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B flat minor on the 3rd beat of the 4th bar!

August 19th 2008 05:51

When sitting down to lunch the other day with the intention of reading a favourite periodical music magazine, I realised it had been quite some time since I last perused this particular publication - so looking forward I was to getting comfortable with my sausage roll and cup of coffee and catching up with all the latest music news. I was delighted to see that a composer/sound artist that I admire was about to release a new recording so immediately plunged into the article with enthusiasm. Within moments I was reminded (with irritation) why I just can’t be bothered reading critiques anymore: One track was described as to “… spurt spider’s kneecap-sized particles in a fury of straight lines and intricately patterned intervals…” Another writer, a few pages on, gushingly lets us know that a certain European composer “…nestles between genres, counterbalancing immersive swathes of ambient sound with astringent textural challenges…” And that’s when they’re feeling amicable – god help you if a critic decides he/she “wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire!”

I have no doubt that all these writers are most talented and articulate when handling their pen… And I’m sure it is a difficult task trying to translate an abstract medium, that is dependent on one set of senses, into the coded medium of the written language and the senses that are required of that, but I can’t help wondering how much the author wants us to think how skilled they are at their craft as oppose to the craft of whom they’re writing about. Oh dear – it’s that dreary mediums-being-messages stuff again, isn’t it…
...I am thinking of a certain composer who finds a satisfactory approach to dealing with critics of his work. Whenever one crops up he says he will read it “while sitting in the smallest room of the house then immediately put it behind me”…

oow er - that was a dodgy curry, last night

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...Bippity Boppity Boo

August 7th 2008 05:15

OK – back to that tired old subject of “the familiar…” it never ceases to amaze me how, this century, we seem to want to hear something we already know before we think we can get a handle on something that is trying to pass itself off as something new.
The current fad of mash-up is perhaps not so current as one might like to imagine it is. It appears that yet more DJ/Producers are taking sound bites of old standards and mixing them together to produce something “new”. The process and technology might be somewhat different in 2008 but I think we can all remember much the same thing happening in 1988 when “House” music first made it’s appearance in clubs and we would thrill to the sound of a 70’s disco favourite or two layered over a midi sequenced rhythm track thus giving something that was considered very “old hat”, a bit of a renaissance.
This new genre appears to be a tad cleverer than it’s predecessors.
The “producers” or “bootleggers” (as some label themselves) appear to be having some fun putting together unlikely bedfellows - particularly when vaguely similar musical structure is used as the marrying premise, rather than aesthetic, the end result can be unexpected and amusing.
It’s about time some humour was brought to popular music, the posturing and egocentric self importance associated with everything that’s considered “hip”, has become tedious beyond belief so even if the process itself is not entirely new, it still gets a good mark for giving us a giggle!

a spoon full of sugar is SO Ra-Sha-Sha

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Memory of an Expensive Festival

July 29th 2008 06:11

HOORAH…! Another annual festival event splendouring amongst the greenery of fashionable Byron Bay! It’s sold out so thank goodness we all secured our event and camping tickets SO far in advance and of course, to avoid disappointment, valid ticket holders are most thoughtfully reminded that photo ID must be presented at the gate before entry is permitted – and if you’re not quite sure of what that might be then do navigate to the organisation’s web site to find a list of what’s designated acceptable or not. And don’t even think of hoisting yourself over the fence cos you’ll be accosted by gentlemen in uniform and promised a “hefty fine”
At this point we’re kindly informed that sniffer dogs will abound throughout Byron and “potentially” at the event – is this a new breed that can sniff out a false photo ID…?
And don’t forget, if the desire to have a tipple overcomes one, you must have your “Im-over-18” wristband on, or if not of age then you must have your “No Alcohol” wristband on, cos if sniffed at with no wristband: you’ll get the heave-ho out!
Going to and from the event..? It’s that ol’ wristband that will determine your entitlement to access the flying carpet and lets not forget all the services involved in making sure revellers are legal or even vaguely able to get from one point to another without harming/killing themselves and those around them.
Yes – isn’t it lovely to get to that age where you can’t think of anything WORSE than going to one of these sorts of things…

