You said "Joy"?

I am not, under any circumstance, going to watch this.

Boys and Girls pt. 2

Is it just me, or is Justin bragging more on his new album than he used to? Not that he's not entitled to, but in my opinion his slick flirting ("Gentlemen, good night / Ladies? Good morning") is better than his boasting ("We're talkin' one of the greatest / who did it before"). But he still nails it when it comes to describing a purty lady's effect on him, especially the one that has him Love Stoned.

Can you count AND dance, btw? These girls can, but I'm still not convinced by their Romantics cover. I mean, you can't top the original, can you?

The new Hold Steady sounds great. A bit more trad song structures and singing, less 80's guitar crunch. But the story telling and the solid rock beat is still intact.

Boys and Girls

I received this today:

Nostalgia

Steve Albini and Ian Svenonious getting mushy.

I insist!

One of my favorite records of all time, Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, seems to be back in print/circulation. Get it here, or here, or try one of your local well-stocked boutiques. I'll certainly try to make sure that it's available in Oslo.

Currently playing: Trio 3's Time Being (Intakt); Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds (Jive); The Rapture's Pieces of the People We Love (Universal); The Thermals' The Body, the Blood, the Machine (Sub Pop), all of which has promising moments.

Dewey Redman

I was listening to WKCR last night, and they said that tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman passed away this Saturday. However, I can't find anything on the web to confirm this, so either they were pulling my leg, in which case I put a curse on their houses, or journos across the world have been too damn slow to write about it. With reservations, R.I.P.

update:

From what I've gathered, Mr. Redman did indeed pass away on Saturday, September 2 from liver failure. He'd also battled prostate cancer in recent years. Thanks to the kind people at Jazzcorner's Speakeasy for the info.

New York Times piece.

Robert Zimmerman

Because I'm a grumpy guy, and because Norwegian music journalists can't write to save their lives, I was skeptical to Bob Dylan's new album (reminder to self: do not read Norwegian music reviews). Luckily, It is easy to get past that skepticism when I listen to the album , and I've been taken by the album's shuffling rhythms and Dylan's wit.

"I got troubles so hard, I can't stand the strain / I got troubles so hard, I can't stand the strain / Some young lazy slut has charmed away my brains"

Heh! And I thought it would get easier to ignore young sluts once you got older. Wonder if the slut in question is Scarlett.

Pere Ubu hates women (not really: fiction, remember?) and makes a very good album. Due out September 19.

Å bæsje på leggen

The powers that be at the Village Voice have messed up again. I was forwarded this e-mail earlier today:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

If this comes completely out of the blue, I apologize.

It is now official--Village Voice Media fired me today, "for taste," which means (among other things) slightly sweeter severance. This despite the support of new music editor Rob Harvilla, who I like as a person and a writer. We both believed I had won myself some kind of niche as gray eminence. So I was surprised Tuesday when I was among the eight Voice employees(five editorial, three art) who were instructed to bring their union reps to a meeting with upper management today. But I certainly wasn't shocked--my approach to music coverage has never been much like that of the New Times papers,

Bless the union, my severance is substantial enough to give me time to figure out what I'm doing next. In fact, having finished all my freelance reviews yesterday, I don't have a single assignment pending. So, since I have no intention of giving up rock criticism, all reasonable offers entertained; my phonenumber is in the book, as they used to say when there were books. What I don't need is a vacation--the three of us just had a great two and a half weeks, and Nina matriculated at BMCC yesterday.

No need to respond. Forward to whoever you will.

Love, Bob Christgau

Firing one of the most distinct voices in rock critisism must surely be the last nail in the Voice's coffin.

Adam Lane Trio

Zero Degree Music and Music Degree Zero (CIMP Records), both by the Adam Lane Trio, have become two of my favorite albums so far this year. I've stated a fondness for bass/drum/reed-trios before, and Adam Lane's is just the way I like them; fresh, gutsy and fiery.Adam Lane himself is a young bassist and orchestra leader with an astonishing output, having made records with among others John Tchicai ( Dos and Fo(u)r Being(s)) and Julian Priestler (The Music), as well as leading larger ensemble such as Full Throttle Orchestra and Supercharger Jazz Orchestra. Don't know about you, but I get certain connotations from those names leading me to think that they don't play lounge jazz. Anyway, Mr. Lane sites Ellington, Stockhausen, and Melt Banana as influences, but I can hear some Mingus and early 60's Ornette as well. His playing style reminds me of Dave Holland, though. He is very assertive in his playing, and has a knack for both rapid walks and low-end strumming.
Indeed, parts of the two trio records are reminiscent of Dave Holland's great Conference of the Birds. I say this not only because of Lane's playing, but also because when I first heard the record, I thought about Robert Christgau's review of Conference...:

"This is what I believed Ornette Coleman meant by free jazz (...) free as loose (...)".

