tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69353702024-03-07T00:48:16.253-08:00Running The Voodoo DownOPEN YOUR MOUTH. HERE'S YOUR MONEY.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.comBlogger1156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-70102449872681538712015-12-30T11:16:00.003-08:002015-12-30T11:24:50.488-08:0015 FROM '15I wrote more than I expected to this year. Here are 15 of my favorite pieces.<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.stereogum.com/1733406/napalm-death-albums-from-worst-to-best-2/franchises/counting-down/">Napalm Death Albums From Worst To Best</a>, Stereogum (big factual error in this one, but I own it in comments)<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.stereogum.com/1802728/yes-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/">Yes Albums From Worst To Best</a>, Stereogum<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.stereogum.com/1828062/motorhead-albums-from-worst-to-best/franchises/counting-down/">Motörhead Albums From Worst To Best</a>, Stereogum<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.stereogum.com/1831201/how-five-finger-death-punch-got-huge-by-writing-songs-for-soldiers/franchises/essay/">How Five Finger Death Punch Got Huge By Writing Songs For Soldiers</a>, Stereogum<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.stereogum.com/1784185/the-short-strange-music-career-of-leonard-nimoy/franchises/essay/">The Short, Strange Music Career Of Leonard Nimoy</a>, Stereogum<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://www.villagevoice.com/music/machine-head-bring-a-massive-anthemic-roar-to-new-york-homecoming-show-at-irving-plaza-6638026">Machine Head Bring A Massive, Anthemic Roar To New York 'Homecoming' Show At Irving Plaza</a>, <i>Village Voice</i><br><br>
<a href="http://noisey.vice.com/blog/heather-leigh-interview-2015">Jandek Affiliate Heather Leigh Brings Appalachian Soul And Pedal Steel Guitar To Improvised Noise</a>, Noisey<br><br>
All of the following are from <a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com">Burning Ambulance</a>:<br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/11/06/simulacrum/">An interview with the members of the new John Zorn-created organ trio, Simulacrum</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/09/08/anna-thorvaldsdottir/">A review of two albums of music by composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/09/03/banda-de-los-muertos/">
An interview with Jacob Garchik and Oscar Noriega of Banda de los Muertos</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/03/23/cecil-taylor-in-1983/">An interview with percussionist Andre Martinez about his time playing with Cecil Taylor in the 1980s</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/06/02/sonny-rollins-2/">A review of the Sonny Rollins <i>Complete Live at the Village Gate 1962</i> box</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/07/20/dirty-movies/">
A review of Aleksei German's <i>Hard to Be a God</i>, George Miller's <i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i>, and William Friedkin's <i>Sorcerer</i></a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/01/30/interview-udo-dirkschneider/">An interview with Udo Dirkschneider (U.D.O., ex-Accept)</a><br><br>
<a target=blank href="http://burningambulance.com/2015/05/04/interview-max-cavalera/">An interview with Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Cavalera Conspiracy, ex-Sepultura)</a>Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-84389759865197608822015-12-15T10:43:00.000-08:002015-12-15T10:44:54.591-08:00YEAH, WELL, YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT I THINK?I contributed to <i>The Wire</i>'s year-end roundup, sending them my top 10 albums, my top 10 reissues, and some short thoughts on 2015 as refracted through the prism of culture. Those thoughts are reproduced below, but you should really buy the issue; there's a ton of great stuff in it, including my reviews of the new albums by Apparatus and Nate Wooley, both of which are very good. <a target=blank href="http://www.exacteditions.com/read/the-wire">I recommend getting a digital subscription</a>, which allows you full access to the <i>Wire</i> archives going all the way back to their first issue, plus subscriber-only music downloads and other cool stuff.
Anyway, year-end thoughts:
<blockquote>The jazz story of the year was the arrival and rapid ascent of <b>Kamasi Washington</b>. His presence on the most overrated hip-hop album of 2015, <b>Kendrick Lamar</b>'s <i>To Pimp A Butterfly</i>, helped his PR team create significant anticipation for his debut <i>The Epic</i>. Rapturously received, even by critics who couldn't spell jazz if you spotted them the j and one of the zs, it became the music's biggest crossover success story since the 1970s. It was also a really good record, and Washington is one of the most compelling live performers around. I was privileged to review his New York debut for this magazine, and it was the best show I saw all year.<br><br>I attended more jazz performances in 2015 than any other type, and that seems likely to continue. Jazz feels like it's revitalizing itself from within, in exciting, unpredictable ways. On the other hand, my other great musical love, metal, seems to be imploding. Formerly extreme styles have become cliches and crutches; bands can either sell records or get positive reviews, but not both, and the state of the US market dictates that tour packages must include a minimum of four bands, which is two too many for an old man to put up with on a weeknight.<br><br>No year is complete without a death list, and 2015's included some musicians whose work - even if only a single towering album - permanently altered my personal soundworld: <b>Ornette Coleman</b>, <b>Tangerine Dream</b>'s <b>Edgar Froese</b>, the <b>Stooges</b>' saxophonist <b>Steve Mackay</b> and <b>Yes</b> bassist <b>Chris Squire</b> all departed this year. Nothing here now but the recordings, in <b>William Burroughs</b>'s phrase.</blockquote>Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-85648770865371907592015-11-26T07:12:00.001-08:002015-11-26T07:13:47.747-08:00THANKSGIVING PRAYERWhen I clicked play on this video, it was preceded by an ad for Chili's.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sLSveRGmpIE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-70513174582727923222015-07-03T19:42:00.003-07:002015-07-03T19:44:38.712-07:00MIDYEAR REPORT, JAZZ DIVISIONHere, in alphabetical order, are 20 jazz albums I like from the first half of 2015. It was only when I started making this list that I realized there were that many. I feel like I've been listening to a lot more old jazz than new. But this is a pretty impressive list.<br />
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JD Allen, <i>Graffiti</i> (HighNote)<br />
David Chesky/Jazz in the New Harmonic, <i>Primal Scream</i> (Chesky)<br />
Duane Eubanks, <i>Things of That Particular Nature</i> (Sunnyside)<br />
Ghost Train Orchestra, <i>Hot Town</i> (Accurate)<br />
Stephen Haynes, <i>Pomegranate</i> (New Atlantis)<br />
Albert “Tootie” Heath, <i>Philadelphia Beat</i> (Sunnyside)<br />
Eddie Henderson, <i>Collective Portrait</i> (Smoke Sessions)<br />
Jeremy Pelt, <i>Tales, Musings and Other Reveries</i> (HighNote)<br />
Chris Potter Underground Orchestra, <i>Imaginary Cities</i> (ECM)<br />
Nate Radley, <i>Morphoses</i> (Fresh Sound New Talent)<br />
John Raymond, <i>Foreign Territory</i> (Fresh Sound New Talent)<br />
Matana Roberts, <i>always.</i> (Relative Pitch)<br />
Matthew Shipp Chamber Ensemble, <i>The Gospel According to Matthew and Michael</i> (Relative Pitch)<br />
Alex Sipiagin, <i>Balance 38-58</i> (Criss Cross)<br />
Jim Snidero, <i>Main Street</i> (Savant)<br />
Terell Stafford, <i>Brotherlee Love</i> (Capri)<br />
Dayna Stephens, <i>Reminiscent</i> (Criss Cross)<br />
Tom Tallitsch, <i>All Together Now</i> (Posi-Tone)<br />
Tim Warfield, <i>Spherical</i> (Criss Cross)<br />
Doug Webb, <i>Triple Play</i> (Posi-Tone)Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-88995417964960653282014-08-03T13:48:00.000-07:002014-08-03T13:48:37.935-07:00SONNY ROLLINS CAN TAKE IT<div style="color: #333333; font-family: minion-pro-1, minion-pro-2, 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
On July 31, the <em>New Yorker</em> published a piece called "<a data-mce-href="http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/sonny-rollins-words" href="http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/sonny-rollins-words" target="_blank"><strong>Sonny Rollins</strong>: In His Own Words</a>," by <strong>Django Gold</strong>. It followed the format of articles like <em>Esquire</em>'s long-running "<a data-mce-href="http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/what-ive-learned-archive" href="http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/what-ive-learned-archive" target="_blank">What I've Learned</a>" series, in which cultural eminences (<strong>Merv Griffin</strong>, <strong>Rachel Hunter</strong>, <strong>John McCain</strong>, <strong>Wayne Newton</strong>, etc.) share the wisdom they've gathered throughout the course of their lives.</div>
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The Rollins "interview" begins: "I started playing the saxophone when I was thirteen years old. There were some other kids on my block who had taken it up, and I thought that it might be fun. I later learned that these guys’ parents had forced them into it." It continues along the bleak path suggested by that introduction, including observations like, "Jazz might be the stupidest thing anyone ever came up with. The band starts a song, but then everything falls apart and the musicians just play whatever they want for as long they can stand it. People take turns noodling around, and once they run out of ideas and have to stop, the audience claps. I’m getting angry just thinking about it."</div>
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"Rollins" tells stories about other jazz greats, too: "I remember <strong>Dexter Gordon</strong> was doing a gig at the 3 Deuces, and at one point he leaned into the microphone and said, 'I could sell this suit and this saxophone and get far away from here.' The crowd laughed." and "Once I played the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Switzerland, with <strong>Miles Davis</strong>. I walked in on him smoking cigarettes and staring at his horn for what must have been fifteen minutes, like it was a poisonous snake and he wasn’t sure if it was dead. Finally Miles stood up, turned to his band, and said, 'All right, let’s get through this, and then we’ll go to the airport.' He looked like he was about to cry."</div>
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The piece's final paragraph? "I released fifty-odd albums, wrote hundreds of songs, and played on God knows how many session dates. Some of my recordings are in the Library of Congress. That’s idiotic. They ought to burn that building to the ground. I hate music. I wasted my life."</div>
