la revancha del tango live

i am fortunate enough to own a recent model projector
i have it rigged up to project on to my wall in a frame about 2 x 3 meters
it is fed by a dvd player
which is also connected to a reasonably good sound system
instant home theatre
without the cost that seems to go with
commercial home theatre
i seem to have developed a habit of searching out live concert dvd's
and enjoying playing them on this system
...often repeatedly as is the case with this one
la revancha del tango live by the gotan project
they are one of the most visible examples
of what is the defining musical genre of this decade
i don't know if it has officially been labelled yet
surely the nought-ies is not going to stick
but it could be called hybrid
which very well defines what the music is like
all sorts of sounds, instruments and styles
mixed up with an underlining electronic/dance beat
in this case dance in the traditional sense
for example tango (hence gotan)
the dvd is named after their first album
and is based on concerts in london, paris and buenos aires
it is brilliantly produced
at any point is is hard to determine
whether we are watching a concert
or a promotional video
as the projected images
are so dominant and integral to the live show
the above photo was taken at womadelaide this year
it seems to convey the multiplicity of the band onstage
it was an exemplary performance
they were loud
totally in control
and very absorbing
especially in the warmth
and ambience of adelaide's botannical gardens
this dvd is just the same
sorry neighbours
for the sound seeping through the walls
and the sight of me jigging around the room
but it's just so infectiously, irresistably groove-y
i love it

bernie mcgann and paul grabowsky quartet

back to the sound lounge at the seymour centre
for another friday night of jazz
plan was to get there early enough to secure a good seat
and maybe take a few photographs during the performance
we got there 15 minutes or so before the advertised time
to find it sold out
but the jazz gods were smiling down on us
the doorman remembered that 2 separate patrons
had a spare ticket each and promptly hunted them down
in we went to then try and find good seats
best we could do was far right of stage
with a great view of the drummer (james waples)
and the sax player between solos (bernie mcgann)
the double bass player represented by a solid concrete pillar (ben waples)
and a direct view of the piano player (paul grabowsky)
the digitally enhanced photo above shows james waples at work
with bernie mcgann seated to the right
i'd seen him and paul grabowsky separately at the wangarratta jazz festival
where i was also first introduced to ben waples regular band triosk
his brother james on drums/percussion
offered the promise of a very satisfying performance
i do not even begin to rate myself as a jazz affecianado
the appeal of it for me is the number of times
that i have witnessed a jazz performance
and have been transported
you have to get close
you have to get comfortable
you have let it all go (man)
stop thinking for a while
close eyes
go with the music
and realise there is no better place to be
at that moment
they played 8 tunes in 2 hours over 2 sets
each one introduced in good humour by mr grabowsky
the mc for tonights show
they started with night and day by cole porter
did tunes by the likes of thelonious monk and charlie parker
and finished with d-day by bernie mcgann
every tune was superb
the quartet was perfectly balanced
each musician seemingly in sync with each other
or dropping back to allow another to feature
at those times you could see and sense the on-stage respect
for he who was leading at the time
for me the highlight was james waples on drums and percussion
hunched over his instrument
making noises and rhythms often with the deftest of touches
playing and sounding like jack dejohnette
who i have observed many times
on my small collection of jazz concert dvd's
the crowd tonight were totally there for the music
not a whisper at the quietest moments of performance
and loud appreciative applause at the end of each tune
i think i like the sound lounge
that's 2 friday nights in a row now
and next friday also promises to be a treat
locked in....

music of the world a

i subscribe to several music magazines
one of my favourites is songlines
comes out every 2 months
and is full of great stories
of music and musicians all over the world
it comes with a free cd sampler
containing a bunch of superb tracks
old and new from out there in the world
it goes straight into my computer's jukebox
containing every sampler compilation cd i can get my hands on
this i have decided is the best way to find new music
listen while i work
rate the tracks
make comments
and quite often as a result
buy cd's that end up on the iriver
in the july/august 2006 edition of songlines
was a very informative article
on the a-z of world music
i read and re-read the article
thought i knew a bit about world music
that is certainly the case
only a bit compared to what is out there
which of course makes perfect sense
thinking of the numbers involved
i wanted to keep the article for future reference
so what better than to blog it
the a styles
copied herein verbatim
hope they don't mind at songlines

adi-talam (south india)

south indian rhythms are not for the arithmetically challenged
their sheer mental agility, once you follow it, thrills as much as the playing techniques
just try drumming fives and sevens while speaking syllables in the basic adi talam cycle of eight
solos are more important than in the north, centred on a vast repertoire of short compositions
the double ended mridangam is the principle drum
spectacularly supported by the big clay pot, ghatam
and the tambourine-like kanjira

songlines recommends - vikku by t h vinayakram - recorded live at the royal festival hall 2002
esne notes - wikipedia tells us he is famous - grammy awards, jazz collaborations, etc

