The Nick La Rocca legacy

When Freddie Keppard passed on the opportunity to record his music for fears that musicians would copy his style, the Original Dixieland Jazzband became the first to put jazz on record in 1917. Their leader was one Nick LaRocca, and according to him the fact that this white group was the first to record jazz was inevitable. You see, good ol' Nick believed that this new and exciting form of music was wholly a white invention. Nicky boy, you see, claimed that a music as complex as jazz could never have been invented by another race, let alone black people, whom he believed to be inferior to his white complexion. As if Buddy Bolden, Scott Joplin, Freddie Keppard, and a host of African American musicians in New Orleans never even existed.

Picking up copies of the Norwegian dailies to get a glimpse of what they regarded as the best Jazz records of 2005, it seemed horribly clear to me that current Norwegian Jazz writers must concur with Nick La Rocca's sentiments made some 90 years ago. Carl Petter Opsahl, jazz critic for VG, has produced a top five list which apart from its number one spot is completed by white or non-black performers. Not only that, four out of his top five have either Norwegian musicians as leaders or as an important part of their line-ups. That a live recording by John Coltrane tops his list says to me that he seems unable to follow much of the new releases in modern jazz outside his (and mine, don't forget) own country.

Roald Helgheim, who writes about jazz in the Sunday editions of Dagsavisen, received a price some time ago for his contributions to jazz in the form of his writing. Ironically, that price is called the Buddy-price, named after one Buddy Bolden, a figure the aforementioned Nick LaRocca pretended never existed, and looking at Helgheim's 2005 list it seems likely to conclude that he is only too happy to agree with Mr. LaRocca. Apart from Sonny Simmons' The Traveler on third place, every single record on his goddamn list is by white, Scandinavian performers! Simmons is augmented by Norwegian musicians on his record, so no wonder he got on the list.

Arild R. Andersen writes for Aftenposten, and used to shop at my record store. If I'm not mistaken, he once ordered a copy of Frank Lowe's Black Beings, but he seems to have forgotten such excesses, as his top five list gives us more Scandinavia, except for his number five spot, which is handed to Bill Frisell, who is...you guessed it, WHITE. His colleague I do not know much about, but he seems as incapable as the others to look beyond Europe except to acknowledge that old masters are still great (see his number one spot).

I failed to find Terje Mosnes' list from Dagbladet and I should therefore probably not say this without evidence, but I fear he would come up with a similar list to those above.

I have long argued that music to African Americans have probably been the most important art form than that of any other group of people throughout history. A bold statement, I know. But through their culture and music, the oppressed black population of America have used music as a tool to express themselves and comment on their situations in ever more innovative and meaningful ways. They have used music as a tool to break free from stereotypes and oppression, and in the early 1900's that music was mostly Jazz and Blues.

It seems odd to me that when so many of the prominent Jazz writers in Norway compile their thoughts on the Year-in-Jazz through a Year-end-list, they fail horribly in looking to other parts of the world. Because the African Americans, who are the originators of the genre, are not the only ones who've been neglected; The writers have been so intent on showing how vibrant their own national Jazz-scene is, that they have failed to look outside of the Norwegian border, and when they do, they pick established performers over young talents. I would argue that these writers are not doing their job in trying to find and discover new, exciting, and good Jazz and then try to bring it to a wider audience through their writing. Either that, or they just have terrible bad tastes. Or both. It's a crying shame.

Merry swinging X-mas

Pandora's Box

By way of a recomendation from my friend Adis, I checked out Pandora, a site created by The Music Genome Project. What this neat little site does is, when you type in an artist or song that you like, it creates a radio show with similar artists based on the musical attributes of the artist you requested/suggested. A kind of generic radio programme, if you like. I had some fun creating Minutemen, Albert Ayler, and Eric B & Rakim radio-shows. Since The Music Genome Project base their studies on the characteristics of the sounds, not all picks whetted my appetite. Needless to say, pinning down someone like the Minutemen and what they "mean" to me just based on their sounds (and not, for example, how those sounds are applied) will not give you the full picture, and therefore any other artist that may sound similar may not actually bring about the same "meaning". But to heck with that for now, 'cause this was actually quite fun.

Richard Pryor - Dec. 1, 1940 to Dec. 10, 2005

The Voice of the People

One day after I claimed hip hop to be the voice of the youth in French suburbia, th e Norwegian paper Dagbladet says that French politicians (right wing, of course) are looking to take legal actions against several French rappers, claiming they are the culprit of the uproar. Censorship is always the way to go. F**king morons. (Pardon my French (pun intended)).

It's been a while...

I'm having a last gasp attempt at getting through the syllabus, so I haven't had time to think of anything worth a dime to write about. Besides, I haven't had the time to write much either.

But I have been reading. Greil Marcus has come out of his hiatus (yeah, I know about his Dylan book) and interviews Patti Smith regarding the 30th anniversary of Horses for The Village Voice.

Patti has some views on music and society: "...rock 'n' roll is our cultural voice. I saw it evolve in my lifetime—I'm gonna be 59 in December—and it was revolutionary, in every way. It gave young people an outlet to channel all this new energy that didn't really compute with the generations before them". She goes on to talk about the riots in Paris, saying "I mean, look at what's happening in Paris right now. Part of me wishes I could just go into the streets and say, y'know, "What the fuck? Here—here's a Marshall; here's a Strat." That's the beauty of rock 'n' roll: It's a voice".

I agree that rock 'n' roll can be a voice and all that, but somehow I don't think it's the voice of choice to the kids in Paris. Their voice is more likely hip-hop (which, I suppose, can be as rock'n'roll as anything).

Nelson George is blogging again. It's been a while.

Dylan Calling

A short, yet charming take on "London Calling" by Bob Dylan.

Jazz Records: Update

I have been updating my jazz records list this weekend. There are some changes:

- Firstly, I have broken down the collection into alphabetized posts, eg. A-C. This makes it easier for me to update the site, as well as it gives you easier access to various parts of the list.

