Idolator gets cranky, then mocks some more

More on SF/J in a post on Idolator today, where Jess Harvella answers some worried readers.

"People thinking this is me saying that indie rock should somehow be held exempt from its often dodgy racial politics--this wounds me. Forget indie rock, there's not a single aspect of white--and especially white male--culture that doesn't need to be mercilessly picked apart for both the covert and overt, conscious and unconscious racism that it perpetuates every day! This seems self-evident, but you'd be surprised how many white men are content to let their privilege go unchecked. (Wait, no you wouldn't.) And indie rock is a subset of white maledom that's notorious about letting its cultural assumptions go unexamined.

So I understand why Frere-Jones wrote the piece. I just happen to think the piece was bullshit, especially his bizonkers internal inconsistencies and wild generalizations over genre. Indie rock's race issues are more cultural than sonic, and though musical choices are always tied up with a musician's social outlook, someone choosing to emulate Bruce Springsteen rather than Larry Blackmon hardly constitutes a cultural crime. Indie rock's cultural, social, racial, and sexual hangups are not going to be resolved via the forced "miscengenation" Frere-Jones is looking for." (More here).

Agreed, and see my previous post for my comments on the inconsitencies and generalizations of SF/J's article.

Ps.: Gotta love the mocking 1-100 SF/J-score, too. Here's one of the rules: "- Subtract 15 points for slap bass. (That's a red herring.)". Big laugh.

Everybody's talking 'bout....

...S/FJ's piece in the New Yorker, where he laments the lack of soul in indie-rock. While it took some time before any reaction to the article appeared on the net, these last few days discussions have been fierce in this I love Music-thread, and yesterday Idolator picked it up, albeit half jokingly, by giving a SFJ-score to bands on the on-going (and largely indie) CMJ-fest.

Now, I admire a lot of SFJ's writing. I think he is a good critic, and some of our tastes are similar - he loves the Minutemen, as do I. He loves the Clash, ditto. We share an affinity for a lot of post-punk (which, btw, I refuse to give up on. I liked Gof4 before the post-punk revival, and I'll continue to do so. Get off your "that's SO yesterday" horse already).

One of the reasons I like these bands, and the reason I mention these bands right now, is their prominent use of the bass. The propulsion, juice, pulse, and ooomph of the bass, the way it can make the music swing. This prominent use of the bass may have its roots in largely black American strains of music: jazz, soul, dub, and funk. Their use of the bass is just of of several signs that these bands mixed a whole set of different influences, both "black" and "white", to create their sounds and music. SFJ notes that this mixing (I'll come back to his term later on) is part of what made these bands and other music that he loves so important and he thinks it is sadly lacking in modern indie-rock. Indie-rock, he says, has since the 90's strayed away from the African-American influences and instead turned to "whiter" influences making it "soul-less" or "less interesting". (Norwegian readers, note the similarities to some of Ole Martin Ihle's critique, but also note the significant difference: SFJ loves punk and early indie, which I fear Ihle isn't open enough to appreciate. To SFJ, indie doesn't mean "soul-less", it's just become soul-less).

Some of the discussions on SFJ's article has been about this point: indie's lack of "black" influences. On the basis of the article, that's an obvious thing to discuss. If you listen to the podcast which accompanied the article you get the feeling that he also thinks it is lacking the other way around. There is no mixing of sounds in neither indie nor hip-hop these days. Also note that he says that the sounds of "black" and "white" music used to be more difficult to pin down before, especially in the 60's and 70's, rather it was an American music where influnces had been fused over the years albeit with a distinctly rhythmic influence from Africa. To this point I agree, but it seems to have escaped the vast majority of those who have engaged themselves in the discussions over the article.

I feel that on one hand the article is just SFJ saying that he misses a Minutemen or a Clash in modern rock/indie. Fair enough, but there are several problems with the whole thing. I'll go over them one-by-one.

• His word for mixing of styles or influences is miscegenation, a highly loaded term originally intended to be derogatory.

• Taking a few current indie bands to mean all current indie is reductionist and false. Suerly there are exceptions to the rule. Also, what is the rule, or, what is indie?
  

• SFJ traces the problem as he sees it back to Pavement. Now, I love Pavement for several reasons, but my main point here is this: Can it not be said that Pavement's odd twists and turns, pauses and off notes are not so much a sign of lack of ability (you'll never convince me that Malkmus is a bad guitar player), but may rather be attributed to a delibertate choice of style and moreover be seen as an influence of Thelonious Monk (which has also been pointed out by Christgau, among others), a man who used odd twists and turns himself to create a very personal voice within jazz?

• It's difficult to understand why SFJ uses a band he likes, Arcade Fire, as proof of the problem. By doing so he freely admits that this mixing of styles that he misses is not the be-all of rock/indie, thereby making me think the "problem" - sonically - is not as big as the article, all four pages of it, would suggest.

• The article is not well written. SFJ's point comes across better in the podcast, where he explains, as I noted above, that American music didn't use to be "black" or "white", but a potent mix of both and that this is something he misses.

All this makes me think that made SFJ just wanted to cause a stir, to start an argument. It seems to have worked. He has answered a few e-mails on the blog on the online edition of the New Yorker. I've mentioned the I Love Music thread and the Idolator-thingy. Tom Breihan has a conversation with Rob Harvilla on his blog for the Village Voice, and Carl Wilson has announced that he'll have a response in Slate today, where he'll pull class into the argument. And now there's me, of course.

