tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89019892024-03-07T18:25:28.916-05:00chemistry classyou must give props to whom props is due.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger304125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-91965063268794268682007-07-03T20:55:00.000-04:002007-07-03T21:20:19.456-04:00Some Favorite FilmsAnother occasional list. Recently seen enthusiasms. <br /><br /><strong>-THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN </strong>(Karel Zeman, 1961)<br />Not the Terry Gilliam version, but the far superior Czech marvel that inspired it. A fantastical mix of cut-out animation, live action, and deliberately unreal backgrounds. Whimsy at its finest.<br /><br /><strong>-HAPPINESS </strong>(Agnes Varda, 1965) <br />Candy-colored French pastorale, complete with Bach reveries, and true romance. Only there's one lover too many in this mix. And an unaccountably creepy undertone that only expands in your mind once the film is over. Nearly perfect. <br /><br /><strong>-OUTER SPACE</strong> (Peter Tcherkassy, 2000)<br />Reedits a cheesy 80s horror film starring Barbara Hershey into 8 minutes of pure abstract visceral terror. Like Eraserhead, but with claws and fangs. Terrifying and exhilerating. <br /><br /><strong>-ACTRESS</strong> (Stanley Kwan, 1992) <br />Normally hate bio pix, but this virtually reinvents the genre giving you both the story of a tragic Hong Kong silent film star from the 20s as well as a faux documentary about the making of the movie itself, which actually enrichs and deepens the original drama. <br /><br /><strong>-Z</strong> (Costa Gravas, 1969)<br />For years I've mistakenly assumed this was just some middlebrow thriller. Stupid me. It's a top-rate political film about the overthrow of the Greek government filled with scenes of gripping tension, terrific performances, and an impassioned tone that comes off as a genuiue cri de coeur. <br /><br /><strong>-PROVIDENCE </strong>(Alain Resnais, 1976)<br />How is this movie not better known?! Featuring an incredibly witty script and stellar English cast led by a career turn from John Gielgud. It's clearly a major influence on Charlie Kaufman, only this moves between various levels of reality and skips around in time with much greater sophistication and ease -- plus it delivers a whalloping emotional payoff. Hard to imagine the person who wouldn't love this. Not someone you'd want to meet for drinks. <br /><br /><strong>-TO SLEEP WITH ANGER</strong> (Charles Burnett, 1991)<br />Ancored by a sly performance from Danny Glover, this movie creeps up on you. At first it seems like a typical family melodrama until people start hypnotizing chickens and invoking hoodoo enchantments. The elderly folks here are the wild ones, bringing the old ways into a middle class suburban Los Angeles neighborhood with deeply unpredictable results. Masterful.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-29946725494775626052007-02-05T21:46:00.000-05:002007-02-05T22:38:52.483-05:00Open up and read.Recently finished up a comprehensive and solidly done new Iggy bio, <em><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780767923194&itm=1">Open Up and Bleed</a>, </em>by British journalist Paul Trynka. I haven't read Iggy's autobio, so I'm not sure how much of the same ground is covered, but Trynka does a yeoman's job of capturing all aspects of Iggy's career -- his home life, musical achievements, extra-musical relationships -- if not setting any stylistic milestones. The central conceit is a Jekyll & Hyde-like narrative that pits Iggy vs. Jim in a battle for the singer's soul. Trynka is quite solid and believeable on the music itself, praising what's great while also calling out the dogs in Iggy's oeuvre. He also seems to have spoken to anyone who ever came within ten feet of Iggy's dick, which amounts to a lot of people.<br /><br />Iggyophiles may already be aware of this odd encounter, but I wouldn't have believed Trynka fully until I finally watched it myself. Here is Iggy performing on the Dinah Shore Show, in support of <em>The Idiot, </em>I believe:<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AtXYOc8CdcY"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AtXYOc8CdcY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />The band is Iggy, Bowie, and Soupy Sales' kids. Elsewhere on youtube you can find more Iggy from this appearance, speaking with Dinah on the couch. A few years later, Iggy appeared on Tom Snyder's show, "Tomorrow." You can hear the audio from this interview at <a href="http://postpunkjunk.com/?p=85">Post-Punk Junk</a>. And for an articulate reivew of the upcoming Stooges album, <a href="http://cookham.blogspot.com/2007_01_14_cookham_archive.html#116885211345192181">Marcello has it</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1169611311246754132007-01-23T22:48:00.000-05:002007-01-23T23:01:51.263-05:00Enthusiasms (#3 in a continuing series)<strong>Tom Wolfe</strong> : THE ELECTRIC KOOL AID ACID TEST : words<br />those novels are the dreck, but his early nonfiction is jaw-droppingly amazing, never more so than in this linguistic tour-de-fucking-force. have some interest in kesey, the pranksters, and the like, but it's really the prose that gets me going here, the amazing way he limns various minds and flavors the words with their moods and impressions (not just druggy either, no way). and while i thought he woulda been more sneering, it's a pretty fair and sympathetic account of a tribe's brave and foolhardy journey into that place where there are no words - and back again.<br /><br /><strong>The Fire Engines :</strong> CODEX TEENAGE PREMONITION : sounds<br />glasgow punk that barely recorded anything on wax, just friends taping their rehearsals and gigs and mr. peel once coaxing them into his studio. velvet underground fans with itchy fingers and crazy riddims, going spastic in three directions at once but still getting that ole jangle-drone. going. a neat trick. far more loose than their compatriots in orange juice or joseph k. fun stuff, don't even mind the fidelity.<br /><br /><strong>Toshio Matsumoto :</strong> FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES : pictures that move<br />the cream of the very creamy japanese new wave film movement of the 60s-70s. the new wave where there were no truffauts but fifteen godards. yow. this film was one of the main influences on 'a clockwork orange.' an outrageous-but-controlled pastiche of styles - including documentary, experimental, fashion-shoot images, and more. it busted taboos with its look at gay life, telling a fractured oedipus story of fighting geisha 'girls' against a backdrop of youth revolt, rock freak-outs, u.s. treaty protests, and dada pageants.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1168580120978347772007-01-12T00:11:00.000-05:002007-01-12T00:46:59.123-05:00Songs of the year.<strong>"<a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Oakley-Hall_Living-in-Sin-in-the-USA.mp3">Living in Sin in the USA</a>" - <a href="http://www.oakleyhall.net/site/">Oakley Hall</a>. </strong>It starts with the melancholy in Rachel Cox's voice, and gets better from there. Oakley Hall was one of my favorite discoveries of 06, from an <a href="http://www.sashafrerejones.com/">SFJ</a> tip. His offhand reference, and the ready availability of the album at <a href="http://www.emusic.com">eMusic</a>, allowed me to get to the songs without any further mediation. It's a rare joy to be able to come to music with no real expectations or sound associations, and rarer still to find the music totally winning. This melody just kills me, and when Cox and Patrick Sullivan harmonize, it's that Gram/Emmylou wet dream all over again. It's Richard and Linda after a few strokes with the whetstone. It's John and Exene after a particularly grim whiskey bender. But with uplift; aren't we all living in sin in the USA? Is there any other way? It can be ugly, I guess. Here it is beautiful, and sad. The band name is borrowed from <a href="http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000013845,00.html">an author</a>, who is himself one of several Oakley Halls. <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6403005.html?pubdate=1%2F1%2F2007&display=current">He doesn't seem to mind the association</a>.... [Buy <em>Gypsum Strings </em>at <a href="http://www.emusic.com/album/10914/10914756.html">eMusic</a>, <a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7103225&BAB=M">CD Universe</a>.]