Cedar Staff Blog

We're moving!

2010-04-02T15:17:00.004-05:00

Hello, blog readers. The Cedar recently launched a new website, and we're incorporating this blog into it. This means that we won't be posting to this blogspot page anymore. Instead, our blog will live here: http://www.thecedar.org/blog

The URL cedarblog.org is being redirected to our new site, so you can still use that to find us.

You can still read, post, watch, and all the rest. Please feel free to email me at adorn at thecedar.org with questions or comments. Thanks!

The Bright Side of the Moon

2010-04-01T14:30:00.010-05:00

News stories abound about the changing music-commerce landscape. A couple of recent ones caught my eye, not least for offering a delicious rice-and-beans complementarity given that they centered on two EMI acts, one from the old world and one from the new:

Pink Floyd successfully sued EMI over the label's attempts to sell their songs a la carte. Here is an editorial from my local paper about this issue. I enjoyed the author's purism.

This is a fun subject to tussle over. Personally, I tend to side with the artist in just about any ol' dispute over content control and royalties. On the other hand, Pink Floyd suing to preserve the integrity of their albums inspires about as much empathy as The Eagles cutting exclusive distribution agreements with Wal-Mart.
Really? I gotta buy all of 'Ummagumma' just to have the live 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun?' Guys, have you actually listened to 'Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave' recently?

And another thing. Most MP3s (or AACs) are sold with a sample rate of 192 or 256 kbps. That is a drastic compression from the original CD, itself a compressed file. The point is, we're being sold museum gift shop postcard reproductions. Artistic integrity has already been compromised in the name of commerce.

I don't know which one of you gents is Pink, so I'll offer this to you en masse: you just blew a lot of money on legal fees preserving a principle that might not be worth the blacklight poster it's printed on.

(Boy, I'll bet they and their lawyers found that argument compelling.)

**********

On the sunny of the moon, perhaps you have read or heard about the contretemps between EMI and their band OK Go. In short:

If you have ever blogged about music or read about the subject on this and other blogs, you know the coin of the realm is embedded content ('embedding' means content is available for the reader to watch or listen to on a blog site itself rather than as merely a link to, say, YouTube). This is the medium by which a catchy tune can go viral if the planets align. Sometimes, though, the blogger is confronted with the dreaded words, 'Embedding disabled by request.'

OK Go's Treadmill Video is an example of a band breaking big because their imaginative video spread like the proverbial wildfire. Much of this was due to embedding. However, as that success resulted in OK Go having more fans and name recognition, EMI put the kibosh to embedding of their more recent 'This Too Shall Pass' video.

I mention this not because I have much of an opinion one way or the other (artists' track records (or lack thereof) are big factors when choosing promotion tactics), but because of OK Go member Damian Kulash's January open letter to the world about the issue. If you have any interest in the challenges artists and labels face navigating today's shark-filled waters, it's worth a read.

**********

Our crawl has brought us to the Three-Dot Lounge, where everything is A1 on the jukebox and nowhere on the charts:

Update on my Borders search for the Tammy Wynette biography, 'Tragic Country Queen.' A subsequent visit found the book neatly shelved...in Literature/Fiction. While this might be one more teeny-tiny example of the fraying in the once-great book retailer's fabric, one must consider that this placement might be a statement. Tammy Wynette's is no more a true-life story than Dolly Parton's ... Speaking of mass-market retailers and the surprises they can hold: I was in Safeway the other day loading up on buck-a-bag spinach, when I suddenly screeched my cart to a halt. For on the PA, the 'muzak' was 'Sometime After Midnight' by The Airborne Toxic Event. In Safeway. Talk about yer clash o'cultures. Next thing you know, the Cedar will be promoting in-performance contests for most imaginative audience ringtones ... Personal to Mama E Dub: my music library includes about 10% compilations and 10% individual tracks. My clear preference is for full albums I can then shuffle into the deck. I've decided that the music I want played at my funeral is whatever's next on 'random play' ... This blog has seen a bit of commentary about Massive Attack's latest. I must agree: it has something of a paint-by-numbers feel. This is best exemplified by Martina Topley-Bird's guest vocals. Back in the day, she sounded like she was sequestered in Tricky's chamber of horrors while suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Here she sounds, um, nice ... While polishing this floater I've been listening to Longital. What fun! ... Considered going to the Dead Meadow show the other night, but stayed in and watched 'The Hurt Locker.' Guess it was gonna be a heavy psych night no matter what. Great movie, but I required back-to-back sitcom episodes as a digestive before bed.

Here is a bit of what I would have heard had I decided to stay up late on what is ordinarily Ovaltine night at Chez Fever:

When DID we turn that corner?

2010-03-30T10:09:00.015-05:00

Another fine performance by Habib Koite and Bamada last night. Some audience members might have been itching for more high energy dance tunes, but I very much enjoyed the rather mid-tempo set they turned it. Chock full of great balafon work, although I'm pretty sure that was not Kélétigui Diabaté back there, it was also highlighted by the band pulling out more trad instruments like a smallish kora, and a kamale ngoni. I missed the violin they sometimes bring along (pretty sure that's a Diabaté thing) but you always gotta love his crazy talking drum player. No matter how many times bands say how much they love The Cedar, I still got a big kick out of Habib pausing early in his set and looking around the hall, saying, "This place... indeed is like a home to us." Thanks, guys - and enjoy those new West Bank/West Africa t-shirts, OK?

Here's a little clip of Diabaté ruling the balafon. Our guy last night had hair.

* * * * * * *

OK, I'm over my crush on the Smoke Fairies...well, maybe I just have a additional crush on one of our intrepid reporter crew's other SXSW superstar picks. The recent release Gloria by Slovak bowed guitar/poppy hooks/weird samples duo Longital has stolen my heart away this week. Or at least my earbuds. Daniel Salontay and Shina (Šina Lo) aka Jana Lokšenincová say "We play the soundtrack to a psychedelic version of the happy end of the world, where fish fly over the rivers filled not with water, but with music streaming into the seas." Creating these soundscapes at their place on the hill called Dlhe Diely in Bratislava, the listener enters into their slightly off-kilter, but cozy world. ("Longital" is a version of the old German name of the hill - and it was a lot easier for non-Slovaks to say.)

I had a nice map graphic here - FOR A DAY! on the difference between Slovakia and Slovenia. What's up with the link? I cannot tell. But you can learn more here.

Don't get 'em confused...like one of our former presidents did.

The sing-along (no, you don't need to know the language) hooks work great in loud situation like doing the dishes, and the playful (without being annoying) little found sounds are fun discoveries when you pull out the headphones. They have gotten me EVERY TIME with that weird birdcall? broken machinery? clicky percussive thing partway through the otherwise classically pretty "Sinko stupa/The Sun is Rising." I think "What the heck is going on outside... oh yeah, it's in that song." Listen for the loud cat purr at the beginning of "My dve/Two of Us", too. Really, why not lead into your beats with a purr?

Darker tracks like "Cervena Modra /Red Blue" had me hitting that repeat, but I really am liking the catchy upbeat songs, too! They're weird enough to keep me interested; the bowed guitar can come off like a butch cello but he can go all Hendrix with it, too. Salontay was a math teacher/jazz musician and Lokšenincová studied engineering before they quit their day jobs, and according to our Angel of Rock, they did have very cool techno gear along with her fretless bass and his various vintage guitars and double bass bow. Just don't ask me if I would be as into this if the lyrics were in English...because you know I really don't want to hear about anybody's relationship. In Slovak, the words just float on by as another color on the palette.

Let's hope another U.S. tour in on the Longital agenda soon.

* * * * * * *

When did we turn that corner? When did you really stop caring whether you had the physical music source rather than the file? Was it last time I was told to "Put away your cds! They make the living room look messy." ( What - and Lego don't?) Was it when I received a gift card for the Electric Fetus and it's still in my wallet months later? Was it when I ordered the new Carolina Chocolate Drops a few months ago because there was one low price for 320 bit files PLUS a bunch of files of live tracks PLUS the actual disc. What did I need that disc for? It's sitting in the kitchen gathering dust. I should probably give it to my mother-out-law or leave it in Lisa's car.

While it is still sounds great - once in a while - to crank up something on the actual stereo with real big speakers and everything, a vast majority of the time it really doesn't matter to me any more. My car is wired for the Pod. We have a handy little Bose Pod player in the dining room. I have numerous sets of groovy ear buds. The only thing I can imagine buying the physical disc for anymore is something like the Analog Africa stuff that come with big fat booklets, archival photos, hidden tracks, etc. (BTW, his next compilation comes out April 12; Colombian accordion stuff called Mambo Loco.)

It's certainly partly about paying for the song instead of the whole disc. [Say, Ms. Fever - Do you really have a terabyte of individually chosen SONGS? Or are there a lot of entire albums in there?] To any of you, c'mon, name up some recent releases where the entire disc is essential.

Some things never change. I have a very clear memory of standing before the tiny record rack at the dime store in Horicon, Wisconsin at about age 9, gazing longingly at Sweet's Desolation Boulevard. How did I know there were enough "good songs" to to fork over my hard earned $6.99? Wouldn't it be safer to spend 99 cents apiece to buy the 45s of "Fox on the Run" and "Action," since I already knew those were "good songs?" This mathematical evaluation was repeated several times in diverse locations such as the Shopko in Beaver Dam and a K-Mart near Grandma Wheeler's in Des Moines. I never did buy the album, but I did have those singles around for a long time. (In an aside, I actually bought the files of "Fox on the Run" and earlier Sweet hit "Ballroom Blitz" a few years ago. They sounded... a little...slowww 30-some years on.)

Recap: SXSW

2010-03-26T13:20:00.002-05:00

I deliberately did not write my sxsw recap immediately after returning to Minneapolis. I couldn't. I was still taking everything in and attempting to make sense of it all. So much for my career as a journalist in the fast-paced world of chirps and Myface.

66 bands. 3.5 days. 36 degree weather in Austin, TX. Yikes.

Main Figurehead and I saw a number of the same acts. If I were to list everyone I saw on Saturday, it would look much the same as his post for nearly the whole day. So instead, I'm only going to tell you about the favorites. The cream of the crop.

Wednesday

Doll & The Kicks: I saw this group play on a boulevard. A Karen O lookalike with a good UK rock sounding band. Stopping to watch gave me some time to finish dinner.

Dustin O'Halloran/Hauschka: These two piano men played back to back in one of the best sounding venues, St. David's Bethel Hall. O'Halloran plays contemporary classical piano and Hauschka prepares his instrument - at its best when he had a pile of little stones that he dropped one by one into the body of the piano. They had recruited a string quartet to learn both their material in a single day. While the compositions didn't blow me away, it was a nice break from the abrasive rock happening outside, and I loved hearing about how Hauschka got his first piano (from his grandmother under the condition he would only play classical music. He promptly joined a band. He didn't give the piano back).

Strange Boys: I hate to admit that I almost missed this show. I ended up finding their name in my list after leaving another underwhelming show after only two songs. When I got to the venue, there was a line, and a "one in one out" waiting period. But I made it, and they were wonderful. Youthful but unfazed. Raw. Gritty. Saxophone. Mmm.

Thursday

Carolina Chocolate Drops: What can I say? These three are old favorites that do not disappoint. At this show I was especially struck by the bones. For me, it really conjures the image of a Grateful Dead-like dancing skeleton. It seems as though the instrument is just an extension of his body. Chilling - even at 10:30 a.m. in a hotel lobby.

Delhi 2 Dublin: ENERGY. Super fun. But the crowd was not matching their efforts. Thank you to the one aging punk in full leather and studs who swerved and sweated without ever cracking a smile.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: She is the real thing. A soul queen. She has me wrapped around her microphone stand, and I'll do anything she tells me to. Wish I would have stayed for her full set.

Fishtank Ensemble: Sassy, sexy strings with gypsy flavor. They had their look down too: A saw-playing lady in red flanked by rockabilly boys in black.

Daniel Martin Moore and Ben Sollee's Dear Companion project: Sigh. Dear Daniel, I still have a crush on you.

Gringo Star: This is a band I followed because I loved one song. Surprisingly, despite that set up they pulled through. High-energy rock and roll. A REALLY tight, well-versed band. They switched instruments after nearly every song.

Mountain Man: Chilling three-part harmony from lovely girls. I can picture this at The Cedar in the middle of winter before an audience bundled up in bulky coats drinking their steaming cups of tea. It reminded me of an early Rachel Unthank performance I saw - stark but stunning.

Surf City: Garage rock at its best. No frills.

Olof Arnalds: The former member of Mum took a different route than band mate Kria Brekkan who performed a highly experimental set in a rock club on the other side of downtown. Arnalds played spooky, beautiful, folk-tinged tunes with hints of Sigur Ros. Lovely lovely lovely. Another one I hope to see at The Cedar.

The Pines: Local boys still doing Minneapolis proud. I was glad to see they brought their banjo player with them.

Wye Oak: Another set I wish I could have watched in full. Jenn Wasner started with a solo song that was shockingly honest. I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but I could have been mistaken. The full band stuff was just as good. Hoping to catch them in town very soon.

MNDR: Per the request of blogger Princess, I stopped in on a set by this DJ. She really is that good. Read Princess' take here.

Phantogram: This New York duo is getting plenty of hype. I don't need to add to it. They were fun. The crowd LOVED them.

Friday

Efterklang: They normally have a string player (violin? viola? I so don't remember) but for SXSW had Camera Obscura's horn player sitting in. Really cool. Like a hybrid of Beirut and Sigur Ros. Young, bouncy, fun. Smiles all around.

The Living Sisters: Freaking beautiful. On all counts. Read what Main Figurehead had to say here.

Jenny Owen Youngs: So cute. Like, I want to hug her and then make her be my friend. But I wish her biting sarcasm and witty remarks would come through more in her music. Pretty music, pretty/smart girl, smart/funny banter.

Son Lux: I had never heard this Anticon artist before, and was disappointed to come in after Dosh had finished. But Son Lux delivered despite having trouble with the sound engineer. Anyone who can hold my attention while plinking away at a laptop is doing something right.

True Widow: Perfect. This band is just exactly what I am looking for; just the right combination of Autolux, Low, slow, dirge-y grunge rock, and a badass female bass player. Oof. Seriously amazing.

Dengue Fever: I have waited a long time to see this group, and it was well worth it. The Cambodian singer is maybe the most beautiful woman on the planet, and the band found their groove and is sticking to it. A great way to close the night.

Saturday

Longital: Read about them here. SO SO SO good. A prize for anyone who can succinctly (and accurately) describe what this group sounds like.

Malachai: One of their first performances in the U.S. You can watch the very first one here. SO eccentric, so smooth. I have had a hard time listening to anything but this band after returning home.

Miss Li: The Swedish version of Alice Russell + Annie. Bubblegum lyrics, soul-style belting. A backing band of cute swedish boys. Not bad.

Smoke Fairies: Again, Figurehead summed this up pretty well. So I'll suggest you read his take here. This group is enchanting, and probably the one I would be most excited about seeing at The Cedar. Here's hoping.

ChocQuibTown: Really fun. I almost had to dance. Made me want to listen to the record more.

That's all for now.

Help with English 12

2010-03-24T10:21:00.003-05:00

So my sister is visiting with her kids this week, and while our boys spread Lego all over the entire house, we are catching up a bit. Being a high school literature teacher, she's always revamping her reading lists and trying new methods to get the learning into the kids. We talked about her new version of World Lit (a term that means about as much as our favorite descriptive phrase World Music) and how she wants to incorporate more art and music into the syllabus.

Which of course got me thinking about music that is culture clash, music that's on the threshhold, music of diasporas and the other topics she plans to cover. Being a music gal, rather than a lyrics gal, I would love suggestions from all of you readers of artists and songs that might fit within those ideas.

I'm thinking more about tunes where the music itself is crossing borders and genres and ages rather than lyrics about those topics set in a standard song format, but any suggestions are welcome. Say for example , if she's doing Everything is Illuminated, maybe Gogol Bordello might be an obvious choice because they were in the movie. But really, as far as the book goes, maybe Warsaw Village Band gives more of the peasant vs. technology idea. Or what about Ukrainian "Kozak Rock" band Haydamaky? They're named after peasant rebels whose struggle was immortalized in Taras Shevchenko'sHaidamaki, an epic poem about the armed struggle of the Ukrainian Cossacks and peasants against the Polish feudal gentry. Not quite the history of the village of Trachimbrod, but closer. Or maybe some Polish reggae like VavaMuffin? Cultures are aclashin' there. The more I think about it, perhaps the dark klezmer of Krakow's Kroke would better capture the deep sadness in the book.
See what I mean? There are a lot of ways one could go with this. It'll be fun to help my sis winnow through ideas and find music to match up/contrast with the books! I'll hope to post the actual book list next week, but here's her description of what she's looking for.

"It might be threshold as border, liminal space, neither-nor space, undefined otherspace, outlaw or beyond-the-pale space or it might be threshold as the linking point or hinge in fusion and hybridity. I think as a resonant metaphor it can work fruitfully in either direction."

Wait! Doesn't that describe all the music I love? Anyway, if a tune strikes you as a fit to the loose set of ideas, let me know.

Funny how the latest posting TransGlobal Underground sent out to their fans was about their new A Gathering of Strangers project covering the same territory. ( Wait. Doesn't it always, for these guys?) Mostly I was psyched to see bands like French world percussion/techno guys Recycler and Polish techno/trad Village Kollektiv on their list of collaborators along with the usual suspects from the Celtic lands and the Balkans. While I'm not always super-into TransGlobal's finished results (often a little too slick), I do admire their collaborative spirit.

Here's what Hamid Man Tu and Tim Whelan say about Gathering of Strangers.

"Out of that came the idea of searching out songs about movement, emigration and exile, and sending those songs themselves into exile, to have them apply for residence abroad, struggle with unexpected customs and accents and wander through the studios, bedrooms and DJ booths of Europe, with only a dog-eared out of date passport to confirm their original place of musical birth."

Amongst the artists appearing so far: JIM MORAY (UK), YANKA RUPKINA (Trio Bugarka, Bulgaria), BALKAN FANATIK (Hungary), THE PERUNIKA TRIO (UK/Bulgaria), MARTIN FUREY (Ireland), VALRAVN (Denmark), VILLAGE KOLLEKTIV (Poland), RECYCLER (France) with more yet to be confirmed. The project is introducing artists to each other and to old tunes along the chosen theme, and seeing what happens. Release date in mid-May...just guessing that's only in Europe.

TGI is always ready to jam with anyone from anywhere at any time.

Not unlike old Cedar pals Ale Möller and Bruce Molsky. When is that show they're doing together at our place? Coming up May 27. When you look at their names, don't you wonder if they're distantly related somehow back in the day?

* * * * * * *

Whee! I am having great time here listening to the artists Main Fig. highlighted in his SXSW post. M. Takara right now. Thanks for all the links. WHOA! Loving the Longital!!! Eagerly anticipating the posts from our other roving reporters.

* * * * * * *

RIP Charlie Gillette. The long-time BBC radio presenter and music writer died on St. Patrick's Day. Here's a bit from the obituary from the Guardian . "Charlie wrote the first serious history of rock'n'roll and went on to become a central figure in drawing together the confluence of international sounds that became known, to the benefit of many artists whose work might otherwise have remained in obscurity, as world music." His was a name that always seemed to pop up when I was Googling around for some obscure information about a band. Seemed like he'd already played them - last week- and made helpful program notes online. Although I guess he's quite famous for breaking Dire Straits to the world, I think of him more as the guy who turned BBC listeners on to global sounds from Tinariwen to Imam Baildi.

* * * * * * *

When I saw the image of the Altan stamp in the March Cedar newsletter, I had to get the backstory. How often do musicians, much less living musicians make it onto a stamp?A couple of years ago An Post (that's the Irish Post office) issued four stamps each featuring a different Irish group that have been instrumental in bringing Irish music to a worldwide audience. The stamps feature The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, The Dubliners, The Chieftains, and Altan.

The Celtic tribes will gather for the Altan 25th anniversary show this coming Sunday. I'll be the one in the back, pouring Guiness. Yikes! It's been about 20 years since I first saw Altan at eh Cedar! They really do call the Cedar their "home from home." Sláinte everyone!

The Full Report

2010-03-21T16:20:00.007-05:00

Before I upload my full report on SXSW 2010, with short notes on every artist of which I saw at least one full tune, here's the overview:

FAVORITES: Smoke Fairies (did not disappoint), Efterklang (as previously reported), and Vadoinmessico are my top three.

HONORABLE MENTION: Jackie Oates, M. Takara 3, DM Stith, Longital, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore's Dear Companion Project, Dengue Fever, and Dan Mangan.

GOOD TRENDS: The complete irrelevance of record company showcases.

BAD TRENDS: "Folk Orchestras" with 6+ people vainly in search of one good song.

BEST STREET VENDOR: A guy with a cardboard sign that said "SHITTY ADVICE."

THE USUAL PET PEEVE: Why go to a music bar at a music festival and just talk loudly with your friends while the band plays?

KUDOS: The folks at NPR Music, who provide incredible coverage before and during the conference, and can be regularly spotted running from showcase to showcase, tweeting, recording, snapping photos and taking notes. These people really work their asses off.

OK, here's the Full Monty:

Day 1

Balmorhea
5pc w/piano/guitar, banjo/guitar, fiddle, cello, dbl bass, drums, some vocalizing. Pretty but BIG. Nice instrumentation but a bit to simple musically.

Zoë Keating
Solo cello with loops. But again, basic 4/4 stuff, nothing particularly interesting going on musically.

Madi Diaz
Madi has a truly great voice, I just wish there were more stand-out tunes like "Let's Go."

Trespassers William
Mostly duo from Seattle. Nice female voice and guitar atmospherics. Interesting, but wore a bit thin for me after a a while.

Dustin O'Halloran
Piano with string quartet. Again, just a bit too simple musically with sting arrangements.

M. Takara 3
Very cool Brazilian trio, electronics, guitar and percussion. Some vocalizing but mostly instrumental. Experimental at times, but always with a groove. A favorite.

Bomba Estereo
Columbian dance band, very uptempo with Spanish rapping. High energy, crowd very into it. Lead singer works it well, although her voice works better rapping... is a bit shrill when singing.

Delhi 2 Dublin
Another high energy crowd pleaser, Canadian band who fuse Indian, Celtic, and beats. Over-the-top stage performance... a bit too much for my taste. But again, the crowd loved 'em.

The Chapin Sisters
Nothing like sister harmonies (Abigail and Lily are daughters of folk singer Tom Chapin and their half-sister Jessica Craven's father is director Wes Craven). Only two of the three though, as Jessica is on maternity leave. Still, great harmonies and acoustic guitars. Too bad it was a noisy bar with bad sound.

Suzanne Vega
I couldn't resist catching the end of her set in St. David's Historic Sanctuary. That voice, and those songs, are like comfort food for me. A short treat!

DM Stith
Now we're talking. A string quartet put to good use! Really interesting music going on here, and Stith has a very listenable voice, and likable demeanor. A nice way to close Day One.

Day 2

Carolina Chocolate Drops
We caught the end of their morning showcase, broadcast live on KUT from the Hilton. An impressive crowd for 10:30 am, who were very enthusiastic. Their star continues to rise.

Brooklyn Rider
NPR Music showcase. Another string quartet, but one with an indie buzz. Great players, supplemented here with dbl bass and percussion. Very impressive. Look for them at the Southern this summer.

Bowerbirds
Another folk-influenced indie band, this one from North Carolina, with a nice sound. Worthy of further listen, although the two songs I was able to hear were fairly unremarkable.

Sharon Van Etten
Female s/s with a guitar. Very nice voice, haunting songs. But a bit lost to the outdoor stage setting at a park on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

Julianna Barwick
Etheral looping vocals. Spacey, pleasant. But again, too much activity in the park for this.

Fishtank Ensemble
Cross-pollinated Gypsy music from California. The instrumentalists in this quartet tear it up! And the singer plays the saw. Fun!

Ben Sollee and Daniel Michael Moore
"Dear Companion" quartet coming to The Cedar. This is really gorgeous stuff. Both guys have beautiful voices, write strong songs and have thoughtful arrangements.

The Black Atlantic
Dutch folk/pop orchestra. Nice sound, but lacked variety. Seemed like every song was in the same key...

The Besnard Lakes
Maybe it was the setting (large, outdoor stage at Stubb's Bar-B-Q), but it sure sounded like arena rock. I was wondering if I was in the right place until they introduced themselves...

Grand Hallway
8-piece folk orchestra. Nice sounds, thoughtful arrangements, but a complete lack of hooks. A lot of these bands make some interesting music, but they need to spend more time writing good songs than arranging them.

Sally Seltmann
Finally, real songwriting! Catchy, clever, compelling. Worthy of further exploration. She co-wrote "1234" with Feist, so you get the idea.

