Will and Tortoise are on Your Side, while Boots is on Mine

I've talked about this before, but this recent review of Will Oldham/BPB and Tortoise's The Brave and the Bold in Pop Matters, which rewards it an 8 out of 10, makes me want to reiterate a few things. I find it so infuriating that a man so intent on portraing, even celebrating self-pity and shows no willingness to live and fight is continously being hailed as one of the best "alternative" artists of today. The reviewer of The Brave... says "The strategy for these cover versions tends to be to take each song in precisely the opposite direction of its original conceptualization", citing their version of Springsteen's "Thunder Road" as a prime example of how this works, in his opinion, perfectly. But why would you want to turn songs of hope on its head?!? The notion of self-pity is the worst sickness of the people in Western countries, especially in countries like Norway, where the biggest concern for most of us is how to make dinner now that minced meat might be poisonous. I'm not saying we should be content with the status que of the world, we shouldn't, but giving up is another matter.

Thank f**k, then, for people like Pam the Funkstress and Boots Riley of the Coup. In "LaughLoveFuck" from their forthcoming album Pick a Bigger Weapon, Boots insists that not only is he here to "laugh, love, fuck, and drink liquor", but also to "help the revolution come along quicker". That's more like it.

Nikki Sudden

Zoilus brought me the news that Nikki Sudden passed away this weekend. I'm not too familiar with his recent work, but I do know his work with Swell Maps, and I had a lot of fun listening to their first two records, Trip to Marineville and Jane from Occupied Europe, back in my late teens. I still find great moments there, too, especially on Trip... The final lines of "H.S. art" from that album seem to fit the occasion:

"If you can see right through the chance / And never take the fun away / Keep on walking to the end / Then you'll see what we can do"

My Name is Albert Ayler vol.2

I went to see the Albert Ayler documentary on Friday. The director was a no-show due to family problems, and the stand-in revealed a lack of knowledge into the subject, which may be because she was a last minute "reserve". I don't know. The documentary was hardly very original stylistically; we get 8 mm film with voice-overs, both in the form of old interviews with Ayler and comments from the director, coupled with interviews and concert clips. But it did turn out to be a warm tribute to Albert Ayler (AA). My biggest fear with such documentaries is that they'll portray the musicians as "troubled geniuses". Luckily, no such intention seem to have been on the directors mind, as AA comes across as a soft-spoken albeit headstrong man with an almost childish eagerness for his music to be heard. Only in the latter part of the film do we get hints of a man in distress, which I will return to.

The film is pretty much chronological; it starts with his childhood in Cleveland, and continues through his stint in the army and to his trip to Sweden. Here he recorded his first album, and later met Sunny Murray, who was playing with Cecil Taylor at the time. He is invited to join Cecil Taylor in Denmark, and they convince him to join them back to New York. This is when he got his recording deal with ESP-disks, and started his famous trio with Sunny Murray and Gary Peacock, which recorded Spiritual Unity (said record is given some consideration, as it has been acknowledged by many as Ayler's masterpiece). The trio was later joined by AA's younger brother, Donald. In New York, AA met John Coltrane, who turned out to be one of his biggest fans and played a part in getting him signed to Impulse!. From then on the film takes us through tours of Europe, one of which ended with Donald Ayler having a nervous breakdown, back to New York, and ends with the mysterious death of AA in 1970.

There are interviews with his family, friends and musicians, among them Sunny Murray (drummer), Gary Peacock (bassist), ESP-founder Fred Berkhout, Michel Sampson (violinist), and Mary Parks, Albert's last wife. I was especially taken by his father, who seemed like a really humble and kind old man. A nice touch by the director is that he plays Ayler's music to several of the interviewees. In this way he gets to focus on the music, but at the same time the tunes he plays seem to bring back old memories. Gary Peacock in particular appeared to be moved as he recognizes the first few notes of "Ghost: First Variation" from Spiritual Unity.