"get sloshed and go berserk"

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Another Brick In The Budget

July 18th 2008 06:02

On opening a copy of some music magazine, or other (I can’t quite remember which) a large advertisement proclaimed that The Queensland Orchestra would be performing arrangements of Pink Floyd songs…. WHY - was the immediate question that came to mind on seeing this!? And that was on the same day that I happened to have the ABC radio on and was swiftly brought down by some string ensemble arrangements of Beatles songs. (It was quite a disgusting day, weather-wise, and that really didn’t help!)
The objection is not about The Queensland Orchestra or whomever it was chaffing their bow strings over Back In The USSR – we’d all agree that they’re fine ensembles of considerable worth, so why do they feel the need to recycle vintage rock music? Well, yes it is understandable that one’s immediate response is:" bums-on-seats". In this age of ever dwindling arts funding budgets, artistic directors are desperate to net that X thousand allocation that has so many hungry, pleading hands in dire need of it also vying for a slice with some equally bland yet marketable programme for the season.
Yes, paying the rent is important, but is there really nothing new out there that an audience is willing to take the risk and part with their hard earned dosh to be enlightened by? Where are all the new composers and why don’t we want to listen to them…? Then there is the argument of bringing a new audience to classical music by luring them in with something that is familiar. If so, then the likes of a Pink Floyd and a Beatles audience seems a most unlikely choice as these artists have always navigated this territory

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My Tribe, Your Tribe

July 10th 2008 07:23

What is it about being a Brummie or perhaps those from Sheffield that are so inclined towards the need for music tribalism. And this isn’t necessarily a Yorkshire/Midlands phenomenon; you’ll find it throughout Britian or any culture that’s very into its Anglo-American popular musics. New Romantic, Goth, Emo, Indie, Hip Hop, IDM….. the list is endless.
It used to be all so simple up until the mid 70s early 80s - you’d either be very credible, taken seriously making it quite clear (with head held high) that you were definitely into rock music, or else you would lurk around your peer environment furtively giving of secret signs and whispering to those that you thought may be that way inclined that you were into pop and simply LOVED Gary Glitter - rather the same way that some do when it comes to fessing up to adoring Wagner nowadays...
Well, of course, such times of ease and simplicity are well and truly over. Can we blame the socio/political situation that Britain found itself in during the 70’s? This kicked of a whole swathe of new popular music forms. In particular a most aggressive, and some would argue a seminal musical genre: Punk. This new tribe told everything/one to EFF OFF in no uncertain terms, and gosh, we loved it! Musically there was absolutely nothing new about Punk Rock. It was simply rock n roll sped up and intentionally played with no virtuosity (refreshingly). Besides being a breath of fresh air, it’s appeal lay in association - rather the same way that an aging heiress wears her large sunglasses emblazoned with the twin C’s whilst holidaying on the Med. i.e.: branding

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I'll Huff & I'll Puff...

July 1st 2008 07:43

So - those warring disco brothers have decided they want to reunite and inflict it on the rest of the world, again….? Apparently after one of them died in 03 they let us know, in no uncertain terms, that the Bee Gee title would NEVER be used again, but the “get together” in 2006 must have gone swimmingly cos now there is talk amongst the boys of putting the project back together, albeit announced with a “may” so as not to get our hopes up too high…
I cast my mind back to 1984ish when Eartha Kitt released her comeback with the disco hit “Where Is My Man”, and quite shocked was I since the last thing of hers I had seen/heard on disc was a rather lurid description of how keen she is on Turkish blokes on 10 inches worth of 78 (emblazoned with the ol' Jack Russell and polished brass horn) – and there had been a lot of water flowing beneath her bridge between pressings! I thought it most impressive and made mention of it to a then music teacher. She remarked on how, no matter what a tremendous career we may have mapped out for ourselves, we will still find ourselves growing old disgracefully while having no peace from the tax man, landlord, liquor store accountant etc etc bashing on our doors demanding balances outstanding to be paid up in full!
Oh dear - is that all it’s about then, not about giving us more of what we’ve been longing for

