F*cking iTunes

Ever since I downloaded the latest version of iTunes (iTunes 7), my laptop has refused to play any audiofile let alone letting me transfer them to my iPod. This means I haven't been able to listen to any new music for almost two weeks!!! Scandalous, I know. I've heard others have experienced similar problems with iTunes 7, so if you have any clue as to what I can do to fix it, please tell me.

Christmas cheers and so on

I'm off to the in-laws for Christmas. I have a few few things I want to say about the rockism vs. poptimism-quarrel which has re-surfaced yet again in the wake of Slate's year-end exchange, and continued on Zoilus' comment section. Rockism (or whatever you wanna call it; pop-bias?) was apparent in the Norwegian press' year-end lists too. It always has. So, much to be said and no time to say it, but watch this space during the next week and I may jot down a few thoughts on the subject.

Instead, let's have a few football (or soccer if you're state side) related laughs with Arseblog's truly excellent christmas tune sung by none other than Arsene Wenger Hawkins. Here you go, and merry X-mas.

PS: Maybe you'll enjoy this too - TBC Soundsystem's "Losing My Sledge"

Double Dee & Steinski

Girl Talk was responsible for one of the best live-performances of the year with his appearance at CMJ. Well, it was more like a great dj-set which acted like a gig. Anyway , his album, Night Rippper, was also quite fun to listen to, with its umpteen differnet tracks mixed into one big soup. But it suffered somewhat from not always relying upon a sustained beat, which made it difficult to shake your booty to.

No such problems with Double Dee & Steinski's 23 year-old "Lesson One" from 1983. They do share with Girl Talk having infringed numerous copyrights in order to make fun art. For a more in depth story on these pioneers click here or here, or just listen to the tracks that made them (in-)famous.

• "Lesson One - The Payoff Mix" mp3
• "Lesson Two - The James Brown Mix" mp3

Ornette Coleman - Of Human Feelings

In celebration of what may claim the top spot for my 2006-list, Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar, the mp3 for today is "Sleep Talk" from Ornette's Of Human Feelings (Antilles, 1982).

Of Human Feelings is Ornette's harmolodic funk at its very best. Warm, bouncy, catchy, highly melodic. That last bit tend to escape many critics of Ornette's music, his attention to and skill in creating melodies. Of... was recorded in 1979 with then up-and-coming musicians such as bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma (seek out his album Show Stoppper from 1983, but beware of the cover art), and Ornette's son Denardo Coleman on the drums.

I've chosen "Sleep Talk" today for two reasons. One, like I said above, it relates to this year's Sound Grammar. It seemed to skip the attention of most critics - much due to a faulty fact sheet from Ornette's record company - but there is a beautiful reworking of "Sleep Talk", retitled "Sleep Talking", on Sound Grammar.

The second reason is to note the web-based effort to establish a post-70's jazz canon as mentioned in the New York Times. It culminated last week with the opening of behearer.com, where you can log on and enter your own suggestions to the list. Many of my favorite jazz albums were released during this "lost" era of jazz history (all three of the mp3's I've posted here so far have been lifted off records released in the 70's and 80's), and it is nice to see that other people are giving post-70's jazz some much needed attention. Read more about it here and here.

• "Sleep Talk" mp3

* I have finished my exams now, and I will devote much of my newly acquired spare time to revisit the records on my 2006-list, which hasn't seen much action since early November.

Don't Sweat the Technique!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this:

'Ardecore

Acknowledgement of American 80's hardcore seems to be on the up of late, what with that movie and all. But hardcore, like its punk older brother, had both highs and lows. A few bands were smarter and better than most others, just like this article is smarter than most other things written about hardcore lately.

Singles

Frank Kogan has a good ear for the poptastic, as always.

You have my vote

Well, I guess someone was bound to take on the task, and I'm glad it's Matos. Wonder if I qualify?

David Murray

The Air-mp3 was a minor success, and since I still don't have much time to write longer pieces (will I ever again?), I'll give you another.

We'll keep it on the Jazz tip. Today, "B.T." from David Murray's debut as a leader, Low Class Conspiracy (Adelphi, 1976). Murray was 21 when he recorded this album, and while you can hear a bit of youthful audacity in his tone and approach, there are enough dynamics in the tunes to suggest an older sensibility. The album starts and closes with solo pieces - the first, "Extremininity", is a sax solo; the last, "Dedication To Jimmy Garrison" is a bass solo by Fred Hopkins (of Air-fame). In the three tracks in between, Murray and Hopkins are joined by drummer Phillip Wilson.

The music on Low Class... can be described as outer fringe post-bop. Murray's tone is reminiscent of Albert Ayler's at this stage, and Fred Hopkins' bouncy but solid bass keeps things moving along. Wilson's drumming is effective, and he never over elaborates. "B.T." is the shortest of the trio pieces. It is also the speediest, hence my affection for it, and should serve as a good introduction to the album.