<br /><br /><strong>"<a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/JB_Soul-Pride.mp3">Soul Pride</a>" - The James Brown Orchestra. </strong>When my son was an infant, he cried bloody murder for months. In my saner moments I could try to reassign the sound, imagine it some kind of Aylerite wail. But it was mostly an insane time, so the cry sounded like itself, and it hurt all of us. Sleep was a blessed reprieve, for him and us, But sleep did not come easily. One method that seemed to work was to dance him into oblivion, particularly for daytime naps. I tried, with him slung over my shoulder, everything: Fela, Sly, Lee Morgan. Sometimes these worked, sometimes they didn't. But this track never failed us. Thinking back, I'd have to say that there was a little violence in the dancing; I think there's a little violence in the music, too. A sublime rhythmic violence. And even though there may be something a little obtuse about remembering JB with a track on which he does not appear (co-writing credit, though), Brown's innovations are all rhythmic to me. His singing, exhortations, movement, drive, music--all in service to rhythm. And that's what I hear here. Jesu, it's glorious. Oblivion, here I come. [Buy <em>Say It Live and Loud</em> at <a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1056176&BAB=M">CD Universe</a>; "Soul Pride" is also on the seemingly deleted Polydor instrumentals collection, naturally called <em>Soul Pride</em>--highly recommended.]<br /><br />Honorable Mention<br /><strong>"<a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/B+S_The-Blues-Are-Still-Blue.mp3">The Blues Are Still Blue</a>" - <a href="http://www.belleandsebastian.com/home.php">Belle and Sebastian</a>.</strong> Because Marc Bolan's estate could probably use the royalties. And because the fact that this kind of thing has been done well before doesn't mean we don't feel the same excitement and happy little vibrations when it's done well again. There is always room--always--for the good choogle. And keep chooglin. [Buy <em>The Life Pursuit</em> at <a href="http://www.emusic.com/album/10896/10896363.html">eMusic</a>, <a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7016922&BAB=M">CD Universe</a>.]<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Apologies to Perpetua for the format swipe.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1167495489974478952006-12-30T11:13:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:37:41.903-05:00When Jop Goes PazzList freak action. We recently posted the <a href="http://destination-out.com">Top 10 Most Popular Downloads over at Destination: Out</a>. But for those curious about our (mostly) non-jazz tastes, here's our take on the year in pop music for 2006.<br /><br /><strong>FAVORITE ALBUMS:</strong><br /><br />1. <strong>JUNIOR BOYS</strong> <em>So This Is Goodbye</em> (Domino)<br />1980s New Wave distilled down to its sublime essence and injected with impossible yearning.<br /><br />2. <strong>ART BRUT</strong> <em>Bang Bang Rock & Roll</em> (Downtown)<br />Released last year in the UK, it was still the most fun rock record of the year in this country.<br /><br />3. <strong>THE LIARS</strong> <em>Drum's Not Dead</em> (Mute)<br />Early PiL as seance, rising the dead, making the zombies twitch and moan in rhythm.<br /><br />4. <strong>GHOSTFACE KILLAH</strong> <em>Fishscale</em> (Def Jam)<br />Earns his sample of the <em>Rocky</em> theme.<br /><br />5. <strong>ORNETTE COLEMAN</strong> <em>Sound Grammar</em> (Sound Grammar)<br />A late career blooming that encapsulates the maestro's interests in classical, world, funk, and right, jazz.<br /><br />6. <strong>DESTROYER</strong> <em>Destroyer's Rubies</em> (Merge)<br />"Why can't you see, a life in art and a life of mimicry - it's the same thing?!"<br /><br />7. <strong>OOIOO </strong><em>Taiga</em> (Thrill Jockey)<br />Joyful chants, crazy rhythms, dadaist pop, folk-jazz hybrids - enough to make you forget about the Boredoms (for a while).<br /><br />8. <strong>BURIAL</strong> <em>Burial</em> (Hyperdub)<br />Mapping the abandoned city block by desolate block, using only a rumbling echo and a high hat.<br /><br />9. <strong>MOUNTAIN GOATS</strong> <em>Get Lonely</em> (XL)<br />Sometimes the tunes feel too simple, but the aching sense of despair eventually seeps into your marrow and starts to almost feel comforting.<br /><br />10. <strong>JOANNA NEWSOM</strong> <em>Ys </em>(Drag City)<br />Still digesting.<br /><br />11. <strong>BEACH HOUSE</strong> <em>Beach House</em> (Carpark)<br />Sweet and mournful drone songs that avoiud self-pity and drift into timeless melancholy.<br /><br />12. <strong>SONIC YOUTH</strong> <em>Rather Ripped</em> (Geffen)<br />Trying to make their <em>Parallel Lines</em> and mostly succeeding.<br /><br />13. <strong>THE KNIFE</strong> <em>Silent Shout</em> (Mute)<br />Eurotrash synth-pop that's tougher than leather.<br /><br />14. <strong>BORIS</strong> <em>Pink</em> (Southern Lord)<br />Released on import last year, this Japanese metal trio detonated my stereo this year by fusing the sludgy and the fast, both at once.<br /><br />15. <strong>HOT CHIP</strong> <em>The Warning</em> (Astralwerks)<br />Squelchy combo of Aphex Twin and Paul McCartney, futuristic electro-soul you can hum in the shower.<br /><br />16. <strong>SCRITTI POLITTI</strong> <em>White Bread Black Beer</em> (Nonesuch)<br />That voice, stirring as ever; the music, a surprising mix of elastic grooves, sixties pop hooks, and slowed-down hip hop beats.<br /><br />17. <strong>MATMOS</strong> <em>The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of the Beast (</em>Matador)<br />Brilliant miniature audio portraits of everyone from disco deejay Larry Levan to German philospher Ludwig Wittgenstein to the Germs' Darby Crash - cig burns, hair droppings, and rat cages included.<br /><br />18. <strong>TOUMANI DIABATE'S SYMMETRIC ORCHESTRA</strong> <em>Boulevard de L'Independence</em> (World Circuit)<br />Block-rocking Cubano beats meet sinuous kora grooves, writ large for the dancefloor.<br /><br />19. <strong>ARCTIC MONKEYS</strong> <em>Whatever You Say I Am That's What I'm Not</em> (Domino)<br />After the hype and backlash, what remain are the songs, the swagger, the heedless forward momentum, the tongue-tied desire to chronicle the right now.<br /><br />20. <strong>YO LA TENGO</strong> <em>I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass</em> (Matador)<br />Some soggy parts, but the best tracks hold their own with anything in their catalog.<br /><br />Lastly... <strong>SCOTT WALKER</strong> <em>The Drift</em> (4AD)<br />Either a work of godlike genius or a howlingly pretentious bauble. Scorched earth opera for the 23rd Century. My friend Mike: "Objective terms like good doesn't even seem to apply here..."<br /><br /><strong>Bubbling under:</strong> Bob Dylan; Final Fantasy; Thom Yorke; Cat Power; Dave Burrell; Mission of Burma; Odyssey the Band; Asobi Seksu.<br /><br /><strong>Haven't got yet or still listening:</strong> Clipse; The Roots; Andrew Hill; Wolf Eyes; Bonnie Prince Billy; Kode9 and the Spaceape; Vijay Iyer; The Coup; Grizzly Bear; Abrams/Lewis/Mitchell; Lupe Fiasco; Om.