So far I’ve hung out with a Japanese callgirl, then some syrup-voiced guy from the arabic-speaking world, then I think the next fella was crooning to me from Turkey. Now Lil Wally and his pals have me rockin’ a polka. There’s a great interview with Nagoski at NPR Music.
Then over to South Africa for the Pan African Space Station.
Much more contemporary and coming to you live for half the day (I think) from a bar in Cape Town.
They’ve been playing hot jazz, dance music, experimental sounds, and all kinds of other fine things for your ears. The station features djs and live musicians (not at the same time as far as I can tell, but I’ve only been listening for a week).
Two very different experiences and both are sonically exceptional! Broadcast this to everyone you know!
My dear friend Eugene Fauntleroy is travelling around the world. I know him as an entrepreneur, a dj, a bon vivant; sometimes a dandy, always someone worth engaging with. I recently found that he’s established a Soundcloud page for a set of field recordings he’s creating: http://soundcloud.com/gene-lroy/tracks
There’s quite a few things happening here: Qawwalli vs bhangra (a natural combination); street sounds from Bangkok. My favorite is this track from Kuala Lumpur…
Somehow it appeals to everything I love about street music.
Azealia Banks has just taken me for a ride… This young woman is from Manhattan (212) and is ready to claim the entire island as her own. I suggest we all step back and see what she can do. She’s better than Bloomberg, obviously more articulate. http://azealiabanks.com Somebody give sweetthang a show in Seattle, yap?
The distorted vocals are beautiful as are the moments of full-out singing. Her voice has many timbres and she’s coming from too many locations at once.
The video itself is near perfect. The lofi aesthetic of the music is matched by the simplicity of the video. I’ve done a lot of thinking on video aesthetics lately and this work hits a sweet spot. I’d only have enjoyed it more if they’d used a shittier camera to record it.
I think I’m a bit too excited by this track and the possibilities Miss Banks is offering to express myself articulately. It’s time to listen to this track a few more times then look at the rest of her work on YouTube. So happy to share this with the world.
Whoa, Angolan production team Nirvanas & Beats fire up the heavy kuduro. I’d never heard of these cats until tonight, but I’ve listened to Buraka Som Sistema for a long time. Buraka is a Portuguese kuduro act that can break the night.
What I don’t know about kuduro could fill many books. Doesn’t matter, though. My only intention is to let you feel some joy.
What I like about the Vagabandas video above is that nothing is happening. These kids are standing in some tunnel in the middle of nowhere and singing and dancing for no one. The camera pans and shows desolation with a cityscape behind it. Sometimes we see a soul or two dancing for no one on a sidewalk. Then we are shown an entire neighborhood sitting on the steps looking bored. This reminds me of the early WuTang videos where the RZA, the GZA, Meth, Ugod, Ol’ Dirty, and company would pose in abandoned buildings and vacant lots doing nothing. By the light of oil can fires like classic New York bums. Surely there must be oil cans in Angola. Example 1. Example 2.
The Buraka Som Sistema video for ‘Aqui Para Voces’ is no better; it takes place in the ephemeral world of intercontinental shipping, but in its liminal zone the port.
Here we see deviants (dark-skinned mutants, psychedelic refugees, sexual fantasists) careening, performing, parading through the ever-so-popular world of the shipping container (but again for no one). The shipping container has come to represent a sort of Third Way for architecture to intervene on the behalf of the poor and provide them the novelty of shelter. The shipping container is also a representative icon of global mobility and anonymity in its ascendance. These things travel everywhere and no one knows what’s in them. Hundreds stacked end to end on boats that might travel under the flags of many nations or none at all.
In the end the police come and deliver the stick for their attempts at a night-masque of liberation never having shown the carrot.
[UPDATE! Here/Now has finally posted the group portrait for the night and has written a short piece on the event; check it out here…]
Don't we look great?
Last night I had the pleasure of playing an improvised set at Paige Barnes’ and Christopher Hydinger’s HERE/NOW improvisational performance event. This is their description of Here/Now: ‘HERE/NOW consists of 8 Dancers and 8 Musicians randomly paired together and given 8 minutes to improvise a duet.’
I was one of the musicians and I was the last selected to play. I haven’t done a lot of improvised music so this was definitely a daunting moment for me. I have a lot of faith in myself as a performer so the fear was kept at bay easily with cigarettes and bubbly water.
Dancer Beth Graczyk and I were selectively partnered. I’ve known Beth for a minute; been fascinated with her dancing for a longer time. As soon as she said ‘hello’ on the street on our way into the performance space I had a feeling we’d be working together.
It couldn’t have been any better either. I brought silver bowls and blue enamel camping mugs, a lot of dried beans, and a set of shiny tiffin pots. Beth had her own inspiring self.
We opened with an expectant looking Beth staring at me and doing some light, jerky full-body twitching while I slowly poured beans into a large stainless steel bowl. The beans made pinging noises and the sound gradually became lower in tone as the beans filled the bowl. But who cares? What’s more important is what happened.
Beth at some point decided to throw herself into my large collection of cups and bowls and landed on her back, head shaking among the kitchen ware. Beans were splashing to the floor and over both of us. I worried that the sharp noises might injure her ears (it’s metal on metal!), but she showed nothing except abandon and so we raised the pitch.
Somehow, I’m really not sure how, Beth grabbed me, dragged me, wrestled me away from the pots and through a lake of spilled beans to the middle of the dance floor. I kept trying to keep at least one thing to bang on, but she was kicking me and I couldn’t find my feet and the beans were slippery. There was an awful lot of clanging and foot stomping and I think she was yelling, but I might have imagined that.
Eventually we separated and I made my way back to the mess of my instrumentation. We finished with some simple scraping noises and Miss Gracyk swaying. I think. I could be wrong; there was a lot going on and I was terrifically excited. I might have remembered things wrong.
The audience seemed to enjoy our duet; I know I sure did. I gave Beth a huge, real hug and we took a bow.
The organizers had the night recorded, but I won’t receive a copy for weeks, sadly. Hopefully when it comes out I’ll be allowed to display it on artofmulata.
[Update: I’ve received the DVD and it’s amazing. These guys really put a lot of work into making the disc lovely. If you want a copy go to their website and order one; you won’t be disappointed!]