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F###tronica

June 24th 2008 07:03

So – what’s happened to Folktronica, then…? It’s been around for ever such a long time, even longer than that rather famous Scottish chap that goes by the Greek name beginning with “M”. No doubt it was an attempt to” flip the bird” at the previous current wave, electronica or “Intelligent Dance Music” as it rather pretentiously called itself. And wasn’t it just..!? With all those clever little cut n paste jobs in the percussion section, or “fucked up beats” as it was referred to by the super cool. Yet another example of mediums being messages and all that stuff we had drummed into us at college. The composition inevitably ended up sounding like the software that made it.
So after wading through the 90’s with the boys with their toys, and how clever they were when fiddling with their knobs and sliders... how nice it would be to slide to the opposite end of the pole, (as is often the case with progressive generations) and indulge in a bit of naive pastoral sweetness. And don’t forget that the Astrid Gilberto of the Artic Circle, Ms Guðmundsdóttir, had been at it for a while, and doing rather a nice job of being a girl whilst being articulate with technologies all at the same time. Finally the girls could grab those knobs out of the boy’s hands and have a good fiddle themselves! But this isn’t just about a shift from the masculine to the feminine – after all, blokes can be gentle and sensitive too, thank-you-very-much!!
Anyway, what’s happened to it? It appears to have gone really very folksy and they seem to have given up their laptops entirely in some cases and replaced them with lutes, flutes and harps etc – some even claiming John Dowland as an influence

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12 inches, Margate and Army Surplus

June 17th 2008 04:49

Besides the joys of kamos and Tracy Emin, what did the 90’s do for us? Amongst other things, the disc jockey became a rock star! Up until the late 80’s or thereabouts we had composers, musicians and singers plonked on pedestals as the royalty of persona genius then something suddenly shifted and the spinners of 12 inches seemed to snatch that crown almost overnight - what happened…? Well, besides anything else, it appeared as if everybody was doing it. Just like every waiter in New York was an actor, just so everyone you bumped into at a party was a DJ.
Marc Almond would have us believe that it was simply a way of young people with no compositional aptitude feeling that they were expressing themselves in some way creative. This may not be too far from the truth. But, why the shift from author to messenger? Technology might have something to with it. Besides army surplus becoming high fashion and the daughters of hoteliers from Margate pitching tents, the last decade of the 20th century gave us relatively affordable digital technology, so it meant anyone could have a go at making music – including those who really oughtn’t! Producer, mixer, DJ, Whoever VS Such-in-such – who knows what any of these terms actually meant and who was doing what! The golden dawn of noughts and ones meant you could throw together this or that sound bite and come up with something/anything else – and, recycled sound is as valid an art form as any other so why not…!?
Out of the milieu of persons blowing their I’m-a-DJ trumpet there were the inevitable few who became Stars! And I’m sure there is some law of Physics that dictates that if there is nowt present, then something has to fill the vacuum… OK, now that we are all over Techno, House, Drums N Bass, Electroclash etc etc where can we find a good ol’ fashioned crooner for us all to 'ave a nice coo over

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A Toothless Old Woman!

June 12th 2008 06:08

I think it was Dame David Bowie who declared that rock ‘n roll is a “toothless old Woman” or a “dinosaur”, and that was over thirty years ago in the dim distant and much romanticised mid 70s, that period of popular music that has been ever so hip and for those of us that are starting to get just a little longer in the tooth, we revel in the nostalgia just as previous generations might thumb through a photo album of sepia images.
It is generally assumed that popular music’s cultural function is to express a profound dissatisfaction with the world that another generation had constructed to support the delights of consuming material comforts etc etc. A few decades on and, Oh-what-fun, the current disconsolate, angsty youth are discovering the joys of de-angsting themselves with a this season’s pair of Dolce and Gabbana underwear, an umpteen gigabyte Iwotever and looking ever so fabulous at that wine bar that used to be someone’s local bank branch. Why get all cross and sulky with where you find yourself within an environment when you can go down the Mall and thoroughly enjoy the environment that’s so thoughtfully provided – no need to express an opinion about anything!
Hmmmm, what do I want to listen to…? Oh, I know, what about all that weird stuff of Mum and Dad’s

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August 2008

2 Posts

July 2008