Everyone should get a copy

The new Oxford American's 9th Annual Music Issue comes highly recommended from fellow bloggers and knowledgable book store clerks alike. Judging by the table of contents, there's no reason why one shouldn't go get a copy. Off course you want to read in-depth pieces on the Clovers, Dwight Yoakam, and Thelonious Monk. Add to the writing a pretty decent twenty-six track CD, and you know you have to order your copy right now.

Sonny Rollins (new) Trio at Carnegie Hall, Sept. 18 2007

Francis Davis was there. (As were a host of music celebs, if we're to believe him).

Catching up with jazz

I was clicking through my jazz blog links earlier today, and found that I've been missing some interesting stuff the last few weeks. be.jazz has posted a few excerpts of a keynote address at the 2006 Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium by Greg Tate which asks the question of where jazz is giong for black musicians (and possibly a black audience for progressive jazz). Similar questions were asked a while ago which I tentatively gave my views on here. be.jazz picked it up from Soundslope, I belive, where I stumbled upon a link to a blog devoted to David S. Ware's projects, which in turn led me to this recording of "Aquarian Sound". The vid is a bit out of sync, but who gives a flying f***. This is simply amazing.

David S Ware - Aquarian sound
Uploaded by MrDrive

Against Me! and Future of the Left double bill

You may have noticed, if you ever pop by my favorites pages, that I like Against Me!'s New Wave. I really like it. One thing I noticed, which Steinar also picked up on, is that Tom Gabel sometimes sounds like D. Boon with his matter-of-fact lyrics and no fuss delivery. The opening couplet of "Americans Abroad" is especially Boon-like in the way he crams the words " Golden Arches rising above the next overpass / these horizons are endless" into a short space of time because he needs to say it. More on the Minutemen in the following posts (Or at least I plan to. I have a few thoughts on Mike Fournier's 33 1/3 book on Double Nickles... for one).

For now I'm looking forward to Against Me!'s upcoming gig in Oslo, where Future of the Left, whose Curses I've been listening to lately, are supporting.

Watch My Feet

This is ace! Slow, creeping verse, then speed up the tempo for the hook/refrain. Proper dace off track. (The dance itself is apparently called "Juke" and is the latest craze in the midwest. Kind of reminds of the way Leeroy of the Prodigy used to dance, but nevermind).

Dude 'n Nem: "Watch My Feet":

Sonny Rollins Trio at Carnegie Hall, 2007 version.

This should turn out great. Wish I could be there.

EMP 2008: Organizing the Boy Scouts for Murder is Wrong

You may have picked up on this already, but the theme/question for this year's EMP Pop Conference - in my opinion probably the best thing to happen in the field of music writing and journalism - were announced earlier this week under the heading "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict, and Change". Visit EMP's home page for more info on that.

I've always been a sucker music with a sociopolitical edge if it's smart and done right (as opposed to e.g. us vs. them-thinking and petty "fuck Bush" slogan-ism), I'm very excited about what the contributors will come up with. (In fact, the theme/question is so interesting I might end up posting a "paper" on the blog myself, though I should probably have kept that to myself since I rarely deliver what I promise on this blog).

I have to agree with Carl Wilson that the choice of the words "conflict and change" in the question is better than "politics and protest" which seems to me a more archaic way of looking at the subject, and this way the papers will hopefully take up other topics than the traditional discussions of politics in 60's folk and punk rock, though this is not to say that some insightful thoughts on those topics are totally unwelcome.

Digital Primitives

Digital Primitives (Hopscotch) is rapidly becoming one of my favorite jazz records of 2007. As opposed to two other favorites this year - the crunk jazz of 4 Corners, and the muscle funk of (((Powerhouse Sound))) - Assif Tsahar, Cooper-Moore, and Chad Taylor take a minimalist approach to jazz not unlike some of Kahil El'Zabar's 90's output.

Assif Tsahar plays tenor sax and bass clarinet, blowing simple yet forceful melodies and themes. Chad Taylor on drums and m'bira adds skittering beats, while multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore for the most part controls the low end (their MySpace-page lists hand crafted instruments - diddley bo, banjo, mouth bow, flute, drums. He played piano on one of the best jazz records of the 90's, William Parker's Peach Orchard, which Tsahar also played on).

The result is a kind of subdued funk, with traces of both blues, African music, and a touch of minimalist electronica in feel if not so much in sound. There is a song number as well, Ol' Saint Peter sung by Cooper-Moore, a lovely quiet blues.

Their website, as well as their MySpace, has sound clips from the album as well as videos of live-performances (click on the images). If you can't find the record at your local shop, Digital Primitives can be bought through the Jazz Loft (and probably through Hopscotch's web-site, though I'm not sure).

Pere Ubu - "Breath": it's now or possibly never.

I was pointed towards this rare video of Pere Ubu's "Breath" - the first track on their recently re-released Cloudland album from 1989 - by whoever runs the Home & Garden MySpace page (Ubu bassist Tony Maimone is/was in H&G).

As much as I love their quirkier moments, "Breath" remains one of my favorite Ubu songs. I think it captures as much as any other of their recordings some of Pere Ubu's recurring themes; people and places; urban development - for better or worse - and decay, and people feeling estranged and struggeling to find their place in this world of constant renewal. Lyrically, "Breath" seems to be a call for the world to stop for a moment, while the grander sound seems less urban than their previous records, perhaps to suggest that urban deveolpment has reached suburbia as well:

I know my way round town. / Used to live around here. / I know the sites to see, / the things they mean to me, / and how we tore it down. / Let me walk with you cuz it's breaking my heart. / The things that we had, / the good and the bad - now it's parking lots. / Don't let's talk about tomorrow - / Baby, standin at the edge of sorrow. / Let's watch the whole world just goin slow. / Let's watch the whole world goin slow.

