Is you is or is you ain't a racist/rockist

I'm very busy these days, so I don't have time to pitch in with my view on whether Stephen Merrit is a racist or not for not liking rap. (But I may have a say soon).

Nor do I have any time to comment on the ever-returning theme of rockism v. popism, other than to say that this article by Jody Rosen is one of the more insightful views on the topic I've read.

And speaking of rockism, Scott Walker is a rockist hero, his new album receiving praise from all over the place. Except for Mike Powell here. Thing is, Scott Walker looks cool, he wears sunglasses, sings in a deep voice, and surrounds himself with an aura of mystique. As well as he writes (most of) his own songs. For some critics, this seems to be enogh to signify that he is more eh...valuable than, say, Frank Sinatra. Old Blue Eyes rarely shunned the limelight, nor did he write his own songs, but I'll play "Strangers in the Night" over most of Scott Walker's output anytime.

Tired of Being Sexy

Had they arrived a year or two ago, Brazilian seven-piece Cansei de Ser Sexy would probably have been labeled as dance-punk, but they're only "punk" in-so-far as their music is jumpy. Their myspace-site maintains that they sound like "a band". But, yes, they are dance in their use of synthesizers for beats, melody and texture, and also because their music is, you know, danceable. The other elements are closer to guitar-pop (or 90's"indie"). At any rate they are FUN. And although their English occasionally leaves something to be desired, it's more than efficient enough to have a dig at pretentious artists ("lick lick lick my art-tit, suck suck suck my art hole"), as well as nailing Paris Hilton's lingo ("do you like the beach, bitch?"). And when they ask me "do you wanna drink some alcohol?", my answer is most certainly "YES". They may be tired of being sexy, but they're not tired of having fun.

(The album, Cansei de Ser Sexy, is to be released on July 12 by Sub Pop Records).

Grant McLennan, 1958-2006

This is just too sad. Grant McLennan, co-founder of that utterly terrific group the Go-Betweens, sadly passed away in his sleep on Saturday 6th of May, 2006. There is a nice obituary on the band's official web site. The Go-Betweens have been one of the most astonishingly consistent purveyors of sophisticated and intelligent pop since the early eighties. Grant will be greatly missed.

Let the Product Sell Itself...

Eirik asked me last week if I've seen the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo, and I haven't, because it hasn't been screened anywhere near here yet. But at least I may get to see it soon; Earlier this week, an announcement on the film's official website says that the DVD-version is ready and will be released on June 27th, but you can pre-order it from them and maybe get it before the official release date. The DVD will have extensive bonus material, including 62 songs live and four promotional videos. Oh joy! Did I mention I just had my birthday?

EMP Pop Conference

The fifth - I guess you can call it annual by now - Experience Music Project Pop Conference kicks off tomorrow. If you are unfamiliar with it, the goal is, in their own words "to bring academics, writers, artists, fans, and other participants into an all-too-rare common discussion".

Discussion about pop music, that is. I think it's a brilliant idea, and something we'd benefit from having here in Norway as well (though, I guess they've made attempts at a some of the by:Larm-events). But you see, Norwegian music journos don't like to think too seriously about music, let alone pop music. Their idea of a discussion elevates to whether or not Idol is good or bad for pop. And that's about it. (Swedes are a bit better. Note, for example, the superior quality of SVT's Musikbyrån over it's Norwegian version Lydverket).

One of the sub-themes to be discussed at this year's EMP Conference, has to do with the awkward notion of "guilty pleasures", as if such a thing really exists. Christgau puts it well in his introduction:

"It's a pain that the idea of guilty pleasure has entered rock-critical discourse at all, much less taken a prominent role. The concept reeks of the notion that rock-versus-pop is some sort of paradox--the dim-bulbed theory that meaningful longforms with a rhythm section preclude three-minute trifles with a hook, and vice versa. In fact, as all good critics should understand, the satisfactions of these polar caricatures (most beat-based popular music, of course, falls somewhere in between) often bleed into each other, and figuring out how they interact is a continuing challenge."

But their aim is broader than merely discussing "guilty pleasures". One of the more interesting aspects of "liking something you're not "supposed" to" is when you end up enjoying a piece of music despite its politics, i.e. you don't agree with it's politics, as is the case regarding my relationship with Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" (if you don't understand why, listen to it once more). Looks like the Dean is going to talk about something similar to that.

Drew Daniel's paper, excellently titled "How to Sing Along with "Sweet Home Alabama"", looks like it will tackle the issue of invoked versus taken meaning, which may be especially significant in the case of that Skynyrd classic. Rob Wallace's paper "Angels and Demons at Play: Some Case Studies in Free Jazz and Race" should be very interesting. And the title of Tim Lawrence's alone is intriguing: "Go Bang: Some Queer Songs About Masturbation and Orgasm".

