Do You Miss Flipper?

Of course you miss Flipper. Good thing, then, that Pissed Jeans are around to give us fuzz fueled tales about being caught licking leather and the joys of ice cream, all played with gay abandon.

• Pissed Jeans: "I Still Got You (Ice Cream)" mp3 (from the album Hope For Men, due out in June, 2007. Mp3 courtesy of SubPop.com).

Powerhouse live, 'cause I've got no time to write blogs

Don't have time to write much at the moment, but I wanted to share this live clip of (((Powerhouse Sound))) caught on film yesterday. Enjoy! (Thanks to wojszyca).

Powerhouse Sound: Ken Vandermark, John Herndon, Nate McBride and Jeff Parker: "Coxsonne", live in Alchemia, Cracow, Poland on May 8th, 2007.

Jazz lists + more to come

Tom Hull has posted his contribution to the Destination: Out 90's Jazz poll, including extended lists/comparisons with the 70's and 80's. I also contributed a list to the D: O poll, but I figured I'd post mine with comments when they publish the results on their site.

Besides, I'm busy writing about feminist perspectives in cultural studies, so I don't have time to write lengthy blogs at the moment.

An artistic hooker with a heart of gold: "Hallelujah" pt.2

Michale Barthel's EMP paper on "Hallelujah" - which I've written about before - is now up at clapclap.org in an extended version (including, no less, a quote by yours truly). A very interesting and good read.

The bolgosphere has been fairly quiet about the EMP thus far, but I suppose some things will pop up over the weekend. Matos has written a "quick-and-dirty" roundup, though.

Speaking of covers/changes in meaning: I'm currently expanding on this piece*, which started as an in-the-heat-of-the-moment rant but is about to turn into a ten page essay on commercials and sex roles. More on that later.

*(the video doesn't work any more, but you can find it at You Tube)

Protest! Wynton's anger not perfectly articulated

Tom Hull hits the nail on the head with his review of Wynton Marsalis' From The Plantation To The Penitentiary (scroll down, it's the second to last review). While other reviewers have seemed impressed with Marsalis' "protest" record for the simple reason that it is political, as if that is a positive in and of itself, I protest: politics in music, like ALL themes, can be both bad or good (and everything in between). In my oppinion, Marsalis' attempt here falls short of good. Although a sentiment like "I ain't your bitch and I ain't your ho" is easy to agree with, it sounds unconvincing and, as Mr. Hull says, akward here.

I disagree with Matthew Rogers opinion that "Marsalis’ traditionalism here seems apt and entirely the right medium for the message". Although the music ain't half bad, for the most part it lacks the grit to convice me that Marsalis is as upset as the title and the flawed lyrics suggests. The only thing he does convince me of, is that he still feels that the music was better back in the day. We've heard that statement from Marsalis before.

(I've written a piece on a Norwegian review here).

Andrew Hill R.I.P.

I just heard the sad news that Andrew Hill passed away yesterday, April 20th 2007, after having lost his battle with lung cancer. Hill is one of my favorite post-Monk pianist/composers, and has been creating and playing great music right up to his death. Tom Hull has a few words here, to which I will only add that I think I hold Point of Departure in higher esteem than mr. Hull does, and that in addition to the albums he lists, Lift Every Voice from 1969 is also worth seeking out. WKCR will have special broadcasts in memory of Andrew Hill this coming Monday and Tuesday.

• Andrew Hill - "Dedication" (mp3) from Point of Departure (Blue Note, 1964)*

* In case you're wondering, the line-up on that track is Hill (piano), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet), Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), Richard Davis (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).

EMP 2007: Hallelujah!

The annual greatness that is the EMP Pop Conference opens today. This year's theme is "Waking Up From History: Music, Time, and Place", and the various abstracts can be found here. I've only read a few, but one in particular has caught my attention: Michael Barthel, who also runs the Clap Clap blog, will do a presentation on Leonards Cohen's "Hallelujah" and the many cover versions of said song. As he writes in his abstract, "I will offer a close reading of the changes in form and meaning "Hallelujah" has undergone, from Cohen's own revisions to its interpreters' cherry-picking of verses, and the way that these changes reflect the cultural moments that spawned them".

As some of you may know, two recordings of "Hallelujah" has certainly made impacts here in Norway. First, it was Jeff Buckley's pained version making its way to many a dorm room cd-player, as well as touching the parent generation. And last year, Norwegian record buyers made Lind / Nilsen / Fuentes / Holm's Hallelujah Live one of the biggest selling records of 2006, in no small part because of their version of "Hallelujah", which was based on Buckley's interpretation rather than the original.

Barthel has said he will most likely post a written version of his presentation on the web, so for those of us not going to Seattle this weekend, we'll have to wait for what will surely be an interesting read.

Forgot to mention...

...that Michael T. Fournier's book on Double Nickles on the Dime has just been published as a part of the 33 1/3-series. Another must-read, then.

Congrats, Ornette!

Ornette Coleman has been announced as the winner the 2007 Pulitzer prize in music.

Egon Bondy R.I.P.

Left to right: The Plastic's Milan Hlavsa and Egon Bondy

Thought I'd post a short tribute to Prague underground legend, philosopher, writer, and poet Egon Bondy, who passed away on April 9. In addition to his influential writing, Bondy also contributed lyrics to The Plastic People of the Universe, a Czechoslovakian non-conformist band who was forced to go underground under the hard-line communist rule of the 70's and 80's, only to experience the fromation of an entire cultural movement around them. The Plastic's debut was titled Egon Bondy's Happy Hearts Club Banned as a tribute to Bondy.