The thing is, though, Pere Ubu and David Thoms have had issues with You Tube for a while, so I guess it's just matter of time before this clip is taken down. Watch it while you can, or better yet, go buy Cloudland. It's ace.

Max Roach, R.I.P.

Christ, I'm slow these days. I was devastated to learn that Max Roach - legend, brilliant drummer, original composer, and good looking cat - passed away recently. The always brilliant Destination-Out! pays tribute and has some great tunes available for download too.

Still there?

In case I still have readers of this blog, thank you for stopping by. Regular blogging will resume shortly.

More Lip Stick

No, this is not turning into a fashion blog, but to continue the theme from the previous post: Canadian fuzz poppers Mother Mother are having problems with their make up and are in dire need of a "Touch Up", they say, and I'm happy to listen to their complaints.

Fashion tips

Is it just me or are there more fashion tips in pop songs these days. Last year there was The Pack praising "Vans". Then there was this fabulous Lil' Mama track big upping her lip gloss:
And to top it off, the third track on American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee's new record is about the joys of open toe shoes:

"Hey let's go / If they're not too high / Too low / I'll take them home / In purple, red, or gold / 'cause I know them boys / They like / Those open toes"

Are there more?

Ingmar Bergman, R.I.P.

One of my all-time favorite film directors. A lengthy tribute to the man can be found at the New Times' web site.

Molde Jazz, 2007

Ok, this is going to be fast and furious, but let me just give you a few thoughts on the festival so far.

I had originally not planned on going this year, for various reasons. Hence I had not studied the program thoroughly and I regret that now. I arrived on Wednesday evening, and by then I had missed Dave Holland, Vijay Iyer, and Alexander von Schlippenbach's Monk's Casino. Bummer. Add to those a joint project between Nils Petter Molvær and Bill Laswell, Sonore (a Brötzmann, Vandermark, Gustafson blowing session), plus the Rashied Ali Quintet, and Chick Corea and Gary Burton (not interrested), and you have a pretty decent program. I have previously stated that I thought Kongsberg was about to surpass Molde Jazz as Norway's best jazz festival, but Ornette Coleman and some promising youngsters apart, as a whole Kongsberg loses this year.

I'm baffeled, though, how Dave Holland's bio keeps reading "played with Miles Davies on so-and-so". Valuable as that info is - particularly to gain the attention of novices I guess - Holland has by now built his own impressive catalogue. His fluid bass style is pretty unique, and his records continue to recieve critical acclaim, though I still hold the great Conference of the Birds as my personal favorite.

Went to see a double bill last night: Elvis Costello and Allan Toussaint opened up for Steely Dan. more on that later, hopefully.

Tonight, Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet. Can't afford the Wayne Shorter ticket.

Ornette Coleman at Kongsberg Jazz June 6th, 2007

Man, that was a good gig. You wouldn't believe Mr. Coleman had collapsed on-stage just a few weeks beforehand, because on this evening he was on top form, even joking to the adience in between a few of the numbers and once asking if somebody wanted to come onstage and sing a song! His band was great too, three bassists plus Denardo Coleman behind the drums. No site of Greg Cohen from the previos tour, but his shoes were more than filled by Charnett Moffett who boomed up and down the neck of his bass and throwing in some wha-wha effects as well. The set list was filled with both material from Sound Grammar as well as some of his greatest hits, and when he finnished off with "Lonely Woman", my evening was complete. I've seen him three times now, this gig was the best of them.

I should have written more about this, but I leave for a lenghty trip tomorrow and I have to pack. If I can get ahold of a laptop, I may blog from Molde International Jazz Festival, which starts in a weeks' time.

Oh, Rats!

Now, THIS I wanna see:

Eddie Gale @ Vision Fest!

If anybody reading this is planning to attend the Vision Fest in New York this week, may I recommend that you go and check out the Eddie Gale All Star Band, which includes William Parker on bass and Kidd Jordan on tenor among others. The band are to play at the festival venue, The Angel Orensanz Foundtion, on Saturday at 8:30 and it should be a hoot. If you do get to go, please drop me line on how the gig turned out as I would have loved to have been there myself. Visit the Vision Festival website for more information (it's flash site, so I couldn't retrieve any direct links to the schedule).

In case you don't know Eddie Gale or his music, let me give you a short bio. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941, and grew up on gospel and blues. He started out playing trumpet with several prominent hard boppers, before he was drafted in to play on records by Sun Ra, Lester Young, and Cecil Taylor, Most notably the latter's Unit Structures. Gale has recorded sporadically as a leader, but two of those occasions have spawned the records Ghetto Music (Blue Note, 1968) and Black Rhythm Happening (Blue Note, 1969), both of which I admire deeply. The music on these records feels like an extension of Max Roach's experimentation with protest music with vocals in a hard bop setting, but at the same time the music is clearly inspired by the avant-garde and it also has a distinctive funkiness to it. His last recording as a leader was, to my knowledge, Afro Fire from 2004. Finally, I've uploaded a tune from Black... so you can get a taste of his music.

• Eddie Gale: "Song of Will" mp3 (from Black Rhythm Happening, Blue Note/Water, 1969)

Check out Gale's informative website for more, including video clips and sound bites.

Art Brut ist nicht Tot!

I love the title, It's a Bit Complicated, as if to say that things are not always as straightforward Bang Bang Rock 'n' Roll. But much of this is bang bang, in sound as well as themes, which is a good thing: It's a "Direct Hit", as singer Eddie Argos puts it. Complications include learning your German from a 7" record ("St. Pauli"), and choosing between kissing and the urge to turn up a pop song you love ("Pump up the Volume"). Argos is as witty as ever, even providing answers to important questions that have been asked for decades:

"What becomes of the broken hearted / they get drunk for a few weeks / and then they're right back where they started".