Much has been made of the relationship between Albert Ayler and religion, but it is made clear that he didn't become very religious until after his first time in New York, a time marked by long stints of hunger and lack of money as well as glorious music. Mary Parks, Ayler's last wife, is said to have had a lot to do with turning him into an old Egyptian religion which includes so-called "sun-watching", and several of AA's friends blame her for secluding him from them in the latter part of his life.

The film ends with the death of AA, and although there are many theories on what actually happened before he was found floating in the Hudson River, the director focuses on the theory that AA took his own life because of having severe guilt from first leaving his beloved mother, who was partially paralyzed, and later for kicking his brother out of the band when he was diagnosed with mental disorder. However, his father does not seem to place much credit to this theory.

Overall though, a nice portrait of Albert Ayler, and a recommended piece of Jazz history.

PS: Several of the interviews with AA himself can be found on the Revenant box set Holy Ghost (Revenant 213)

My Name is Albert Ayler

A bit short notice, and in fact I wasn't aware of it myself until today, but Cinemateket in Oslo is showing a Swedish documentary on Albert Ayler today at 19.15 called My Name is Albert Ayler. It was made by one Kasper Collin, who will be present at the event. Should be interesting.

I might add that ESP-Disk are considering taking legal actions against Koch and Runt Distribution over the recently released The Complete ESP-disk' Recordings of Albert Ayler for breach of proprietary rights (read more on ESP's website on the link above). Instead, I recommend that you purchase the magnificent Spiritual Unity, which was re-released by ESP themselves late last year.

The kids are alright

The feisty one you see here is Jemina Pearl. She is the singer of Be Your Own PET, four 16 to 17 year olds that make one hell of a racket. After hearing their joyful, exhilarating new album yesterday, she is currently my new favorite singer. I had just played the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs when Jemina and pals decided to shake me up. Her vocal performance is so commanding and strong on that record that she outshone Karen O for me. That is saying a lot.

It helps, of course, that BYOP's songs are two minute bursts of utter joy, and that their drummer is one of the most forceful and assertive I've heard since I don't know when. But Jemina is the star. She takes total control of each song, and some of the lyrics seem to play on similar strengths:

Lean on my shoulder, lean on my shoulder / I want another year older / Lean on my shoulder, lean on my shoulder / And share a bed with me

she demands in "Stairway to Heaven", while she warns us in "Bunk, Trunk, Skunk":

I am an independent mother fucker / And I'm here to take your money / I'm waking round and I'm here / To steal away your virginity

Plus, she takes on the role of a wildcat in, well, "Wildcat". While this no doubt can be interpreted in terms of sex, there is no question who's in control. Still, my favorite line is probably

We all have holes in our socks / And Bad Brains totally rocks.

The album is released on XL Records on March 27th. Fasten your seat belts.

For soundbits, go here.

PS: Special thanks to Steinar for the recommendation.

M vs. M: War, what is it good for

I probably shouldn't do this. There is no real reason for comparing the two, but I'm doing it anyway.

It's M vs. M:

M2M is probably Norway's best pop-export ever. For my money, A-HA never wrote a tune as catchy, let alone true, as "Don't Say You Love Me". Teenage love? I don't know. People seem to throw around "Love You"'s like pennies in order to, well, get their way, if you know what I mean.

And now, after a lengthy hiatus, Marit Larsen released Under the Surface just over a week ago. Stylus magazine are impressed, awarding the album an A-, and even going as far as calling it "the best sort of pop music being made outside of the US/UK". This comes just a week or so after Kelefa Sanneh praised Marion Raven's debut (released late last year in Norway).

Contrary to what I always thought (I never did bother to read the album credits), Marion seems to have been the main architect behind many of M2M's best songs. And although I think Larsen's "Don't Save Me" is a lovely tune, it doesn't grab me the way "Break You" did. Marion is more engaged in (most of) her songs, more willing to act out the words than Marit is.

That said, both albums have their strong and weak points, and I'm not sure either of them are as good as the articles above claim. But good luck to them anyway.