And this looseness is combined with both tremendous dynamism and awesome punch. Drummer Vijay Anderson is great at changing tempos, while Lane's bass lines bounce around and Vinny Golia's saxophone goes from a hush to a scream and back again. I love that they are not afraid to let it rip, after all speed thrills, but their quieter moments are equally good. It's bop, post-bop, new thing, but most important of all, they rock.

The records were recorded during a two day session in February 24 and 25, 2005. Zero... was released last year, but sadly escaped under most people's radar, and Music... came out earlier this year. Three selections are on both records: " On Avenue X", "Spin With EARth" and "Dance". But there are some differences in the arrangements and playing of the selections.

"On Avenue X" is a key composition, and different versions bookends the two records. On the version on Zero..., the group shoot out of the blocks. Giola plays soprano, and the track has a quick and urgent feel. On Music..., Giola pulls out his tenor, and the track also has a long intro. "Spin With EARth" compares similarly. On the Zero-version, Giola plays an octave above what he plays on Music, and again the Zero-version is more of a romp than on the other record. For now, I prefer Zero Degree Music's urgency too Music...'s more relaxed feel.

"Running Upsidedown" on Music... has a urgency about it similar to "On Avenue X" and "Spin..." on Zero, and has become a favorite. Lane plays a running bass line over Anderson's skittering drumming, while Giola lays out long tones that eventually excels into a scream. Lovely.

If you have trouble finding the records at your local, try Jazz Loft, an excellent on-line store.

Final thoughts on Oya 2006

An enjoyable weekend, which ended on a high despite occasional rain and headaches. Still feeling a bit tired, but here goes.

Highlights:

Like I said, it ended on a high. Love is All played for and charmed the few that had made their way from the festival camp down to John Dee on Saturday. Their live versions of the songs from "Nine Times that Same Song" were even better than on the record. They seemed surprised at the positive reaction from the audience, who danced throughout the set, as did Tim Harrongton from Les Savy Fav.

The Wrens were even better. Such energy. Such passion. As far as I can remember, they played the whole of the excellent "Meadowland", and even got a bunch of kids (including the seemingly omnipresent guy from Les Savy Fav) to provide extra ...erm...percussion. If you didn't get there, you missed out. Best gig of the weekend.

But earlier in the week...

...I saw the Brakes, who rocked despite some technical problems, and the charming but clichèd Shit City on the club gigs on Wednesday.

!!! (pronounce it how you will) played a groovy set, but I wish they'd have more songs of the same calibere as "Me and Giuliani Down By the Schoolyard", which they performed to excellence at Oya.

Mark E. Smith, Mr. Grumpy himself, was highly enjoyable. His umpteenth edition of the Fall provided more than enough umph to complement the songs, mostly from Fall Heads Roll plus a classic in the form of "Mr. Pharmacist". Mr. Smith himself stumbled around turning the amps up, and on one occasion turned off the guitarist's. Plus he kicked out at a camera man.

Les Savy Fav gave an inspired performance, even if Tim Harrington's on-and-off-stage antics initially meant he was too short of breath to sing. But the band had a solid groove and Harrington calmed down enough to augment them with his singing.

Marit Larsen is the best song writer in Norway right now, and her show was terrific. She played a blue-grassish version of the M2M classic "Don't Say You Love Me", and a charming cover of the Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back". Her topic of choice is falling in-and-out of love, and she treats it better than most.

What they lack in originality, the School more than makes up for with energy, humor and a few potential hits.

Morrissey was Morrissey, for better or worse. No banana this time, though.

Beck's puppets.

Disappointments:

The lack of quality urban (for lack of a better collective term) music. Last year they had Saul Williams and Roots Manuva on the bill. This year... Spank Rock doesn't rock me. And for all their admirable wishes to promote local artists, Norwegian rap has never been any good. Too hung up on Hip Hop's clichès, and no Norwegian rapper I've heard has the vocal skills nor writing skills to be of any interest to me.

Amadou & Maraim had to cancel their appearance due to sickness. Hope all is well, but a big disappointment. Could have been a highlight.

I didn't get in to see the Pipettes due to chaos in front of the venue.

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid's set. Not bad, mostly uninterestingng. Could have been better.