Robert Christgau has championed the record, and Woebot wrote in a record guide on his blog in October 2003:

"The recording (is) wonderfully barbaric and raw, brutally metronomic and pulsating with a vicious energy."

Rock matters. Indeed.

Update (April 18th 2007): Two obituaries (thanks to an anonymous reader) here and here.

Brilliant 4 Corners: Lane, Vandermark, Broo, & Nilssen-Love make a beautiful racket

When some of my favorite "young" guns teamed up for a record, the result was always going to be interesting.

4 Corners is the four-headed monster that is Adam Lane (bass), Ken Vandermark (reeds), Magnus Broo (trumpet), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), who recently teamed up for some live dates and a subsequent recording thereof for the Portuguese label Clean Feed.

Adam Lane impressed me with three very good records last year - his two playful trio outings with Vinny Golia and Vijay Anderson, but especially his powerful Full Throttle Orchestra release New Magical Kingdom, which ended up being one of my fave records of 2006. Lane is a talented composer and bandleader with plenty of fresh ideas, but I'm equally impressed with his skills as a bass player. His approach to the bass mirrors that of his compositions; one foot in the harder post-bop/free-bop tradition, the other in fields such as noise rock. On 4 Corners, he shifts between rapid and bouncy walks across the bass' register - as on "Spin with the EARth", something of a Lane standard - but he just as often sink into low-end riffs, at times playing through a distortion pedal, which may seem like a novelty act to purists but the result is heavy and groovy.

With Vandermark and Nilssen-Love by Lane's side, 4 Corners was bound to have a tougher edge than his trio dates with Golia and Anderson. Vandermark's tone is gruffer than Golia's, and he also plays heavier horns here, and Nilssen-Love is no stranger to the punkier side of jazz through his projects with noise makers such as Mats Gustafson and Thurston Moore.

The fourth man is Magnus Broo on trumpet, a colleague of Nilssen-Love in Atomic. I've often felt that trumpet players have sounded out of place - too clean and light - in similar power-jazz / post-bop settings, which for my tastes have been better suited for reed instruments. But Broo asserts himself well here; his tone is powerful and gritty - more Booker Little than Miles.

Vandermark and Lane split the writing credits 3 to 4 between them. Through much of the well over 7o minutes of music here, this group proves my two notions that speed thrills - as on "Tomorrow Now (for Lester Bowie)" - and that at a slower pace, a deep swining groove rocks (check e.g. "Alfama (for Georges Braque)", which nods to both Funkadelic and Black Sabbath, and the closing of "Spin...").

But it's not all gung-ho. They're smart and dynamic enough to balance not just between speed and groove, but they also let things calm down at times. The lovely ballad (!!!) "Lucia" is a welcome breather midway through the set, as the group start grooving again on "Ashcan Rantings" (a tribute to the Ash Can School, per chance?).

4 Corners is an exciting project and record displaying a dynamic, fresh, and powerful approach to jazz that is most welcome. I sincerely hope to hear more from this group in the future. Any festivals interested in a show stopper?

Clean Feed's records may be difficult to find in record shops, but 4 Corners is available at these online shops:

• Clean Feed.com (ships from Portugal, Europe)
• ejazzlines.com
• Squid Co.com (ships from the U.S.)
• eMusic (mp3 downloads) - offers sound bits/tasters through this link.

Luscious lips

While I may tend to write about music in the outer fringes of pop, or music that some may (rightly or wrongly) label "alternative" or "semi-pop", this is by no means all I listen to, as you may know if you check out my lists. I'm of the conviction that, at least in theory, what I enjoy and look for in music cannot simply be explained by pointing to genres. Therefore, I frequently find myself jumping headlong into the pop-tastic. And because I love hand claps and a good beat, no matter how sparse it may seem, I'm currently enjoying Lil' Mama's "Lip Gloss".

Oh, and Perfect Sounds turned two the other day (March 31.). Happy b-day.

The Mountain Goats visit Oslo tonight. I'm looking forward to it.

A Spoonful of new songs + Marit Larsen talks

I for one am eagerly anticipating the new Spoon record, due sometime in June. The live mp3's and 'tube video of new material posted by You Ain't No Picasso today were therefore very much appreciated.

Also, an interview with the precious Marit Larsen today at Stylus Magazine.

I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer

I just found out that Main Source's legendary and long lost Golden Age gem Breaking Atoms is available as a Japanese import, albeit not cheap. The best deal I've seen so far is at HipHopSite for a whooping 30$. Instead of me telling you why you should buy it, I'll give you a taste of what these cats were up to.

• Main Source - "Lookin' at the Front Door" (mp3) from Breaking Atoms

They have concerns

Matana Roberts

Interesting post, links included, on be.jazz concerning the apparent shortage of a younger black audience for avant garde/modern/free jazz music. Reminds me of an article in the Village Voice a few years back about Black-conscious Hip-Hop's mostly white audience.

Though I believe greatness in music transcends color/ethnicity/sex/whatever, no doubt the experience of being part any group will most likely influence the music. I also understand the need/urge to communicate that experience with someone who shares it (as opposed to e.g. telling/making people understand). Hence, if there were to be a shortage of black American voices in jazz in the future - regardless of which experience they chose to express - it would be a crying shame.

Life's knocking right at your door

Currently enjoying - nay - jumping around to the incredible punch of this:

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?