I usually like to give the opening band from a concert a write up. This is probably the first time in a really long time that I saw an opening band that I’d never heard of (and didn’t take pictures of).
Lo-Fi Resistance is the creation of Randy McShine. As I said, I’d never heard of them, so I had no expectations. I’m kind of glad I didn’t because as I am now reading about them, I would have expected something very different.
McShine was considered a guitar prodigy and he has sung with The Pink Floyd Experience. And McShine has pretty big connections in the prog world. His debut album featured drums from the drummer from Spock’s Beard and also had vocals from dUg Pinnick! (on “Moral Disgrace,” not played that night). Their second album, Chalk Lines, features drummer Gavin Harrison (!) who has played with King Crimson and Porcupine Tree, as well as the bassist for Porcupine Tree and once again Dug Pinnick. (more…)
I’ve been listening to a lot of live Phish as of late and thought it would be interesting to see if there was truth to the adage that Phish is great live but not so great in the studio. So here is their first official album. It was released as a double album, and when it was reissued on CD some bonus material was added. Incidentally, I just found out that the album if pronounced “juhnta” and not “hoonta” because of the engineer they worked with.
The album starts with “Fee” which is a fun song (the lyrics are wonderfully weird) and they don’t play it all that much so it’s a treat to listen to. I enjoy the way the verses sound compressed and distant but the choruses are nice and full. There’s also some funny and interesting sound effects (some of which accentuate the action) throughout the song. This sound effects and noises processing has been with Phish from the beginning and they kept it up through many of their earlier, less mature albums. “You Enjoy Myself” is a live favorite so it’s fun to hear it in this version. As with a lot of their earlier records, this song sounds a little stiff, especially if you’ve heard the wild live versions. It’s not bad at all, indeed, it has a perfectionist quality to it—the time changes are perfect, the solos are flawless. Indeed, it’s quite an achievement (and in this more polished version it sounds more like Yes than their live versions ever did). Interestingly when we finally get to the lyrical section (about 5 minutes in) it’s quite a bit slower than they play live.
“Esther” sounds much more theatrical here. The music is gorgeous and there are lots of effects and backing vocals which bring a bit more menace to the song than the live version possesses. This also had a very prog rock sensibility to it. “Golgi Apparatus” has a lot more in the way of backing vocals than the live version. And “Foam” has some changes: the bass is especially loud and funky and yet the pace is so much slower than I’m used to. The odd thing is the kind of stiff way that the lead vocals enunciate everything. And the deep voice (Mike?) is quite amusing at the end of the song. “Dinner and a Movie” is a fun and silly song and this version is especially enjoyable because of the backing voices and chatter and laughter which illustrate the dinner (and presumably the movie).
“Divided Sky” has a beautiful melody and it’s nice to hear it played so pretty and simply here. But again the remarkable thing is how much slower the song is here. “David Bowie” also sounds great (there’s all kinds of weird sounds effects in the background of the (very long) soloing section—I have no idea why or what they might be). The solo sounds like it was maybe done in one take as there’s a couple spots where it’s not “right,” (whether flubs or intentional is hard to say) but it still sounds terrific. In fact a number of tracks have some little flubs which makes it seem like they either didn’t mind or tried for a more live feel.
“Fluffhead” sounds solid and like the live versions. What I never realized until I actually paid attention is that the bulk of the music (the extended jam session) is called “Fluff’s Travels.” “Flulfhead is only 3 and a half minutes, while “Fluff’s Travels” is over 11 minutes (it opens with the beginning of the guitar solo–the catchy riff that starts the lengthy jam). “Contact” is a delightfully silly song about tires and cars that I’ve always enjoyed and find myself singing often because the melody is so simple.
What’s funny is that the end of “Contact” kind of bleeds into “Union Federal” which is listed as a live song (and clocks in at over 25 minutes long). This “Union Federal” is an improvisational jam (or an Oh Kee Pah Ceremony—where the guys would get together with instruments (and other things) and jam for a time. This song is weird with many layers—and is rather typical of one of Phish’s weirder jazz –flavored improv sections (meaning that there is a lot of dissonance and noise). It’s quite jarring especially after all of the melodies and prettiness of the album proper. And I can see a lot of people not being happy about its inclusion. “Sanity” on the other hand is a fun song. In the intro, they keep claiming the song is by Jimmy Buffett. They are clearly very silly in this setting, especially at the end of the song. The final track is a live version of “Icculus” the song which is pretty much all buildup. In the intro they quote U2 “This is red rocks, this is the edge.” But the “joke” of this version is that Trey keeps postponing the name of the person who wrote the name of the Helping Friendly Book–stalling in any way he can. As the song gets louder and louder and more absurd, the guys are even more frenetic. It takes over 3 and a half minutes to get to the proper lyrics of the song. And then the song itself is about 15 seconds. Absurd nonsense. But very amusing.