<br /><br /><br /><strong>FAVORITE SONGS:</strong><br /><br />GNARLS BARKLEY "Crazy"<br /><br />PRINCE "Black Sweat"<br /><br />BOB DYLAN "Ain't Talkin"<br /><br />YEAH YEAH YEAHS "Cheated Hearts"<br /><br />RACONTEURS "Steady, As It Goes"<br /><br />GRAHAM COXON "Tell It Like It Is"<br /><br />TV ON THE RADIO "Wolf Like Me"<br /><br />LUPE FIASCO "Kick, Push"<br /><br />THOM YORKE "Black Swan"<br /><br />REGINA SPEKTOR "Fidelity"<br /><br /><br /><strong>FAVORITE REISSUES:</strong><br /><br />1. <strong>JEAN CLAUDE-VANNIER</strong> <em>L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches</em> (Finders Keepers)<br />The arranger of Serge Gainsbourg's <em>Histoire de Melody Nelson</em> steps out with this insane mix of lush orchestrations, funk grooves, jazz textures, rock guitar, and music concrete. Essential weirdness.<br /><br />2. <strong>MOONDOG</strong> <em>The Viking of Sixth Avenue</em> (Honest Jon's)<br />Perfect primer of the music of this homeless, Viking-helmet-wearing composer whose fans include Stravinsky, Charlie Parker, and Tom Waits. His tunes triangulate between them.<br /><br />3. <strong>DELTA 5</strong> <em>Singles</em> (Kill Rock Stars)<br />Hailing from Leeds and friends with the Gang of Four, this male-female combo artfully chart "the distance between us."<br /><br />4. <strong>JOSEF K</strong> <em>Entomology</em> (Domino)<br />Dapper and jagged. Franz Fernidand with the smirk wiped off their faces.<br /><br />5. <strong>KHAN JAMAL</strong> <em>Drumdance to the Motherland</em> (Eremite)<br />Dubbed-out, Afro-vibe free jazz smoldering from a basement in Philly.<br /><br />6. <strong>THE WRENS</strong> <em>Silver</em> and <em>Secaucus</em> (Wind-Up)<br />The frantic, power-pop flipsides of <em>The Meadowlands</em>.<br /><br />7. <strong>BRIAN ENO AND DAVID BYRNE</strong> <em>My Life in the Bush of Ghosts</em><br />Still spooky.<br /><br />8. <strong>OHM+</strong> <em>The Early Gurus of Electronic Music</em><br />Alvin Curran, Alvin Curran, ALVIN CURRAN!<br /><br />9. <strong>CLUSTER</strong> <em>Soweisoso</em><br />Lovely pastoral electronica from the early 1970s.<br /><br />10. <em>Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies from the Canyon</em><br />The orphaned daughters of Joni Mitchell finally find a context - and a moment.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1167255494429735032006-12-27T16:26:00.000-05:002006-12-30T11:13:54.213-05:00List this!Heya. Maybe you've seen so many best-of lists your eyes are bleeding. But please don't let that stop you from checking out these two worthwhile compilations from somewhere left of the dial:<br /><a href="http://wfmu.org/~doug/Best06/best06index.html">Doug Schulkind, FMU Wonderkind</a><br /><em>and</em><br /><a href="http://www.eleventhvolume.com/miscellany/2006/12/17/this-years-records/">Eleventh Volume</a>.<br />Hope these prove illuminating.<br /><br />And: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/arts/music/26brown.html?_r=1&hp&amp;amp;ex=1167109200&en=589b17c8f8498a3f&ei=5094&partner=homepage&excamp=GGGNjamesbrown&oref=slogin">everything we do gonna be less funky from now on</a>....<br /><br /><a href="http://soul-sides.com/">Here</a> is a good place to pay respects, if you can't make it to the Apollo tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1166501071334538562006-12-18T22:55:00.000-05:002006-12-18T23:07:55.353-05:00Taking liberties.Haven't always been one for memes, but <a href="http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2006/12/dtm_musician_qu_8.html">The Bad Plus opened up their musicians' survey</a> to all comers, and it's a hard one to resist....<br /><br />GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF AN ESPECIALLY GOOD OR INTERESTING:<br />1. Movie score. <em>Rosemary's Baby</em><br />2. TV theme. <em>Barney Miller </em>(bass! how low can you go?); <em>Police Woman</em><br />3. Melody. Beach Boys' "I Know There's an Answer"<br />4. Harmonic language. Sleater-Kinney's "Step Aside"<br />5. Rhythmic feel. CCR's "Heard it Through the Grapevine"<br />6. Hip-hop track. PE's "My Uzi Weighs a Ton"; 3rd Bass' "Wordz of Wizdom"<br />7. Classical piece. Bach 2-pt inventions (little shallow here)<br />8. Smash hit. The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony"<br />9. Jazz album. Jackie McLean's <em>Destination Out!</em> (natch)<br />10. Non-American folkloric group. New Pornographers<br />11. Book on music. Geoff Dyer's <em>But Beautiful</em><br /><br />BONUS QUESTIONS:<br />A) Name an surprising album (or albums) you loved when you were developing as a musician: something that really informs your sound but that we would never guess in a million years: <em>Rolling Stone Record Guide</em> - "Old Blue"<br />B) Name a practitioner (or a few) who play your instrument that you think is underrated: <a href="http://www.marathonpacks.com/">Eric Marathonpacks</a>. <a href="http://darkforcesswing.blogspot.com/">Hank Shteamer</a>. <a href="http://buked.blogspot.com/">Mike McGonigal</a> (where you been?)<br />C) Name a rock or pop album that you wish had been a smash commercial hit (but wasn’t, not really): Mekons' <em>Rock n Roll</em><br />D) Name a favorite drummer, and an album to hear why you love that drummer: Philip Wilson, <em>Dogon A.D.</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1163480716711162892006-11-13T23:28:00.000-05:002006-11-14T00:06:07.730-05:00Arrivals, departures.Wanted to note, with sadness, the passing of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/arts/10willis.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Ellen Willis</a>, cultural critic par excellence. Her VU essay in the Greil Marcus-edited <em>Stranded</em> --- amid celebrations of <em>Desperado</em> and Linda Rondstadt, and well in advance of the '80s reissues that made it a whole lot easier to get with this band --- is a wonderful thing to behold. <a href="http://www.sashafrerejones.com/2006/11/rip_ellen_willis.html">SFJ</a> also reports on his brief interactions with Willis.<br /><br />Also, while we're cranking up the Victrola, we can also recommend an extraordinarily rich Sun Ra post over at <a href="http://djdurutti.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-day-sun-ra-for-deval.html">Durutti</a>, in which we learned that the incoming governor of Massachusetts is none other than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Patrick">Pat Patrick</a>'s son. Holy cow, we are behind in our reading....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1158638857398366182006-09-18T23:15:00.000-04:002006-09-20T00:17:52.303-04:00Attention beauty parlor dirtbags.Finally, the YouTube moment I've been waiting for:<br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bJnOT6wXMuE"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bJnOT6wXMuE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />and<br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9GNb6bGr9Ro"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9GNb6bGr9Ro" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br />...seemingly posted by the creator. As I recall, these MTV shorts featured the vocal talents of Mr. Andy Dick, among others.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1155140291756643802006-08-09T12:18:00.000-04:002006-08-09T12:18:12.326-04:00I love a Trey Azargoth solo.Mountain Goats at the <em>Voice</em>: "<a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statusainthood/archives/2006/08/status_aint_hoo_14.php">If you bring in a guy to rap over your indie-rock song, what is that? That's an invitation for Pitchfork to make fun of you</a>." Really great conversation; Darnielle, to steal his description of Morbid Angel, is fucking awesome.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1152307837954577222006-07-07T17:12:00.000-04:002006-07-07T17:30:38.053-04:00Summer Reading ListSummer is flying by. Here are some titles I hope to read before the long days turn into early evenings.