Seryn Goes Sideways

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Seryn, one of my favorite bands on the planet (and that’s saying a lot seeing as how I did a Global Music podcast every week for a year) is releasing two versions of their previously unreleased song ‘Sideways.” Though they have been known to perform the song live at Habañero Collective House Shows (it is mislabeled here as ‘Spoke’ but it’s the same song, way back in 2013), it appeared on a compilation album but has not been officially released by the band until now.

Seryn’s Trenton Wheeler (now of Topknot) posted about the song on Instagram:

Hey friends, after reuniting all 10 past members of Seryn on stage for Homegrown Music Festival, we decided to unearth two recordings of our song “Sideways”. Both versions of this song stand uniquely apart sonically, but as if each were a time capsule, sound distinctly like Seryn from phases of our changes.

Nathan Allen tells the song’s story well: “We began this tune whilst stranded somewhere between Austin and Midland while we waited for AAA to bring us gas. Chris Semmelbeck on banjo, Aaron Stoner on guitar, Chelsea banging rocks for percussion. Trenton sang and we made voice memos on our phone.

Years later while working on “Shadow Shows” we all piled into the live room at Redwood Denton and did our rendition all together. Leon Carlo, Chris Semmelbeck, and Jenny were there with us, and we love the sound that you can only get when singing together into one microphone. For some reasoning I’ve long since forgotten we decided to not include it on Shadow Shows.

Fast forward a few years, and we’re living in Nashville. Larry Kloess reaches out about a compilation for Cause A Scene and we said yes. We went to Alex Gilson’s studio with Scarlett Deering and Jordan Rochefort we crafted a slightly updated idea on the tune. This is the first time it will be available outside of the limited compilation.”

Nathan Allen adds on Instagram:

We’re super pumped about being stoked to give some new music away. Inspired by our non-reunion this past April we put in the last little bit of work to get this all tightened up for y’all. It’s actually two versions of the same song, which as a long time fan of classical music and a self-described songwriter, tickles my sweet spot.

We began this tune whilst stranded somewhere between Austin and Midland while we waited for AAA to bring us gas.

The Habañero Collective team recently caught up with Seryn’s Nathan and Trenton to get some more context for the song, to see what the band has been up to and what’s next:

Anything else you'd like to add about the origins of the song? Any idea what year-ish the song was first written?

Nathan: Belowis an excerpt from an interview in 2011, so the song must have begun sometime then... It has evolved since then, but still brings back memories of this fateful event. 

We were in an FJ Cruiser, the 5 of us driving out in West Texas in the middle of nowhere and we had to walk 100 miles to get gas because we ran out of gas because there was no gas station. And by the side of the road we started playing banjo and guitar and writing some new music and just like, that eureka moment, and you’re surrounded by 4 other really amazing people playing this really awesome music on a highway in West Texas, and it’s just this moment like “this is where we are”.

It’s just about getting stuck in a situation and having to stop for a second and access what’s actually going on and maybe be honest with yourself in the situation and then that’s how you find your way out of either a positive or negative situation into the next situation that you’re going to find yourself in.

Why release it now?

Nathan: It was something that came up in conversation earlier this year around playing Homegrown Festival X. We just realized that upon further listening that the song held up, and although it didn't quite fit Shadow Shows, it still deserved to see the light of day. Hopefully fans of our music will appreciate having the song available to them. 

Trenton: After plenty of time and playing HGX helped mend some of the bridges that collapsed between us, we finally had the ability to see the good in what we had created together. There was a “why not?” mentality knowing that there was nothing to lose in sharing some of what was already ready to be shared.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you. What has everyone been up to?

Nathan: Mostly being a dad! Thats pretty full time but I've also been working on tons of outside projects which should all be coming out in 2020. Including a record I made with my brother, Tim Allen, for our project "Brother Band" and that is coming out in March of 2020. I've also learned how to engineer, produce, and master. I found out mixing is not my thing, but I love all other parts of the process. It’s been a quiet but productive couple of years for me. 

Trenton: I started a new project called Topknot and will begin releasing new material and touring again in 2020. It’s definitely been an emotional journey discovering an identity outside of one that basically defined the decade of my 20’s, but in that I’ve created some of my favorite music and can’t wait to share it with the world!

What's next for Seryn? Is it over for new material?

Nathan Seryn has no concrete plans as of now, and we never really had lots of concrete plans to begin with so honestly its anybody's guess. We do have another song coming out on January 3rd of next year. It is called "Peeling Paint" and we wrote it with Lincoln Parish, who is an accomplished songwriter and producer in his own right. 

Trenton: To some degree, Seryn will always be a part of who we are, but going into a season of releasing new music under new projects will only highlight the different strengths that each member of The band brought to the table. Like deconstructing a well-crafted cocktail and tasting what each ingredient brings to the whole.

Could you share a little about the Homegrown Festival appearance; How it felt to have founding and "2.0" members gathered all together and how it came together?

Nathan: Having everyone there with their new significant others, children, and other important people really felt like a magical moment. It was oddly healing and not chaotic at all. Some of the folks hadn't ever actually met, so that was crazy. It was just a ton of fun to all be together again. Everyone just knows the drill and the flow of Seryn. We all fell right back into it. 

Trenton: It was a strong turning point for me creatively; feeling the strength in unity again, speaking forgiveness to one another over pains we had created, laughing and making old jokes, and really feeling like I could embrace what we had then and still excited look forward to new things to come.

With the move to Nashville by you all, has it led to closer friendships and a drive to create more music? Different styles?

Nathan: I think after taking time off, we are all starting to recognize how deep our bonds and brotherhood truly goes. I would do anything for any of the guys and girls I've shared the van and stage with, especially Seryn. I 200% support and champion everything they do as much as possible, and I encourage everyone to do some research and dig into what everyone has been up to. 

I think the answer to your question is no. None of us has gotten into country music..... 

Trenton: Nashville is amazing and a deep wellspring of creativity, but it can be daunting and intimidating at the same time. It’s a rollercoaster of a city for sure.

Specifically outside of what you all have created together? Has that given any of you a drive to redevelop Seryn?

Nathan: I think Seryn can never be redeveloped the way it was, it was too destructive internally and very un-hinged from an organizational perspective. I would love to see something new rise from the ashes where we can all play together and give life to the music again, perhaps from a more humbled and gracious place. 

Trenton: Agreed.

  • Visit my previous post “Seryn at the Thomas Listening Room (06/25/11)”.

  • Visit my previous post “Seryn at the Thomas Listening Room (08/25/13)”.