So this is quite a solid debut album, and the amount of songs that they still play live shows how fond everyone is of it.
[READ: October 2, 2013] “Wrong Answer”
I didn’t hate Algebra. I rather like solving puzzles so I enjoyed solving for x. Algebra II I recall being more daunting and less fun with lots of formulae to memorize. And, unlike everything promised, I have never used any of it in my adult life (geometry and angles, sure, but not logarithms). According to this article the new United States CORE curriculum (which I know my son is dealing with already in 3rd grade) says that high school graduates must have Algebra II.
The reasons for this intensification in the studying of math are many (starting around the time of Ronald Reagan) but the current push comes from Arne Duncane, the U.S. secretary of education. He believes that “algebra is a key, maybe the key to success in college. Students who have completed Algebra II in high school are twice as likely to earn degree as those who didn’t.” Whether or not that is true, those of us who earned a degree in nonmathematical subjects certainly were not aided by this class. But Nicholson Baker explains that the reason this might be true is that for most colleges, Algebra II is a prerequisite. Ergo: if you don’t take Algebra II you can’t get into college because colleges require Algebra II. That, for those who may not have taken logic–a far more useful course than Algebra II in daily life–is called a tautological fallacy. [Indeed, I maintain that all high school students should have to take a course in logic because they would then be able to see through all of the builshit that politicians spill and claim to be logic. Like the current (as I type this) government shutdown in which Republicans are claiming they didn’t want to shut down the government when they in fact signed papers saying they were going to shut down the government).]
The real problem with Duncan’s postulate that everyone should take Algebra II (“airplane mechanics do complex measurements and work with proportions and ratios…X-ray technicians calculate time exposures to capture the cleanest possible image. Most factory workers need to understand Algebra II or even some trigonometry to operate complex manufacturing electronic equipment”) is that even if that were true (I don’t have any idea of it is or not), most people do not do those kinds of jobs. And even if they did know higher math, they would still be salesmen, graphic artists, librarians, preschool teachers, custodians and many many other jobs that in no way require math. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: FORGET ALL THAT AND JUST WAIL: New Music That Orbits Around Jazz (compilation The Believer July/August 2013).
This compilation came as a digital download with The Believer’s 2013 Music Issue (you need to get a physical copy of the issue to get the download code). Ross Simonini, the compiler, explains that he used to like jazz, but that he really doesn’t anymore. And he finds himself attracted to these pieces that hover around jazz but which really aren’t jazz. You can read Simonini’s thoughtful comments about all of these tracks here). I enjoyed this compilation quite a lot and am considering getting a few of these discs, or at least investigating them further. And that’s want you want from a compilation.
COLIN STETSON-“The Righteous Wrath if an Honorable Man”
Any compilation that opens with Colin Stetson is okay with me. This track was my introduction to the man last year and I still love it, in all of its insanity.
KARRIEM RIGGINS-“Double Trouble” is only 2 minutes long. It’s got flutes and vibraphones and is super cool and retro sounding. I really like it, although this track ends abruptly and I can’t decide if the actual song does or if it was cut short for the disc.
THUNDERCAT-“For Love I Came” has some echoey keyboards and some great bass lines and cool/cheesy keyboard lines (it all sounds so gloriously 70s). When the vocals come in, the whole track feels like Yes if Yes were inspired by jazz instead of classical (and had no drums—until about 2 minutes when the drums kick in and the song takes off and bass solo makes it very Yes-like).
THE BEN MONDER TRIO-“Red Shifts” is a classic style jazz guitar workout—the echoed effect is very jazzy. And yet there is something very angular about the playing that keeps it from sounding smooth. It’s a great track (which once again seems to get cut off very abruptly).
DAWN OF MIDI-“Ymir” is another trio—piano bass and drums. The piano is muted (the pianist puts his hand on the strings) which makes it sound like another percussive instrument while it is also creating the melody. It’s very cool. And I like the way over the 8 or so minutes the melody changes slightly, giving it a new sound almost accidentally.