<br /><br />-<strong>HOPSCOTCH</strong> by Julio Cortazar: The great put-it-together-in-any-order-you-want novel. Was loving it and thinking some sections (Berthe Trepat! The all-night jazz listening session!) were among the best I'd read anywhere ever. Then I got snagged in midair on a clothesline stretched between apartments in small town Argentina. Time to finish up.<br />-<strong>RIMBAUD</strong> by Graham Robb: biography of the 19th century punk poet, derranger of the senses, seasonal tourist in warm climes, and later African drop-out.<br />-<strong>UBIK</strong> by Phillip K. Dick: Summer and sand somehow mean sci-fi to me. This seems like a good place to dip my toe in the salty sea of Mr. Phillip. Paranoia-a-go-go.<br />-<strong>VIRTUAL LIGHT</strong> by William Gibson: Because I loved <em>Neuromancer</em>. And <em>Pattern Recognition</em>. And <em>Idoru</em>. And <em>Count Zero</em>.<br />-<strong>THE SONNETS</strong> by Ted Berrigan: 14 lines at a time is about my attention span these days.<br />-<strong>SKIPPER BEE BY</strong> by Ron Rege Jr.: Pictures without words. A graphic novel that seems to be inventing something close to a new language using pipe-smoking elephants and guitar-loving mice. Read it years ago and it boggled me. Newly reissued and time to revisit.<br />-<strong>CLOSER, FRISK, </strong>and <strong>TRY </strong>by Dennis Cooper: The first three parts of his five book "George Miles Cycle." I strongly suspect he's the best American writer putting pen to paper these days.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1151461976883800982006-06-27T21:57:00.000-04:002006-06-27T22:32:57.310-04:00Not The Drama You've Been CravingWell it wasn't a huge surprise after Carrie talked publicly about how she "played every show like it was her last because as far as she was concerned it was." Not a huge surprise after Corin talked about wanting to be a more full-time mother and back away from rock and roll. Not a huge surprise after Janet talked about the difficulties of trying to talk Corin back into the band, the hardships of making <em>The Woods</em> and the negative energy surrounding the entire process. And didn't Corin warn everyone early on that she wasn't always for the spotlight - singing "You've got me -- for now" in "Dig Me Out"? But none of that cushions the blow of hearing that Sleater-Kinney has officially broken up.<br /><br />I suppose this is the point where I start to wax poetic about the band's great achievements but if they aren't self-evident to you at this point I don't know what to say. I don't feel the need to defend or reinforce the obvious fact that they were the best band of their generation, both in the studio and on stage. Being an all-women group and staying on an indie label got them somewhat rooked in the critical sweepstakes but whatever. Quality will out. There isn't a single album in their catalog that is less than excellent and they produced three bonafide masterpieces, at the very least. And anyone who saw them live knows the passion and energy they put into every single show they played. They were an all-or-nothing band and I never once saw them come up short. <br /><br />My favorite memory was of their show at The Cooler in NYC, their first tour with Janet and before <em>Dig Me Out</em> was released. The place was packed to the gills and so hot that I could barely see for the sweat pouring down my forehead. But the performance was so powerful that the band seemed to knock me out of my body, leaving no room for intruding physical sensations, demanding and grabbing every ounce of attention. As soon as the song stopped I was immediately back in the room, drenched in sweat, jostled by bodies on all sides, uncomfortable as hell, but then the next song began and I was completely transported. Or maybe just completely subsumed by the sound. Rarely have I ever been so blissfully and forcefully enveloped by music.<br /><br />For a long time Sleater-Kinney was the music I reached for when I was having bad days, when I needed inspiration, when I was feeling euphoric. It was music that demanded and delivered a huge emotional commitment - and it was up to whatever high or low you could throw at it. As a band, Sleater-Kinney always seemed to work at a higher and keener emotional pitch than their peers. If I rarely could attain that pitch myself, their music served as a benchmark to strive towards. A reminder of the creative and interpersonal intensity you might still summon in this age of easy irony.<br /><br />A year after The Cooler show, I saw the band headline at Tramps. Afterwards, my friend Jeff told me the quintessential Sleater-Kinney story: "I was standing next to the stage when Carrie announced the next song was 'Little Mouth.' Somebody nearby started to scream with excitement. And then I realized it was me."Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1150431925524772172006-06-16T00:04:00.000-04:002006-06-16T00:25:25.606-04:00No, just staring at the back of my eyelids for a couple of weeks.Also, reading <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5452186">Ashley Kahn's bio of Impulse records</a>. Snoozers. An annual report cut with record reviews. Worth a peruse for those, and perhaps the complete Impulse discog. at the back, but unless you got a serious <a href="http://www.edmicheljazzproducer.com/">Ed Michel</a> jones, you're better off with the records. One wonders if anyone recognized there's a difference between <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0142003522&itm=1">a book about the making of a glorious album</a>, and one about the company that funded it. For label whores only (and takes one to know one).<br />Here's something Impulsive for your trouble:<br />Archie Shepp, "<strong><a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Shepp_Attica-Blues.mp3">Attica Blues</a></strong>"<br /><br />Also, gobbling up Jon Langford's eMusic <a href="http://www.emusic.com/lists/showlist.html?lid=689002&nickname=JonLangford">dozen</a>.<br /><br />Also, working on something that might be of interest to <a href="http://destination-out.com/">you</a> or someone you know. Be nice; it's a work in progress.<br /><br />Ornette on <a href="http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_6956.html?selecteddate=06162006">Friday</a>, Vision on <a href="http://www.visionfestival.org/main.asp">Saturday</a>: hope to see you there. I'll be the middle aged white guy vaguely redolent of office job.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1146777219867971152006-05-05T17:13:00.000-04:002006-05-05T22:54:57.800-04:00Double-bacon geniusburgers.<p>Stopgap measures (not that you asked).<br /><br />There was much high-end deliciousness on the Interwaves this week, much of it of such a high calibre that the impact was equal parts amazement, gratitude, and shrinkage:<br /><br /><a href="http://secretsociety.typepad.com/darcy_james_argues_secret/2006/05/friends_of_dist.html">Darcy James Argue reported in detail</a> his impressions of the American Music Center's award banquet/concert Monday night, which featured performances by Matthew Shipp, Meridian Arts Ensemble, and Pamela Z. Honorees included the <em>New Yorker</em>'s Alex Ross and jazz's Billy Taylor. Darcy's knowledge of what he's talking about, and forthrightness (whether he knows or not), is bracing. (Many links to be found in DJA's post.) Argue has also indirectly hipped me to a locus of what appears to be a community of composers, and also the great <a href="http://be-jazz.blogspot.com/">be.jazz</a>, which is one of those blogs I wasn't ready for back when I first saw it months ago? years ago? DJA has also of late brought his musical acumen to bear on two nifty production-related posts, one citing a long <em>Stylus</em> article on <a href="http://secretsociety.typepad.com/darcy_james_argues_secret/2006/05/kick_my_brains_.html">compression</a>, and one big-upping <a href="http://secretsociety.typepad.com/darcy_james_argues_secret/2006/04/fever_pitch.html">Neko Case's loathing of auto-tune</a>. </p><p>SFJ did a similar blow-by-blow for the <em>Paris Review</em>'s recent big night. Guess who: <em><a href="http://www.sashafrerejones.com/2006/05/this_week_in_gigs.html#more">They should donate some of their good-lookingness to charity because they are fucking up the whole curve just by walking around and being bodacious</a></em>.