The Knife. Had hopes, but they failed to be met. Ok-ish, nothing more.

Band of Horses. Their Ok songs drowned in the sunshine, and their not so ok songs barely
reached the front row.

The Cramps were a cartoon-version of their cartoon self. "TV Set" one of very few highlights of
their set.

Hot Chip. Not what their cracked up to be. Not on stage, not on record. Ok, nothing more.

Beck's puppets.

The Liars, Midlake, and Black Mountain. Yawn.

Enough already...

Ornette's grammar

Yes, the waiting period is almost over. On September 12 Ornette Coleman will release Sound Grammar on his own label, also called Sound Grammar. The record was recorded live in Germany in 2005 with his current band whom he has been touring and gigging with for quite some time. I saw them at Kongsberg Jazz in 2004 and thought they were excellent. The band was and is Ornette Coleman on saxophone, trumpet & violin, his son Denardo Coleman on drums, and acoustic bassists Tony Falanga and Greg Cohen. Cohen in particular impressed me at Kongsberg. I'd only heard him on Tom Waits recordings prior to that, where his role had been more restrained.

The title, Sound Grammar, suggests to be yet another one of Ornette's theories on music. Remember, this was the guy who released jazz from a more constricted state in the late 50's, thus creating the rather mis-used term "free jazz" (which was an imperative sentence in 1960). Ornette says about Sound Grammar: "Sound grammar is to music what letters are to language. Music is a language of sounds that transforms all human languages." (Quote taken from Big Hassle) Classic Ornette. The record is also rumored to be one of his most melodic and accessible to date, but that makes me think when has an Ornette Coleman record not been melodic? Melody is what the guy is about. Oh, well. September 12 it is.

Meat Loaf and Marion: Like a Raven out of Hell

What an utterly charming trio. Desmond Child on Marion: "We had been looking for a duet partner, and there was something about Marion...she's mystical, she's dark...eh...she's icy but she's warm. She's fun but she's also really deep. It seemed like a natural fit, it just...everything fell into place. She was meant to do it".

If you say so, Desmond. You should see his eyebrows lift when he says "icy" aprox 5.39 into this short documentary. He gets the chills, I tell ya.

Someone said that the new Killers song "When You Were Young" sounds a bit like old Meat Loaf. Not completely off the mark, especially the bridge and the lift-up towards the end. Could this be the old Loaf's year?

(Photo nicked from S-FJ's site. Hope you don't mind)

Arthur Lee: R.I.P.

Arthur Lee has passed away having suffered from illness for quite some time. There's a lot to be said about the man, but I'm not in the mood for that now. Pitchfork has a little piece on him here.

...One year older

I usually don't link to Robert Christgau, but I'll make an exception for this brilliant piece, in which he chronicles a 30 day journey in search of good live music in New York. It's a hilarious and engaging read. Say what you will about the old grump, but the fact that a man of 65 still holds rock'n'roll so dearly that he is willing to go out on a month's search for the live kick is admirable by any standards. And just so that I've said it, it wasn't on the blogosphere that I discovered Toronto's Tokyo Police Club (TPC), this week's "most played" on my iPod, but through Christgau's monthly Consumer Guide. The old man still has good ears on him.

TPC play wonderful, woozy punk. The drums are assertive yet playful, the bass firmly states the riffs, while the guitars swirl around only occasionally joining in to produce more riffing power. The vocals remind me of Clem Snide, but lyrically they're more non-specific but still apt, even if my fave line so far may not read (as opposed to sound) like poetry: "You, you're so young, I don't care what you've done wrong". The Ep's called A Lesson in Crime. Sells for $9.99 at InSound.

Why, oh why hadn't I heard Rich Halley Trio's Mountains and Plains until just recently. I've got a thing for trios, especially jazz trios, and this is one of the best trio recordings I've heard in a long time, topped only by the two brilliant Adam Lane Trio albums (more on those later). Mountains... was released last year, but I don't know if I can be bothered to fit it into my 2005-list. But in case you're wondering, it may have cracked top 20.

Peace

You bore me to death

This is one shitty list, and it gets a deserved bashing by Woebot. And why, oh why must they feel the need to have Miles Davis' Kind of Blue in every single top-whaterver list they produce? I's mostly the Brits who do this. It's as if they feel the need to atone for something, like "oh, we must recognize Jazz too", and seeing as Miles is (most likely) the best known Jazz artist, they put him in. And because Kind... is his best seller, they choose that one. What an utterly uninspiring choice. It's not even Miles' best album!