Grateful Dead at the The Honky Chateau (06-21-71)

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I found this little gem that most of you Heads have probably already seen, while searching the Youtubes for quality Pigpen videos and it’s simply too good not to share.

Credited as a “A Brokedown House Production,” the video switches between color and black and white and edits out any banter or tuning in between songs and is posted in two parts.

Apparently on a whim, the band flew to France in 1971 to play at a canceled festival. But they were housed at Château d’Hérouville, a a residential recording studio in Hérouville, France made famous by Elton John, who recorded three albums at their, (Honky Château, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player and Goodbye Yellowbrick Road).

Lots of other famous people recorded there, including Marc Bolan, Gong, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, Iggy Pop, Fleetwood Mac. It was also also apparently once home to Chopin and Van Gogh. Though the Grateful Dead did not record there, they did end up playing an impromptu show in the in the backyard as documented by this great high quality video.

The video page doesn’t include the whole set played that night but only about an hour’s worth of material (which is still gold). You can stream the whole show at Live Music Archive. The video post itself doesn’t provide a whole lot of information, though one of the comments gives the following background, from Jerry, (which is easily confirmed as part of a Rolling Stone interview which later became the book: Garcia: Signpost To New Space), and the details jive with Dennis McNally’s account in A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead.

“We went over there to do a big festival, a free festival they were gonna have, but the festival was rained out. It flooded. We stayed at this little chateau which is owned by a film score composer who has a 16-track recording studio built into the chateau, and this is a chateau that Chopin once lived in; really old, just delightful, out in the country near the town of Auvers-sur-Oise, which is where Vincent van Gogh is buried. We were there with nothing to do: France, a 16-track recording studio upstairs, all our gear, ready to play, and nothing to do. So, we decided to play at the chateau itself, out in the back, in the grass, with a swimming pool, just play into the hills. We didn't even play to hippies, we played to a handful of townspeople in Auvers. We played and the people came — the chief of police, the fire department, just everybody. It was an event and everybody just had a hell of a time — got drunk, fell in the pool. It was great."

Dennis McNally recounts the show in Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. The band was supposed to play a festival in France, but:

“Upon their arrival, the Dead discovered that the festival had been rained out, and after a couple of days of killing time with fine wine and games of gennis at the 450-year-old chateau - the doors were noticeably lower than contemporary people required - they decided to throw a party and invited the townspeople of Hérouville. On the solstice, June 21, the weather cleared and they set up in back of the chateau near the pool, which the children of Hérouville had encircled with hundreds of candles. As Lesh recalled it, their guests included “the police chief, the fire chief, and the mayor . . . No Dead Heads - it was just boogie down . . . a little acid being passed around, not too much, just right, and of course, the Light Sound Dimension (light show) was there, Bill Ham . . . and they played too. We did our set, and they did their set. And they were great - we were all getting real high by that time,” Lesh said laughing. “It was outdoors at the chateau, right around the swimming pool . . . the classic garden party with the G.D. and the LSD. Talk about a piece of San Fransisco transplanted into the heart of France . . . “ Topped off with a round of dunkings in the pool begun by the police chief - Weir exacted the Dead’s revenge, of course, dunking him back - it was among the best parties the Dead had ever enjoyed.”

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This was during the period when Mickey Hart had stepped away from the band after the bad juju that went down with his father stealing from the group and right around the time Lenny Hart was convicted, even though the band declined to press charges. So there’s only one drummer and Pigpen plays minimal keys. It’s a stripped down lineup ready to have fun.

Hank Harrison (estranged father of Courtney Love and one-time manager of the Dead) says in the book The Dead Book: A Social History Of The Grateful Dead:

“The Dead started to play just before the sky got dark, but their entire set was illuminated by bright lights from the Paris socialized television station Link Two, which rebroadcast the event the next week. Their film technique was flawless, as one would expect from a French film team; the camera people were completely unobtrusive on the musicians; the lights bugged Phil a little. Pig Pen just barely recovered in time to sing after downing his two bottles of duty free Wild Turkey… Weir was in fine primal scream voice, and Garcia settled into his trancelike lassitude from which emanates the famous electronic genius that is particularly his.

They played for three hours, and during this time the workers and the fire department and little children lit hundreds of candles and placed them around the pool as if it were a religious shrine… a Lourdes or place of healing waters. As the party progressed, the candles were extinguished by the bodies of of various drunken celebrants being thrown in the pool by other drunken celebrants. The Dead played louder and louder; the locals had never heard anything like it before and they were delirious.”

Dangerous Minds says:

“Some parts of the Grateful Dead’s show at Hérouville were broadcast by ORTF on the Pop 2 TV show on July 24, 1971. A second portion from the set was broadcast on November 27, 1971. The video below is from a bootleg compilation of those two broadcasts that’s been going around for the past few years on Dime a Dozen and other torrent trackers.”

I’ve already provided a link to listen to the whole show for yourself here, but in case you weren’t paying attention, here it is again.

Video Tracklisting:

  1. Morning Dew

  2. Hard To Handle

  3. China Cat Sunflower

  4. I Know You Rider

  5. Deal

  6. Black Peter

  7. Sugar Magnolia

  8. Sing Me Back Home

There is another video that includes sections from this live video along with the interview segments featuring Jerry found at the end of this video. You can head over to Youtube and watch that one for yourself if you’d like as it doesn’t seem to include any additional live footage.

  • Visit the Grateful Dead’s official website.

  • Follow the Grateful Dead on Facebook.

  • Follow Grateful Dead on Twitter.

  • Stream the entire show at Live Music Archive.

  • Purchase Grateful Dead music on Amazon.

  • Purchase A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally at Amazon.

  • Purchase The Dead book: A social history of the Grateful Dead by Hank Harrison at Amazon.

Joyful Sounds: An Introduction to Sacred Steel

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If you’re not familiar, “Sacred Steel” music is a subset of Gospel music originating with the House of God churches, particularly the Keith and Jewell Dominion sects. Brothers Troman and Willie Eason are credited with the introduction of lap steel guitar in worship services, replacing the more traditional organ.

According to Chuck Campbell (of the Campbell Brothers), in an interview with The New Yorker:

“Sacred Steel started in Philadelphia, in the nineteen-thirties: “A man named Willie Eason was the first. His brother, Troman, had a lap steel because of the Hawaiian-guitar craze. Behind his brother’s back, Willie would take it to the church and mimic the voices.”

Sacred Steel music can be found in many states but was first brought to a wider audience with Arhoolie’s 1997 compilation ‘Sacred Steel: Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida.” The music’s best-known guitarist is probably Robert Randolph who has garnered crossover success.

