tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14424880925957129782024-03-13T05:10:24.950-05:00Elephant RockRobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-10482393520478252892010-11-28T11:20:00.004-06:002010-11-28T11:39:58.957-06:00Donovan<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">About a year ago, I became quite obsessed with Donovan and decided to write about the four albums I was especially enchanted with. Instead, I got sidetracked reading and writing about the old Donovan-Dylan rivalry and never was able to finish the post properly. I also knew that an editor would probably just cut this analysis of something I ultimately decide is pointless, but I couldn't make myself delete it. Now that this blog is more-or-less finished, I thought it would make a fitting home for this orphaned piece. Over on <a href="http://ley-lines.tumblr.com/">Ley Lines</a> I plan to actually talk about some Donovan songs as a follow-up to this preamble.</span><br /><br />I'm not sure what, if anything, I thought of Donovan before having my curiosity piqued by this <a href="http://www.woebot.com/2007/05/donovan.html">Woebot post</a>, but back when I read it I made a mental note to follow up on his music. That took two years, but I eventually picked up all three albums Woebot mentions--<span style="font-style: italic;">Mellow Yellow</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">A Gift From a Flower to a Garden</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hurdy Gurdy Man</span>--as well as the one that precedes them, <span style="font-style: italic;">Sunshine Superman</span> (plus <span style="font-style: italic;">The Hurdy Gurdy Man</span>'s patchy successor, <span style="font-style: italic;">Barabajagal</span>). For many, Donovan is the arch-hippie, at least the British version, but I had no strong preconceptions about him or his music. I remembered his appearance in the Dylan tour documentary <span style="font-style: italic;">Dont Look Back</span> but couldn't positively identify any of his songs, not even his hits. So if you have some kind of anti-Donovan baggage--maybe your parents played him a lot, or you've heard the song "Mellow Yellow" too many times--I hope you can ignore it, because this run of brilliant albums puts him on the same level as the best of the late '60s groups.<br /><br />Donovan Leitch, born in Glasgow in 1946 (though raised outside of London), began his career at a very young age--he recorded a set of demos at 17 and appeared on <span style="font-style: italic;">Ready, Steady, Go!</span> (a <span style="font-style: italic;">Top of the Pops</span> style show) at age 18. Here's <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/donovan,13966/">his take</a> on the period leading up to his decision to become a musician:<br /></span><blockquote>In England, we'd leave school at 15 and go on to a college, and I went to further education in a town called Welling Garden City. I fully immersed myself in bohemia there, which included poetry and modern art, jazz, philosophy, social radicalism. My father brought me up to be a socialist. He was a strong union man, and I was brought up in a time of Celtic mysticism and socialism, and I ran into the music of Woody Guthrie, my goodness, at 16. That was it. I saw how the elements could come together. The vision I felt in the poems my father read me, the zeal of the socialism and the rise of the working class out of its industrial slavery, and the presentation of ideas through music. That was 1960 or something, when I heard Woody Guthrie. Then Joan Baez. Then Pete Seeger. Then Miles Davis.</blockquote><br />I've yet to really immerse myself in it, but his early folk music is nice (some songs are a little dated for sure). It fits into the British folk milieu with ease and the standout tracks from his earliest records, "Colours" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-WHkxegDzU&feature=related">for example</a>, are quite lovely if somewhat less original than the material that makes up the next phase of his career. By "less original," I don't mean they sound exactly like Bob Dylan, a comparison that was frequently made at the time (possibly first by his label) and has continued to stick despite making little sense. Apart from the gulf in sensibility between them--Donovan is wide-eyed innocence with an open heart and little self-consciousness; Dylan is, well, kind of the opposite even in protest-singer mode--Donovan's music is British to the core even though, much like the rest of the UK folk scene, it was initially heavily influenced by Woody Guthrie and other older American folk singers. Nonetheless, the "Donovan is the new Dylan" charge electrified the music press at the time, and when Dylan came to the UK for his infamous 1965 tour the two met as documented in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dont Look Back</span>.<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />You can disappear into a gossipy internet rabbit hole trying to figure out what really went on between Donovan and Dylan. In addition to never arriving at the truth, you'll run into an unpleasant coterie of Dylan fans: the kind of people who idolize the sneering peacock badboy version of Dylan seen in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dont Look Back</span>. (As Roger Ebert <a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980501/REVIEWS/805010303/1023">put it in 1998</a>: "What a jerk Bob Dylan was in 1965. What an immature, self-important, inflated, cruel, shallow little creature, lacking in empathy and contemptuous of anyone who was not himself or his lackey." Of course, whether you're getting the "real" Dylan in the film is an assumption you should definitely question.) These people claim they can read Donovan's mind in the scene where he plays "To Sing For You" and then Dylan plays "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Despite it being audible that Donovan asks him to play "Baby Blue," some claim that Dylan chooses the song to belittle Donovan* and that the shots of his face while Dylan plays show him devastated by his inferiority to the master.