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I've been listening to jazz since I was 14 or 15 years old—close to 30 years at this point. I have something like two dozen <strong>Sonny Rollins</strong> albums in my iPod right now. I've seen him in concert multiple times, and <a href="http://runningthevoodoodown.blogspot.com/2009/12/q-with-sonny-rollins.html" target="_blank">interviewed him</a> (<a href="http://runningthevoodoodown.blogspot.com/2010/09/sonny-rollins-long-version.html" target="_blank">twice</a>). And I laughed harder at this piece than I've ever laughed at anything published in the <em>New Yorker</em>. It's a hilarious, biting look at the dark side of the artistic temperament <em>and</em> the dismal fate awaiting most artists in a capitalist society.</div>
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Mine seems to be a minority opinion, though, at least if Facebook and Twitter can be believed. Comments like "This piece is listed as humor in The New Yorker, but it doesn't seem all that funny" and "I expect better from The New Yorker. But I won't in the future." and "I hope Rollins sues them for this." and the like are littering social media. A few bloggers have weighed in, too, of course; <a data-mce-href="http://betweenthegrooves.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/jesting-about-sonny-in-the-new-yorker-funny-or-a-wasted-opportunity/" href="http://betweenthegrooves.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/jesting-about-sonny-in-the-new-yorker-funny-or-a-wasted-opportunity/" target="_blank">Philip Booth writes</a>, in part, "[S]ome who casually stumble across the piece online might mistake it for the real thing, and wonder why Rollins is being so wacky" (because, you know, anyone who's not already a Rollins fan must be an imbecile too dumb to spot the "humor" tag at the top of the page), while <a data-mce-href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2014/08/most-scurrilous-unfunny-new-yorker-humor-re-jazz.html" href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/2014/08/most-scurrilous-unfunny-new-yorker-humor-re-jazz.html" target="_blank">Howard Mandel thinks</a> it "turns on the seed of punkish <a data-mce-href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/punk-e1406989417691.jpeg" href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jazzbeyondjazz/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/punk-e1406989417691.jpeg"></a>resentment sophisticates presumably harbor against the music" (because "sophisticates," whoever they are, resent jazz's...what? Vast commercial success? Public prominence?).</div>
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Here's what I find interesting about the whole outcry: It's all coming from old school jazz critics and<strong> </strong>Rollins' publicist (who I consider a friend and have worked with quite amiably for years). The jazz <em>musicians</em> I know have mostly remained silent. (A notable exception would be <strong>Nick Hempton</strong>, who <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/NickHemptonBand/status/495795995905896449" href="https://twitter.com/NickHemptonBand/status/495795995905896449" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, "I'M SO OUTRAGED AT SOMETHING I READ ON THE INTERNET, I'M THROWING MY COMPUTER OUT THE WINDOW!" with the hashtags #JazzIsSerious #RespectMe.)</div>
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Hempton gets it. Why don't these writers?</div>
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I suspect it's because they've devoted even more decades than I have to listening to jazz, learning its history, interviewing the players, and writing about it, and they've done so from the perspective common to most jazz critics: that the music they like is <i>great art</i>, much more than mere entertainment, and deserves the highest honors our culture can bestow, all the time. It should <i>certainly</i> never be poked fun at or satirized—that's for performers they think of as lesser, like <strong>Miley Cyrus</strong> or whichever other pop figure they happen to have somehow heard of. (Your average jazz critic's unfamiliarity with contemporary pop culture would make a normal person weep with baffled laughter. Especially when the jazz critic goes on an intemperate Facebook rant about something pop-related—like, say, the use of Autotune on pop singers—from a position of near-total ignorance regarding modern production methods, technology in general, or what a given audience might actually <em>want</em> from its entertainers.)<br />
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Here's what I think: Jazz is entertainment. Now, 99 or so percent of America's (and the world's) population fails to find it entertaining, but that's not because they're stupid, or uncultured. It's because most of the time the music <i>isn't</i> entertaining—it's overly complicated, and presented like homework, like you're a spiritually shriveled asshole if you don't want to hear hookless melodies barely punctuating long passages of squawking, clattering and clanging, all while paying substantially more than you'd pay to hear a rock band that might actually play something you could dance or bang your head to. There are many, many exceptions, bands that swing hard as hell, play tunes that actually sound like something and solos that actually go somewhere. But you've got to know what you're looking for—and looking on the covers of jazz magazines won't help, because it's the critics' darlings who wind up there, and for the most part jazz critics like jazz that makes them feel smarter for liking it.<br />
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People who do like jazz aren't smarter than people who don't. But people who think jazz musicians are precious flowers who must be protected from cruel japery because their art form is insufficiently appreciated by the lumpen are <i>fucking idiots</i>.<br />
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I remember reading something a long time ago to the effect that you could tell when an ethnic group had successfully begun the process of assimilating into American society when they started to become the subject of jokes in movies. Not hostile, racist, dehumanizing jokes, but jokes poking welcoming fun at these new people and their weird folkways.<br />
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Jazz fans should welcome jokes about their music's unlistenability and dismal commercial status. Why? <i>Because it proves people still give enough of a fuck about jazz to make fun of it</i>. Do you think they would have written a satirical interview with <b>Jimmy Sturr</b>, complaining about how awful the accordion sounds and how much he hates polka? Do you think anyone would have read it if they had?<br />
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Another important thing to remember is that good satire is about "punching up." Culturally speaking, a shot at jazz is exactly that. It may be dead from a record-sales and gig-attendance standpoint, but on the cultural ladder, jazz is several rungs above rock and pop. It's considered important music. Of course, that's helped doom its sales, because nothing sends albums flying off the shelves like guilting people into listening to something that's supposed to be good for them...but congratulations, jazz critics, you won the battle for prestige. The music you love has been 100% accepted by the elite. It's the soundtrack to arts benefits, awards shows (the Oscars still big-band up the music from the previous year's releases), and any scene in a film or TV show where someone needs to be portrayed as classy...or old.<br />
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It's just too bad nobody else gives a shit. But maybe this fit of public foot-stomping will be just the thing that turns jazz's decades-long cultural disappearing act around! Maybe acting like petulant children ("How dare you say something mean about <b>Sonny Rollins</b>! You take that back right now!") will be what leads all those people you think are idiots, too dumb to tell whether an interview is real or fake, to appreciate the awesomeness of his music. (And it <i>is</i> awesome.) Because as noted Twitter philosopher JazzIsTheWorst <a href="https://twitter.com/JazzIsTheWorst/status/350639803156533248" target="_blank">put it</a>, "People don't enjoy jazz, they 'appreciate' it...and nothing sells records like music people can really 'appreciate.'"<br />
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Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-78038880698236157512014-03-27T15:00:00.001-07:002014-03-27T15:00:07.487-07:00DEAD BUT NOT GONE<br /><br />Here are two reviews recently killed by editors. No, I won't tell you which magazines rejected them. Enjoy!<br /><br /><b>MEMPHIS MAY FIRE</b><br /><i>Unconditional</i><br />Texas-based metalcore squad <b>Memphis May Fire</b> have never been the most creative band around. On their last album, 2012’s <i>Challenger</i>, they brought in a pair of guests—<b>Asking Alexandria</b>’s <b>Danny Worsnop</b> and <b>Sleeping With Sirens</b>’ <b>Kellin Quinn</b>—whose powerful personalities only served to make their hosts seem faceless by comparison. For Unconditional, the band have kept the same producer (<b>Cameron Mitchell</b>) as on <i>Challenger</i>, but there are no ringers this time; they’re standing or falling on their own merits. And while that’s admirable, it would have been wise of them to write better songs. Chugging riffs, pop-punkish choruses, gang vocals, digital stuttering, one-finger synth melodies—all the ingredients for a circa-2014 metalcore album are here, including drums so hilariously triggered it’s amazing they keep the drummer on the payroll at all. But here’s the thing: for a piece of music to qualify as a song rather than just a loose pile of sort-of-cool parts, it’s got to stick in your head once it’s over. There’s exactly one track here that passes that test with flying colors: “Possibilities” rides a wave of positive energy and catchiness, with more than enough melody to keep a listener interested. (And OK, “The Answer” has a pretty solid chorus, too.) On the other hand, the ballads (“Need To Be” and “Speechless”) are a slog, and only <b>Matty Mullins</b>’ <b>Claudio Sanchez</b>-esque* vocals make the other songs recognizable as the work of <b>Memphis May Fire</b> rather than any one of literally dozens of other bands.<br /><br /><div>
