Friday, October 3. 2008So What![]() Coltrane, Adderley, Miles, Evans An Mp3 from the splendid Speechification of a documentary on Radio 4's Soul Music covering the basic history of the recording of So What, the lead track on Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Some of the commentary grates a little as it tends to slip into the mawkish at times but there are some great insights. I especially like the idea that this was Miles trying to recreate a childhood memory of the sound of a lone gospel singer he stumbled across in a battered church in the woods outside St Louis. Kind of Blue has an odd status - at times it seems so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible. No matter this is well worth a listen. There's also a great show over at NPR about the making of Kind of Blue. The download of it is on the left hand side. This video recording is dated to April 2nd 1959 and features Wynton Kelley on piano in place of Bill Evans and Jimmy Cobb on drums; Julian Adderley was sick and wasn't at the session. There's something in the way the others stand around so relaxed as Coltrane goes off on one of his runs, a sense somewhere between too cool and reverence. There's a weight already about Coltrane, perhaps the gravity of all that was to come. But his future size is there as well, in those immense shoulders and ghosted into the bulbs of his eyes. Thursday, October 2. 2008The John Baker Tapes Vols 1 + 2![]() Artist: John Baker Album: The John Baker Tapes Vol.1 Label: Trunk This has been a beserk listening experience - I know these sounds intimately already, they ping about in some closed off corner of my unconscious, in all our unconsciousness I suspect. These unearthly scrapings and enhanced blocks of musique concrete are the production of John Baker who was part of the pioneering Radiophonic Workshop, set up by the BBC in the 1950s to create music, jingles and incidental sound for its burgeoning media network. The inevitable thing to mention here is Delia Derbyshire's astonishing Doctor Who soundtrack, which came out of the workshop in 1963, but that was but one piece among many thousands (there are reportedly 4,000 hours of archived tape at Maida Vale) and the workshop was precisely that - a foundry of produced sound, with pieces created to meet demand as and when it came. So in some sense this is experimentation bridled by convention - an unsual working arrangment which probably accounts for the hit and miss nature of some of the pieces. But that isn't to detract from the sheer sonic invention on display here, and the almost uncanny way obvious everyday sounds are distorted and refracted to fit a purpose. It's no wonder that this at times expressionless 'music' has been such an influence on our received sonic palette. Just check the Dial M For Murder track below. I think Richard D James may have been listening... ![]() Artist: John Baker Album: The John Baker Tapes Vol.2 Label: Trunk There are two discs to this set and it can become slightly cloying after a while, but as an artefact it does expand beyond the boundaries of mere nostalgia - not always, certainly - the second disc particularly has some teeth-curling light jazz moments, but there are sequence when this tips into something more than just time-capsule whimsy, indeed when it feels as if this is created from some anterior present, some other place removed from the usual grasping of our critical faculties. We should be thankful to the mighty Trunk for putting it together. Download: John Baker - Dial M For Murder I will say that there are many infinitely better qualified people than me to expound on this stuff and a good deal of excellent pieces around. Below are a few well worth reading. Woebot on the Radiophonic Workshop A piece on the same by Robin Carmody And Simon Reynold's recent piece from The Guardian Two excellent reviews of this release. And finally the press release from Trunk which includes a poignant biography of John Baker by his brother Richard Anthony Baker. If any music ever resisted biography it must be this, yet strangely this piece adds an unusual, unsettling texture to the work. Wednesday, October 1. 2008Daydreaming
In my cabin I learnt the sheer luxury of day dreaming. It has been my making and my undoing too. How many days, weeks, months have I lost to it? But perhaps it isn't lost time at all, but the most valuable thing I could have done.