- Second, I have added many more records, including ones that I do not own myself. The reason for this is twofold: they function as a "hyped" and therefore "check out!"-list for me. Additionally, they are incentives for you to drop in later to see what the heck I'm going to give whoever's album.

The record labels and release/recording-dates are culled from various, often contradicting sources. If you find any mistakes or have any other comment don't hesitate to leave one or send me an e-mail.

Enjoy!

Books

Kevern Verney: African Americans and US Popular Culture 2003, Routledge (130 pages).

Starting off with the degrading representation of blacks in Minstrel Shows at the end of the 19th century, Kevern Verney gives insight to the different roles African Americans have played in music, movies, literature (covered less thoroughly) and sports, and their simultaneous fight for Civil Rights and fair representation and participation in popular culture. Biases and prejudices were used to prevent African Americans from participating in US society as a whole, but these measures were eventually broken down, albeit not without struggles. From the minstrels through The Harlem Renaissance. From radio to TV, and acknowledging music as African Americans' largest contribution to US popular culture. Major figures in the book are Jack Johnson, Paul Robeson, Sidney Portier, Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., plus an array of musicians from Bert Williams through Miles Davis to Public Enemy. They all represent important aspects and eras of the African American history. Verney has a background as a lecturer in American History at college level, and his vast knowledge is apparent throughout the book. His writing is smooth while at the same time presenting the topic with the seriousness it deserves.

One of the recurring themes in the book is minstrelsy. Verney starts his story with minstrel shows and tells about the degrading representation of African Americans in them, initially played by white actors in burnt-cork make-up. At the same time they sang songs inspired by African American tradition. Blacks were eventually allowed to play in minstrels, but even they had to wear burnt-cork make-up to ensure caricature was maintained. Verney argues that the minstrel representation has permeated much of African American history in US popular culture even after the shows themselves stopped running. One example he uses is Louis Armstrong and how he at several times while playing opened his eyes wide and rolled them around, a well known minstrel trick to show the contrast between the white of the eyes and the darker skin. The argument is that for a long time such tricks were used to cater to the white audience's prejudices.

I do however have one bone to pick with Verney. While I agree with the fact that biases and prejudices have prevented African American fair participation in US popular culture, I do not think Verney pays enough tribute to how African Americans used their own cultural expressions to comment on their situation even before the Civil Rights movement. Before the advent of minstrelsy, black slaves had work hollers and spirituals that cleverly used metaphors and imagery that would later on be used by both blues and folk artists. Although Verney covers topics such as be bop, 1960's jazz and 1970's funk, he does not, to my opinion, acknowledge that in be bop's case it was a conscious attempt by black jazz musicians to break free from standards set by white swing orchestra-leaders in the early 1940's. The changes in structure and tempo were used both as signs of aggression and as a move from dance music to listening music, that is from "entertainment" to "art". The smaller combos made this sort of playing easier, but it also put the players at center stage, as opposed to the (white) orchestra leaders. Verney gives better attention to the links between the Civil Rights movement and jazz and soul in the sixties and seventies, but even this could have been elaborated a bit more.

Over all, though, I think Kevern Verney has presented a very good history of African Americans in popular culture, even if the shortage of pages may have prevented him from a more in-depth analysis of major developments.

People are drunk...

EDIT:

Note to self: Never write posts while drinkng.

Rock-post-rock

Apparently, the guys behind this years best album also headlined this years best indie-rock show, according to Tom Breihan. Shame I couldn't be there. (Not too sure about his stance on indie-rock, though).

Rollins and Ware

Sonny Rollins and David S. Ware, two of my favorite living saxophone-players, have both released good albums this year; The 9/11 Concert and Live in the World respectively. All About Jazz has a piese of the two giants in conversation. A lot of talk about God and spirituality, but an enjoyable read.

Down Beat reports that Jazz Line Distribution is to release Eric Dolphy: Last Date on DVD. It has previously been available on VHS. I know nothing about this film, but Eric Dolphy is one of my all time favorites, and any soundbite and footage of him is highly welcomed.

I Wanna Beeeee A Teen Again...

I've received criticism for my inclusion of several power pop-records on my 2005 re-issues list, and perhaps to some extent rightfully so. I expected nothing less anyway. Power pop is a strange genre. Mostly sentimental and nostalgic (radio-days, 7" singles, that summer etc.), conservative in both style (Beach Boys-harmonies; Beatles-esque song structures) and lyrical content (girls), sometimes verging on the misogynistic, but sometimes also entirely good-hearted. My friends pretty much divide into two schools when it comes down to power pop; a few of them swallow it down, hook and all (pun intended), the others remain more skeptical, and some of this skepticism seem to me to be a reaction to the whole-hearted praise of my other friends, which is understandable. In Norway, there has for a long time been a tendency to herald the obscure and equate that with quality, note the popularity of the Nuggets-series. I by no means subscribe to that notion myself. That said, there is no rule that says obscurity in terms of recognition equals mediocricy (or worse) in quality. The means and mechanisms of distribution in popular culture is too complex to make a clear-cut distinction in that respect. So as for Yellow Pills, it is filled with mostly unknown (to me) artists, some of them bad perhaps, but I find a good few of the songs highly entertaining and likeable. Hoboken Saturday Night may be a better record (I'll admit to not having listened to it for some time), and I have no doubt that Yellow Pills will race down the list in due time as there are not enough good songs on it to retain that top position. But for now, I just plain enjoy it.

