Bo Diddley, R.I.P.

Bo Diddley (Dec. 30, 1928 - June 2, 2008)

"Bo Diddley, a singer and guitarist, invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock ’n’ roll itself." - Ben Ratliff (New York Times, June 2, 2008).

Currently grooving to...

Al Green's new record Lay It Down. And I do mean GROOVE. Don't have enough time to do a proper write up, but I needed to get this out.

Zine scenes

This is a few weeks old, but I was reading MikeB's thoughts on Pitchfork's reviews of No Age and thier two records. One quote Mike mentions, which escaped me way back when, jumped out:

"No Age bring back the DIY energy of Kicking Giant and Lync and '90s zines and, importantly, a life away from computer screens."

Barring the ironi that this longing for zines and a life away from computer screens appeared on one of the largest online music sites, there's a historical difference here which seems to have escaped the author. The reason zines existed in the first place was that all other media outlets had been hijacked by major labels. Zines, as well as constant touring (and a bit of help from college radio stations), were perhaps the only ways to reach new people. This was especially true in the late 70s and the 80s. Recently, the internet has provided musicians and audience with new ways to reach eachother, something Mike Watt, one of the 80s indie pioneers and the nicest and most talkative guy in punk, has seems to have understood by embracing the internet almost full tilt, including recording a podcast. Now, one should be careful making the argument the the internet is fully democratic. Despite blogs and what have you, not all people have daily access to computers, and some countries even exert heavy censorship on both what can be published and what can be accessed. I still hold that it reaches more people than zines did, and like Mike, I don't see what's so wrong about that.

(Of course, this may be an extention of the us (here: zines) vs. them (here: web) dichotomy that some indie-connoiseurs are so obsessed with. It's an argument I feel strongly ambivalent towards...well, not really. Even if a part of me kind of understands where they are coming from, their obsession with authentic vs. fake, an extention of us vs. them, is just downright silly, and often misapplied or more often simply not valid. "Delivered with conviction", something both Bruce Springsteen (major) and Persian Gulf (indie) were able to do in the 80s, is in my opinion a more valid point to make).

Oh, Nouns is still one of my favorite records so far this year.

HDtracks - cd-quality audio downloads - press release

I received this press release from HDtracks yesterday, a new download site that promises cd-quality audio from a wide variety of genres. I've only briefly browsed their files, but they seem to have a quite extensive collection of jazz available, with recordings from labels such as Tzadic (John Zorn, Derek Bailey), New World Jazz (Cecil Taylor, Lawrence "Butch" Morris), Cryptogramophone (Nels Cline), Evidence (Sun Ra), Sunnyside, Sundazed, and ASV (loads of classics from the early days of the recording industry). And that is just at first glance. Now, I'm pressed for time today, so I figured I'd just copy and paste the press release itself.

Free HDtracks Album Promises Music Lovers the

“Ultimate Download Experience”

CD-quality audio lets HDtracks listeners “hear the difference”

New York City, May 20, 2008 – HDtracks.com, the new high-resolution digital music store founded by audiophile record label Chesky Records, today announced the limited availability of a free album download that encourages all listeners to “hear the HDtracks difference.”

“The HDtracks Ultimate Download Experience,” free to visitors to www.HDtracks.com who register with only an email address, offers eight spectacular audiophile-quality recordings across different genres, all hand-picked to prove just how great music downloads can sound. Those who download The Ultimate Download Experience will also receive a promotional code for 20% off their next HDtracks album or multi-album purchase.

HDtrack is unique among digital music stores for its combination of CD-quality music files unencumbered by digital rights management (DRM)*, the ability to download in any of three file types to match most playback devices, and a reliable, easy-to-use interface that makes browsing and downloading a pleasure. The site features thousands of artists representing 60 of the world’s best independent record labels, and all albums are priced at $11.98 and come complete with PDF liner notes (a first among digital music sites). Tracks may be downloaded as CD-quality uncompressed AIFF files or lossless FLAC files, or MP3 files ripped at 320 kilobits-per-second (kbps) — some 2½-times the rate of typical music-store downloads. Ultra-high-resolution 96kHz/24-bit downloads are planned as well.

HDtracks features more than 60 independent record labels including respected audiophile releases
from Chesky, ASV, Sunnyside, Evidence, DRG, Hyena, MilesHigh and more.
The ever expanding library also now includes titles from The Orchard and IOTA distribution
companies.  