I put together an hour-long mix introducing you to some of the key players. Enjoy.

Tracklisting:

  1. Joyful Sounds by Glenn Lee

  2. Praise Music by Aubrey Ghent

  3. Jewell Praise by Amazing Grace Praise Band

  4. Without God by Robert Randolph

  5. Since I Laid My Burden Down by  Calvin Cooke

  6. Jesus Will Fix It For You by Sonny Treadway

  7. Come On Help Me Lift Him Up by The Lee Boys

  8. Sit Down If You Can by  Elwood Haygood With The Campbell Brothers

  9. Blood On That Rock by The Word

  10. All God’s Children by Elton Noble

  11. Something's Got A Hold Of Me by Dante Harmon

  12. Good All The Time by The Campbell Brothers

If you’re interested in listening to more Sacred Steel music, here are the albums each of these songs are a part of. Click through for purchase links. Albums are pictured in the order they appear on the mix.

Mahmoud Guinia محمود ﯕينيا // 'Star de la Chanson Gnaoua'

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While doing the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow for a year, I listened to A LOT of music. A small percentage of what I heard was pretty bad, but most of it was just forgettable. However, every once in a while, I came across an artist that stood out, that I not only remember, but continue to listen to now that the podcast is over (on indefinite hiatus?).

One of those artists was Mahmoud Guinia (also credited as Mahmoud Guinea, Khania, or Kania // listen to "Fofo Denba" by Mahmoud Kania credited to Mahmoud Kania on Episode 15 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow).

According to the site ARAB TUNES الإيقاعات العربية (where you can also donwnload many Mahmoud releases, including the one featured here today):

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“Mahmoud Guinia (Arabic: محمود ﯕينيا‎, and rarely ﯕنيا or کانية also spelled Gania, Guinea or Khania; Born 1951), is a Moroccan Gnawa musician, singer and guembri player, who is traditionally regarded as a Maâllem (معلم محمود ﯕينيا), i.e. master.”

Wikipedia then tells us that:

“Gnawa music (Arabic. غْناوة or كْناوة) is a north african repertoire of ancient African spiritual religious songs and rhythms."

You might be familiar with the guembri since we have featured American bassist and guembri player Joshua Abrams (here and here and here).

I first came across this album (and then searched out all the Mahmoud music I could from there, which led me to the Arab Tunes post) at the fantastic Moroccan Tape Stash site from a post that immediately grabbed my attention with the title: “Most Psychedelic Gnawa Tape Ever.” That post tries to introduce us to what lie ahead by saying:

“one of the strangest Gnawa cassettes I've ever found. Picked this up around 2001 in Essaouira. Nothing about the j-card gives a clue about the psychedelic grooves contained within.

Sounds drop in and out: Indian tabla and bol drum syllables, jaw harp, darbuka, English recitation, guinbri, gong, digeridoo, and various other sounds. But the texture never seems cluttered - all sounds have plenty of space to breathe. I'd love to know more about this album and who collaborated on it! (Especially, who in the world is doing the English recitation!)

Mahmoud's singing is fantastic - relaxed, often in the lower register. Some of the tracks are built around songs from the Gnawa repertoire (tracks 1, 5 and 6), while others appear to be original to this project. The English recitations are riffs on the Arabic lyrics (or vice versa). And ever think you'd hear Mahmoud sing in fus7a (Standard Arabic)? Check track 8!

Despite the fact that the serial number on the cassette shell matches that of the j-card, none of the listed song titles have anything to do with the songs on the cassette.”

Track titles here are my own:

1) Jilali Bouâlem
2) Lâayoune Dahika
3) Jwedi ya Jwedi
4) Allah Yuhibb Alkurama
5) Fofo Denba
6) Berrma Nana Soutanbi
7) Alhubb Wahid Wa Eddunya Wahida
8) Africa Muwahhada
9) Alhaqiqa
10) Al Umm

If that doesn’t interest you, you might be at the wrong music blog. You can see a different tracklisting at the tape’s Discogs page. Discogs also shows the tape as being released in 1999, though my files say 2000.

Lyrics switch between Arabic and English. Mouth harp floats in and out of focus while ambient noises add texture to the driving percussion and the ever-present guembri, driving the music forward to nowhere in particular. But it’s not meandering music, the longest track is just over four minutes while most are in the three-minute range. Just when you think you’ve identified all the elements or locked in to the groove, it vaporizes itself, only to immerse you all over again.

Stream the album here or download as one file (see links below to download the tape as separated song files).

  • Listen to the track “"Fofo Denba" by Mahmoud Kania from the 2000 cassette Star de la Chanson Gnaoua featured on Episode 15 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

  • Download Mahmoud Guina albums for yourself and read more about him at ARAB TUNES الإيقاعات العربية.

  • Download the album at Moroccan Tape Stash and visit the post that first introduced me to this amazing album.

  • Download the album directly for yourself.


Can // 'Sing Swan Song' (1973)

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I don’t know anything about this video other than what the official Can facebook post says:

“Such a pleasure to hear «Sing Swan Song» playing live. It was in 1973 at Bataclan in France.”

Perhaps you know more? Maybe you don’t. Either way, what a treat to have this video. Prime Can in their prime.

I assume that if you’re here at this particular music blog, you are already familiar with Can, but on the off-chance that is not the case, here’s what I said about them for the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow Episode 26:

“Experimental group Can was founded in Cologne, Germany in 1968. Describing themselves as an "anarchist community"and largely ignored conventional methods, instead, constructing their music through improvisation and editing, using the studio itself as an instrument. Though the band did not enjoy much commercial success during their span, they are continually regarded as a highly influential group among rock, avant-garde and electronic musics. Though the group had a rotating lineup, drummer Jaki Liebezeit was a constant and “is credited with the band’s name, stylised in capital letters and standing for “Communism, Anarchism, Nihilism.”

Tinariwen: 'We made a career out of roaming'

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One of my favorite albums of 2019 is Tinariwen’s Amadjar. You can read more about Turareg music, about the band and some of my thoughts on the album here.

In the meantime, watch this short documentary (20:53) the band put out to promote the album. It features behind-the-scenes footage, interview segments and live performances.

Mdou Moctar: Hopscotch Music Festival (09/07/19) // NYC Taper

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Once again we are incredibly indebted to the fine folks over at NYC Taper. This time, for capturing one of my current favorite artists, Mdou Moctar (Read more about Moctar at my post here).