Speaking of compilations, Blue Note have released a The Very Best-series with among others Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Bud Powell, and Horace Silver. Most of them have eight to ten-plus tracks. Thelonious Monk's Blue Note legacy has already been sealed through his Genius of Modern Music Vol. 1 and 2, so that is a hard act to follow. The Monk-record looks good on paper, but I miss some compositions, and duck points for only ther only being 13 tracks. Bud Powell's a bit better, the only notable exclusions being "Wail" and "Audrey". "The Scene Changes" is from the album of the same name, which is worth buying by itself. Lee Morgan and Horace Silver differ from Monk and Powell in that they mostly started recording albums, whereas Monk and Powell began in the pre-album era and started out recording "sides" (early version of what we call "singles"). Therefore, sides-compilations have a different function than albums, especially since there was a trend at Blue Note to record albums as a collective whole. That said, both Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" and Horace Silver's "Song for My Father" are so well known and work excellently on their own. For some strange reason Morgan's compilation omits "The Sidewinder", though.

Updates

Nothing much going on, except to tell you that I've been updating my 2005 lists. Have a look!

Rosa Parks

Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks passed away on October 24. J.L. Chestnut Jr. pays tribute.

Excitement, disbelief, and suspicion

That the Lightening Bolt's Hyper Magic Mountain is getting such good reviews fills me with excitement (I'm yet to hear it myself, though).

That My Morning Jacket's Z (the noise you make while sleeping???) gets equally good reviews fills me with disbelief.

This fills me with suspicion, though I hope it's unfounded.

My Morning Post...

One of the great things about having friends that write blogs is that you can link to them when you ain't got time to write a goddamn post yourself:

Eirik on My Morning Jacket (for readers of Norwegian only!).

Babies and Men

Still very busy. I plan to update my 2005-lists before the end of the week. There have been a lot of interesting releases since the previous update (Danger Doom, Amy Rigby ++).
This means the songs-list need some refreshing too. It's not very large at present, but there are plenty of songs I can and will add.

Speaking of this, that kook Davendra Banhart's album Cripple Crow has failed to impress me, but I find the song "Chinese Children" utterly enjoyable and it will most likely make the revised songs-list.

The Constantines' Tournament of Hearts I like far better, and especially "Soon Enough", which has to be the finest country song from a non-country artist this year:

Soon enough
work and love
will make a man out of you

Ain't it true!

Argh!

It's /fai/ery Furnaces, NOT /fi/ery. (This outburst, of course, will mean nothing to you with English as your mother tongue).

A song to song comparison of Blender's and Rolling Stone's respective Top 500 by Scott Woods.

That is all.

This an' that...

I'm very busy these days, so I haven't got much time for in-depth analysis and the like (!?!).

If you read Nick Sylvester's article on Norwegian music that I linked for you in my previous post, you'll have seen that he doesn't think it is all the doom and gloom my excerpt may have led you to believe. Mr. Sylvester, funny though he is, may be too indie for my taste, as witnessed by his mention of the clique at the end of the same article (I get the feeling he means "the elite few"), and his recent 9.0 rating of the new Deerhoof album The Runners Four, a record that has so far neither made me punch the air, shake my hip, nor given me any other hints that I like it.

I'm far more pleased with the new album by the Fall, Fall Heads Roll. Not great, but more consistent than Mr. E. Smith has been in a long time. A return the glory days of the mid-eighties, perhaps?

I've also been listening to Eric Dolphy's Iron Man, which sounds really, really good. Recorded ca. 1963 just before his masterpiece Out to Lunch, and you can hear the development towards the looser structures he used on that album. Key track: "Burning Spear", a 12 minute long steamroller with two bass players; Richard Davis, who remains a favorite, and Eddie Khan, who I don't know much about.

Looking out for Billy Bang's Vietnam: Reflections, and James Carter's Pavement tribute (!) Gold Sounds.

Things I didn't write

These are mostly things from last week, but they are still interesting reads:

Simon Reynolds, critic and author of the ok Rip it Up and Start Again, has written a review of Return the Gift, the re-recordings of old faves by the best band of the original post-punk (or whatever you wanna call it) era, Gang of Four.

Also, Nick Sylvester has interesting views on a live show and new stuff by the Rapture, the band with the best record of the new post-punk (or whatever you wanna call it) era.

Seeing as Mr. Sylvester is an industrious fella, he has also managed to write this article on Norwegian music for pitchforkmedia.com. You can read it yourself, but I'll quote you this part:

"...countless Big In Norway acts do their best and big-selling impersonations of American and British rock bands for a sizable hometown base that, for understandable reasons I guess, want Coldplays and Travises and Velvet Revolvers of their own. This band Madrugada are huge there-- terrible! Turbonegro still draw big crowds-- why? You fuckers heard of Magnet? Enormous; terrible".

I have nothing to add.

How do you like them apples?

Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine has achieved a metascore of 87 on metacritic.com. Here is one reason why I think the previous, and un-released, mix is better:

One of the best tracks on the album is a song called "Get Him Back". The title is pretty self explanatory as to what the theme is. The initial version, mixed by Jon Brion, had a ramshackle sound. The drums were prominent, as was a percussive piano. The production was crisp, which made the track sound a feel like it had a bite; the music and the lyrics were on the same mission . In the new version, the percussive elements are put in the background, and the song is slowed down a bit. It lacks the clenched-teeth, bitterness and the above-mentioned bite of the Jon Brion-mixed version. Therefore the music removes the energy of the lyrics, and the whole thing sounds less purposeful.

I realize that this is the third or fourth piece that I've written about Extraordinary Machine (or Fuck Sony as it was once named on the internet), which is out of proportion to how much I like the album. But there you go.

C-c-c-c-c-cocaine!

West coast pop/soft rock/FM rock-whutevva has been so en vogue lately, it is good to see someone daring to make fun of it again. With help from Mr. Matos, I came across these guys doing a story-behind-the-song-thingy. Hilarious.

I am Wonder Mike and I like to say...

"Hello"!

Been listening to rap for the most part recently. As much as some people (including myself) claim that indie-hop is being outshined by more commercial hip-hop (thank you Kanye, Jay-Z, Missy) in recent years, not least in the respect that some mainstream artists have been more adventurous and innovative beat-wise than indie-hoppers, most of my favorite hip-hop records of this year are hardly recognized as mainstream.