<br /><br />If you already know of the EMP conference, there will be nothing new here, but Carl Wilson, whose digital garment hem I touch with much respect, has two posts worth your time, <a href="http://www.zoilus.com/documents/in_depth/2006/000751.php">one</a> on some Stephin Merritt contretemps (I look at Merritt's name now and it easily conjures Stepin Fetchit), and <a href="http://www.zoilus.com/documents/in_depth/2006/000754.php">one on everything else</a>. </p><p>Tim OT alerted me to <a href="http://www.timothompson.com/journal/archives/2006/05/pitchfork_kille.html">the power of the Pitchfork</a>, possibly.<br /><br /><strong>Warning</strong>: do not click on this unless you have an open hour, hour-and-a-half in front of you. Really: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made-up_words_in_The_Simpsons">Best. Wikipedia entry. Ever.</a> </p><p>And for the weekend drive: Do not be an <strong><a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Heavenly_Nous-ne-sommes-pas-des-anges.mp3">angel</a></strong>, but do call <strong><a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Murray-Octet_Home.mp3">home</a></strong>.</p><p><strong>Later</strong>: Forgot to mention the jazzhead eggheadedness on display at the always superb <a href="http://www.pointofdeparture.org/">Point of Departure</a>. PoD main man Bill Shoemaker convened a virtual roundtable on the state of jazz criticism in the twenty-first century: do the old standards apply? Or, as he put it: "<a href="http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD5WhatsNew.html"><em>What critical methods best assess work from this [i.e., current] period? Do old school expectations of acuity and adept execution still apply? What recently articulated evaluative criteria do you think will withstand the test of time?</em></a>" Discussing this are <a href="http://www.music.columbia.edu/faculty/lewis.html">George E. Lewis</a>, <a href="http://www.bigredmediainc.com">Fred Ho</a>, <a href="http://www.guelphjazzfestival.com">Ajay Heble</a> (director and founder of the Guelph Jazz Festival), <a href="http://carolinekraabel.free.fr">Caroline Kraabel</a>, and <a href="http://www.smmp.salford.ac.uk/staff/media/gmckay.shtml">George McKay</a>. And don't miss <a href="http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD5WhatsNew2.html">part two</a>. I confess to finding much of it tough-going, if not impenetrable, and got a lot more out of the Dave Douglas jukebox jury-style feature <a href="http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD5TheTurnaround.html">here</a>, a reprint of a <em>Jazz Review</em> article by Shoemaker from 2004. Douglas has some ears on him. Either that, or he was tipped off, <em>Quiz Show</em> style. Either way, some perceptive listening and commenting from the trumpeter and new <a href="http://greenleafmusic.com/">label-head</a>. Douglas blogs, and <a href="http://greenleafmusic.com/#/blog/200604255046.php">here is his recent, empassioned defense</a> of Miles' <em>Cellar Door Sessions</em>. Bye-ya.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1146515293476418532006-05-01T16:28:00.000-04:002006-05-01T16:28:13.910-04:00Embarrassment.Of riches for NYC-based jazz fans this month, as <a href="http://thestonenyc.com/calendar.php">The Stone turns May into a memorial for the late Derek Bailey</a>, who was to have curated this month himself. Lots of solo perfs, which, in the intimate space of The Stone (no distracting passing trays or [unintentionally] mishandled glassware), could be truly beautiful. Some great guitar throughout the month, natch.<br /><br />Suggested listening:<br /><strong>Derek Bailey</strong> - "<a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Bailey_Gone-with-the-Wind.mp3">Gone with the Wind</a>," from <em>Ballads</em> (Tzadik, 2002). <a href="http://www.ndorward.com/music/bailey_ballads.htm">Read about it</a>. <a href="http://www.tzadik.com/index.php?catalog=7607">Buy it</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1146261239857282502006-04-28T17:53:00.000-04:002006-04-28T23:02:57.686-04:00"Fritos."<a href="http://fittedsweats.blogspot.com/2006/04/open-letter-to-richie-sambora.html">Fitted Sweats' latest</a>, but only if you're somewhere where laughing like an insane person is acceptable behavior.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1146250198816879692006-04-28T14:13:00.000-04:002006-04-28T15:45:31.353-04:00Viva La Reputation!It takes a bit to get me to post about live shows these days. It's not just cuz I now live in North Carolina and don't see shit. Hey, I made it to the opening night kick-off of Wilco's recent tour*, checked out Dinosaur Jr. reunion gig last month where they actually played new material**, and two weeks ago was dazzled by the high-octane antics of Th' Legendary Shack Shakers.***<br /><br />But somehow none of them were as impressive as <a href="http://www.reputationmusic.com/reputation.html">The Reputation's </a>gig last Friday at the historic (read: dilapidated) Milestone in Charlotte. They took to the stage after a succession of mildly engaging freak-folk acts and plugged in their guitars and stared down the scant crowd of 20 people. "We're about to be a lot fucking louder than everyone else here tonight," Elizabeth Elmore said. "And we're not trying to be. That's just who we are." And with that they kicked into their first song, a blistering and propulsive rock tune who's corruscating riff was matched only by the scalpel-sharp lyrics. A bunch of alterna hippy-types clutched their ears and headed for the exit before they even hit the chorus.<br /><br />Now most bands would hardly give their all for such a miniscule crowd, especially one that they managed to thin out just by virtue of plugging in their instruments. But the foursome didn't hold anything back and actually leaned into the songs, pushing them further than the album versions. They tore through a set entirely composed of their best galvanizing rock tunes like "Bottle Rock Blues," "Either Coast," and "Alaskan" along with a handful of new songs that sounded immediately terrific. The band was clearly having a good time, the sound was excellent, and even though Elmore claimed her voice was shot it had a nice grain that sounded appropriate. They interacted with the crowd, joked with each other, and then ruthlessly ripped the head off each song in succession. It was the sort of display of good faith and sheer artistry that's all too rare these days.<br /><br />It's shocking to me that The Reputation aren't better known. Despite raves from the likes of Greil Marcus and Robert Christgau, being named "Hot Band" in Rolling Stone, and plenty of good reviews, they seem to fall below the radar of most indie rock fans. That's a shame because Elmore writes some of the smartest and emotionally devastating lyrics going. And the band is tight and ferocious, uncorking stinging riffs alongside subtly inventive arrangements. Beginning with Sarge, Elmore has cut her music from the fairly traditional pop-punk cloth. I suspect some folks give her stuff a cursory listen and decide there's nothing overly special about it. But if you listen closer, the band doles out some crazy rhythms and complex textures while still offering the pleasures of verse-chorus-verse.