The West Wing: Bite My Wire

I honestly cannot remember how it happened, and I don't know why it matters, but in trying to explain my affinity for the West Wing, I cocked up on the terminology (tho' I blame the alchohol).

Still, the reason why I hold The West Wing, seasons 1-4 in particular, in such high esteem is that in addition to the snappy dialogue, nudges at current events, intriguing story lines, and quite possibly the best casting in TV-history, it maintained a willingness to include details in the processes of policy making (which is what I meant by "realistic". Bad choise of words, I know). Of course the Bartlet administration itself is too good to be true - too positive or naive, even - but that's why at the end of a legislative victory you end up punching the air along with them. I don't think we would have if they circumvented too much of these processes and had them waving around a magic wand instead (even if nay-sayers may say they do that too), or if the Bartlets were dull a**holes.

I am Man: how a feminist anthem became a cry for meaty food

When Helen Reddy released a re-recording of "I am Woman" back in 1972, it soon became an anthem for feminists and tired housewives across America. Now, I'm not a big fan of the track, but I can understand how it worked: in a style similar to the protest songs of the late '60s, the track has a simple verse with an easy-to-follow tune and lyrics that invite you to sing along, building up to a big chorus. The song rejects common notions of the female sex, and lays a claim to strength both as individuals ("I am woman, hear me roar") and as a group ("In numbers too big to ignore"). For the many women sick of being labled as the weak sex and frustrated by being second to the male in society, one can understand how the ideas of the song were appealing.

Last year, a Burger King commercial which takes a spin on "I am Woman" began to roll across American TV screens, and it has recenently come to Europe.

The commercial starts with a camera shot from within a posh restaurant, where a guy is being served a small plate of vegetables/finger food ("Chick food") and he's not happy about it. Instead of "I am Woman", we get "I am Man", and as a MAN he wants meat. He strides out of the restaurant in search of the nearest burger joint, and is joined by more MEN in his call for meaty food.

Where Helen Reddy's song tried to prove notions of the female sex wrong, the BK commercial tries to reaffirm outdated notions of the male sex as "honest", uncomplicated beings instead. And that real men need meat. It has a certain "Me Tarzan, You Jane" feel to it, and while I find some of it funny (the burning of underpants as a parallel to burning bras), more than anything it is quite dumb. I don't know whether the European audience will get the spin on the feminist anthem, 'cause I don't know if the original had any impact over here, but hopefully they'll think their take on the male sex is as silly as I think it is.

Leroy Jenkins, RIP

Fine tribute to the great man at Destination: Out.

EMP 2007

The panels are up for this years EMP Pop Conference. (Anybody willing to sponsor a plane ticket? No? Oh, well, I don't have time anyway). Haven't read all the abstracts yet, but Matos' looks interesting. Surely, the phenomenon of cultural artifacts changing meaning/relevance isn't restricted to Marley posters in dorm rooms (Che Guevara on boxer shorts. The Misfits on H&M T's), but fair game to him for picking up on that. What would be the equivalent here in Norway?

Randy Matters

PopMatters is one of my first stops on the net each day, and will continue to be so as long as they write good articles like this one on Randy Newman. If you know your Newman, you'll probably nod at what Zeth Lundy writes here, but it's a disturbing fact that so many still don't "get him", e.g thinking "Short People" is a song picking on, well, short people. As Lundy writes: "The way to avoid misinterpreting Newman is to doubt the narrator"

Because of several misconceptions about pop lyrics that many people have, they're bound to misinterpret someone like Randy Newman (or more recently, Pere Ubu, who do not necessarily hate women even if the album title may lead you to think so). One of the most common misconceptions about pop lyrics is that the persona of the song is (and must be) the singer and that the persona expresses the singer's opinions; there is a direct link between the writer/singer and what the lyrics express. This ignores the possibility of fiction in song. It's a rockist view, and to be fair, people think that way because so many singers yap on about how personal the lyrics on their new so-and-so are. Like good authors, good lyricist know how to use any literary trick at their disposal. And Randy Newman is a damn good lyricist.

Randy Newman - “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country”

Dude! Where's my hard drive + Murray on MySpace

My laptop's hard drive went "ka-boom" or something to that effect yesterday. MP3's, videos, work, essays, plus a pair of lengthy drafts for the blog and dog-knows-what-else are completely gone. I can use the computers at the university, of course, but they're less than ideal for blogging, which requires of me to be in a certain kind of mood, preferably playing records. Don't know when I can get the f*cker fixed.

Did you know David Murray had a MySpace?

They Have the Technology

Great news. I just learned, via Zoilus, that Pere Ubu's excellent and long-lost late 80's records on Fontana are to be rereleased in March this year. I'm particularly fond of Cloudland and The Tenement Year, both of which I consider among their best records. For a taster of what you can look forward to, I give you a track from each of the two aforementioned albums.

