement during this year's festival, for the NY Times.

Life ain't Nuthin' but B*tches and H**s and Guns and Money...

Preview of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes (Director: Byron Hurt)



This looks interesting (thanks to PopMatters' Nishimotot for the column that made me aware its existance). And just so it's clear: I love hip-hop too.

Watching just the preview, it does seem to have some interesting observations, e.g. that hyper masculinity is not only a prevalent feature in much of hip-hop culture, but in American culture as a whole. The film draws a parallel to Hollywood movies, which is a point I've made when before (albeit maybe not on this blog, so I can't give you any proof of that) when discussing masochism and violence in rap, i.e. that is that many rap lyrics can be understood as filmic or as fiction. But the problem is that unlike movies, rap is almost universally understood as being 100% authentic and realistic. This is partly hip-hop's own fault, as many rap artists insist that what they have to tell you is real.

Still, I'll have to see the whole film to comment any further on that. Haven't found it on Amazon or anywhere else yet, but I guess it's just a question of time.

More love and respect for Bo

From Carrie Brownstein. Also, I couldn't help myself and had to post the video below, too.

Bo Diddley, R.I.P.

Bo Diddley (Dec. 30, 1928 - June 2, 2008)

"Bo Diddley, a singer and guitarist, invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock ’n’ roll itself." - Ben Ratliff (New York Times, June 2, 2008).

Currently grooving to...

Al Green's new record Lay It Down. And I do mean GROOVE. Don't have enough time to do a proper write up, but I needed to get this out.

Zine scenes

This is a few weeks old, but I was reading MikeB's thoughts on Pitchfork's reviews of No Age and thier two records. One quote Mike mentions, which escaped me way back when, jumped out:

"No Age bring back the DIY energy of Kicking Giant and Lync and '90s zines and, importantly, a life away from computer screens."

Barring the ironi that this longing for zines and a life away from computer screens appeared on one of the largest online music sites, there's a historical difference here which seems to have escaped the author. The reason zines existed in the first place was that all other media outlets had been hijacked by major labels. Zines, as well as constant touring (and a bit of help from college radio stations), were perhaps the only ways to reach new people. This was especially true in the late 70s and the 80s. Recently, the internet has provided musicians and audience with new ways to reach eachother, something Mike Watt, one of the 80s indie pioneers and the nicest and most talkative guy in punk, has seems to have understood by embracing the internet almost full tilt, including recording a podcast. Now, one should be careful making the argument the the internet is fully democratic. Despite blogs and what have you, not all people have daily access to computers, and some countries even exert heavy censorship on both what can be published and what can be accessed. I still hold that it reaches more people than zines did, and like Mike, I don't see what's so wrong about that.

(Of course, this may be an extention of the us (here: zines) vs. them (here: web) dichotomy that some indie-connoiseurs are so obsessed with. It's an argument I feel strongly ambivalent towards...well, not really. Even if a part of me kind of understands where they are coming from, their obsession with authentic vs. fake, an extention of us vs. them, is just downright silly, and often misapplied or more often simply not valid. "Delivered with conviction", something both Bruce Springsteen (major) and Persian Gulf (indie) were able to do in the 80s, is in my opinion a more valid point to make).

Oh, Nouns is still one of my favorite records so far this year.