Roger Deakin, Notebooks Frightened Rabbit. Again.![]() Scott Hutchinson I saw Frightened Rabbit recently, in the oddest of venues in Southampton. The Orange Roomsis the archetypal Southampton place - nondescript and bland but with a GNVQ in marketing and an ill-thought out evocative name, like it might hold mysteries. The only mystery is how every fucker in there has the same hair, and how the bar staff manage to be so surly and incompetent all at once. I'd actually booked tickets for the gig but on entering was met with confusion, as if they'd barely expected anyone to show up at all. Which unfortunately wasn't far from the truth. There was a tiny stage in one corner of the venue, 5 yards in front of which was the mixing desk, and behind that was a small space from which people were craning either side of two stacks of amps. Directly in front of the stage were 3 armchairs. Fucking armchairs! No one saw fit to move them so they stayed throughout the gig. So did the lights. No wonder the bands looked so awkward. We Were Promised Jetpacks supported and we're an odd mix of the magnificent and the messy - plus an odd kind of schoolboy fear. Maybe it was the lights. Maybe it was us lot, forced to stand like a milk marketing board in limp judgement. Either way they're surely going to be huge. Name as destiny. The Rabbit were immense too. With some bands, inexplicably, the emotional hit just keeps coming; and there's a raw force pouring out of Scott Hutchinson that drags something up out of you - even under the tacky glow of Southampton striplights. I'd go see them again tomorrow. All of which is to say there's a live acoustic album of The Midnight Organ Fight on the way - called Liver! Lung! FR! it's out on October 21st. You can hear the version of Old Fashioned from it here. Also, the band did a Daytrotter Session recently which you can also download. The version of Poke is beautiful. See also this recent tour diary entry from Scott Hutchinson that appeared on The Guardian site. WOXY.com presents: Frightened Rabbit from WOXY on Vimeo. The first part of a joint interview over at LOBF, with The Twilight Sad
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Tuesday, September 30. 2008A cheery wave from a stranded youngster
Yes, we are still here, in some form at least. Personally speaking it feels like I've been buried for a couple of weeks: the crunch-clutch of personal commitments, the soil of booze... Now the more I read about what the fucks going on around me I wonder if it's even worth the bother, as soon I'll probably be stealing corn cobs from the local farm and wondering what the asbestos on my garage roof tastes like. No matter. You have to go hide somewhere, so it might as well be here.
As you may have noticed we have a new plug-in on the right hand panel which allows you to see what crap we're reading when we should be working. Fill your boots. We'll be back soon. Thursday, September 11. 2008Young Knives – Koko, Camden. 9th Sept 2008The Young Knives This was a free gig for the fans. No queue or even a search, just stroll through the doors and you’re in. Dodgy bar as per usual, and it’s always best not to consider the damage. After some decent support from Lightspeed Champion (especially the Star Wars rendition), they’re on, with sharp white suits to boot. The House of Lords appeared to be Buddy Holly on Stars In Your Eyes. Cool. The Young Knives I am always happy to see the Knives, knowing I will hear songs from the exceptional Voices Of Animals & Men. Loughborough Suicide is an anthemic joy. Tailors appeared even odder live. The recent 2nd Long Player is of only average standard yet songs performed from this were delightful too. This was a very confident performance by the Young Knives. A confidence that allows all their fun & nerd qualities to shine. I thought noticeably so compared with previous gigs I had attended. The white suits helped too. A good night was had. Cheers Young Knives. Tuesday, September 9. 2008Hugh MacDiarmid - Skald's Death
I have known all the storms that roll.
