Tim Hecker, “The Piano Drop” (Ravedeath, 1972), 2011*
The First MIT Baker House Piano Drop, 11/1972
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Suppose you had to assign a number: what percentage of your daily life do you understand?
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*One of the year’s top 10 albums—Ben Ratliff (New York Times).
He does covers, too.
“Pale Blue Eyes” (L. Reed)
Alejandro Escovedo, live, Paris, 2007
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Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground, 1969)
keep on dancing
Theo Parrish (Detroit-based DJ/producer), live, Spain (Madrid), 2010
#1
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#2
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#3
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#4
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lagniappe
musical thoughts
[I]f you think about it, sound behaves a lot like sculpture except there’s a time limit. Look at that sculpture right there behind you. You look at it and there’s a front, a back, an up, a down, around and through. So you’re talking about volume. You’re talking about spatial relationships.
The thing about sound is that there is a beginning and there is usually an end, there’s a certain amount of space that it takes up, but the big difference is that all of that is merely alluded to. It’s not something that’s concretely in front of you. It’s fluid. You may hear a snare, but the way that it’s presented and the textures that it has, you can bring certain mental images to it. If you’re listening. If you’re listening.
A lot of times you’ll put something on and it’s just another track, but if you’re listening to it you can hear a lot of the nuances that are in there and really start to understand . . . start to really get your head around it . . .
Repetition kind of sets a certain mass in a song. That’s a constant, that’s something you can ‘see’ all the time. Then there’s little bits that come in and out and these changes that kinda shift on that pivot. If you think of it visually, sometimes you’re dealing with almost a mobile-like thing. This is where I go in my head sometimes. Mobile means shifting, spinning, all kinds of stuff.
If you look at it, it could almost be like sculpting air. It’s like you have all of these shapes . . . but you have to rely on a structure, but then again you really don’t have to. So your structure tends to be your time limit—how long your recording is from beginning to end. Anything that happens in that amount of time is on you. Totally up to your creativity.
I don’t know what these folks call this stuff, but one thing I’m sure of: it ain’t “world music.”
Sobanza Mimanisa (“Orchestra of Light”), “Kiwembo,” live
Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa), c. 2005
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lagniappe
reading table
The 100 Most Powerless New Yorkers
Have you noticed that power lists, which have been spreading like the clap lately, from the Time 100 to the Forbes 500, tell you things you already know about the rich and famous and give publicity to people who already have more of it than they know what to do with? For the rest of us, here’s a power list to get 2012 going in the right direction. They’re in no particular order. (Like it really matters.)
1. Weed-delivery guys
The reason so many marijuana arrests are of black and Hispanic people is not because they smoke weed more. White New Yorkers, by the NYPD’s own numbers, have a higher per-capita rate of contraband when they’re arrested. However, white people stay safe in their apartments while colored folks deliver drugs to them. Delivering drugs puts you on the bottom of a pyramid scheme where you usually earn less than minimum wage, making you vulnerable to homicide and giving you about as much of a chance of becoming a rich kingpin as being a production assistant or a media intern gives you of becoming a celebrity. . . .
—Steven Thrasher, Village Voice, 1/11/12
What do you get when you combine a pianist who plays with the percussive intensity of a drummer and a drummer who plays with the melodic buoyancy of a pianist?
Cecil Taylor (piano), Max Roach (drums), live
New York (Columbia University), 2000
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lagniappe
art beat: more from Thursday’s stop at the Art Institute of Chicago (after a hearing at the nearby federal court building)
Mark Rothko, Painting (1953-54)
two takes
Here’s her first record as a solo artist.
Dionne Warwick, “Don’t Make Me Over” (B. Bacharach & H. David), 1962
Billboard Hot 100 #21, R&B #5
TV broadcast
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Recording
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When I first began, the kind of music I was recording was so unorthodox. It was like nothing else that was being played on radio at the time, and most people said, ‘Well, she won’t be around that long.’