<br /><br />And then there's the words. Perhaps they're too easy to miss amid the tumult of the music but it's to Elmore's credit that she didn't become some acoustic troubadour when Sarge split. Because she's got the chops to wipe 99.5% of the confessional singer-songwriters off the map. Her work has a clear-eyed emotional honesty that's both bracing and touched with more than a bit of melancholy. She can unleash torrents of images or practically go haiku and switches effortlessly between intimate confession and character acting. I hate to quote lyrics, but the sparse opening of "New Town" captures the stifling and wary feeling of moving to a new place better than most entire songs: "New town/ fit in/ dumb it down/ hold it in/ stare straight ahead and watch your back/ see it through to the end."<br /><br />Sadly, the band is now without a label since it appears Lookout! is in dire financial straits. Here's hoping some savvy indie like Merge will give the band the good home it deserves. Elmore's got a law degree from Northwestern so she's not going to go hungry but it would be nice if she could stay on the road and in the studio and out of the courts. So check out the band's <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thereputation">myspace </a>or pick up one of their <a href="http://search.insound.com/search/searchmain.jsp?select=meta&query=reputation&fromindex=1">albums</a> - both the self-titled joint and <em>To Force A Fate</em> are highly recommended.<br /><br />*Alternating between trad alt-country dirges and freeform noise jams makes for a schizophrenic show but the brand new tunes were exquisite - like <em>Abbey Road</em> floating in space.<br />**Who told them trading vocals like Sleater-Kinney was a good idea?!? But you still can't beat the guitar tone and Lou's amazingly heavy but fluid and <em>hard</em> bass lines.<br />***Swinging from the rafters an actual description, not a figure of speech.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1146246477977554012006-04-28T13:34:00.000-04:002006-04-28T15:23:09.853-04:00Heaven (that's how we knew).High school USA, mid-eighties. Someone much cooler takes pity on you and introduces you to the Velvet Underground. Also Townsend’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehouse_(album)">Lifehouse</a>, but you don’t hold that against him. Somehow you find your way to Talking Heads and New Order. You’re still taping “Greatest American <a href="http://www.pliink.com/mt/marxy/archives/greatest.jpg">Hero</a>” off of the radio, though. (Believe it or not.) Cut to college in New England, late eighties. All you hear is U2 and PE and CSNY. One day you catch a local live show. The unknown opening band, also local, is catchy enough. You buy the EP. You catch them a few more times, sometimes accidentally, sometimes not. You buy the t-shirt. You buy the first full-length. You decide: THIS is the band I will take as my own. It’s a good fit. You are hopelessly unaware of any band backstory, which is <a href="http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=big_dipper">relatively rich</a>. It doesn’t matter. You buy the next album; it has a gatefold. This feels like the beginning of the end. Then the last gasp on a major label; graduation; oblivion.<br /><br />Cut to April 2006. The <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bigdipperband">mySpace page</a>. And the recent <a href="http://overlookedgems.blogspot.com/2005/11/big-dipper-heavens.html">fond remembranc</a>e at a music blog. And: <a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Big-Dipper_He-Is-God.mp3"><strong>He Is God</strong></a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1145302388638736962006-04-24T23:33:00.000-04:002006-04-25T01:03:08.206-04:00Signifying flunky.Inter alia:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/frontpage/001240.html"><em>I come not to bury Evans in praise, but to de-hype him.</em></a><em> </em>At Bagatellen, Tom Djll has penned a heartfelt and rich "nonbeliever's appreciation of Bill Evans," and in particular attempts to de-mythify the 1961 live set at the Village Vanguard that has become the widely accepted ne plus ultra of piano trio performance [see <a href="http://www.billevanswebpages.com/gopnik.html">Adam Gopnick's 2001 <em>New Yorker </em>piece on this release</a>]. Some alternatingly insightful and infuriating comments down below highlight in a nutshell all that is generous and petty about jazz writers and listeners today. Or perhaps it's just blog posters today. Listen to Evans <a href="http://www.billevanswebpages.com/rainshine.ram">here</a>. Read about Djll's own music <a href="http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/001241.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/04/lux_and_ivys_fa.html"><em>One day, when I was browsing Soulseek folders of people with good tastes, I came across a compilation called "Lux and Ivy's Favorites</em></a>." So begins yet another FMU blog post crammed full of pretention-free arcana---obsessiveness never seemed so sensible. Anyway, 174 songs with the Cramps garbage-scented seal of approval for you to discover on your own.<br /><br /><em><a href="http://secretsociety.typepad.com/darcy_james_argues_secret/2006/04/it_makes_me_be_.html">One of my best friends was really into the Ramones, the Talking Heads, the Violent Femmes, etc, but I thought he had terrible taste in music, and I kept going back to my beloved Mancini tape</a></em>. New-to-me blogger and jazz composer/bandleader Darcy James Argue running the changes on influences and anxieties. DJA's group Secret Society recently played the Bowery Poetry Club, and this perf was <a href="http://nightafternight.blogs.com/night_after_night/2006/04/raging_melting_.html">written up</a> by the indefatigable nightafternight blog. DJA generously (and rather quickly) posted mp3s of the outing; check the right-hand column of his blog, though for this most recent concert the year is listed incorrectly as 2005. I will enjoy getting to know this Secret Society, which at first blush claims something from the Gil Evans pile, the Muhal Orchestra pile, the Mingus pile, and the pop pile that contains everything referenced above. It's all about DJA <a href="http://secretsociety.typepad.com/darcy_james_argues_secret/2005/05/bio.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><em>Wiki waki woo-hoo.</em> Some trendspotting, Timo Thompson-style: <a href="http://www.timothompson.com/journal/archives/2006/04/band_wikis.html">indie-wiki</a>. Wikis have sprouted for <a href="http://www.obliterati.net/">Mission of Burma</a> [turn up PC volume before clicking], <a href="http://www.deftone.com/destroyer/index.php?title=Main_Page">Destroyer</a>, and <a href="http://www.weeblackskelf.co.uk/cordsuit/">Silver Jews</a>. The aspiring music blogger can also find community via the <a href="http://musicblogwiki.elwiki.com/index.php/Main_Page">simple magic of wikification</a>. And for good measure: the <a href="http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Wicca">wicca wiki</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1145042870748098232006-04-14T15:26:00.000-04:002006-04-18T13:17:23.066-04:00Coda: 2005.As a coda of sorts to Jay’s inspiring <a href="http://chemistryclass.blogspot.com/2006/03/great-year-for-movies.html">top ten movie recap for ’05</a>, and just in time to accompany the <a href="http://sfj.abstractdynamics.org/archives/007033.html">first flowering</a> of 2006 best-ofs, I’d like to offer my own lightweight remembrance of the year in music. I’m no good with lists—my tastes are artificial enough as it is, and the list-making just seems to exacerbate the tendency—but one new jazz album really stood out for me. So, for whatever it’s worth, here is:<br /><br /><div style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px; FLOAT: left; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10px"><a title="four heartbeats" href="http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum034.html"><img height="240" alt="four heartbeats" src="http://static.flickr.com/1/128525351_6014655122_m.