GLOWS IN THE DARK-“Up and Down” starts as a fast but quiet guitar piece with some cool subtle horns over the top. It features a rap by Count Bass D which i do not care for (The “I’m pissed/L.L. Cool J” verse is really awkward). This is the first track on the disc that i really don’t like, which is a shame because the music is really cool.
STEVE RAEGELE-“Traingle (Daedalus)” is a weird, cool experimental sounding track. Sounds are overlaid on each other with a lot of echoing that gives it a very dense structure. Whether or not this is jazz is hard to say but it’s very intriguing.
MARY HALVORSON QUINTET-“Sea Cut Like Snow (No. 26)” Halvorson is a guitarist and this live track features some of the most traditional jazz on the compilation. The song has cool melodies and some nice improvsiing (on various instruments). It runs a little long though (I wish this had been truncated rather than the earlier ones) but it’s enjoyable.
FLYING LOTUS-“German Haircut” this is an electronically manipulated pastiche of songs with a sax solos placed over the top. It’s an interesting concoction.
CHRIS CORSANO-“Famously Short Arms” This is one of the most amazing drum videos I’ve ever seen–it is so creative and original. As an audio track it is basically a drum solo, but watching him and what he does on the drums is really mind expanding.
MATANA ROBERTS-“lulla/bye” I have this track as well (two tracks from Constellation here). It’s full of saxophones and longing in the singing. It’s hard to define but it’s very evocative.
MICROKINGDOM-“Peppermint Crab” This is a weird and wild piece. It opens with some manipulated and spacey vibes and electronics and then gets assaulted by a wild and screaming sax solo that would make John Zorn proud.
DIAMOND TERRIFIER-“Kill the Self That Wants to Kill Yourself” This song opens with some simple keyboard chords and some odd unsettling sounds thrown over them (waves of static and squeaking saxophone). Then comes some wild soloing.
This is a solid compilation of jazz-like music. It veers into more extreme forms of jazz and will certainly alienate some listeners, but it’s an introduction to what else is out there on the fringes.
[READ: August 8, 2013] Shakespeare’s Nigga
The artistic director of the Obsidian Theatre Company (which put on this play) explains in the intro that with a title like that, you’re going to get attention. In fact he initially said that they couldn’t use that title, because it was too much. But they changed their mind because it really was…right.
This story looks at the two most prominent black men in Shakespeare: Othello (the Moorish general who is ruled by violent emotion) and Aaron (a Moorish slave who is basically pure evil—in Titus Andronicus). As the artistic development coordinator of the Obsidian Theater says, Shakespeare is the authority on writing characters, thus these two men have become entwined in Black masculinity. Which is a shame because “Moor” could basically be anyone who did not live in Europe and because Shakespeare likely didn’t know any black people (except as slaves). It’s not really a good sample.
Playwright Joseph Jomo Pierre doesn’t seek to rectify this or upend this or decry Shakespeare. What he does is much more subtle and much more powerful.
There are five characters in the play: Othello, Aaron, Tyrus (an older black male), Shakespeare and Judith (Shakespeare’s daughter). Shakespeare and Othello are comrades (I won’t say friends, but it seems like Shakespeare relies on Othello for protection and advice). Meanwhile, Aaron has tried to escape from his slavery and is currently chained up and beaten (usually by Othello). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: WXPN (88.5 Philadelphia) and wxpn.org online-Prog rock Marathon (2012-??).
Every January, Dan Reed plays a prog rock marathon on WXPN. This year I was able to enjoy portions of it. I rather wish the playlist was still available (you can search, but only by artist), because I’d love to rave about the tracks they played (like the live “Supper’s Ready.”)
I was delighted by the great mix of songs they played and (as I learned from reading this book) I was surprised by how many prog artists I didn’t even know.
In 2014 I’ll be listening again and maybe this time I’ll copy the playlist to document what I’ve missed.
[READ: July 7, 2013] Yes is the Answer
This book was sitting on a cart outside of my cube. I was intrigued by the title (it didn’t have that trippy cover, so I didn’t know what it was). But “Yes is the Answer” was calling me. Especially when I looked at the cover and saw that the cover had an excerpt from a William Vollmann story in which the protagonist plays In the Court of the Crimson King (track 5) for Reepah and watches her face as they band went Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!.
Quoting Vollmann (from The Rifles), playing King Crimson? What could this book be? Then I saw the subtitle and I knew I had to read it all.
