This Berlin performance is Miles Davis jazz-fusion at its best. R40f, the video’s uploader, has an impressive collection of live performances (Sonic Youth, Sebadoh, etc.) and film (Dali) available in addition to this Davis performance. JazzVideoGuy is a better source for jazz. His ongoing collection of jazz biopic and live videos is easily the best source for free, high quality, rare jazz videos I’ve ever come across. From Sonny Rollins or Sarah Vaugh (Perdido live) to Thelonius Monk (Thelonious Monk at Town Hall) and a bundle of other artists I haven’t even heard of, JVG’s collection is a goldmine.
Monthly Archive for September, 2008
Some prominent DIY Noise musicians, including Deathbomb Arc’s Brian Miller and Lightning Bolt/Black Pus’s Brian Chippendale, have recenty launched a website advocating for Barack Obama. Young people, the only sort that can tolerate/enjoy noise music, have historically historically had little impact in American politics. In Iowa, young first-time caucus goers were largely responsible for Senator Obama’s almost 10-point victory over Clinton and Edwards. With the GOP energized (inexplicably) by McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin, its wonderful to see young people, always overwhelming favorable to Democratic candidates, stepping up to close to gap. Check out Noise for Obama.
Political non-participation in my social sphere often stems from not wanting to ‘play the game.’ But I’m pretty sure that if you are standing in a city, driving a car down a public road, emailing whoever for whatever, or eating food not grown within walking distance (and even then) you Are playing the game. Earth (and beyond) is the board, and it needs your help to stay a cool place to play. Your town, the country, the entire planet is interconnected now more than ever. We share resources across the globe and we need to participate in our little corner to hold the whole puzzle together. It would probably take me about half a day to walk to Boston or half a day to fly to China. One big neighborhood. I vote in all my local and national elections, and though it won’t solve my every problem, it might effect something. It might mean more money for science, or a more flexible, inspired educational system. It might mean marriage rights for all or government incentives for new energy research. Sure it’s a “maybe”, but it’s an easy one to reach for. Picture a huge heavy ball with hundreds of people trying to push it, add your little bit of weight and at that moment it may give, the ball is rolling. Four years ago Lightning Bolt was in on tour in Europe right before the election watching the debates when we could, I specifically remember watching Edwards debate Cheney. Cheney, his pals probably seizing contracts to rebuild Iraq already. What a scheme they had, blow a country up and get everyone to pay you to put it back together. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if Bush had an adviser with a bodybag company. These people are my representatives? Touring in Europe and apologizing to everyone for being from the USA. My country, a country that invades sovereign nations. A country that from the rest of the world’s perspective is a thuggish bully with the capacity to nuke the planet to atoms.
My eyes welled up with tears listening to Obama speak at the DNC, finally a person who I can be proud of, a figurehead who respects intelligence and speaks with intelligence. Politicians constantly promise this that and the other thing so I listen between the lines, trying to judge if this person has the ability to reason, learn, listen and empathize and has a humanitarian perspective. But of course while a president needs first and foremost to be able to filter information they don’t work in a void, they have a wealth of experience around them. Hillary will be there with all her fire and knowledge; McCain (for better or worse) will be there with his military experience. Biden will be there with his grip on foreign policy, Kucinich will be there with his vision of peace, but Obama will tie it together and make the mature decisions to put us on the path towards reason and renewal.
And on top of that I love voting. Providence always moves my spot around. Me being in a not so wealthy area, they are probably trying to shake us off the trail. So I’ll wander into whatever school gym or apartment complex lobby I’m assigned too and say “chippendale” and the volunteers will all giggle and I’ll make a joke about my rich stripper uncle or something like that. Then I’ll vote, we will all smile and I’ll get my “I voted” sticker and walk out happy that I shared a moment with a few new people from some other walk of life. All of us participating in this grand democratic experiment. — - Brian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt, Black Pus) 8/30/2008
image: Houston St. Obama graffiti.
(h/t AnimalPsi)
Phoning It In is BSR/88.1FM’s (Providence, RI) quaint live performance call-in radio program — broadcasting for nearly three and a half years. The programs’s 345 shows have featured an exhausting lineup of artists, from resptected genre luminaries like John Darnielle – The Mountain Goat’s affinity for lo-fidelity music (ala Nine Black Poppies or the The Coroner’s Gambit) is the allegedly the impetus for the program’s very existence — to microrelease cd and cassette experimental artists like (VxPxC) and Steven R. Smith.
“lo-fi is the right fi: dj talksonthephone calls up all your favorite musicians for live over-the-phone performances and awkward conversation.”
Phoning It In is a radio program whose flagship show is broadcast on 88.1fm BSR in Providence, RI (where it’s hosted by Gabe) and whose satellite show is broadcast on 88.1fm WMBR in Cambridge, MA (where it’s hosted by Nadav). You can listen to every single past show from both stations in the Archives. — about it
More interesting than the actual music performed, in many cases, are the awkward exchanges between host and guest. For obvious reasons, the artist is in a difficult situation, juggling the phone for performances and scrambling after a set into playful banter. Phone conversations between strangers are often awkward to begin with, but the circumstances magnify that effect. It’s this unexpected element that really captures the spirit of the lo-fidelity aesthetic, better than simple phone crackle or chopped sound-levels ever could. Diane Cluck (myspace), the show’s latest guest, is the best example of that unexpected, disarming nature of the concept.