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The Good Professor’s Best New Jazz Album of 2005:<br />1. William Parker Quartet, <strong><em><a href="http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum034.html">Sound Unity</a></em></strong><br /><br />[Statisticians in the house will appreciate that the total pool from which this award stems is somewhere in the vicinity (statisticians love that term) of five.]<br /><br />From the moment it arrived in the mail last summer, unannounced, a goodwill gift from the princely Stephen J. of <a href="http://www.aumfidelity.com/home.htm">Aum-Fi</a>, this record has given me so much pleasure. In a year that featured three outstanding reissues, heralding no less a trinity than <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009Q0EQ0/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/002-3798590-7977652?%5Fencoding=UTF8">Bird</a>, <a href="http://www.bluenote.com/detail.asp?SelectionID=10459">Monk</a>, and <a href="http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/product.aspx?ob=n&src=art&pid=11367">Trane</a>, this six-track disk from Messrs. <a href="http://www.bb10k.com/PARKER.disc.html">Parker</a> (bass), <a href="http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=156">Drake</a> (drums), <a href="http://www.downtownmusic.net/pictures/showpicturerhtml/66240954020/default.htm">Barnes</a> (trumpet), and <a href="http://www.robbrownmusic.com/">Brown</a> (alto) stakes its claim for the here and now, while still paying respect to jazz progenitors.<br /><br />Parker, bless him, writes full-on songs. Sometimes with lyrics (see “<a href="http://www.allaboutjazz.com/reviews/r0502_130.htm">Raining on the Moon</a>”), though (bless him) not here. Most of these tunes start out with a strong melodic statement made by the two horns together; the harmonies generated aren’t very far from the twinned lines of the classic Jazz Passengers of forty years ago. The solos that follow typically build on notions introduced by the theme. I guess this makes the album more “in” than “out,” but one of the side effects of an album this enjoyable is that those kinds of concerns couldn’t matter less.<br /><br />This is a group—these artists have spent <a href="http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum022.html">time</a> together—I mean, the rhythm section has recorded their own <a href="http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum017.html">album of duets</a>—and their simpatico with one another is immediately apparent. Drake and Parker are in the pocket so deep they form their own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_horizon">event horizon</a>. It’s also a recording of a group in front of an audience; all six tunes were recorded at two gigs from a Canadian jaunt in the summer of 2004. The fidelity, and separation, is beautiful, intimate—with only minimal audience sound, but the heightened sense of risk and event that only comes when playing live.<br /><br />Modern jazz can come across as a deeply un-relevant music. Part of Parker’s strength as a leader (of the group, if not the <a href="http://www.visionfestival.org/vfxi.asp">NYC free jazz firmament</a>) is how he combines a groundedness in the present with an awareness of and respect for what came before. The four songs recorded in Vancouver on a July 2 night are folk songs—<em><a href="http://www.espdisk.com/esp1002.html">Spiritual Unity</a></em> begets <em>Sound Unity</em>—as simple in melody as they are deep with resonances. From Parker’s notes: “‘Wood Flute Song’ is written for the late trumpet player Don Cherry…. ‘Hawaii’ is a song written in honor of Frank Lowe”; while ‘Harlem’ and ‘Groove’ express a strong sense of place (Jamaica, in the latter case) with a beauty that speaks, to this listener, of human possibility and every jazz metaphor having to do with the balance between individuality and common cause.<br /><br />The album isn’t without its missteps. The twenty minute title track—a stretched out high-wire act that doesn’t achieve the required tautness—was almost certainly a “you had to be there” moment. And as much as I love Hamid Drake, I’ve never been a fan of the drum solo. But these quibbles aside, were a Venusian to land on my stoop tomorrow insisting on hearing something that best represents all that jazz has to offer in the mid-oughts, I would not hesitate before spinning <a href="http://destination-out.com/media/tracks/Poem-for-June-Jordan.mp3">this</a>.<br /><br />And I'd send him <a href="http://72.43.108.54/Searching/WWW_DMG_Search.cgi?s3.sound%20unity">here</a> to <strong>buy it</strong>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1144944624646346482006-04-13T12:10:00.000-04:002006-04-13T12:10:24.733-04:00TGIGF.Just a reminder that Manchester and the BBC will tomorrow present <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/01/26/260106_manchester_passion_feature.shtml">Ever Fallen in Love? (With Someone You Shouldn't've Fallen in Love With): The Musical</a>.<br /><br />Happy spring holidays, everyone.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1144937204833874922006-04-13T09:16:00.000-04:002006-04-14T15:26:11.036-04:00Anxiety of influence.I've been hanging out with some film fanatics recently and it's interesting how these folks seem to fall into certain camps under the intense sway of a particular critic. Those whose ideas about film spring from the catholic-but-kooky tastes of Jonathan Rosenbaum from the <em>Chicago Reader</em>. Or from the so-wrong-he's-not-even-wrong <em>Dictionary of Film</em> author David Thomson. Or from the brilliant writer and inspired argument-starter Pauline Kael, who Woody Allen astutely described as "having all the attributes of a great critic, except taste." And he wasn't being glib, folks. There's even one person under the sway of the current film critics of <em>The New Yorker</em> - if you can even call them critics. They're more like smug wanna-be comedians who audition their limp one-liners at the expense of the films they're reviewing; their pieces are an endless series of winks.<br /><br />Anyways these people's fidelity to the tastes and ideas of a single critic struck me as, well, <em>weird</em>. I've come to film with no filter and no classes. I don't need no critic to tell me the movies of Harmony Korine are pure genius - and good thing, because I don't know of any critic who will back me up on that. And it doesn't bother me that every critic and their maiden aunt loves 'Vertigo' because that movie is genius too and there's no money in being contrary just for the sake of it. So here I am patting myself on the back for my rugged individualism in movie taste when I suddenly remember. Oh, shit. Maybe there was no critic who shaped my view of movies so completely, but there was one who did that for music. And I was just as much under the sway of his spirit as my friends were under the tutledge of their gurus.<br /><br />Two guesses and first one doesn't count. Right: Lester Bangs.<br /><br />The immortal <em>Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung</em> was foisted on me by an English prof during my impressionable first year of college. I went right to the essay on The Stooges "Funhouse" because my friend Ted had just lent me the album and I couldn't for the life of me figure out <em>what the fuck was going on there</em>. I mean, was this music or just BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAARRRRCCH!!!!! What did it all mean? Lester had some answers and good ones they were, too. Reading him gave voice to some of my pent-up inarticulate musical feelings and showed how obsessing about music didn't have to be a static and undigested thing. You could give some of that love back. Writing about music could be its own artform and creative expression. (Yeah, it hasn't been so much since Lester died and Greil ascended into Harry Smith Heaven, but that's neither here nor there).