RIP Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)

Well this fucking sucks. Just as it looked like GSH was finally turning the corner, death snatches him.

The "Godfather Of Rap" experienced something of a career revival in 2010 with the release of his first record in 16 years, the terrific "I'm Still Here". The buzz surrounding Scott-Heron's return to music led to a number of high-profile festival appearances around North America and Europe, and I was lucky enough to witness one of them in early September at the Isle Of Wight's Bestival. I managed to persuade my friend to abandon the tent where The Antlers were playing and accompany me to the main stage. It was clear that much of the young audience weren't at all familiar with Scott-Heron (why would they be?), and were probably only there to ascertain a good view for the bigger names who were following his set, but after a couple of songs, some improvised stand-up comedy and a fair bit of rambling, Gil Scott-Heron and pals had a few thousand brand new fans under his belt as they strolled off stage to rapturous applause. It was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the weekend.

It's unfortunate when any special talent dies prematurely, but given the events of recent years, this is particularly sad.

I'll probably write something more comprehensive later on. This is really just to acknowledge his sudden passing.

So for now, let's just start with "The Bottle"...

...and end with "Me & The Devil"!

Quote About Music #1

"It was an ecstasy; and an ecstasy is a thing that will not go into words; it feels like music, and one cannot tell about music so that another person can get the feeling of it." - Mark Twain

Afro Blue - Mongo Santamaria

I couldn't decide on a version... the first has a fantastic intro by Mongo himself. Wonderful musician. The second has solos with Tito Puente! However could I decide?
For the past couple of months I've been playing and perfecting this song with some friends who I play in a jazz ensemble with. It really is a spectacular piece.
Enjoy.

My picks for the potential proficient performers... for Ottawa Jazz Fest.

My picks for the potential proficient performers... for Ottawa Jazz Fest.

Coeur de pirate. Mainly vocalist orientated, but with enough of an appealing voice and mellow background, it makes this artist a potential hit.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/coeur-de-pirate/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fg1dk-j6P8

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones. A contemporary sounding Jazz band, but with Tango influences. Could be a good see. Manages to have enough beyond-contemporary-jazz flow for me to not fall asleep.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/bela-fleck-the-flecktones-the-original-line-up/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFzZXvivo4c

Elio Villafranca. Some progressive builds up (at least from the samples), and some pleasant sounding Jazz beats. Clearly talented and varianced  production. Mmm that xylophone use.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/elio-villafranca/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOSsYiI0voc

Jaron Freeman Fox and the opposite of everything. A very new, and very obscure band. They're good, from what I've heard. Combining folk, jazz, with middle-eastern influence is a combo for success.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/jaron-freeman-fox-and-the-opposite-of-everything/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt0xd1RwTcU Awesome.

Jayme Stone: Room of Wonders. From what I gather, this group combines classical and folk. Interesting combination. Could flourish.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/jayme-stone-room-of-wonders/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-IKGkDpIBk

Mike Essoudry’s Mash Potato Mashers Parade. Sweet sounds, with a big-band sound with it.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/mike-essoudrys-mash-potato-mashers-parade/
Sample in the link directly above.

Shooglenifty. Celetic folk, with subtle electronic mixes. Stands out as something unique.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/shooglenifty/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmNVaxE7OEg


The PepTides. Cool swing. See for yourself, check out their music video and song in the link directly below.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/the-peptides/
Sample in the link directly above.

Jaga Jazzist. Jazz, electronic. It's not that simple, but it has many glorious influences that makes it what it is.
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/index.php/jaga-jazzist/
Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN90uEDk3bQ

One Song, (Almost) Every Day #2: Ilija Rudman

So a couple of months back I had this album playing during on one of my semi-daily wanders through London. I strolled into Starbucks on the Tottenham Court Road as this track began, and with one earbud still in place, I nonchalantly ordered a Café Latte. Because that's how I roll.

This song now reminds me of Caffeine and milk.

I'll leave it to renowned youtuber nanogod to conclude my thoughts:

"latin freestyle RULES"

nanogod 3 weeks ago

Nujazz: Keep You Kimi-Hird

I really enjoy the layering of this piece, and the textures of those sounds.
I think they add a certain vibe that you can just feel as the song progresses.

Hail To The Prince

I was going to comment on this, but then I recalled that other, better writers had done so before me. Several times. I defer to him:

One thing I've appreciated about Prince, as I've aged, is that he knows how to sing about sex, like a man honestly singing about sex. Much of the misogyny in hip-hop (and I suspect in other art forms too) comes from, forgive my profanity, a deep-seated fear of ass. Men--and especially young men--fear what they will do to be physically involved with a woman with whom they're infatuated. They compensate by turning this fear on its head and projecting. They make women into temptresses, gold-diggers, and villains, and make themselves into conquering heroes. Pussy don't rule me, they'll say--even though pussy ain't thinking about them. Which is the problem, or rather their problem.