I have been a singer after the fashion of my people – a poet of passion. All that is past. Quiet has come into my soul. Life’s tempest is done. I lie at last A bird cliff under the midnight sun. Friday, September 5. 2008Opacity - Riverside Hospital![]() Curvature It's been an age since we featured anything from motts over at Opacity - this latest photo set from the abandoned shell of the Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island in New York's East River has some fabulous images. ![]() Buffalo State Hospital, Darkness For some other examples of his work, see this set of the Buffalo State Hospital. Thursday, September 4. 2008Palindromics![]() Sarah Palin It only happens once in a while but wee Sarah Palin has caused our resident political mountebank to come out of his west London hideaway... ------------------------------------------- So, McCain has picked Palin, a 44-year-old beauty queen. It has widely been read as a cynical attempt by the GOP to cash in on the millions of women voters left apparently disenfranchised by Hillary Clinton's failure to win the Democrats' presidential nomination. People point at her brief political record, her pro-life, , pro-drilling (anti-polar bear) stance, her advocacy of creationist teaching in Alaska's schools, her NRA membership and the ongoing corruption case against her back home as the many good reasons why she will fail to win over those who feel let down by Obama's accession to the Democratic candidacy. People may well look at her age, too. At 44, the age gap between herself and the Republicans' patriarchal presidential candidate is 28 years; indeed, Senator McCain is fully well old enough to have finished his education, proceeded into a career and, generally speaking, established himself in life and still be of the age at which to sire his own running mate. Whereas Obama has chosen Joe Biden to bestow upon his campaign a greater sense of experience, in contrast to his youthful appearance and relatively short time in political office, many believe this age gap between McCain and his vice-presidential nominee will only accentuate his own advancing years. Others too, may recognise that Sarah Palin does not fit into the baby-boomer generation that was so crucial to Senator Clinton's campaign – the generation that has played such an important role in the last 40 years of American history. Further proof why she will fail to take the middle ground in this election battle and appeal across the deep fault lines that run through America's partisan political landscape. All these points are completely valid, should McCain's choice of running mate be based on what appears at first sight to be that cynical attempt to steal Obama's thunder (and Hillary Clinton's jaded supporters) by picking a young woman governor, fresh in the job. However, that point of view is dependent on whether McCain and the GOP are basing their campaign strategy on seizing the middle ground. In fact, if there was a Republican in the party most likely to appeal to Democratic voters, it would be McCain himself. But taking votes off the Democrats has rarely been the Republicans' concern; and the times when they have, say, in '72 or '84, their sweeping success came more as a result of a catastrophic collapse of the Opposition from within, than a grand strategic blow. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, the pro-guns, pro-life, pro-oil, creationist believer and good Christian hockey-mum of five children (one of whom has signed up to fight the good fight for his country) was made to reinforce his own Republican credentials and maximise the turnout of the GOP faithful in November. Of particular significance are Christian Right element, which has been as important to the Republicans in recent years as they have been suspicious of McCain. McCain's historic position as a maverick of the Republican Party may well have once endeared him to many independents, but McCain, like his predecessor as Arizona Senator, Barry Goldwater, has long been a thorn in the side of the Christian Conservatives, speaking out against the social policies they endorse, and their contemporary domination of the Grand Old Party, and the political debate in general. Amidst this, Sarah Palin acts as a paean to this powerful group. McCain's liberal street cred will buy him no favours with the Democrats, and if he wants to count on the Party standing behind him, the thinking goes, he has to appeal to the supporters. Palin's selection is not an attempt to cash Clinton's cheque, but instead is another example of how the neo-Cons have been infiltrating McCain's campaign team. McCain has shown in the past that he is more than capable of political expediency where necessary – his endorsement of George W. Bush in 2000 (after an acrimonious battle for the Republican nomination he eventually lost) and his equivocal support for the President in 2004 is evidence of this – but the selection of Palin after a summer of conservative missives dispatched from McCain's campaign HQ is symptomatic not only of an old political war horse ready to sell everything to get what he's most craved for 8 long years: it coldly demonstrates that the liberal side of the GOP is still nowhere to be seen on the political landscape, 34 years on from Nelson Rockefeller's defeat in the Republican presidential nomination at the hands of none other than John McCain's antecedent, Barry Goldwater. That the liberal Republican wing of the Party is still in hibernation and is nowhere to be seen on the political landscape of the United States is by no means a good thing for either the Democrats or political junkies at large. It appears the upcoming election is likely to be every bit as partisan as the last, and the tone of it will, no doubt, be just as caustic, and by no means fair. Intelligent and reasoned debate will give way to ignorant and uneducated diatribe, spewed out of the sewer outlets of the right-wing media. And if Obama manages to become the first African-American President of the United States, it is highly unlikely the Christian/Conservatives will go into dignified retirement: they will fight the Obama White House tooth and nail, in much the same spirit as they fought the Clinton administration – it will be savage and brutal, like a pitbull in a dogfight. Hopes for any kind of consensus to take hold in Washington seems further away than ever. New York Public Library Podcasts
The New York Library has put a vast section of its public author events online as videos and audio files. There's a archive stretching back to 2005 and plenty to keep you busy from Werner Herzog to a symposium on Freud.
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