—Dionne Warwick, 2011 Interview
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lagniappe
art beat: yesterday at the Art Institute of Chicago (after a hearing at the nearby federal court building)
Franz Kline, Painting (1952)
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Jasper Johns, Corpse and Mirror II (1974-75)
(Some folks duck into a church in the noon hour—this is my church.)
three takes
Salif Keita (with Cesaria Evora, takes 1 & 2), “Yamore”
Luciano remix, 2006
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Original recording & video, 2002
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Live, London, 2002
More? Here.
Forget the weird press—she can sing.
Sinead O’Connor, “Paddy’s Lament” (trad.)
TV broadcast (Ireland), 12/19/11
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How many other pop stars have made so many stunning contributions as a guest artist?
With Shane MacGowan, “Haunted”
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With the Chieftains, “The Foggy Dew”
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With Willie Nelson, “Don’t Give Up”
(Last three clips originally posted 3/3/10.)
more favorites from the past year
Only in a city where cooking, like music, is considered an art would music be considered, like food, a necessity.
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Rainy?
It doesn’t matter.
Any day’s a perfect day for a parade.
The Black Men of Labor 2009 Second Line Parade, New Orleans
(Originally posted 11/18/11.)
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Mardi Gras Indians
Young Wild Magnolias, St. Joseph’s Night, New Orleans, 3/19/09
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
United Indian Practice, Handa Wanda, New Orleans, 1/2/11
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Indian Practice, 7th Ward, New Orleans, 11/22/10
Vodpod videos no longer available.*****
Spy Boy Demond, Seminoles, New Orleans, c. 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 9/30/11.)
more favorites from the past year
passings
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Is any drummer more lyrical?
Paul Motian, drummer, composer, collaborator, bandleader
March 25, 1931-November 22, 2011
Paul Motian Trio (PM, drums; Joe Lovano, saxophone; Bill Frisell, guitar), “It Should’ve Happened a Long Time Ago” (P. Motian), live, New York (Village Vanguard), 2005
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lagniappe
Sometimes he would strip a beat to absolute basics, the sound of brushes on a dark-toned ride cymbal and the abrupt thump of his low-tuned kick drum. Generally, a listener could locate the form, even when Mr. Motian didn’t state it explicitly.
“With Paul, there was always that ground rhythm, that ancient jazz beat lurking in the background,” said the pianist Ethan Iverson, one of the younger bandleaders who played with and learned from him toward the end.
Mr. Motian’s final week at the [Village] Vanguard was with Mr. Osby and Mr. Kikuchi, in September. “He was an economist: every note and phrase and utterance counted,” Mr. Osby said on Tuesday. “There was nothing disposable.”
—Ben Ratliff, New York Times, 11/22/11
(Originally posted 11/23/11.)
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You’re never too young to die.
Amy Winehouse, September 14, 1983-July 23, 2011
“Tears Dry On Their Own”
Take 1: original recording and video (2006)
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Take 2: remix by Organized Noize Dungeon Family (Big Boi)
(released 7/24/11)
(Originally posted 7/26/11.)
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Today we remember him with a mix of new clips and old favorites.
Gil Scott-Heron, April 1, 1949-May 27, 2011
“The Bottle,” live, Jamaica (Montego Bay, Reggae Sunsplash), 1983
Cool Runnings: The Reggae Movie (1983)
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I’m New Here (2010)
“Where Did The Night Go”
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“Me And The Devil” (Robert Johnson)
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It’s a remix world.
“New York Is Killing Me” (2010), Chris Cunningham remix
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Here’s the original track, followed by a couple more remixes.
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Nas
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
With Mos Def
Vodpod videos no longer available.**********
langiappe
musical thoughts
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.
—Bertolt Brecht
(Originally posted 5/30/11.)
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Lloyd Knibb, drummer (Skatalites, et al.)
March 8, 1931-May 12, 2011
Lloyd Knibb’s importance to Jamaican music can’t be overstated. The inventor of the ska beat at Coxson Dodd’s Studio One, Knibb created a sound that spread like wildfire the world over.
—Carter Van Pelt, host, Eastern Standard Time, WKCR-FM
“Freedom Sound,” live, Belgium (Lokerse Festival), 1997
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Live, Los Angeles, 2007
#1
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#2
(Originally posted 5/18/11.)
music clip of the day 