True, their sound may not have evolved much since last time around, but there are hooks aplenty and it's a terrific setting for Argos' jokes. (A side note: Some of their riffs even remind me of early nineties Amerindies such as Superchunk. 90's revival, anyone?). Punk rock ist nicht tot! I like this.

Get Yer Ga Ga's Out!

Spoon's lovely new record Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, due out on July 10th, is now streaming around the clock @ http://www.gagagagaga.net/.

Two Candles: relevant now as it was back then

(Gerard Richter, Two Candles)

This (apologies for the S-FJ pastiche).

Is...

...M.I.A the new Neneh Cherry? Compare:

• colorful video - check
• big a** earrings - check
• catchy as f**k - check

Well, that's about it, I suppose, but it gives me an excuse to post a link to this video, plus embed the one below:

Sound and Vision: Hope for Men?

I can't help but question some of Kevin J. Elliott's argumentation in his review Pissed Jeans' Hope for Men. While I won't disregard the fact that pop music is heavily associated with image -- some artists than others, of course -- basing your critique of a record almost solely on its relationship with the artist's image seems odd to me. This is what Elliott has to say about Hope for Men:

"The first thing you’ll notice when cracking open Hope for Men is that Pissed Jeans are pretty ordinary looking guys. By being photographed in artistic light, sitting in their bedrooms with lap dogs and half-eaten doughnuts, it sort of sucks out the danger that once coursed through the veins of their music."

Which would be ok if it was felt that the imagery on the record sleeve was a symptom of the music on the record itself. But Elliott admits to liking some of the music:

"Were Hope for Men packaged in a brown paper bag, things would be different. Even as elaborate farce (in visual presentation anyways), many of the album’s pieces are still extremely brutal, nihilistic, and confrontational, with riffs tossed around like a shot put aiming to break bones."

Even if I was to buy into his line of thought, I'd argue that the fact that Pissed Jeans are pictured as ordinary looking guys makes the band appear even more deranged -- juxtaposition of image and sound. But I still feel the music itself is enough to merit a response on its own terms, which I feel Elliott only gives to a lesser extent in his review.

And in case you were wondering, I happen to enjoy Hope for Men.

90s Jazz - a question of vibrancy

Carl Wilson digs Destination: Out's 90s Jazz poll, but questions whether such a poll is the right way to go if the object is to show how or indeed if jazz remains a vibrant, living, and evolving art form. Agreed, the selections won't really offer much insight into that question, but rather, they are just examples of what the contributors think are great jazz recordings from that decade.

Unless, of course, they are accompanied by comments of some sort. I myself tried to give a bit of insight into some of the selections I made in my (messy and uneditied, my apologies) comments below, notably Vandermark. But I could for example have written a bit more about what I think William Parker brings to jazz composition that I feel is new or "fresh" too - e.g. the almost narrative structure coupled with free jazz improvisations - although I think it may have just as much to do with his personal approach as it is an evolution of the genre.

Also, not all of my selections are good examples of an art form in evolution. The Pharoah Sanders record, for example, is a standards record, albeit a terrific one.

He poses an interesting question, though, and it deserves a closer look. Maybe when the final results are up they will spur a series of discussions on the topic in the blogosphere? Here's hoping they will.

My 90s Jazz List, with comments and some honorable mentions

My contribution to Destination: Out's 90s Jazz Poll was in today's post, so I figured I'd just get these comments out ASAP.




As previously mentioned, I was asked by the excellent Destination: Out crew to contribute a list to a 90s jazz poll they were compiling, inspired by a similar poll on 80s jazz which had been done by the Village Voice in the early 90s. I was honored, of course, and set about sifting through my records. Say what you will about lists, but for me at least they make for a good short hand way to recommend records, and writng them forces you to take a stand about the records, however arbitrary that stand may be. Also, as was the case for me this time, having to do this list meant I got to pull out some records I hadn't listened to for a while and check if they still moved me the way they once did. Moreover, the several contributions as well as the final list may inspire me to check out records I didn't know about before, or just skipped for whatever reason.

Anyway, after much agonizing, this is the list I contributed:

1. Charles Gayle, William Parker, Rashied Ali: Touchin' on Trane (FMP, 1991)
2. Sonny Sharrock: Ask the Ages (Axiom, 1991)
3. William Parker: The Peach Orchard (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
4. James Carter: Conversin' With the Elders (Atlantic, 1996)
5. David S. Ware: Flight of I (Columbia/DIW, 1994)
6. Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy: The Fire This Time (In & Out, 1992)
7. David Murray: Shakill's Warrior (Columbia, 1992)
8. Ken Vandermark: Barrage Double Trio: Utility Hitter (Quinnah, 1996)
9. Pharoah Sanders: Welcome to Love (Timeless, 1991)
10. David Murray: Special Quartet (Columbia, 1992)

A list can never tell the whole story, of course, so I figured I'd add a few comments as well. But first, a bit of background.

Although music was a big part of my life throughout the 90s, jazz didn't enter into it in a big way until the latter part of the decade. There were several reasons for this. One was the fact that coverage of jazz, old or new, was and still is severely lacking in the Norwegian press. In addition, foreign publications were hard to come by in sub-urban Norway, apart from Guitar Player and the likes, which didn't really talk about music in the way I wanted to read about it. Also, the records stores didn't offer much help; if they stocked jazz records at all, they uncritically had ECM records because of the Norwegian connections, stocked Blue Notes 'cause they were Blue Notes, Verve records ditto, and a few Impulse! titles 'cause Coltrane had made records there.