Young Blood

Out on March 21, 2006. That's this coming Monday, friends. The fella claims his songs are no longer about sex!!!

Lolita / you're sweeta / but you'll never make a cheata / out of me

Like the man said. No sex!

Mofungo

If you have heard Soul Jazz' New York Noise Vol.2 you may have noticed "Hunter Gatherer" by Mofungo, a New York four-piece once described by Robert Christgau as having a "stubbornly untrendy belief that you play music for love, with some well-aimed hate thrown in". Although NY Noise Vol.2 is more erratic than its predecessor, I recommend you consider checking out more of Mofungo. Their jagged folk/punk/jazz may be a tough listen, but I find their blend of noise and tune engaging, and most of their lyrical kicks both smart and funny.

Unfortunately, all of their records are out of print (search Gemm for used copies), but on a website called "Lost Records" you'll be able to get mp3's of what would have been their final album. My current faves are the danceable drug-war tune "Tobacco Road" (mp3) and an equally funky one about the immigrant/homeless "Boll Weevil" ("snutebille" in Norwegian) (mp3).

Albums of note: Frederick Douglass (Twin/Tone/Coyote, 1985), named after the famous black abolitionist, and Bugged (1988) and Work (1989), both released on SST.

Sumth'n smells fishy

I apologize for the infrequent blogging these days. I'll try to step it up. I've been listening to Ghostface's Fishscale a lot lately. He is by far the most consistent rapper of the Wu-collective, and there are several gems on Fishscale as well. One of the current faves is "Barber Shop", which contains this not-all-that-smart-but-still-pretty-funny-rhyme:

"One minute you're hot/next minute you're not/remind me of the New York Knicks with their jump shots/ah, whack!".

More later...

(Btw: I love the Knicks, but it's true).

Raffmataff?

Nick Sylvester's been caught with his pants down.

Arceophone

Archeophone, the company that released the three brilliant Bert Williams collections recently, has got more up their sleves. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1891-1922 captures basically what it says in the title, much of it from the minstrel scene in New York. This is where George W. Johnson became a star. Among his biggest hits were "The Laughing Song" and "The Laughing Coon", and the latter in particular is a prime example of how African American performers often had to adopt the stereotypes the white "black-face" performers had created of them in order to become successful. Several, but not all of the songs on Lost Sounds follow that pattern. The sound on some of the recordings may be a bit too "tin can" for the more sensitive ears, but there is no denying the musical quality of many of the artists collected here.


As you may have noticed, there have been some changes in the appearance of this blog. An overwhelming majotiry of some 67 % called for a change, so who am I not to listen to the masses. I'm not a computer-wiz, so I don't think there will be any further modifications. Thanks to all...erm...9 of you who voted.

The rumour mill

Now that the capture of the Wrens for Oya has been announced on their web-site, fresh rumours claim that the Hold Steady along with their label mates Les Savvy Fav are also in line to play at Oya this year. This promises to be quite an interesting line-up.

By popular demand, I give you a link to the video for Prince's "Black Sweat", which is just as minimalist and sexy as the song itself:

Prince: "Black Sweat" (video)

This Boy is...Excited!

This just in: The absolutely fantastic Wrens are confirmed to play at
Oya-festival here in Oslo. Now, it is yet to be posted on the respective web sites, but a newsletter from said festival have been mailed to subscribers with the news. This year's line-up also includes Amadou & Meriam, which means there are currently two good reasons to buy tickets.

US Popular Culture - on one disc!?!

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but by my own suggestion I have been given the go-ahead to compile a CD to accompany the American Popular Culture-course at my University. I found that very few of the students knew much about the artists that were presented in the various texts of the course, and that because they were unable to tell the difference between various developments in American music, they also had problems understanding the motives behind such developments. This was most notable when discussing the article"Things to Come: Swing Bands, Bebop and the Rise of a PostwarJazz Scene" (from Recasting America: Culture and Politics in the Age of the Cold War, Lary May (ed.) (University of Chicago Press, 1989) by Lewis A. Erenberg. Many had never heard the artists and songs in question, and most were not able to tell Benny Goodman apart from Charlie Parker, which may have made it difficult for them to grasp why the shift from Swing to Bebop in form and style was so important to the musicians, especially the African American musicians.