I'm not invited, of course, and wouldn't have been able to go if I was, but Zoilus has promised daily blogging from the conference.

Phoenix 'n' Eddy

I went to see Phoenix play a closed gig this Thursday. With me in the audience were mostly hairdressers, jeans shop clerks, bartenders and scenesters. Well, ok, there were a few musicians, who'd only come for the free drinks, and some music "journos", who seem to be under the misconception that Phoenix is the best thing since burnt toast. They do have a certain je ne sais qua (!) which goes down well over here. But while their music is often clever with its 70's soft rock reference, it's seldom very good. Since they begun to up the tempo on the few new songs I've heard, though, they may be on to something. That something may be Spoon-like, only Spoon write better songs. And I'm still pretty sure no English speaking person on Earth would say "everythin'" without the g-sound twice in succession.

The Village Voice are in the midst of a major overhaul, which among other things has resulted in music editor Chuck Eddy getting the can. Says Robert Christgau: "There have been many good music editors, but Chuck Eddy was the most efficient, most professional I worked with". I've personally always enjoyed his Eddytor's Dozen-column, in which he has often championed music deemed "uncool" (or just plain bad. Take your pick) by the consensus. Just have a look at his Top Ten-list from the SPIN Alternative Record Guide:

1. Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction
2. Various Artists, Electric Salsa: Hot Latin Dance Hits
3. Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
4. Various Artists, The Great Rap Hits
5. Quarterflash, Quarterflash
6. Boney M, The Best of Boney M Volume 2
7. Rose Tattoo, Assault and Battery
8. Skatt Bros., Strange Spirits
9. Loverboy, Loverboy
10. Stacey Q, Hard Medicine

Norwegian Jazz, for a change

Just so you know, in my opinion ECM Records have produced some of the most overrated, self important jazz ever. But they have a few gems too. Still, I'm positively surprised after the first few listens to The Source's new record The Source released on said label. Trygve Seim has failed to leave a good impression on me before, coming across as a second rate Jan Garbarek, which is far from good. This time, he has conjured up melodies that remind me of latter day Air, which is very good. But where Air upped the tempo frequently, both for juxtaposition, thrill and effect, The Source prefer the slow tempos tytpical of much ECM output. They do have a playfulness that is rare in those parts though, and Mats Eilertsen, who replaced Ingebrigt Haaker Flaten on bass, impresses. A promising effort.

Also, Thelonious Monk was honored with a posthumous Pulitzer Prize recently. More here and here.

Bob the Builder

I enjoyed this. Stylus has a feature this week where writer Dom Passantino has taken the task to listen to and review every British number one single of the new millennium. Judging from his ratings so far, he seems to have a penchant for Handbag House and soft Dance-tracks; both Fragma and Spiller receive good ratings. I'm not sure any track deserves a 0 out of 10, though, no matter how bad, stupid or mean spirited it is.

An unsung favorite if mine popped up on the list too. I never did know that Bob the Builder's "Can We Fix It" spent three weeks as Britain's number one single. But it's a great track. A solid stomper that preaches the idea that nothing is impossible:

"Bob the Builder, CAN WE FIX IT?, Bob the Builder, YES, WE CAN!"

Exactly what I would like to teach the kids. And a good few adults too. That's the spirit.

Busy Bee

Tom Verlaine is about to release two albums on Thrill Jockey in short succession. The aptly titled Songs and Other Things will be out on the 25th of April. It will contain songs, obviously, and other things (?!?). You can stream "Orbit" and "The Day of You" from that album courtesy of the Thrill Jockey web site. Both are songs, and probably other things (ok, stop it!). Couldn't find the release date for Around, which will be his second of the year. Rumor has it Around will be an instrumental record. Mr. Verlaine is also the main feature in the latest WIRE. They also have an exclusive mp3 on their web site, which you can find here.

Also, Slate had a beautiful picture special of Jazz musicians yesterday.

Will you Please be Quiet, Please!

In my humble opinion, Kenny Drew has never made a good album. Not truly good, anyway. Of course that doesn't exclude him from the right to have an opinion. After all, I've yet to make my mark musically (or in any other way, to be honest), yet here I am spewing my guts left and right for your (dis-) pleasure. But his recent column for All About Jazz, titled "What the F**k Happened to Black Popular Music?", just plain smacks of jealousy and ignorance, and his arguments are not far from what Classical musicians said of Jazz in its early days. Arguments that were bollocks then, and are bollocks now. Learn your history, mate!