Broadcast 2000
Quirky British pop. Reminded me of Micachu a bit. Lots of fun, but a bit unrelenting.

Efterklang
Superb set. If the crowd size and response is any indication, with their new record on 4AD, these guys could be on the verge. *UPDATE: I've now listened to the record, Magic Chairs, and while it's worthy of further review, it does lack the energy they delivered with the material live...

Longital
Slovakian duo, completely original and exciting. Electronics, funky bass, good tunes, and shredding guitar, sometimes bowed.

The Very Best
African folk music with an 80's rap presentation, propelled by a British DJ. A great way to introduce a new generation of kids to African music.

Day 3

The Deep Dark Woods
Canadian Americana. Nothing particularly distinctive going on here.

Lissie
Soulful voiced s/s from Chicago. That voice sets her apart.

Dengue Fever
Psychedelic rock with trad Cambodian female singer. Unique and cool. Strong live show.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
Bluesy country-rock from Boston. Not my thing, but a fun set with good energy.

The Living Sisters
3-part vocal harmonies by three "sisters" (Becky Stark, Eleni Mandell and Anara George), somewhat reminiscent of The Roches. Great harmonies, and that's what it is.

The Watson Twins
This one was a major clunker for me. Neither the music nor the twins' vocal talents were to my liking.

Black Prairie
Acoustic mish-mash side project with 3 members of The Decemberists. Maybe a bit too much of a mish-mash. It felt like a side project.

Harper Blynn
N.Y. power pop quartet. Catchy songs, high energy, strong 3-part harmonies. Well done.

Gadarene
British folk revivalists. Nice stuff, but I wish they would lose the drum kit. Hand percussion would be much better suited.

Tyler Ramsey
Guy with a guitar and a nice voice. Nothing more.

Lost in the Trees
N.C. folk orchestra. Again, full of musical ideas, way too earnest... and a lack of tunes. Maybe some humor would help?

Halves
Irish genre bender with folk orchestra ambitions but with electric instruments. Just caught the end of the set but it held my interest well.

Admiral Radley
Caught two songs of this new Jason Lytle project. Honestly, it did nothing for me.

Jackie Oates
A former member of the Rachel Unthank clan, she struck out on her own and has accumulated her own awards and accolades. It's easy to see why. This was an exquisite set of largely trad Brit folk. Gorgeous.

Unni Lovlid
Norwegian trad singer, with a percussionist and electronics wizard dude, together they create atmospheric and experimental mind trips. Too bad this one was in a bar.

Son Lux
Electronic and compositional whiz-kid, here with a drummer. A creative composer whose brilliant at dynamics on his recordings. But in a club setting it was mostly loud beat music. Still interesting.

The Unthanks
A new band, with the two sisters, violin and piano as before, supplemented here with bass (acoustic and electric), cello and drums. New material stretches out a bit- for the better.

Day 4

Allo Darlin'
Bouncy British pop, with a ukulele. Fun and energetic.

The Crookes
More high-powered pop, this time with an array of influences, but nothing that convinced me to stay past two songs.

The Middle East
Interesting folk-rock ensemble from Australia. Good vocals, nice harmonies.

Rogue Wave
Strong mid-tempo pop, some good lyrics and songwriting. Pretty timeless. And good humor.

Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit
Solid U.K. troubadour with 4-piece. Good songwriting and strong playing. A touch of British Folk with blues and pop.

Vadoinmessico
Excellent London-based band with distinctive lead vocalist, influences all over the map and some great songs.

Merideth Bragg
Male s/s with keyboard player and drummer. Nice voice, but largely unremarkable.

This Will Destroy You
"Post Rock" with some noise thrown in. Not one of the more particularly interesting bands of the genre, at least not outdoors at 40 degrees and a stiff wind.

Sebastian Schuller
Singer with electronics. Bleeps and boops. I actually nodded off.

Arborea
Maine acoustic couple. Very quiet, wispy music, very pretty at times, but often a bit too unsubstantial.

Dan Mangan
Vancouver s/s with great songs, poignant and humorous, yes, finally, some humor! Great backing band as well. A highlight.

Smoke Fairies
What a great sound, two female voices with timbre and harmonies evocative of classic British folk music, backed by a smokey, bluesy, distinctly American sounding groove. I'm hoping we'll see these guys at our venue soon.

ChocQuibTown
Colombian dance, hip-hop flavored band. Another one that had the crowd going, was more 80's rap crowd call-and-response and hip-hop flavored than anything distinctly Colombian. But they kept the crowd moving!

Can I nap now?

Quick Dispatch from Austin

2010-03-20T10:31:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends! I'll have to save my more extensive SXSW post for my return, but here's a quick update. I have one very long day to go, which I think is about as much as this body can handle. But of course I've got some favorites *so far.* The Thursday night set by Efterklang from Denmark is on the top of my list. If their set was any indication, their new record on 4AD comes in somewhere between sigur rós and Radiohead, which is not a bad place to be, and they are about to blow up. Great sound, great set.

British folk singer Jackie Oates, once a member of the Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, wins for the most exquisite. She goes a bit more trad than the Unthanks, and her trio delivered a truly gorgeous set.

And for sheer off-the-wall enjoyment, I really enjoyed M. Takara 3 from Brazil. It was just the right mix of electronics and real percussion, of experimental and dance groove, of weird and tuneful.
Much more will follow!

* * * *

Let me clarify my call for respectful blog postings about music: I'm not advocating Minnesota nice, and I'm also not concerned with the potty talk. My pet peeve is completely dismissive criticism. Go ahead and tear something apart if you want, just back it up. When I made my now infamous "shlock" comment, I think I was pretty clear that I was complaining specifically about unimaginative and overly saccharine orchestral arrangements. I also mentioned what I liked about both Peter Gabriel and Frank Sinatra. I think we can all still be provocative (if that's the intent) while still giving substance to our criticism. And whether we think the artist will ever play at our venue or not should not be relevant.

Influences

2010-03-18T15:23:00.010-05:00

I own three Box Tops songs, one Big Star song, and no Alex Chilton solo material at all. I no longer own the one related song that I liked at its actual time of release (another Box Tops song, 'Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March'). The others I came upon later when purchasing compilations.

So why did Alex Chilton's death register on my Richter scale? Respect. What Chilton and Big Star did was remarkable not so much for the material itself as for how unusual it was for the time and how it presaged decades of indie pop to come. In the early 70s, other than Big Star only Badfinger and the Raspberries were making power pop records of any note, and those two bands were working with influential labels (although Badfinger's never really did do right by them).

None of those three acts did much for me because I was exploring what seemed more challenging territory like prog, krautrock, and jazz/rock fusion. And now? Most of that stuff is long since banished from my collection, and much of what I love about new music can be found in the roots of the Velvets, Iggy, and yes, Big Star.

I'll leave the Alex tributes to my fellow bloggers and to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AMG. For now...a little video footage from a time long ago.

**********

The above space was going to be devoted to a few lines about the newly-released Runaways biopic. I don't own any of their music, and never have. But they were gate-crashers, as important in their way as Big Star was in theirs.

I'll let Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle say what needs to be said.

**********

Fun post from the Cedar's own Princess the other day. Welcome back! Hi, I'm Veronica...just been keeping your spot warm. And say, a couple of seconds: I'm with you on Grouper, and I'll be curious as to your opinion of the Big Pink/A Place to Bury Strangers show. They were in SF last week and I was tempted to make the trek, but I was concerned it would interfere with my Ovaltine Hour. (Personal opinion: Big Pink is on the right track, while APTBS is already there. Their recent release was a quantum leap.)

**********

Blog verité: I just this minute received in the mail a vintage 1994 Ryko CD, 'Fireproof' by That Petrol Emotion.

In small print at the bottom of the tray card: 'The green CD jewel box is a trademark of Rykodisc.' The wording should have been amended to include loose hub spokes, of which there were characteristically several in this package. My recollection is that Ryko 30-count CD boxes were the heaviest and the noisiest in the business.

Oh, and the CD had a saw cut on its case spine, indicating it was a promotional copy. I wonder if this was a long-overdue mailing from Retail Jane?

**********

Mama E Dub's most recent post included the following question directed at this reporter: 'Will you please explain the difference between types of downloads and the relative qualities thereof, e.g. MPEG, AAC, MP3 or 4? Bit rate? What does it all mean? What does it all matter?'

Oh, dear. I fear I could make the most hardened insomniac drop right off with my typical response. Perhaps the best thing would be to devote a full post on the subject with a health hazard warning at the top; e.g. 'Do not read while operating heavy machinery.'

In short: MPEG and MP4 refer to video compression standards, which I know little about. AAC and MP3 are the two most popular audio compression standards. AAC is Apple-specific: it's the download standard for iTunes and the playback one for iPods. MP3 is the standard most commonly found in the rest of the marketplace (and it, too, is playable on iPods).

The key to the quality of both is bit rate. A friend of mine offers this definition on his website: 'The bit rate of a coded audio file is the number of bits (0's and 1's, in binary terms) that are required to store one second of audio. An mp3 encoded at 128kbps requires 128,000 or so bits to store 1 second of audio. Higher bit rates generally mean better sound quality and a closer representation of the original sound.'

So: the higher the bit rate the better the sound, but also the larger the file...hence reduced song storage capacity on a portable player. The importance of bit rate is entirely user-dependent. If you desire maximum song storage and are willing to trade sound quality to get it, a 128kbps bit rate is okay. Few commercial sites use that anymore, though; 192 and 256 are far more common. 320 is the highest 'lossy' bit rate, and it is generally achieved by ripping CDs and setting the compression software accordingly.

There are endless debates about pros and cons of various standards and bit rates. There are some more exotic compression codecs out there, most notably FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple etc.). These are also generally arrived at via CD ripping; the appeal is that the process knocks a CD songfile down in size by about 40% while retaining the entirety of the original's sound spectrum, and enables users to recreate an original CD's contents when burning from lossless files.

Really, I could go on and on. I'm a bit nuts, myself: all of my music is ALAC files, and as there are over 50,000 of 'em I'm currently using 1.16TB of space to hold everything. On the rear burner is this idea that I should reprocess everything to 320, but I can't get up much of a head of steam for such a CPU-overloading time-waster.

Sheesh. And this is what passes for brevity in my world.

**********

Finally, a word about the recent lovers' spat on these pages.

I'm still digesting the rebuke, but I have more or less arrived here: this wall is not mine to graffiti with impunity; it is owned and maintained by a good, longtime friend. I pledge to respect and abide by whatever guidelines this entails. I would only ask this of my benefactor: Please do not fling about hifalutin terms and opinions linking, say, 'shlock' with 'Sinatra' and expect to go unchallenged.
Lots of love, V.

What's Everybody Smoking? and A Question for Ms. Fever

2010-03-17T11:17:00.002-05:00

I am still a bit amazed at how one song, ONE SONG, by British duo /sometimes quintet Smoke Fairies has torn through the blog squad here in the last few weeks. That voice! The high/low post play...I mean harmonies! (Why yes, I am getting mentally prepared for March Madness.) I sent the link to my sister, who watched the video , bought a download and posted it to her Facebook within a few hours. By the next day she was hearing from "friends" from junior high who loved the song. What did we do before the internet?

Former blogger Mr. William Call downloaded another single of the Fairies, which I snatched up, too. Love the Fairport Convention-esque sound to "Gastown/Riversong."When that fuzz tone hit my left earbud at the end of "Gastown" I actually checked the connection, before the capital letters "NICE!" formed in my brain. By the time the distortion pedal kicked in at 3:20 into "Riversong," the capital letters were at "OH YEAH!" Although the tracks I checked out on their MySpace sounded more like the bluesy early Mazzy Star stuff. Nothing wrong with that for two former choir goof-offs from the south of England who hung out in New Orleans for a while in their youth.

But the free download you get if you join their mailing list right here is back to Fairport land. "Now the Green Blade Rises" could almost be one of the Child Ballads Sandy Denny did so well back in the day. When I was four. But it's actually a 15th century French tune with Easter hymn lyrics from the 1920's. In learning that I stumbled upon the NetHymna l site with hundred of hymns played on the organ with accompanying lyrics, just in case you ever want to hum along with oh, say, "Golden Harps are Sounding." If you don't, the new Fairies album was out on ITunes yesterday.

Even though we now know the Smoke Fairies' rise is being pushed along by the not-so-unseen hand of Jack White-Stripe, and that they have opened for big names like Brian Ferry, I sure hope you can book this band the minute you see them at SXSW.

* * * * * * * *

Regarding other SXSW potentials, I take back my doubts about Bomba Estereo ...at least until somebody verifies their live show. I like their disc Blow Up quite a lot, hitting the repeat button a number of times today. I'm wondering if we should start sending a contingent to check out the bands at the Latin Alternative Music Conference. (Bomba Estereo reportedly tore it up there last year.)

I think I'm free that week...

* * * * * * * *

Welcome back to our long lost blogger Princess. Why don't you write here more? I love your stuff and it cracks me up.

* * * * * * * *

Speaking of cracking me up, ummm....the Main Figurehead's recent call to keep our opinions a little bit, shall we say "Minnesota nice-r". Steady on, there, Mr. Fig! You're the one who started the potty talk, although Ms. Fever did call your Yes album "pompous crap," at least she listened to half of it. Which is more than any of the rest of us are going to do, I'm afraid. This begs the question, however, does she still own a copy herself?

I totally lost it the day Ms. Fevers wrote that she wouldn't know shlock if it "bitch- slapped her while wearing a laminated name tag." I cannot advocated shutting that down. Anyway, I found the entire exchange extremely humorous and think our blog is at its best when the opinions and critiques fly back and forth. While I agree that it's not in our best interests to say mean things about bands with whom the Cedar actually has a relationship, I'd say Yes and Peter Gabriel probably aren't stopping by any time soon.

* * * * * * * *

The real question I have for the Feves is this. Will please explain the difference between the different types of downloads and the relative qualities thereof. MPEG, AAC, MP3 or 4. Bit rate. What does it all mean? What does it all matter? Thank you, ma'am.

* * * * * * * *

Continuing on the what does it all matter theme, will somebody explain to me why I should give a * * * * about Massive Attack. What's the deal? I plowed though Hell-Legoland the other day and really, really wondered what why I should care. In keeping with the new Minnesota Nice policy, I won't say what I really thought...but let's just say I had to hit forward to stagger through some of those tunes. I know some readers of this blog are really into it...Is it just me? Or is it you all?

* * * * * * * *

I'm quite psyched for all of the upcoming West Bank/West Africa shows at the Cedar, but I'm also rather looking forward to the Las Rubia's del Norte show on April 3rd. Amazing classically -trained vocal harmonies, high, high up in the stratospheric soprano range on what sounds like Latin music from the 1930s. The singers say their recent album Ziguala imagines pop music in a world where mambos and rumbas were never replaced by rock and roll. I can hear the little chicha touches (Olivier Conan from Chicha Libre is a band member) but most of the sound is rather formal, and oddly beguiling. It's "you have to be in the mood" music, but when you slow down and get yourself there, Las Rubias will provide the soundtrack for another time and place.

* * * * * * *

Last but not least, word on the street has it that lovers of the deep soul monthly DJ party Club Hot Pants will no longer have to travel north on Washington avenue to find the funk. The event has outgrow the smallish confines of Club Jag and starts up soon in our neighborhood at the roomy Bedlam Theater. Not sure if it will still be on the second Saturday or not.

Can't get enough MNDR

2010-03-16T10:18:00.008-05:00

I discovered electronica musician MNDR when some friends and I took the trip down to Northfield, MN a few weeks back to see YACHT at Carleton College's "The Cave." My delight with Bobby Birdman and MNDR and subsequent lack of enthusiasm for YACHT's performance reminded me of when I saw Jose Gonzalez at The Cedar years back: Openers Psapp and Juana Molina blew me away while I was less than impressed with the headliner. It definitely helps that Birdman and MNDR are both total hotties:

MNDR sounds like the techno-y version of my fave musician, Mikhaela Yvonne Maricich, who performs as The Blow. Both put on one woman shows with undeniably catchy beats.

Attending a show at The Cave is a whole other story that might be helpful to describe here. I sometimes forget that college students aren't really successfully engaging with the rest of the world yet: There was an unusually high percentage of young people kissing each other on the dance floor, awkwardly sitting on couches during this loud electronica concert, and just up to weird stuff generally. I went into the one-stall bathroom shortly before the show started and was greeted by a scene reminiscent of a gossip girl episode: Three young girls were gathered in the small bathroom sort of posturing around. One was leaning against the wall and another had her leg propped up on the windowsill while drinking out of a flask. She said, "oh sorry. We're just commiserating. Or something." My friends and I were further reminded that we were out of place and, well, OLD when we noticed that we were the only folks there who decided it was a good idea to drink the three-two beer they sell at the concessions stand. Everyone else had Nantucket Nectars and plastic water bottles full of colorful liquids, presumably all spiked with Gordon's. The whole scene made the entire experience sort of fascinating and I'd even say delightful; it definitely broke the mold of my average concert-going experience.

The Cave is a strange space for a show. It's small, and unless you're directly in the front, you can't really see anything on stage. There were problems with the sound system: It kept sputtering out and caused many of the stimulation-hungry college students to leave early. When I got on my tip toes to check out what was happening on stage after a few minutes of dead air, I saw MNDR up there just pumping her fist.

I rushed to my emusic account when I got home the night after the show but was disappointed to discover that only one of her songs is available for download. But check this out:

It appears that she'll be popping around Austin next week during SXSW, so I'm trying o convince Angel of Rock and Main Figurehead to check her out.

In other news, here are a few albums that have been on rotation in my iTunes. A lot of this really hits that sweet spot of sleepy and poppy. Pretty good to listen to while working.
Local Natives / Gorilla Manor (2010)
Islands / Vapours (2009)
Grouper / Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill (2008)
JJ / no3 (2010)

And here are some upcoming shows that I'm super excited about.

THURSDAY MAR 18 @ First Ave / The Big Pink with A Place to Bury Strangers

SATURDAY MAR 20 @ The Cedar / Oddsac: Animal Collective's new visual album. You don't want to miss this, it looks crazy! Band members will be here.

TUESDAY MAR 30 @ The Cedar / Habib Koite

FRIDAY APR 2 @ Triple Rock / High Places, Tobacco, The Hood Internet

SATURDAY APR 3 @ Turf Club / Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bear in Heaven

SUNDAY APR 4 @ The Cedar / Beach House
SUNDAY APR 4 @ First Ave / Passion Pit

Plus The Cedar's West Africa, West Bank shows the following weekend: Bassekou Kouyate and Baaba Maal.

The List

2010-03-13T09:02:00.003-06:00

I've now assembled my schedule for the South By Southwest Music Conference which begins in Austin, Texas this coming Wednesday the 17th. Last week I included video clips of three bands I had identified as rising to the top of my "must see" priority list. In the end, that list ended up being around 20 artists total, and I'll highlight a few more with video clips while providing links for the others.

Bomba Estereo from Columbia. This is another example of the new face of "world music:"

The Living Sisters, a trio consisting of Wendy Stark of Lavendar Diamond, Inara George and Eleni Mandell:

Vadoinmessico U.K.-based with a unique and wonderful sound well suited for The Cedar:

And these:
Black Prairie (bluegrass side-project by members of The Decemberists)
Delhi 2 Dublin
Dengue Fever
Fishtank Ensemble
Gong Myoung
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit
Longital
M. Takara 3
Natalia Mallo
Quantic
Sharon Van Etten
Son Lux
The Chapin Sisters
The Very Best

These bands get slotted first on my agenda. The schedule is then filled in with choices from my next level of about 80 additional artists that made my final cut, based on such loose criteria as bands that are likely to be available for booking, and music that I think would work well at The Cedar (either by fitting our mission or by playing to the strengths we have as a music venue, ideally both). Of course there are a few things that I just personally want to check out but are not likely to book. And then it all has to fit within a reasonable logistical framework... one band on my list may get the nod over another band because it's three blocks as opposed to ten from the showcase before it.

This is always a very interesting exercise. In many ways it is an intensive microcosm of how the booking decisions get made... there are simply too many options, and we can't do (or learn about) everything. So filters get put in place. When faced with the task of going through a list of 1700 bands, certain compromises must be made. There may be another Kid Koala at SXSW, but I simply can't explore every DJ option to find him or her. So entire categories, like Punk, Metal, and DJs are filtered out. But that's not to say I would never book artists in those genres.

Outside input is invaluable. I would not have learned about, never mind booked, Kid Koala had it not been for both fellow blogger Zuppa di Banjo (whatever happened to him, btw?) and The Current super-dj Mark Wheat recommending that I go see him at the Calgary Folk Music Festival last summer. There are a number of names on my final SXSW list that landed there as a result of suggestions from other presenters, Cedar staffers, board members and volunteers, and a few loyal blog readers. Thank you all!

It's also reassuring that not only will fellow bloggers Angel of Rock and Sgt Pepper be in attendance this year, rumor has it that so will that elusive Banjo guy. The more eyes and ears, the better!

* * * * *

While I'm gone, I'm pretty bummed that I'm going to miss some upcoming Cedar shows that I'm particularly excited about. On the top of the list, on the 18th, is the fabulous Del McCoury Band. These guys are in a class of their own... outstanding musicianship, great ensemble playing, and a truly classic American sound. I love the choreography of their live show, each member stepping up to the microphone to sing or to solo (and raising their instrument to be better heard). These guys don't use stage monitors because they hone their sound to be such a perfect blend directly from the stage:

Then, after a spectacular throat singing ensemble from Tuva on the 19th, Alash, who blew folks away when they recently appeared in Béla Fleck and the Flectones Christmas show, we are pleased to screen the regional premier of a new "visual album" from director Danny Perez and the band Animal Collective, called ODDSAC, on Saturday the 20th. From the following trailer, and reviews from viewers at Sundance, this promises to be an intense experience:

* * * * *

With almost each posting, one particularly loyal fellow blogger puts out the bait, and then waits patiently for the reaction. As a result, one week it's taking issue with defining certain music as "shlock" by making my farts don't stink pronouncements such as "the more music I hear, the less I find to dismiss as inferior," only to turn around in two weeks and deliver the verdict that certain music is "laughably pompous crap!" (Ha! Don't you just love it when we are reduced to excrement and flatulence! And isn't the exclamation point always helpful to tip you to laugh at that moment!).

Perhaps I opened this Pandora's Box with my "shlock" review of a recent recording. All art is personal, and we're bound to step on some toes, if not actually offend, with almost any negative criticism of it. But I'd like to propose to my fellow bloggers that somewhere between "shlock" and "pompous crap" we accept that there is a line which should not be crossed in this public forum. We all have opinions, otherwise this would be a really boring read. Some should just stay in private emails to old friends.

I Got Nothin'

2010-03-11T14:55:00.001-06:00

Oh, maybe a coupla updates...first, I made it through two whole sides of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans.' Tell you what: I'll leave the reviewing to a faithful Cedar blog reader who did the same and sent me this post mortem: "Hell no. It's still laughably pompous crap!" I'll be charitable and suggest they were attempting to compose rhapsodies. Maybe they succeeded. I really don't know.

Also...watched 'Inglourious Basterds' the other night, and I'd put it at the top of my chart for 2009. Way better than 'American Beauty,' surely, which wasn't even the best movie of its release year. That honor belongs to the movie below, as depicted by Justin Reed.

And finally...at long last I've started to understand the appeal of The Drive-By Truckers. You probably know all about them and can quote chapter and verse...but on the off-chance you don't, a nice starting point is their second-most recent album, ' Brighter Than Creations Dark.' Just a thought: run 'The Man I Shot' and 'The Purgatory Line' back-to-back for openers.

**********

So let's fire up the blog-o-matic. Hit 'random' on your iPod. What are the first (or next) ten songs that come up? Here are mine:

1. Slowdive -- 'Catch the Breeze.' I remember when I first became aware of the Britpop sub-category 'shoegaze.' In 1992 a co-worker played me Curve's EP 'Frozen.' The opener, 'Coast Is Clear,' knocked me right over. Their first full-length, 'Doppelganger,' finished me off. From there it was on to other practitioners of the category, including Slowdive. 'Catch the Breeze' is from their first album, and is the title track of their career-spanning anthology.

2. The London Metropolitan Orchestra -- 'Sharon.' This is from the score to the movie 'Cashback.' Seen it? No? Got Netflix instant? It's there. Lovely, funny little British rom-com with a surprisingly introspective soundtrack (speckled with the occasional pop song) composed and compiled by Guy Farley. If you do see it, stick around for the closing credits and the track, 'She' by Grand Avenue. Yeah, so it has that Coldplay stadium sound. This is MY iPod. MY guilty pleasures.