afro-beat (nigeria)

nowhere in african music can the cross-pollination with black american rhythms be heard more thrillingly than in the sound of fela kuti
after briefly moving to the u s in 1969, he returned to lagos in the early 70's to create afro-beat
a mighty simmering stew of african rhythms, call-and-response vocals, brooding horns, jazz flavours
and a funk outrageous enough to make james brown blush

songlines recommends - the best of by fela kuti 2004
esne notes - a fave dvd is fela kuti in concert, saw son femi at womadelaide 2007 - captivating

axe (brazil)

a rhythm which when pronounced in portuguese (ashay) is left free of any heavy metal overtones is the party music of the bahian people
it sounds like samba but played whilst on speed and red bull
it's a relentlessly pounding, energised dance beat, driven by drums and frantic syncopation
and best heard in a heavy sweat and thick crowd at carnaval in salvador
for a hint of what axe is all about, invite lots and lots of friends around, down a few caipirinhas
play some axe extra loud, and let all your hips and inhibitions go

songlines recommends - ao viva by ivete sangalo 2006
esne notes - caipirinha - brazilian lime cocktail -

2 teaspoons superfine sugar
1 lime cut into small wedges
2 to 2 and a half oz of cachaca liquer
in a glass gently mash lime wedges
add sugar and muddle until dissolved into lime juice
pour cachaca
stir
drink
...repeat

random tunes part 1

this is not a new idea
but i'm going with it anyway
i own an iriver (think ipod)
and have stacked it up with a bunch of favourite cd's
most of the time i listen to it on random play
as i go walking
or sit on a bus/train/plane
or as i am reading
or need to attend to some mundane task
or sometimes just trying to get to sleep
my own private radio station
and it often amazes me how it will toss up a tune
that coincides with some other current event
like reading about the artist in question
or thinking about the song
or even freakier wanting to hear the song
....so for my listening pleasure todays 10 random tracks...
princesa by corou de berra
vocal outfit from the french alps
their style is officially polyphonic
this one has a strong violin presence
the vocalist rattles along in his dialect then out of nowhere
the beat, the key and everything changes
and all 6 voices, strings and a drum are hard at it
harmonising beautifully
one goes there alone by jan garbarek
saxophonist who records on the ecm label
which stands for eclectic cool music
as far as i am concerned
here it's a haunting collaboration
between tenor sax and violin
essence by the church
ok confession time
there's a disproportionate number of church albums
stacked up on my iriver so they are going to pop up a lot
i like it that way as they are my beatles
except they are still around
producing great music and live shows
this one a fine example of their twin guitars powering away
from their 1990 gold afternoon fix album
25 years of high standard recordings
make them all timeless to this obsessive fan
you still believe in me by m ward
the first track from the first album i bought by him
and in fact the first tune of his i ever heard
he's a singer/songwriter/guitarist
nothing original in that
but he has a knack for writing
standout songs with inciteful lyrics
a young r zimmerman some say
though no lyrics on this gentle little acoustic piece
unified field by the church
this is from their 2006 album uninvited like the clouds
i think this one also came out as a single
it's ok but they would have churned this out in their sleep
actually it's probably my least favourite church track
it won't be on my desert island selection
a magni by lobi traore
the thing that strikes me about african music in general
and mali music in particular
is the huge diversity in styles
that defy the generic label of world music
this track is from an album called mali blue
and the blues is what it sounds like
you can hear traditional african instruments
deftly combined with guitar and harp (mouth organ)
silver moon over sleeping steeples by david sylvian
this track popped up on a recent re-release
of his brilliant album gone to earth
it's a typical, luxurious reminder of that genre
that burst forth in the 80's
ambient
old flame by the church
another church track - we was warned
it does seem a little excessive
but i'll go with it
this clocks in at 1 min and 37 seconds
it's from their 1992 album priest = aura
one of their best
beware...an old flame is still burning there
don't stare...shadows in the smoke whispering everywhere
thanks boys
time not hit but missed by the laughing clowns
otherwise known as eternally yours
never saw the clowns live
wished i had
totally, completely, utterly pure originality
jazz meets rock if you like
the 3cd set of remastered tracks stacked in the iriver
this is a good thing
song for the boys by pat metheny
mr guitarist of guitarists
shops file him under jazz
probably because there are no vocals
a few years ago he released an album called one quiet night
him alone and a custom-built acoustic guitar
a bunch of original tunes like this one and a few covers
musically it defines complex simplicity
i just made that up
that's it - 10 tracks
oh what fun - shall do this again sometime real soon now
byeeeee....