Read my recent post about Moctar here and hear “Tarha” by Mdou Moctar, from the ‘Blue Stage Session,’ featured on Episode 43 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow here. In the meantime, here’s NYC Taper’s notes for the show:

“On the final night of the Hopscotch Music Festival, our buds at Kings curated an eclectic show that featured two recordings we have already shared (Moon Duo and Boogarins), a superb set from “house” band Birds of Avalon, Kid Millions, and another very special international guest, Mdou Moctar. Hailing from a small village in Niger, Moctar has received international acclaim as one of the best-known Tuareg guitarists. If you’re not familiar with the Saharan brand of rock music, or you have no idea what that means, let me put it more simply: this guy shreds like Jimi Hendrix. His latest LP, Ilana, the Creator was recorded in Detroit, and is already making its way onto early “best of 2019” lists for obvious reasons. Moctar’s work is special not only for its technical virtuosity but for his willingness to expand upon the genre’s conventions, as well as focus on original music over standards and covers. These four songs will give you a taste of what Moctar is about, but really, do yourself a favor and head to Sahel Sounds to get educated not only about his work, but the variety of 21st century African artists they represent. (Jesse Jarnow wrote an excellent piece about the label here). And keep your eye on those “best of 2019” lists — I know Mdou Moctar is making mine.

I recorded this set with onstage Schoeps MK5 microphones, MBHO microphones back at the soundboard, and a soundboard feed. The sound is excellent. Enjoy!

Thanks to Mdou Moctar and his management team for letting us share the recording.

Download the complete show: [FLAC/ALAC/MP3]

Stream the show here.

Further details and setlist:

Mdou Moctar
2019-09-07
Hopscotch Music Festival
Kings
Raleigh, NC USA

Recorded and produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Schoeps MK5c (onstage, XY)>KC5>CMC6 + MBHO MBP603a/KA200N (at SBD, PAS)>Aerco MP-2>>Sound Devices MixPre6>24/48 polyWAV>Adobe Audition CC>Izotope Ozone 5>Audacity 2.3.0>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Iblis Amghar
02 [tuning]
03 Ilana
04 Afrique Victime
05 Tarhatazed

Please consider supporting NYC Taper for all the great work they do in making so much terrific music available.

You Had Me At Tuareg Guitar: 2019 Albums From Mdou Moctar and Tinariwen

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Sometimes known as “Desert Blues.”

Sometimes known as “Saharan Rock.”

Sometimes known as “Tuareg Guitar.”

Whatever you call it, there is a style of music closely associated with the Tuareg people (Kel Tamashek) and the geography of the Western Sahara desert, from Morocco extending to Mali. Steeped in its stark, unforgiving geography, and a political climate to match, the music is a derivative of blues rock and relies on open tunings and repetitive, droning, of patterns played over skittering percussion often creating an effect that many might equate with psychedelic rock. Many of the lyrics are centuries old poems and stories passed down from one generation to another. It is often highly political and is always rooted in its time, place, and people. The Tuareg people are one of the largest confederations of African Berbers and have often had to fight for their own survival and identity, whether against French colonialists, or the Malian, or Nigerian governments.

Cooked up in the sunbaked desert and under breathing the air of political struggle, “Desert Blues” often reflects the shimmery simmer of the desert heat; the very fight just to survive somewhere that seems to be actively working against you being there in the first place, which of course extends to the political struggles endured by these resilient people. The Blues isn’t just about being Blue, it’s about the fight to keep on living despite what life may bring. Often reflecting the nomadic nature of its creators, Desert Blues can be both transcendent and imminently urgent; joyous and defiant all at once. You have to live where you find yourself, even if you know you’ll be moving along soon. The fantastic label Sahel Sounds (home to Mdou Moctar) describes the music as:

“Tuareg guitar has become one of the most popular folk music in the contemporary Sahara. Originally political ballads, created in exile in Libya, today the sound has expanded to encompass everything from introspective love songs, blistering psychedelic rock, and synthesizer and drum machine. At its core, the music still relies on poetry to transmit a message, carried by the pentatonic solos of a guitar.”

The music has gained popularity over the years, in large part riding the visibility of artists like Bombino, Tinariwen, and now Mdou Moctar. Both Moctar and Tinariwen released fantastic albums in 2019 that deserve to be listened to, not just heard.

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In fact, Mdou Moctar released two albums this year. The first, was released to less fanfare and has largely flown under the radar, but in January, 2019, Jack White’s Third Man Records released Moctar’s ‘Blue Stage Session,’ a live album recorded in 2018 at Third Man Cass Corridor in Detroit.

This live set preceded Moctar’s proper studio debut, ‘Ilana (The Creator)’ which appeared three months later, in March, 2019, but the ‘Blue Stage Session’ is no less important, featuring several tracks that didn’t make it on to the later studio album, including opener ‘Tarha,’ which explodes with repeated psychedelic swirls and pounding percussion, displaying that this Moctar is not just a studio musician but a live force to be reckoned with. Much has been made about Moctar’s backstory which bears repeating if you haven’t already heard it: Moctar was raised in a strictly religious home where music was forbidden. But, much like the little boy in Coco, Moctar would not be deterred, fashioning a clandestine guitar for himself out of a piece of wood strung with brake wires from an old bicycle. He practiced in secret for hours and is a self-taught guitarist of the highest caliber.

That determination and zeal is woven throughout this live performance. This is someone who is playing because he has to. There is an urgency to the music and reminds us all of the importance music can play. It can help us rise above our circumstances while also preserving the story of the struggle to be heard. Moctar combines traditional blues with Saharan tunings and charges at the listener with guitar shreddery that doesn’t shred just to show off but because it’s in his soul.

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The live ‘Blue Stage Session’ release was followed in March 2019 by Moctar’s full-band studio debut ‘Ilana (The Creator).’ The studio album succeeds in large part because it is able to capture that sense of joyous urgency made apparent in the live set. Lots of bands are great live but struggle in the studio, or vice versa, but Moctar shows that, despite his self-taught nature (or maybe because of it?), he is adept at both.

Some of the songs have a slightly slower tempo which does not hinder from the music’s urgency but does allow for the guitar playing to shine through as the real star. Moctar’s repeated patterns draw you in with their drone-like qualities, but it’s also clear that this music shares a lineage with the choogle-boogie of John Lee Hooker, early ZZ Top, and others. The studio allows the songs room to breathe while also retaining their spontaneity (the album was largely recorded live in the studio). Recorded in Detroit at the tail-end of touring, the band was cohesive and tight yet the compositions don’t lose any of their spaciousness or immediacy. The added production of the studio is minimal and the tracks were then taken back to Niger for final production.