<br /><br />That summer, after an operation left me with my jaw wired shut for eight weeks, unable to do more than grunt and salivate over solid food that I couldn't eat, I read <em>Psychotic Reactions</em> back-to-back twice. It was the summer of Lester Bangs, renting tons of foreign movies, and milkshakes. It was the summer of searching out every album Lester mentionned as if they were the holy grail: PiL's 'Metal Box,' Charles Mingus 'Black Saint and the Sinner Lady,' Sex Pistols 'Great Rock n Roll Swindle,' Patti Smith's 'Radio Ethiopia,' MC5's 'Kick out the Jams,' The Godz ESP recordings, Coltrane's 'Africa/Brass,' Otis Rush 'Original Cobra Recordings,' Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. And of course Richard Hell and the Voidoid's 'Blank Generation.' They weren't all solid gold, as witnessed by my copy of The Guess Who 'Live at the Paramount' (a rare example of criticism being better art than the art it describes). But fuck it, I'm <em>glad </em>I tracked down that expensive Dutch import of Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music' on CD. Years later, living on 2nd Avenue while some construction crew was jackhammering the street at 2 a.m., that album was the only thing that could drown out the racket so I could get some sleep!<br /><br />And even though it seems like Lester became a bit of curmudgeon before he two-stepped off this mortal coil (see latest posthumous collection, the less impressive <em>Bloodfeasts and Bad Taste</em>), I like to think he was a pure spirit when it came to music. He dug what he dug, regardless of trends or non-trends, and trusted his gut so much that he was willing to revise his previously hard-fought opinions in public and in print. Maybe Lester was a pure soul but I know I can't say the same for myself. Because when I listen to a new album there's still a small part of me, the kid with his jaw still wired shut, wondering how Lester might've heard this particular platter. And I know I'm better for it.Chilly Jay Chillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03284766702868786451noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1144863266037588992006-04-12T13:34:00.000-04:002006-04-12T13:34:33.016-04:00Fully loaded.Happy birthday, <a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/hancock.html"> Herbie Hancock</a>. Long may he mwandishi.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1144354194735515512006-04-07T16:09:00.000-04:002006-04-07T16:59:57.100-04:00Pop-up books.This past week PopMatters has been giving Continuum's <a href="http://33third.blogspot.com/">33.3</a> series <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/books/features/continuum/index.shtml">a thorough going over</a>; I glommed right onto editor <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/books/features/continuum/horning-060405.shtml">Rob Horning's dissenting voice,</a> as he scratches in overly erudite fashion the uncomfortable itch that this series has long provoked in me. (Despite not having read a one; an <a href="http://chemistryclass.blogspot.com/2005/04/music-books-getting-bloggy-with-it.html">earlier crab-out of mine</a> almost led to a freebie, but it never came to pass.)<br /><br />I don’t agree with everything Horning says, and I should add that on some level I really do appreciate the series—it’s hard not to make a mental list of albums worth the treatment, for example, and the serialist in me loves the hardcore design <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/138/4554/320/spines.jpg">repetition</a>—but when I read: “Devoting a monograph to an album … recasts the record as a curated objet d'art worthy of intensive analysis,” I nodded. (Note to Horning: you might rethink citing Derrida, in French, while critiquing the drive toward ivory towery musical writing. I’m just sayin’.) What is happening in this series is different than what happens in the Greil Marcus-edited <em><a href="http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bkrev/stranded-dac.php">Stranded</a></em>, for example, with chapters from different critics devoted to desert-island discs, or the Phil Freeman-edited <a href="http://maroonedbook.blogspot.com/">update of same</a> that’s to come. A matter of scale, I guess, and degree of fetishization. In the case of <em>Stranded</em>, I’m not left wondering about what was left out; in a series pushing thirty volumes, there’s a tendency to ask why one’s faves are not part of this particular museum.<br /><br />But the idiosyncratic selections are not my main beef at all, and I’m trying hard to figure out what it is about this series that grates enough to make me dislike it from a distance. I think the problem I have has something to do with that curatorial impulse, how the albums, simply by virtue of being collected and described between hard covers in a formalized series, are invested with a totemic importance that … what? obscures or alters their true meaning / genius / resonances? Nah. As Carl Wilson noted <a href="http://www.zoilus.com/documents//2006/000727.php">in his blog yesterday</a>, if that happens, “either you’ve got a pretty weak album or a supernally powerful critic.” (A third option is: you’ve got a weak-willed reader who prefers received wisdom and mediated art to first-hand experiences.) Although speaking of totems, the process of turning these albums into books does mirror my own mildly discomfiting experience of turning what started as fan-based record buying into “collecting,” a trend I accept if not embrace.<br /><br />On the curating tip: I think my distaste is at least partly based on my experience <div style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px; FLOAT: left; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10px"><a title="Taking it to Bugs Meany" href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/encyclopedia.html"><img alt="Taking it to Bugs Meany" src=" http://static.flickr.com/53/124840289_a0032169e3_m.jpg" height="240" width="165" /></a></div>in the book trade, as an occasional curator/editor of series. Wherein the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy">Iron law of oligarchy</a> was typically activated, and, whatever the original impulse behind a given series, the point becomes the preservation and continuation of the series uber alles. I have no quibble with the authors, or the editor, and can’t even comment on individual volumes. (Even if the editor did kindly reject a <a href="http://chemistryclass.blogspot.com/2004/11/destination-out.html">book proposal</a> of ours in recent months.) This is a meta-critique, stemming from one reader’s skeptical take on book series in general. And one who’s having trouble living with his inner curator. For what it’s worth, I also have problems with <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/imprints.asp?imprint=Eminent%20Lives">this series</a>, to name another. I have zero problem whatsoever with <a href="http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/encyclopedia.html">this series</a>, however.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901989.post-1144352851106202132006-04-06T15:47:00.000-04:002006-04-06T15:47:31.203-04:00Mystical dreams.Y'all already heard this on NPR over the weekend, probably, but in case you missed it, the <a href="http://www.studio360.org/show033106.html">Rahsaan Roland Kirk portion</a> [kindly scroll down ever so slightly] of Kurt Anderson's recent Studio 360 show on dreams is well worth the eight minutes it'll cost you, especially the bit at the end featuring Kirk's widow responding to a quotation from her late husband, as read by the interviewer, regarding his seeing music via dreams.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0