democracy now

i don't watch much tv
abc and sbs rule the waves
7:30 report and lateline i catch as much as possible
but even tonight that hotel in the french capitol got a mention
on abc 7pm news
it seems that is newsworthy
as though there's nothing more important to report
but there is
and there's a tv station willing to report it
democracy now
is beamed throughout the u s of a
and on the internet at http://www.democracynow.org/
amy goodman leads the show
she is a modern day joan of arc
she strikes out with no fear
her life seems to be dedicated to exposing the truth
she writes books and gives talks
and has experienced first-hand
the brutality of a military regime
all her guests treat her with outright respect
as she intelligently and articulately interviews them
and shows no bias
she credits her audience with the intelligence
to come up with their own conclusions
i'm addicted to the show
i can connect whenever i like
and stream the daily one hour broadcast
the only thing conventional about the format
is that the headlines come first
and then the in-depth stuff
but there are no...
...sports results
...finance/business reports
...infotainment
...fashion updates
...gadget/gizmo must have reports
...accident reports
...reports of random acts of violence
...freaky events captured on film
...ad nauseum repeats of same
...ad nauseam repeats of anything
...nationalistic stories
...political sound bites
...advertisements
...sponsorships
...cross promotions
...other promotions
...periods of meaningless banter/fill
...setups that grossly exploit the plight of others
...cute animal stories
...cute kid stories
...feel good stories
seems to me there's no shortage of newsworthy events in the world
that can and should be reported
but only if the ratings are not at risk
and the audience won't be alienated
and the sponsors aren't offended
and the baron approves
but if none of that is relevant
then something like democracy now can thrive
and be appreciated by millions
the world over
who want to learn more about the truth behind
...military invasions
...climate change
...corrupt governments
...socially aware governments
...globalisation
...privatisation
...cronyism
...impeachments
...new imperalism
...extraordinary rendition
...legitimisation of torture
...imprisonment without trial
...wrongful imprisonment
but there's a light side to the show
it's not all doom and gloom
there's laughter
and interesting music
and often good news stories
typically about people
who have taken up a cause
and have had a breakthrough
this makes amy smile
she often asks is there reason to be optimistic
and there always is
...this is the best news

till the sun turns black

is the second album from ray lamontagne
it's been out for a while but i only bought the cd a week ago
and have been listening to it a lot since then
tonight i was driving for quite a while
and played it through twice
in the dark and the rain and the fog
the conditions were perfect for the album
for it needs attention and no distractions
i first read about him a couple of years ago
when he released his first album
seems he had a very sad and violent childhood
in new england in old u s of a
lives in a hand built log cabin
his instrument is acoustic guitar
his voice is slightly husky
and his songs are gentle but powerful
be here now
is the opening track
it is a gift of a song
sounds like it has lived forever
bought tears to my eyes the first 6 or so times
now i just listen in awe
dont let your heart get heavy
child inside you there's a strength that lies
dont let you soul get lonely
child it's only time it will go by
guitar, piano and strings arranged beautifully
empty
picks up the pace
it sounds familiar
but it's the arrangement again
violin and cello out front with the guitar
well i looked my demons in the eyes
laid my chest bare said do your best to destroy me
you see i been to hell and back so many times
that i have to admit that you bore me
no relation at all but
i'm thinking waterboys circa fisherman's blues
which can only be a good thing
barfly
is the third track
it's ok but it's up against some tough competition
three more days
is the song for the band
that wouldn't be out of place
on a springsteen and the e street band record
can i stay
is the quiet one and the love song
voice and violins
and contains the curious wish
can i stay with you till the morning
there's nothing i want more than to wake up on your floor
(methinks he needs to lift his goals a little)
but it's a lovely tune
you can bring me flowers
has the band and brass backing up
and a flute solo
as he pines for a love gone wrong
gone away from me
continues the theme
and introduces a mandolin
that sounds so clear in the openness
of the sound production that is found across the whole album
lesson learned
is a straightforward little ditty
some more love gone wrong lyrics
and the inclusion of what sounds like a classical guitar
which is also featured on
truely, madly, deeply
a brief but beautiful instrumental track
till the sun turns black
the title track
brings back the string section
as he opines about wasted time and wasted lives
can you see the young and pretty confident as cops
blooming, laughing in the shops
till the sun turns black
can you see the old and lonely
walking through the park pushing grocery carts
till the sun turns black
and you hardly notice the segue into
within you
the anthemic closer to the album
it has john lennon stamped all over it
there's drums and tambourines
and a rousing chorus
war is not the answer
the answer is within
he's big in england apparantly
the smart woman's james blunt they say
not sure about that
but he's going to be around for a lot longer
and anyway missy higgins loves him
she said so publicly
she supported him on a u.s. tour
maybe she will return the compliment
before he gets to be too famous
....i reckon