“Musicians and sound engineers create incredible performances and amazing, lifelike recordings, only to have people download their work at 128 kbps from the popular music stores,” said HDtracks co-founder David Chesky. “This completely destroys the nuance of the recording and often introduces audible distortion. Our free “Ultimate Download Experience” album should prove to listeners once-and-for all that they can hear the difference between a CD-quality or high bit-rate file and a conventional download, even on an iPod^®.”

About HDtracks

Founded by David and Norman Chesky of the respected audiophile-record label Chesky Records, HDtracks is a high-quality music download service offering a diverse catalog of independent music from around the world. HDtracks does not believe in DRM, and as a result, offers a selection of unencrypted files that play on any computer or portable device. HDtracks recognizes that while there are significant benefits to accessing music at the touch of a button in today’s computer age, preserving sound quality and the visceral experience of the live music performance should remain a priority. The HDtracks mission is to deliver the whole package: world-class music, unrivaled sound, files that play in any environment, and liner notes that enhance appreciation of the artist and album.

HDtracks Ultimate Download Experience
Livingston Taylor “Our Turn To Dance” (Chesky Records)
David Johansen and the Harry Smiths “Well, I've Been to Memphis” (Chesky)
Earl Wild “Mexican Hat Dance” (Ivory Classic)
Holly Cole “Larger Than Life” (Koch Records)
Mike Garson “Rumble” (Reference Recordings)
Koko Taylor “Can't Let Go” (Alligator)
The Minnesota Orchestra (Conductor: Eiji Oue) “Baba Yaga, from Pictures at an Exhibition” (Reference Recordings)
Brio “Una Tarde de Verano” (Dorian)

* Digital Rights Management encoding, or DRM, is a technology that limits the usage of digital media. HDTracks does not employ this technology, as the company believes that once its customers purchase music from its site, they have the right to play it wherever they wish on any device they choose.

...and as for S/FJ looking for pop singles:

If you're looking for happy, look no further than Alphabeat, my friend. They live on fascination, you know. Is this meta pop? You definately can't get much more happy than this. Say the word!

Molde beckons, despite misgivings

Festival season is closing in. I'd hoped to stay away from one of them this year, Molde International Jazz Festival, for several reasons despite the booking of the great Ornette Coleman ("I've already seen him three times" was my line of thought "do I want to go through the hassle of Molde yet again"). Despite earlier complaints, Molde Jazz has upped the stakes booking wise, and after I learned that David Murray's Black Saint Quartet had been confirmed to play this year I may have to renege on my previous stance of not going. And who wouldn't mind seeing Ornette, probably the greatest living jazz musician, once more? If you'd said ten years ago that I'd get to see him once let alone four times in my life, I'd have laughed in your face.

David Murray Live @ Jazz Standard 2007



Ornette Coleman Live at Bonnaroo 2007

You Should Be Dancing - MJ style-ee

New video for National Bank's "Home", directed by Kaveh Tehrani, the subject of which is Omer Bhatti, the imitator who befriended his idol and moved to Neverland. He can dance, too.

5 Things I Realized at the Angry Samoans Gig Last Night

1. Not enough people know about them
2. Most of the ones that do are male
3. The few females that do are pretty crazy
4. So is "Metal" Mike Saunders
5. Their best songs are still pretty awesome and funny
   

Prince is a creep...

...but not necessarily the kind Thom York was thinking about.


Prince - Creep (Radiohead cover)

More from Mike B on clapclap.org.

Punk Jazz

James Chance: a case in point

Been reading a good few post-EMP thoughts (try this or this), 'though not as much as I had wanted since I've had to focus on other things lately. Didn't get to do a run through of what I thought looked like the most interresting panels and abstracts either, but there you go.

Noticed one Rob Wallace was due to present a paper on the similarities between jazz and punk, pointing out how among other things both jazz and punk have been admired for their "political and revolutionary potential", which is something I've thought about a lot myself (Mr. Wallace has played both jazz and punk himself, it seems).

That there are commonalities between punk and jazz has been suggested previously by Robert Christgau and Matthew Shipp, as well as yours truly. Of course, this notion may depend on how you look at it. I remember an article a few years back (no link yet, try Google) by someone trying to do a comparison between heavy metal and jazz, pointing to how some fans of both genres often seemed to pay particular attention to virtuosic playing. On the other hand, many of the jazz artists I admire the most, while being excellent musicians, did not necessarily place viruosity in the front seat: e.g. Ornette Coleman (melody), Charles Mingus (drive, power, attitude), and Thelonious Monk (angularity, "off"-notes, gaps and pauses), all three of whom are very punk to my mind. Just saying.

Btw, if anybody caught the paper on Ornette Coleman and black masculinity by Pete Williams, drop me a line

More EMP

By Ned Raggett here, here, and here.