I’m not going to review these essays because that would be like making a radio edit of a side long track, but I’ll mention the band the author focuses on and any other relevant details. (more…)
VH1 aired this series last year and I was intrigued by it but figured I had no time to watch an 11 hour series on the history of heavy metal. Of course, this being VH1, they have since re-aired the series on an almost continual loop. So, if you’re interested, you can always catch it.
This series was created by Sam Dunn, the documentary filmmaker who made the movie Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. I had heard good things about the movie, but never saw it. After watching the series, I’m definitely interested in the movie. Dunn is a keener–A Canadian heavy metal fan who is really into his subject. He knows his stuff and he knows what he likes (heavy metal) and what he doesn’t like (glam metal, nu metal).
The sheer number of people he interviews is impressive (as are the number of locations he travels to). Part of me says “wow, I can’t believe he was able to interview X,” and then I remember, “X is really old and is nowhere near the level of fame that he once had.” Given that, the few hold-outs seem surprising–did they not want to have anything to do with VH1? Are they embarrassed at how uncool they are now? Just watch the show guys, you can’t be as low as some.
The only mild criticism I have is that the show relies a lot on the same talking heads over and over. Scott Ian from Anthrax, whom I love, is in every episode. Indeed, he may be a paid VH1 spokesman at this point. There are a few other dudes who show up a little more than they warrant, but hey, you use what you got, right?
What is impressive is the volume of music he includes with the show. I assume that he couldn’t get the rights to any studio recordings because every clip is live. This is good for fans in that we get to see some cool unfamiliar live footage, but some of it is current live footage which often doesn’t compare to the heyday. Having said that, there’s a lot of live footage from the early 80s–of bands that I never saw live anywhere. And that’s pretty awesome.
With an 11-part documentary there’s the possibility of exhaustion and overkill, but Dunn is an excellent craftsman he jumps around from old to new, talks about how the history impacts the current and, because of his own interests, he makes it personal rather than just informative. (more…)
We had a snow day Monday, and since we were all home, I thought it would be fun to bust out some old records. As soon as the opening chords of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” crashed out, Sarah gave me a “What made you think of playing this?” look and then said “What made you think of playing this?”
And there is no answer. I saw it and figured it would be fun to hear. And it was.
Now, as an olde Yes fan, I should probably not like this album. My favorite Yes album is Relayer, so really I have no business liking this. First, it has no really long songs, second, it’s totally poppy, and third, it tries so hard to create hit singles. And yet, I loved it then, and I still enjoyed now. What’s interesting about it is that even though it was rather state of the art at the time, it doesn’t sound dated now. Probably because, for instance, the orchestral hit in “Owner” has been sampled so much, it still sounds contemporary.
And so side one (for so it was at the time) has three songs that were hit singles: “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” “It Can Happen,” and “Changes” (which is probably the most “Yes” sounding of the bunch). Even “Hold On” while not a single, gets recognition for being on the popular side one of the disc.
Side two features another great hit song, “Leave It” (with vocal sampling galore). Although I think by the end, the disc loses some steam, and “Hearts” is a bit of a drag.
I knew that Trevor Horn was involved with this disc. But since there have been multiple members in Yes, including two Trevors (!), I’d never really kept it all straight. So, Trevor Horn was responsible for The Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star”) as well as The Art of Noise. Their song “Close (to the Edit)” was a great video staple on MTV back in the 80s. It features three gentlemen in suits and a very disturbing little girl smashing the hell out of musical instruments. This song, which came out the same year as 90125 samples “Owner of a Lonely Heart” so the circle is complete.
Trevor Horn clearly had a big impact on the band and on 80s music in general, which is probably why the disc sounds so good all these years later.
[READ: February 27, 2009] Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country
I couldn’t recall the exact title of this book, so when I typed on Amazon.com “letters obama” I was surprised (although I shouldn’t have been) to see TWO books that fit this description already. I suppose it makes sense that such compilations are being made (in fact, it seems that Obama could reignite the economy through merchandising of himself alone). The second book isn’t due out till April, so I guess McSweeney’s have expediency on their side. (more…)
I usually like to give the opening band from a concert a write up. This is probably the first time in a really long time that I saw an opening band that I’d never heard of (and didn’t take pictures of).
SOUNDTRACK: YES-90125 (1983).
We had a snow day Monday, and since we were all home, I thought it would be fun to bust out some old records. As soon as the opening chords of “Owner of a Lonely Heart” crashed out, Sarah gave me a “What made you think of playing this?” look and then said “What made you think of playing this?”
I Just Read About That... 