<br /><br />In their defense, it is easy to read contempt into lots of what Dylan does or says in <span style="font-style: italic;">DLB</span>, and in an earlier, funny scene he jokingly mocks Donovan in conversation with Alan Price of The Animals. For what it's worth, here is Donovan's <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/bob-dylan-a-meeting-of-minds-507887.html">take</a> forty years after his strange role in Dylan's exceptionally strange 1965. I'm sure that version has been polished over the years--to save face surely, but I'd attribute some of it to Donovan's kindness**--but the truth is that Donovan was a teenager at the time, his career had just begun, everyone involved was frequently and highly intoxicated, and, most importantly, Donovan's music deepened considerably after he left behind his folk origins. If there's any reason to persist in comparing them, that's probably it: both of their careers changed dramatically in 1966 as they, in very different ways, embraced startling new sounds.</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />At any rate, the rivalry is mismatched, for Donovan partisans have to reckon with the fact that he never took on anywhere near the mass cultural weight that Dylan did. I see that as an advantage though; unless you encounter them when you're rather young, I think it's difficult to develop an intimate, personal connection to <span style="font-style: italic;">Highway 61 Revisited</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Blonde on Blonde</span> at this point in music history. Like trying to appreciate the Mona Lisa or a Van Gogh self-portrait, the iconic stature of the work can cause alienation, apathy, or even resentment. Despite being something of an emblem for the cliched flower-power '60s, Donovan, on the other hand, feels more available and his beautiful, charming music can still feel like a personal discovery.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />*This interesting <a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr_18/DBfr18b.html">paper on the film</a> argues that the song is actually directed at Joan Baez. That paper also <span style="font-size:100%;">led me to the Ebert quote</span>, and, in a footnote, Baker points out that Donovan wrote many of the signs used in the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video, which calls the seriousness of their supposed rivalry into question. However, Baker's interpretation of that rivalry is that Donovan, along with Baez, is being set up by the film as a representative of the past that Dylan sheds and that the Dylan v. Donovan scene is an important part of establishing that narrative, one fully intended by the filmmakers.<br /><br />** In <span style="font-style: italic;">Electric Eden</span>, Rob Young claims that Donovan gave Vashti Bunyan the money to buy her famous gypsy wagon and horse, Bess; her travels with her partner in that wagon make up most of the subject matter of <span style="font-style: italic;">Just Another Diamond Day</span>.<br /></span></span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-13126695675871818322010-10-20T18:46:00.004-05:002010-10-20T18:58:06.669-05:00Ley LinesI'm not ready to completely shut this blog down, but I've started a new one, <a href="http://ley-lines.tumblr.com/">Ley Lines</a>, on Tumblr, which I think is better suited for the short-attention-span style of blogging I've evolved/lapsed into. If I ever get back to writing super long posts again (I have a hilariously old draft of a Donovan post that I still hope to put up some time), I will probably put them here.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-39124262020223762002010-09-18T12:16:00.006-05:002010-09-18T13:19:35.447-05:00Recent Stuff I LikeThis Gold Panda song is a year old, but you can hear the entirety of his excellent new album on his <a href="http://www.iamgoldpanda.com/">website</a>. So far almost all of my favorite albums from 2010 as well as many of the reissues have fallen under the perhaps pointlessly large umbrella of electronic music:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/muMJtcXcM2c?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/muMJtcXcM2c?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />I chose that song as a cute segue to this song, "Raga Megh Malhar," from the 1982 album <span style="font-style: italic;">Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat</span>, which was recently reissued by <a href="http://www.bombay-connection.com/">Bombay Connection</a>. With its Roland beats and basslines, this is something of a precursor to acid house. And while it likely didn't influence anyone in Chicago or Detroit, its prototechno qualities and its fidelity to classical Indian musical rules make a bizarre but compelling combination. Geeta Dayal wrote a good piece about the album <a href="http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/2010/04/thoughts-on-10-ragas-to-a-disco-beat/">here</a>:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXiB7OQOYJ0?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXiB7OQOYJ0?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-85377554594954840462010-08-31T11:44:00.002-05:002010-08-31T11:55:32.812-05:00The Third EyeRemember* when this blog was all about nostalgia? Like lots of people born in the late 70s, one of the things I am distinctly nostalgic for is the children's television I was exposed to as a kid. Before the advent of YouTube, indulging in that nostalgic impulse entailed a lot of musings on the lines of "remember that one show about the thing? with the kids? and the creepy music?" That show about the thing with the kids was actually <span style="font-style: italic;">The Third Eye</span>, an anthology collecting various creepy shows from unAmerica, and it was an early staple of my Nickelodeon viewing along with <span style="font-style: italic;">Today's Special</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Danger Mouse</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Wizard</span>. Hauntological blog Toys and Techniques has a nice rundown of the series plus lots of clips <a href="http://toysandtechniques.blogspot.com/2010/08/third-eye.html">here</a>.<br /><br />*I think we can all agree that it took real heroism not to make a lame joke here.