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While Moctar’s music draws focuses a self-taught guitarist, Tinariwen is a Desert Blues collective. The same swirling, insistent guitars and driving percussion are present, but the focus is never on a single player. Watch a short documentary about the band and the new album here.

Tinariwen was was formed in 1979 in Algeria, but returned to their native in the 1990’s after a cease-fire. Perhaps more than anyone else (possibly with the exception of Bombino?) Tinariwen have been at the forefront of bringing Tuareg guitar to the world’s attention. The group has done this by relentless touring including Denmark’s Roskilde Festival and high-profile fans including NPR and others.

Tinariwen has also held closely to a collaborative approach throughout its history, not just within the group but drawing from outside as well. On ‘Amadjar’ Tinariwen’s ninth album, collaborators appear on many of the tracks. For example, five tracks here feature Warren Ellis of The Dirty Three and Bad Seeds fame and there are other notable collaborators including Willie Nelson’s son Micah on ‘Taqkal Tarha’ and Cass McCombs on closing track ‘Lalla’. The band recorded these tracks in the camper-van turned studio in Southern Morocco (watch the video featured here).

The tempos are often slower than Moctar’s but the music is no less insistent, driving, or mesmerizing, swirling in and out of complex patterns forming a droning effect that rises like the desert shimmer but, like the desert, doesn’t want you staying in one place for too long. This is music shaped by and for life’s journey, as difficult as it often is. This shimmering swirl lays the perfect foundation for someone like Ellis, who's violin punctuations serve as a counterpoint for the electrifying solos of a songs like the album’s second track ‘Zawal.” The vocals throughout the album are often presented in a call and response pattern which draws the listener in to a collaborative experience evoking the desert haze and the joyful fierceness of living. Noura Mint Seymali’s vocals soar above ‘Amalouna’ but never leave us below. We hear in the choir-response and we feel her short but piercing vocal solo. The danger with bringing in collaborators is that a group might lose their own sense of identity, but ‘Amadjar’ finds Tinariwen bringing their collaborators along for the journey rather than finding themselves drowned out. This is, without a doubt, a Tinariwen record and it is a very good one.

The album’s acoustic guitars, violin and even mandolin remind us of the folk/rural nature of the music’s origins, but it is always insistent music, perhaps because of the nomadic nature of its creators; it is driven by urgent percussion, even when the vocals feel calm, even joyous. It is this struggle between transcendence and imminence, between the journey to wherever is next and finding one’s self on that journey that has always been at the heart of Tinariwen’s music and ‘Amadjar’ finds the band, perhaps content with the journey, but not standing still by any means.

Remembering Rainer Ptacek With Arizona Illustrated

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By now you’re probably familiar with my love for Rainer Ptacek and his sunbaked folk blues. If not, visit this post, or this post, or this post. I’m not going to give further background information on the amazing singer/songwriter/guitarist here. Instead, enjoy this profile from Arizona Public Media (which actually does a good job profiling the story). Actually, the whole video is 28 minutes, but only the first 15 (or just shy thereof) minutes is about Rainer even if the segments about “healing art” and “Tucson trains” are interesting.

The video profile features interviews with Rainer’s widow Patti Keating, Howe Gelb, and Rainer himself. It includes some overlapping footage with the KUAT profile featured here but also includes some home movie segments which don’t quite feel like we should be privileged to see, adding depth to the music and weight to the loss.

And here’s grainy black and white footage of Rainer playing the song Patti mentions, ‘Don't Know Why ‘ in 1989.

  • Visit Rainer Ptacek’s official website.

  • Purchase Rainer’s music at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Rainer’s music at Amazon.

  • Visit previous posts about Rainer.

Live Celebrations of Deep Listening With 75 Dollar Bill, Dire Wolves, and Joshua Abrams And Natural Information

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Today I wrote Deep Listening by pointing out three of my favorite 2019 releases: I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill, I Control The Weather by Dire Wolves, and Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams And Natural Information. To accompany that release and to help you understand if you’re not familiar with those artists, here is a live video from each artist.

First, here’s 75 Dollar Bill with an expanded lineup at Roulette, Brooklyn 7/1/2019 performing the title track to their newest album I Was Real. Believe it or not, this lineup features Joshua Abrams!

Linuep from left to right:

  • Karen Waltuch - amplified viola

  • Talice Lee - amplified violin

  • Sue Garner - electric bass guitar

  • Che Chen: electric 12-string guitar

  • Rick Brown - plywood crate, percussion

  • Joshua Abrams - double bass

  • Lisa Alvarado - harmonium

Next up, we feature a 2018 live set from Dire Wolves (Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band) at the 17th Annual Outsound New Music Summit (7-27-18). This video documents three live pieces, and this particular lineup features:

  • Sheila Bosco - drum kit

  • Brian Lucas - bass

  • Jeffrey Alexander - guitarmagoria + moog + wooden sax

  • Arjun Mendiratta - violin

And rounding out the set, we feature a live performance by Joshua Abrams And Natural Information Society. Believe it or not, the shortest video today features the artist who usually features the longest pieces. Here is Joshua Abrams And Natural Information Society, at “ICA Philadelphia.” No other details were provided about this performance.

In Celebration of Deep Listening: Three 2019 Albums to listen to, not just hear

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I have loved music for as long as I can remember, even though I have not talent at it myself (which I believe helps me appreciate those that do all the more). And I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. Many years ago, I went through a phase of really trying to expand my palate. During this phase, my friend and I used to refer to some music as “intentional listening.” In other words, you had to work to get through it. It required your attention and engagement. It also referred to a lot of music that our wives sometimes referred to as “racket.”

Somewhere along the line during those musical excursions, I came across Pauline Oliveros and the idea of “Deep Listening” and that changed things for me. The idea of “intentional listening” implies forcing one’s self to listen. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re actually engaging with the music itself, just getting through it. In hindsight, “intentional hearing” or “intentional music” might have been better descriptors of what I was doing during that phase. I was certainly expanding my musical horizons to include things like free jazz, drone, “freak-folk” and lots of other stuff like that, but I’m not sure how much I gleaned.

As Oliveros points out “We know more about hearing than listening.” I was hearing a lot of challenging music but I’m not sure I was up to the challenge. Oliveros describes “Deep Listening as a way of listening in every possible way to everything possible to hear no matter what you are doing. Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, of one's own thoughts as well as musical sounds.” If you are interested in hearing Oliveros explain some of this a bit further herself, you might want to watch her TED talk: ‘The difference between hearing and listening.’ Oliveros points out in that TED talk:

“Scientists can measure what happens in the ear. Measuring listening is another matter, as it is involves subjectivity. We confuse hearing with listening . . .