In the article, he attacks current Afro-Am. Pop music, meaning Rap, for the "the stupidity and negativity in the lyrics and the video images that accompany this so-called 'music'". Well honestly, dumb lyrics have existed for a long long time, and I'm not sure Earth, Wind & Fire is the best example of the contrary. Secondly, the style of rap you attack has existed since the 80's, and if your taste in music was really that varied you'd have known that your arguments fall some ten years short of being relevant. Also, not all rap is gangsta rap.

Now I want to argue that although I for various reasons have problems with much of what is labeled "gangsta" myself, is the imagery and style really all that different from movies such as Scarface and The Godfather, both of which are considered classics? I think people have to start to realize that music can be, and often is, fiction too.

Another argument Mr. Drew drops, is that rap can not be called music at all, 'cause when he started playing he learned that music should consist of such-n-such. I myself am sick and tired of hearing arguments about what music should be. I'm not saying he's not entitled to say this and that is bad music, but to say it's not music for the reasons he lists, is close to saying that unless you have a plate of fruit in a painting, its not art. Grow up!

The last thing he argues, is the lack of instrumental skill of today's pop musicians. It's a common argument from older musicians, and it's been around for as long as potatoes. My view is that as long as a musician is able to use their instrument sufficiently in order to get a given song to work, they've done their job. Sometimes they don't have enough of what it takes, sometimes they do. Skill as such does not equal a good musician to me. Yngwie Malmsten has got skills in buckets, but he's a terrible musician.

Stop being a jealous old twat, Drew. Unless you have some valid arguments the next time, I suggest you play your music instead. It's much more admirable than the sobbing you've produced here.

More Jackie

A great tribute by Tom Hull to Jackie McClean, where he goes through some of his highlights on record.

(Note: It took a while for me to open the page. It may have just been my connection, though.)

Jackie McClean

I missed this over the weekend: Jackie McClean passed away last Friday. Jackie grew up in Harlem and was lucky enough to jam with his idol, Charlie Parker, while still at a tender age. He had stints with Miles Davis and Art Blakey, but really found his style after meeting and playing with Charles Mingus, and listening to Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. He recorded for Prestige in the mid to late 50's, and then made several strong albums for Blue Note in the 60's, among them Let Freedom Ring!, One Step Beyond, and Destination Out!. R.I.P.

Rolling Crispies

I'm not going to make a habit out of posting YouTube-videos here, but this one was too good to pass up. A song for a Rice Crispies commercial recorded by the Rolling Stones ca. 1964. Pretty good.

She's not Dead

When I first read the tracklisting for Pink's new album I'm not Dead, I thought "Ur Hand" (short sample) would be a tribute to some great lover. You know, kind of like Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes". I underestimated her, of course. Sonically, the refrain sounds almost exactly like the Veronicas' great "4ever", but this is no "hey! c'mon! let's make out!". No, sir-ee. Pink wants nothing to do with you, you creepy bastard. Which is why you'll end up all by yourself tonight. Just you and...

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

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

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

Nikki Sudden

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

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

My Name is Albert Ayler vol.2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Name is Albert Ayler

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

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

The kids are alright

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For soundbits, go here.

PS: Special thanks to Steinar for the recommendation.

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

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

It's M vs. M:

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

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

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

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

Young Blood

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

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

Like the man said. No sex!

Mofungo

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

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

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

Sumth'n smells fishy

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

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

More later...

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

Raffmataff?

Nick Sylvester's been caught with his pants down.

Arceophone

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


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

The rumour mill

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

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

Prince: "Black Sweat" (video)

This Boy is...Excited!

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

US Popular Culture - on one disc!?!

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

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

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

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

Double double

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

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

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

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

Double trouble

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

Bootylicious

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

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

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

Bad sneakers and a...

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

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

Talking all that Pazz

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

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

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

33 1/3

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

Big F**king Shit / Right Now, Man!

I had originally conceived of a long piece about Jazz vs. Classical / written vs. improvised music, but since I heard The Brave And The Bold by Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy yesterday, I changed my mind and will say a few things about this instead.

Now, friends and foes alike may know that some of the values I most treasure in music are a willingness to fight and overcome, as opposed to e.g. wallowing in sorrow and self pity. Will Oldham, a.k.a Bonnie "Twat" Billy has never made it a secret that he prefers the melancholy and the sad. This sad sucker once claimed, you know, that he was sad because he "was born". Giving up before you even start. That's the spirit.

Now, to above mentioned record. It is comprised of cover versions of songs by artists as seemingly diverse as Milton Nascimento and Devo. But to me, the two most striking covers are Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" and The Minutemen's "It's Expected I'm Gone", and both attempts fail greatly.