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-8230865395225586012010-08-29T10:12:00.004-05:002010-08-29T10:16:21.590-05:00Bailliwik Issue 08It occurs to me that somewhere there may be somebody I have neglected to mention this to: the <a href="http://www.bailliwik.org/issue08/index.html">website</a> for the new issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bailliwik</span> is up. Unfortunately, we've already sold all of our non-virtual copies, but enjoy the site, which was designed by the amazing <a href="http://sujata.ch/">Sujata</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-70629832677966101852010-08-08T11:07:00.002-05:002010-08-08T11:29:27.730-05:00New South African MusicIn typical Western hipster fashion, I know more about obscure '70s Afrobeat, Ethiopian jazz, and Congolese soukos* than I do about what people in Africa currently listen to--or as Wayne Marshall <a href="http://wayneandwax.com/?p=3283">put it</a> "African popular music that is, you know, actually popular (not just what might best fit outsiders' expectations of African difference)." Two new compilations of South African electronic dance music offer an exciting glimpse of what's going on right now.<br /><br />*Not that I'm by any means an expert in any of those genres!<br /><br />From <span style="font-style: italic;">Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa</span>, on Honest Jon's and compiled by (Saint) Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IXE6_j1N7o8&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IXE6_j1N7o8&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />From <span style="font-style: italic;">Ayobaness! The Sound of South African House </span>on the German label Out Here Records:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/89QcbMGGI0w&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/89QcbMGGI0w&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-68199994417388881552010-07-28T13:15:00.001-05:002010-07-28T13:23:39.071-05:00HealthyOh, let's just embrace the youtube-only turn this blog has taken.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/617ANIA5Rqs&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/617ANIA5Rqs&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-69932682353021868252010-07-14T22:11:00.001-05:002010-07-14T22:12:16.367-05:00WildlifeOne for Christina and Stephen:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F52dx9Z0L5k&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F52dx9Z0L5k&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-85947746301443418882010-07-10T13:53:00.004-05:002010-07-10T14:02:56.178-05:00ForeverNot feeling very verbal these days, but you should all hear this song, "Reggae Is Here Once Again" from 1979. The group, Steel an' Skin, was made up of a bunch of British nightclub musicians of African and Caribbean descent who got together in the mid-'70s for a community project designed to introduce schoolchildren to the music and culture of their ancestors. Hitting the sweet spot in a Venn diagram of reggae, disco, and calypso, it's perfect for the weather:<br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ym7PxjFfP4&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ym7PxjFfP4&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-2251217378873119542010-07-03T10:14:00.003-05:002010-07-03T10:18:52.472-05:00In a NutshellOne can easily conclude that from any angle you care to look at it--left, right, whatever--American politics is a poorly scripted farce by reading this <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/02/nation/la-na-rnc-steele-20100703">article</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-3896169590721642412010-06-25T13:17:00.002-05:002010-06-25T13:21:31.537-05:00R.I.P. Pete Quaife<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SYtOPjPtVS0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SYtOPjPtVS0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-22121992752592064482010-06-25T11:37:00.002-05:002010-06-25T11:43:58.326-05:00So NiceJamaican music's unique ability to recycle its past while absorbing a totally unpredictable range of influences from other countries and cultures is an ongoing source of joy here at Elephant Rock. So it's no wonder that this week I became a little obsessed with the Cure riddim, which was created by a German dancehall <a href="http://www.germaica.net/wp_english/about/">crew</a> in 2002 and voiced by a number of Jamaican artists. Here is Ce'Cile's "Rude Bwoy Thug Life":<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/68PkHJjRfrM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/68PkHJjRfrM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />You can here a louder version <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gu90vRQkgo&NR=1">here</a>; Vybz Kartel's harder, more aggressive, and dirtier take is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tPVsKVCa9A">here</a>. I prefer Ce'Cile's more buoyant version, but you can appreciate the riddim's off-kilter wooziness better on that version (or try the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9b5cx_V9JM"> instrumental</a>). The sound quality on this one is bad, but Tanya Stephens' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYSdlUidutM">version</a> even keeps a little of the horn section from the original.<br /><br />Speaking of the original, The Cure's "Close to Me" was one of my favorite songs when I was seventeen, and it's still one of their best:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E_F8zknp_58&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E_F8zknp_58&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-23524646165743332012010-06-19T17:08:00.003-05:002010-06-19T17:13:47.858-05:00Watch That ManRob Young's forthcoming book <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/may/23/folk-fishermans-friends">sounds</a> fantastic: <blockquote>This is a hugely enjoyable and persuasive account of "how British musicians and composers have drawn on an idea of folk, alongside a literary (or cinematic) sense of nostalgia and connection with the landscape, all of which feeds into an encompassing expression of Britain that Blake, at least, called 'visionary.'" Dipping in its pages is to be swept up into a story that connects artists as different as Vashti Bunyan and the Aphex Twin.