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Cluck’s performance is also notable for the new, developing material she shared. Since her releases on Important Records (Oh Vanille/Ova Nil and Macy’s Day Bird / Black With Green Leaves), and 2006’s Monarcana, we’ve heard nothing new from Cluck. I’ve only had a chance to listen to a few other shows, but have been throughly impressed thusfar.
Considering the show’s longevity, I expect plenty of my peers have been enjoying this show for some time. Still, there may be people out there who don’t know about this show yet, and would could managed to get excited about Diane Cluck or Avarus exclusives.
recommendations – Diane Cluck, Micah Blue Smaldone, (VxPxC), Ilya Monosov, Turner Cody, Mudboy & Yomul Yuk, Caethua, Larkin Grimm, Natural Snow Buildings, Dialing In, Matt Valentine & Erika Elder, Marissa Nadler, Tara Jane ONeil, Excepter, Jana Hunter, Daniel Higgs (Lungfish), Avarus, Elephant Micah, Jacob Smigel, Fursaxa, Davenport, Mike Tamburo, Castanets, Steven R. Smith (Hala Strana), Daniel Johnston, Thanksgiving (Adrian Orange), Mount Eerie, The Mountain Goats
Following the good example of his bandmate Daniel Higgs, Lungfish guitarist Asa Osbourne recently released his first solo album with the psych stalwarts at Holy Mountain. Departing from the long, epic prog-scale psych behemoths so common in Holy Mountain’s catalog (namely, Wooden Shjips, La Otracina, The Shining Path, etc.), Zomes‘ sixteen tracks are each deletable snack-sized Fig Newtons of grainy krautrock, together sounding like a collection of lo-fidelity psychedelic sonnets. At forty minutes, the album is brief, and its short, digestible tracks leave the album feeling even shorter. With one or two exceptions, each track builds upon a single delectable electric guitar, drum or effects loop left on repeat. Zomes‘ looping, repetitive quality gives the album the endearing feel of a handcrafted, late-night attic composition.
‘Membranous Plane’ best exemplifies Osbourne’s reliance on simple looping melodies. The track’s rubbery electric guitar melody pairs with a handful of lonely snare cracks, cycling together over and over again. Slight changes in inflection liven up the loop, but these changes are nearly imperceptible. At long last, as the body’s neurons begin to short-circuit in response to incessant repetition, an abrupt static interruption upsets the loop, and evolves into a brief decayed reprisal of the familiar arrangement.
‘Membranous Plane‘
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While imparting some urgency and a film-cut quality, Zomes‘ repetition does leave the album without any recognizable dramatic arc; the album’s sixteen tracks sound isolated from each other, each its own independent patchwork of colorful, snackpack loops. Without cohesion, or long, focal tracks to establish theme, the album could pass for a compilation of film compositions. Oddly enough, this kraut/psych hodgepodge not only works, it astounds. The album’s layered attention-deficit disorder — each track isolated from the others, each track itself spun from tight internal loops –is it’s most endearing feature. These soundtrack cuts evoke scenes ranging from the sideburns and tire smoke of Steve McQueen’s Bullitt (‘Crowning Orbs’) to the slow-motion contemplation of Jean Painleve’s underwater exploration films (‘Clear Shapes’, ‘Petroglyphs’) and the barren, post-apocalyptic tarmac of Mel Gibson’s Mad Max (‘Black Magic Band’).
‘Crowning Orbs‘
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‘Petroglyphs‘
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In the end, Osbourne’s Zomes amounts to a sort of cross between a Radiophonic Workshop collection and krautrock in the vein of Amon Duul II or Can. The unique blend of the familiar Holy Mountain psych/kraut fare with the soundtrack aesthetic amounts to essential listening, an album begging for repeat listens.
Nearly finished with my breathtaking review of Lungfish guitarist Asa Osbourne’s solo album, but in the meantime, some more youtube filler is in order.
Included above is Lungfish vocalist Daniel Higgs performing at heliogàbal, a venue outside of Barcelona. I saw Higgs myself last spring at the Knitting Factory. The performance was nearly identical to the video above, except he was performing with a mouthharp and what looked like a dulcimer in place of his banjo.
Klaus Nomi performs “Cold Song” from his 1981 self-titled debut album, a selection originally composed by Henry Purcell for his 1691 baroque opera King Arthur. Manhattan’s East Village experimental music community provided a refuge for Nomi’s (Klaus Sperber) bizarre, operatic pop-punk. It was in the East Village that Klaus Nomi’s music caught the attention of David Bowie, who made possible the production and release of Nomi’s two studio albums.
This stunning December 1982 live rendition of Purcell’s “Cold Song,” performed alongside a full symphony orchestra in Munich, was to be one of Nomi’s last live appearances. Shortly after returning to New York City in 1983, Nomi died of an illness complicated by AIDS.
What power art thou
Who from below
Hast made me rise
Unwillingly and slow
From beds of everlasting snow.
See’st thou not how stiff
And wondrous old
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold.
I can scarcely move
Or draw my breath
Let me, let me
Freeze again
Let me, let me
Freeze again to death.
(h/t Klaus to the Edge)
further reading:
Klaus Nomi by RUPERT SMITH (from ATTITUDE, vol 1 Number 3, July 1994, London, England) — Like a shooting star, he exploded into the world then fell from the heavens after a glittering, all-too-brief career. Now largely forgotten, Nomi remains rock music’s queerest exponent, who outshone the many acts following in his wake.
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