Moving to the city helped, of course. Not only because of better record stores, but also because I was now able to get a hold of foreign magazines such as The Wire and Down Beat. Additionally, better book stores meant I discovered resources such as the Penguin Guides and, perhaps surprisingly, Spin's Alternative Guide to Music, which played a big part in turning me on to jazz musicians beyond Coltrane and Coleman. But perhaps most important was the fact that I now had daily access to the Internet where I could more easily stay up to date with current jazz through the likes of Village Voice and the Allmusic database, and access to online shopping meant I could buy those records without having to search through the shops in town (before I started to work in a record shop myself, that is). What all of this means is that, apart from the latter part of the decade, discovering 90s jazz records has been every bit the archival job as discovering records from the previous decade had been.

The music I discovered, either by digging in the past or "being there", is reflected in the list. For me, David Murray continued his excellent form from the 70s and 80s. Although I don't think Shakill's Warrior, with it's organ driven funkiness, or Special Quartet is quite up to par with, say, Ming, both are tremendous records. SQ is the most straight forward of the two, but the playing is impeccable, and it has quite a line-up: Murray, Fred Hopkins, McCoy Tyner, and Rashied Ali. Special indeed.

Another player who had already established himself but continued to grow throughout the decade, was William Parker. His powerful playing style and inventiveness had featured on many records under the leadership of others, among them my number 5 pick, David S. Ware's Flight of I. Now, though, he was beginning to apply his inventiveness and originality to his own work. Parker is one of my favorite contemporary composers, and if I was asked to compile a 00s list right now, I wouldn't hesitate to put Mayor of Punkville somewhere near the top. The Peach Orchard is a terrific record and thoroughly deserves its number 3 slot.

Speaking of David S. Ware, the opener on Flight of I, "Aquarian Sound", is probably my favorite jazz composition of the decade. Majestic, is what I would call it.

Of all the new talent to emerge in the 90s, James Carter was one of the few to capture my interest. The guy can seemingly play anything - and literally has - and make it sound interesting. The Real Quitestorm is a lovely record, but Conversin' displays his versatility as well as tipping the hat to the old guys who contribute on the record. One of them , Hamiett Bluiett, made a similar sentiment of recognizing both the old and new generation with his excellent Young Warrior, Old Warrior, which stayed in the race, so to speak, right up to the end.

As for the trends of jazz in the 90s, M-Base and similar styles never really sounded interesting to me. In Norway, musicians had started to mix elements of electronic dance music and jazz. Most of it sounded pretty uninspired in my opinion, but trumpet player Nils Petter Molvær made a couple of great records in which he seemed to further the ideas of John Hassel. He nevertheless did it in a his very own distinct way, not least through his chilling but equally compelling trumpet sound and the dense rhythms. Solid Ether from 1999 dropped just outside the top ten for me.

Still, what struck me as fresh about some of the 90s jazz I came to love, was that it seemed to have a distinct punk influence that set it apart from similarly energetic jazz of the previous decades. This may in part be imagined, but Matthew Shipp once stated his love for Black Flag's Damaged, and some of the new players, most notably Ken Vandermark, had obviously grown up on that kind of music as much as jazz. Whether I imagine this influence or not, the truth remains that some of the new jazz was able to convey the much of the same energy of the punk music I loved. Vandermark in particular made a huge impact on me when I heard him for the first time ca. 1998. Both Single Piece Flow and especially Target or Flag are powerful records - the latter is probably the one record I most regret not having found a place for inside the top ten. Still, Utility Hitter with the Barrage Double trio does the trick in spades. Highly energetic, and with Hamid Drake behind one of the two drum sets you can't go wrong. The name of the band, Barrage, does a good job of describing what you get here. Sadly, the distribution of the record has been poor, meaning not many people have been able to hear it. You may be able to find copies through Amazon or Gemm.com, or you can try Quinnah's website.

Speaking of rock influences: Sonny Sharrock's Ask the Ages was one of the records I initially discovered through the Spin book. The record seems to divide critical opinion into "great" and "average", but I belong among those who champion it. The opener, "Promises Kept", is a close contender for composition of the decade. Sharrock has a knack of sounding both powerful and vulnerable at the same time, a rare thing among guitar players, who often seem to paint themselves into one of those two corners. Sadly, like so much of his material, this record is out of print for the moment.

Lester Bowie didn't show any signs of "rocking out", at least in a punk influenced way, but The Fire This Time is still a fabulous record. The live record is made up of highly original takes on both jazz classics by the likes of Rahsan Roland Kirk, and pop classics by Michael Jackson, and every tune is treated with passion, "fire", and respect. The cuts never sound corny, and the end result is still highly enjoyable. Probably the most out-and-out fun jazz record of the 90's, and that, thankfully, without a trace of feeling guilty about it.

Pharoah Sanders welcomed us to love. I accepted, and was treated to one of the most beautiful ballad albums ever recorded in jazz.

Which leaves us with the top spot, Charles Gayle's Touchin' on Trane. Gayle may have a somewhat mixed discography, but this amazing record should save his reputation for some time. Perhaps it's with the same humility as displayed in recent interviews that he has named the album, as if to imply that he can never be as great as 'Trane himself. But this record does more than merely touch on 'Trane, it takes one of Coltrane's many strengths, the improvised solo, and forces it through the horn of a guy who has practiced in the subways of New York. The result is a sound that can be specifically associated with the city, much like a careening subway car, but it doesn't need to be. It does sound like someone trying to control something which has gone slightly astray, and if I was to bring reception studies into this, that is exactly what life in the nineties felt like too. With the help of William Parker on bass and Rashied Ali on drums - his best sidemen in my opinion - this push and pull is achieved to great success.