3. Citay -- 'Fortunate Son' from their latest album, 'Dream Get Together.' I love this outfit. They fit squarely in the psych-folk category, but with an occasional metal edge that even headbangers can approve of. My minor quibble with this album is that the vocals are a bit more prominent than those in the prior two, but it doesn't detract much from the sound, which is pure aural candy.

4. Smoke Fairies -- 'Sushine.' This British duo offers an update of the Brit-folk sound (Fairport Convention being a logical touchstone) with a dash of bluesier grit. There is quite a buzz surrounding them; they have even been mentioned on these pages a time or two. Our intrepid blogging crew is headed for South by Southwest and are being implored by those who have been left behind to see Smoke Fairies.

5. Nick Lowe -- 'Heart of the City' from 'Jesus of Cool.' Rockpile was my favorite band, ever. That'll do for an encomium.

6. The Handsome Family -- 'A Beautiful Thing' from 'In the Air.' Who doesn't love Brett's rich baritone and Rennie's dark lyrics? If I had to pick a favorite song of theirs, I'd go with 'The Snow White Diner' from 'Twilight,' but there is sure a lot to choose from.

7. Nick Curran & The Nitelifes -- 'Nitelife Boogie.' Curran is yer basic hot T-Bone Walker disciple, although he recently underwent a sound change for his new one called 'Reform School Girl,' in which he demonstrates his love for 50s rock 'n roll, and Little Richard in particular. Fun stuff, this.

8. Yann Tiersen -- 'Les Enfants' from 'Les Retrouvailles.' Tiersen is a French composer best known for his score for 'Amelie.' This album is a standalone that is quite representative of his styles, and includes vocals by Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, and Tindersticks' Stuart Staples. A recent favorite around Chez Fever.

9. Liz Durrett -- 'Always Signs' from 'Outside Our Gates.' Durrett is a singer/songwriter who also happens to be Vic Chesnutt's niece. Hers is a spare, sometimes haunting sound, although this album has sprightlier moments than her first two. Her second, 'Mezzanine,' hit my Top 10 for 2006. I think she would appeal to fans of Azure Ray and their spinoffs.

10. Eels -- 'Jungle Telegraph.' I remember where I was when I first heard this song: inside Le Virgin Megastore on the Champs de Elysee. Did you see the Nova episode about Mark Everett and his late physicist father Hugh titled 'Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives?' I'll bet the writers for 'Lost' sure did.

**********

This would be the logical spot for a flip little closer, but I got nothin.' Cheers.

Digital Economy Bill... Yikes!

2010-03-10T12:26:00.001-06:00

So don't be getting sassy online next time you're in England. New rules clamping down on downloads at internet cafes and other WiFi hotspots as well as libraries have British bloggers pissed. Or maybe I should say they have their knickers in a twist. The Digital Economy Bill would penalize free internet providers for any kind of extra-legal file sharing or downloads that happen on their premises. The rave law gone digital?

Near as I can tell, the pertinent section "imposes obligations on internet service providers to reduce online copyright infringement, and allows the Secretary of State to amend copyright legislation to the same end." I'd translate that in Americanish as "We'll come after yer coffee house if some joker downloads a torrent at one of your tables."

(Insert exasperated curse of your choice here. Eye roll optional)

I have to wonder who is behind this one. Not being familiar with any of the members of the House of Lords, (guess I ought to keep up better with the tabloids) I really cannot say whether the sponsor has any connection to the music industry or not.

Ah, yes. Here we are at Westminster Palace, ready to pull the plug on WiFi.

Do you think they really plan to enforce this? I can imagine cops busting in to a quiet university library, shaking down some dweeb with a laptop, then heading over to the circulation desk to pull the plug on their router. British business tech site ZDX UK has a slightly different vision of their future. One of the BBC tech bloggers has links to the actual wording of the bill as well as to some rather charged opinions of it.

In addition, according to the Guardian, the Clause 17 section "gives a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against a website accused of hosting a “substantial” amount of copyright-infringing material, potentially forcing the entire site offline." So would that only work for British sites, or could they go after, say, Pirate Bay or Napster?

Whew! I'll try to keep you posted as things develop over there.

* * * * * * *

In an absolutely unrelated topic, while looking for some more Hasna el Becharia tracks to check out (see last weeks post), I stumbled upon this lengthy review of the Musiques Metisses Festival from 2002 linked from the Afropop site. The list of artists at the three day event is mind blowing (Ali Farka Touré', King Sunny Adé, Habib Koite, Cesaria Evora, Lo'Jo, Amadou and Mariam, Hasna el Becharia to name a few) but the hidden gem here is his comments of one of the first European performance of the then-unknown Tinariwen! Here's a link to last year's artist list, just in case you want to keep ahead of the curve in African music. The 2010 artist list isn't up yet, but here's the poster so you can save the dates.

* * * * * * *

Jumping around some more, Cedar faves Balkan Beat Box are putting the finishing touches on their new disc, Blue Eyed Black Boy. I'm just not going to say anything about that title. Official U.S. release is April 27, but supposedly early downloads can be had from their website this Thursday, March 11. Of course their politics are always in the right place; the first track out there is called "War Again." Take a listen on their MySpace. They had a nice little making-of vid which I posted a few months ago...being lazy and at the end of my lunch hour just now, I'll just guess you can find it at the link above as well.

Starring Tomar Yosef as The Boxer, Ori Kaplan as The Trainer and
Tamir Muskat as The Gambler.

You can also see cartoon Tomar, Ori and Tamir fend off the bombs of the evil war-monger with brass band power in the "War Again" video on their site. I've never been much into Yosef's rapping, but it's smoother here and the horns really drive this tune.

* * * * * * *

In a slightly related note, BBB fans may want to check out this piece by sometimes BBB guitarist Jeremiah Lockwood on his journey to Mali and the Festival au Deser t with his band Sway Machinery. He writes thoughtfully about being an "out" Jew in a very Muslim country.

* * * * * * *

In another hot off the press note, get yourself psyched for Grupo Fantasma's Cedar show in June by checking out this "making of" vid for their new disc El Existential. They rented a house in North Austin, left all their gear in there for three months, then jammed and experimented and had what looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear the tunes; disc's out May 11.

Prince did not come by, but Meat Puppet Curt Kirkwood did, as did master Latin pianist Larry Harlow.

And that's all the news that's fit to print. Wish our blogging team well down at SXSW next week. I hear out newbie, Sgt. Pepper is also planning to make the trek Austin-wards, along with Main Figurehead and the Angel of Rock. Find some good stuff for us, gang!

Movies and Music

2010-03-06T11:06:00.009-06:00

The year was 1999. I had just seen the film American Beauty, and after Magnolia, which I had seen just before, I remember marveling at the current state of American cinema. This was also the year of Being John Malkovich, Dogma, Matrix, the first Austin Powers movie, and Office Space.

At that time, as a member of the recording industry, I was envious that films with genuine craft, depth, and artistic aspiration were receiving mainstream distribution, selling well, and receiving awards (American Beauty won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director). Meanwhile, the U.S. recording industry was well on its way to the bottom. In particular there seemed to be a complete lack of creativity and aesthetic available in any way via the major recording companies. Independent labels were hurting, and Napster was just coming upon the scene... it was launched in mid-1999, but by the end of the year was only still largely relegated to tech geeks. The internet was not yet being used as a significant distribution point for music. 1999 may have been the last year that the majors controlled the game, and they were clearly blowing it.

Fast forward 10 years. This coming Sunday the Oscars will be presented to the best films of 2009. They've expanded the Best Picture nominations from 5 to 10 films, and I've seen all 10. And there's nothing even close to American Beauty among them. You won't find films of that merit right now in the "indie" cinemas right now either. The independent film business is hurting, especially distribution, and 2009 may be best remembered as the year that Disney, the owner of the iconic independent film company Miramax, downsized that division to a level which virtually guarantees its irrelevance.

Meanwhile, one could argue that the veritable death of the recording business has been great for music. Albums by artists like Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, and Animal Collective are now getting serious radio play, and penetrating the Billboard Top 20. Access to music of all kinds has never been easier... all you need is an internet (or cell phone data) connection. Maybe there was this much interesting music out there in 1999 and nobody had access to it, but that's clearly not an issue now. Maybe the same is true of the film business 10 years later... and it will take a major change in the business model for consumers to have access to the really good stuff...

* * * *

I've yet to take my second pass at my SXSW artist list, but as promised here are three that are near the top for checking out:

Smoke Fairies (U.K.)

Efterklang (Denmark)

Link here for the widescreen.

ChocQuibTown (Columbia)

Spiral

2010-03-04T15:10:00.004-06:00

Just spent ten minutes wandering around the local Borders store. To the casual eye the place looked okay, but to me it seemed ever-more like a slow motion train ride to oblivion.

I was there looking for the new Tammy Wynette biography, 'Tragic Country Queen.' It came out Tuesday and has been heavily reviewed, but was not on the shelves or in the store computer as having been received. On hold with the publisher? In an unopened box in the back room? Who knows? A helpful store assistant did offer to order one for me.

As music-related books were located near the CDs, I had a look at what remains of those: a couple of short rows of half-full racks, with no rhyme or reason to the stock. Why do they bother? Again: they could have gone in with a dozen or so listening posts stocked only with titles chosen by on-staff music lovers and been a go-to tastemaker. I'm assuming the CDs that do remain are there because there is already too much open floor space and not enough unstocked good-selling book titles remaining to bring in. Or they simply can't return any more CDs to music suppliers they no longer deal with.

Finally, a walk toward the exit brought me to a stock cart holding ten copies of the 2010 Baseball Prospectus, which was not yet on the sports section shelves. This book dropped ten days ago; I had mine in hand the next day. A title like that sells to fanatics who know exactly when it hits; the sales window is approximately street date to Tax day. 20% of that window is gone.

The death spiral accelerates.

**********

Since the Cedar blog's intramural scrum over the value of music and the state of its digital commerce landscape, I've come to revise one opinion a bit: free is an unworkable model.

The recent announcement that Warner Music would no longer license its content to free ad-supported streamers actually seemed like a bit of sanity, coming though it does from such an unlikely source.

On the heels of that arrived this story out of the Digital Music Forum East conference, in which a market analyst declared that while customizable radio services like Pandora do help sales, free all-you-can-eat music buffets are a sales hindrance.

So while my heart was a bit tugged by the announcement that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would no longer be available on Hulu's free streaming service, I sorta shrugged and got the message.

I'll continue to beat the drum for paid on-demand subscription services, though. People who will pony up $10-15 per month are, by and large, more serious about their music...and if my habits are any indication, that seriousness still translates to actual purchases.

**********

My latest needle-dropping jag brought an unusually high hit rate. I could go on about the silly-good retro fun of King Khan & BBQ Show, the solid pop craft of My Robot Friend's star-studded latest, the sweetly sad Dakota Suite, or the unexpected Primal Scream-esque brilliance of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's new one...

For Cedar devotees, though, I'd choose Holly Miranda. She sang in a Brooklyn outfit called The Jealous Girlfriends (and am I alone in wondering just how many bohemian lofts there are per capita in that borough?) and has just released an album called 'The Magician's Private Library.' Singer-songwriter albums are so ubiquitous that special qualities are of the utmost necessity. They're here: atmospheric, often delicate arrangements which suit her voice particularly well, unobtrusive but imaginative production flourishes by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio), and accessible but somehow inscrutable lyrics and vocals.

Here is a bit of Holly Miranda; more songs from the album can be found here.

**********

Then again, maybe nothing will do but eight minutes of propulsive Spacemen 3-style fuzz. Mash on Moon Duo's 'Motorcycle, I Love You.' You've been warned. Cheers.

On and Off the Charts

2010-03-03T12:26:00.004-06:00

I'm putting this one out there right now...my prediction for the hot festival pick for 2011. Check out these barefoot Germans and their horns in LaBrassBanda. easy name to remember, too. Tuba, trombone, trumpet, bass and drums with occasional vocals. Last fall's Übersee has a funkier sound, but you get the idea of how much fun they're having from this little clip of a more trad Balkan-y sound.

Their other videos can be goofier. There is a long two-parter of one the band members driving a tractor hauling the tuba and drum kit through the countryside followed by the rest of them of mopeds. I'd bet it's funnier in German. This part is funny in English: their MySpace site tag describes them as "Bavarian/Brass/Punk" and another says "Other/Other/Other." One fan wrote from Italy askng if they would tour there and offering the use of his van. Is that all it would take?

They played Rothskilde last summer and are touring their brains out this summer. Let's watch and see if Übersee makes it onto the Euro world charts this spring or they are picked up by WOMEX or one of the other biggies by fall.

Just to save potential loss in the scroll-down, I'll quote Lemez Lovas' Songlines review here.

The Süddeutsche funkateers are back with a bang. For those listeners who were lucky enough to stumble across last year’s Habediehre, it was the shock of the season: a Bavarian five-piece, just three horns, vocals, electric bass and drums, performing their own songs in the local dialect. But what singer Stefan Dettl does with this combination is beyond any expectation: there’s a straight-up pop sensibility as sharp as that of MGMT or any of the latest alt-electro-pop hyphenated genres. And with Übersee, LaBrassBanda might just have delivered the surprise underground hit of the year. Three things leap out: killer US R&B-style grooves and licks; top musicianship; and a totally cliché-free approach. It kicks so hard that it really doesn’t matter if you understand the words or not. Opening track ‘Bierzelt’ sounds like Beyoncé opening Oktoberfest; ‘Des Konnst Glam’ is a swinging blow-out with all the funk of 70s legends Brass Construction; ‘Ringlbleame’ does the same with the added bonus of a hook-laden pop chorus; while on ‘Nanana’, they show they can also play it as sweet and spiritual as a New Orleans shout band. It’s fresh, confident and totally unlike anything else out there. Get onto this before everyone else does.

Tracks from Übersee are not up on Lala or on their MySpace for some reason. Grrr. Find yourself a link to "Des Konnst Glam" (sorry it's only a 30 second-er) and then try to sit still. Here's a Last.fm link, too. No head nodding, no toe tapping, no patting your hand on the desk, no hip shaking, no strutting! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! There is some kind of pure brass joy blowing out of these tunes.

* * * * * * *

In one of my meandering searches to put names and faces to uncredited amazing female vocal tracks, I came across a wonderful interview with the Bulgarian architect Nikola Gruev, getting attention as Kottarashky (four months on the Euro World charts top 20) for his wonderful homegrown sample mosaic Opa Hey. (Regular readers may remember a mention of the disc last fall as I was enticed to listen to "Long Song" over and over while watching football.) I was trying to find out who was the owner of that husky voice in "Long Song" and found out it's from a field recording he made at a wedding!

Well. I guess it might be tricky to track down her solo disc!

The tunes on Opa Hey a a great example of something that doesn't work at all with the 30 second sample. The carefully constructed collages subtly build layer upon layer, a few vocal syllables here, a waft of clarinet there, a sprinkle of trumpet or accordion over there. The rhythm tracks are also carefully built up out of samples from field recordings, though not all from traditional percussion sources. The tunes get more interesting with each listen as your ears and brain tease out another tiny element, carefully placed to create his vision of the next generation of Balkan music. Great, interesting long interview from Bulgarian? German? blogger with stories and maps from his journeys around Bulgaria collecting his sound samples.

Here's the Guardian review if you just can't get enough. There are full length song samples at the first link of his name.

* * * * * * *

Another item on some of the the March charts that bears more listening is Algerian-born Hansa el Becharia's new disc Smaa Smaa. Although not bluesy at all, I can imagine this appealing to fans of Tinariwen's more stripped down stuff. Simple, elegant, a weathered yet warm voice, nice female backing vocals over a hypnotic stringed instrument. Here are some samples.
What the heck is that thing she's playing? Maybe it's some sort of gumbri? Acccording to the article in the link above, she's more know as an electric guitar player. She's hitting most of the big cities in Eastern Canada in late July, maybe somebody will catch her at one of the Canadian festivals. Let me know!

Manifesto

2010-03-02T13:33:00.001-06:00

Hello out there in cyberspace. This is my first contribution to the Cedar blog after having worked at the Cedar over a year and it is truly an honor to be joining such thoughtful music appreciators on the Cedar’s interweb home. I’m not really one to force other people to read about my meandering personal opinions, there’s enough people doing that already out there on the internet. I joined the Cedar blog so that I could have an opportunity to sit down with some of the amazingly talented artists that come through the Cedar and talk with them about their music. I specifically hope to examine how the wide range of music we host at the Cedar fits into what we’re doing here in this kooky little niche of Minneapolis called the West Bank and further how that ties into national and international trends in music. I’m approaching this contributing blogger role as a musician myself, so much of my focus will be on artists’ approach to their craft and how they see themselves tying in to what we do at the Cedar. I hope that by interviewing different artists every week, from the local level to the international, and posting their responses that my contributions will shed light on effective approaches to handle the multi-faceted music industry of today. Specifically I hope to show how unique the Cedar is in providing such quality of music from such a variety of genres. In these hard economic times when funding for the arts is constantly on the chopping block of government planning, the Cedar has risen to meet budget challenges and has actually seen record growth at a time when other organizations have gone under. I am incredibly lucky to be a part of the Cedar and really feel like something special is happening here. With my limited journalistic talents I hope to document this time in Cedar history like Kerouac did the listless lifestyle of the Beats, like Hunter S. Thompson did the post-60s identity crisis of the Love Generation, like J.K. Rowling did the teen angst and drama of a British wizard boarding school. Stay tuned for my next post when I sit down with bassist Jesse Schuster of local sweethearts Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles after their recent Valentine’s Day concert.

ONE LOVE!

The 1-2 Punch (and Laura)

2010-02-27T09:42:00.003-06:00

The month of March opens with two of my personal faves at The Cedar. On Monday the first, those Punch Brothers return (in fact, they will be blanketing the region, with shows after us in La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Platteville and Chicago). You may recall I previously posted about these guys when I saw them in New York last month. And I would put them up with my good friends Väsen among the very best acoustic ensembles in the world today. What sets the Punch boys apart is the full breadth of the music they play. Their original compositions defy categorization, and they've been know to play arrangements of J.S. Bach to Radiohead, even in the same set.

This is one of those bands that is so good- where all of the individual musicians are virtuosic talents, yet the whole is still greater than the rather large sum of the parts, that no music lover should ever miss an opportunity to see them. Mandolinist (and singer) extraordinaire Chris Thile, still best known as a founding member of Nickel Creek, is high in demand as a session player and general great guy to work with. So while this is this band's fourth Cedar appearance in three years (the first time as "Chris Thile's How To Build A Band"), don't take seeing them for granted!

Here's a brand new YouTube video of a new song we're likely to here on Monday:
(To see the full screen you'll have to go to this link).

We can reasonably call the following night's show Laura Veirs "Plus"... "plus" being the two opening acts, also Northwest-based acoustic folks worth hearing, The Old Believers and Cataldo. "Plus" also being Laura's own band, Hall of Flames, and although this is Laura's third visit to The Cedar, it will be her first with a band. And finally, "plus" because Laura is about 7.5 months pregnant!

Her new album, July Flame has already been called "the best album of 2010" by The Decemberists' Colin Meloy, which when I think about it, is hard to argue with (although it is only the end of February, after all...

* * * *

I've finished my first complete pass through the enormous SXSW A through Z Showcase List and I'm now down to a more manageable list of about 300 bands to choose from. Next step: a more detailed and discriminating pass, plus filtering by venue and logistics. But I'm very much taking suggestions, and eagerly awaiting the annual All Songs Considered program where their staff goes through their own SXSW picks. Maybe next week I'll start posting promising discoveries that I hope to check out in Austin. But please, anyone out there, check the list yourself and send along your suggestions!

What my last.fm doesn't know

2010-02-26T10:03:00.002-06:00

I have some secrets to share with you. You are familiar with last.fm? It does thing called "scrobbling." It keeps track of all the music you listen to on your computer or mp3 listening device. This is so that you can look at similar artists and find people with similar tastes in music. I am new to the site, so there may be more to it than that. But there are some things it doesn't know.

1) I have been listening to tapes in a very specific way. I have instated Out of Time mornings and Soul Tune Saturdays. These have been good decisions.

2) Paul Westerberg's Come Feel Me Tremble has been on repeat in my CD player.

3) Within the last 24 hours I got to hear live renditions of both Elliott Smith and Margot And The Nuclear So and So's in my living room.

4) By the end of this weekend I will have listened through to all of the artists playing at SXSW whose names begin with "R."

5) Somehow, after all this, at the coop yesterday this was the song stuck in my head.

Plain Oatmeal Opinions

2010-02-25T13:48:00.004-06:00

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously wrote in an article for Rolling Stone that shlock was difficult to intelligibly define, but 'I know it when I hear it.' (Admittedly, I may not have this 100% correct, but it is now committed to the internet archives and therefore potentially as accurate as any other 'historical document.')

Main Figurehead knows shlock. It's in the arrangements of Peter Gabriel's latest, Nelson Riddle's (and, presumably, Gordon Jenkins's) work with Frank Sinatra (and, presumably, Nat King Cole), and Phil Spector's over-dubbing work on 'Let it Be.'

The self-same Mr. Fig then devoted an entire blog post to extolling the boundless virtues of Yes's 'Tales from Topographic Oceans,' an album that many consider the poster-child for mid-70s cultural claptrap. I was a huge Yes fan, but they lost me right there, right then. Heck, even one of the band's members, Rick Wakeman, couldn't tolerate it. (But he was a meat-eater and therefore given to irrational judgments on a wide range of issues.)

I've had 'shlock' percolating on my back-burner for two weeks. The kitchen has lost its homey Rachael Ray ambience and now reeks of something remotely sulphuric. So here: try some.

First of all, I couldn't pick shlock out of a lineup if it bitch-slapped me while wearing a laminated name-tag. F'rinstance...I can draw a straight line from Roy Orbison to Chris Isaak to Raul Malo to Andrea Bocelli, and ain't no one gonna tell me Roy's operettas lack artistic merit. I had a military / farmer dad with whom I did battle throughout much of the 70s, but I still love his favorites like Henry Mancini and Julie London. (My residual 'dad protest' is hating the SF 49ers, by the way). I believe 'Strangers in the Night' is one of the greatest 45s ever waxed.

I get it, though. Strong opinions are what make music blogs (and cable news shows and so much of our daily discourse) go. We gotta pick a side and bloviate lest we come off all grey and mealy. But honestly, what's a girl to do?:

The more music I hear, the less I find to dismiss as inferior. I find that most negatives I ascribe are simply contrarian. Such as...The Avett Brothers: Lauded by critics, slobbered over by otherwise dignified friends...yet I find the vocals unlistenable. Or present day Top 40: boring, all signs of life focus-grouped away. Or American Idol: Give me chickens cackling in a barn.

Yet these moments of bravado are fleeting, for I know the truth: the music I dislike was intended for other ears. My overt opining is simply transparent provocation. So while I would like to grab a pitchfork the next time a beloved indie band is thrashed for signing a major-label contract and hopping a hot rail to Shlockville, my id will keep my tongue in my head. For I know that this particular argument has been fatuous from its inception.

Oh, and Tales from Topographic Oceans? I haven't heard it for 35 years, but I am now compelled to try it with new ears. For I do believe this about music and the test of time: if you can listen to a favorite album from your youth decades later and hear musical merit even when stripped of nostalgia value, then maybe you really are hearing a masterpiece.

**********

More mash, anyone? While I tend to deduct points for tempo alterations to make the pieces fit, this one is an exception that makes the rule:

But Is It Music Misuse?

2010-02-24T10:13:00.000-06:00

An emergency phone call came in Sunday evening as I was peacefully enjoying a night off from the household Olympics obsession.

"Quick! Run to the TV! You have to see these horrible ice dancing costumes!" urged DJ Blanche. So run to the living room I did, just in time to catch the multicolored rags the Russian ice dancing team called the "Aboriginal Original" as Blanche accused them of blatant misuse of Hungarian gypsy music. Hopefully, she'll write in with more of her misgivings about the whole multi-culti ice dancing mash up mish mash and I can present that to you in this space.

Yikes!...in so many ways.

For this reporter...there's a reason I ignore the ice dancing. Hate the costumes and cheesy moves and big fake smiles. Yech! Where is the class of Shen and Zhou when we need it?

But the incident has caused me to muse on that whole big issue of (TAH-tum) cultural appropriation. When is it stealing? When is it sampling? What's respectful and what's not? Is it better to give credit where credit is due or is that insulting the intelligence of your audience? Or maybe it's the job of those websites that list all the songs sampled in various tunes.

Here's DJ Blanche on round 2.

I can't believe more wasn't made of the inappropriate music accompanying the Fauxborigine costumes last night. I'd have liked to have seen the looks on the faces of various Hungarian musicians. Hey, hey! Wait a minute! That music's not from Australia, it's from Hungary!