<b>GANG WIZARD</b><br /><i>Important Picnic</i><br />Do you need a new shambling, half-assed noise-rock album in your life? Or do you already have six thousand of them left over from the '80s and '90s? Well, just in case you feel insufficiently flush with discs offering indecipherably howled vocals, guitar that sounds more like sheet metal being torn apart by robot claws than a musical instrument, minimalist bass lines a one-armed monkey could play, and drums that are all clattering snare and washes of cymbal, <b>Gang Wizard</b> are here to help you out. For nearly two decades, they’ve been bashing out one-take jams that live in a territory somewhere between <b>Les Rallizes Dénudes</b>, <b>Sunburned Hand of the Man</b>, <b>Half Japanese</b> and a teenaged garage band trying and failing to learn a song from <i>Nuggets</i>.<br />Most of the tracks on this album actually have some song-like qualities, but <b>Gang Wizard</b> are so committed to their half-assed/fidelity-is-for-chumps aesthetic that only those listeners who share their enthusiasm for rock as outsider art are going to be even slightly enticed. For every “Dog’s Share” (a rocking instrumental with plenty of guitar skronk), there’s a “The Fiasco,” an 11-minute fumble-jam that lives up to its name and then some. If there was a “single” on this album, it’d be “Ugly American,” which sounds like a bootleg of an ultra-early <b>Pere Ubu</b> rehearsal. But pretty much everything else here is half-formed, unambitious like that’s a thing to be proud of, and thoroughly inessential.<br /><br />*<b>Claudio Sanchez</b> = singer for <b>Coheed and Cambria</b>, known for his extremely high-pitched vocals.</div>
Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-68301639709179028732013-11-06T06:49:00.004-08:002013-11-06T06:49:30.658-08:00WEDNESDAY MORNING 20Every once in a while, I have to hit Shuffle on my iPod just to remind myself of some of the shit that's on there. This is exactly what came up this morning, no skipping.<br />
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Foghat, "Slow Ride (Live)"<br />
Dale Hawkins, "Susie Q"<br />
The Lawrence Amavi Group, "Money That's What I Want"<br />
The Lazy Cowgirls, "Jungle Song (Live)"<br />
Cypress Hill, "Legalize It"<br />
Converge, "Wishing Well"<br />
The Chemical Brothers, "Elektrobank (Live)"<br />
Natalia Lafourcade, "Let's Get Out"<br />
Wormrot, "Why We Fight"<br />
Coleman Hawkins, "Lover Come Back to Me"<br />
The Sisters of Mercy, "Floorshow"<br />
Krisiun, "Hateful Nature"<br />
Witchman, "N.Y.23"<br />
Ted Nugent, "I Won't Go Away"<br />
Ancestors, "A Friend"<br />
Airbourne, "Hellfire"<br />
AC/DC, "Safe in New York City"<br />
The Thing with Joe McPhee, "Baby Talk"<br />
Godflesh, "Life is Easy"<br />
Closer Musik, "One Two Three No Gravity (Dettinger Remix)"Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-30550670042087262222013-10-19T12:37:00.000-07:002013-10-19T12:41:31.610-07:00IT'S LIKE SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO BURN DOWN AND START OVER[<i>The title of this post is something my father once said about the city of London</i>.]<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Chris Molanphy</b> (the <b>Nate Silver</b> of pop music criticism—not just because of his ability to parse stats, but because of his ability to upturn conventional wisdom in the process) has written <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/10/18/237169137/how-to-read-this-years-rock-hall-nominations?live=1" target="_blank">an excellent piece on how, and why, bands/acts get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or don't</a>. Go read it if you want some insight into the mindset of the Nominating Committee, and how it diverges from the tastes of the voters, of whom there are many more.<br />
<br />
I don't care who's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not anymore. The execution has been so flawed virtually from Day One that it's pretty much a pointless joke, albeit one that keeps getting re-told every year. Yes, my beef with it boils down to who's in it and who's not, but from a stricter definitional standpoint than most complainers, who just want to see their favorite bands inducted and bands they don't like shut out. (Over on Facebook, some maniac is kicking up a storm about the snubbing of <b>Chicago</b>. No, really.) What this boils down to, for me, is whether you believe rock 'n' roll is a style of music, or a marketing buzzword. And I believe a lot of music writers (who are the people I see getting all wee-wee'd up over the annual list of nominations) are in the latter category.<br />
<br />
To me, rock 'n' roll is a form of music, and it has boundaries and prerequisites. For one thing, it is primarily a small group form, though strings and other embellishments can be brought into play as needed. The foundation is more or less the same as Chicago blues: guitar, bass, drums, piano, maybe a horn or two. It's blues-based, though the degree to which that's true is highly elastic. To pick an obvious example, <b>Elvis Presley</b> sang ballads, country songs, show tunes and hunks of indescribable weirdness, but remained a rock 'n' roll singer. It's a song form—there's room for improvisation, but it cannot be <i>totally</i> improvised unless that improvisation takes the form of variations on existing tunes (an extended blues jam, for example). It's also the result of organic interaction between musicians, meaning it should be reproducible onstage and more or less "live" in the studio. Having a band with a steady lineup goes a long way toward making this latter condition possible.<br />
<br />
So given my definition of rock 'n' roll, here's how the nominees for the Class of 2014 shake out:<br />
<br />
<b>• The Paul Butterfield Blues Band</b>: The name says it all, really. They were an electric blues band who, because of the era in which they operated, incorporated other sounds—funk, rock, Indian music—into their music. Because, as I say above, Chicago blues is one of the foundations of rock 'n' roll, and because rock fans were the ones buying their albums, they merit nomination, if not necessarily inclusion.<br />
<br />
<b>• Chic</b>: <b>Chic</b> were not a rock 'n' roll band. <b>Chic</b> were a funk/disco band, and a very good one. They should not be nominated, and they should not be voted in.<br />
<br />
<b>• Deep Purple</b>: <b>Deep Purple</b> definitely merit inclusion. They were a highly successful (commercially and artistically), musically assured band that, despite going through multiple lineup changes, maintained a signature sound rooted in blues and hard rock but with room for extended instrumental soloing. Unlike the <b>Butterfield Blues Band</b>, who shifted members in and out on every album, <b>Deep Purple</b> had a strong core roster that lasted several years, during which time the band did its best and most revered work. They deserve nomination, and inclusion.<br />
<br />
<b>• Peter Gabriel</b>: The band <b>Genesis</b>, for whom Gabriel sang, is already in the Hall of Fame; as a solo artist, he's never made music I would call rock 'n' roll. He's a kind of theatrical art-pop performer, and shouldn't be nominated or included.<br />
<br />
<b>• Hall and Oates</b>: Again, not rock 'n' roll—<b>Hall and Oates</b> were a pop/R&B/soul vocal duo.<br />
<br />
<b>• Kiss</b>: <b>Kiss</b> are a rock 'n' roll band. I don't like their music—most of their songs, including their big hits, are melodically weak, and the production on their records is frequently underpowered (<i>Destroyer</i> is the major exception here)—but mine is a minority opinion. They've sold millions of records, their tours do absurdly well, and their merchandising empire is legendary for a reason. This being the Rock and Roll Hall of <i>Fame</i>, they should absolutely be in it.<br />
<br />
<b>• LL Cool J</b>: <b>LL Cool J</b> should not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No rappers should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. People who say that rap/hip-hop is "rock and roll" mean it in the sense that an advertising executive uses the term: to signify generic rebellion. (Also, people who say this are mostly 40 and older, and, I suspect, never understood what rock 'n' roll is.)<br />
<br />
<b>• The Meters</b>: <b>The Meters</b> played funk, and were amazing at it. They should not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.<br />
<br />
<b>• Nirvana</b>: <b>Nirvana</b> were a terrible band. Sloppy, and self-conscious to the point of self-sabotage (personal and musical), they were nevertheless commercially successful and served as a bridge between the underground and the mainstream—literally; their best-known song pushed the riff from <b>Boston</b>'s "More Than a Feeling" through an arrangement based on earlier work by the <b>Pixies</b>—and, most importantly of all, they were a guitar-bass-drums power trio. Definitely rock 'n' roll, and Hall of Fame-worthy, despite my own feelings about their meager artistic achievements.<br />
<br />
<b>• N.W.A.</b>: See <b>LL Cool J</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>• The Replacements</b>: Like <b>Nirvana</b>, the <b>Replacements</b> were not a very good band; they were basically the <b>Georgia Satellites</b> of the Upper Midwest. There are several dozen bands like this active at all times, in all corners of the country—the <b>Gaslight Anthem</b> are their present-day equivalent. But they knew their history (as they proved every time one of their shows devolved into a round of drunken covers), and quite self-consciously sought to place themselves in rock history. They played by the rules, maintaining a fairly steady lineup (only one change during their recording years) and growing artistically from album to album. They didn't sell very many records, but a lot of music critics like them. They were a rock 'n' roll band, so from that standpoint if no other they're justifiable nominees, but I don't think they should be in the Hall of Fame.<br />
<br />
<b>• Linda Ronstadt</b>: <b>Linda Ronstadt</b> was a pop singer who covered rock 'n' roll songs at times. She didn't maintain a working band for studio albums, which sets her apart from, say, <b>Pat Benatar</b>, who I would say absolutely merits Hall of Fame inclusion.<br />
<br />
<b>• Cat Stevens</b>: See <b>Peter Gabriel</b>, <b>Hall and Oates</b>, and/or <b>Linda Ronstadt</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>• Link Wray</b>: As a pioneer of the guitar sound and style that defined early rock 'n' roll, <b>Link Wray</b> is not only a worthy but necessary inclusion into the Hall of Fame.<br />
<br />
<b>• Yes</b>: Despite their extended, occasionally meandering compositions, <b>Yes</b> were absolutely a rock band, maintaining a simple five-piece lineup (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums) and significantly cranking up the power of their music live—check <i>Yessongs</i> out sometime, if you haven't. Massively successful and influential, they are absolutely Hall of Fame material.<br />
<br />
<b>• The Zombies</b>: While they only had a few hits, they maintained the same lineup for their original creative lifespan, and as far as 1960s pop goes, they're OK. Like many other bands, their critical reputation is inflated relative to their status in the memory of the general public. I wouldn't nominate them, or vote for them, for the Hall of Fame, though they are undeniably a rock 'n' roll band.<br />
<br />