I noticed after I wrote the comments above that several contributors to the poll had more than ten records on their list. I almost wished I had done that too, but I think my top ten is a nice distillation of what I consider the most important jazz of the decade. Still, several records deserve an honorable mention of some sort, and so these are some of the records that went in-and-out of the list before the final result was handed in (a few of them are mentioned above):

• Muhal Richard Abrams: Blu Blu Blu (Black Saint, 1991)
• Big Satan: I Think They Liked it, Honey (Winter & Winter, 1997) - added points for best group name of the decade
• Hamiet Bluiett: Young Warrior, Old Warrior (Mapleshade, 1995)
• Peter Brötzmann, Fred Hopkins & Rashied Ali: Songlines (FMP, 1994)
• James Carter: The Real Quietstorm (Atlantis, 1995)
• Marilyn Crispell & Eddie Prévost: Band on the Wall (Matchless, 1994)
• 8 Bold Souls: Sideshow (Arabesque, 1992)
• Kahil El'Zabar Ritual Trio: Renaissance of the Resistance (Delmark, 1994)
• Kahil El'Zabar w/David Murray, Fred Hopkins: Love Outside of Dreams (Delmark, 1997)
• Joe Lovano: From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
• Nils Petter Molvær: Solid Ether (ECM, 1999)
• David Murray: South of the Border (DIW), Jazzosaurus Rex (Red Baron)
• Other Dimensions in Music: Now (AUM Fidelity, 1998)
• Matthew Shipp: The Multiplication Table (Hatology, 1998)
• Cecil Taylor: Celebrated Blazons (FMP, 1993)
• Vandermark 5: Target or Flag (Atavistic, 1998)
• Reggie Workman: Summit Conference (Postcards, 1994)

In the long run, contributing to this poll will help beef up my Jazz section too, but it's been a busy month and I haven't come that far yet.

NB: I'm adding this note in 2011. There is a chance my ballot would have been slightly different had it been submitted today, both because of reassessments of the above as well as the fact that since then I've come across several great records I hadn't heard at the time (most likely to get a bump: 8 Bold Souls. Most likely to get relegated: James Carter). I won't alter the list here, and stand by my choices at the time. All of my top 10 choices are great records, and the top three would remain as it is here even today. I'll point you to my jazz lists if you are curious about which other 90's releases I enjoy.

Go nineties!

The first part of Destination: Out's 90s Jazz poll was posted earlier today, with contributions from Gary Giddins among others. They write that they will post more lists during the week in addition to the final summary, so watch out for that.

I have some comments written for my contribution, but that will have wait untill later - maybe tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. Please stop by.

Sam Rivers on WKCR

This post just to let you know that WKCR are currently running a Sam Rivers special all day-all week untill Friday the 25th. Probably worth listening in. Live internet stream can be found here.

Do You Miss Flipper?

Of course you miss Flipper. Good thing, then, that Pissed Jeans are around to give us fuzz fueled tales about being caught licking leather and the joys of ice cream, all played with gay abandon.

• Pissed Jeans: "I Still Got You (Ice Cream)" mp3 (from the album Hope For Men, due out in June, 2007. Mp3 courtesy of SubPop.com).

Powerhouse live, 'cause I've got no time to write blogs

Don't have time to write much at the moment, but I wanted to share this live clip of (((Powerhouse Sound))) caught on film yesterday. Enjoy! (Thanks to wojszyca).

Powerhouse Sound: Ken Vandermark, John Herndon, Nate McBride and Jeff Parker: "Coxsonne", live in Alchemia, Cracow, Poland on May 8th, 2007.

Jazz lists + more to come

Tom Hull has posted his contribution to the Destination: Out 90's Jazz poll, including extended lists/comparisons with the 70's and 80's. I also contributed a list to the D: O poll, but I figured I'd post mine with comments when they publish the results on their site.

Besides, I'm busy writing about feminist perspectives in cultural studies, so I don't have time to write lengthy blogs at the moment.

An artistic hooker with a heart of gold: "Hallelujah" pt.2

Michale Barthel's EMP paper on "Hallelujah" - which I've written about before - is now up at clapclap.org in an extended version (including, no less, a quote by yours truly). A very interesting and good read.

The bolgosphere has been fairly quiet about the EMP thus far, but I suppose some things will pop up over the weekend. Matos has written a "quick-and-dirty" roundup, though.

Speaking of covers/changes in meaning: I'm currently expanding on this piece*, which started as an in-the-heat-of-the-moment rant but is about to turn into a ten page essay on commercials and sex roles. More on that later.

*(the video doesn't work any more, but you can find it at You Tube)

Protest! Wynton's anger not perfectly articulated

Tom Hull hits the nail on the head with his review of Wynton Marsalis' From The Plantation To The Penitentiary (scroll down, it's the second to last review). While other reviewers have seemed impressed with Marsalis' "protest" record for the simple reason that it is political, as if that is a positive in and of itself, I protest: politics in music, like ALL themes, can be both bad or good (and everything in between). In my oppinion, Marsalis' attempt here falls short of good. Although a sentiment like "I ain't your bitch and I ain't your ho" is easy to agree with, it sounds unconvincing and, as Mr. Hull says, akward here.

I disagree with Matthew Rogers opinion that "Marsalis’ traditionalism here seems apt and entirely the right medium for the message". Although the music ain't half bad, for the most part it lacks the grit to convice me that Marsalis is as upset as the title and the flawed lyrics suggests. The only thing he does convince me of, is that he still feels that the music was better back in the day. We've heard that statement from Marsalis before.