None have mixed beats and a political stance as effectively this year as the Perceptionists, whose Black Dialogue has grown on me in recent weeks despite being released as early as April. The new Blackalicious album displays the genius that Gift of Gab can be; lyrical and smooth and fast and tricky. The beats are as bouncy and funky as you'd wish they would be. Eirik is beginning to like it too. Dangerdoom is by far the funniest rap record so far this year. MF Doom's outpouring of words brings plenty of pleasant, if not knee-slapping surprises. And the skits are good too ("Call me doggie! WOOF"). Edan's Beauty and the Beat was a strong contender earlier this year, and although I still enjoy it, I find it a bit too retro-centric and perhaps a bit one-dimensional. Blueprint's 1988 still sounds great, though. Big girls need love too. Count Base-D's mini lp Begborrowsteel is a lovely little gem, perhaps reminiscent of Common at his best, which means Like Chocolate..., not Be. Quasimoto's second offering is a bit disjointed, but that is part of why I like hin in the first place.

But having said all this, Kanye still remains a favorite, and although there is no denying his place in the mainstream (as if that was something bad), he displays more compassion, warmth and commitment through his music than mot indie-hoppers do. This year he got political too, both in and outside of music. And I'm a sucker for political art. Well, as long as it's good anyway.

Don't call me whitey...

Damn, nearly a week since my last post.

Tom Breihan did a piece on Paul Wall on his Status Ain't Hood blog on Friday, in which he disses the white rapper for not concidering race to be an issue. Which it IS, of course. Especially if you're not white. You don't have to look further than to the recent events in New Orleans and its media coverage to figure that out. I don't see the point in his "history of white rap"-list though, unless it's more tounge in cheek than I take it to be.

The record releases seem to be picking up, with Blackalicious and Amy Rigby among the ones I have been looking forward to thew most. Had a couple of spins of the 'licious cd already, and Gift of Gab seems just about as sharp as ever.

Unbelievably, Pitchfork gave the new Wolf Parade cd a 9.2 rating. Eirik is unimpressed, though. I have to side with him.

Have I ever told how amazing Air's 80 Degrees Below 82 is? Check my jazz list.

Beef and chicks

Pitchfork critic, Riff Raff blogger and all-time funny man Nick Sylvester has been checking out a live gig by two of Norway's biggest hopes for world domination, the lovable Annie and Røyksopp. A good read.

Steinar gave me some stick yesterday regarding some ratings on my jazz page and the high entry by Spoon's Gimme Fiction on my 2005 list. No harm in that, it's a large part of the reason why I post these lists in the first place. Discussions are healthy. They keeps culture alive. I wish more of you would do the same. Discuss and post comments that is.

As regards the Spoon record, I think it has a good share of cracking tunes; "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine", "I Turn My Camera On", "Sister Jack", and "I Summon You" to name my favorites. I doubt if it will hold the number three spot in the end, though, but I rate it highly. It's certainly better than Robert C. reckons it is.

My year by year-page was set up during spare hours in the summer, and was probably a result of hubriss on my part. At present, I have plenty of tasks at hand, so I have not been able to post any lists. I hope to have some soon, though, but don't hold your breath.

Children and geniuses

A combination of fatigue, lack of money, and bad timing led me to miss two gigs this week. Martha Wainwright played this Monday, and Eirik was left unimpressed. Yesterday, a crew from Stones Throw Records, including one time (or current, who knows) Lootpack MC Wildchild rocked their mikes and spun their records, but alas, they suffered the same fate as Martha and were unlucky not to have me in their audience.

Rhino Records released two (at least) large box sets this week. Children Of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1995 compiles bands inspired by the first wave of psych/garage bands. There are some cracking tunes here, like The Lyres' "Help You Ann", The Hoodoo Guru's "I Want You Back", and contributions from good acts such as That Petrol Emotion, The La's and The Nerves. Unfortunately, the Nerves song included is not their original of "Hanging on the Telephone". As with many of the Rhino collections, it is equal parts fun and frustration. Many of the best acts and songs included I already have on better discs, either original albums or superior compilations. Some of them are currently unavailable, though, so this will surely bring them out to a larger audience. The lesser acts are hardly worth owning, much less hearing, but that's part of the beauty of Rhino's box sets I guess.

They also released a Ray Charles box set, Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959), which looks amazing, but is probably overkill. Great artist that he was, you'll probably get by with a couple of his albums, such as the lovely Modern Sonds in Country and Western Music, plus a singles collection. I could be proven wrong, as I am yet to listen through the behemoth.

Help Her, She Wants to Know Girls

Idling Wildly was kind enough to leave me a comment the other day. Now help her find the words to this song, 'cause she seems like a nice gal!

Note: This post has been updated due to me not having my facts straight.

Let us elaborate: Re: CMJ vs. by: Larm

Ok, so I may have jumped the gun a bit in comparing the CMJ fest and by: Larm. College radio and its CMJ offshoot was always about bringing new music out to a wider audience. None of the acts playing this years marathon can be considered major acts, and in that respect they fit the bill. Point is, though, most of them are known to the people through other sources than college radio. Again, I point to Kelefa Sanneh's article. (To keep up with impressions from the marathon, see Nick Sylvester's Riff Raff and Tom Breihan. Have a look at their archives for previous posts).

by: Larm, on the other hand, was and is a place for Norwegian music journos to discover Norway's next big thing. The act that would conquer the world (yeah, right). My point was that in recent years, more and more established acts have played the festival, and stolen the limelight from all the newcomers that are trying to find a bigger audience and hopefully get some media coverage. I'll wait for the next by: Larm before I slag them off even more.