Now, while compiling this music is undoubtedly an interesting challenge, I am by and large obliged to limit my choices to the examples granted in the source texts. Erenberg's article, for example, explains the transition from Hot to Sweet, and further from Swing to Bop. Writing about the Swing movement, he puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of the steady and powerful drummer as a driving force, and how many song titles from that era had images of trains, which coincided with the sense of moving into a modern era with all the velocity and excitement this implied. This will almost certainly limit my choices to adhere with this view, while I might have wished to find another track to juxtapose with Bebop. The challenge is also to find the most representative track(or tracks - I may, or most certainly will include more than one) from the Bebop movement. I need to consider the its creators, but also how its transition from Swing is best exemplified. Erenberg explains many different reasons for the transition, all of which I agree with. Among the examples are: the wish to be at the center-stage - your own master as opposed to drowning in a whole run by a (white) leader; The complexity in rhythm and melody, both to showcase their talents, but also to move away from the notion of being an entertainer and gain respect as an artist; And also, how all this was a reaction to the society as a whole, especially for the black musicians in question, as witnessed by the more aggressive compositions of the era.

Much of this ties in with Kevern Verney's African Americans and US Popular Culture (2003. New York: Routledge) (my article/review of that book here), which discusses African Americans role in US Popular culture, both as creators and entrepreneurs, and as victims. Verney is not as specific about songs, which will present me with a bigger challenge in that respect. Which Bert Williams song do I chose to best represent this early hero of African American music? Which recording of Amos and Andy best demonstrate how terrible Minstrel representations of African American culture could be. Which songs best illustrate gospel both as a religious music and as a part of the civil rights movement. The same for 60's Jazz (free!, "free", or not) and so on.

I will also include other genres, such as various white roots music. Still, there is a limit as to what I can fit onto one recordable CD but its an interesting selection process, and with a little help from some mates, the end result will hopefully be handed over to the department within a fortnight. I will probably post the track listing on here as well for you to comment on.

Double double

Beeaaaaaaooooooooh...beeeeeaaaaaaooooooooh...
...bippbrwappbipp...chwapchwipchckchck...chktck...
brwaappbwappchkcktrpbrwappbuahwrapp

This was pretty much how Mats Gustafsson sounded during his duo improv-session with guitarist David Stackenæs at Blaa on Friday. They opened in a double-duo gig which also included a set by Ken Vandermark and drum-wiz Paal Nilsson-Love. While Gustafsson's on-stage antics and cracks-and-pops may be fascinating, I find it musically uninterestingng. His power playing fits better in the no-holds-barred power (sorry for using this word twice in a sentence) -trio The Thing. In this duo setting though, I found him and his partner too thin on themes to be intriguing.

Vandermark and Nilssen-Love are musically richer, thematically stronger, and basically more engaging compared to the opening duo. Vandermark's sound may not be all that distinct, but what he lacks in that department he more than makes up for in having an impeccable sense of melody and theme. His playing fits perfectly with the pulsating playing of Nilsson-Love, who might just be the best jazz drummer around (Sorry, Hamid Drake). The two of them create enough "hooks" to grab your attention, while never being afraid to let things rip.

Let me at the same time recommend FME's Cuts , which teams Nilssen-Love and Vandermark with bassist Nate McBride. Its five lengthy pieces remind me, structurally, of Charles Gayle's classic Touchin' on Trane. Vandermark and Nilssen-Love has a perfect companion in McBride, who has a full and funky sound. The album has enjoyed a lot of playing time on my iPod during the past few weeks. A late entry on my year-end list of 2005, it may also enjoy some critical success this year given that it was just released at the tail-end of last year.