But Prince was never afraid of himself, or what he'd do. On the contrary, he embraced it. In a song like "Erotic City" he earns the right to say "We can fuck (funk) until the dawn," by first saying,"Every time I comb my hair\Thoughts of you get in my eyes," or "All of my hang-ups are gone\How I wish you felt the same." He revels in the wanting, in the potential for rejection, he does not fear it.

Since this can't really be said often enough, I just want to "Seconded" Ta-Nehisi's remark. Lyrically, Prince has always struck a balance that managed to overrule the prevailing dominance of "You're my one and only ever" and "Get on the flo' now!" He doesn't really do this by avoiding romance or avoiding sex, he does it by speaking to women in their language. Something lyricists still don't know how to do.

He doesn't cast himself as some Grand Provider who will treat women like a dependent or a queen. He doesn't cast women as mindless repositories for sex. He approaches women as an equal and promises affection instead of worship and socialization instead of romantic posturing. It's a testament to a self-confidence and understanding that's not so much missing in music as it's understudied and underutilized. It's unsurprising that Prince would be one of the undisputed masters of that space.

The Influence Of The Visual Medium

Click Play, listen and watch. Your ears will be surprised by the mix, and hopefully you'll enjoy it.



This song represents a childhood memory for me, remembered both for the upbeat tune itself, but more so for the claymation music video it has. Not only had the video helped me remember the song, but it has improved the reach of the song and its popularity. The video was made in 1986 and prompted a reissue of the song, which in 1957 reached #6 on the UK singles chart, that would prove to be a #1 hit for four weeks, nearly 30 years after its original release.

The song itself is an ecclectic mix of early R & B, with aspects of soul, jazz and more. The vocalisation shows raw power as well as controlled, almost scat-like scales, combining with a contrasting subtly building verse. The music seems to be a transition between early 50's music, and the famous Motown Records styles of music, which incidentally, it is. The writer of the song, Berry Gordy, made enough money from the early success of Reet Petite, that he was able to start the Motown Record label.

One Song, Every Day #1: The Weeknd - House Of Balloons/Glass Table Girls

R&B is going places. Over the last 4 years or so, The-Dream has almost single handedly steered contemporary R&B into new areas, paying mind to both commercially feasible and sonically vigorous principles. Now the likes of How To Dress Well, Autre ne Veut and more recently Frank Ocean of OFWGKTA are following suit, each bringing their own grooves and tics to the table.

This year, Toronto's The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) announced his arrival on the scene with his debut LP, House Of Balloons.

Check it out:

In The Shadow of Detroit

I don't expect you to like every track on this - I don't. I don't expect you to think this is a reflection of my musical preferences/tastes - many of these songs aren't. But this mixtape is an attempted corrective to the pernicious and historical handling of Detroit techno's legacy. It's a legacy that's been simultaneously discarded and debased, and seeing precisely how requires understanding what "Detroit techno" did and does sound like. It's a genre that electronically draws from the influences of funk, soul, and R&B. It's a genre that musically speaks in the language of afro-futurism and atmospheric desolation. In itself, the music is both a class judgment and a conscious critique of the Motown legacy (while, ironically, drawing heavily from it). 

In comprehending and discussing techno, it's instructive to understand how it started and what techno has functionally drawn away from. Detroit is still there and some people are capable enough to apply its atmospheric and stylistic tendencies well (see: earlier Speedy J circa Ginger, Ken Ishii or, to use a recent example, some of Instra:Mental's Resolution 653), but more frequently, musicians have only sought to draw from its instrumental influence while entirely ignoring its stylistic influences and flourishes. As a result, this has limited and stunted the genre under the guise of expanding it. The artistic focus on its least impressive element has weakened the structural and compositional potential of techno while contributing heavily to its inability to evolve in ways that are worth listening to. And you know what?       

I blame Europe. Particularly Berlin and the UK.                                                                               

You can't strip an entire genre down to its "essential elements" without understanding what those "essential elements" are. You can't make a musical testament to techno that's premised on systematically removing the very things techno was based on. The arguable "dominance" of minimalism has created an entire genre that borrows heavily from and owes a lot to Detroit while musically dismissing it - and it's annoying to listen to. Not just because it bores me or because I find it intentionally bland, but because that dismissal compromises the relevance of a genre that could be and should be good. This isn't to say that minimalism is always underwhelming, so much as it's an acknowledgment that it often is and has little desire to be anything else. 