• Pere Ubu - "Breath" (MP3) from Cloudland
• Pere Ubu - "We Have the Technology" (MP3) from The Tenement Year

I also recommend Carl "Zoilus" Wilson's post on "We Have the Technology", and remind those of you in Norway that the latest incarnation of Pere Ubu will be playing at John Dee in Olso on April 30th.

Passionate Kisses?

Passion is like a slow, slow waltz. I'm not sure I like it at that tempo.

Pazz & Jop '06

No suprises here, but I don't agree with Simon Reynolds that '06 was such a bad year for music. Then again, he's starting to become a grumpy old fart.

I was wrong & putting 2006 to rest

I was wrong: much as I love the intriguing and flexible interplay of his trio on Zero Degree Music, Adam Lane's New Magical Kingdom with his Full Throttle Orchestra is better. I've mentioned Mingus and rock, but I also hear David Murray's Ming in the mini-big band's monstrous riffs, and even some traces of Ellington ca. the underrated Afro-Eurasian Eclipse.

Don't know how much more I will add to and edit the 2006-lists. Sure, if for some reason I missed a top 10 record I might, but I don't think I'll bother with lower entries.

Best live shows of 2006? Off the top of my head: The Wrens at Øya, Girl Talk at the Mercury Lounge, the Thermals at Rockefeller. I may have forgotten some.

Best night out: The eve before Halloween at the Annex. Marie Antoinette was there, I swear.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz

When I started to really get into jazz some 10-12 years ago, I wanted to find a resource to help me in my search for great records. Now, this was before I had easy and daily access to the web, so I was by and large looking for books. I shifted through a good few, but eventually ended up using The Penguin Guide to Jazz (abbr. PGJ) as my main point of reference. The reason? Well, a few: the sheer amount of records covered, and I also thought the writing by Richard Cook and Brian Morton was crisp and funny. But more than anything it was because some of the records I already liked (e.g. The Shape of Jazz to Come and Out to Lunch) were given thumbs-up, so there was a common base to work from, and also because of their use of the "Crown" in their rating system, which was reserved for a very few records. This appealed to me because it was a sober overview of their favorite records, and because their choices did not lean too heavily on the superstars of jazz. There were, and still are, enough resources out there telling you how great and essential every Miles Davis record is. Not that I don't like Miles, but I had no need for that. Thanks to Cook and Morton, I discovered such favorites as Charles Gayle's Touchin' on Trane, Papa Celestin & Sam Morgan, Mingus' The Black Saint & the Sinner Lady, Sun Ra's Jazz in Silhouette, and many more.

As my knowledge about jazz and the confidence in my own ears grew over the years, my liking and use for the PGJ lessened. I took issue with their occasional nit-picking over packaging - while I understand it from a purely consumer point of view, my main interest is the music itself even if the record comes in a brown paper sleeve with just the name printed on the front (though I agree it is important and helpful with extensive and well written booklets and sessionography when it comes to career overviews such as collections and box sets). The fact that they only cover records that are in print was also starting to bug me, and I began to notice that my taste often differed quite a lot from theirs (as is to be expected, and that in itself is not a reason why it should not remain a good resource).

In the last few editions of the PGJ, Cook and Morton have added to their "Crowns" a Core Collection, which I guess is supposed to be a more objective collection of records to balance with their subjective "Crowns". If you're looking for a quick view into these, Tom Hull (who I nowadays trust much more in terms of taste) has a list of them here. I own and love many of the records in the Core Collection, but some of their choices seem to me to have been picked - because of their "in print only"-policy - to cover for records that are no longer in print. I mean, you want an Air record in your collection (you actually want more than one Air record in your collection), but would you really pick Air Time over Air Lore?

Reading, not writing

Apologies for the lack of updates on the blog. I've been caught up in reading, primarily Allen Lowe's That Devilin Tune (included as part of the CD-set), and I've been lacking the inspiration and motivation to comment on both mix-tapes and the fact that people elsewhere have discovered something most Norwegians have not, that Margaret Berger makes good pop music.

I have some things in the pipeline, though.

Also thanks to LeDrew of Destination: Out and Mwanji Ezana of be.jazz for linking back to my blog, more specifically my Jazz faves of 2006. (A side note: the Jazz record section has been only sporadically updated lately, but I'll try to do some work on it soon).

Finally, an interesting piece from PopMatters regarding Anthony Barxton.

This Moment in Black History

It isn't fair to try and cram the album I've been enjoying the most during the first few weeks of 2007 into my 2006 list just because that is when it came out (although it was realeased late in the year). Therefore, this terrific whirlwind of human anger and energy - as oppsed to male brutality, which took the fun out of hardcore a long time ago - sharp guitars, bashing rhythms, and smart but barely decipherable political slogans it is easy to agree with, will currently hold the top spot for favorite album of 2007.

And I'm gutted I missed them at CMJ.