Bad research. EMP was covered by KEXP.

Seems I hadn't done enough research before slagging off KEXP for not covering this year's EMP Conference. My Bad, and thanks to Jim (whoever you are) for telling me about KEXP's own blog. Head on over.

• Day one
• Day two
  
• Day three
• Day four + recap
  

The Dean delivers

My call for coverage of the EMP conference has been answered, and by none other than the Dean. (I initially misread his first post, 'though quickly recovered to see that he was in fact hailing the contributions of his fellow journo colleagues over those of the academics).

EMP: Is there anybody out there?

I may have missed something, but I wonder if anyone is blogging or broadcasting from this year's EMP Conference. I mean, KEXP are part sponsors. Why aren't they setting up mics? Several very interesting abstracts this year, though. I may give a run through a few of the ones I find most interesting tomorrow, even if the thing started today.

Persian Gulf's Changing the Weather is available!

On the off chance that this is old news to you, I just discovered that Persian Gulf's post-punk (a term that doesn't do them justice) gem Changing the Weather IS AVAILABLE ON CD from CafePress.com for the fairly reasonable price of $8.99. Christgau wrote in 1984 that, bar blah blah, he couldn't "think of an American band whose account of the world is more unflinchingly on". I say the EP is truly great. What are you waiting for?

Mux Fun

Fad of the moment is Muxtape, the online space age mp3-era version of the mixtape. Although similar things exist other places, Muxtape has a simple yet apealing look, and uploading songs couldn't be more simple. You can find my muxtape in the sidebar to the right, if your interrested. Not many new songs, but a whole lotta fun.

PS: Hope to have more regular updates here in the near future, maybe two days a week (or more if I can manage). Hopefully the upcoming EMP Pop Conference will mean there's no shortage of things to write about.

Memory Loss + EMP

My hard disc got crocked just before Easter, hence the lack of updates since early March. It's not like it's the first time, but annoying none the less. Hundreds of music files lost, and 'though most are preserved on an iPod, transferring them from that unit has been proved difficult in the past. In the meantime, have a look at the abstracts for the 2008 EMP Pop Conference (I'm still up for a pan-Atlantic ticket and entry pass if anyone wants to sponsor me).

Ornette Coleman Jazz Conversation

I was just alertred, via Avant Music News, to this recorded interview/conversation with Ornette Coleman (on PDX JAzz). I haven't heard most of it yet - it's longish - so consider this a heads-up and not a comment. He sounds like his usual elusive self so far, though. Enjoy.

Attribution

Brian Morton in the latest Point of Departure on the question of attribution and its role in the listening to music:

"What matters (...) is whether attribution and re-attribution help you listen to music – or appreciate any other art - in a potentially creative new way. In an ideal world, of course, we’d approach all music unlabelled, unattributed, unburdened with critical reputation, as we presumably once did in a more organic and less differentiated society.

(...) Part of our job, of course, as music “critics” is precisely to offer those textual references and contextual information. It makes some difference to how you hear a record if you know the artist’s previous form, and it significantly deepens appreciation at one level. On the other hand, if any work of art is to be considered entire and autotelic, then such knowledge is by definition irrelevant and probably misleading. Jazz, because it is an art form that treads so many philosophical dividing lines – not least that between the personal and impersonal, “works” and work, now and that oppressive thing, history– seems uniquely susceptible to questions of this sort."

As one with interest in the history of music, sure, I agree. As far as its importance in the listening process, while knowledge of who is playing - or even, who has written the song/tune/work in question - without doubt will play a role either on a conscious or subconscious level, in my experience it has played too big a role for some, especially for lesser critics. There have been dubious cases, in my opinion, where artists have been bumped up a grade or two seemingly on the basis of their names or the names of the contributors alone. A recent Solomon Burke record could serve as an example. Where it to my ears, and at least one other guy, sounded dull and uninspired, it was much heralded here, there and everywhere much due to its - undoubtedly impressive -list of contributing songwriters. Little attention was payed to the fact that almost all of the songs where far from the best work of either one of the songwriters in question. Some perspective is needed, though I have no doubt the best critics don't let the question of attribution get in the way of the listening itself.

Portland Jazz Festival

From The Seattle Times: Avant-garde pays off at Portland Jazz Festival. Ornette Coelman and Cecil Taylor headlined. Conclusion:

"With so much talk today about jazz dying out, moving to Europe, becoming stale or unfashionable, Portland's resurrection of the avant-garde was a smart move, galvanizing a large, often young audience."

Tord Gustavsen gets no rave, tho'. I'm not surprised.