. . . I differentiate to hear and to listen. To hear is the physical means that enables perception. To listen is to give attention attention to what is perceived, both acoustically and psychologically.”

Like any skill, Deep Listening requires practice, patience and persistence. But it also has its payoffs that not everyone can understand. I still listen to all kinds of music and I often find myself at odds with family who does not. Much modern music requires very little of its hearers; certainly not deep listening. It is packaged in tiny shiny nuggets and treated as a product. As much as I wish my family loved the same music that I do, they will often come home and say things like “What are you listening to?!” This is no slight to them. But it doesn’t fit their expectations. They are not practicing Deep Listening (which is not to say that everyone who does will enjoy the same music).

It should come as no surprise, then, that three of my favorite albums so far this year require a listener’s participation. They ask for engagement and while they can be simply “heard,” each album opens itself up further and further with each “listening.” These three albums are wildly different from one another, but I think of them as kindred souls in the pursuit of Deep Listening.

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75 Dollar Bill: I Was Real

75 Dollar Bill is the core duo of Rick Brown who plays the plywood crate and homemade horns, and Che Chen, who plays microtonal guitar. Sometimes as just the duo and oftentimes with a revolving cast of guest musicians, 75 Dollar Bill plays hypnotic drone/trance/desert-blues/rock that swirls in and out of itself, often in long-form pieces. The unconventional percussion patterns and guitar tunings may be a bit jarring for some, but once you allow yourself to dive in, the songs are somehow primal, guttural, meditative, and joyous all at once.

Album opener ‘Every Last Coffee or Tea’ originally appeared on 2011’s Cassette and is presented here with an expanded lineup, laying out a fine template for what to expect from the rest of the album. Starting off with washes of viola drone, jangling bells, and minimal, searching percussion, the guitar plucks about, finding its place, and then everyone locks into the groove. And the groove is undeniable. Listeners might be reminded of Malian Blues, Saharan Desert rock, and/or Thai psychedelic rock. 75 Dollar Bill’s music certainly includes elements of all of those things but it is somehow more than the sum of its parts.

‘Tetuzi Akiyama’ (named after Japanese guitarist, violinist, and instrument-maker) further shows that Deep Listening can have a good beat that you can dance to. Swirling, repeated patterns build upon driving percussion, continually moving us forward until stopping abruptly, opening to the drones of the title track without jarring the listener. It’s all part of the same musical journey, tied together by Brown and Chen’s interplay.

The album drones and grooves. It challenges and rewards, inviting listeners to confront their preconceptions without ever coming across as pretentious. 75 Dollar Bill’s music invites listeners to cross borders, including genre, and find the sounds underneath. It is at once transcendent and immediate.

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Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band: Grow Towards The Light

Often known simply as Dire Wolves, welcome to the musical universe revolving around San Fransisco’s Jeffrey Alexander. The musical collectives makes music their website introduces as:

“a sound of ecstatic improvisation, each member documenting coordinate points in the higher dimensions of cosmic free-rock. The music lies somewhere near the nebulous intersection of psych, kosmische beat and spiritual jazz. These are exploratory journeys, transportive trance-based experiments in vertical listening, totally collaborative and often forming spontaneous compositions. The focus is more about feeling than any specific approach to playing. Psychic rock for the mind and body: breathe deep and grow towards that light, dig.”

That’s about as an apt a description as one is likely to come up with. Consisting of an often rotating lineup, the newest album ‘Grow Towards The Light’ finds the group including vocalist Georgia Carbone who sings in an invented language which accentuates the notion that this music is “more about feeling than any specific approach to playing.” There is a visceral nature to the trance-like tunes, driven by almost-tribal, immediate percussion and flourishes of of violin and skronking saxophones (courtesy of Sunwatchers Jeff Tobias) the music builds on repeated rhythms evoking both Krautrock and hippie fireside drum circles all at once without sounding contradictory or lost. This is confident music chasing a mood as much as technical precision.

The music comes in pulsating waves and sometimes resembles “freak folk,” sometimes “free jazz,” sometimes Krautfolk (is there such a thing?) and yet always sounds immediate and urgent without being stressful or repetitive. The soaring vocals float above the earthy rhythms and the violin and saxophone sometimes jar you back to reality and sometimes help transport you into the ether.

The longing search of spiritual jazz lies at the center of what Dire Wolves are about and may help us tune in to their frequency, but this is not a jazz record, even if it is a spiritual record. With an album title of ‘Grow Towards the Light’ and song titles like ‘Every Step is BIrth,’ and ‘Crack in the Cosmic Axis,’ Dire Wolves remind us that, with those for ears to hear, even wordless music (as we recognize it; this is not quite instrumental music because there are vocals) can still be a soundtrack for the journey of discovery for those willing to listen.

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Joshua Abrams And Natural Information Society: Mandatory Reality

Another musical collective featuring a rotating cast of players, the core of this one features prolific and influential Chicago bassist and guimbri (a three-stringed percussive African bass) player Joshua Abrams. Having played with the Square Roots (later becoming the Roots), Tortoise, and Fred Anderson among many others, Abrams has centered his newest ensemble around the “ecstatic minimalism” of repeated guimbri patterns and assorted accompaniment. The band’s most recent release, the sprawling 81-minute (with none of them wasted) Mandatory Reality consists of four long-form pieces (the shortest of which is just over six minutes) proves not only the necessity but the joy of “Deep Listening.”

Like other minimalist music, the music pulses with slowly repeating but slowly unfolding patterns that transport the listener from one place to another almost imperceptibly, requiring attention and patience, but there is also a sense of yearning towards something (shared ecstatic experience?) the us from losing interest. The gradual tempo shifts reflect the rise and fall of the deep ocean more than the crashing of the waves on the shore. But you have to be willing to travel to get there. The music requires focus but never seems tedious. It music shimmers with hypnotic waves and the long-form pieces call attention to the spaces between as much as the notes being played themselves.

These slowly unfolding pieces stand not only as a testament to Deep Listening, but to the idea that we are more than our schedules. We needn’t always feel rushed, and when we do, this music asks us to pause, take some deep breaths and pay attention; to listen and not just hear. There is much detail and beauty that may initially escape us if we’re not paying attention.

As Oliveros urges: “I invite you to take a moment now to notice what you are hearing and to expand your listening to continually include more.”