Things were of a higher caliber tonight, but oh, that tired, tired music. If rules are going to be enacted, how about outlawing any more use of "Phantom of the Opera" and "Ave Maria" for the next century?

Setting aside the "tired, tired music" issue for the time being, I do have to wonder about how Russian ice dancers represent traditional folk culture with Hungarian Gypsy music mashed over a didgeridoo sample and pseudo Aboriginal costumes? I mean, really. What were they thinking? "Oh here, this is primitive sounding/looking?" Aboriginal artists and leaders weren't so into the look. People were pissed! More people were more pissed!

It's supposed to represent "a melange of ethnicities."

OK.

So. Is that your cultural appropriation then? Who gets to decide? It's my culture and you're copying me and I don't like it? You're "stealing" our stuff because you're too educated/not educated enough/ not from here/have more power/blah blah blah.

Can any cultural anything be off limits in the age of You Tube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter?

Did De La Soul rip off Steely Dan's culture on "Eye Know" from Three Feet High and Rising?

Just for some throwback fun, here's a De La Soul "Three is the Magic Number" vid. What does it all mean?

As a consumer mostly of this thing we're calling global music, I don't care where it comes from and what's mixed into it, as long as it rocks. The best music often comes from the culture clashes. French/North African. German/Turkish. Polish/reggae. Brazilian/Techno.

Now, obviously there are well done mixes and there's half-assed crap. There's slapping an unimaginative beat over samples of something "primitive" or "ethnic." Then there's the high powered techno of Recycler (not just because they have the best remix sampling a Jew's harp EVER! 1998's "Khomuzedric") or the classy remixes of DJ Click.

Are DJ Delores' remixes intrinsically better because he's a Brazilian remixing Brazilian rhythms and Click is a French guy using South Asian and Gypsy music? M.I.A. rips off everybody's culture - - and everybody respects her.

Would Dengue Fever's music be cultural appropriation if singer Chhom Nimol wasn't Southeast Asian? Is Chicha Libre not respectful because none of the guys are from Peru? Is Antibalas ripping off Fela? Is it OK for Pistolera or Grupo Fantasma to play cumbias because there are Latino musicians in the bands but not OK for Brave Combo to work some cumbias in with their polkas? Are musicians from countries other than Poland appropriating the polska?

Enough already.

How could I take sides in the cultural appropriation wars? It's too late. Everything is out there for everyone to see and hear and taste. The best all of us can do is learn from and respect each other. Cross pollinate. Keep the tunes coming.

2010-02-20T10:49:00.008-06:00

Dawn of light lying between a silence and sold sources,
Chased amid fusions of wonder, in moments hardly seen forgotten
Coloured in pastures of chance dancing leaves cast spells of challenge,
Amused but real in thought, we fled from the sea whole.
Dawn of thought transfered through moments of days undersearching earth
Revealing corridors of time provoking memories, disjointed but with
purpose,
Craving penetrations offer links with the self instructor's sharp
and tender love as we took to the air, a picture of distance.
Dawn of our power we amuse redescending as fast as misused
Expression, as only to teach love as to reveal passion chasing
Late into corners, and we danced from the ocean.
Dawn of love sent within us colours of awakening among the many
Won't to follow, only tunes of a different age, as the links span
Our endless caresses for the freedom of life everlasting.

Thus begins one of, if no the most, ambitious rock albums ever recorded, Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes, their sixth studio album, originally released at the very end of 1973, over 36 years ago. It's easy to read those opening lines, which are sung as a chant over what feels like a sonic acceleration, as pure gibberish, which is the easy way to open the door to how many critics panned this record (as well as much of the band's work during that period). In fact, Tales is often cited as one of the great excesses of progressive rock, which ultimately helped give birth to the backlash in the mid-70's which came to be known as punk.

I'm hear to tell you that this record is a masterpiece. The key to its genius is compositional sophistication, at a level that is almost never heard in rock. A casual listen can get the impression that the band is involved in nothing more than "psychedelic doodling," as the critic from Rolling Stone charged in the original record review there. But repeated listening reveals a brilliant use of repeated motifs, both thematic and melodic, often subtly embedded in seemingly disjointed sections, which often tie the whole thing together quite brilliantly. A melodic line is repeated later as a bass line. A guitar lick in one movement quotes a section from another, or even a previous Yes composition entirely. With the exception of the third movement ("The Ancient," better known to the aficionados simply as "Side Three"), which is a more open composition designed for more improvisation (and yes, noodling), the four parts, each spreading across one side of the original vinyl 2 LP set, are symphonic in their musical intentions.

As for the lyrics, the initial chant quoted above is a good example of what you're in for. It's important to know that Yes lyrics are often more about the sound and timbre of the words themselves- just another voice, along with the instruments, to paint a musical picture, than they are about meaning. The opening bit? You get that it's dawn, right? That's pretty much all you really need to conjure a beginning.

Yes, there is a large concept to the record... inspired by the teachings of an Indian Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda, and wrapped around a reference to four Shastric scriptures referenced in a footnote in his famous book, Autobiography of a Yogi. But the concept is very loose, and the four sections are more generally referencing the much wider ideals of Truth, Knowledge, Culture, and Freedom (in that order). You can find references to these conceits if you really search for them in the lyrics, but the beauty of both the bigger concept and the specific lyrics is that they can be widely interpreted to fit the needs (and current emotional state) of the listener.

For example, I've often seen the entire work as a metaphor to a great journey. The first side represents the departure, with the energy and excitement of new discovery along with the foundation of what you think you know. The second side represents a longing for home, conjuring memories of your own life, unlocking intense emotions. The third side is the journey to deep space, or parts unknown, which conjures thoughts of our ancestors and the ancient past. And the fourth side brings you back home, with the freedom that comes from greater understanding.

But I almost never listen to the entire work all the way through, and each movement and its lyrics have meant very different things to me at different times through the years. That, my friends, is what distinguishes good art from great art.

And yes, that's me, right around 1974...

* * * *

Veronica asks how I define shlock? In music, perhaps the most succinct way would be to point to the infamous Phil Spector overdubbing of "The Long and Winding Road" from Let It Be. That overwrought orchestral arrangement can easily stand as my definition of shlock.

Record of the week: inBOIL

2010-02-19T17:19:00.005-06:00

texting

Netflix

abortion

Reno 911

car accidents

alcohol

The Iraq War

Q: What do all of these things have in common?

A: They're all subjects covered on the new inBOIL record

Probably my favorite local release at the moment. I should probably stop listening and save it for my next break up but I'm not sure that I can. Hopefully that event is a long ways off and this record is too dang good.

Simple lyrics, simple song structure, and what sounds like simple recording. You're left with just heart, humor and honesty.

Some sample lyrics from "Axis and Allies:"

You were the bookmark in my book/

You were the lamp on my desk/

I used to read before going to sleep/

But now I'm too depressed

I dunno. I just like it.

And in the vein of great local music: The Brass Kings, No Bird Sing, Lookbook and Kill The Vultures all playing at The Cedar this week. Also really looking forward to El Perro Del Mar/Taken By Trees double bill on Tuesday. "Change of Heart" has been stuck in my head at least once a day since I first heard it, and I can't say I mind at all. Not exactly sure what to make of the video though... so I'll post this one instead.

Yes, You in the Apricot Scarf

2010-02-18T16:13:00.008-06:00

As I always carry a live wireless microphone in my Prada bag, let's convene a press conference:

Q. Veronica, what media delights have you been grooving to lately?

A. Favorite album? Right now, it might be the new one by Citay, 'Dream Get Together.' They fit somewhere in the psych-folk category: campfire strums punctuated with electrics and a dash of metal, and light on vocals. A fine accompaniment for next time you're sniffing out truffles in a medieval forest. Or your rented pig is.

On other fronts...just finished the second of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander trilogy, and the third is on the way via Royal Mail. My reading habits are so sporadic that I am utterly grateful to an author who can keep me turning pages. As one reviewer wrote, the reader can plainly tell that Larsson loved his heroine.

On TV, the top of my pops is '30 Rock' (as usual) and a long-overdue 'Arrested Development' DVD run-through. A scream.

Q. On these pages recently, the new Peter Gabriel release was dismissed as 'shlock.' What's your take on the term and its definition?

A. To start, I'd like to engage my fellow bloggers in further dialog (as Mama E Dub referred to Gabriel's more recent work as 'wifty-wafty'). I'd be curious as to their definitions as well.

'Shlock' is a subjective term, of course. I suppose it often means material that is both not to the listener's taste and inferior in quality (as opposed to that which the reviewer can respect but not enjoy). However, inferiority is also subjective, and this is where I often part ways with users of the term.

I'll flesh out my answer in a future post, as my thoughts and words would far exceed the limitations of this Q&A format. But for now, I would cite the deathless words of Tom Cruise, who famously said, 'Respect the shlock.'

At least, that's what I think he said.

Q. Whose is your all-time favorite gospel voice?

A. I'm pretty mainstream here. Although I'm tempted to go with Mahalia Jackson or Sam Cooke, I'd opt for Mavis Staples. But if I could have witnessed any one such performer, I reckon I would have most wanted to see Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Click here for a sterling example of the good sister's work.

Q. Some time back you wrote about the price and format wars roiling the music and video worlds. Now the book world is aflame. Any thoughts from a former music industry titan?

A. Well, as the Cedar hasn't yet been able to secure the exclusive rights to Bob Lefsetz's musings, I'll have a go:

You're referring to the e-book pricing war between MacMillan and Amazon. Obviously the publisher is trying to protect the $25 hardcover business, and understandably, as such a book's placement in high-traffic consumer areas is, at the very least, a fine marketing visual. Barnes & Noble must be quite pleased with Amazon's capitulation on this issue.

But the reality is this: the hardcover business is cut-throat and dying. Consider the costs in materials, manufacturing, and warehouse-to-store-to-warehouse shipping of these two-pound beasts, which can often be had for $15-$17. Propping an e-book's price up to nearly that level is artificial and downright silly. Further, such a strategy can blow up.

Amazon has gotten much mileage out of the user-oriented community they have established. Reader/listener reviews and recommendations have a big impact on sales. These days readers are pummeling overpriced e-books (as well as titles that have not yet appeared as e-books) with one-star ratings.

MacMillan won a battle in a war they are destined to lose.

Q. Which musician have you ever wanted to be?

A. John Entwistle. I'da been quite happy to go unnoticed so lucratively.

Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together...

2010-02-16T10:08:00.008-06:00

Like chocolate and peanut butter? (Who's old enough to remember those millions of Reese's commercials that used the same joke over and over?)

Like Shen and Zhou - - or Pang Qing and Tong Jian for that matter. As an aside, DAMN people, why do they even let the Americans and Canadians on the same ice as these guys? They are SO not in the same league. What a thing of beauty; I feel very privileged to have caught Cheng & Zhou's short program and Pang & Tong's free skate. Extremely fine. Especially considering I am always the one going "Figure skating?! BOR-ing! When is the snow board cross coming back on?"

When people have worked so hard for years and they get it EXACTLY RIGHT at the moment it counts and you can see that little bit of swagger creep in when they know they've stuck it which makes it even better...sounds a lot like a great music show. Hmmmmmm.

Enough Olympic name dropping, though. I really wanted to talk about the tastiness that happens when you combine Martin Perna and Adrian Quesada. That would be the bari sax player from Antibalas (Afrobeat Orchestra) and the main composer from Tex-Mex funk brass big band Grupo Fantasma. A match made in heaven? This ultra-yummy combo plate is Ocote Soul Sounds.

I was doing the Veronica Fever system and just threw 330 new tracks into a pile and left it on random for several days running. I am really getting to like that method. Sure, you can't help playing the guessing game, but it's also a way to just see what catches the ear without prejudgement. I find myself listening to individual tracks more intensely because they are not mixed well or slickly segued.

In such a random pile you run the gamut from "skip ahead to the next track within sixty seconds" to "pull the pod out of your pocket to check who this is when I'm supposed to be working" to "I need to Google this band ASAP!"

When two tracks from Coconut Rock caused the pod to be dug out of the pocket before lunch time it was a sign. Especially considering this is rather mid tempo stuff with lots of flute solos and doesn't feature the big band sound of either of the collaborator's main bands. What it does feature is grooves for days. That, and percussion tracks a mile deep, so thick and chewy. (Fever alert: occasional cowbell.)

There are tracks that would sound at home on a Budos Band disc ("Revolt of the Cockroach People") or a Curumin album ("Vendendo Saude e Fel" featuring sultry vocals from Brazilian singer Tito lima.) Fine company, I'd say.

"Tu Fin, Mi Gomienzo" hints at a reggae sound with the first few organ licks, then a big fat cumbia rhythm kicks in, led by a juicy organ line. I would love to see this tune live; they could ride that riff for a week! (There is a seven-piece live version of the project. Wouldn't that be fine?) Another one I'd so love to see live for about 20 minutes is "El Diablo y El Nau Nau." I don't know what the devil and the boogyman are talking about in this song, but I've been humming it all week.

If you'd told me two weeks ago that a midtempo Latin funk disc with flute solos would be in heavy rotation now, I would've seriously doubted you. Now it's the middle of winter and the warm sounds of Ocote Soul are making me a believer.

* * * * * * *

Cruised through the SXSW list to see what Main Fig. and Angel of Rock have before them next month. Sure are a lot of smart-ass band names. Nice to see a little metal and bluegrass in there with all that indie stuff.

Would love to see my favorite Balkan surf & tuba band from Tel Aviv tear it up down there...go get 'em, Boom Pam!

So does The Unthanks at SXSW sound like a weird idea? On the surface, yes.

You know what, I'll bet those Geordie girls in their best frocks will have a legion of new fans by the end of the week. I expect they'll take in some bands and down a few pints themselves as well.

* * * * * * *

Strange image #2. The Bill T. Jones-choreographed Fela musical on Broadway. Reviews say the guy who plays Fela is a really good dancer... So is he wearing the jumpsuit -- or the purple Speedos? (Anybody else remember Fela's First Ave. show in the late '80's? It was a purple Speedos night.)

And how often do Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith team up to present a musical?

Seriously though, if more people get turned on to Fela's music and his legacy, that can only be good thing.

* * * * * * *

Regarding Main Fig.'s recent earworm comments, what about the classic Nordic earworm: the nonsense section of Loituma's Ievan Polka that was made into the leek spin viral vid?

Just because we can, why not watch Loituma dance and sing to one of the techno versions of the tunes. Plus the comments on the video are really funny if you follow it back to You Tube.

And that's all for me this week; half pipe's coming up!

Shlock Value

2010-02-13T11:30:00.005-06:00

A new Peter Gabriel album drops Tuesday, called Scratch My Back. It's an interesting project: all covers, and the artists he has covered will be reciprocating by covering Gabriel tunes, to be packaged in the follow-up, I'll Scratch Yours. Included are tunes by David Bowie, Bon Iver, The Magnetic Fields and Radiohead, among others.

I've been a Gabriel fan since I was a teenager, when he was the front-man in Genesis. There is almost no other musician that has consistently maintained such a high level of my respect. I've enjoyed every one of this solo records, been an avid follower of his Real World Records label, and admired his other work in human rights and activism. So, naturally, I was pretty pumped when old my friend Dr. Tom (we worked together at Boogie Records, Toledo way back in 1977, and have been to a couple of Gabriel concerts together) tipped me that KCRW was streaming the entire record (here).

My verdict: it's great to hear that voice again, and refreshing to hear it in the context of some old favorites. I also appreciate that these tunes are all significantly deconstructed, down to Gabriel and piano as the starting point. It's what happens after that where I run into problems. Serious problems.

Gabriel enlisted John Metcalfe (ex-Durutti Column member, who has been enlisted as a string arranger for artists such as Morrissey, Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Catatonia and Blur) to arrange all but one song for a full orchestra. Now, I think the possibilities of Peter Gabriel with full orchestral arrangements are quite interesting. Gabriel's work, after all, has always been marked by adventurous instrumentation and sonic experimentation. So it's all the more disappointing to listen to him here with what amounts to a full-on Hollywood Shlock orchestra treatment. Imagine the Boston Pops playing Lou Reed with Peter Gabriel as the singer and you've got an idea of what "The Power of the Heart" sounds like here. I almost didn't make it through that track...

By far the highlight of the album for me is his take on Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today." That one is just Gabriel and piano...

When I told Dr. Tom about my reaction, he did not disagree, but felt that the album still had great merit based on the "Jackie Gleason (or Nelson Riddle, for that matter) perspective." He maintains that "a schmaltz approach never hurt anyone" and, in fact, just makes the moments with just voice and piano all the more powerful. He approached the album like "a Friday night home from work, with Frank Sinatra on the CD player" (and I assume a cocktail in hand?). This might explain why I don't own any Frank Sinatra CDs: while I'm on board with the genius of his singing (especially the uncanny swing he had with his phrasing), I could just never get over that Nelson Riddle shlock. Considering that the Sinatra/Riddle catalog is so de rigueur in hipster circles I'm probably in a minority on this.

Which leads me to believe that we are all either just destined to become just like our parents (which would also explain the recent rash of postings about Herb Alpert on this here blog of late), or we are destined to miss out on some really great stuff because we are so busy fighting like hell to resist becoming just like our parents. Which, actually, would also explain why I still refuse to join Dr. Tom and an alarmingly increasing number of my other male friends on the golf course!

trudging through

2010-02-12T12:30:00.002-06:00

Working on listening to SXSW artists whose names start with letters A-E. Looking forward to listening to a full album, listening for pure enjoyment, etc. again soon.

Until then,

AoR

P.S. Just got tickets to see this.

Can't. freaking. wait.

Un, Deux, Trois...

2010-02-11T14:04:00.008-06:00

If your link-in to the Cedar Blog has dumped you onto this post, be sure to take a moment and read Mama E Dub's contribution just below. I mean it. Scoot. I'll wait.

I loved seeing the Herb Alpert cover shot. His records were the bridge from my family's musical influences to my own path. I owned the first eight TJB albums, and their theme to the original 'Casino Royale' movie remains my favorite track of theirs. One day last summer I purchased a nice clean copy of the 'Whipped Cream and Other Delights' mono LP at a garage sale for fifty cents. I'll try to refrain from playing 'scratch-off and win' with this one.

'World music that rocks.' That was a bell-ringer. I don't seek much in the 'hard trad' category, and I am definitely not a 'field recordings' type. But there is a global music itch that I can never seem to adequately scratch: call it 'worldbeat that rocks.' So many hybrids frustrate me, none more so than the Buddha Bar types. The first disc is always chill stuff, which I do like in moderation but is so pervasive. The second disc is dance-floor worldbeat, generally bathed in technotics. Meh.

What I'm after can be embodied in the best works by, say, Transglobal Underground, Garmarna, or Rachid Taha. Obviously I'm no purist, but give me some edge that doesn't rely on BPM. For all my explorations, I find this the single most difficult micro-culture to crack.

**********

One more response to Ms. Dub's post: I was going back-and-forth with whether it was time to get off the nostalgia train for awhile, but she gave me my answer: one more ride won't hurt.

The Beatles have often turned up on these pages as a touchstone in the writers' music appreciation development. In the first two years of their popularity I actively disliked them; I thought of them as superficial teen sensations. It would be another two years before I became an active fan. But one interstital event jolted me into realizing that they and other popular culture icons might have something going on after all.

When I was in 6th grade, our little rural school's faculty was blessed with one Sandra Kurtzig, who taught our class French for an hour a day. I didn't pick up much and her face was lost to memory until the other day, when a friend sent me a class picture with her in it. The sight triggered a remembrance: one day in early 1966, she built an hour around 'Michelle,' a song from the recently-released 'Rubber Soul.' And toward the end of the class, the record was flipped over and we heard 'It's Only Love,' 'Girl,' and 'I'm Looking Through You' in succession. In those moments, I was forced to reassess.

Merci, Mlle Kurtzig. Bonne chance.

**********
(Hmmm...I wonder what she would have made of Fabienne Delsol?)

**********

Got thinking about the albums I most wish had made it onto CD when the format was in its heyday and labels were raiding their vaults. Here are my 10 (OK, 11) in alpha order:

1. The Brains -- 'Electronic Eden'
2. Durocs S/T
3. Johnny Hodges -- 'Sandy's Gone'
4. Reggie Knighton -- S/T (hearing 'VD Got to Idi' inspired this)
5. Kirsty MacColl -- 'Desperate Character'
6. Peter Miller & the Wildcats -- 'Pre-CBS'
7. Swimming Pool Q's -- S/T
8. David Werner -- S/T
9. Barrence Whitfield & the Savages -- S/T and 'Dig Yourself'
10. Scott Wilk & the Walls -- S/T

**********

Next week: we set the Wayback Machine for a return trip to the 21st century. Cheers.

Shallot Sambar

2010-02-10T12:03:00.001-06:00

I woke in the middle of the night Friday craving shallot sambar. The almost-too-hot to eat feeling, the sweet onion flavor of the shallots melting in the dal, the curry leaves, the coriander... so I set out to make a batch Sunday morning,with my copy of Mangoes and Curry Leaves open nearby. (Yes, I love the Alford/Duguid cookbooks.)

This means peeling a bunch of shallots, like almost a pound. So as I settled in with my brown bag of shallots from the root cellar, my first thought was, I should put on some music for this rather boring task. Which started me thinking about the whole "music as wallpaper" topic we've all been kicking around lately. I pondered as I peeled, and came to the conclusion that I would only want to listen to something familiar, really tried and true, no rude surprises on Sunday mornings. Feeling like I have rather a backlog of new stuff I "should" be checking out, I opted for "silence is golden" and kept the knife going to the sound of "Hey mama! Look at the features I built on this spaceship!".

Don't know if that makes me lazy or indecisive or just too darn old to rock first thing on Sunday morning, but hey. My Sunday morning faves are stuff like Ralph Vaughan Williams' Norfolk Rhapsody #1 or Gilles Apap's Music for Solo Violin." I know. Extremely chill.

But that's what I grew up on. My parents had records when we were little kids; they were just too darn busy or tired to play them. My mom has a great pile of show tunes, and my dad had the requisite Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary stuff. Hardly ever remember hearing any of it. The only thing I have a clear memory of was Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass' "The Magic Trumpet," to which we would march around the living room on the green shag carpet.

But of course, everybody was in band, all five of us kids. We had a tuba, an oboe, a flute, a trumpet and a French horn in the family. Everybody stayed in band all the way through high school; that was just expected in our family. None of us were stellar players, by any means, but there is something to be said for longevity. Just don't ask about the embarrassing photo of the five of us holding our instruments at the all city band festival circa 1981.

When we moved, Mom went back to finish her degree in music, then went on for a masters in music history. It was Schubert and Chopin on the piano, Mozart and Bach on the stereo, and KHKE (the classical public radio station down there in Iowa) from that time forward.

Cedar Falls had a really good high school orchestra in those years which would tour all over the state and win large ensemble competitions left and right. It was great fun to get to play stuff like "March to the Scaffold" from Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in high school. It was acoustic music that rocked. Uh oh, the antecedents are becoming clear.

Something somehow must've soaked in somewhere along the line; my big brother played bass in several rock bands over the years, my little brother sang lead and played rhythm in a glam metal band that toured around the upper midwest for years (lotsa bad hair!) and I played bass in several punk noise bands that shall remain nameless. It was the mid '80's. College radio was fresh, lots of great dark and heavy stuff was out there and nobody used the word "Goth" yet for all of us who wore black raincoats from Goodwill.

Then I graduated, moved to the big city and had a job cooking breakfast in Uptown. The dishwasher was a sweet Kenyan guy named Kennedy, with a great smile and an endearing fresh-off-the-boat geekiness. He liked me. He used to give me records. I had to explain to him one day standing by the time clock why I didn't like him "that way." We became pals who called each other "my brother" and "my sister" and he still gave me music. One of those tapes was one of the Indestructable Beat of Soweto compilations. The first listen was a watershed moment, a what the...., a where have you been all my life, you know. Much mbaquanga and Afrobeat and high life quickly followed. You could buy the stuff on vinyl at Northern Lights and OarFolk in those days.

A few years later, I was working at a food co-op, pulling lots of early morning shifts with former longtime Cedar artistic director, Bill Kubescko. His constant stream of tapes picked up at European festivals turned me on to rockin' Celtic, eastern Euro, Nordic, Middle Eastern and everything in between.

Thus, the die was cast. I was enough of a classical head to really notice and be offended by mis-tunings or hack playing , not to mention becoming quickly bored by straight major keys and common time. (Call it snobby, but I so avoid the cabaret scene.) But I craved the energy and the fire from the punk years.

World music that rocks. Hard trad. It's not just Omnium records' slogan, it's a way of life.

I ran into Kennedy at an Afro-reggae show at First Avenue a few years after we worked together. He had his hair in stylin' nubbies and a pretty girl smiling on his arm. I gave him a big hug and a big thank you.