CMJ Music Marathon 2005

This week saw the start of CMJ's Music Marathon 2005, one of the best music "festivals" on either side of the Atlantic. The line-up includes excellent and interesting bands some of which probably, and regretfully, won't appear in Norway. Main treats: The Hold Steady, The New Pornographers (whose latest album has grown a bit since my initial impression), The Arcade Fire, Blackalicious, much heralded African duo Amadou & Mariam, Atmosphere, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, !!! (I refuse to write "chk chk chk". Shit! I just did), and countless others. For that reason, in addition to the fact that New York is my home at heart, a couple of friends and me had initially decided to fly over, but decided not to in the end. It would have meant no Christmas presents this year.

Kelefa Sanneh, who I had some beef with earlier this year but who actually is a very good critic with a broad musical taste, wrote a good piece in the New York Times about the marathon. It's hard to disagree with his views. CMJ started as a coming-together of college radio station people, who at that time (some 25 years ago) were hugely important in bringing new and alternative (being an alternative to corporate radio profile that is) music out to the masses, or at least the student masses. In these days of blogging, pod-casting, and efficient on-line zines, their importance in presenting new artists is not that significant. As Sanneh explains, this years line-up reflects that. Most artists playing are in some way or another known to the audience. Heck, it was the reason why I intended to go.

I think the problem is similar to Norway's own by: Larm. What started as a showcase for up-and-coming Norwegian bands, they have become increasingly reliant upon established acts in recent years. In addition, it's a sickening lurve-fest for music industry people to kiss each others behinds.

In other news, I got the first taste of DangerDoom yesterday. The first impression is that it's not as eery as Viktor Vaughan and Madvillain, and it sounds more humorous than those two. Not that any of them lacked humor, but Danger Mouse's beats are somewhat lighter and helps bring MF's humor more to the fore. Promising.

Martha Wainwright comes to town next week.

Let me watch!

Unless you didn't get the news from other sources, the genius that is MF Doom (a.k.a Viktor Vaughan a.k.a... ahh f**k it, too many to mention) and top hip-hop producer Danger Mouse have collaborated and are to release Dangerdoom later this month. I can't wait to hear it (although I've been told there are downloads available on various websites). MF Doom, in addition to having been one half of the fantastic KMD whose Black Bastards is one of hip-hop's lost gems, have been responsible for what is in my opinion two of the best hip-hop records of the past few years in Vaudeville Villain from 2003, and the Madvillain collaboration with Madlib from last year. Danger Mouse was, as you may know, behind the infamous Jay-Z/Beatles mash-up The Grey Album. He certainly has talent, and MF is probably the best MC he has worked with. I can't wait. More when I get it.

Update: Although the collab is called Dangerdoom, the album will be titled The Mouse and the Mask. The release is set for October 11.

Drive-By Truckers, Friday Sept. 9. 2005

Living in Norway, we're not spoiled with great gigs. So when one of the best live bands around decides to play here for the fourth (and fifth, and sixth) time within six months, you can't help but pinch yourself and hope you're not dreaming. The Drive-By Truckers' story telling is as American as you get, complete with hope and search for glory, inventing yourself as you go, while remembering those left behind. Not as forceful and great as the previous time (back in April), but still lovable, and they appeared to be as pleased to be back as we were pleased to see them. A tribute to New Orleans in the form of Newman's "Louisiana 1927", with most of the crowd singing along, topped the set.

Musical comfort

As a result of the catastrophe in and around area of New Orleans, I have been listening to music inspired by or made in New Orleans. Not that it lessens the tragedy in any way, certainly not not for the victims; it was more a subconscious thing. It started with Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" off his Good Old Boys record. The song remembers the flood in Louisiana of that year. In turn, I listened to Louis Armstrong, "King" Oliver, and "Jelly Roll" Morton, before, in keeping with my constant revising of my jazz library, I picked up Duke Ellington's own New Orleans tribute from 1970, New Orleans Suite, and found it very enjoyable. I have always preferred his flaming youth, as well as some of his longer 50's records, but although it lacks the guts and glory of earlier Ellington, New Orleans Suite is as elegant as any of his better known albums, and a fine tribute to a city so rich in musical history.

Don't Cha?

I just started liking cheatin' songs
And what's bothering me
Is I don't know if it's the cheatin' I like
Or just the melody

(inspired by "She Just started Liking Cheatin' Songs" by the fabolous John Anderson).

Two Diamonds?

Yes, so two of this year's most anticipated releases have arrived. Firstly, Kanye's Late Registration, a record that has received so much acclaim already that adding a view seems superfluous. But, I'm not entirely excited. Yes, it flows almost as gracefully as College Dropout, his love and compassion is still put to the fore and he is still the most humane rapper out there, including the indie-hoppers, which helps when you've got goons such as The Game doing cameos. He has valuable input on topics of Sierra Leone, the best track on the album, and the dangers of crack to the black community and the community at large. Because he is smarter than your average Joe, his recent comments about Bush Jr.'s seemingly neglect of African-Americans in the wake of the disaster in New Orleans are genuine words of concern, as well as that of an enraged citizen, more than misinformed ravings from the world of bling bling. The music, though, sometimes lack the smarts of his words. Most samplings are used as complete backing tracks, which brings African-American music tradition into the present, but the samplings seem too obvious. Move on up, indeed, but a bit of forward motion is also welcome. It's still a great album.

The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema is a bigger disappointment. It starts with a bang, but falls flat too early. No letters from occupants, nor slow descents into alcoholism, and none of the tracks are as catchy as the ones on Mass Romantic. Twin Cinema is more coherent and slightly better than Electric Version, but I fear the air has been let out of the balloon some time ago.

Corndogs

In anticipation of the DVD version of the new Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen I googled and came across this brilliant site which has video and audio downloads of plenty of unseen and unheard Minutemen materlial. Since the only other visuals I have of this great band is from the Best of Flipside Video, vol. 2, and since i do not have a VHS player to play it, the vidoe clips on the corndogs site was like a revelation. Although the quality of the visuals are a bit dodgy, I had a ton of fun anyway. But I'm still waiting for that DVD.

No money? No problem.

So lack of money made me miss a host of possibly good gigs during the past week. Atomic celebrated their release of the live anthology The Bikini Tapes with a gig at Blå in Oslo.