(I've written a piece on a Norwegian review here).

Andrew Hill R.I.P.

I just heard the sad news that Andrew Hill passed away yesterday, April 20th 2007, after having lost his battle with lung cancer. Hill is one of my favorite post-Monk pianist/composers, and has been creating and playing great music right up to his death. Tom Hull has a few words here, to which I will only add that I think I hold Point of Departure in higher esteem than mr. Hull does, and that in addition to the albums he lists, Lift Every Voice from 1969 is also worth seeking out. WKCR will have special broadcasts in memory of Andrew Hill this coming Monday and Tuesday.

• Andrew Hill - "Dedication" (mp3) from Point of Departure (Blue Note, 1964)*

* In case you're wondering, the line-up on that track is Hill (piano), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet), Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Richard Davis (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).

EMP 2007: Hallelujah!

The annual greatness that is the EMP Pop Conference opens today. This year's theme is "Waking Up From History: Music, Time, and Place", and the various abstracts can be found here. I've only read a few, but one in particular has caught my attention: Michael Barthel, who also runs the Clap Clap blog, will do a presentation on Leonards Cohen's "Hallelujah" and the many cover versions of said song. As he writes in his abstract, "I will offer a close reading of the changes in form and meaning "Hallelujah" has undergone, from Cohen's own revisions to its interpreters' cherry-picking of verses, and the way that these changes reflect the cultural moments that spawned them".

As some of you may know, two recordings of "Hallelujah" has certainly made impacts here in Norway. First, it was Jeff Buckley's pained version making its way to many a dorm room cd-player, as well as touching the parent generation. And last year, Norwegian record buyers made Lind / Nilsen / Fuentes / Holm's Hallelujah Live one of the biggest selling records of 2006, in no small part because of their version of "Hallelujah", which was based on Buckley's interpretation rather than the original.

Barthel has said he will most likely post a written version of his presentation on the web, so for those of us not going to Seattle this weekend, we'll have to wait for what will surely be an interesting read.

Forgot to mention...

...that Michael T. Fournier's book on Double Nickles on the Dime has just been published as a part of the 33 1/3-series. Another must-read, then.

Congrats, Ornette!

Ornette Coleman has been announced as the winner the 2007 Pulitzer prize in music.

Egon Bondy R.I.P.

Left to right: The Plastic's Milan Hlavsa and Egon Bondy

Thought I'd post a short tribute to Prague underground legend, philosopher, writer, and poet Egon Bondy, who passed away on April 9. In addition to his influential writing, Bondy also contributed lyrics to The Plastic People of the Universe, a Czechoslovakian non-conformist band who was forced to go underground under the hard-line communist rule of the 70's and 80's, only to experience the fromation of an entire cultural movement around them. The Plastic's debut was titled Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned as a tribute to Bondy.

Robert Christgau has championed the record, and Woebot wrote in a record guide on his blog in October 2003:

"The recording (is) wonderfully barbaric and raw, brutally metronomic and pulsating with a vicious energy."

Rock matters. Indeed.

Update (April 18th 2007): Two obituaries (thanks to an anonymous reader) here and here.

Brilliant 4 Corners: Lane, Vandermark, Broo, & Nilssen-Love make a beautiful racket

When some of my favorite "young" guns teamed up for a record, the result was always going to be interesting.

4 Corners is the four-headed monster that is Adam Lane (bass), Ken Vandermark (reeds), Magnus Broo (trumpet), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), who recently teamed up for some live dates and a subsequent recording thereof for the Portuguese label Clean Feed.

Adam Lane impressed me with three very good records last year - his two playful trio outings with Vinny Golia and Vijay Anderson, but especially his powerful Full Throttle Orchestra release New Magical Kingdom, which ended up being one of my fave records of 2006. Lane is a talented composer and bandleader with plenty of fresh ideas, but I'm equally impressed with his skills as a bass player. His approach to the bass mirrors that of his compositions; one foot in the harder post-bop/free-bop tradition, the other in fields such as noise rock. On 4 Corners, he shifts between rapid and bouncy walks across the bass' register - as on "Spin with the EARth", something of a Lane standard - but he just as often sink into low-end riffs, at times playing through a distortion pedal, which may seem like a novelty act to purists but the result is heavy and groovy.

With Vandermark and Nilssen-Love by Lane's side, 4 Corners was bound to have a tougher edge than his trio dates with Golia and Anderson. Vandermark's tone is gruffer than Golia's, and he also plays heavier horns here, and Nilssen-Love is no stranger to the punkier side of jazz through his projects with noise makers such as Mats Gustafson and Thurston Moore.

The fourth man is Magnus Broo on trumpet, a colleague of Nilssen-Love in Atomic. I've often felt that trumpet players have sounded out of place - too clean and light - in similar power-jazz / post-bop settings, which for my tastes have been better suited for reed instruments. But Broo asserts himself well here; his tone is powerful and gritty - more Booker Little than Miles.

Vandermark and Lane split the writing credits 3 to 4 between them. Through much of the well over 7o minutes of music here, this group proves my two notions that speed thrills - as on "Tomorrow Now (for Lester Bowie)" - and that at a slower pace, a deep swining groove rocks (check e.g. "Alfama (for Georges Braque)", which nods to both Funkadelic and Black Sabbath, and the closing of "Spin...").

But it's not all gung-ho. They're smart and dynamic enough to balance not just between speed and groove, but they also let things calm down at times. The lovely ballad (!!!) "Lucia" is a welcome breather midway through the set, as the group start grooving again on "Ashcan Rantings" (a tribute to the Ash Can School, per chance?).