Low Class Conspiracy is long out of print, but there are currently three copies available on vinyl through Gemm.com, prices starting at 11$.

• "B.T." mp3

If you experience any problems, please leave a comment. I may have to update the link. The track is lifted off a vinyl copy, so you may hear a hiss in the background. It will be up for a short time only. The Air-track is still available for a few days, so feel free to download.

Air Lore!

I'm extremely busy these days, so I figured I'd let the music do the talking today.

Here's "King Porter Stomp" from the absolutely fabulous Air Lore (Bluebird/RCA, 1979) by Air (no, not the French group). The album is a collection of improvisations over old-time standards by the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and Scott Joplin. Air (Fred Hopkins (bass), Steve McCall (drums), and Henry Threadgill (reeds)) were masters of small group improvisation, and their glorious interplay is almost unrivaled. Their joyful approach to the tunes on Air Lore, their dynamism, hard swing and willingness to let things rip, makes the old favorites sparkle like new even today. 80's revivalists, eat your hearts out. (The mp3 is up for a limited time only. Check out Gemm for used copied of Air Lore).

• "King Porter Stomp"mp3

(There may be more mp3s available here in the future).

Robert Altman R.I.P

Truly saddened by this.

Watt and Kelly

You probably read Pitchfork more than you read me, but I just had to post a link to this extraordinary piece of news. "History Lesson pt. 3" perhaps?

"We'd go drink and pogo to "Since U been Gone"".

Story of my life, that.

Forster on Dylan

This is a month old now, but I just came across it: Robert Forster (Yes, that one) reviews Dylan's Modern Times, and he's less enthusiastic than many have been. A good read, but I don't wholly agree with his conclusion.

Crappy lists!

Needless to say, most of the choices here are as unoriginal as they are uninspired and utterly crap. And guess what, they have Kind of Blue in there too. Suckers!

We love you back, Buck

Buck 65 calls his fans lovers and gives them presents such as this:

(Edit 24.11.2006: Link to free download removed. Try http://myspace.com/buck65)

Only heard one track yet. Sounds good. Be back to better blogging soon.

Oh, and thanks for the "hello", Mike.

CMJ 06, sort of

Came back this weekend, but I'm not in the shape nor mood to write anything about it yet. I think I may have overdosed on these:

Blogging

"I also plan to blog more often, though lots of plans go haywire and this one might too. We shall see."

Sez Matos, along with quite a few other things. I could just as well apply it to myself, that quote, but will I be able to emulate this guy's run?

I sat down the other day and flicked through a couple of my earliest posts here. Some of them are pretty embarrassing, I must admit. But my writing has improved since, I think, so in that respect I'm pleased with the progress of the blog.

But I do regret not having enough time to write more and longer pieces. There's surely enough material and news out there to offer my view upon, but somehow finding the time to write something intelligent has become more difficult. Partly it's because I'm simply not content with just throwing down a few words anymore - one reason why my writing has improved is because I've become better at editing myself.

While some plan to write more, others are taking an hiatus, Woebot being the latest to announce one. I've recently been asked to contribute on other projects, so we'll see how that will influence Perfect Sounds in the future, but hopefully I'll be able to blog on a frequent basis. We shall see.

Proud and hurt

A proud day as Tom Hull has a link back to my blog in his recent post, and I discovered this just hours after being run over by a bicyclist (hence the "hurt" in the title. I'm fine, if you are wondering).

I didn't comment on the Xgau quote I posted the other day, partly because it was just a quote I liked as an excuse to post the link, but also because I didn't have much time.

Like Mr. Hull, it's been a while since I've read Adorno (though not thirty years, mind). My main problem with him was what I read as his underestimation of the consumer's role in the reception of popular music; in short, that they take it sans questions because it is familiar, formulaic, omnipresent etc.

His stance makes more sense to me in light of the fact that he was, as Tom Hull puts it, "profoundly disturbed by Nazism". Nazism prospered thanks to a massive propaganda machine, "mass suggestion" and nurturing mob thinking. Maybe I'm wrong, but I suppose Adorno saw similarities in what he perceived as the omnipresence of popular music at the time. I am skeptical of his view of the passive role of the consumer, though, but I totally agree with Mr. Hull's closing thoughts:

"I'm not sure that Adorno has anything useful to say about popular music in America, but mapping him onto a highbrow/lowbrow spat that these days mostly shows our age is certainly wrong. He was from another time and place, maybe another planet. Wonder what he would have made of Sun Ra."

Breaking the Silence

"I think Theodore Adorno was profoundly ignorant".

Final Curtain

So, CBGB's closed. Must admit I'm not feeling too sad about it, they've been yapping about this final day for ages. An account of what went down that night here.