This was also the week of Oslo Jazz Festival. As usual, there weren't many interesting gigs, but I did look forward to Peter Brötzmann's Chicago Tentet, which also played at Blå. But, alas, I had no money. Reports said it was a good gig, although I failed in my efforts to find a link of the review i read. I'm not a big follower of the European improvisational scene that Brötzmann is regarded to be a part of, and I often have problems getting through his classic Machine Gun, but I just as often find it enjoyable. Still, I'd gladly pay to see him live.

One of the few other interesting artists at Oslo Jazz was Lee Konitz, whose Motion from 1961 ,with Elvin Jones on drums and the lesser known Sonny Dallas on bass, I love. In connection with his visit, my old nemesis Ole Martin Ihle wrote a pretty good article on cool jazz versus bebop and hard bop in the Norwegian daily Klassekampen (I have no link to the actual article. Try the site's search engine). He points to the apolitical and detached style of cooljazz, as opposed to the engaged and political, or at least social, implications of be bop and hard bop. His reasoning is good, as is his writing, but I can't help to argue that to label Lee Konitz as merely a cool jazz player, is to overlook large parts of his oeuvre.

So there you go. Three concerts in a weeks time, and I attended none of 'em. Damn those delayed student loans.

Beep beep (/mi mi/)?

Mr. Matos reckons Crazy Frog's "Axel F" is ace. He is SO wrong. You'd think it could've been catchy/annoying like, say, "The Ketchup Song". No freaking way. He's got quite a few other good points, though.

Not so Extraordinary?

The New York Times reports that Fiona Apple has rerecorded the songs on the internet leaked album Extraordiary Machine (or Fuck Sony as it was also called). As you may know, the initial album was shelved by Sony (for six years now), which spurred fans to leak the album online. I dowloaded a version myself, and thought it was pretty good. She's still bitter (clenched teeth-image) but funnier, and the music is a bit quirkier than her previous two albums. I have my doubts about the rerecording, though. Time will show, but hopefully not six more years.

The party's over...

Oya is over for this year, which basically makes it feel like the summer is over, too.

Friday 08. 12. 2005:

Went over to see The Thing at the start of Friday, and they played a very good set. They bashed through barely recognizable cover versions of garage rock "hits" by mixing the riffage of that genre with the elasticity of free jazz and keeping the energy of both. Ingebrigt Haaker Flaten on double bass was particularly impressive, stretching and hammering his strings and creating grooves behind Gusatffson's hollering. I don't get the Ayler comparisons at all. Ayler had a knack for simple melodies to set off his wailing; Gusatffson is more of a power player akin to David S. Ware. Riffs more than melodies. But he can wail, too. Nilssen-Love was strangely subdued at the start of the set. Perhaps it was the sun. Thurston Moore was not only in the audience, but decided to join them for a jam. As fun as it was to see him on stage, he drained some of the intensity away from the group. His guitar was a bit too loud, and with him on board, the guys seemed less interested in throwing in a riff or two to shake things up.

Then I had to f**k off to work.

I came back just in time for Sonic Youth who were scheduled on stage at 21.30. Their set comprised largely of song from Sonic Nurse, which were performed exquisitely, and just a hatful of classics; "Bull in the Heather", "Catholic Block" and the closing "Expressway to Yr Skull". Mats Gustaffson added some horn on the closer, but "Catholic Block" made me punch the air. Some may have lamented the lack of "hits", but for me, omitting them made it feel more like a proper concert. Good on them. I still have a few problems with Jim O'Rourke, though.

Apparently, Saul Williams' set was pretty good.

Went home and slept.

Saturday started with more work for me, which made me miss even more music. No big deal, though, as I most likely would have sat around drinking beer and slagging off the artists anyway. Arrived around Animal Alpha's set. They are truly horrible. An energetic female singer does not make an average nu-metal band better, especially since nu-metal is pretty awful to begin with.

Nick Sylvester reckons Datarock had a good gig. I didn't get to see them.

Sons & Daughters were this year's post-punk alibi. Better than your average, if only because they remind me of the Au-Pairs, a band which none of the other post-punkers have copied yet.

Franz Ferdinand's set was slightly enjoyable. They started off with my favorite song of theirs, "Michael", and slowly went downhill from there. Their good-natured aura takes them a long way, but the new songs were very anonymous (were there any?).

Robert Post is this year's Julian Berntzen, complete with terrible English and naive song writing skills. Norwegian critics love that shit.

Roots Manuva's set was far better. I was getting drunk by that time and started to dance almost immediately. I seem to remember wanting the bass to be heavier and the vocals to be louder, but still fun.

The Subs, from China!, ended this years Oya (at least at the festival site). Rock'n'roll like only East-Asians know how to play. Part novelty and part fun.

Beers and the mandatory nachspiel ("after party" for you non-Norwegians/Germans) with my chums from Trondheim meant I only got up just in time to watch Arsenal get a win, and that there were no funds left for me to go and see the mighty Atomic at Blå on Monday.

Øya 2005

So, this years Oya festival, the most rockist festival of the lot, has just started rolling. Small club gigs on Wednesday set the thing off, with my chums in Accidents Never Happen being the sole band I bothered to go and see, while Eirik is raving about The Cocktail Slippers. I obviously missed out on something.

Yesterday (Thursday) was the opening day at the festival site. With rain and a gawdawful line-up setting the mood. I was charmed by the young girls in Mary Me Young; their bubble gum-punk is not original, but it is good humored, and I can't say "no" to a song proclaiming the love for chocolate. The bar was raised considerably when the old dudes in Dinosaur Jr. entereded the stage, and rescued the day from oblivion. Their energy was contagiousus and I was left feeling sixteen again, and I wished I had a joint, ...or something. Needless to say, it was a better reunion than the Pixies one, and they also reaffirmed my love for (power-) trios.