Double trouble

There is two of them, they're very cute in a suicidegirls/Avril/early Ashlee kind of way, and blink-and-you'll-miss-it one of them appears to be taking off her undies about mid way through their video for "4Ever"(video link). But all of this is beside the point, because a good deal of The Secret Life of... is pretty darn good. Adolelescent love themes, either it's "Hey! Lets get in that car and run away" or "I'm so moving on", seem to work well in a spiky pop-rock setting nowadays, and although none of the songs on the Veronicas' debut quite match Kelly Clarkson's magnificent one-off from last year, a good few come pretty darn close. Especially the first half, where "4Ever", "When it Falls Apart" and "Revolution" are stand-out tracks. It falters towards the end, with mid-heavy balladery and a pointless (it sounds exactly like the original) cover of Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother". But at its best, I revel in its wooziness. A-? Probably.

Bootylicious

Finally, a music discussion with some substance! I did get a good chuckle reading Woebot's discussion on the Black-Eyed Peas. He says about "My Humps":

I've done a little research on this and it seems people really do use the word "humps" and it's loathsome, but "lady lumps", jesus what a completely revolting phrase. I mean, "Booty" has a lovely full-some ring to it, "Booty" is about glorious in-your-face nudity, about hourglass buttocks busting the seams of tight jeans. It's akin to a Fugs-ian, counter- cultural call for hot, sweaty, *natural* sex. But "Humps" and (worse, I mean gravy has lumps...) "Lumps" are all about the body being uncomfortably fettered. OK, I can appreciate the "perv" angle, as much as the next red-blooded individual, but I just don't think it can be celebrated in the same way. Just like "Shorty" there is a gormless infantilism to the phrase "Lovely lady lumps" which really pisses me off as well. Grr.

"Glorious in-your-face nudity"! A knee-slapper. "Lumps" does sound pretty awful, even if said lumps look pretty good on Fergie. She can't sing for sh*t, though. The song in question ended up on Christgau's Pazz & Jop singles list, but I'm not convinced. I find it too sparse to be danceable, and too dumb to be sexy.

Bad sneakers and a...

I've had quite a few of these during the previous week. Coupled with some sun, they sure help to lift the spirit.

Zoilus on the concept of guilty pleasures. More links there. Now, I actually created a playlist on my iPod once that I ended up calling "gulity pleasures", but to me it doesn't signify anything other than being a collection of songs I like by artists I don't like, or can't stand even. Now, what's your pleasure?

Talking all that Pazz

This year's Pazz & Jop was published just as I was putting the finishing touches on my own 2005-list. Though there may still be some additions, this is as close to the finished article as I have come, especially the top 15-20. Whereas before, the P&J has inspired me to check out dozens of albums I had missed in the previous year, it seems like this year I've been better prepared, so to speak. Largely, this is due to file sharing and iPod'ing and blogging, which has given me more music to listen to, and better opportunities to do it. But I do not feel I've been more inclined to follow hype, as Mr. Christgau suggests has become a bi-product of blogging/file sharing. (I know he didn't have me in mind).

Le Matos and Simon Reynolds are at it again, with M.I.A. at the centre of it all. Reynolds is arguing rockism, and although I agree on some of his points, e.g. that "having something to say" is not necessarily a token of quality, at least not until one explains what is actually said. It's the same with politics in music; saying someone or other has "politically charged lyrics" is just a description and not an evaluation. Deciding whether those political lyrics are any good, on the other hand... Anyway, I don't think he explains his points well enough: it's almost as if the opposite of having (the akward term) "substance" is what we should look for. And the fact that Kanye is now approved by the rock-crit crowd does not hide the fact that his album(s) is(are) damn good.

Right, off to the Canaries for a week or so. Hardly the most cultural of places, you'd say, but a good mix of a chuck-full iPod, Margaret Atwood , and Don DeLillo will do the trick.

33 1/3

I don't know who Mike Fournier is (or I may have forgotten), but he is about to write a book on the Minutemen's Double Nickles on the Dime for the interresting (but as of yet unread by me) 33 1/3-series. For more info check out their web site/blog.