the dead girl

david and margaret reviewed it on at the movies
david seemed to like it and gave it 4 stars
margaret seemed less impressed and gave it 3 and a half
she seemed quite incoherent about it
but i decided to see for myself
the stranger is the first of five parts
starring toni collette who once again
delivers a mesmerising performance
as the long-suffering daughter of a dictatorial mother
she being the stranger who discovers the body
and then begins to discover a whole lot of other things
about herself, her mother, and those around her
there is so much emotion in this first part
by the end of it i feel like i've seen a complete film
the sister is part 2
she is played engagingly by rose byrne
also at the mercy of her mother
who refuses to believe her other long lost daughter is dead
but the sister wants to believe and move on
especially when the dead girl's body comes into the mortuary
where she is an intern
and she grasps for closure
her suffering is palpable
the wife is part 3
starring mary beth hurt
(who wikipedia tells me was married to william hurt)
as the suspicious wife of a very suspicious husband
she is on the brink
he has led her there but she's about to turn and push him off
and we are begging her to do it
he deserves it and more
the mother is part 4
played by someone quite familiar
it's all very sad
seeing this lady find out a lot of things
that death delivers up to her
and who she meets
and how she reacts
it prepares us for the final part where
the dead girl
is finally brought onto the screen
played by brittany murphy
who i don't recall seeing on screen before
but this is another amazing performance
one moment sweet, charming, lovely
the next enraged, violent and uncontrollable
she has a tough life
and a tragic death
which to my major relief
we are spared the finer details
as the credits rolled
i couldn't move
nor could a lot of people around me
there were tears
and couples hugging
and silence
even in the foyer afterwards
a day later and i'm still thinking about it
it says so much
about our so-called modern society
and how we treat each other
for that it is very revealing
and quite depressing
....but we know that anyway

the catholics

went out last night to see the catholics
7 piece jazz outfit i quite like
sandy evans is the star
she plays saxaphone
in many other outfits
as does james greening on trombone
he is a star too
lloyd swanton is the boss
on double bass
and there are another 4
on various instruments
they are very, very good
at what they do
which is quite a lot
all sorts of different styles are played
it seems they could play anything
and nail it perfectly
i couldn't help thinking
they do it so well and so....
professionally
they have been doing it for decades now
and they obviously love it
they laugh a lot on stage
but....
something was missing
it may have been the venue
it may have been the crowd
it may have been me
i think it was
coz my mind was wandering
thinking about what i had done
only an hour or so earlier
i started a blog
(and now the blog's on me)
had no intention of doing such a thing
it just happened
why did i do it
i kept thinking as i tried and tried
to get into the catholics
strange behaviour indeed
it's kind of fun so far
and an outlet for my thoughts
on things that i hear, see or do
in that order of importance
to me
it doesn't matter if no-one reads
and even better if no-one comments
that was my conclusion
as the catholics finished their work
i tried to remove the comments feature
but i don't think i can
so i'll just tell people i don't want comments
or at least i'll ignore them (?)
so far so good....

renonsenseone

ok here we go
first acknowledge they who have inspired
the time being
sk writes an inspiring daily blog
i got onto it because i love his music
the church have been a constant in my life for 25 years now
i still remember the very first time i heard them
when you were mine came out of a radio tuned to triple (double) j
at my work in 1982
i still remember thinking then that sounds brilliant
i bought the blurred crusade record that day
took it home
and played and played and played it
my flatmates kind of got it but not really
but i was hooked
from then on i went to every gig withing reaching distance
and bought every record
25 years later its just the same
i love 'em
they ground me
they lost me a bit up until a few years ago
coz i wandered off
listened to and loved all sorts of other stuff
but every few years i'd have a relapse
put tbc on full volume in my car
and love it all over again
when you were mine the best rock song ever
just for you the best love song ever
it takes off
the guitar solo is exquisite
you took has the best intro ever
and everything else inbetween cannot be overplayed ever
ok that's it
there's more coming in my love of all things church
but for now....
last night
i went to the state theatre and saw inland empire
new film by david lynch
i got a call from a friend
late in the day
saying would i like a ticket
i hadn't had much sleep the previous night
so hadn't thought about going out
but when he rang
the overriding rule kicked in...
never refuse an invitation
savour every one
let fate take it's course
or let karma come in
or just enjoy the company of friends
so yes i said
got picked up and driven into the city
and told it's a 3 hour film
uh-oh i'm thinking
sleep is surely going to come calling
when it does i will just excuse myself
and get a taxi home
...we take our seats near the back of the stalls
a full house
the film starts
i'm hooked - i decide to go with it as long as i can
3 hours later i'm still hooked
and asking my friend what the time is
not believing 3 hours have passed
many people walked out
even up to about 10 minutes before it finished
huh?
but i loved it
laura dern was stunning
she was gorgeous
she was brilliant
she held it together
it was a visual journey
no idea
what it was about really
but it was captivating
the soundtrack will be a whole new discovery
i think i now understand
why david lynch is so revered
....more soon?