Speaking of trios, I'm off to see the amazing Thing, the Nilssen-Love/Haaker Flaten/Gustafsson combo. Expecting powerful stuff, and possibly Thurston Moore as a member of the audience.

RE: Intonation

I realize that my previous post might have seemed like a defense of Pitchforkmedia's indieism (did I just coin that). If you read the Zelious piece, what I intended was to oppose Sanneh's views in his NY Times article, much the same as Carl Z did. Since we agree, I couldn't be bothered to write a long piece myself, especially since Carl did it so well himself.

In other news, Rhino's 90's box arrived this week. It's a confusing mess, collecting hits that charted on Billboard plus tracks I guess the guys at Rhino considered important. It leans heavily on alternative artists, which is fine by me, but since such nineties phenomena as dance and electronic music are barely represented, the box is not what it says on the cover. They've done a terrible job of representing rap music too. MC Hammer, Wrex-n-Effect and House of Pain may fit the bill as hits, but are they hardly good representatives of this prolific time for rap music. De La Soul is, but what about Public Enemy. Ok, they were at their peak in the late eighties, but did good music well into the nineties. Pharcyde, Outkast, Dr. Dre and the whole g-funk era? Nowhere to be seen. If Rhino had trimmed the box down to a couple of CD's, they could have had an excellent overview of alternative and indie music from the era when Nirvana and alternative entered the charts. As a guide to nineties pop culture, though, they are way off the mark.

Intonation

Thought I'd write something about this myself, but Eirik wrote a good piece, and Carl wrote an even better one.

"Jazz" in Molde, 2005

Reporting from the back of a boat at the harbor of Molde, a city which its inhabitants a more proud of than they have any reason to be.

I came down to see Anthony Braxton, one of few truly interesting jazz names in this years program. Braxton played on the 20th of July. He fronted a sextet I daresay comprised of his students, they were at least 20-30 years his juniors. Braxton on saxes: piccolo, soprano and alto. Bass, violin, percussion, trumpet and tube completes the sextet. They played one piece on the night, entirely composed, but they seemed to play around with the sections as though the piece had not been composed from A to Z. I found it very engaging and was particularly impressed with the bass player as well as Braxton himself. Many of the audience didn't know what they had gotten into, one heckler declaring "FUCK YOU" as he stumbled out. Braxton seemed unfazed.

Thursday and the main attraction of this "jazz" festival, Lauryn Hill, enters the stage. I had initially decided not to go, but persuaded myself that it was in my general interest to do so. Her band was actually surprisingly funky, and Ms. Hill herself was not as introvert as papers in Sweden had told me she would be. But she does not boast a body of song intriguing enough to sustain my interest for an hour and a half, which also confirms my belief that her Miseducation album sounds more like a classic than it actually IS, because the songs are simply not strong enough.

I have a bone to pick. The festival in Molde depends too much on non-jazz artist, mostly blues and related, to complete their program. No harm in that, but Kongsberg continues to break old and new ground with an almost entirely jazz profile, confirming my belief that Kongsberg has surpassed Molde as Norway's premier jazz festival.

Pondering whether to see Jamie Lidell tonight. Later

Henry Grimes Trio, Kongsberg July 8., 2005

So, how does one cope with the terrible events in London on Thursday? I suppose some would not have scrapped plans for a concert the day after, understandably, but I didn't.

On one of the hottest days so far this summer, I went to witness The Henry Grimes Trio play at Kongsberg's annual Jazz festival in a shack-like venue. I was sweatin', and could not figure out where to buy refreshments, so I just sat there waiting for about an hour amid an audience of mostly 50 + year-olds and a some of my own age. Just past 11pm, an announcer calls Henry Grimes, Hamid Drake and David Murray on stage.

Mr. Grimes' story doesn't need repetition. He looks a grandpa-like figure as he steps up to his (borrowed for the occasion) bass, wearing a green sweat band on his head and two large buttons on his t-shirt depicting his two compatriots, Darke and Murray.

Immediately, they break into the first of four songs. The sounds bounce between the close walls, and I'm pretty sure some of my fellow listeners got a bit of a shock. I'm amazed by the velocity of the piece. Murray blows his horn like only he can, shifting between melodic parts and bops'n'pops. He twists and turns on stage, and on one occasion, stands with his legs spread with his horn straight in front of him as if preparing to fire a gun into the audience. Drake floats all over his drum set without being excessive, providing a funky beat. He is terrific to watch as well as listen to, and he is probably one of the best drummers in the game. Mr. Grimes is at first the least impressive of the three, but gradually, as his left hand decides to keep up with his right, he starts to find his feet. After a ferocious starts they slow down a bit, and Murray takes out his bass clarinet. He lays down a deep melodic line, and eventually starts to play long notes backing Grimes up for a solo which he plays interchangeably with a bow and finger picking. The song ends.

The next tune starts with Murray, playing a simple melodic blues on his tenor. The piece is more traditional than the first, but they still toss in elements of "free" and improvised structures. Drake continues to bang and stroke. Fantastic. Grimes takes a walk on his bass. They seem equally comfortable with the two slower pieces that close the nearly 100 minute long set.

Although I looked forward to the gig, and especially witnessing David Murray for the first time, I was a bit skeptical of how the main attraction, Henry Grimes, would hold up. Given the time he has been away from jazz, coupled with his age, his playing was more than apt to keep up with Drake and Murray, two of the best jazz musicians in recent years. There was no weak link between them, and I will try to pick up their release on Ayler Records from last year.

At the start of the gig, I noticed Ken Vandermark and several of Norway's finest (Nielsen-Love, Haaker Flaaten) in the audience. A bit later, I turned around again, and they all had grins on their faces. Just like myself. Very enjoyable.

I'm so movin' on!

I can't get miss Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" out of my head! Damn. I've added it to my beloved 'pod, and it'll play on repeat untill i get sick of it. Hope it's not too soon.

Never too much...