I lift a glass to you, my brother, and one to Bill K. and one to my high school orchestra teacher as well as one to the late night alternative radio dj in my college years.

And one to my mom, although hers might be a cup of half- caf.

Stuck in Your Head

2010-02-06T09:10:00.002-06:00

It seems like there's always a tune going in my head. Oliver Sacks talks about this phenomenon in his book, Musicophilia, referring to these particularly "sticky" tunes as earworms. Often it seems like they are tunes we don't even really like, and it afflicts everyone, from Young Folks to Old Man (see what I did there? I just two named two tunes that have been earworms for me that I don't actually like).

Sacks talks about the science behind this in the book (or you can read a nice little interview with him here), but there's really no explanation as to why certain tunes become earworms for no apparent reason. For years now, one of my most recurring earworms has been an old Grateful Dead tune, Here Comes Sunshine. Understand that I was never a Deadhead, and I never even owned the album this song is on, Wake of the Flood. In fact, I didn't even know the name of the tune until I sat down to write this and tracked it down by trial and error on the internets. And yet that ten-note guitar phrase has probably been my most haunting earworm for the past few years. WTF? Do other people have these seemingly random, unexplainable earworms?

* * * *

Angel of Rock and I are starting to prepare for our SXSW sojourn next month by hitting the complete official showcase listing and going through five letters per week. This week is 'A' through 'E.' Anyone is welcome to join us and send your suggestions, whether it's bands you already know and want us to check out, or something that sounds worthy of further exploration to you. There are thousands of artists at this thing, so I welcome all the help we can get!

* * * *

The good folks at NPR Music ran a piece about the Malian ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate this past week, which you can check out here. The piece ran on All Things Considered on Tuesday, which was also the release date of his new album, I Speak Fula. It's a great record, and Bassekou is well on his way to legend status. Not only are we presenting him with our friends at Walker Art Center on April 10 at The Cedar, we'll have the band for a few extra days for some special programs with schools and the community. It's a rare and wonderful opportunity that speaks to the core of The Cedar's mission. Here's what to look forward to:

Bassekou Kouyaté & N Goni Ba concert au Womex 2008
Uploaded by mondomix. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

A good day...

2010-02-05T13:19:00.002-06:00

Involves:

1) Having only one class
2) Lunch with a wonderful friend
3) A lovely bike ride in the snow
4) Plans to go ice skating and
5) listening to this.

A Series of Tubings

2010-02-04T14:50:00.007-06:00

Were Grammy awards distributed this year?

**********

Lots of inspiring writings from friends on the intertubes in the week past, starting with our own Angel of Rock. Her mention of concert etiquette made me think of the movies. Not of moviegoers talking through films (although one wonders why they paid money to attend a presentation they were intending to yak through; that ten bucks would provide the foundation for a dandy buzz at the local watering hole and no one would want to shush them).

No, the thought was of cinematic dissonance: contradictory imagery presented simultaneously. For instance: two people speeding along in a top-down convertible, yet their hair remains perfectly in place (while blowing wildly in the distant wide-angle shots).

My favorite example is the club scene, where two show-goers are able to have a normal conversation in spite of the din issuing forth from the stage. One instance that comes to mind: in 'Some Kind of Wonderful,' The March Violets are wailing away while down front Keith and Watts are conversing practically sotto voce.

OK, I'll admit it: that was just my excuse for mentioning Mary Stuart Masterson and the screen character on whom I had my biggest crush ever.

**********

A Facebook friend posted a link to this article about the comeback of vinyl, and commented:

'I love to keep hearing this kind of report. It speaks of the often hidden masses who still want to sit down and LISTEN to music rather than just use it as wallpaper. Digital is convenient and versatile, yes--but for the active listener there's nothing like vinyl.'

My response was a respectful demurral. It is nice to see any format do well if it means more people buy and listen to more music. But as much as I love widescreen cover art and the tactile sensation of handling a record and its sleeve, I have never bought into the whole 'vinyl is better' argument.

Perhaps my ear isn't sophisticated enough to detect added warmth or depth. I never seem to get that far, as other issues distract. After the first play, you have a used record. And with that, over time, come the inevitable surface noise and stylus tracking distortion. And oh, if that spindle hole isn't cut perfectly dead center, drug me before I am subjected to turntable wow.

The belief in the superiority of vinyl sound quality can bring one perilously close to the cliff of audiophilia. It's so easy to get caught up in the search for that elusive piece of sound reproduction hardware offering incremental (and often psychological) clarity and authenticity.

Not that I was always immune. In the late 70s I owned a digital delay ambience synthesizer, a component designed to process and transmit audio signals to rear speakers with a delay time that varied in milliseconds according to the time it would take for live music to reach from a stage to the walls of, say, a concert hall.

The thing about that gizmo was I often found myself so interested in what it was doing to fool me that I would lose sight of the music. And that's been the point for me ever since: the song's the thing. It doesn't matter if it's coming through the AM radio speakers in a 1971 Dodge Dart or through a Vibratone 9000.

If you are open to aural immersion, it's the music, not the medium.

**********

This morning another Facebook friend posted a link to this blog piece on Blender's website. The subject was 'The 5 Most Awesomely Ridiculous Mashups Ever.'

For me, the gold standard is still Party Ben's 'Boulevard of Broken Songs.' But many of these five come close. My favorite is the Beatles/Nine Inch Nails mash, but the R-Rated lyrics have me thinking I'll post this one instead, and you can decide whether you want to delve deeper. Cheers!

Really Fun /Not so Fun

2010-02-03T22:11:00.000-06:00

First in the "That Was Really Fun" category was last Saturday's turntable set from Kid Koala at the Cedar. He mixed everything from "Moon River" to M.I.A with stops at every station in between. Loved the jazz trumpet solos carefully picked out by dropping the needle over and over just a few grooves apart.

Nary a laptop or set of headphones in site, please note. His gear consisted of three turntables and a tableful of vinyl. It was fun to see how marked up some of the records were with bits of tape. According the KFAI turntablist nerds standing behind me, (enjoying the heck out of his set) the tape can be to simply to mark one's spot or it can be to set up a slightly random skip back loop. It was also great to watch somebody smile the whole time he was spinning. No hipster attitude at all.

Somebody pointed out to me the next day that the audience was almost totally men. Huh. Guess I was too busy watching his moves on our big screen to look around me.

A week previous, a benefit for Haiti at the Cedar raised something like $13k for Doctors Without Borders. What a fun night. Of course it's a truism, one I've repeated in past posts, that it's always fun to party with the Brazilians (and their fans.) When the Carribean island musicians are added to the mix, well, you can only imagine. My favorites were the loud punk-samba combo early in the evening and the big dance orchestra Charanga Tropical (with three fiddles!) who closed things down. A good time was had by all, and I was too busy pouring beer to even get close to the green room!

Gotta put in a plug for my local neighborhood weird and wonderful winter event, the Art Sled Rally. Rally year three was last Saturday, and while slightly better organized that last year, it was no less fun. The hill was slightly less steep, so there were fewer fantastic crack-ups. Favorite sleds just for design alone would have to go the the Packman contingent, the Alien Sled dogs( My neighbor's dog was so curious that she sniffed their...well, you know what dogs do) and the slinky. (Good thing the slinky driver was wearing a crash helmet. That was fast!)

The Packman group was led by a yellow round packman, obviously, which trailed a long string of yellow balloons. (The dots on the screen, y'know.) This was followed in quick succession by blue ghosts and all the various fruit one could capture to obtain points, each on their own sled. Loud applause by a certain age demographic followed.

Not so fun? Coming home from a long day at work only to rush out the door to treach a class only to return home around 9:30 to find the bathroom sink refusing to drain. "Why do these things happen at the worst possible times?" she whined, rooting around for a pipe wrench.

It wasn't just the trap.

I explore the plumbing behind the wall after work tonight, probably instead of finishing this post. Wish me luck.

Wed 10:37 p.m. Snaking three feet into the wall had absolutely no effect. Neither did taking apart the trap under the tub. Calling plumber in a.m. All creativity spent on plumbing; none left for blog.

Tune in next week as, following the trend of recent posts, I will reveal my mysterious childhood music history.

Partner Collaborations

2010-01-30T10:49:00.008-06:00

High on my current rotation at the moment is the new Laura Veirs CD, July Flame. Yes, I've been listening partly in preparation for her March 2 Cedar appearance, but Veirs has been a favorite of mine since her 2005 Year of Meteors. It's not just her skills as a singer and songwriter that make her recordings compelling... these are taken to a whole other level with the arrangements and production by her partner Tucker Martine, who has worked with her on every one of her seven official recordings except her self-titled debut. And when she's here in March she'll be very pregnant with their first child, due April 15.

(Martine also happens to be the producer of my top albums of both 2009 and 2008: The Decemberists The Hazards of Love and Musée Mécanique's Hold This Ghost).

This combination of a talented female singer/songwriter and partner male musician/producer has yielded a number of my favorite records over the years. The best Shawn Colvin records: Steady On and A Few Small Repairs, when John Levanthal co-wrote and produced (before he moved on with, and eventually married, Roseanne Cash). And the greatest Suzanne Vega record, IMHO, is Nine Objects of Desire, her last with then-husband, musician and producer Mitchell Froom (now married to Vonda Shepard... wow, a roadmap might be helpful about now!).

There is something special about these collaborations, when the whole seems to become greater than the parts. While I can't say yet whether July Flame is a great record, it's definitely a keeper, and one requiring a greater listening commitment before its real value is revealed. That's always a good sign in my book.

* * * *

Another discovery of the week: the second record by the Swedish band Fredrik, called Trilogi. I really enjoyed their first one, Na Na Ni. This is atmospheric pop, full of adventure, with just the right amount of hooks. Unfortunately, a short U.S. tour in February only hits the eastern seaboard. Maybe we'll get them further west in the fall. In the mean time, here's a spooky video from the new one:

Fredrik - Viskra from The Kora Records on Vimeo.

* * * *

I want to take this opportunity to thank my fellow bloggers for some really great work over the past few weeks. I really look forward to every new posting here these days. And I have a couple of responses to the most recent ones:

To Angel of Rock: I respectfully disagree with your friend that "going to a show doesn't really count as hanging out." There are few more profound bonding experiences than seeing a particularly inspirational concert with another person. I have old friends with whom I still talk about shows we saw over thirty years ago. Our mutual concert experiences are far more memorable than most of the other things we did together. It may not be obvious at the time that "the company" is important, but especially when the concert is particularly memorable, doesn't it provide a particulary rich and deep experience to share?

And to Veronica Fever: my parents were big music lovers. Some of my earliest childhood memories are infused with music, whether it be family picnics on the lawn at Tanglewood, or my dad's passion for Oscar Peterson. My three older siblings all had their own musical identities. It was my sister Susan who first brought The Beatles into the house, and they quickly became my favorite. And I joyfully remember all of us in the car at the drive-in in Cape Cod, summer of 1964 (I was seven), watching A Hard Day's Night, which converted my dad into a Beatles fan, too.

Concert etiquette

2010-01-29T10:32:00.002-06:00

Musically, I'm feeling very scattered this week. So I'll try something a little different and get your opinions on something that has been bothering me.

A conversation that transpired yesterday:

"It's been a while!"

"Yeah! Well, I saw you on Monday. But going to a show doesn't really count as hanging out."

I think what they meant is that we were not able to have any real conversations. But this touches on a question that I spend a lot of time thinking about. As someone who sees as much live music at The Cedar as possible, I've become accustomed to the idea of "the listening room." Basically, wherein the music takes priority over the drinks, the conversation, and (apparently) the company. Am I a bad friend? Socially awkward? Inconsiderate?

Oh dear.

So, what's the deal? Is this acceptable behavior? Do you act this way or have friends who do? Should this be an item on my self-improvement project?

Took 99 Stitches in His Yas-Yas-Yas

2010-01-28T14:44:00.006-06:00

If you're a blues nut you must own this book, 'Barrelhouse Words: A Blues Dialect Dictionary' by Stephen Calt. Mr. Calt takes a scholarly approach to defining the words and terms common in the blues lexicon. If you have pondered the true meaning of 'rounder' or 'goofer dust' in the lyrics of old blues standards, this book is for you. A couple of examples:

"Canned Heat e.g. 'I gave my woman a dollar, to get herself somethin' to eat / She spent a dime for neckbones an' ninety cents for that old canned heat' -- Will Shade, 'You Better Let That Stuff Alone'

"A trade name for Sterno, a commercial product introduced around 1900 that retails as a heating or cooking gel. Desperate or derelict alcoholics would squeeze and strain the gel through a cloth to extract its denatured alcohol base, and mix the latter with water or some other liquid to create a toxic confection known simply as 'canned heat.' "

Toxic confection. Gotta love a dryly humorous euphemism. Or how about:

"Shim-Sham-Shimmy" e.g. 'Check all your razors and your guns / Do the Shim-Sham-Shimmy till the risin' sun' -- Bessie Smith, 'Gimme a Pigfoot'

"A variant of the 'Shimmy-She-Wobble,' recorded by Cab Calloway as a dance introduced at the Cotton Club in 1930. It probably remarked on the light complexion of Cotton Club dancers, shim shams having been a black idiom dating to slavery for 'Negroes of mixed blood.' "

Until I owned this book I didn't know what 'keyhole' meant. Now I do. You can too.

**********

I enjoyed Main Figurehead's post of the 23rd, specifically his points about our formative years of music appreciation. He got me thinking about my own such evolution, and his theory held up well. Try it yourself.

(One question to MF: Why did the Beatles reach you when they did? Had your musical seeds been sown prior to that, or was this totally out of the blue?)

My family members were a big influence early on. Mom liked classics and soundtracks, so before I started kindergarten I had already heard lots of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, and Brahms and Sibelius. Dad enjoyed easy listening, so there were doses of Henry Mancini and Jackie Gleason. I liked 'em all, and still do. ('Some Enchanted Evening' came on the box the other night, and all activity ceased until Ezio had had his way with us.)

The wild card was Aunt Martha, the bohemian of the family. Her tastes ran to folk and jazz, and she got me going big-time on The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters, and Odetta, as well as Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Cannonball Adderley. I won't go as far as to say that at age eight I was understanding what all those latter explorers were saying, but I was interested. (I am reminded that in my college years, one hazy night I was listening to 'Birds of Fire' by The Mahavishnu Orchestra and thinking what a fine Christmas present the album would be for Martha, who was by then in her 60s and retired. I slept that one off and, as I wasn't a 'wake-and-bake' sort, talked myself out of it in the cold light of the following dawn.)

The mid-60s were a latency period, though. As a rather isolated country kid I missed the cultural revolution fomented by The Beatles and their contemporaries. On occasion my half-sister would come to visit, always wanting to know who I thought the cutest Beatle was. I hated 'em just for my having been subjected to such an exercise. (To my credit, I always chose John.)

It wasn't until the fall of '68 and my entry into high school that the early cultivation paid off. Top 40 radio was at an absolute peak at the time, a cross-genre panoply of ear candy. One could hear Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, The Doors, Jeannie C Riley, Hugo Montenegro, and Jimi Hendrix back to back to back. Those were the key years, really...1968-9, when some real building was done atop the musical foundation of my childhood. After that, it was off to the races...album rock radio in 1972-3, and KSAN (and the last gasps of free-form radio) in 1974-5...age 20. By then I was ready for anything...ECM, reggae, Afrobeat, space drones (Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze remain big influences), avant-garde...for a time in the 70s I owned several Sun Ra albums although I'll be damned if I was ever able to make heads or tails out of 'em.

Oh, and Dad? I still play Henry Mancini and Engelbert Humperdinck records and think of you.

**********

My latest round of needle-drops yielded the typical quota of major and minor pleasures. Top o' the charts this time around: The Gilded Palace of Sin's album, 'You Break Our Hearts, We'll Tear Yours Out.' This one is hard to categorize; call it a mutant strain of dark Americana. I'll fall in line with other listeners who reckon this would appeal to fans of Nick Cave and Tom Waits.

So go here, read the encomiums, and mash on the player. If you like what you hear, I can certify that the rest of the album is equally worth your time. Cheers.

Thinking about Afro-Diaspora Techno and then some

2010-01-27T21:57:00.001-06:00

The Very Best's collaboration The Warm Heart of Africa made plenty of Best of the Year lists. Maybe this represents a changing in how people define "world music" or "global roots" or whatever we're calling it now, which is a good thing. While I find Esau Mwamwaya's multi tracked vocals appealing, if not downright uplifting, the disc as a whole is so sterile. It sounds as if it were recorded in a sanitary white operating room, which is the studio, I guess. I realize that is the sound the RadioClit guys were going for, the juxtaposition of the warm vocals and the very obviously artificial (and may I say rather dated sounding - or is that supposed to be retro?) beats.

Most of the tunes, I find the beats so cheesy and annoying that I can't really enjoy the sweet vocals. It's as if they were trying for a lo-fi M.I.A. sound but took a wrong turn somewhere into Flock of Seagulls territory. Where is that guy with the hair doing the two note keyboard solo? Ms. Arulpragasam does contribute vocals on one track and while it's nice to hear her voice, the track doesn't do it for me. Maybe I want to hear Mwamwaya get down and dirty. Maybe it's all just too pop for this old punk. Maybe I should I should lighten up, quit trying to get "Julia" out of my head and just sing along and enjoy it.

Taking a break from this the other day, I turned to Buraka Som Systema's Black Diamond from 2008. Yeah, I know they are Portuguese, but kuduro is an Angolan genre and at least one of the guys is from Angola, so I'm counting it here. OK, now! Those are some beats. This is nice hard techno, yet it is definitely feels African. Without knowing thing one about the music, my first thought was Brazilian. After a few tunes, I decided no, it's from Angola, so I was feeling fairly sassy when I actually found out who this band was. The kickin' track is their collaboration with badass (some would say "potty-mouth") Brazilian baile-funk/funk-carioca MC Deize Tigrona, "Aqui Para Vocês." Just to set things straight, M.I.A. sampled Tigrona for "Bucky Done Gun", who sampled the Rocky theme trumpet blast. In that order. This is so very not pop. Or do the three million views of their "Yah" video make it pop? Can you sit still once I-19 gets rolling? I can't. Lo-tek techno as it should be.

I then took on the solo project from Gogol Bordello bassist Tommy T. (Thomas T Gobena) , The Prester John Sessions. He's put together a sort of concept album, trying to turn newbies on to Ethiopian sounds. My first thought was "Ethiopiques lite," but decided to give the guy the benefit of the doubt (except that horrible dub remix featuring Eugene Hutz- that's just embarassing to everyone involved) and read a couple of interviews. He says he's trying to turn people on to the diversity of Ethiopian music outside the Ethiopiques jazz stylings. Good intentions, but he loses his way in execution.

The tracks with Gigi (Ejigayehu Shibabaw) on vocals are the high points; the woman couldn't sing a wrong note if she tried and her voice is always smooth as buttah. Nice older interview with Gigi here in which she talks with Afro Pop Worldwide about the Addis scene, the instruments used on her more trad tracks and her vocal influences.

But back to Tommy T. Well, the Prester John disc could certainly serve as an introduction to the Horn of Africa sound for the Gogol Bordello crowd. But to anyone who's the least bit familiar with Gigi's work or any of the Ethiopiques stuff, it's going to sound a little dumbed (not dubbed!) down.

I'm working on Burkina Electric's Paspanga and Rêem Tekré now, seeing as how they were going to play the Cedar this spring. After a couple listens, I am finding their stuff a little thin. Leaning towards the sterile category. But I do like some of the vocals, so I'll give it another go. Wonder what the live show will be?

* * * * * * *

OUCH! Switching around between Lala, YouTube, MySpace, ITunes here and there is some extreme variation in volume presets. Love my new earbuds, but I need some kind of early warning system... or should I take Ms. Fever's advice and go all Rhapsody?

* * * * * * *

Heading off to another continent altogether, I've been checking out the stash that Main Fig. brought back from Global Fest at APAP. This is just too much fun.

Somewhere between Yat-Kha and Dengue Fever you'll find the latest offering from Mongolian/ Buryat singer Namgar and her current band. They used to do a Huun Huur Tu acoustic kind of thing, but amped it up a few notches for Nomad (2008). The result varies from what the New York Times called "a hard-rock band that at times suggested a Russian Jethro Tull", to a piece ("Whisper Rain") featuring a symphonic interlude (I was waiting for the soliloquy from the extended version of "Nights in White Satin"), while some of the vocals in the "Lake Bunting and Yokhor" medley that sounds like Varttina's hardest stuff. (Tune in at about 2:50) Tracks like "Whisper Rain" and "Aspiration"are way out there in cheesy fusion land, but simple ones like "Orphan Camel Colt" really show off Namgar's pipes. (I could not make up those titles!)

I made Lisa come in to check out Namgar's hairstyle (hat? wig? Bjork rip-off?) and she said the music sounded like "bad Hedningarna."

!!!

First of all, there is no such thing as "bad Hedningarna." Hmmph. OK, "Yundengogo" does sound a little like Hippjokk. That's a good thing. But hey, I think this is pretty fun, if very over the top. And you do need to check out the hair. Or whatever it is.

Last week I promised to track down the vocalists on Shantel's latest project, Planet Paprika. Here goes.

Toronto native and Turkish-Bulgarian song interpreter Brenna MacCrimmon is here. I'm guessing that's her on "Usti Usti Baba" and "Eyes of Mine." Loved her interview and vocals in Fatih Akin's Crossing the Bridge : The Sound of Istanbul!

German Mantiz says "RUDEGYALZ RULE" on her MySpace. Would you translate that at "Rude Girls Rule?" I would. I'm guessing that's her on "Wandering Stars."

Greek singer Jannis Karis did "Immigrant Child" on Shantels's Disko Partizani and sings something here.

Greek classic era rembetika musician Anestis Delias is sampled.

Yuriy Gurzhy from Russendisko also contributes some vocals, somewhere.

Do we know who's singing what? No, we do not. I tried. Why are musicians credited for all the tracks on which they appear but so often singers are not?

Here's Brenna MacCrimmon and Turkish psychedelic band Baba Zula floating on the Bosporus at sunset in the closing section of Crossing the Bridge. Aaaah. A very sweet couple of minutes. Just perfect. That's my cue for bedtime. Thanks again for loaning me the vid, Main Fig!

Music Theory

2010-01-23T11:49:00.004-06:00

I have a theory that our main musical preferences are set, to a great extent, before we are through our teenage years. If you think about the music that had the most impact in your life through the age of 18, for example, it's often pretty easy to draw at least a dotted line (and sometimes a more direct, bold one) to your favorite music now, even when you're an old fart like me.

For me, The Beatles entered my life at in 1963 when I was six years old, and dominated (obsessed?) my musical interests until they broke up seven years later. When I think about what it was about the career path of The Beatles which kept them so compelling for me, I can distill the following qualities: a high level of craft, the embracing and integration of seemingly disparate sounds and other cultures (both musical and geo-political), and an unwillingness to simply repeat successful formulas. Now take these qualities and apply it to the things that most attract me today in music, bands and even musical genres, and you have a pretty succinct description of what I most look for.

So you could posit that my basic filtering system for music was set by the age of 13. Of course, many believe that our sexual proclivities are established long before even that, so maybe this is not such an outlandish theory! It also follows that folks who have not established a deep, emotional connection with music before the age of 20 struggle to do so after.

Try this on yourself... think about the music/bands that meant the most of you before the age of 20, then consider the qualities of that music you found most compelling, and see if those cannot be found in the music that you are listening to today?

* * * *

I've barely recovered from my APAP Weekend and it's already time to start preparing for the South By Southwest music conference in mid-March. I try to prepare by going through their list of showcasing artists one-by-one to determine what I should try to check out. It's quite a daunting list, many hundreds of bands here. So please, I invite you to peruse it, and if there are any artists on there that you recommend I check out, leave a comment here. I'm glad to say that I'll have some help this time in the form of fellow blogger Angel of Rock!

I also notice that there will be a SXSW iPhone App this time, which may prove quite useful to have on my iPod Touch.

And speaking of iPhone Apps, if you have not already heard, The Cedar has one now available for free from the iTunes Store. You can watch YouTube videos of upcoming artists (and classic videos from The Cedar archived by users), get all of our latest news, even buy tickets. The first version is now up... and an improved update should be up shortly.

* * * *

Next Saturday night (the 30th), Montreal turntablist Kid Koala comes to The Cedar. He's quite amazing... I urge you to check this guy out. He's truly a virtuoso. I'll leave you with this clip (and yes, we'll have our projection system fired up, so you'll get a good view of what he's doing. Now whether you can actually see exactly what that is will be another matter!):

live music: still more fun than homework

2010-01-22T10:00:00.003-06:00

Weekend schedule:

Thursday: Kitty Cat Klub (It's the first week of school so Thursday is part of the weekend, right?)