4 Corners is an exciting project and record displaying a dynamic, fresh, and powerful approach to jazz that is most welcome. I sincerely hope to hear more from this group in the future. Any festivals interested in a show stopper?

Clean Feed's records may be difficult to find in record shops, but 4 Corners is available at these online shops:

• Clean Feed.com (ships from Portugal, Europe)
• ejazzlines.com
• Squid Co.com (ships from the U.S.)
• eMusic (mp3 downloads) - offers sound bits/tasters through this link.

Luscious lips

While I may tend to write about music in the outer fringes of pop, or music that some may (rightly or wrongly) label "alternative" or "semi-pop", this is by no means all I listen to, as you may know if you check out my lists. I'm of the conviction that, at least in theory, what I enjoy and look for in music cannot simply be explained by pointing to genres. Therefore, I frequently find myself jumping headlong into the pop-tastic. And because I love hand claps and a good beat, no matter how sparse it may seem, I'm currently enjoying Lil' Mama's "Lip Gloss".

Oh, and Perfect Sounds turned two the other day (March 31.). Happy b-day.

The Mountain Goats visit Oslo tonight. I'm looking forward to it.

A Spoonful of new songs + Marit Larsen talks

I for one am eagerly anticipating the new Spoon record, due sometime in June. The live mp3's and 'tube video of new material posted by You Ain't No Picasso today were therefore very much appreciated.

Also, an interview with the precious Marit Larsen today at Stylus Magazine.

I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer

I just found out that Main Source's legendary and long lost Golden Age gem Breaking Atoms is available as a Japanese import, albeit not cheap. The best deal I've seen so far is at HipHopSite for a whooping 30$. Instead of me telling you why you should buy it, I'll give you a taste of what these cats were up to.

• Main Source - "Lookin' at the Front Door" (mp3) from Breaking Atoms

They have concerns

Matana Roberts

Interesting post, links included, on be.jazz concerning the apparent shortage of a younger black audience for avant garde/modern/free jazz music. Reminds me of an article in the Village Voice a few years back about Black-conscious Hip-Hop's mostly white audience.

Though I believe greatness in music transcends color/ethnicity/sex/whatever, no doubt the experience of being part any group will most likely influence the music. I also understand the need/urge to communicate that experience with someone who shares it (as opposed to e.g. telling/making people understand). Hence, if there were to be a shortage of black American voices in jazz in the future - regardless of which experience they chose to express - it would be a crying shame.

Life's knocking right at your door

Currently enjoying - nay - jumping around to the incredible punch of this:

The West Wing: Bite My Wire

I honestly cannot remember how it happened, and I don't know why it matters, but in trying to explain my affinity for the West Wing, I cocked up on the terminology (tho' I blame the alchohol).

Still, the reason why I hold The West Wing, seasons 1-4 in particular, in such high esteem is that in addition to the snappy dialogue, nudges at current events, intriguing story lines, and quite possibly the best casting in TV-history, it maintained a willingness to include details in the processes of policy making (which is what I meant by "realistic". Bad choise of words, I know). Of course the Bartlet administration itself is too good to be true - too positive or naive, even - but that's why at the end of a legislative victory you end up punching the air along with them. I don't think we would have if they circumvented too much of these processes and had them waving around a magic wand instead (even if nay-sayers may say they do that too), or if the Bartlets were dull a**holes.

I am Man: how a feminist anthem became a cry for meaty food

When Helen Reddy released a re-recording of "I am Woman" back in 1972, it soon became an anthem for feminists and tired housewives across America. Now, I'm not a big fan of the track, but I can understand how it worked: in a style similar to the protest songs of the late '60s, the track has a simple verse with an easy-to-follow tune and lyrics that invite you to sing along, building up to a big chorus. The song rejects common notions of the female sex, and lays a claim to strength both as individuals ("I am woman, hear me roar") and as a group ("In numbers too big to ignore"). For the many women sick of being labled as the weak sex and frustrated by being second to the male in society, one can understand how the ideas of the song were appealing.

Last year, a Burger King commercial which takes a spin on "I am Woman" began to roll across American TV screens, and it has recenently come to Europe.

The commercial starts with a camera shot from within a posh restaurant, where a guy is being served a small plate of vegetables/finger food ("Chick food") and he's not happy about it. Instead of "I am Woman", we get "I am Man", and as a MAN he wants meat. He strides out of the restaurant in search of the nearest burger joint, and is joined by more MEN in his call for meaty food.

Where Helen Reddy's song tried to prove notions of the female sex wrong, the BK commercial tries to reaffirm outdated notions of the male sex as "honest", uncomplicated beings instead. And that real men need meat. It has a certain "Me Tarzan, You Jane" feel to it, and while I find some of it funny (the burning of underpants as a parallel to burning bras), more than anything it is quite dumb. I don't know whether the European audience will get the spin on the feminist anthem, 'cause I don't know if the original had any impact over here, but hopefully they'll think their take on the male sex is as silly as I think it is.

Leroy Jenkins, RIP

Fine tribute to the great man at Destination: Out.

EMP 2007

The panels are up for this years EMP Pop Conference. (Anybody willing to sponsor a plane ticket? No? Oh, well, I don't have time anyway). Haven't read all the abstracts yet, but Matos' looks interesting. Surely, the phenomenon of cultural artifacts changing meaning/relevance isn't restricted to Marley posters in dorm rooms (Che Guevara on boxer shorts. The Misfits on H&M T's), but fair game to him for picking up on that. What would be the equivalent here in Norway?