Prince is a creep...

...but not necessarily the kind Thom York was thinking about.


Prince - Creep (Radiohead cover)

More from Mike B on clapclap.org.

Punk Jazz

James Chance: a case in point

Been reading a good few post-EMP thoughts (try this or this), 'though not as much as I had wanted since I've had to focus on other things lately. Didn't get to do a run through of what I thought looked like the most interresting panels and abstracts either, but there you go.

Noticed one Rob Wallace was due to present a paper on the similarities between jazz and punk, pointing out how among other things both jazz and punk have been admired for their "political and revolutionary potential", which is something I've thought about a lot myself (Mr. Wallace has played both jazz and punk himself, it seems).

That there are commonalities between punk and jazz has been suggested previously by Robert Christgau and Matthew Shipp, as well as yours truly. Of course, this notion may depend on how you look at it. I remember an article a few years back (no link yet, try Google) by someone trying to do a comparison between heavy metal and jazz, pointing to how some fans of both genres often seemed to pay particular attention to virtuosic playing. On the other hand, many of the jazz artists I admire the most, while being excellent musicians, did not necessarily place viruosity in the front seat: e.g. Ornette Coleman (melody), Charles Mingus (drive, power, attitude), and Thelonious Monk (angularity, "off"-notes, gaps and pauses), all three of whom are very punk to my mind. Just saying.

Btw, if anybody caught the paper on Ornette Coleman and black masculinity by Pete Williams, drop me a line

More EMP

By Ned Raggett here, here, and here.

Bad research. EMP was covered by KEXP.

Seems I hadn't done enough research before slagging off KEXP for not covering this year's EMP Conference. My Bad, and thanks to Jim (whoever you are) for telling me about KEXP's own blog. Head on over.

• Day one
• Day two
  
• Day three
• Day four + recap
  

The Dean delivers

My call for coverage of the EMP conference has been answered, and by none other than the Dean. (I initially misread his first post, 'though quickly recovered to see that he was in fact hailing the contributions of his fellow journo colleagues over those of the academics).

EMP: Is there anybody out there?

I may have missed something, but I wonder if anyone is blogging or broadcasting from this year's EMP Conference. I mean, KEXP are part sponsors. Why aren't they setting up mics? Several very interesting abstracts this year, though. I may give a run through a few of the ones I find most interesting tomorrow, even if the thing started today.

Persian Gulf's Changing the Weather is available!

On the off chance that this is old news to you, I just discovered that Persian Gulf's post-punk (a term that doesn't do them justice) gem Changing the Weather IS AVAILABLE ON CD from CafePress.com for the fairly reasonable price of $8.99. Christgau wrote in 1984 that, bar blah blah, he couldn't "think of an American band whose account of the world is more unflinchingly on". I say the EP is truly great. What are you waiting for?

Mux Fun

Fad of the moment is Muxtape, the online space age mp3-era version of the mixtape. Although similar things exist other places, Muxtape has a simple yet apealing look, and uploading songs couldn't be more simple. You can find my muxtape in the sidebar to the right, if your interrested. Not many new songs, but a whole lotta fun.

PS: Hope to have more regular updates here in the near future, maybe two days a week (or more if I can manage). Hopefully the upcoming EMP Pop Conference will mean there's no shortage of things to write about.