Friday: Turf Club

Saturday: The Cedar, Palmers, 501 Club

Sunday: The Cedar

During which I plan to see friends perform gothic pop and jazz, see some favorites and some unknowns play heavy rock music, and a quiet Sunday night with a sweet couple. There will also be biking involved.

Shaping up to be another doozy.

In other news, I made some discoveries this week.

1) I have in my possession a B.R.M.C. album that is unbeknownst to Wikipedia

2) There are at least two B.R.M.C. albums listed on Wikipedia that are unbeknownst to me.

Touché.

And in non-music related news,

Mike and Ikes with Blueberry Green Tea fix a bad day. Really.

Three Books

2010-01-21T15:18:00.010-06:00

For Christmas this year I received as a gift a book titled, 'The Coffeehouse Investor.' It is a primer for investors looking to simplify their portfolio-management tactics. The book is thin, 168 pages, with large print and a lot of white space.

The author's entire message can be boiled down to three points:

1. Allocate your assets (stocks, bonds, cash) according to your age and risk tolerance.
2. Approximate the stock market average.
3. Save.

The above is intended as the author's rejoinder to those who believe that, with enough research and gut instinct, the market can be consistently beaten which, according to historical statistical analysis, is a longshot. So: buy into a couple of index funds and let 'em ride. Done.

How boring is that? Yet, the author makes a compelling case...essentially saying that unless you are an alpha-type who is sure you can make a living beating the casino, dumb it down and find less-stressful ways to fill your free time.

The book reminded me of another I once read, called 'The Shangri-La Diet.' This one is 224 pages, and the author achieved this with anecdotes and even more white space than the aforementioned investment primer.

The author's entire message can be boiled down to three points:

1. Eat less.
2. Enable this by ingesting two strategically-timed tablespoons of extra light olive oil every day.
3. Exercise more.

The basic idea here is that by taking in a portion of your daily calories with a flavorless substance (another suggestion is sugar water, which is a downright bad idea), you effectively stunt your hunger cravings and, over time, shrink your 'need' for unnecessary food.

Boring. But simple and effective. For the record, it is the only diet choreography with which I have ever had real success. The effect is likely psychological, but who cares? It worked for me.

If by some hideous twist of fate you have read this far, some variation of this question has arisen in your mind: Is this not a music blog?

Yep.

As you well know (and as has been expounded upon in these very pages), the world of music commerce and exploration is almost unrecognizable from that of the turn of the millennium. Preferences, media, and tastemaking have split into fractions. The possibilities are ever-more rich yet complex. Some folks find the handles difficult to grasp.

If I were to write a book about the subject, I'd just do what I do: go on and on with the usual bloviation, shaggy-dog stories, and non sequiturs. Somewhere in all this I would bury my message, which can be boiled down to three points:

1. Read reviews.
2. Subscribe to an on-demand streaming service.
3. Listen.

The subjects of investment, dieting, and music exploration, all have something in common: These worlds are well-populated with entrepreneurs who want to sell you something. Such salespeople include T. Rowe Price, Valerie Bertinelli, Jimmy Iovine, and thousands more.

Music exploration needn't be about directionless and day-killing exercises in site hopping. I, for one, have no interest in or patience for lurching among artist pages, YouTube, MySpace, LaLa, and blog aggregators just to run smack-dab into poor functionality, amateurish navigational tools, and worst of all, the infuriating 30-second sample.

The streaming, on-demand music service (e.g. Rhapsody) is a simple solution: a one-stop shopping center. Read your reviews, develop your wish list, then take it to your subscription service and listen to your heart's content. This way you can buy what you know you like rather than gamble on the unknown.

I'll admit to being amazed that more people don't do this. But to be fair, there are two shortcomings: many folks balk at spending money to stream music they do not then own. Also, there are gaps in the streaming services' catalog offerings.

To the former concern: Think of it as spending the price of one CD per month so that you can approach the buying of music with laser-like accuracy and efficiency. Gambling on the unknown is a thing of the past.

To the latter: Yes, some music won't be there. Some older obscure stuff is lying dormant in dusty storage rooms, not deemed worthy of reissue in any form. Other music is held captive by gatekeepers who like to keep their moats filled and stocked with predators.

My favorite such commerce inhibitor is Drag City. Fine label, talented roster. However, their music can only be heard by purchasing CDs or 99-cent individual tracks at a handful of outlets. I know of no way of hearing the entirety of any of their albums before committing to buy, other than piracy, of course. As Drag City has essentially established my choice as a) pay before hearing, or b) steal, I choose c) neither.

My poster boy in this ongoing struggle is Drag City artist Bill Callahan, aka Smog. I own the one song of his I have heard, 'Dirty Pants,' which I procured from a music magazine sampler CD. I've read a lot of good things about him, and that one song tells me he is someone I want to listen to further.

But the man has put out over a dozen albums (not to mention ep's and one-offs) as Smog and, more recently, several more under his own name. Instinct tells me he would be an artist whose output I would want to distill into, say, a couple dozen favorite tracks. The only way I can do that is to spend, what, $200? Or steal? Sorry, Bill. But hey, I'm just one honest but tight-wadded music-hungry consumer. I am sure there are no others like me.

(To be fair, it's their content. They are well within their rights to play keep-away with their potential audience.)

To those of you who can now imagine how my book on music exploration would read, you've probably already figured out the ending: there is way more good music out there than we can discover in a lifetime. So go with on-demand, read some reviews, and be happy with the wide swaths of choices before you. There has never been a better time to be a music-lover.

PS...I tried out Spotify, the UK-based on-demand service not yet available in this country. I think I understand some of the hype. There are holes in their catalog, too, but the functionality is way ahead of Rhapsody's. I encountered a much cleaner, more elegant interface, and the delivery speed was outstanding. Sounded great, too. Terrific product.

Give the Singer Some

2010-01-20T20:46:00.003-06:00

I see some of this post as a public service, putting info out there that somebody, somewhere just might need to know. Then I see part of it as just satisfaction for my own curiosity, tracking down some history and some buried recognition.

See, I was mixing up a "Sultry Sirens" kind of thing the other day featuring lots of amazing female vocals in various genres from various regions that fit the above billing. Lining up all these tunes, it was a little shocking to realize that more than a few of them had no listing of the vocalist's name. They were listed under the name of the remix dj, or the arranger or the bazouki player! So I took it upon myself to track some of these gals down, and get their names and faces out there.

First asignment, Imam Baildi. Who's doing the amazing clear high notes of "Den Thelo Pia Na Xanarthis"? Then who's that with the throaty tones on "O Pasatempos"? I Googled around for a rather embarrasing amount of time, refining search terms, attempting to transliterate Greek and listening to song samples on a number of different site to double check my research. It doesn't help that there are any number of ways to spell some of these Greek names in English. [In the last week - literally- the greekmusic.com site has risen to the top of this search and it actually lists the original artists for the entire album. Wish I'd found that last week!]

The amazing and elusive Meri Lida (or Mary Linda) does the version of "Den Thelo Pia" from which the Falerias brothers sample so heavily. Meri's looking a little Breakfast at Tiffany's here, isn't she?

A crooked trail finally led me to a download; I Tunes had the song mislabeled, if you can believe that! I just happened to click on some of the other track samples once I found a disc featuring Lida and one of them was actually "Den Thelo Pia." The lyrics weren't Greek to me, and wouldn't be to anyone who listened with half an ear. The various European Amazons(.uk, .de, .fr etc) have more of her stuff, which is where I found these images.

Ioanna Georgakopoulou (or Ioánna Yeorgakopoúlou) is sampled on a couple of tracks on their disc; her 1946 version of "O Pasatembos"("The Seeds") is a killer track. But how to find out who she was? These women's voices are all over dozens of compilations of rembetika, but they are usually listed under the name of the bouzouki player. Ioanna does have a Lala page with a few samples. I have to say I am more than a little tempted to order the four disc set "Rembetika Gia Panta" from greekmusic.com!

In an aside, both tracks are anchored by the bouzouki of Manis Hiotis; he composed "O Pasatempos." . Here's an interesting bit of history on the instrument and rembetika genre.

The history of the bouzouki is forever entwined with rembetika, the highly improvised Greek music often compared with American blues. The rembetik culture bloomed in the underworld of prisons and hashish dens in the port cities of the Aegean Sea and western Asia Minor in the early 1900s, reaching its zenith in the years between the world wars. A typical early ensemble might have included a singer, two or more bouzoukis playing melody and simple chords, and a tiny version of the bouzouki called the baglama providing a staccato rhythm accompaniment. The songs, with lyrics about drugs, hookers, money, love, and death, were based on a variety of ancient modes and traditional dance rhythms, and they were characterized by expressive improvised introductions called taxims, impassioned singing, and bouzouki breaks between verses. Among the most influential of early players--or rembetes--were Márkos Vamvakáris and Ioannis Papaioannou.

Eventually rembetika’s roughneck reputation softened and the bouzouki entered the mainstream--partly due to a fine player and prolific composer named Vassilis Tsitsánis. Tsitsánis fused the old dance rhythms with more elaborate chord progressions and a westernized harmonic sensibility, and his lyrics had a more conventional appeal than the rough-hewn tales of the earlier artists. Tsitsánis became the first national star of the bouzouki and made the instrument socially acceptable. When he died in 1983, 200,000 mourners brandishing bouzoukis and baglamas filled the streets of Athens. Among the many virtuosos who followed in his wake was Manis Hiotis, who added a fourth course of strings to the bouzouki and changed its tuning to C F A D (like the first four strings of a guitar tuned down a step). The new arrangement allowed a greater range and flexibility and fostered the evolution of a showier style.

Here's another, more in depth history of the genre.

And if you can't get enough, the Wiki article has a nice long list of Rembetiko compilations with English liner notes. Well, and look at the things one can learn surfing around. Shantel's "I'll Smash Glasses" is an old rembetika song. He's on my list for next time; I've got to figure out who those sexy singers of his are!

The Lost Weekend in New York

2010-01-16T08:30:00.000-06:00

33 bands in 5 nights. That was my APAP Conference showcase weekend tally. Now before you start calculating how much time I spent just traveling through Manhattan and the boroughs to see all of that, keep in mind that a number of showcases bundled a lot of bands (GlobalFest alone is 12 bands). And some of those showcases lasted less than 5 minutes for me, with either another obligation, or feeling that I'd seen enough. So, I'll start with my favorites:

1. CARAVAN PALACE at GlobalFest I blogged about these guys last summer. For many presenters, this was the high point of this year's GlobalFest (see below), despite being completely dissed by Jon Pareles of the NY Times. Fun music video now up too:

2. ANDY STATMAN at the Charles Street Synagogue. Not only is Statman a double-threat (clarinet and mandolin), equally adept at straight jazz, klezmer and bluegrass, his weekly Thursday night concert in the heart of Greenwich Village is an experience you can only have in New York:

3. RED BARAAT at Joe's Pub "Bangin' Bhangra & Brass Funk," a unique blending of cultures that works so well. Brass sections seem to be the big thing in global music these days, which is OK by me. The Bollywood dance videos in the background only add to the experience:

4. PUNCH BROTHERS at The Living Room. I know, I cheated. I'm really supposed to go see things I've never seen before, and we've had Chris Thile & Co. at The Cedar many times before (and they return on March 1). But this is probably their "home venue," small and intimate, where they like to experiment. They played lots of new things from their upcoming record, but the highlights were the covers of Little Feat, Radiohead and Pavement. Awesome.

5. HAZMAT MODINE at the Mercury Lounge. More brass, this time with two harmonicas playing American R&B. Pretty hard to sit still with these guys on the stage. Even I was dancing.

GLOBALFEST is the Main Event for global music in the U.S. Staged for the past seven years during the APAP Conference, and masterfully curated by Shanta Thake of Joe's Pub, Isabel Soffer of the World Music Institute, and Bill Bragin of Lincoln Center, featuring 12 bands on the 3 stages of Webster Hall, the evening provides a glimpse of what's likely to come, seeing that almost every major global music programmer in North American is likely to be in attendance.

As is often the case with these kinds of showcases, it can be very hit-or-miss. But this year's offering was largely to my liking. Besides CARAVAN PALACE, I particularly enjoyed the sets by Alif Naaba of Burkina Faso, Nguyên Lê & Saiyuku (cross-cultural), and La Cumbiamba eNeYé (Columbia).

As usual, the folks at NPR Music posted an complete blog report the morning after, so if you're curious and want to hear song samples, check that out. They will be posting full performances there shortly as well. And keep your eyes open for video blog postings at Link TV.

Finally, a personal story: on the last night of the event, I taxi'd over to Joe's Pub for a reception for North American presenters. Once inside, I realized that I left my iPod Touch in the back seat of the taxi. This had been my supplemental brain all weekend, tracking my schedule, providing me with subway directions, and keeping notes from my meetings. All gone. This being New York City, I figured there was little chance of seeing it again. I went about the rest of the evening with that uncomfortable feeling inside, crashing in my hotel bad at just before 1 am, when my cell phone buzzed.

It was a couple in Long Island who had found my iPod and wanted to know how to return it to me. My name and cell number were etched on the back, so they called it. Not only did these good Samaritans meet me at Jamaica Station the next morning on my way to my flight at JFK, and return my iPod to me, they actually charged it up!

Kind of restores your faith in human kindness...

Hello again

2010-01-15T07:55:00.000-06:00

I have been avoiding this blog for the last couple weeks. I haven't been feeling like a good musichead. But here's a little update on my attempts.

-Behind on mix-making again. Finished one this week. E Dub, yours is next.

-Finally sent Veronica Fever a CD I made her months ago.

-Joined last.fm. While this site seems suspiciously like social networking, in a constant search for new music, I think this is the next step.

-Favorite new artists:

1) James Husband (especially the song "Little Thrills")

2) Strange Boys

-It is the slow season for shows in Minnesota. Case in point: I've been going to free shows at a bowling alley on Monday nights. This week will be above average for concert-going though:

Monday: free show at Memory Lanes

Tuesday: nuthin'

Wednesday: free show at Sisters Camelot

Thursday: punk show in Iowa City

Friday: Low at The Varsity Theater

Saturday: maybe see a show in New York, maybe not

Sunday: see Saturday

Not bad for the slow season. The only thing missing is some Cedar shows. Soon to be resolved.

Dimensionally Challenged

2010-01-14T15:48:00.008-06:00

Count me as another movie-lover with a tall 'Avatar' hurdle to overcome. Took me a dozen years before I got around to 'Titanic' (and for those still on that fence, the last hour *is* pretty impressive). Plus, there have been so many other worthy pictures released just lately...'Up in the Air' and 'Young Victoria,' to name two.

Here's the real stumbling block, though: your Veronica cannot detect 3D. On every checkup with my optometrist, it's always the same...no, the moose and his impressive rack do NOT stand out from the surrounding scenery. (So how does one without 3D vision or depth perception become a world-class parallel-parker? Feel.)

Speaking of 'Young Victoria,' within 48 hours of that I saw 'Sunshine Cleaning,' a bookend to Emily Blunt's impressive range. Over the closing credits was played the immortal 'Spirit in the Sky' by Norman Greenbaum. Forty years on I am still not tired of it. Funny, though...at the time I first heard it I thought he had done a Canned Heat rip-off. Later, of course, I reckoned ZZ Top had plagiarized poor Norman with 'La Grange.' Seems my adolescent ears had not yet been exposed to John Lee Hooker.

(I even remember buying the 45. I was in Simonds' Music Shop in Fairfield, CA. When I found the single I told that empire's matriarch that 'Spirit in the Sky' was going to be a big hit. Whereupon the elderly Mrs. Simonds smiled sweetly and said, 'Well then, dear, we'll order a box.')

**********

The closing credits in 'Young Victoria' feature a lovely new song by Sinead O'Connor. Naturally, it is the only track in the digital soundtrack album not available a la carte. C'mon guys...why must it be a binary choice between piracy (with its attendant stigma) and feeling ripped off?...

Man. Taken by Trees and El Perro del Mar on the same Cedar bill on February 23rd, and me without a single Delta frequent-flyer mile to my name. Who says we Westerners don't understand suffering?...

Personal to Angel of Rock: Thank you for the Winter Jams. I'm on it...lots of stuff on that disc not yet in my library. Will report back...

Have learned of a geeky way to try out Spotify (the spiffy UK-based on-demand music streaming service not yet available here) on my very own desktop. Results next week...

**********

Far too many unhappy surprises in the obituary pages lately. Vic Chesnutt. Amy Farris. Jay Reatard. Another jolt was Lhasa de Sela, who died of cancer on January 1 at age 37.

Lhasa lived an unconventional life, the first several years of which were spent criss-crossing the US and Mexico with her family in a converted school bus. The multiple cultures she was exposed to in her travels and by her mother (an avid lover of Latin, Arab, Eastern European and Asian music) informed her own art, which defied easy categorization.

My best one-word description of Lhasa's music: mysterious. The following is an example, one of her earliest-recorded English-language songs.

Revealed at last: Vasen Rock Band on South Park!

2010-01-13T14:11:00.008-06:00

There are times when you run across things surfing around that a self respecting Cedar music blogger simply cannot let pass. The following image of Väsen as South Park characters with RockBand instruments is one of those things.

It's so wrong, and yet...so right.

If they can make Väsen go South Park, and build a Lego version of the Serenity crew, (SO shiny!!) what can be next? Yeah, I just looked for Lego Avatar, but nobody has made anything yet. Better stock up on blue bricks... but I did find the South Park Avatar parody right here. In the best tradition of instant cultural commentary, the parody aired before the film was released.

* * * * * * *

Whew! Having reasonable speed internet back is such a relief. Almost two weeks at snigelfart (as Bu and Ba say) was making blogging really difficult, but it's all good now thanks to the new NanoStation suction-cupped to our front window. Now I can check up on important things like the above.

* * * * * * *

Lännen-Jukka String Band finally loaded up a few live tracks that feature the three piece version of the band that rocked us at Nordic Roots 9. Was it 9 or 8? Actually their sound check jamming with fiddler Sammy Lind from Foghorn String band while the sound guy (who shall remain nameless) overslept was one of the high points of the weekend. Any previous recordings I could find are just of J.Karjalainen solo. Sure wish they'd put out a disc of the trio. Something like this, perhaps.

* * * * * * *

Boy, this record company thing can really work it for you. Look at this nice little promo video Nonesuch made to promote the new Carolina Chocolate Drops disc. The best part is that "Snowden's Jig" is the background music for the first 1:20. Golly, they recorded their cover of "Hit'em Up Style." Thought that would always be a live only type of deal what with copyrights and all. Free promo tracks from a recent live set for the pre-orderers, too.

And why is this disc coming out a month later over here than it is in the U.K.? Euro-bands, I get. But the Chocolate Drops? Why? Well, I expect we'll see them again in our town soon enough.

* * * * * * *

Wow. The boys from Brighton at Soundway just don't stop. Hot on the heels of their great Nigeria Special series comes a Ghana Special set. Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-1981 comes as a chubby two disc set - or a 5 lp box. Looks like there are a couple of others in the series, too.

Anybody want to roadtrip to the UK to see Oumou Sangare and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo tour together? Man! Gimme some of that!

With that wonderful thought, I'll leave you. I've got a long shopping list of downloads now that my holiday ITunes gift card and a faster internet connection are in the same place at the same time.

Conference Call

2010-01-09T08:02:00.003-06:00

I enter this new year (decade, etc.) posting from the APAP Conference in New York City (just like I pitch'ud it, etc.). "Industry" conferences are always a bit sobering, as you are forced to be with your "peers," which does not always provide comfort. In the record industry, I remember the uneasy feeling that always came with that first entrance to the conference hotel, immediately spying the group of rather unattractive middle-aged men at the bar wearing track suits, chests and gold chains flashing. In the world of "arts presenters," it's frumpy gray hairs wearing the same clothes that they bought in 1972...

But in both cases there is also the group of true peers, inevitably people who are in the "business" for much the same reason you are, which is to say, basically, the music addicts. And every year there are a few more that have crossed over from the other side- colleagues once involved with records, that re-emerge in some aspect of the live music realm. Ah, survival.

The APAP conference is structured thus: "special interest" groups generally have their meetings on the periphery, mostly mornings. I tend to skip all but the most critical of those in favor of at least trying to sleep in. One-to-one meetings start late morning or lunch and run all afternoon. For me, that's mostly with booking agents. Sometimes real work gets done, dates of touring bands are at least held (rarely actually booked here), or you get pitched on additions to their rosters. Other times it's just a schmooze.

Then the good stuff happens in the evening, where literally thousands of bands showcase all over Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you'd like a taste of what's offered, check out this spreadsheet compiled by world music publicist Dmitri Vietz of Rock Paper Scissors. And this is only the world music showcases!

I'll wait to post a more detailed review of my favorite showcases, but so far, after two nights, my favorite moments have come courtesy Punch Brothers and Red Baraat.

* * *

It appears that 2010 will be the year of the Tablet. Apple is set to announce their version, speculated to be called iSlate, later this month.

What's all the fuss about? With the growth of cloud computing (which I talked about in my previous post), and the explosion in popularity of smart phones such as iPhone and their widespread applications, the speculation is that the next generation of computers will be dominated by paired down, slim color displays with advanced interactive capacity that mostly access media remotely. Kind of like a blown-up iPod Touch. Expected to finally deliver the promise of an e-reader that also allows you to use all of your smartphone apps, computer manufacturers from all sectors are rushing to get products to market lest Apple pull their third major product coup in five years and dominate this market as well. Which I suspect is exactly what is about to happen.

For music, some have speculated that this could help restore the album to its former glory, with a device that can accommodate somewhat portable but visually expanded graphics, allowing for a wider experience than listening to songs on a tiny mp3 player. I suspect that the horse has already left that stable (or insert a better animal metaphor here), but if Tablets do become popular, inevitably some new trend of graphics-with-music which takes advantage of their specific capabilities will follow in its wake. And YouTube videos will have to increase their march towards high-rez.

* * *

I'll leave you with some film musings (I know, it's a music blog, but cut me a little slack here). I always look forward to the arrive of a new film by Terry Gilliam, so that's next on my list of must-sees. But I have to say a few words about the pop culture phenomenon called Avatar. If you can get over the ridiculous storyline, one dimensional characters, predictable war/action scenes, awful soundtrack, and over-indulgent length (whew, that's a lot to get over, isn't it?), go see the 3D version of this movie just to experience the most incredible visuals your eyes have ever seen. Believe it or not, it's worth it!

A Pocketful of Pflug

2010-01-07T14:32:00.003-06:00

This reporter's final post in the noughties included a Top 10 list for 2009. Ever more, this seems a ridiculous exercise, mostly for its timing. So much of music appreciation has to do with full absorption and staying power. If one happens upon a perhaps game-changing album during the Thanksgiving holidays, how best to rank it in a year-end compendium?

The same holds true for end-of-decade retrospectives. How does one know where to rank 2009 musics among the prior nine years' releases?

(And let's not get started on what constitutes a decade. We already know that December 2000 marked the end of two thousand years in the Gregorian calendar and, therefore, the end of a millennium. To compensate, we'll agree that there was no year zero and that the 'first' decade had only nine years. Prolly muted the Times Square celebration leading into year X, but I can't be sure as Google Images has little commemorative evidence of the event.)

My suggestion? A year-end retrospective at the end of the *following* year, and a decade-end overview at the end of the *following* decade. This way passing fancies are weeded out and the music with real gravitas remains.

So. Best of 2008? Fleet Foxes. Best of the 90s? Toss-up between James 'Laid' and Massive Attack 'Mezzanine.'

**********

Much has been made lately of the cable TV wars and the fees paid to the content producers...the latest flashpoint being the just-concluded battle between Time Warner and The News Corporation (Fox). An interesting overwiew article (which I won't link to from here, as it is rather off-topic) appeared in the Times the other day. It went on about the power of the consumer to resist relentless rate increases. Here is Alex Dudley, spokesman for Time Warner:

'They're the ones who are going to resist these price increases that the programmers are trying to push. One need look no further than the music industry for an example of what happens when consumers feel taken advantage of by an entire industry.'

Lots of pot-shots have been (and are) taken at the music biz, some fair, others not so much. The music consumer has gotten 'revenge' due to tools and choices simply unavailable to them ten years ago. Piracy might be lauded by its exponents as a stick in the eye of The Man, but it's also stealing (which would still merit a police visit at Target, say).

That said, as a former industry type I can cite one avenue via which the consumer has gotten sweet, justifiable, retaliation: the rebirth of the one-song-at-a-time model.

Remember the 45? Or even the cassingle or the CD single? I sure do. My hundreds of 45s eventually translated into hundreds and thousands of LP purchases. It was a cheap gateway into Candyland, and it made me a habitué for life.