</blockquote> He also has a <a href="http://www.electriceden.net/">blog</a> to go with the book; I really like the second poster <a href="http://www.electriceden.net/2010/05/blog-post.html">here</a>--might have to steal that for my certainly-not-mythical, ten-months-in-the-making post on Donovan.<br /><br />I should have mentioned the <a href="http://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/">blog</a> Pushing Ahead of the Dame a while ago. This is another of those long-term, super comprehensive projects that I love. PAOTD is dedicated to discussing every single one of David Bowie's recorded songs, even the covers. I started reading it somewhere toward the end of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Hunky Dory</span> songs, and while I haven't gone backwards into the archives, I've enjoyed following him (I think the author is a he) from there. I was already a little over familiar with the <span style="font-style: italic;">Ziggy Stardust</span> songs, so the transition to <span style="font-style: italic;">Aladdin Sane</span> has been a nice change. Not that I'm a stranger to that album, but I certainly never came to the conclusion that "Drive-In Saturday" is about how "a post-apocalyptic civilization, through fear or reactions from fallout, has forgotten how to have sex, so the kids watch Rolling Stones promos and old films to see how it was done" before. While being a Bowie fan is obviously a prerequisite for enjoying the blog, even if you're not an acolyte it's a good example of smart, educated music writing that you don't tend to see much.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-87532787860544849202010-06-16T18:38:00.004-05:002010-06-16T18:49:09.196-05:00Synchronicity<span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Cartoonist James Sturm--whose <a href="http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/shopCatalogLong.php?item=a45d38c68413e1">work</a> I admire a great deal--has been writing a column for Slate about not using the internet for four months. To be frank, it isn't the most interesting thing I've ever read, but I did find myself nodding emphatically at this <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2249562/entry/2255493/">passage</a>:<br /><blockquote>In the two months since I've been unplugged, I have been experiencing more and more moments of synchronicity--coincidental events that seem to be meaningfully related. Today, after finishing the first phase of a graphic-novel project that is based on the life of a fictional member of the Weather Underground, I received in the mail an unsolicited copy of a graphic novel about teaching written by William Ayers. Earlier in the week, at the exact moment I started working on a drawing of a monkey (see above), Michael Chabon started talking about <span style="font-style: italic;">Planet of the Apes</span>--I was listening to his audio book <span style="font-style: italic;">Manhood for Amateurs</span>. I know this type of magical thinking is easily dismissed, but I keep having moments like this. So how do I explain it? Are meaningful connections easier to recognize when the fog of the Internet is lifted? Does it have to do with the difference between searching and waiting? Searching (which is what you do a lot of online) seems like an act of individual will. When things come to you while you're waiting it feels more like fate. Instant gratification feels unearned. That random song, perfectly attuned to your mood, seems more profound when heard on a car radio than if you had called up the same tune via YouTube.</blockquote>When I was younger these kinds of moments really struck me. They were often thrilling or wonder-inducing, but for someone who wasn't raised within any religious tradition and was never instructed to believe in God, they were also slightly disconcerting: brief intimations that perhaps the cosmos wasn't entirely random after all; benevolent nudges from a God who would be wrathful if I died having ignored all these really obvious signs of his hand at work. As my unbending atheism was tempered by skepticism about human claims to knowledge and a desire to be more open-minded, </span></span>I began to cherish synchronicity and I have missed its absence from my adult life. If I'd thought about it, I would probably have blamed its disappearance on the shrinking of one's imaginative possibilities for the world that accompanies adulthood, but I think Sturm is on to something here.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-37308324728103904092010-06-16T12:02:00.004-05:002010-06-16T12:12:36.813-05:00HopeThis <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/06/16/stewart">piece</a> from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Daily Show</span> that Glenn Greenwald posted on his blog handily refutes the idea that Obama has been better than Bush on civil liberties and the restoration of the rule of law. But as usual with Jon Stewart, it's a little cutesy and it could be a lot shorter (NSFW):<br /><br /><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3y_brK6DN8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q3y_brK6DN8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-42595606893970907112010-06-10T12:09:00.004-05:002010-06-13T11:36:52.706-05:00Catching Up<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Hello, I'm back from a lovely trip to Europe. I may bore you with a photo or two eventually.<br /><br />Having been out of the country for over two weeks and having adopted my usual vacation policy of mostly ignoring the news, I've been only slowly catching up on various stories: the oil spill (luckily BP and the government are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/us/10access.html?ref=us">collaborating</a> to ease my load on that score!), the destruction of the Gaza aid flotilla</span></span>, and, today, the violence in Jamaica. The relationship between Kingston's gangs and Jamaica's two major political parties is complex and has a long history. I'm not remotely qualified to provide that history, but this <a href="http://soundclash.