The reason the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is so fucked up is that in many ways it's the only game in town. Sure, there's a Country Music Hall of Fame, but country knows how to patrol its borders—they're never gonna induct <b>Nelly</b> just 'cause he had <b>Tim McGraw</b> sing on a track. What's really needed is 1) a Pop Music Hall of Fame, which would enable all the hip-hop, disco, and other non-rock 'n' roll acts currently in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to have a home they could be proud of; and 2) a better understanding, culturally, of what rock 'n' roll really <i>is</i>. Acceptance of the idea that it is a fairly specific thing—an organic, small group music made with guitars, bass, and drums, sometimes keyboards, occasionally horns, even less frequently other instruments—would quiet down a lot of bullshit cultural debate. Because musicians know the score. People who are actually in rock 'n' roll bands know exactly who they are and what they're doing. It's critics who fuck everything up by trying to shoehorn their favorite songs and performers into categories where they don't belong—something even the performers in question would cheerfully admit. Go ahead and ask <b>LL Cool J</b>, on or off the record, if he thinks of himself as a rock 'n' roll artist.<br />
<br />
Of course, it should be obvious that saying that a given band (or, more likely, solo performer) should not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not the same thing as saying that band or artist makes bad music. It's just saying that categories matter. Pop music is music that's popular, whatever that happens to be in a given year. Rock 'n' roll, though, is a traditional form of music—a folk form. It should be celebrated as such.<br />
<br />
Of course, it's too late now. Mine is a minority opinion, and has been for decades: most people have long since subscribed to the ad-exec definition of "rock and roll." So fuck it. Thanks for reading.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-66154480290840259842013-07-07T12:18:00.000-07:002013-07-07T12:51:48.102-07:00POWERS OF PERCEPTION<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a July 3 <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/07/02/198097817/the-record-when-pop-stars-flirt-with-danger" target="_blank">article on NPR’s website</a>, <b>Ann Powers</b> draws attention to recent discussions about <b>Miley Cyrus</b>’s new(ish) video, “We Can’t Stop” (that's it above). She takes an adversarial, even scolding stance; the title of the piece is "When Pop Stars Flirt With Bad Taste," and Powers calls Cyrus out for “racial appropriations”—namely, twerking, which, for those who don't know, is the latest of the ass-shaking dances that have been part of hip-hop (and Latin music—do a YouTube search for "perreo" sometime) for decades.<br />
<br />
Says Powers, “<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Many critiques of Cyrus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rightly</i> [emphasis mine] question why this privileged young woman has chosen to adopt an ‘urban' style grounded in the most abject aspects of African-American culture, as it's been filtered through a ‘hipster-racist’ subculture that reduces black masculinity to thug primitivism and femininity to door-knocker earrings and big, juicy butts.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2013/04/09/lets-get-ratchet-check-your-privilege-at-the-door/" target="_blank">One of the critiques Powers links</a>, and by extension co-signs, comes from <b>Sesali Bowen</b>; it was originally published on the blog Feministing, and reappeared on
the blog Racialicious. <a href="http://www.racialicious.com/2013/04/09/lets-get-ratchet-check-your-privilege-at-the-door/" target="_blank">In the piece</a>, which seems intent on making some larger point (it fails), Bowen implicates Cyrus in “a larger system of cultural appropriation, commodification, and sometimes exploitation,” reproducing a photo of the singer with her hands on her knees and her ass sticking out, glancing over her shoulder <b>Betty Boop</b>-style at the camera, and sneering, “Her skin and class privilege overfloweth in this
poorly executed commodification of ‘ratchet culture.’”</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Another critique comes from the self-described feminist blog Jezebel; this piece is called "<a href="http://jezebel.com/on-miley-cyrus-ratchet-culture-and-accessorizing-with-514381016" target="_blank">On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture And Accessorizing With Black People</a>." Here's a sample quote:</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">"In the video, Miley is seen with her 'friends': Mostly skinny white boys and girls who appear to be models. But in a few scenes, she's seen twerking with three black women. Are they also her friends? Or is she just hoping for street cred? Note that she is wearing white, in the spotlight, the star of the video — and they are treated as props, a background for her to shine in front of. We've tackled the use of people of color in the background before; it's a theme that persists, but remains wrong. In a white-centric world, putting white women quite literally in the center of the frame while women of color are off to the side is a powerful, disrespectful visual message, and it really must be said: Human beings are not accessories. These women might be her friends, but the general dynamic created is that she is in charge and they are in service to her."</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Or they might be, you know, <i>backup dancers in a music video</i>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I have questions.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">1) When did <b>Miley Cyrus</b> become a ‘hipster’? She’s from Nashville, the daughter of a country singer, and a former Disney child star. She’s about as unhip as it’s possible to be. Indeed, for years now it’s been perfectly acceptable for online commenters and even some bloggers to call her a hillbilly or white trash, without repercussion.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">2) In what way is <b>Miley Cyrus</b> “appropriating” anything? Look, I’ve argued many times against the existence of a monoculture in America, but if there is one, it’s hip-hop. <b>Miley Cyrus</b> is 20 years old. Hip-hop is at least 35, maybe 40 if you’re stretching it a little, and at the time of her birth in 1992, it was in a golden age, and beginning an era of commercial and cultural dominance that shows no signs of fading. She, like millions of other children, has grown up in a world where hip-hop is the lingua franca of pop culture.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">To say, as Powers does, “For Cyrus, hip-hop is a corporate legacy, not a lived one; like virtually every privileged kid her age, it was sold to her like sneakers and soda,” is absurd. There is basically no way for anyone under 30 to avoid “living” hip-hop; it’s everywhere, at all times. There is underground hip-hop, but hip-hop is not underground, and it hasn’t been for at least 25 years. Are underprivileged kids presented with hip-hop in some pure, non-corporate way? As far as I know, black kids watch the same YouTube videos as white kids. But maybe they just osmose this stuff. You know, like “natural rhythm.”
</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">For Powers, Jezebel's <b>Dodai Stewart</b> and other critics, the problem with <b>Miley Cyrus</b> is simple, even if it must go unsaid within the polite confines of NPR: She’s white,
and rich, which given the state of contemporary pop-culture/Internet-social-justice discourse means that her pleasures, her tastes, are always suspect. To any critic with correctly aligned racial and class tunings, she can never be anything but an exploiter. Powers asks whether “Cyrus genuinely like[s] and participate[s] in the cultural expressions she's now taken on,” but for her, the answer seems clear: it’s “just another case of artistic theft.” </span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Based on what evidence? This argument (and calling it that is being generous) is two-pronged: On the one hand, we are asked to believe
that white participation in hip-hop is still, nearly 30 years after the <b>Beastie Boys</b>, somehow suspect, and on the other, we are asked to infer that <b>Miley Cyrus</b> is the puppet of outside songwriters and producers (it’s apparently <i>very important</i> that “We Can’t Stop” was
submitted to <b>Rihanna</b>, who rejected it, before Cyrus bought it), without individual will or an aesthetic perspective.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">But the facts just don’t support that interpretation. <b>Miley Cyrus</b> hasn’t just posted Instagram photos and YouTube clips of herself twerking, and incorporated the dance into the “We Can’t Stop” video; she’s also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-N-gOgMU4g" target="_blank">shown up at a concert</a> by rapper <b>Juicy J</b> (of the Oscar-winning <b>Three 6 Mafia</b>—how underground!) to dance onstage. But somehow she’s forever an interloper, an exploiter, never a true fan.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Meanwhile, in 2007, when the rap group <b>Shop Boyz</b> had a massive hit single with “Party Like a Rockstar,” the chorus of which featured slang that was 20 years out of date (it ran “Party like a rockstar/Totally, dude”), no one went after them for (totally) misunderstanding rock culture. Similarly, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTX4Itohbvk" target="_blank">pre-teen, all-black metal band</a> <b>Unlocking The Truth</b>, whose live videos are a YouTube sensation, aren’t being questioned about what "culture" they might be “appropriating." When they
<a href="http://noisey.vice.com/blog/unlocking-the-truth-is-the-most-brutal-sixth-grade-metal-band-ever-ever-ever-ever" target="_blank">talk in interviews</a> about not liking hip-hop, nobody asks if they “genuinely like and participate in the cultural expressions [they’ve] now taken on.”</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There’s a strong vein of racial essentialism running through this discussion. In some way that’s never clearly explained, black people’s experience of pop culture is apparently radically different from white people’s experience of <i>that exact same pop culture</i>, even though they’re both getting it from the same websites, radio stations, and cable channels. Even though no hip-hop album can go platinum without attracting a significant number of white buyers, critics like Powers (and others) continue to insist that white listeners are still somehow outsiders to this culture they’ve been subsidizing for three decades. They're also desperate to elevate street culture, as when Powers makes sure to point out that twerking "has roots in African dance," as if Africans invented ass-shaking and African-Americans are taking folkloric study to the club. Why must hip-hop be homework?</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">And another thing: Was it really hipsters who “reduce[d] black masculinity to thug primitivism and femininity to door-knocker earrings and big, juicy butts”? That seems like a convenient way to exonerate hip-hop for its own messaging—apparently, hip-hop is like Communism; it cannot fail, it can only be failed. (Mostly by white people.)