Somewhere along the line some bean counters and their overlords decided that singles (as a standalone product class) were evil: they were unprofitable and worse, Donner Partyesque. And so, the push intensified to coerce the consumer into spending fifteen bucks to procure the one or two songs he wanted. Dopes.

Mmmm. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and a la carte.

**********

Going back to EOD overviews, here is a dandy Sunday Times article about the prior ten years' changes in music consumption and production:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/arts/music/03tech.html

Lots of grist for commentary, but the bit I zeroed in on was the author's first mp3 player, the Diamond Rio PMP300. 32 megabytes of storage, capable of holding 12 songs ripped at 128kbps. That woulda been a toy for the quintessential early adopter.

My first such player was a 2001 model, the Archos 6000 6GB 'jukebox.' Bought it in anticipation of an autumn European vacation. All that summer I cherry-picked songs to fill the player's advertised 1500-song capacity...while knowing nothing of bit rates and their respective sound quality.

After painstakingly choosing and ripping the perfect 1500, I was in for three disappointments. First, the capacity turned out to be closer to 1200, given some of the longer tunes and classical pieces I favored. Second, the sound quality was crap. And third, crucially...I had no knowledge at the time of noise-reduction headphones. My 12-hour flight featured perfectly vetted music that had been reduced to vaguely tuneful white noise.

Much of this was forgotten about during the course of the trip, which took place in early October of 2001, a noteworthy time for air travel and overseas attitudes about Americans. Two snapshots: descending into a Paris Métro station and seeing a just-disembarked passenger aim a laser pointer squarely at my forehead, and walking alone on a quiet London street while three people directly across applauded me. Until then I had no idea I looked so 'American.'

And my first ripping misadventure? Written off (and subsequently not restarted for three years). I assuaged my disappointment with an armload purchase at Tower Records Piccadilly, the finest record store I ever visited.

Grupo Fantasma "comes alive"

2010-01-06T21:03:00.006-06:00

As the Main Fig. explains our current booking policy, much of our "world music" is coming from places like Brooklyn, because many European bands can't or don't want to do U.S. tours. In the spirit of that idea (which I have to say works out pretty damn well on a lot of these acts), I'd like to propose a southern hemisphere version.

A few of us have been groovin' to a disc by Chilean cumbia + horns big band Chico Trujillo. Very fun stuff laid on the Cedar staff by one of the road managers at Global Roots 2009. Now, although Chico T. has done a European tour or two and is rather big in Germany, Chile is a long, long way away from Minnesota, isn't it?

As the chances of them coming to play for us seem at tad remote at this juncture, I have a suggestion for the next best thing, and as residents of Austin, Texas, the airfare'd be so much cheaper. I'm talking about those wild men in Grupo Fantasma. Lots of horns, lots of funk/mambo/merengue/cumbia, lot of fun. Let's get them up our way before they get any more famous; 2008's Sonidos Gold was nominated for a Grammy!

They backed up Prince at Cochella a year or two ago and apparently have played a private party for the former symbol as well. Word on the net is that they tore up Bonaroo and have ruled at home at SXSW, too. I also get the feeling that this is one of those bands with a crazy live show that is difficult to replicate digitally. Guess I need to check out their 2007 live disc "Grupo Fantasma Comes Alive."

P.S. They're smart asses,too. Check out the Grupo Fan Telethon on "Gimme Some."

Well, my connection is slower than molasses in January tonight...hey wait, it is January, and I have some molasses in the kitchen...oh, never mind. This is all I can do for now.

It's December 30th...

2009-12-30T17:58:00.005-06:00

...here in south Minneapolis. There's salt scattered on the half-chipped icy sidewalk, the relatives have gone home and all is right with the world.

So, yeah, we're all making fun of those end of the year lists, but you noticed almost everybody did one, right? I could be a smart ass and say "Yeah, and I'm going to milk the concept for TWO WHOLE WEEKS!" Really, though, what's wrong with a little time for reflection, a little time to consider what music really moved you, or expanded your mind, or changed your frame of reference?

Last week, I gave you a handful of songs that I just wanted to listen to over and over and over. Just great tunes, even if the rest of the album was nothing worth writing home about. This week I'm going after one album that changed my frame of reference and one series of discs that made me dance and shout and sing, that made me want to discover the history and that made me so very happy that there is a mighty crate digger out there unearthing these gems for the rest of us.

There have been an amazing number of great collections of 1970's African music coming out these last couple of years. Why now? Why all of a sudden? I really don't know. Stern's Africa, Soundway's stuff including the Nigeria Special series, the Africa Gold series, the Orchestre Baobab re-releases and I'm sure many others have put out some great music but for my money the Analog Africa series trumps them all.

Samy Ben Redjeb has done the legwork, the homework, the phone calls and the emails and the handshakes and and everything else it took to bring a ton of West African vinyl from the 1960's and 70's into our digital 21st century tweens. He's listened to hundreds, or probably thousands of tracks, tracked down the original artists or their surviving relatives, got their permission and licensed the stuff so the whole world can join the party. His respect for the work of these artists is so evident in the care he puts into the big fat booklets of liner notes that come with each release and the fun tidbits and extras and goodies he puts on his blog.

At the end of the notes for Analog Africa 6 - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Coutonou -Volume Two -Echoes Hypnotiques, Samy writes about some vintage promotional material from 1979 in which Poly-Rythmo leader Melome Clement lamented the piracy and other troubles the band was having in those late days.

"Having a passion for music means that you also have an admiration - in this case, affection for the people who created it. This project had become something personal. I thought that if a Poly-Rythmo compilation were to materialize, I would have to make sure it was something special. I hope I did."

I bought four of the six discs in the series in 2009 although #s 3 and 4 came out in 2008. (the first two are out of print. Dang! I'd love to get me some of that Green Arrows comp.) Each one is stuffed with killer tunes and features hidden tracks with interviews and secret jams. The booklets have great photos, images of lp and 45 rpm artwork, interviews and Samy's stories of how he tracked down the artists and the music.

Here's a quick run down.

#3 African Scream Contest - Artists from all over Benin - still my favorite. A party album for the ages.

#4 Le Voudon Effect - Orchestre Poly-Rythmo's work for several small labels, some wonderfully lo-fi and deliciously raw stuff.

#5 Legends of Benin - highlights a handful of tracks each from four different artists. Made tons of "Best of 2009" lists.

#6 Echoes Hypnotiques - Poly-Rythmo's work for the Albarika Store label, recorded in the EMI studio in Lagos, Nigeria - cleaner sound quality, less raw.

#7 Mambo Loco is on the way in early 2010. It will feature Anibal Velasquez y su Conjunto. "QUE VIVA LA FIESTA !" as one of Velasquez' YouTube fans put it. I also read he is "El Principe Del Acordeon." Don't know who this guy is, although he or somebody in his band plays a mean accordion (bandoneon?), they have plenty of cumbias scattered around the web and I think he's Columbian. You know Samy will pick out the hot tracks and fill us all in.

Thank you, Samy and keep them coming.

How can I write about how and why I love the Kasbah Rockers disc after all that? I can't. Not tonight. I'll put it up in a couple of days.

Happy New Year! Please take some time to just crank some music you love sometime today.

Goodbye 2009

2009-12-25T10:24:00.000-06:00

My next post will be in the new year, folks. Though I already expressed my frustration with compiling a year end music list, my position as a volunteer DJ for Radio K required me to do just that. I thought I would share it with you here. This is the list we were able to select from, which was pretty comprehensive for me, actually.

1. PJ Harvey and John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By - Island 2. Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day - Jagjaguwar 3. Zombie Season - Our Living Funeral - Self-released 4. Amadou & Mariam - Welcome To Mali - Nonesuch 5. Fever Ray - Fever Ray - Mute 6. Curumin - Japan Pop Show - Quannum Projects 7. The Pines - Tremelo - Red House 8. Juaneco y su Combo - Masters of Chicha Vol. 1 - Barbes 9. Ceu - Vagarosa - Six Degrees 10. Zak Sally - Zak Sally's Fear Of Song - La Mano 21

Still to come: Top Cedar shows of 2009. Stay tuned.

TWTYTW

2009-12-24T13:29:00.003-06:00

Good newspapers (e.g. The New York Times or the Yolo County Flatlander) are at their weakest in the last days of a year. Many of the op/ed columnists go on holiday, and those who remain write EOY retrospectives. Same story with the better websites (e.g. The Cedar Blog). Yawn.

So. What does Veronica Fever offer for her last entry of 2009? An EOY retrospective. Sadly, it can't be avoided: her integrity gene was found to be recessive at birth.

My 2009 was marked with several notable non-2009 discoveries. One was Steven Wilson, whose music in various guises (Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, 'Insurgentes') was all over my heavy rotation; in fact, I can't recall such a dominant presence since the days when repeat-play automatic changers and medicinal inhalants conspired to create an inertia conducive to full appreciation of an artist's canon. Or one side of it, anyway.

Another late arrival was Bohren and der Club of Gore. If you don't know of them, they're a German outift that started out as exponents of death metal, but morphed into a sort of jazz-noir combo. This is great late-night mood music (albeit of the dark, troubled sort) which owes a huge debt to Angelo Badalamenti. Any of Bohren's music from this decade is worth hearing, but the place to start is 'Sunset Mission.'

As for 2009...it was a very good year. The competition was fierce among Fever Faves. The list follows, with this caveat: I'm not here to make a case for any of these. They made the list because they reached me. I'll never be any good at parsing the whys and wherefores, so with little fanfare or embellishment....

1. The Decemberists -- 'The Hazards of Love'
Truly a long-player of the old school.

2. Soulsavers -- 'Broken'
Mark Lanegan is to my Top 10s as Juan Marichal was to the Cy Young Award.

3. Doves -- 'Kingdom of Rust'
Huge leap forward. The first several tracks are monsters.

4. Low Anthem -- 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin'
My pick for Americana of the Year.

5. A Place to Bury Strangers -- 'Exploding Head'
This is the perfect 2nd album--a refinement of an already great sound, and with tunes to match.

6. Kinetic Stereokids -- 'Kid Moves'
Bursting with ideas, this thing isn't always focused but is frequently brilliant. My Grower of the Year.

7. Rocco DeLuca -- 'Mercy'
Produced by Daniel Lanois, updating the blues-rock sound from another Lanois-related production, Chris Whitley's career-defining debut.

8. Le Loup --'Family'
Another inventive album that might appeal to lovers of Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, or Fleet Foxes. This was a latecomer to the list, and might have been higher up given a bit more time.

9. Spinnerette -- S/T
A Queens of the Stone Age-related project, this is a fun rock record featuring Brody Dalle's appealing mix of sauce and brass.

10. Pink Mountaintops -- 'Outside Love'
This was a good year for 'new psychedelia,' and this one tops my chart.

Honorable mentions: releases from Musee Mecanique, The Sleepover Disaster, Mulatu Astatqé, The Willard Grant Conspiracy, and Richard Hawley.

----------

One last Christmas music bit:

We all have the ones we love to hate. For me it's Paul's 'Wonderful Christmastime.' But a close runner-up is 'Feliz Navidad.' My longtime co-conspirator just mentioned that she has recently heard a couple of new covers of that one. Her comment: 'Why would anyone bother? No one could possibly make it any worse.'

Happy Holidays from all of us at Feverland.

Who needs the whole album...

2009-12-23T21:36:00.000-06:00

Because how often, really, is the whole album a keeper? So seldom is it a complete work, without at best throwaway, and at worst, really frackin' annoying tunes, right? So this week in a "Best of" sort of deal, I'm going to pull out songs or suites of songs that really did it for me this year. Maybe I'll save the lp's until next week.

In a nod to the algorithm-ers we've been discussing lately, I pulled a bit of an at home version. Kinda dorky but interesting, too. I sorted my entire music collection by number of plays, then looked through the high end to see what had a 2009 date. Try it to see what you really listen to...and what makes it into all those play lists.

[Wait. Pomander break. (my family's version of Rum Ball - with brandy and orange) A gal has to keep her energy up.]

As I was saying...

Amadou and Miriam's Welcome to Mali hit me last spring. Those last two tracks...I believe I referred to the Edgar Winter-esque organ lines in a post when it came out. Can't argue with that. Here's "Batoma."

Later that spring Imam Baildi made me almost faint. Inspired me to new heights of mixtape-making ecstasy. Pulled stuff out of the vaults that HAD TO rub up against songs like "O Pasatebos" and "De Thelo Pia Na Xanarthis." Those vocal samples!! Well. Charlie Gillett felt exactly the same way I did here. Get me some of that rebetika... plus the Blue Monday-esque album closer "Sousta" is a great retro-techno dance tune. Oh my. Is it good, bad or maybe a little embarrassing when one Googles a band name and gets one's own blog post as the second hit? Well, actually I had to Google the band name plus the word "music' otherwise all you get are recipes for the eggplant dish that made the Imam faint. Sorry, no LaLa of the Greek boys.

I grabbed Speed Caravan off the Cedar's server because I wondered about the name. Yes, then I was "Galvanize"-d, to learn more about Mehdi Haddab and his massively rockin' oud playing, in this band as well as DuOud, and from that to the sultry vocals of Malouma. She SO does it to "Sable émouvant." That tune is going to be on every year end mix I make.

The Angel of Rock laid a great mix on me right during intense delivery season in May as I was spending many hours in a large truck. Among others, she turned me on to Nomo and Mexican Institute of Sound. Nomo's Ghost Rock sure rocked my summer and I don't know how many times I just needed a big ol' hit of "Rings". Yes, that was me jumping up and down while bartending during their Cedar show last month. Now, get after some of this "Para No Vivir Desesparado" from MIS, another one that will be featured heavily on year end mixes.

NOMO-delic.

Kasbah Rockers merits the whole album nod; it sure can work as a complete piece. The mood is established, and although some grinding and head nodding is required, as a whole it's a massive slower groove. Until next week's column, here's "Shta." The 30 second sample really does not do this justice; where are my full length samples, Lala? Ahh, just go to their Myspace, linked above.

Also next week: a multi disc award goes to out to...well, the guy who turned me on to Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, for one thing. Not too hard to guess.

Maybe I'll also throw in some musing about what all the "big" global roots music websites put on their top o' '09 lists.

* * * * * * *

So that's why Lala is suddenly EVERYWHERE! OK, thanks for the scoop Main Fig. I like getting to hear the entire song, don't like that the entire album is often not represented and that you have to tell it to play the next song. Maybe there is a control I am missing but it's annoying. The drop down players are handy when they work. The amount of information on the artist varies WILDLY. With some of them you get the middle name of their firstborn child, with others you're happy to get the track listing. Work in progress? And when did they buy the top hit when searching for so many artists? Wasn't it just last month? Two weeks ago? About the time Apple bought them? Read the links at the Main Fig's post on the issue.

The Cloud-y Future

2009-12-19T12:54:00.004-06:00

We've spent some energy on this blog debating the strengths and weakness of the Apple structure of music retail. But no matter how you feel about Mr. Jobs and iTunes, there's no denying that Apple is the single most important player in how music is currently consumed. So the news last week of Apple's acquisition of the music streaming service called lala.com certainly got the "industry watchers" attention, and re-fueled widespread speculation about what the future of music consumption will look like.

One of the more thoughtful pieces on the subject was published Tuesday in The New York Times, which promotes the idea that the primary future model of music consumption will be one where all music will live "in a cloud," and through some kind of subscription model, all of us music consumers will simply access whatever we want, whenever we want it, through the internet and/or through the wireless phone networks.

This is an idea that has been around for some time, and has been advanced in Europe with a service called Spotify, who have both a pay model and a free version (with advertising). The U.S. record labels have balked at the free version, so talks have stalled for getting Spotify going in the United States. And honestly, I've been skeptical about this idea, probably because I'm of the older generation who is still attached to the idea of "ownership" of an "object" as it relates to my music collection, even if that object is only an mp3 file.

But I'm becoming more convinced that this is indeed the future. For one thing, I've personally already made a big psychological transition, away from having shelves filled with objects representing my music collection, to a computer that contains it invisibly. Now I tend to agree with industry critic Bob Lefsetz, who recently compared CDs to the longbox packaging which used to be used to house them in stores. Instead of throwing away most of what you bought before playing your music, as was the case with longboxes, we're now left with a piece of garbage (the disc itself) once the CD has fulfilled its role as a temporary transport mechanism to bring the music files to your computer.

It's not a very big step, then, for me to forgo ownership of those invisible files on my computer in exchange for easy access to a virtually unlimited selection of music files that live somewhere in a "cloud." Won't people still demand ownership of their music? That's the big question for this model. No doubt some will, and there will continue to be a demand for the objects in some form. This will likely fuel an extension of the trends we're already seeing: special, deluxe packages, boxed sets, even LPs will continue to be issued, and exist as a "niche" market.

Ultimately, I believe there will be a coexistence of multiple models. It is widely speculated that the addition of lala's technology to iTunes will allow you to upload your existing iTunes music library to the cloud, enabling you to access it from any web-connected device, anywhere. Perhaps, then, you'll have the option of "buying" new music, which you can then access for free anytime, while also paying a subscription (or per-use fee) to access everything else. So, if through your subscription you discover something you feel you may be inclined to listen to again at any sort of frequency, you may be given some incentive to "buy" it, and then it joins your permanent library (for which you are not charged for listening). However the structure, it's not hard for me to envision some kind of model like this that I think is very appealing, and would be received enthusiastically by the general music consuming public. Sign me up!

But it's also not hard to see the hurdles and challenges that will make this kind of thing difficult to implement. The first will be the major record companies, who own that big chunk of critical catalog that is popular music history of the last 70 years or so, and who have proven themselves to be both clueless and obstructionist when it comes to any technological advancement and model transition. And another big one gets back to our previous blog discussion of value. How much is a song/album worth, and, with this model, should that value be pegged to how many times you play it?

If those hurdles are overcome, then there will be an exponential progression in the problem many already face with the increased access we already enjoy: if you can listen to virtually everything, how do you choose what to listen to? The importance of filters, tastemakers, and effective recommendation algorithms becomes even greater. I guess that would make music blogs more important?

* * *

I'll be taking a family holiday to sun and beach beginning next week, so my next entry won't be until the 9th of January in the new year. I've never been into "Best Of" lists, so there will be none of that here. Overall, it's been a pretty extraordinary year for music. I feel honored to be a participant, in my own small way. I'll sign off for 2009 with but one of my favorite musical moments... and wish you all a pleasant holiday season!

Eagerly awaiting...

2009-12-18T19:41:00.002-06:00

tonight's show at The Cedar.

The last time I saw Skoal Kodiak:

Of course I always look forward to seeing Dosh. I have actually lost count of how many times I have seen him perform, and I have yet to be disappointed.

Also: I heard a rumor that there will be shadow puppets tonight. There is another rumor going around that The Cedar has folding chairs. I know this is a fact. I hope both rumors are true. Good Gravy!

If you can't make it down to the show tonight, you'll have another chance to see Skoal Kodiak at The Cedar on January 23, for the Modern Radio 10th Anniversary show. You can read more about it here.

Strange Communion

2009-12-17T17:07:00.005-06:00

As this prose experiences a clicky-clacky birth, its author is listening, for the very first time, to Aimee Mann's Christmas album, 'One More Drifter in the Snow.'

In my grade-school years, December 1 was a big day. That was when my modest collection of holiday music was dusted off and dropped straight into heavy (indeed, exclusive) rotation for a full month. The star of the show? The Harry Simeone Chorale's original version of 'The Little Drummer Boy.' Yep, still have it. I have no plausible defense for this.

Number two on the chart was 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' by Gene Autry. The album played during gift-giving was Mahalia Jackson's 'Silent Night.' After that the geeze alarm goes silent. Several holiday chestnuts have since rotted from the inside out due to overplay in retail emporiums, many of which start cranking 'em out on the PA at about the time my white pumps go into storage for the year.

Over a few decades some new favorites have emerged. As it happens, my current fave is an update of the old one: 'The Little Drummer Boy,' as interpreted by Low. The bolero has become a dirge. Is this a metaphor for something? If so, don't tell me. I won't listen because I'm immortal and I can go like this at full throat for a long time: LALALALALALALALALA!!!!

At Chez Fever exclusive holiday music play is limited to tree trimming, present opening, and Christmas dinner. What is the playlist makeup? Well, it goes like this (played randomly, of course):

Elvis' Christmas Album
A Christmas Gift from Phil Spector
The Blind Boys of Alabama 'Go Tell It On the Mountain'
Charles Brown 'Cool Christmas Blues'
George Winston 'December'
Mahalia Jackson 'Silent Night'
Raul Malo 'Marshmallow Nights'
Rostropovich & the Berlin Philharmonic 'The Nutcracker Suite'
The Vince Guaraldi Trio 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

Will there be a tenth this year? Well, I'm just now to the end of Aimee's album. It's nice, but does it qualify for the firmament? Perhaps it's time instead to admit a different newcomer: Thea Gilmore's new release, 'Strange Communion.' OK, I'm biased...when it comes time to hand out my end-of-decade awards, Thea will be announced as my Best Singer/Songwriter winner. And she can take as long as she wants for her acceptance speech.

What I love about this album is its complete lack of chestnuts, unless one counts Thea's cover of Yoko Ono's 'Listen, the Snow is Falling.' Here we have her performing 'That'll Be Christmas.'

Next week: Yup. 2009 Top 10. It's in the contract. Cheers!

Rebab baba baba

2009-12-16T10:04:00.003-06:00

What is a spike fiddle and how can a 1000 year old instrument rock so hard? Think Juldeh Camara. (Well, actually his ritti doesn't have a spike because that would poke him in the belly, but it is the one string Fulani version, so I think it counts. )

The spike part: The spike sticks out of the bottom, so you can rest it on the ground or your leg or whatever.

REBAB : The spike fiddle is considered a rebab, which is part of the lute family, and typically has 2 or 3 strings. The word rebab is an Arabic term translated as bowed string instrument. It is closely associated with Islamic culture, and dates back to at least the 8th century. Its roots are probably in Arabia or Persia, and its influence has reached from Indonesia to Europe and Africa (it is thought to be the earliest ancestor of the violin).

There are two basic types of rebab: wooden fiddles with pear-shaped bodies, and spiked fiddles, named for the spike on the bottom of the instrument on which it stands while being played.

Spiked rebabs typically have no frets, but instead, the fingers of your left hand become movable bridges. ( I blatantly stole the above info from a website whose URL I did not copy at the time...sorry, don't sue me whoever you are.)

It can be a rather lo-fi instrument, as demonstrated by this article on how to make one out of a tin can. It's definitely one of those large, loosey-goosey instrument families. Read more at Wiki if you like - interesting history. Then there are people creating beautiful spike fiddles today.

I've been wanting to know more about that instrument for months, and finally got around to looking it up. OK.

* * * * * * *

Swagger is all I can come up with. I listen to the new Mahala Rai Banda disc, Ghetto Blasters, and it just struts. Like "we've got it and we know it." And they do.

"The mating of shamelessness and noise is one of the keys to this music’s charm," reports PopMatters . Or as the band's website puts it, "Mahala Rai Banda combines gypsy strings and accordion with a big brass section to deliver a high-speed, kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, no-remixed-needed session that reminds you of why gypsy music is the new punk rock." But hey, they have the chops to pull it off.

Dance, follow or get out the way! It's Mahala Rai Banda.

Edgier than their more established big Balkan brass compatriots like Kocani Orkester, Boban Markovich, or Fanfare Ciocarlia, the boys from the Mahala have put out another great party disc. I would hope fans of those artists who filter this genre through beats and samples (not that there's anything wrong with that!) like Shantel, the Balkan Beats crew, Beriut and Balkan Beat Box have prepped enough folks so there is a curiosity about and a market for the real thing. Wouldn't a U.S. tour be a wonder? Well, try this Romanian Mastercard commerical instead.

* * * * * * *

Hey Veronica Fever, would you please answer a question for me that lingers from your whole "one download is worth about 40 cents" discussion. Why do different downloads come in at different bit rates and what does that really mean? I am not intentionally ordering higher or lower quality downloads; hey, with the stuff I want, I'm just happy to find any downloads. What's it all about? Thanks!

* * * * * * *

Finally, in the who'd a thunk it category, I got a mailer from the JDUB foundation the other day, asking for money as so many organizations do this time of year. You know those guys? Among many other projects, they release Balkan Beat Box's discs in the U.S. Anyway, one of the new discs JDUB is promoting is Girls in Trouble, "a folk-inspired, indie rock song cycle that re-imagines the stores of the Bible's unsung heroines, brave and complicated women not always given voices in the text."

Wow. Huh. Being a music gal, rather than a lyrics gal, I'm not really interested in hearing this, but somehow I think it's rather great that somebody did such a project at all.

Like The Red Tent meets Mateli.

So here's a fun older interview with Tellu, one of the architects of the Mateli project, for all you old Hedningarna fans.