Rainer Ptacek (KUAT Profile and 'Worried Spirits')

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I posted about Tucson’s (by way of Chicago by way of East Germany) Rainer Ptacek back in August, featuring two live sets from the Live Music Archive.

Rainer is one of my favorite musicians, especially his instrumental tracks and his dobro playing, but that’s probably another post. He plays the same instruments as a lot of other people, but he doesn’t play them like a lot of other people. For now, let’s watch a 1997 KUAT feature profile.

The video’s Youtube page says: “A feature on Rainer Ptacek produced for KUAT-TV's Arizona Illustrated in 1997. Includes interview footage with Howe Gelb (Giant Sand).”

This profile aired some time in 1997 which would have been about a year after he was riding his bike to work at a guitar shop and suffered a seizure which revealed that he had a brain tumor. After surgery, and almost unbelievably, Ptacek re-taught himself how to play guitar. He talks about the weight of the experience in this profile. Plus a quite young looking Howe Gelb.

Knowing that he didn’t make it, the moment he gets his daughter Lilly a cookie, gets me every time.

And next we have the ‘Worried Spirits’ video. The video’s page says: “Worried Spirits -- previously unreleased video. It was intended to be released with the CD 'The Best of Rainer - 17 Miracles' as a bonus video.”

  • Visit Rainer Ptacek’s official website.

  • Purchase Rainer’s music at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Rainer’s music at Amazon.

  • Visit previous posts about Rainer.

Medeski Martin and Wood Live at The Georgia Theater (09/18/93)

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We’re pulling from the live recording stash again today. This time, going way back to a great sounding 1993 Medeski Martin and Wood soundboard recording. This is early material and the group is in fine form. I’ve had this CD for probably close to 25 years. It was one of the first ones I traded for through the mail after switching from cassettes to CDRs. Enjoy!

Medeski Martin & Wood

Georgia Theater, Athens, GA

Saturday, September 18, 1993

The notes that came with the show read as follows:

- One Set -

01. [10:07] - It's A Jungle In Here >

02. [09:12] - Beeah

03. [06:30] - Syeeda's Song Flute* >

04. [08:55] - Worms > Open Outro >

05. [11:48] - Chubb Sub

06. [09:44] - Bass Solo > Bemsha Swing/Lively Up Yourself [@1:57]

07. [11:41] - Listen Here+

08. [15:04] - Moti Mo, 'Billy Speaks' [@13:41]

* spills over onto start of following track

+ Beeah teases c.6:43-7:03

Enjoy.

  • Visit Medeski Martin and Wood’s official website.

  • Follow Medeski Martin and Wood at Facebook.

  • Follow Medeski Martin and Wood at Twitter.

  • Purchase Medeski Martin and Wood’s music at Amazon.

  • Download the show as a zip file.

Baba Sissoko: Amadran

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Baba Sissoko’s Facebook page simply says:

“Born in Bamako (Mali), Baba Sissoko is the undisputed master of tamani (the original talking drum).”

Sissoko’s official website adds:

“Born in Bamako (Mali), Baba Sissoko is the undisputed master of tamani (the original talking drum), that he started to play since he was a child (thanks to the teaching of his grand-father Djeli Baba Sissoko and Djeli Maka Sissoko and Djatourou Sissoko) and from which he is able to extract all the notes simply with a one, natural movement. Baba Sissoko plays also ngoni, kamalengoni, guitar, balaphon, calebasse, Hang and… he sings!”

Sissoko recently released his new solo album Amadran and I’ve really enjoyed it. Minimal accompaniment lets the songs shine. Sissoko says of the album:

«I dedicate this album to my family, all the Sissokos in the world!
There is just one Sissoko family, wherever you are (Mali, Senegal, Gambia or Guinea), if your name is
Sissoko, you are part of the same family, because we are all descendants of Fakoli!
Fakoli was a prince and one of the founders of the Mandinka Empire. He was a man of his word, who was
very involved in the social scene. As a legacy, he passed down to us all of his energy and force. As his
descendants, we all received a piece of him. My family received culture, tradition and music!
My grandparents who were also my best buddies, Djeli Djatourou Sissoko, Djeli Makan Sissoko, Djeli Baba
Sissoko, had all lived with the energy and force of Fakoli, humanly, culturally and musically speaking.
I had the chance to know all of my grandparents and I learned a lot with them at the beginning of my
childhood. I grew up with my father Djeli Madou Sissoko, a great Ngoni player; my mother Djeli Mah
Damba Koroba, traditional singer; and with my uncle Mama Sissoko, a great Ngoni and guitar player, who
completed my training and showed me the way to my mission. My family left me a baggage full of songs
and I can live anywhere in the world with my musical experience.
In our family we start to play music with the Tama, and then we learn how to play the Ngoni. The Tama and
Ngoni are all instruments of the Sissoko family and belonged to us even before the birth of the Mandinka
Empire.
For me, this album is a journey, a souvenir…it’s life! This album comes from my heart and I recorded it
with all the love and respect that I have for my family because I learned from them that the most beautiful
things are the simplest ones.
This music and album are timeless.»

Baba Sissoko

Watch the video for the title track.

Watch the video for ‘Baba Ka Foli’.

  • Visit Baba Sissoko’s official website.

  • Follow Baba Sissoko at Facebook.

  • Follow Baba Sissoko at Twitter.

  • Support Baba Sissoko at Bandcamp.

  • Purchase Baba Sissoko’s music at Amazon.

Alan Namoko and Chimvu Jazz

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Last year I did a weekly 30-minute music podcast dedicated to overcoming Xenophobia by exploring music from all over the world. I did 52 episodes and loved every minute of it.

One of the joys of doing something like the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow (find out more about the podcast here and/or stream/download every episode here) is discovering terrific music from all around the world. One of the downsides of doing something like the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow is not taking good notes which results in not remembering where you came across certain albums, especially in the digital age.

Allmusic says:

Here's a gem indeed -- an acoustic quartet: two singers, guitar/banjo, drums -- with music closer to the grass roots than anything since Africa Acoustic and From the Copperbelt. Namoko hews to a pure rural acoustic string sound: precious people music. The packaging of this privately issued CD is odd, but the sound is fine.

I don’t know where I got this album and informationa about Alan Namoko is sparse, even in this abundant internet age. I featured the title track "Ana Osiidwa (The Orphans)" from Namoko’s 1992 album on Episode 04 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow and here’s what I wrote at the time:

Alan Namoko was a blind blues and jazz musician from Malawi. Namoko played the banjo and sang in the Lomwe, Chewa and Nyanja languages. Namoko became an influential figure in Malawi's music scene in the 1970s and 1980s and around the world with the Chimvu Jazz band and was even featured on several episodes of the John Peel show.