Favorite Jazz Albums of 2006

I had initially planned this to be posted on the Norwegian blog as a response to the increasingly narrow scope of Norwegian Jazz critics - this year exemplified by Dagsavisens Roald Helgheim choosing to flag an all Norwegian top 10 (enough of the self-congratulations already). I guess the lack of space afforded to Jazz in the dailies, plus the few records that companies do send, limit what the critics can write about. But I would hope that love and appetite for music would make them search for new music as well, and not just sit back and take whatever is handed to them. Maybe they do search, but if so that doesn't show in their columns, reviews, or top ten lists. They are usually filled with familiar faces, not to speak of the same record labels (most notably ECM). There is nothing new about this situation, though. I had qualms last year too. Anyway, Zoilus's call for more Jazz top lists prompted me to post mine on the regular page, so here goes:

1. Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)

Ornette's tone and sense of melody is as strong and beautiful as ever. Coleman's themes, which sound fresh and new yet oddly familiar at the same time, are given added color by the use of two basses; Tony Falanga playing melodies with his bow, Greg Cohen providing as steady a pulse as Charlie Haden once did. Ornette's kid Denardo bangs the drums. Not only my fave jazz record, but my overall favorite of 2006.

2. Adam Lane Trio - Zero Degree Music (CIMP)

Punkish Jazz. Bassist and band leader Adam Lane has many projects going, but this trio recording is my favorite. Lane's bass lines are assertive and prodding, and he is augmented by the excellent saxophone of Vinny Golia, who goes from a whisper to a scream at the drop of a hat. Vijay Anderson is just as solid behind the drum kit (originally released in 2005).

3. Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra - New Magical Kingdom (Clean Feed)

Swings like a motherfucker. It is easy to hear Lane's debt to Charles Mingus, but where Mingus used politics to fuel the energy of his music, Lane uses his love for avant rock, hence the guitars. Powerful stuff.

4. The World Saxophone Quartet - Political Blues (Justin Time)

The Quartet is augmented by James Blood Ulmer and a backing band to help them bring the outrage, blues style-e, as they pick a fight with the current administration . But they also bring the funk, much thanks to Jamaladeen Tacuma's bass. Inspirational verse: "I've got the political blues, now we're stuck with Bush, Cheney and Rice / I've got the political blues, the Republican Party is not very nice"

5. Ben Allison - Cowboy Justice (Palmetto)

Another young bassist and leader, and yet another small big-band with guitar for added chops - and it works. Allison is Haden to Lane's Mingus, which helps explain his somewhat mellower approach both as a bassist and as a songwriter. This doesn't mean they don't "rock out" when it's called for, and Allison's not too fond of "Tricky Dick" Cheney either.

6. Odyssey the Band - Back in Time (Pi Recordings)

7. Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, William Parker - Palm of Soul (AUM Fidelity)

8. Bobby Previte - Coalition of the Willing (Ropeadope Music Entertainment)

9. Mario Pavone - Deez to Blues (Playscape)

10. Atomic - Happy New Ears (Jazzland)

Honorable mention:

• Adam Lane Trio - Music Degree Zero (CIMP)
• Nels Cline - New Monestary: A Journey Into the Music of Andrew Hill (Cryptogramophon)
• Jon Faddis - Terranga (Koch)
• Erik Friedlander - Prowl (Cryptogramophon)
• Sonny Rollins: Sonny Please
• Trio 3 (Lake, Workman, Cyrille) - Time Being (Intakt)
• David S. Ware: Balladware (AUM Fidelity)

For all my gripes about the Norwegian press, you'll probably be able to find patterns in my choices, too: Four of the records were led by bassist; three records were explicitly political in titles and imagery or even words; James Blood Ulmer was involved in two of the records in the top 10; nine - 9! - of the records were by American artists. Well, there you go.

For other lists of Jazz records from the year that went by, head over to Jazzhouse's list section here.

Jackin' Pop 2006 results

Wow that was fast, especially since the votes were due just before Christmas. But I guess they had to get it out as quickly as possible if they were to compete in any way with Village Voice's Pazz & Jop.

I'm still a bit surprised by the consensus over TV on the Radio's latest as the best album of 2006. It seems to have grown on a lot of people during the year, but I hasn't grown on mean me. I like it somewhat, but for all it's supposed smartness, I think it sounds more intelligent than it is. But we can't agree on everything.

Happy to see Ornette Coleman's Sound Grammar finish quite strongly, for a new jazz album, at no. 45. Also glad to see The Thermals' record at 27, another one that has seemingly been attracting more interest during the last few months, no doubt helped by their excellent live shows. Their record is proof, to me at least, that a seemingly direct approach can easily be combined with intelligence, even in 2006.

Special mention to Marit Larsen, whose Under the Surface clocked in at no. 113 above the likes of Guillemots, who received much love by the Norwegian press, and Bonnie "Prince" Billie, whose self-pity seemed to have lessened somewhat last year. Still don't like his yelps, tho'.

"Excuse me-but are you saying "meow"?"

Drums and guitars? Hmm, haven't I heard that before? Oh yeah, Local H! Michelle, baby.

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.