Mateli Kuivalatar 1771-1846 >>>>

Local Props

2009-12-12T11:10:00.008-06:00

Having just come through a week with a major snow storm immediately followed by "dangerous" cold temperatures, it feels like a particularly good time to sing the praises of living in the Twin Cities. Since you are reading this blog, the odds are already fairly strong that high on your own list of reasons as to why this is a good place to live is the depth and quality of the arts and culture here, especially as it relates to live music.

Two weeks ago, singer Haley Bonar remarked from our stage, having just completed a short tour mostly in the upper midwest, that "there aren’t a lot of cities that care about music like Minneapolis does." We like to think that The Cedar represents the ultimate epitome of that.

What's so great about the situation here is that the audience and the venues tend to feed the cycle of talent, and vice versa. So, really, great artists like Haley are a huge part in cultivating that culture of appreciation; the reason we all care is that so many great local musicians give us so many reasons to care. Which then encourages other great musicians to contribute, and so forth.

I followed the Angel of Rock by one night to the Andrew Bird church show. I could echo her complaints, and add a few of my own (like a message to photographers: if you're not using a digital camera which can be fully silenced, you should not be shooting a mostly acoustic show at a church. And if you are using a digital camera and don't have it in full "silence" mode in that setting, someone should just take the damn thing away from you forever). But ultimately, Andrew's skill, talent, and humility always shine through in intimate settings, which will always make this kind of show compelling.

While Andrew Bird is not a Minneapolis-based artist, his entire band is from here (which makes us all feel like he's a homeboy), and are among that talented core group who can be credited with cultivating an appreciative audience. Mike Lewis and Jeremy Ylvisaker joined Bird last night, and also played with Haley on her recent tour. And coming to The Cedar this Friday is the remaining Bird band member, drummer and keyboardist Martin Dosh, for his annual end-of-year Cedar extravaganza:

As if that alone were not enough, other local shows coming in the next ten days to The Cedar: hands-down the funnest family show going with Bunny Clogs next Saturday morning, followed by the adult configuration of that band, local legends The Honeydogs that night; homegrown Americana stars Romantica, celebrating the release of their new recording with one of the best titles ever conceived: Control Alt Country Delete; and on the eve of Christmas eve, the annual holiday show by the enormously talented Roma di Luna.

I'll speak for myself: this is exactly why I live here, windchill be damned!

Winter Bird

2009-12-11T18:34:00.003-06:00

I was one of the lucky people able to see Andrew Bird at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral last night, the first of three Bird performances at the venue this week.

Every winter, there is one concert on an ice-cold night that leaves me a little stirred, and I think this was the 2009 edition.

I've seen Andrew Bird perform a number of times, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't care much for the gimmicks of the show; the cathedral's impressive pillars blocked too many views of the stage, the sound was fine (unless you wanted to hear anything that was spoken) but not stellar, the pew seating allowed folks to take up too much room, pushing big ticket holders into the cheap seats, and the staff was all too eager to push people outside after the concert into weather-advisory-level cold.

All that aside, I left the concert feeling uplifted, relaxed, rejuvenated, and in a weird way kind of cleansed.

Bird seemed pretty nervous and uncomfortable - he restarted songs frequently, something I haven't seen him do. Instead of sounding sloppy though, this somehow made it seem a little more real. It's hard to say why exactly, but I felt he really connected with the audience. Maybe the natural sound had something to do with it, maybe not. Maybe he really was able to "just play" rather than perform. I guess the reasons why are not too important.

It didn't hurt that he played some older tunes that are some of my favorites, either.

But here's the thing: I'm totally spoiled. I wish this show would have been at The Cedar, and seeing him perform there will probably always be my favorite Bird incarnation. So although it was a pretty magical experience, a little something was missing. At least I know what it was.

***

It's year-end list time, isn't it? I used to look forward to this time all year. Today it seems kind of annoying. Hopefully by next week, I'll have changed my mind. Has anyone prepared theirs already? Maybe I just need a little inspiration...

Hit-Bound Sounds

2009-12-10T15:03:00.004-06:00

Just finished a round of new-music auditioning. Dropped the needle on about sixty releases, culled from around 400 reviews and recommendations. How do reviewers do it? Keep it fresh, I mean. How do they express enthusiasm over and over again, while drawing from the usual genre-and-influences well? I'd go mad if I tried to do that.

While I don't always share their enthusiasm for given acts, my appreciation for their work runs wide and deep. So, as a form of homage, here are the ten releases from this go-round that will make it into regular rotation for awhile around here, along with excerpts from the reviews that inspired me to take the music out for a test drive.

Caveats: These are not all hot off the presses; in fact, a couple aren't even the given artist's latest release. Also, I'm not here to say this is music for the ages; I might not still have 'em in my library by this time next year. The unifying factor is that they all caught my ear and made me want to know more.

(Note: the links will take you to sites that permit streaming of some or all of the music in the reviewed album.)

Hush Arbors -- Yankee Reality

Kevin 'Hush Arbors' Wood has impressive avant-folk credentials. His second full-length for Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, however, finds Wood blending his experimentation with classic songcraft, delivering an album clearly in love with that moment when rock, folk, and country began to cross-pollenate. -- Steve Chick, Mojo

A.A. Bondy -- When the Devil's Loose

Its lush instrumentation and Southern Gothic lyrics give it a melancholic mood, one that Bondy handles beautifully. Draw a line between Bon Iver and the more reflective side of Ryan Adams and that's where you'll find Bondy. -- Paul Rees, Q

Northern Valentine -- The Distance Brings Us Closer

Here's five long, ambient, metallic drone soundscapes by a Philadelphia husband 'n wife duo. Admirers of Seefeel, Silo, Roedelius, and Brian Eno's ambient work will find this a ripping spin. -- Mark Suppanz, The Big Takeover

Brett Anderson -- Slow Attack

This being [former Suede frontman] Brett, chilly conditions prevail, though the music's overt dreaminess provides warmth. As the title warns, 'Slow Attack' takes time to bed-in, but it's a valiantly single-minded and frequently gorgeous record. -- Martin Aston, Mojo

Floorian -- More Fiend

This Columbus, OH outfit plays ominous, trance-inducing space-rock, with hints of metal, psychedelic, and Eastern influences. Like the soundtrack to a nail-biting, suspenseful horror flick, the LP's dark, creepy ambience makes for an ideal late-night listening experience. -- Mark Suppanz, The Big Takeover

Veronica sez: The player on this site is a bit funky...you might find it worthwhile to jump ahead to the second track.

Tim Easton -- Porcupine

Midwesterner Easton's aim to put some grit back into his music has been achieved in spades. The gristly blues of 'Burgundy Red' and 'Stormy' belt along, while 'Stone's Throw Away''s front porch strum reeks of last night's whiskey. -- Andy Fife, Q

The Dodge Brothers -- Louisa and the Devil

Can a middle-class English film critic play the upright bass in a rockabilly band? Why not? The Dodge Brothers trade in pastiche, but it's energetic and witty pastiche. -- Andrew Mueller, Uncut

Veronica sez: Start with 'You Can't Walk Like a Man' to get the idea.

The Ettes -- Look at Life Again Soon

Take a cup of Nuggets, add two tablespoons of early 60s Rolling Stones, a teaspoon of Shangri-Las, a pinch of Wanda Jackson and a dash of Nancy Sinatra, and you've got the batter for the Ettes. The band massages the garage rock framework with sensual hands. -- Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

Veronica sez: The Ettes have since released another album and an EP.

Nosound -- Lightdark

This Italian ensemble hangs mostly percussionless ambient soundscapes on a jazzy prog/pop backbone. Melodies unfold over subdued arrangements for a late-night tone that commands attention. A soothing, occasionally sublime hour of lush tuneage. -- Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

Veronica sez: On this MySpace player, the track 'Places Remained' is from this album. Nosound has a brand-new album as well, released last month.

This is another in a large number of Steven Wilson-related releases I have stumbled upon this year. Elsewhere in the band's linked MySpace player is a piece called 'Together We're Stranger,' the title track from an album by No-Man, which was formed by Wilson and Tim Bowness. The latter sings on this edition of it as well.

Bomshel -- Fight Like a Girl

Midlife arrives without crisis on the country duo Bomshel’s charming first album. “I lose my keys, and I’m constantly late/I’m comfortable a couple of pounds overweight,” Kelley Shepard sings on “Love Me for Me,” one of several songs that preach inner comfort while the outside world looks on skeptically. -- Jon Caramanica, The New York Times

Veronica sez: This might appeal to the Miranda Lambert crowd as well.

Snowstorm Thoughts

2009-12-09T22:55:00.007-06:00

In honor of the lovely snowstorm out here this week, I'll post the Unthank sisters singing a lovely acapella New Years song "Tar Barrel in Dale." Check out the Allendale Baal Fire, a tar barrel parade; it really happens in their hometown each New Years! (Take THAT, Holidazzle!)

By the way, our favorite Geordie lasses are getting big love from the British press. Their 2007 disc The Bairns was listed in The Observer's top 50 albums of the decade, being the only British folk album to make that list. The album also made Uncut's top 150 releases of the decade.

* * * * * * *

Turning our thoughts to warmer climes, there I was with the boychild watching one of those Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation holiday specials from when I was a kid the other night and a fun commercial of kids playing soccer comes with a soundtrack by...Os Mutantes! Who knew? Well, everybody actually. It came out last year for the summer Olympics. Still, though. Fun to hear "A Minha Menina" on the TV at Grandma's house. All of which goes to show you how often I watch actual TV. It also caused me to muse...do musicians make enough dough from a MacDonald's commercial to buy really fun tour clothes? Because they sure had the really fun tour outfits last fall.

* * * * * * *

Just got back from the David Rawlings Machine show. Although we had to split before the encore to get back for the babysitter, wow. Whew. DAMN!

What a pleasure to watch musicians have SO much fun playing together. I think they could've gone on like that all night. Maybe they did. Somebody else will have to write about the encore. David's guitar playing was as amazing as ever, one tune strangling his little archtop and the next his fingers were flowing up and down the frets like water over smooth stones. The vocal harmonies were, of course, out of this world and given the extra jolt by the bass lines tossed in there by Ketch Secor from Old Crow Medicine Show. Willie Watson from Old Crow handled lead on an incredible version of "CC Rider," then pulled one of the fiddles off the table to go twin fiddle with Secor on one of the tunes from Friend of A Friend. Was it "How's About You?" Not sure, but they went nuts with Rawlings' banjo playing.

The band played most of the tunes from A Friend of A Friend, augmented by a couple of Gillian's songs from Soul Journey. David took a nice turn at lead vocals on "Elvis Presley Blues" from

Time (the Revelator) and choice covers abounded as well. I heard some Neil Young, some Woody Guthrie and some Bill Monroe for sure.

Anyway, special night. Special artists. Special venue.

The Cedar.

The Next Big Thing

2009-12-05T13:25:00.006-06:00

I've been waiting for some time for The Next Big Thing in music. A few years ago, the hope was that a Next Big Thing would arrive in time to save the recording industry. Guess not. On a macro scale, you could say the last Big Thing in all of music was rock 'n roll, which you can date back to the 50's. Or, if you don't consider it a sub-genre of rock, you could say that the last Big Thing was hip-hop, which still dominates pop charts today. Even still, hip-hop is over 30 years old now. It's the music of the parents' generation, heading quickly towards becoming the music of the grandparents' generation. Grandmaster Flash, who had the genre's first breath-through hit in 1982, is 51.

I'm not suggesting that there are no new innovations in rock and hip-hop, or any other category of music being produced these days. And one of the things I find exciting and refreshing about a lot of new music now being produced is the trend towards a willingness to explore all aspects of musical expression and a distinct lack of concern as to how the music will be categorized.

But there has not been a new style of music which can be considered "game changing" since those early rap records in the 70's. Now I'm wondering whether that's even possible in the context of current culture. Consumption is so accelerated, and attention spans are so contracted. Honestly, it's hard to imagine a new music style coming along that can ignite a mass market and have a long term (30+ years) arch. Is that no longer even possible?

Now it's all about short-term trends. Maybe that's just fine. If there's one trend that I hope will continue to blossom, it's one I touched upon in my previous post: using video to produce a long-form narrative in music, ideally in a performance setting. Most of my favorite Cedar concerts so far this season have had this element, the most recent being last Tuesday's great show by The Books. When this clip was posted on Pitchfork a few weeks back, I didn't realized that it represented how their entire performance was presented. It was a delightful set, leaving me wanting more of this kind of thing:

Maybe there will be no Next Big Thing in music, and we'll just have to settle for a series of Next Big Trends...

Two Movies

2009-12-03T17:22:00.003-06:00

Visited the local art house Sunday and took in 'Pirate Radio.' Verdict: save your time and money. Still, I have to wonder whether my opinion was overly colored by having done time in both the radio and music businesses. Perhaps I couldn't enjoy it for being on the lookout for errors of liberty-taking, sort of like how some golfers despise 'Tin Cup.' It is tough to watch a 1966 deejay spinning a platter that sports an A&M label that wouldn't be designed and used for another ten years.

Earlier in the week, an hour-and-a-half of home viewing was devoted to 'Empire Records.' This movie had no aspirations of greatness and presented itself accordingly. It did, however, capture one whiff of essence: for about three decades, a good record store could be thought of as an island of misfit toys. The employees, I mean. So when I allow myself a bit of nostalgia for the good ol' days, I choose to long for what is both lost and missed: my cohorts on the record store sales floor (especially 1982-84), and maintaining racks of LPs with their widescreen cover art...taken for granted back then and all but forgotten now.

My misty-eyed reminiscences rarely extend to those LPs' contents, however. Main Figurehead's uncharacteristically lucid post about the disappearing art of long-form recording was right on the money; in fact, I will likely anoint the top spot in my 2009 Top 10 to that same Decemberists album, which is well and truly an old-school long player. However, when I think back, how many albums from my youth demanded that I listen to all sides straight through? One handful? Two?

If you grew up with elpees, then you know: you listened to a whole side mostly because you got to hear twenty minutes of music without having to fiddle with anything.

**********

Nowadays, the song's the thing. This brings us back to the Cedar blog's November scrum: the differences among digital music sales methodologies.

Let's pare it back to the original question: What is a song worth? Here's one person's answer: 40 cents. I'll come back to that, but let's take the scenic route past Robbins' barn to get there.

I like Lavender Diamond. The 'Cavalry of Light' EP is my favorite release of theirs so far. The opening track, 'You Broke My Heart,' is a fine introduction to their sound. You can find it at Amie Street for 26 cents (not a special price), eMusic for about 45 cents (depending on your subscription plan), as a track on the used disc at Amazon for about 79 cents (pro-rated, and including P&H), and at iTunes for 99 cents. This is not an isolated case.

I like Talking Heads' 'Fear of Music.' I like it so much, in fact, that I have purchased and repurchased it as an LP, an 8-track, a cassette, a CD, and a DVD-audio. In my last days in music retail, the CD typically sold for $8-9 when advertised. It is an 11-track album. The last track on side one, 'Memories Can't Wait,' is sold digitally on iTunes for $1.29. The only saving grace in paying the highest price yet for a 30-year old track I have bought over and over again is the ability to break it out from the album. A nice convenience, to be sure, but not compelling.

This post is not intended as another assault on the iTunes model. I have a pretty good understanding of what they're doing and why. My feeling is simply that iTunes pricing is often not reflective of the varying needs of content holders (whether artists, licensees, or owners) or music consumers.

Gobs of music being produced nowadays is available for one purpose only: as a marketing tool for nascent and/or touring artists. The needs of those content holders are entirely different from those who own or license niche music (legacy artists, say, or a specific subculture). Further, some music lovers are explorers who will willingly gamble, but not extensively at a buck or more per track. Their needs are entirely different from the convenience-oriented customer. (And yes, intrepid explorers can jump around among artist sites and streaming services, but without proper training one can easily contract hyperlink exhaustion.)

Apple's one-size-fits-all strategy works well for some, not for others. To my mind, the real winner will be the retailer who can offer a true one-stop music exploration and shopping experience, catering to the full spectrums of music creators, holders, and end-users. The trick will be in getting folks used to the idea that not every song has the same value and can range in price from free (or, let's say, a dime) to whatever the market will bear. Uniform pricing is an anachronism in digital-music commerce.

As for me...well, in a typical month I'll spend about $80 on music. The outlay is spread among retailers offering sliding-scale pricing, subscription pricing, and cheap used CDs. (That last category is important to remember, by the way. My experience shows a rapidly depreciating value for older or forgotten music on used discs. The Amazon Marketplace, for one, is essentially a CD rental operation for those customers willing to schlep their resales to the post office several times a week). In that typical month, I'll amass 15-20 CDs worth of material, or about 200 tracks.

The blended cost? About 40 cents a track.

No congnative dissonance here

2009-12-02T22:04:00.001-06:00

Let's catch up with some old friends and make some new ones this week, shall we?

Can one watch Sunday night football with a soundtrack of Bulgarian mashup provided by Kottarashky without experiencing cognative dissonance? Rotating in some slinky Balkan electro-brass dub from La Cherga (former Yugos now in Austria.) Those sites include some free downloads from each artist if you're interested. Great clarinet and sax work on all fronts.

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In the somebody ought to pick this one up department, a bunch of our Swedish pals are featured in a new book about the folk music and dance scene there. Passion - om folkmusic och dans has interviews with artists including "guitar king" Roger Tollroth (Vasen), "Nickelharpa virtuoso Johan Hedin (Bazar Bla), composer Mats Eden (Groupa), "World musician" Ale Moeller (Frifot plus a million other collaborations), Ellika Frisell who "plays polskas with Indian and African touches," "folk rock musician" Kjell Eric Ericson (Hoven Droven), vocalist Lena Willemark (Frifot), and singer/arranger Ulrica Boden (Ranarim) among others. Not to mention Benny Andersson, yeah , the Abba Benny, more known for his accordion and his big band these days. Oh, but it's in Swedish. Which is why my translations of the artist descriptions are quite rudimentary. But the exclusive cd which comes with works in any language, right? Something about the days getting so short makes Nordic music sound really good right now anyway.

(Psst... Ale Moeller is booked for a spring show at the Cedar with Bruce Molsky. Two amazing collaborators...how cool with that be?)

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The Euro World Music charts rather friskily put out their top recordings of 2009 list Tuesday. Regular readers will recognize many of the usual suspects in the hot 150 that I linked to here- Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara(#3), Tinariwen(#6), Dub Colossus(#4), Kasbah Rockers (#63), DuOud(#8), Shantel(#11 ), Amadou et Mariam(#7 ), Imam Baildi (#24), Speed Caravan(#42 ), Orchestre Poly-Rythmo(#59), Mahala Rai Banda(#36 ), Alamaailman Vasarat(#35 )...Well, yes, it's true, I am on the email list and do peruse the top 25 every month. Is the opinion of a multinational panel of 30 or 40 DJ's worth as much as some algorithm or musicological data analysis? Sure, why not? It's that elusive musical community we keep writing about. Anyway, the charts are usually a good way to learn more about the artists, with all the usual links in place. (The top of the year disc is a searchable pdf file if you're looking for your faves.)

African music is, as you'd expect, most common near the top of the list, and while I might wonder at the relatively lower percentage of South American music, to this chart watcher the list of origin counties grows more diverse every year, and there is a small, but growing trend with stuff from the Middle East being easier to find. It would be interesting to compare this list from one say, ten years ago.

Then there are the discs that never got in the monthly top 25 that I need to get after. Who knew Boot put out a new disc last year? (#66) Main Fig, are you holding out on us? Totte and Ola are still fiddling and mandola-ing, but Samuel Andersson has replaced Bjorn Tollin on Soot. Cedar Nordic roots fans have seen Samuel perform with various incarnations of Hedningarna and Hurdy Gurdy over the years; you'd remember the guy. No engelska on the Caprice records site, so the link's to an English distributor. Rootsworld dug it too, but the link to the longer review isn't there, so sorry. They called a "debut", however. Sheesh, guys, do your homework, wouldja?!

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Apologies for last week. Gillian sings to David "You be Emmy Lou and I'll be Graham," not the other way around as I wrote. Yeah, we listened the Gillian and David for hours in the car on the way to Milwaukee Wednesday. Such fine, fine road music. Can't wait to see them next week.

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I keep trying to get to that elusive space of pure listening we all keep writing about. But most semi-concentrated listening usually happens in the car or while cleaning the house or such. Had one of those true moments the other day while trying to really pay attention to Analog Africa 5: Legends of Benin. I was jamming along with all the wonderfully off-kilter brass bands when out of the blue, the simplest chiming guitar line started to repeat. A warm clear voice told me "La musica, en verite' la musica" over and over, alternating with some understated fuzzy organ lines, backed by just a touch of percussion. Gnonnas Pedro was singing me over into dreamland. So, so sweet. Simple, elegant... and elegiac.

Of course all Analog Africa discs come with extensive notes, so I then read about Pedro's untimely demise from cancer a few years back, in part because he couldn't afford health care until it was too late. Rest in peace Pedro, and thank you. That's why we all do this, the music, in truth the music.

Long Form

2009-11-28T09:50:00.004-06:00

For the past fifty years, by far the most dominant form of music creation has been a 30 to 75 minute construct which we call an "album." This is directly due to the wildly successful technological invention of the "long playing record" (LP), first introduced in 1948. The compact disc merely provided an extension to the album format (in more ways than one). But one of the great questions (and debates) around the emergence of digital files as the preferred format for music reproduction surrounds the future of the album, and ultimately what shape the "long form" of recorded music will take. (An aside here: it's curious that technology seems to have a stronger impact on our relationship with music than with any other art form).

Live music may be a major factor in the equation. As I posited in a previous post, going to a live music show is quickly becoming one of the only examples of when we commit our undivided attention to one band or artist for a significant amount of time. Concurrently, the model of touring to support a recording has been turned on its head; tours are now looked at as the more reliable revenue generator for many artists, and increasingly recordings are released to promote tours and to generate merchandise income at the show.

In fact, we're seeing a new trend recently, especially with our more popular local bands, which for now is being called the "EP Release Concert." Instead of waiting to complete a "full-length album" before staging a show, bands are now more commonly putting together 4-8 tracks of new or re-thought material, which gives them something new to promote to the media, and provides the fans with something new to buy at the merch table. Further indication that what was once the tail (the live show) is now wagging the dog (the recording).

Aesthetically successful albums have tended to fall into two general categories: those with such a strong critical mass of individual tracks that the entire album stands up to repeated listening as a whole, and those with some sort of unifying concept which holds the whole thing together. Unfortunately, even the most ardent lovers of the album format will admit that only a tiny percentage of records released over the last 50 years accomplish either of these two things. However, I venture to bet that most of us "older" music lovers would grieve the loss of the album format based on the enormous satisfaction and gratification derived from that tiny percentage!

Personally, I'm a bit of a sucker for the "concept album." I can't say that I was a huge fan of The Decemberists before the release of their most recent release, The Hazards of Love. But this "rock opera" hooked me hard and fast, with the usual concept album trappings of continuous flow, recurring themes and musical segments, and a storyline narrative. Then the band followed through with a full worldwide tour in which they played the entire album from start to finish, only furthering my respect (and, admittedly, bringing me back to my youth, and my personal halcyon days of long-form progressive rock concerts).

Now the band has taken it a step further, and commissioned four interesting and inventive animation artists to "visualize" the album non-literally. The final work, titled "Here Come The Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized," premiered in L.A. two months ago (behind a live performance), and is being offered exclusively on iTunes beginning December 1st. The Cedar has the distinction of being the only venue that I'm aware of (anywhere in the world, actually) which is having a theatrical screening of the film, on Thursday 12/3, with an admittance price of only $3. I've previewed it... it's very cool, very trippy, at times with spectacular imagery. I'm really looking forward to seeing it on our big screen while the full album plays through our great sound system...

Probably not a trend here, but another imaginative reason for someone to spend an extended period (nearly an hour) listening to a long form music creation... this time, in my opinion, one of those rare, worthwhile ones.

Musically giving thanks

2009-11-27T00:28:00.002-06:00

I am thankful for too many musical things to list here, though initially that is what I intended to do in this entry. Instead, just a few things from the last week or so:

Thankful for:

-Parties at The Cedar put on by local brass band The Brass Messengers complete with stilt walkers, roller girls and costumes.

-Nomo's existence (check Mama E Dub's report on their Cedar appearance that she wrote just days ago)

-Seeing Russian Circles with coworkers who dance the polka afterwards

-Listening to a friend's punk record at hyper speed while dubbing tapes

-Being asked to teach someone to read music

-Being asked, "Is this Burl Ives [playing]?!" while watching Fantastic Mr. Fox and being able to answer, "Yes, I believe it is."

In a couple days I may be able to ad "seeing Fool's Gold and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros" to that list, but will be for another entry.