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/dudus-the-trip-wire/">interview</a> at the Soundclash blog and this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/americas/01jamaica.html?pagewanted=1&ref=americas">article</a> from the NYT provide some good background as well as an indication of how difficult it will be to change the way things work in Kingston.<br /><br />My brain is still readjusting to being in America, going to work, etc., so in lieu of anything more substantial from me, here are some things I enjoyed reading upon my return to the internet: Chris Ruen continues to do good work on the consequences of freeloading; <a href="http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/hey-wait-minute/2010/06/04/no-sellouts-means-more-selling-out?page=0,0">here</a> he addresses the rise of corporate patronage as a replacement for the traditional label-based music industry. Nitsuh Abebe wrote a great <a href="http://pitchfork.com/features/why-we-fight/7813-why-we-fight-4/">column</a> on the furor over the <span style="font-style: italic;"> New York Times</span> profile of M.I.A. (and this <a href="http://agrammar.tumblr.com/post/673895716/david-markson-1927-2010">post</a> really made me want to seek out the recently deceased David Markson's <span style="font-style: italic;">Wittgenstein's Mistress</span>). Glenn Kenny's consumer <a href="http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2010/06/bluray-consumer-guide-junejuly-2010.html">guide</a> to recent blu-ray releases makes me want to rob a bank or at least acquire a blu-ray player.<br /><br />Look: a <a href="http://www.mealsformoderns.com/2010/06/cheese-and-bread.html">meal</a> I can make with complete confidence on Meals; For Moderns--this was also what I ate for lunch pretty much every day in Europe. Kathy took some great <a href="http://thehuntdomain.tumblr.com/#671253711">photos</a> on her recent trip to Utah. One upshot of Arizona's descent into full-on <a href="http://wonkette.com/415809/arizona-school-demands-black-latino-students-faces-on-mural-be-changed-to-white">lunacy</a> is that Utah no longer holds the most-gorgeous-but-scary-state crown; congratulations Utah! I drained Weird Baby of <a href="http://www.weirdbaby.com/?p=132">color</a>. And this funny <a href="http://soulreviewer.blogspot.com/2010/05/come-together.html">post</a> at the Soul Review features an amazing video of Ike and Tina Turner covering "Come Together".Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-45605450412187378212010-05-11T16:51:00.002-05:002010-05-11T16:57:17.861-05:00Flying Lotus<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Andy Beta has a great interview with Stephen Ellison, aka Flying Lotus, up on his <a href="http://andybetablog.blogspot.com/2010/05/flying-lotus-interview.html">blog</a>. I just got the new Lotus album <span style="font-style: italic;">Cosmogramma</span> yesterday and have only managed to listen to it once, but on first impression it's one of a handful of amazing things I've heard so far in 2010*. The impression that I'd gotten from various reviews was that the album was overstuffed, dense, wearying--but I found it to be more spacey (Ellison has called it a "space opera") and airy than his previous album, <span style="font-style: italic;">Los Angeles</span>. There's a '70s spiritual jazz quality to it that distinguishes it from the Dilla-esque beat density of <span style="font-style: italic;">Los Angeles</span> (which is a great album too; I'm just surprised at the critical angle on <span style="font-style: italic;">Cosmogramma</span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>); it's more contemplative and introspective, and the Alice Coltrane connection that Beta delves into is abundantly evident.<br /><br />I don't want to overstate the album's breezy qualities: the music is still heavily layered with lots of synth and cascades of processed beats; at times it reminded me a little of Aphex Twin's post-ambient stuff, though searching where Aphex is ironic. I wasn't surprised to read Ellison's response to a question about what Warp Records stuff he liked before they signed him: "I'd always loved the Broadcast stuff and obviously Aphex Twin, Squarepusher." The whole interview is good, especially if you're an Alice Coltrane fan.<br /></span></span><br />*I've got a post listing everything I've liked so far this year (not necessarily from 2010) languishing in my drafts; it was originally called Quarterly Report, so maybe I'll end up doing a first half of 2010 list in June instead.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-71797727454388347692010-05-09T10:47:00.003-05:002010-05-09T10:56:01.376-05:00Thibault et l'arbre d'orOne for Megan, who will no longer qualify for a long-distance dedication soon. This is from Emmanuelle Parrenin's 1977 album <span style="font-style: italic;">Maison Rose</span>, which might show up in the favorite albums series at some point.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/joinYXvpLAQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/joinYXvpLAQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-77774722289782785802010-05-05T14:23:00.007-05:002010-07-26T13:05:14.022-05:00Dilettante Perfume Blenders"We are, in short . . . increasingly un-centred, un-moored, living day to day, engaged in an ongoing attempt to cobble together a credible, or at least workable, set of values, ready to shed it and work out another when the situation demands. I find myself enjoying this more, watching us all become dilettante perfume blenders, poking inquisitive fingers through a great library of ingredients and seeing which combinations make some sense for us--gathering <span style="font-style: italic;">experience</span>--the possibility of making better guesses--without demanding certainty."--Brian Eno, quoted in David Toop's <span style="font-style: italic;">Ocean of Sound</span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-59500770692818233182010-05-03T10:53:00.003-05:002010-05-03T10:58:28.394-05:00One Year LaterElephant Rock began one year ago today. I'd be embarrassed to make too big a deal out of that, but I will say that a year ago I definitely did not expect this to last very long. Thank you all for reading and enjoy our theme song!