</span><br />
<span style="color: #0e0e0e; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span>
(Note: <b>Lizzy Acker</b> also has an <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/pop/2013/06/21/let-miley-dance-jezebel-and-their-cultural-appropriation-problem/" target="_blank">excellent rebuttal</a> to the Jezebel piece.)</div>
Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-49393265311661934802013-06-13T13:53:00.004-07:002013-06-13T13:53:27.362-07:00ALBUMS OF THE YEAR, SO FARIt's mid-June, so here's what I've heard that might wind up on my year-end list(s), so far...<br />
<br />
<b>JD Allen</b>, <i>Grace</i><br />
<b>Airbourne</b>, <i>Black Dog Barking</i><b>*</b><br />
<b>Amon Amarth</b>, <i>Deceiver of the Gods</i><br />
<b>Attacker</b>, <i>Giants of Canaan</i><br />
<b>Michael Bates/Samuel Blaser Quintet</b>, <i>One From None</i><br />
<b>Black Sabbath</b>, <i>13</i><br />
<b>Terence Blanchard</b>, <i>Magnetic</i><br />
<b>David Bowie</b>, <i>The Next Day</i><br />
<b>Dawn of Midi</b>, <i>Dysnomia</i><br />
<b>Dave Douglas Quintet</b>, <i>Time Travel</i><br />
<b>Endless Boogie</b>, <i>Long Island</i><br />
<b>Fire! Orchestra</b>, <i>Exit</i><br />
<b>The Gates of Slumber</b>, <i>Stormcrow</i><br />
<b>Hush Point</b>, <i>Hush Point</i><br />
<b>Immolation</b>, <i>Kingdom of Conspiracy</i><br />
<b>Killswitch Engage</b>, <i>Disarm the Descent</i><b>*</b><br />
<b>Kvelertak</b>, <i>Meir</i><br />
<b>Mainliner</b>, <i>Revelation Space</i><br />
<b>Hedvig Mollestad Trio</b>, <i>All of Them Witches</i><br />
<b>Mostly Other People Do The Killing</b>, <i>Slippery Rock</i><br />
<b>Jeremy Pelt</b>, <i>Water and Earth</i><br />
<b>Resolution15</b>, <i>Svaha</i><br />
<b>Savages</b>, <i>Silence Yourself</i><br />
<b>Suffocation</b>, <i>Pinnacle of Bedlam</i><br />
<b>Wayne Shorter</b>, <i>Without a Net</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>*</b>conflicts of interest prevent me from actually voting for these records in any year-end pollsPhil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-73124507140407100162013-06-02T06:51:00.000-07:002013-06-02T06:51:06.991-07:00PROGRESSIVE ROCK/REGRESSIVE THINKINGThe <i>New York Times Book Review</i> this week has published a review of an anthology called <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/books/review/yes-is-the-answer-and-other-prog-rock-tales.html" target="_blank">Yes is the Answer: And Other Prog Rock Tales</a></i>. Unfortunately for fans of prog rock, they gave the assignment to <b>Rob Sheffield</b>, a nearly 50-year-old man who chooses to maintain the print (and on-camera, when he serves as a VH1 talking head) persona of a sneering teenage boy. As a writer and editor for <i>Spin</i>, <i>Blender</i>, and now <i>Rolling Stone</i>, he's been one of the primary voices of "poptimism" in the US music press, forever championing the shiny, the ephemeral, the marketed-to-teenage-girls. When he decides to publish a book, on the other hand, he fixates on his own teenage years and youth—his first was <i>Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time</i>, the story of his courtship of and marriage to his first wife, who died. His second book was called <i>Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut</i>. According to the <i>Times</i>, his third book is called <i>Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke</i>. I suspect it's a third memoir. All of which is fine. But this career path, and set of fixations, makes him pretty much exactly the wrong person to review an anthology of essays devoted to 1970s prog. For while many critics can look dispassionately at work which doesn't dovetail 100% with their personal tastes and still find ways to intelligently critique its strengths and weaknesses, Rob Sheffield apparently cannot. If a book, a movie or a record's not custom-built to push his aesthetic buttons, it exists only to be ridiculed—and its supporters along with it.<br />
<br />
Let's begin at the beginning:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Oscar Wilde</b> once said, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” But for men born about a century after Wilde, mistakes tended to have more colorful names, like “<b>Yes</b>,” “<b>Genesis</b>” or “<b>Emerson, Lake and Palmer</b>.” These were the hairy dragon-kings of prog rock (short for “progressive”), the bands that ruled the FM airwaves of the 1970s, providing black-light initiations for their adolescent male devotees. Even after all these years, prog remains one of the most intrinsically silly of rock fads: concept albums, ornate time signatures, keyboard solos, lyrical ruminations on the tendency of mountains to fall out of the sky.</blockquote>
A man who's written three books filtering his favorite music through his personal life is calling fans of music he doesn't like "adolescent male devotees," as though they were part of some arcane cult. And we are told right off the bat that keyboard solos and "ornate" time signatures (read: anything that's not 4/4) are "intrinsically silly," and that prog was a "rock fad."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lovingly packaged and designed, “Yes Is the Answer” is a paper treehouse for gentlemen of a certain age, a safe place to embrace a shared teenage fantasy of adult sagacity they can now re-access as an adult fantasy of innocent youth. And yes (so to speak), the writers are mostly men. <b>Margaret Wappler</b> and <b>Beth Lisick</b> contribute essays on female prog fandom, which for them means fond memories of boyfriends playing albums like <b>King Crimson</b>’s “In the Court of the Crimson King” as a makeout soundtrack. There’s also an essay titled “Do Gay Guys Listen to Yes?” (It’s summarized, tersely: “At least one does.”)</blockquote>
I haven't read the book, but reducing women's interest in music to "a makeout soundtrack" is pretty grotesque. Readers of <i>Love is a Mixtape</i>, fill me in: Is that how Sheffield describes his former wife's receipt of the tapes he makes for her?<br />
<br />
Feminists need not worry about Sheffield, though; he's just as sneeringly dismissive of male writers' essays:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Rick Moody</b>, in his highly entertaining and informative guide to <b>E.L.P.</b>, credits the drummer <b>Carl Palmer</b> with dabbling in “funk,” a claim he is probably the first to make as well as the last.</blockquote>
Anyone who's heard E.L.P.'s proto-disco stomp through <b>Aaron Copland</b>'s "Fanfare for the Common Man" would likely agree with this statement, actually.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Wesley Stace</b>, the novelist who performs music under the name <b>John Wesley Harding</b>, offers a useful tour of the Canterbury art-rock scene. In his account, he got turned on to the music by a high school girlfriend. Not a typical prog story, to say the least.</blockquote>
Because prog is for nerds who can't get dates! Haw haw!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The contributors are not necessarily adept at music criticism, nor fluent in its arguments, so do not expect to come away from this volume with a shopping list of albums you need to investigate. On the contrary — the least convincing moments in “Yes Is the Answer” are the attempts to proselytize, since prog seems to induce some kind of oblivion with regard to other forms of pop. Nobody here seems aware of its influence on hip-hop or dance music.</blockquote>
Or maybe they felt like prog stands on its own, and doesn't require additional credibility conferred via sampling. This is maybe the most ironic paragraph in the entire essay—even as Sheffield smirks at the writers' lack of aptitude and fluency as music critics, he makes one of the most elementary logical errors a critic can make. The writers are at fault for not re-contextualizing prog in the light of, say, <b>Kanye West</b> sampling <b>King Crimson</b>'s "21st Century Schizoid Man" on his song "Power"...and yet I find it hard to imagine Sheffield ever demanding that hip-hop be contextualized via its sampled source material. Hip-hop critics are some of the most myopic, Year Zero-minded writers in all of music criticism, with virtually no interest in anything predating the summer's hot single or mixtape, and yet writers dealing with rock are required to demonstrate a keen and respectful awareness of how that music has led to hip-hop, or be dismissed as lacking in fluency.<br />
<br />
The <i>New York Times</i> has plenty of access to writers who actually like prog—<b>Steve Smith</b>, a regular contributor to the paper's Arts section, is merely the first name that comes to mind (because he's a friend). Why they gave this assignment to <b>Rob Sheffield</b> is beyond me.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-12857958522482471322013-04-14T11:39:00.000-07:002013-04-14T11:39:22.147-07:00WELL, THAT'S...REASSURINGSo here's a commercial I saw this morning:<br />
<br />
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<br />
What the creeping hell? Wasn't <b>Hugo Weaving</b>'s character in <i>The Matrix</i> (there were no sequels, SHUT UP), Agent Smith, supposed to be the <i>villain</i>? And aren't people already terrified and baffled by the US health care system? How, then, is a commercial which basically depicts the health care system being taken over by Agent Smith(s) supposed to make people feel good? About anything? I eagerly await the next commercial in this series, in which Weaving will seal someone's mouth shut or implant a squirming robot shrimp into their torso. All in the name of improving <s>GE's profit margins</s> American health care, of course.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-7386047224874217262013-04-04T07:10:00.002-07:002013-04-04T07:10:53.275-07:00THURSDAY MORNING 10Rico, "Jungle Music"<br />
Napalm Death, "Errors in the Signal"<br />
Anthony Braxton, "Opus 23B"<br />
Kylesa, "111 Degree Heat Index"<br />
Einsturzende Neubauten, "Fur den Untergang"<br />
Pig Destroyer, "Terrifyer"<br />
ZZ Top, "Avalon Hideaway"<br />
David Bowie, "Dancing Out in Space"<br />
The Jesus & Mary Chain, "Taking It Away"<br />