So, the Live 8 hoolabaloo went well, according to sources. My friend at http://eirikblegeberg.blogspot.com/ did a piece on it before the weekend, and I have little to add to this. For non-norwegian users, I refer you to his links in the piece for other essays on the subject.
One big news item this weekend was the passing away of the great Luther Vandross. In the early eighties he was one of the best voices in contemporary soul, and his first albums are pretty good. Although his career went downhill from there as far as I'm concerned, he retained a strong fanbase and will be remebered as a big soul star. Nelson George has written a few lines on his website http://www.nelsongeorge.com/blog/.
On another subject: since I started my Jazz section (see sidebar) a while ago, I've been trying to listen to as many of my jazz albums as possible in order to reasses how I would rate them. I'll post more records and grades during the next few weeks.
Later

Banned...

The other day, I was searching for a downloadable version of Diplo's mixtape/mash-up Piracy Funds Terrorism Vol. 1, and i came across this site: http://www.bannedmusic.org/. Have a look/listen.

Later

Nike cops out!

Follow the link: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-06/28.shtml

Oh, well.

My first list. Current 2005 faves. YEAH! (not that one):

1. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday
2. M.I.A.: Arular
3. William Parker Quartet: Sound Unity
4. Edan: Beauty and the Beat
5. Sleater Kinney: The Woods
6. The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree
7. Clem Snide: The End of Love
8. The Ponys: Celebration Castle
9. Blueprint: 1988
10. The Go-Betweens: Oceans Apart
11. Art Brut: Bang Bang Rock & Roll
12. The Thunderbirds are Now: Justamoustache
13. Count Base-D: Begborrowsteal
14. Spoon: Gimme Fiction
15. The Perceptionists: Black Dialogue

More later.

i, Pod

So I'm slower than most people, but I recently acquired this amazing new thing called iPod. My scepticism about such mediums had to do with how I am (we are?) used to listen to music, that is with a sleeve in my hand and what not. Thing is, this won't stop me from buying records, which is what the biz fears, it just gets me around to listen to more music, hence I might end up buying even more records than before. The other pro is that I have been downloading deleted titles (latest: Gil Scott-Heron, 1980); where I before had to trust the recommendations before spendin 20$++ on gemm.com for a vinyl issue, I can now get a listen before I go on a spending spree. No biggie, but It's good to get a taster anyway. My mate at pazzandjunk (see sidebar link) has been posting his faves so far this year, as does Mr. Matos and Tom Hull. I have promised many lists on the few posts I've written, so for now all I can say is that I have time off. Don't hold your breath, though.

Current faves (songs):

Hold Steady "Stevie Nix"
Clem Snide "Fill Me With Your Light"
Cobra Verde "I Feel Love"
Edan "Fumbeling Over Words That Rhyme"
Thunderbirds Are Now "Eat This City"
Love As Laughter "Coast To Coast"

Further Adventures of...

Yo,
Buzy exam period, but some news. A trip to Bergen last weekend to witnes what may be the worlds greatest existing rock band, Sleater Kinney. I am yet to hear their album in another setting than at the record store, so I'll save a review 'til it get a copy home, but the gig was excellent, albeit not of the historic proportions as the famed "twofer" at Irving Plaza, NY in May of 2000. Their uniqe two-guitar attack is like no other sound out there, and they have the greatest drummer to boot. Also, two more gigs with the Drive-By Truckers, adding to the Oslo-gig on Thursday. All good, the Oslo one great. New records: Quasimoto The Further Adventures of Lord Quas. Highly anticipated by me and others. I have managed just four listens, and it has not let me down yet. It sound more bass-heavy than The Unseen, and still witty with more camoes. Others of note: The Thunderbirds are Now's Justamustache sounds terrific and may just be the post-punk album of the year, and it is different because it doesn't sound retro. It is bouncy and diverse, and the echoes of late '70s early '80s are only seasoning to a primaliry modern (in the most positive sense of the phrase) rock sound. The new Hold Steady is also out this week. Have not heard much yet, but I truly enjoyed thier previos effort. Watch this space for more. Later

All quiet on the...

Little action on my part of late, partly due to my forgetting the password plus increasing pressure on school work. Just a few things to say. I'm planning a list of compilations of popular musical history, to introduce my other year-by-year lists. Other things to note is the newly aquired Beauty and the Beat by the lovely Edan. Neat nerd core if I ever heard it, cultured retro-beats and fancy word-play, with cameos by Mr. Lif among others. Also bought Duke Ellingtons Bubber Miley Era: 1924-1929, which has many of the same tracks collected on the fine double Okeh Ellington, among them "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "East St. Louis Toodle-O", albeit in different tapings and nearly every selection is superior on the Bubber-disc. Also of note, the fine Landslide by The Curtis Counce Group from 1956. Premium hard bop at cut-down price. Next weekend sees both Drive-By Truckers and Sleater Kinney gigs. Later.

Late night jam

I got bored, so I figured I'd report from the latest news on the net. The guys'n'gals at Pitchforkmedia reckons the new Out Hud record is good for an 8.0 rating. I haven't heard it yet, so I won't argue, but their previous offering, S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D., was a bit flat, though the title "The L Train Is a Swell Train and I Don't Want to Hear You Indies Complain" is still good for a laugh. Our own Jaga Jazzist gets some props too. I don't give a toss, though. Metacritic.com has M.I.A's Arular as the current highest scorer. (If you are not familiar with their rating system, you can find out about it here: http://www.metacritic.com/about/scoring.shtml). I just bought it while in New York, and have given it quite a few spins. She is articulate, hard-hitting and soft at once. The beats are mostly heavy and hardly let go, which can prove to be a problem. For now though, it's a rumpshaker of a record, and I hope it holds up. A more elaborate review on my part may come later. Also, trying to get a hold of Count Base-D's new album Begborrowsteel. I heard soundbits on the 'net, and it sounded pretty good. Alt-rap with MF Doom-leeanings. Also, the guy is based in Nashville!!! Tired now, more later.

Chris