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zTwCb-N1wDA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zTwCb-N1wDA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-42581960969895166022010-04-29T12:34:00.004-05:002010-04-29T12:42:58.446-05:00A Mere Fool Would Ignore ThisUnless you don't give a toss about your own life, you should watch this impressively morbid 1970s British public safety film featuring rather excellent voiceover narration from Donald Pleasance:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vb00H6mCTM8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vb00H6mCTM8&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Found via this very good <a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/04153-the-advisory-circle-mind-how-you-go-ghost-box">interview</a> with Jon Brooks aka The Advisory Circle.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-22502526180655655372010-04-26T19:23:00.003-05:002010-04-26T19:39:29.687-05:00A Tábua De Esmeralda<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EwTW8SJcrRk/S9Yx4XBS3dI/AAAAAAAAAZU/OH4HSszgPbo/s1600/jorge.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EwTW8SJcrRk/S9Yx4XBS3dI/AAAAAAAAAZU/OH4HSszgPbo/s320/jorge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464610042182557138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This may be the first in an occasional series of pieces on albums that I consider personal, perennial favorites.<br /><br />Jorge Ben's 1974 album <span style="font-style: italic;">A Tábua De Esmeralda</span> is a strikingly lovely example of Ben's charismatic singing and trademark fusion of styles. His beloved samba is the touchstone, but there are also strains of soul, rock, funk, and folk present. <span style="font-style: italic;">Tábua</span> exemplifies one of the strengths of the album format: the power to evoke a particular mood over a long period of time--in this case, a kind of relaxed but stimulating bliss--and the album is notably sonically consistent. You might call it homogeneous or monotonous at first glimpse, except Ben's guitar playing is so beguiling and there are so many inspired details in the production and arrangements that the true unifying element in the sound of the record is ornate beauty, and why would you object to that?<br /><br />A few of the tracks end by dissolving into gentle psychedelia: "O Homen Da Gravata Florida" gradually reverberates into the ether; "Errare Human Est" echoes off into space. While on others, the use of a small string section and chorus provides additional color, especially on "Zumbi", a song that Ben would radically revise as stomping funk for his equally stunning 1976 album <span style="font-style: italic;">África Brasil</span>. The only outlier is "Brother", Ben's soulful testifying ode to Jesus and a rare instance of him singing in English. As is often the case when Brazilians sing in English, the result is a little goofy, but I find Ben's voice endlessly pleasing and the song has enough of the rest of the album's gently insinuating charm to carry it through (also his pronunciation of "music" as "music-y" is rather endearing). Another highlight is the album's final song, "Cinco Minutos (5 Minutos)", which features Ben's memorable falsetto.<br /><br />Much to my recurring regret, I do not speak or read Portuguese, but I do think it's worth noting that even I can recognize that <span style="font-style: italic;">A Tábua De Esmeralda</span> has some common themes. The title can be translated as <span style="font-style: italic;">The Emerald Tablet</span>, which is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Tablet">name</a> of a foundational <a href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/alc/emerald.htm">text</a> for medieval alchemists as well as esoteric Christianity more broadly; this tablet is purported to be the work of Hermes Trismegistus, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes_Trismegistus">figure</a> (sometimes considered a deity, sometimes a man) from antiquity who has knowledge of alchemy, astrology, and magic and is name-checked here and on <span style="font-style: italic;">África Brasil</span>. Some of these ideas and references recur in Ben's work, and while the language barrier is ultimately insurmountable for me, I do think even this shallow understanding of the subject matter helps partially explain the enchanting atmosphere on this brilliant album.<br /><br />Listening notes: If you're in the U.S., you can listen to this on <a href="http://lala.com/zcKtI">Lala</a>, and Amazon and iTunes (and possibly other digital retailers) also have it for download. If you want a physical copy, Dusty Groove has it in <a href="http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=rq33wdvppv&ref=browse.php&refQ=kwfilter%3Djorge%2Bben%26amp%3Bincl_oos%3D1%26amp%3Bincl_cs%3D1">stock</a>, but like most Brazilian CDs these days, it's rather expensive at $22.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-71083934178724066462010-04-23T13:00:00.002-05:002010-04-23T13:05:39.656-05:00Short Story, Short Post<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">My friend Ted has a great little short story (like, <span style="font-style: italic;">tiny</span>) up <a href="http://www.opiummagazine.com/Index.aspx?storyid=2792">here</a>; you should read it.<br /></span></span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-23490560071609315372010-04-19T19:00:00.003-05:002010-04-19T19:37:48.199-05:00Education Rock<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;">That last post ended up as more of a dry lecture than I'd hoped, though I think the idea has potential</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;"> and I might return to it. But, like any teacher worried that he's strained the patience and attention spans of his students, now I'm going to play you a bunch of purportedly educational videos. Here are a few songs you can use to elucidate a variety of concepts in literary studies. Sadly the song that provided the title for this post isn't available on YouTube, but you can hear it on <a href="http://lala.com/z3VaY">Lala</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Metaphor</span><br /><br />Obviously a nearly infinite number of songs could illustrate this concept, but I find Bo's dedication to the "bucket = lover" metaphor in this song weirdly compelling.