Motorhead, "Die You Bastard"Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-6378854138358703492012-12-26T16:06:00.002-08:002012-12-26T16:21:00.085-08:002012: LISTS AND FAREWELLS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikROqEnUj5x4Jt8Fo3ri8WWmJV3RDHtXwvhqaCEouMHbJXFKtpTlayAvHMI1ikLPgJ_Ld0g_Cp0cu1OCElSph_sU85VWSvjLjqQTdNBuzV3LwJObCzUqXHFgmh2Nv5MoHVXu-wcw/s1600/kitteninsantahat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikROqEnUj5x4Jt8Fo3ri8WWmJV3RDHtXwvhqaCEouMHbJXFKtpTlayAvHMI1ikLPgJ_Ld0g_Cp0cu1OCElSph_sU85VWSvjLjqQTdNBuzV3LwJObCzUqXHFgmh2Nv5MoHVXu-wcw/s640/kitteninsantahat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I only had to put together a few year-end lists this year, and where I didn't just give the same Top Ten to multiple outlets, titles still reappeared. There just weren't that many really great records released in 2012. I heard a lot of fantastic music, but much of it was recorded and originally issued between four and seven decades ago.<br />
<br />
Anyway, here's the Top Ten I submitted to both <i>The Wire</i> and to the <i>Village Voice</i>'s Pazz & Jop poll:<br />
<br />
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1. <b>ZZ Top</b>, <i>La Futura</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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2. <b>Emmure</b>, <i>Slave to the Game</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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3. <b>JD Allen Trio</b>, <i>The Matador & The Bull</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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4. <b>Manowar</b>, <i>The Lord of Steel</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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5. <b>Cannibal Corpse</b>, <i>Torture</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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6. <b>Aluk Todolo</b>, <i>Occult Rock</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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7. <b>Bill McHenry</b>, <i>La Peur du Vide</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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8. <b>Fushitsusha</b>, <i>Mabushii Itazura na Inori</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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9. <b>Charles Gayle Trio</b>, <i>Streets</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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10. <b>Black Music Disaster</b>, <i>Black Music Disaster</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Top Ten lists were also published <a href="http://top2012.roadrunnerrecords.com/" target="_blank">at my job</a>, and here's the list I gave them:</div>
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<br /></div>
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1. <b>ZZ Top</b>, <i>La Futura</i></div>
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2. <b>Baroness</b>, <i>Yellow & Green</i></div>
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3. <b>Gojira</b>, <i>L'Enfant Sauvage</i></div>
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4. <b>Napalm Death</b>, <i>Utilitarian</i></div>
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5. <b>Emmure</b>, <i>Slave to the Game</i></div>
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6. <b>Dwight Yoakam</b>, <i>3 Pears</i></div>
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9. <b>Manowar</b>, <i>The Lord of Steel</i></div>
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10. <b>Aluk Todolo</b>, <i>Occult Rock</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>The Wire</i> also requested a list of reissues; here's that one:</div>
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<br /></div>
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1. <b>Dr. Feelgood</b>, <i>All Through the City (With Wilko 1974-1977)</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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2. <b>David Murray Octets</b>, <i>The Complete Remastered Recordings
on Black Saint & Soul Note</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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There were a few other records that impressed me this year, but didn't make it onto any of my lists: <b>The Alabama Shakes</b>' <i>Boys & Girls</i>, <b>Ralph Bowen</b>'s <i>Total Eclipse</i>, <b>Ravi Coltrane</b>'s <i>Spirit Fiction</i>, <b>Orrin Evans</b>' <i>Flip the Script</i>, <b>Grass Roots</b>' self-titled debut, <b>Conrad Herwig</b>'s <i>A Voice Through the Door</i>, <b>Clarence Penn</b>'s <i>Dali in Cobble Hill</i>, <b>Dayna Stephens</b>' <i>Today is Tomorrow</i>, <b>Yosvany Terry</b>'s <i>Today's Opinion</i>, and a bunch of others, most of which I reviewed for <a href="http://burningambulance.com/category/reviews/" target="_blank">Burning Ambulance</a>.<br />
<br />
This was the first year since 1997 that I was viewing music journalism more as an outsider than as a participant. I still write for a few places, but only a few; some of the outlets that used to print/post my work have been rendered unrecognizable due to editorial shake-ups, while others have ceased to employ freelancers. My primary outlet for straight-up music criticism is BA, which may re-emerge as a print journal in 2013.<br />
<br />
I've been fortunate enough to transition to a new phase of my career, one that excites me greatly and challenges me in entirely different ways than anything I've done before. My plan is to keep writing about records that—and interviewing musicians who—interest me. For paying outlets when I can; for BA the rest of the time, with no guide but my own taste. I hope you'll read some of it.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-18271522796493584692012-11-22T06:41:00.003-08:002012-11-22T06:42:04.620-08:00RESISTANT CULTUREIn past years, I've posted William Burroughs' "Thanksgiving Prayer" at this time. But this year, I've decided to switch things up and instead share with you the work of the Los Angeles-based Native American crust-grind band <b><a href="http://www.resistantculture.com/" target="_blank">Resistant Culture</a></b>. They're on tour right now, so go support them if they come through your town, and buy their albums <i>Welcome to Reality</i> and <i>All One Struggle</i>, both of which are terrific.<br />
<br />
Here are some of their videos, starting with the latest, "Natural Law":<br />
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Here's "Sentient Predator":<br />
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<br />
Here's "It's Not Too Late":<br />
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<br />Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-74153511534774636962012-10-14T19:15:00.000-07:002012-10-14T19:15:37.401-07:00YOU KNOW, EXCEPT FOR THE SLAVESThe <i>New York Times</i> printed the following paragraph today (in an op-ed by <b>Chrystia Freeland</b>), <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/opinion/sunday/the-self-destruction-of-the-1-percent.html" target="_blank">apparently without irony</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
IN the early 19th century, the United States was one of the most egalitarian societies on the planet. “We have no paupers,” Thomas Jefferson boasted in an 1814 letter. “The great mass of our population is of laborers; our rich, who can live without labor, either manual or professional, being few, and of moderate wealth. Most of the laboring class possess property, cultivate their own lands, have families, and from the demand for their labor are enabled to exact from the rich and the competent such prices as enable them to be fed abundantly, clothed above mere decency, to labor moderately and raise their families.”</blockquote>
Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-74432095463887950522012-10-11T18:02:00.000-07:002012-10-11T18:03:57.435-07:00FOUR DECADES ON THE CORNER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1W4UnNIqHm_HUoMyGVbwGwzz7pOA-oRIaA4gBwhwEuOh63eJ4wnY6PqDgsr5IfUho9KIuGNHz0K5OFeHhvGmzHDPcpqvVxecLaI2PLLb75UD5A2sPLJVANL1vjYnn0BPUZfcow/s1600/61tG4rmNc9L._SL500_AA500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje1W4UnNIqHm_HUoMyGVbwGwzz7pOA-oRIaA4gBwhwEuOh63eJ4wnY6PqDgsr5IfUho9KIuGNHz0K5OFeHhvGmzHDPcpqvVxecLaI2PLLb75UD5A2sPLJVANL1vjYnn0BPUZfcow/s1600/61tG4rmNc9L._SL500_AA500_.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Miles Davis</b>'s <i>On the Corner</i>, which is my favorite album by anyone, ever, was released 40 years ago today—October 11, 1972. In my book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Running-Voodoo-Down-Electric-Music/dp/0879308281" target="_blank">Running the Voodoo Down</a></i>, I devote an entire chapter to it; in that chapter, I wrote the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It's hard for me not to get hyperbolic about the importance of <i>On the Corner</i> in the development of Miles's music, and music as a whole, throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Sure, it's a dead end, artistically. Davis never attempted a record of <i>On the Corner</i>'s complexity again. His sound became more guitar-heavy, and rhythmically simpler, in the three years that followed. The studio recordings on <i>Get Up With It</i>, while still employing overdubs and careful, dramatic post-production editing, were for the most part more organic-sounding than <i>On the Corner</i>'s electronic sound-storm.</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But on the other hand, the album was so forward-looking that it's not really surprising that its impact took years to register and is in fact still being felt. Many of its rhythms sound more like the disco-punk of the late 1970s and early 1980s (the music of bands like <b>Konk</b>, <b>Material</b> and <b>the Contortions</b>) than like anything else in fusion. Further, its overdubbing, thick and repetitive basslines, and looped percussion link it to hip-hop and dub reggae. Far from ceding any ground to pop trends, <i>On the Corner</i> directly challenged funk, rock, and jazz players alike: Everyone working at the time had to deal with what they were hearing.</blockquote>
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Every time I listen to <i>On the Corner</i>, I seem to hear a new sound, whether it's a percussive rattle or a mewling or growling trumpet, guitar, saxophone, organ, or unidentifiable instrument. It hypnotizes me, focuses my attention, makes my nerves twitch, makes me walk funny...like I said, it's not just my favorite <b>Miles Davis</b> album, it's my favorite album by anyone, ever. To my ear, it's a perfect piece of music, an endlessly swirling, chaotic puzzle I don't really want to ever "solve."<br />
