nevermind the bricolage

gobbledigook

Sigur Ros have released a 'surprise' single from their forthcoming release. You can download it for free from their website (which I won't try and link to because everytime I try lately the new system seems to screw up my posts), and also watch a really cool music video for the song. Apparently the album art and video was done in partnership with Ryan McGinley. The single seems to offer some new musical directions from, what I think, is one of the most compelling bands around--I won't say much about the song, the video, or the very cool album title, some things are best left to discover for oneself--so track down the band's site if you don't know it, and enjoy!!

Thomas Tallis

One of the great things in life for me is discovering music. I have spent the last year or so working in a church where music plays a seminal role in the life of the community. Classic liturgical music is what they trade in mostly, not my cup of tea most of the time to be honest, but there have been some sublime musical moments and I have been introduced to a couple of seminal musicians who have really opened my eyes, Thomas Tallis being one of them. Tallis was a court musician for Henry VIII and Elizabeth I I believe, and has written some truly beautiful sacred music--a piece they did today, based on a portion of the Gospel of John, was simply incredible, such a lovely melody and tender feel to the piece.  Tallis was one of the first to set anthems to English words, and developed a style that made much of the meanings he derived from the relationships between words and music. A couplet from his epitaph perhaps best sums up the man,
   As he did live, so also did he die, In mild and quiet Sort (O! happy Man).

Record Store Day

I spend most of my time downloading music these days--the convenience factor plays a part, as does technology, and I am not a nostalgia-junkie, but I miss record stores, they have/had a unique place in my life.  I still go quite regularly to Hear Music in Santa Monica and spend ages listening, looking, enjoying and buying music, even though I can often download the same music cheaper. My relationship with pop music found its genesis at Lamb's Records in Chequers Court. Every Saturday morning, it was our meeting place, to listen and buy--Motown, Northern Soul, Ska, Reggae, Blues, Rock--whatever looked interesting--before we hung out at the Tip-Top Grill, so in honour of my musical roots, I am going to a record store today, perhaps you will as well.

Crazy Rain

Joseph Arthur released the second of his four EPs yesterday. Crazy Rain, the title of this collection, is quite different from last months offering (the plan is to release one a month for four months in advance of a new full-length recording), Could We Survive. The eight songs live up to the title, they are a little crazy--i.e. there is some interesting stuff going on all the time. There is a contribution by Greg Dhulli (Afghan Whigs+Gutter Twins), who Arthur joined occasionally in the Twilight Singers, but it doesn't really require special guests to make it worth owning, the songs are great. Arthur seems to have found a new, and rich, vein of songs and this bodes well for the forthcoming CD--although to be honest, I am enjoying this process--it's like a magazine subscription, a monthly gift of great tunes. If you still haven't discovered Joseph Arthur, now is the time. Check him out here.

Muxtape

The humble mixtape, backbone of the cassette era, and at present experiencing something of a renaissance on the landscape. I have spent an awful lot of time in my life pouring over albums, carefully selecting, then de-selecting, songs in order to create the mix that was apropos for the occasion (weekend parties and new girlfriends being a principle focus of my time and energy). Now there is Muxtape, an online resource for creating and sharing your mixtapes in the digital age. Sign-up and make a tape, post it online, listen to others--you have to be a bit of a music geek, but I am, so there you go.

Could We Survive

The great thing about new technology is the opportunity they afford for independent creativity. The music business, or at least the corporate model, may be in freefall, but there is plenty of good music to be had. Artists with varying levels of fame are exploring new ways of offering up their music. Joseph Arthur, one of my favourites, has been riding a wave of creative energy for a long time now. This has seen him shift from major label, to independent label, to personal label--Lonely Astronaut Records, the name of his own imprint, is releasing five or six EPs this year. Could We Survive, is the first offering. There was a great two-for-one pre-order offer that came with a piece of Arthur's art (he won a Grammy for album design, which featured his own painting). As much as I like Arthur, his recent output had been a little ragged for me--spreading in too many directions, and away from what I think he does best, which is to make lush, layered, and groove-laden pieces that lift you up and take you somewhere.  Glad to say that Could We Survive, is a definite return to form. You can get the cd from here. I buy so few cds lately, I am all about the download, and don't know what to do--I got rid of most of my cds, so I'll pass both these along to friends--but I'm keeping the painting. Arthur is an amazing live performer, alone or with his band, so if the chance arises to see him take it you won't be disappointed..

Here Is What Is--Part II

"You can't pay for feel." That's Daniel Lanois quoting Bob Dylan in his dvd, Here Is What Is. Yes, I watched it, and it's great. It's basically Lanois playing and talking about music with a variety of people. It's shot in a very idiosyncratic way, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but this is not something to watch for cinematic technicalities, it's about music and what it means to explore it through the eyes, ears and hands of one man. Lanois is all about feel and all about echo--that's what you need to know and that's what makes the film worth watching, it's an intimate and very personal insight into one of rock music's premier producers and music-makers, I think I'll watch it again tomorrow.

Here Is What Is

Came home and found a package waiting, it's the Daniel Lanois cd/dvd of Here is what is, his documentary about music, creativity and all things in between. I have enjoyed the cd since I downloaded it a few months back, so I am really looking forward to checking out the documentary and seeing how it all syncs together. There was a small journal for idea, a button, and a few photos along with the dvd, subtle, but nicely done I think. I'll report back on the dvd.

Warm Up Gig

My godson's dad is in a band about to go on a major tour. They have been rehearsing a new stage show and held a 'friends and family' gig where they tried out their new material and the new show on a friendly crowd. They have been touring for a long time and their career has covered pretty much the entire spectrum of the music business--their previous tours have been fairly stripped down when it comes to lights and staging, so this represented a bit of a leap for them. How was it? Not bad, a little safe for me (but I am a fan of the Radiohead/Bowie school of creative visuals, you know, less linear etc.), in spite of that their show had moments of greatness--there is nothing like a live version of a song that really works and connects with an audience to make everything fall into place and they had a few moments like that. They are big on vocals and the four of them, plus the five supplemental musicians they have with them, all sing, so vocally it was crazy. I like live shows, I have a friend at South by Southwest in Austin right now who sent me a live feed of Billy Bragg via iPhone yesterday, cool.

Something Fine

"the world outside is tugging like a beggar at my sleeve..." these words, in Jackson Browne's song, Something Fine, have floated in and out of my head for years. I first heard them many years ago, when my friend Derek, a rabid fan of California music, played me  Browne's, Saturate Before Using album.  David Lindley, sideman extraordinaire, who played with Browne for years, lived in the next village over from us for a while recording music with Terry Reid (a vastly underrated singer in my opinion), who Derek's brother Ian worked for as a roadie (this is the geneiss of my own involvement in the muic biz), so there were tenuous connections with many of us with Browne's music. I loved the song the first time I heard it and I have loved it ever since, it unlocked some secrets that I had held in my heart for a while. I loved the sweetness of the melody and the gentle longing in Browne's voice and lyric. California and Morocco are both themes in the song, and they gave voice to my own fascination and desire for the distant (california) and the exotic (morocco). It's interesting how songs can connect you to places you come from and places you want to visit--the role of geography and space in pop music is a central theme I think--music can literally 'take you places.' Anyway, I heard the song unexpectedly today and after all this time it still has the same effect on me--I still crave the distant and the exotic in pretty much every arena of life.