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/btkDt0zEGAQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/btkDt0zEGAQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Forced Rhyme</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/__DrJI7mTHQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/__DrJI7mTHQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Internal Rhyme</span><br /><br />I couldn't decide between these two songs, both of which are perfect examples of the odd way that internal rhyme is pleasurable to the ear.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vET-sG1McCE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vET-sG1McCE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YitVQuOBuLc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YitVQuOBuLc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Acrostic</span><br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T-G690ihffo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T-G690ihffo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Acronym</span><br /><br />The Wu-Tang Clan are masters of the acronym; see also: Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game, Criminals Robbing Innocent Motherfuckers Everytime, and Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bjZRAvsZf1g&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bjZRAvsZf1g&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Okay, school is over, go watch <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgtBlnOX6VA&feature=related">cartoons</a>.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1442488092595712978.post-45765064984550038222010-04-17T16:22:00.007-05:002010-04-17T17:43:08.224-05:00TerroirTerroir is a concept used by wine connoisseurs that I've often thought should take on wider application. It refers to the effects that the physical location of the grapes has on the finished bottle; as Wikipedia <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir">puts</a> it "the special characteristics that geography bestow[s] upon particular varieties." For oenophiles, exploring terroir requires exacting analysis of soil quality and climate--all of which is beyond my limited knowledge of wine. But beyond geology and meteorology, there is a poetry to the idea: through the miracle of viniculture--a kind of alchemy or transubstantiation--by drinking a bottle from a specific corner of Bordeaux or Napa Valley or Mendoza, you're imbibing the place itself.<br /><br />Terroir often comes to mind when I think about reggae. Reggae can be daunting for neophytes because the unique social and cultural circumstances that led to its development and continue to influence it are quite different from the models of music production we're used to in the rest of the Anglophone world. One of the difficulties is figuring out a point of entry: reggae is collected and classified in different and confusing fashions. Since Jamaica has always been primarily a singles-driven market, you can find compilations based around singers, groups, producers, engineers, backing bands, labels, studios, and theme (though I would steer well clear of those). Adding to the confusion: sometimes the backing bands are the same group of musicians in slightly different configurations; the number of singers or groups with one single who are never heard from again is countless; some producers simply ran the business end of things and had little impact on the sound of the records they produced; lots of singles appeared and reappeared on different labels; and so on.<br /><br />However, certain studios have such a distinct sound that experienced listeners can identify them immediately, and if you like that sound, it's possible to enjoy nearly every piece of music made there. There are a number of studios that could be said to exhibit terroir, but I'm going to talk about two very different places: Studio One and Wackie's.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Studio One</span><br /><br />Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One is a giant in the history of reggae, easily the most famous studio and record label in Jamaica. The rhythms made there in the late 1960s and early 1970s are foundational to Jamaican music and are still revived today (see this old <a href="http://burnhot.blogspot.com/2010/01/dust-out-sound-boy.html">post</a> for an example of what I'm talking about). When the studio was reopened in the late '70s after a period of dormancy, it played a significant role in changing the music again as the roots sound transitioned into dancehall. That reopening was a direct response to the fact that most of the popular rhythms at the time were being recycled from Studio One's heyday (Channel One's name wasn't a coincidence). Ska, the music that launched indigenous Jamaican music, began there, and the studio remained massively important through the rocksteady and roots years. But apart from decisively shaping about fifteen years of the music's development, it is the trademark sound of records from Studio One--primarily a product of the engineer and the equipment--that makes them so special.<br /><br />It's a little difficult to say what exactly that "sound" is, but the most obvious factor is the legendarily heavy bass sound. Like many Jamaican studios, Studio One grew out of Dodd's work as a soundsystem operator. Jamaican audiences were used to the intense levels of bass the soundsystems pumped into the open-air dancehalls, so when Jamaicans first began recording their music, the engineers recorded the bass at levels their counterparts in the U.S. or UK would have considered way too high. Sylvan Morris, the main engineer at Studio One, went even further.