<br />
Here; listen for yourself.<br />
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<br />Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-44996385484849274652012-08-19T13:58:00.000-07:002012-08-19T13:58:07.269-07:00WRITE A SONGI'm posting this here, rather than on <a href="http://burningambulance.com/" target="_blank">Burning Ambulance</a>, because I haven't posted here since May, and because it's more of a rant than a considered essay, or a review of a specific album.<br />
<br />
Indeed, it's the opposite of an album review—it's an explanation of exactly why I will not be listening to an album I just received in the mail.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, I got a copy of <i>Live at the Blue Note</i>, a disc featuring alto saxophonist <b>Lee Konitz</b>, guitarist <b>Bill Frisell</b>, bassist <b>Gary Peacock</b> and drummer <b>Joey Baron</b>. All talented players, all featured on albums I've enjoyed in the past. So I flipped it over to look at the track listing. Here's what I found: "What Is This Thing Called Love." "Body & Soul." "Stella by Starlight." "I'll Remember April." "I Remember You." "I Can't Get Started."<br />
<br />
Are you fucking <i>kidding me</i>? Do you know how many versions of each of these songs exist already? Does any human being alive need to hear one more version of "What Is This Thing Called Love"? Or "Stella by Starlight"? Or "I'll Remember April"? Who can fucking <i>forget</i> April, at this point?<br />
<br />
The very first sentence of the brief liner notes told me everything I needed to know. It reads, "When the leaderless group of <b>Lee Konitz</b>, <b>Bill Frisell</b>, <b>Gary Peacock</b> and <b>Joey Baron</b> came together for a week-long engagement at the Blue Note, they brought little more than their instruments with them—no set lists, no prior discussions about the music they wanted to play." The third paragraph elaborates on this idea, saying, "Though these standards serve as jazz's lingua franca, having been performed and recorded countless times, they exist as reborn songs by dint of those interpreting them. Konitz, in particular, has been partial to this repertoire for years. Yet, at the Blue Note, he played this material with these guys for the first time. Presto, new music!"<br />
<br />
Speaking as a consumer and a jazz fan, I gotta say, with all due respect...<i>fuck you guys</i>. You wanna know why jazz albums don't sell for shit? Because labels release recordings of lazy, entitled old-timers coasting on name recognition, sleepwalking through tunes everyone who's into jazz has already heard 500 times before. This is Konitz's regular MO, as the quote above pointed out. Last year, he put out an album on ECM, <i>Live at Birdland</i>, recorded in 2009, on which he was backed by pianist <b>Brad Mehldau</b>, bassist <b>Charlie Haden</b> and drummer <b>Paul Motian</b>. That album featured versions of "Lover Man," "Lullaby of Birdland," "Solar," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "You Stepped Out of a Dream," and "Oleo," and <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-birdland-mw0002126192" target="_blank">it was duller than listening to paint dry</a>. Now, granted, even back in the '50s, Konitz's albums tended to feature only one or two of his own compositions, buried in a pile of standards and interpretations of other jazz players' tunes, but the fact that he doesn't even play his own older pieces, choosing instead the most uninspired possible set list, is almost criminal.<br />
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This is not a diatribe directed solely at <b>Lee Konitz</b>, by the way—I want to make sure that's crystal clear. This is a problem afflicting the music across the board, and I think it may be time to lay down the law: Jazz musicians need to stop recording standards. (I'd like to see musicians play only songs they or their bandmates wrote, but I've still got to leave room for stuff like bassist <b>William Parker</b>'s new <b>Duke Ellington</b> project, which is awesome.) Play the old standards live if you want, if you've got so little respect for your audience that you think they still want to hear "Body & Soul" in 2012 (if you <i>do</i> still want to hear "Body & Soul" in 2012, seek professional help). But if you're headed into a recording studio, or even putting out a live album, you better have some brand-new music prepared, or you're not getting my money.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-80682789526546572012012-05-18T15:47:00.000-07:002012-05-18T15:47:32.991-07:0095 DVDS 95I have seen 95 movies from the <a href="http://www.criterion.com/library/expanded_view?b=Criterion" target="_blank">Criterion Collection</a>. The titles are below. The ones I actually liked, or would watch again, are in all caps.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The 400 Blows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Armageddon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Bank Dick<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Battle of
Algiers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Being John
Malkovich<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Belle de Jour<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">BLAST OF SILENCE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Blob<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Blow Out<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Border Radio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Bottle Rocket<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">BRAZIL<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Breathless<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">CARLOS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Chasing Amy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Chungking Express<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Crumb<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Dazed and
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">DEAD RINGERS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">LE DEUXIEME
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Do the Right
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">DOWN BY LAW<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Easy Rider<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Fear and Loathing
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">FISH TANK<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">THE FRIENDS OF
EDDIE COYLE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Gimme Shelter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Gomorrah<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">La Haine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Hard Boiled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">High and Low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Homicide<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">HOUSE OF GAMES<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Ice Storm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">In the Mood for
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">IN THE REALM OF
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">KAGEMUSHA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Killer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Killing of a
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">KISS ME DEADLY<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">THE LAST DAYS OF
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Last Emperor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Last
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Life Aquatic
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Long Good
Friday<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">M<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Man Who Fell
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">METROPOLITAN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">MISHIMA: A LIFE
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Mona Lisa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Monty Python’s
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">My Own Private
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Mystery Train<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Naked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">NAKED LUNCH<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Night on Earth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">RAN<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Rashomon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Repulsion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Ride With the
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">RIFIFI<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Robocop<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">THE ROCK<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">THE ROYAL
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Rushmore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Salo, Or the 120
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Schizopolis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">SHALLOW GRAVE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Short Cuts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Sid & Nancy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Silence of
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Slacker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Something Wild<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">STRANGER THAN
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">STRAW DOGS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">SWEET SMELL OF
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">This is Spinal
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Three Colors:
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Three Colors: Red<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">THREE COLORS:
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Time Bandits<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Traffic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">TWO-LANE BLACKTOP<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Unbearable