Let us just quickly establish that the meaning of a given song is not merely its lyric, but the way this lyric is performed. It can be related to Roland Barthes' description of "The Grain of the Voice". By this he meant that the voice and its grain embodies everything real of which it spoke. If it spoke of pain, the voice was pain. If it spoke of hope, it was hope.

Now, "Thunder Road", like many of Springsteen's songs, is a song of hope and forward motion. One of it's most striking couplets is "Have a little faith / there's magic in the night". In Oldham's detached voice, there is no such hope to be found. Tortoise's playing slows down the tune immensely, and it loses momentum. "Thunder Mud" more than "Road".

One of the most striking lines in the Minutemen song is "No hope / see, that's what gives me guts", but there is no guts in either Oldham's voice nor the slow core of Tortoise.

Not only is there in my opinion a lack of concord between the lyrics of these songs and the "grain" of Oldham's voice which not really alters their respective meaning so much as distorts it. It's a pointless artifact, and if not pointless it definitely offers a completely different (and in my opinion wrong) impression of the songs and artists it covers.

Big Pimpin'

The coolest MF around. Not too sure about his pimp hat, though.




Also, RIP to Wilson Picket.

He really IS suffering, you know...

Ok, since I stopped reading Modern Drummer even before I started I didn't know that the video of Tony Royster Jr. from the previous post was some years old, and that he in fact didn't turn out to be the new Tony Williams after all, but more like the new Dave Weckl, and I know which one I prefer. (He's still young, though. Maybe in time...). Favirotie current Jazz drummer? Hamid Drake! And maybe Paal Nilssen-Love.

Caryn Rose at Jukeboxgraduate had an interesting post recently. I like her Greil Marcus quote. Too many critics and regular readers and listeners/fans are too concerned with the factuality of art. They seem to measure a given artistic work on whether it's based on real life experiences or not, which I find irrelevant. Any good writer/artist/musician should be and is able to create stories that are good in their own right regardless of whether it actually happened or not. Nor must we take for granted or even expect that a writer's persona is in fact the author him-/herself. I remember Robert Christgau's review of The Magnetic Fields' wonderful 69 Love Songs, where he correctly states that had Stephen Merritt "lived all 69 songs himself he'd be dead already". But the songs are great anyway, don't you agree?

Skillz

I've always been sceptical of prodigies and perhaps even more so of lenghty drum solos, but MAAAN can this twelve year old kid kick the shit out of a drum kit. The next Tony Williams maybe?

Picking up the Pieces/Happy New Year

A few bits and pieces from the festive period.

Derek Bailey died on Christmas Day. He is regarded as the major guitarist in the improv game, but he remains a guy I've read more about rather than I've actually heard his music. One reason why is that many of his records have been out of print for quite a while. Another is that whenever I was going to get any recommendations, the various sources I used recommended totally different albums. Allmusic rates two live albums, Derek Bailey & Han Bennink from 1972 and Outcome from 1983, as well as his recording of Aida from 1980. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, on the other hand, rate Domestic and Public Pieces and his duet album with Barre Phillips from 1980, Figuring. Allmusic are not too keen on the latter. Other sources rate yet other recordings. The only record I have of him is the charming Karyobin he made as a part of the 1968-version of The Spontanious Music Ensamble, which also included Dave Holland and Evan Parker. I've read several interviews with Bailey over the years, and he has always seemed as a reflective and smart guy, but I realize that I don't know enough about him to write a piece myself, so I'll let other do the work for me here, here and here.

I'm always excited when I read people I respect writing about their love for The Minutemen, like Sasha Frere-Jones and David Reese did just recently. We are still waiting for that documentary to appear on DVD!

When trying to find the various links used in this post I came across an interview with Albert Ayler done with Down Beat back in 1966.

I will try to finalize my 2005-list soon, but note this: As far as I'm concerned, The Arcade Fire's Funeral and The Go! Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike were released in 2004. In this day and age, what whit increased opportunities for on-line shopping and the availability of imported records, these records and others were available to many when they were released, and I can't be bothered to find a spot for the among my list of records from 2005. Also, I have found it a bit difficult to update my list of reissues. Among other things, I can't decide whether to include reissues of albums that have been available for some time, or not. An example; The top spot is handed to Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity which was added because I found out it had been listed as a reissue this year, although it is actually just a re-pressing of the same reissue that has been available for some years now. Nevertheless, It is one of my all time favorite jazz records, so if I'm to include it it needs to have the top spot. I might have to rethink this before I close the list.

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.