<br /><br />As detailed in Michael Veal's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dub-Soundscapes-Shattered-Jamaican-Culture/dp/0819565725/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266707855&sr=8-1">book</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">Dub</span>, Morris built a special box to record the bass sounds coming out of the back of the speakers and used an equalizer that further boosted the low end of his recordings. The result is that the bass is usually the most prominent sound in any given Studio One record, a warm, deep, and physical sound that is hugely different from any American or British music until hip-hop or techno, both of which are clearly indebted to reggae.<br /><br />Other elements added to the signature sound of the studio, including a tape-based echo unit named the Soundimension (a name the Studio One house band adopted as their own) and less tangible factors like the amazing speed with which new recordings were made, the tight-knit nature of the main musicians, and the inventiveness of keyboardist Jackie Mittoo who created many of the most enduring Studio One rhythms before emigrating to Canada in the late '60s.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LvUza3BewRE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LvUza3BewRE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wackie's</span><br /><br />Another label-studio combination, Wackie's was founded in the Bronx by Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes in the mid-1970s. Barnes was born in Kingston in 1945 and emigrated to New York in 1967. Like Dodd, Barnes began as a soundsystem operator, but, again like many Jamaican sounds before his, Barnes eventually decided the gang violence that dances inevitably attracted wasn't worth the risk. According to this brief <a href="http://www.jahtari.org/magazine/reggae-history/wackies.htm">history</a>: "after picking some bullets out of a speaker after a party he decided to give up the soundsystem business." And so, Barnes, who had been a backup singer in Jamaica, switched directions and began producing, recording, and distributing music made by a small group of fellow immigrants in the Bronx as well as Jamaican artists--Horace Andy and Sugar Minott both recorded some of their finest work there--passing through town.<br /><br />Easily the most significant producer of reggae in the U.S., Wackie's has, until recently, been mostly ignored. This has something to do with the indelible connection between the UK and Jamaica overshadowing reggae made elsewhere, but the biggest factor is the limited quantities the records were pressed in. Nonetheless, those rare records found their way to Germany where they played a large role in the development of dub techno, exemplified by Basic Channel and Pole. Basic Channel in turn has reissued a huge portion of the Wackie's <a href="http://basicchannel.com/label/Wackies">catalog</a>, reintroducing their music to a global audience and bringing these records more attention than they could have possibly had when they were originally released.<br /><br />The Wackie's sound is even more distinctive than Studio One's--even songs recorded elsewhere and then mixed at Wackie's bear the studio's unmistakable fingerprints. Those fingers mostly belong to Douglas Levy, the studio's main engineer (as much as I like this terroir idea, obviously this piece is a testament to the unsung role of the engineer), who as Prince Douglas made perhaps my favorite Wackie's release, <span style="font-style: italic;">Dub Roots</span>. The influence of Lee Perry's maximalist approach to recording and dubbing--as opposed to King Tubby's process of subtraction--is pretty obvious, but the Wackie's sound is nonetheless singular. Almost alone among dub mixers, Levy often treated the bass guitar with effects, creating a psychedelic, liquid bass sound that is disorienting compared to the heartbeat/pulse-like role the bass usually takes in reggae. This rubbery bass combined with the heavily processed sound of the other instruments and early adoption of a variety of synthesizers and effects units gives some Wackies productions a proto-digital quality--I can see why they would have appealed to German techno heads since they often remind me of the electronic side of krautrock (Cluster and Harmonia) as much as of their Jamaican counterparts.<br /><br />Other distinct elements include a very flat, usually phased drum sound, huge amounts of echo, simple guitar lines that aren't far from the wiry post-punk sound being played in downtown Manhattan* at the same time, and a general dubwise approach to the production. Ultimately, though the sound is ineffable; it's as much a mood as a recognizable set of sonic signifiers.<br /><br />*Wackie's location in the Bronx leads people to wonder whether you can hear a New York influence in the records, especially with hip-hop being born at the same time in the same borough. Ultimately, I don't really hear it on a literal level, but there is an urban coldness to Wackie's productions that could reflect the concrete, high-rises, and winters of the American ghetto.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Az8z_sQr5A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Az8z_sQr5A0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Terroir Postscript</span><br /><br />I've given a lot of credit to the engineers here, mostly because they put the final stamp on any recording that passes through their hands (I suppose you could make arguments for mastering services and pressing plants--and there are some famous examples of the latter that people claim have identifiable effects on the finished records) and they are often ignored. But the reason terroir appeals to me as an apt metaphor for musical production is the constellation of factors that influence recording a song in a room: the musicians, instruments, recording equipment, the producer, the engineer, and the acoustics of the room itself. I've focused on reggae studios because I'm more steeped in it than other genres--though the big omission here is Lee Perry's Black Ark--but there are plenty of other good cases, including Hitsville, Muscle Shoals, the Van Gelder Studio, and Abbey Road.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BWcmIRSFaHQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BWcmIRSFaHQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />[Obviously I don't agree with some of the narration in that clip!]Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378054679144432371noreply@blogger.com2