Such a flaw would be easier to correct if it were just a structural and stylistic issue, but the problems are foundational in nature (just as they would be if rap evolved in another country as nothing but beats). Once that foundation moved away from techno's considerably richer origins, it washed away both its versatility and its potential for versatility. To see how true that is, download the following mixtape and tell me whether you'd prefer it if techno's evolution were founded on what you hear there, or what you hear in today's minimalism saturation. Detroit techno gained prominence in an environment where a once great city was starting to decay under the strain of domestic automative collapse. It's a bitter irony that its last great musical scene was similarly co-opted by foreign elements and left to suffer the same fate.  

In The Shadow of Detroit:

01. Cybotron - Cosmic Raindance
02. Derrick May - Daymares, It Is What It Is
03. Mad Mike - Jupiter Jazz
04. Reese - Funky, Funk, Funk
05. Model 500 - No UFO's (Instrumental)
06. Juan Atkins - Game One
07. Suburban Knight - Nocturbulous 
08. Eddie 'Flashin' Fowlkes - 420 High 
09. Reese - Just Another Chance
10. The Detroit Escalator Co. - Point of Entry
11. Carl Craig - Science Fiction
12. X-103 - Temple of Poseidon
13. Dopplereffekt - Rocket Science
14. Silent Phase - Waterdance
15. 69 - Desire
16. Kenny Larkin - Q
17. The Detroit Escalator Co. - Gathering Light

Judgement. Disconnect emotions.

Music "touching your soul", "speaking to you" or "affecting your mood" are not qualitative assessments of anything. Letting your emotions dictate what songs you like and dislike is of little sense.

Comparing and contrasting music requires a conscious and emotionally controlled you. You have to be aware of what you're listening to, and the elements inside that piece. Without being in control of what you're able to hear, your assessment would be flawed and possibly null. You have to be able to recollect previous records, bands and songs you've heard to weigh the originality of the music you're checking out. You have to be able to understand what tools are making the sounds in the song, whether it be guitar or piano. You have to be able to tell what sounds tacky, and what sounds skillful. 

If you solely rely on "this song made me happy", you're saying nothing worth listening to. Emotions are subjective; what makes you happy, may not make someone else happy - perhaps, that song would have the exact opposite effect (or no effect at all). Anyone can claim a song to be 'good' or 'likable' based off their claimed emotional reaction, but that says nothing of quality or sound judgement to anyone listening to your claim of the songs 'likability'. If we're relying on your emotional claims, then we're relying on a static - and subjective - brain to give us advice that may not click with our minds. Useless.

Music couldn't possibly be made, solely, for an emotional purpose. If it was, anyone could produce anything and present it as art (you could argue this happens), and there would be no reason to criticize, ever. Nor would there be reason to improve, as it 'makes you happy' as is. Bringing up your mood or emotional response has no substance when it comes to music production and criticism there-after. Band members don't learn their instruments because their emotions allowed it, they learned through studying, practicing and more practicing. 

Look at the piece, look at what it is, and what it took to make it. Find out why you like it, and why others should like it as well. It's commutatively wise to bring up musical and audio justifications for liking a particular song, band or album. If you don't do this, I don't see the point in discussing it. 

(Saying a song makes you happy, in the sense that its quality and skill made you happy, is perfectly fine.)

Brandt Brauer Frick - You Make Me Real

I've returned to this album more than anything I've listened to from this year, and for good reason. They - and this album, particularly - are an amorphous deconstruction of House, Techno and Jazz. It's interesting listening to a group systematically refashion the very compositional cliches they borrow from: 

The Field

The Field is a microtechno musician who hails from Sweden. Whilst he has many releases, this is the one that I've enjoyed the most. The original song, which can be found by following this link, is also not too bad of a song.

Efdemin - Bergwein

First.

This song makes me very happy and the drop at 2:33 blows my mind.

Exactly What It Says On The Tin

Click Play:

It's as simple as that.

This blog exists for the expressed purpose of discussing, critiquing, describing, exploring and recommending music. While I haven't decided on all of the approaches I want to use, the most common will likely be what you just saw above. 

Enjoy. 

Before We Get Started...

An introduction:

01. Clark - Frau Wav

02. The Cinematic Orchestra - All Things

03. Amon Tobin - Deo

04. Beefcake - Beefcake

05. Xploding Plastix - Popfrontical Eclection

06. Loreena Mckennitt - The Mystic's Dream

07. Fanu - Last Solo Before Dawn

08. Kattoo - Place1

09. Trentemøller - Snowflake

10. Dead Can Dance - Xavier

11. Nebula - Visions of Paradise

12. Architect - St. Vodka (Mother Russia)

13. The Detroit Escalator Co. - Gratriot

14. Photek - The Seven Samurai

15. Polska - Ekqels

This blog is a work in progress. I am not.

To Apolight

Offered without comment.