If you know me or have read my blog, you'll know that I love Jazz. I'd have plenty of Jazz records in my top-whatever list, and not because I feel guilty or obliged to recognize the genre either. But you wouldn't see Kind... anywhere near the top of that list. It's a nice album. Occasionally beautiful, even. But not that great. Broaden your horizons, please.

F*cking-money-grabbing-p*ssy-ass-advertisers!!!

Jeff Chang quoted Davey D in yesterday's blog:

"According to Black radio programmers they avoided playing rap, because it was affecting their advertising".

And advertisers have always had a hand in hampering the exposure of African-American culture in the American media, from radio to movies and through to television. They've been afraid to alienate certain groups in America, in the early days, racist and biased Southerners for the most part. "No balls, mo' money" must've been their motto. They never learn, though, the f*ckers.

The Crazy Diamond

Syd Barrett passed away this weekend. I've never been a fan, but he's meant a lot to several people I admire, and it's interesting to note that Pink Floyd really became shit only after he left the band, as well as that the only album worth while post-Barrett was by and large a tribute to him. Shine on!

I bet you rock good on the dancefloor

I was wondering if Erase Errata could step it up after two promising records. It seems they can. Their new record Night Life (to be released on July 25 on Kill Rock Stars) has enjoyed heavy rotation on my iPod lately, and right now I can think of few bands that have rocked with as much conviction so far this year. They are incredibly precise, yet maintain just the right amount of bouncy looseness (for lack of a better phrase) and experimental glee. They emphasize instrumental interplay over lead-plus-comp; The guitars switch between chk-chk and melody, the bass between boom-boom and melody, and they do so without creating any mess. This kind of politics-in-instrumentation sets them neatly together with free jazz and post-punk, both of which influences can be heard in Erase's music. Still, they also churn out danceable grooves, as on the cowbell-ridden (!!!) and current fave track "Tax Dollar" (mp3 courtesy of Kill Rock Stars). I've danced to politics before, I can do it again. (Picture copied from their Myspace-site).

No stupid answers, only stupid questions

An acquaintance of mine, who writes for the Norwegian daily Dagbladet is covering this years Quart festival in Kristiansand. Yesterday, she wrote a short commentary after a pre-show press conference with the White/Benson colab the Raconteurs. You see, the Raconteurs had been rumored to have made a music video in Oslo before they headed down south. This had of course alerted the journalists, who were eager to ask the boys whether or not this was true. You see, Norwegians are very patriotic. Any form of flattery thrown our way is wholly swallowed, blown out of proportions in the press, and we can nod and pat ourselves on the back and say "I knew it! We're the best". So, if the Raconteurs had in fact recorded a video in Oslo, that would mean we rule.

Ok, back to the conference, which apparently started with the band confirming the rumors to be true before any of the press corps had been able to ask the question. "No sweat", you'd think, "there are plenty other questions we could ask". But that was the only question the journos had jotted down. The above-mentioned writer seems to be at a loss as to what to ask these visiting artist now, and so may resort to stupidities such as "How do you like Norway" and "What do you think of the Norwegian girls".

I must say, although Dagladet is a tabloid, it is also one of Norway's biggest newspapers and therefore one of Norway's most important conveyor of news about culture. But if the writers really have such difficulties finding good questions to ask bands and artists, we really have to consider whether or not it's worth sending them to cover these events in the first place. A press conference might not be an ideal place for in-depth questions and exchange of ideas about readings of their music, but puh-lease!!!

History Lesson pt.1/...Then we take Berlin

I got my copy of We Jam Econo last week. It is low-key, warm, heartfelt, made econo. Many, many people, fellow musicians, writers, fans, show their respects. But we're mainly being guided by Mike Watt, who comes across as an utterly nice, contemplative guy. I had the luxury of speaking with him for about half an hour back in 2001 when he was visiting Oslo with J. Mascis. Back then he was almost childishly eager to discuss Ibsen, of which topic I could contribute, and Japanese punk rock, of which he did most of the talking. He seems calmer on camera. Maybe it's just that he has D. Boon at the back of his mind throughout the interviews.

The film may be most interesting to those who are already familiar with the Minutemen and their fabulous music. But if it has one thing to offer others as well, it's the story of how this group of people fought the established codes and biases of a counter culture they believed, and hoped, to be without such evils. Plus, the live shows on the bonus disk are amazing, even if the sound could be a whole lot better.

Off to Berlin for a short week. It will be würst and weissbier. Or perhaps coke and ...er coke. It will definitely be fussball. Vive le France.