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">The Vanishing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">VIDEODROME<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">W.C. FIELDS – SIX
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Walkabout<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">WALKER<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">WHITE DOG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Wise Blood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";">Yojimbo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-76614018916278632782012-05-07T18:09:00.002-07:002012-05-13T14:05:45.608-07:00MUSIC DIARY 2012I didn't find out about this "Music Diary" project until I saw entries about it on my Twitter feed. But whatever. This post will be updated throughout the week.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>MONDAY, MAY 7</b><br />
<b>Deep Purple</b>, <i>Made in Japan</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Cactus</b>, <i>Ultra Sonic Boogie 1971</i> (tracks 1-5)<br />
<b>Defiance</b>, <i>Void Terra Firma</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<b>Anthony Braxton</b>, <i>The Montreux/Berlin Concerts</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<b>Walter Smith III</b>, <i>Live in Paris</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<br />
<b>TUESDAY, MAY 8</b><br />
<b>Robin Trower</b>, <i>For Earth Below</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Lee Morgan</b>, <i>Search for the New Land</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Rhapsody of Fire</b>, <i>From Chaos to Eternity</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<b>Rhapsody of Fire</b>, <i>The Frozen Tears of Angels</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Peter Brötzmann</b>, <i>Nothung</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Trivium</b>, "Kirisute Gomen"<br />
<b>The Black Dahlia Murder</b>, <i>Ritual </i>(tracks 1-3)<br />
<b>Coroner</b>, <i>No More Color</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<br />
<b>WEDNESDAY, MAY 9</b><br />
<b>Miles Davis</b>, <i>Sorcerer</i> (tracks 1-6)<br />
<b>Vader</b>, <i>Necropolis</i> (tracks 1-9)<br />
<b>Perfume</b>, <i>JPN</i> (tracks 1-10)<br />
<b>Ornette Coleman</b>, <i>Of Human Feelings</i> (tracks 1-6)<br />
<br />
<b>THURSDAY, MAY 10</b><br />
<b>Sleep</b>, "Dopesmoker"<br />
<b>Earthless</b>, <i>Live at Roadburn</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Fishbone</b>, <i>Truth and Soul</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>JD Allen Trio</b>, <i>I Am I Am</i> (tracks 1-3)<br />
<br />
<b>FRIDAY, MAY 11</b><br />
<b>JD Allen Trio</b>, <i>I Am I Am</i> (tracks 4-10)<br />
<b>Jerome Sabbagh</b>, <i>Pogo</i> (tracks 1-6)<br />
<b>Joshua Redman</b>, <i>Compass</i> (tracks 1-7)<br />
<b>The Cult</b>, <i>Choice of Weapon</i> (tracks 1-8)<br />
<br />
<b>SATURDAY, MAY 12</b><br />
<b>Elvis Presley</b>, <i>Good Times</i> (tracks 3-6)<br />
<b>Wadada Leo Smith</b>, <i>Ten Freedom Summers</i>, Disc 1 (all tracks)<br />
<b>Creedence Clearwater Revival</b>, <i>Green River</i> (all tracks) & "Born On the Bayou"<br />
A shuffling mix of tracks from the following albums: <b>Jones Very</b>, <i>Words and Days</i>; <b>No For An Answer</b>, <i>A Thought Crusade</i>; <b>Pagan Babies</b>, <i>Next</i>; <b>Token Entry</b>, <i>Jaybird</i>; <b>Wrecking Crew</b>, <i>Balance of Terror</i>; <b>Various Artists</b>, <i>Free for All</i><br />
<b>Belanova</b>, <i>Fantasía Pop</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Wire</b>, <i>Read & Burn 01</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Yeah Yeah Yeahs</b>, <i>It's Blitz</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Peter Brötzmann Trio</b>, <i>For Adolphe Sax</i> (all tracks)<br />
<br />
<b>SUNDAY, MAY 13</b><br />
<b>Interpol</b>, s/t (tracks 1-3)<br />
<b>Darius Jones Quartet</b>, <i>Book of Mae'bul (Another Kind of Sunrise)</i> (tracks 1-7)<br />
<b>Diego Schissi Quinteto</b>, <i>Tongos</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Juilliard String Quartet</b>, <i>Shostakovich Quartets</i>, Disc 1 (all tracks)<br />
<b>Steve Noble & Stephen O'Malley</b>, <i>St. Francis Duo</i> (all tracks)<br />
<b>Sam & Dave</b>, <i>The Definitive Soul Collection</i> (all tracks)Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-34223344372740826012012-04-29T04:14:00.002-07:002012-04-29T04:15:29.751-07:00OTTO WHAT? OTTO PARTS?<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwkiaxN5Ok1qcay1ao1_500.gif">Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-66350575164056759122012-03-26T08:48:00.001-07:002012-03-26T08:49:39.389-07:00L'ARC-EN-CIEL LIVE IN NEW YORKLast night, I saw the Japanese rock band <b>L'Arc-en-Ciel</b> (who I profiled for the current issue of <i>Relix</i>) at Madison Square Garden. I was there for the <i>Village Voice</i>; you can read my review of the show <a target=blank href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/03/larc_en_ciel_madison_square_garden_march_25.php">here</a>. They only used one of the photos I sent them, though, so I'm posting the rest below. Enjoy!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk43TH6FfuW4vbEr696XHEntTUMyJkcAVxJKhGtYz7xCn4PnsNDOJ0Td4P2J2V4_nLtL39ze7-GXln160GOAzw0JpfoTl12B2SMzmNHy9-sciDZykqZn_IF3_9Fp32LHJmP-0TfA/s1600/larc17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk43TH6FfuW4vbEr696XHEntTUMyJkcAVxJKhGtYz7xCn4PnsNDOJ0Td4P2J2V4_nLtL39ze7-GXln160GOAzw0JpfoTl12B2SMzmNHy9-sciDZykqZn_IF3_9Fp32LHJmP-0TfA/s400/larc17.jpg" /></a></div>Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-80035417123766452732012-03-18T13:16:00.003-07:002012-03-18T13:17:31.962-07:00ALIEN TRAILERI'd never seen this before - don't even know if it's a bonus feature on the <i>Alien</i> DVD I own. Pretty great, though. Wait till the third time they show the cat - that's when shit starts to really go nuts.<br />
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<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LjLamj-b0I8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LjLamj-b0I8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-42497984180039810272012-02-13T17:30:00.000-08:002012-02-14T07:45:38.852-08:00BERLIN 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvK3BQKNKxUoZpfaK2qT-s4jLmsWtu9ncS_70Zodoacc7gu8HVW8jM5R3aAY04R4ZoAFbUCdy83PbrsIcRRlQw2GuM4RmOxTRIyWqtKMcdJo5wqZBdjTrWo7-wGAw5hwc1Lzbpg/s1600/berlin01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtvK3BQKNKxUoZpfaK2qT-s4jLmsWtu9ncS_70Zodoacc7gu8HVW8jM5R3aAY04R4ZoAFbUCdy83PbrsIcRRlQw2GuM4RmOxTRIyWqtKMcdJo5wqZBdjTrWo7-wGAw5hwc1Lzbpg/s400/berlin01.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So I went to Berlin for a few days, to give a talk about German thrash (<b>Destruction</b>, <b>Kreator</b>, <b>Sodom</b> and a bunch of lesser-known acts) at Centrum, a small independent art space, and walk around and see some museums, the zoo, and whatnot. I took a whole bunch of crappy photos, too, and you can see them below, now that my wife has made them halfway tolerable to look at.<br />
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This was my hotel, which looked from the outside like a spaceship from <i>The Fifth Element</i> or something:<br />
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This is the Berliner Dom, a cathedral:<br />
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This is an art museum, which I didn't go inside (I did go inside the Neue Nationalgalerie, where they show modern art, but I didn't take any pictures in there or in the Museum of Musical Instruments, which was creepy and fantastic):<br />
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This is, of course, the Brandenburg Gate, which I walked through:<br />
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That's it for historical-touristy stuff. On my second day in the city, I went to the zoo. Here are some pictures of animals.<br />
<br />
A penguin, who didn't seem all that happy about having his picture taken:<br />
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A seal, who was only too happy to hang out posing for photos and scratching himself with his tail:<br />
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A wolf (I looked around for Liam Neeson, in case he came through the Plexiglas):<br />
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Something called a dune cat, which was about the size of a regular house cat and which spent most of its time running frantically back and forth—I grabbed this shot in a rare moment of stillness:<br />
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And here's a panda:<br />
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Also, the Berlin Zoo apparently had quite a famous gorilla once, named Bobby. He's dead now, but there's a statue of him, and a plaque that tells his story (if you can read German):<br />
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Frankly, I wish I'd had more time to spend in Berlin. The people were really nice, the food was good, and there was a lot of stuff I didn't have time to see (like the giant Gerhard Richter exhibit opening at the Neue Nationalgalerie <i>today</i>). I hope to return one day, and bring my wife this time.Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935370.post-26733936314698938952012-02-04T13:07:00.000-08:002012-02-04T13:07:32.264-08:00USED CD TALLYBought a few used CDs today at the <a target=blank href="http://www.prex.com">Princeton Record Exchange</a>:<br />
<br />
Nat Adderley, <i>Work Song</i> ($4.99)<br />
Patsy Cline, <i>The Definitive Collection</i> $4.99)<br />
Cesaria Evora, <i>Voz d'Amor</i> ($3.99)<br />
Kenny Garrett, <i>Pursuance: The Music of John Coltrane</i> ($1.99)<br />
Kenny Garrett, <i>Songbook</i> ($1.99)<br />
Dizzy Gillespie, <i>Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac</i> ($4.99)<br />
Ben Monder, <i>Excavation</i> ($1.99)<br />
Charlie Rouse Quintet, <i>Takin' Care of Business</i> ($5.99)<br />
Various Artists, <i>The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records</i> ($7.99)<br />
<br />
Also got one new CD:<br />
<br />
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, <i>Soul Time</i> ($14.99)Phil Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05041604069121995890noreply@blogger.com0