Namoko’s music is folk blues that transcends borders. The music is nostalgic and familiar (in the best way) despite the language barriers (at least for me). The album cover says that it was put out on Pamtondo Records, but the Pamtondo website doesn’t appear to be a record label or store of any kind. The page listing their titles says: “At first a small amount was put out on cassette and CD format for sale but now most remains as a collection for research purposes.”

According to Wikipedia, he put out 9 albums, but I haven’t had much luck tracking any of the others down. Maybe you can do better? In the meantime, stream or download the album here.

Tracklist:

  1. Achilekwa (Mr. Chilekwa)

  2. Gitala Kulira Ngati Chitsulo (Playing Guitar Like A Ringing Bell)

  3. A Namoko Akulira (Namoko Mourns)

  4. Kakhiwa Miyene (And When I Die)

  5. Lameki (Lameck)

  6. Ana Osiidwa (The Orphans)

  7. A Chilenga (Mr. Chilenga)

  8. Mwandilanga (You Have Punished Me)

  9. Mwalimba Mtima (You Can Be So Heartless)

  • No purchase or artist links available

  • Download the album as a zip file.

Mississippi Fred McDowell: Blues Maker

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From the video’s Youtube page:

Fantastic documentary which shows Mississippi blues singer, Fred McDowell, singing and talking about his blues. Producer: Univ Of Mississippi; Dept Of Educational Film Production

It’s actually not quite a documentary, more like an extended musical profile. McDowell plays several pieces and they show lots of film from his life and surroundings with a short narrator explanation of his playing style. But still, at just shy of 14 minutes, you have time for this, especially with the live footage of

  • Visit the video’s page at Youtube.

  • Purchase Mississippi Fred McDowell’s music at Amazon.

Raquel Denis: KJZZ Tiny Desert Concert

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Back in September I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion for a live Makers and Mystics podcast recording. One of the other panel members was Raquel Denis. Raquel is an Arizona poet, musician, artist and activist and I was encouraged and challenged by her voice and I was blown away by the performance piece she shared.

Denis recently met with local NPR station KJZZ for a live performance. KJZZ says:

Some of us are lucky to be professionally talented at one thing, whether it’s a sport or dance or photography, but few of us are lucky enough to be that talented at multiple things.

Raquel Denis is a practicing poet, writing about her life as an Afrolatina in Arizona and the experiences her community faces, and she is now about to put out her first EP as a musician.

The Show had the chance to speak with Raquel in a green room at the Van Buren in downtown Phoenix for a Tiny Desert Concert.

  • Follow Raquel Denis at Facebook.

  • Support Raquel Denis at Bandcamp.

John Mark McMillan: The Road, The Rocks, and The Weeds

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John Mark McMillan has released his first new music in two years. The track is called ‘The Road, The Rocks, and The Weed'.

When I pastored, I loved when the musicians would do ‘Death In His Grave’ and ‘Skeleton Bones’ on Sunday mornings, but that’s neither here nor there. McMillan has a deep and rich catalog that I highly encourage you to explore beyond those obvious picks. I’m very excited about new music from him.

McMillan says on Twitter of this new song:

“The Road, The Rocks, and The Weeds is the first single from the first album recorded in my own home, mostly over the summer of 2019. It’s close to my heart because it’s a song about finding my way home, my way back to honest faith: “gratitude without denial.

I think it sets the tone nicely for the story of this record. Which is a story about the dreams of God, that these dreams are people, and what it means to believe that our world is “peopled with dreams. Also, you’ll probably notice it features vocals from one of my little dreams... my 7-year-old daughter Louisa. Thank you for taking the time to listen. I’m excited to share this and more with you in the coming weeks.”

Listen to the track and watch the official lyric video:

  • Visit John Mark McMillan’s official website.

  • Follow John Mark McMillan on Facebook.

  • Follow John Mark McMillan on Twitter.

  • Purchase John Mark McMillan’s music at Amazon.

Ode To Joy

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I keep thinking about what it means that Wilco titled their 11th album ‘Ode to Joy’. 

The album often finds Jeff Tweedy in a reflective, even meditative, if not somber state. The topics aren’t exactly what you’d bring up at a dinner party (Or, if you did, most people wouldn’t invite you back).

Whether being startled out of staring at the knives in the kitchen drawer by the sound of the front door ringing through his guitar against the wall (‘Bright Leaves’), or feeling his blood run cold at the passing through of the sad ideas of losing a loved one (‘White Wooden Cross’). But if Tweedy is stuck inside his head, at least he lets us know what he’s thinking about. Life is hard. Relationships are hard and sometimes a person just feels stuck. I’m not sure I can change. I’m not sure you can change, but somehow, deep down, I know it’s all worth it, even if I don’t know why.

It’s a meditative, spacious record that doesn’t work as background noise. It is best heard either through headphones or really loud. It’s a record that asks for and rewards your attention. It’s not a big rock record but neither is it a quiet folk record. Anchored by Glenn Kotche’s skittering percussion, the record traffics in restraint (every guitar is denied) and asks you to immerse yourself. Largely eschewing cymbals, the album feels is initially jarring because it leaves out the high/bright splashes we’ve come to expect from so many records. It leaves us looking up in places we didn’t expect.

If relationships are the currency of life, then Tweedy understands that sometimes the account feels overdrawn. Relationships often feel more taxing than anything else. The album opens with Tweedy lamenting “I don’t like the way you’re treating me” and recognizes that sometimes when we argue, we’re not even sure which side we’re on, we’re just stuck in relational holding patterns that feel like we can never change (‘Bright Leaves’). So much so, that Tweedy recognizes that “Deep inside everyone hides some of the time” (‘Everyone Hides’).

But what happens when we’re tired of hiding? That seems to be a theme Tweedy is interested in exploring. Sometimes we know we’re stuck. Sometimes we know we’re not helpful and we certainly know that we don’t have the solution, even if we’re convinced that one exists. The album opener ends with the blunt statement: “You never change,” forcing us to ask whether we are prisoners of our own nature. Are we doomed to unhappy lives with unfulfilling relationships? Tweedy picks up this thread in ‘One And A Half Stars’, singing:

“There is no mother like pain

I'm left with only my desire to change
So what I stay in bed all day?
I can't escape my domain”

Even if we want to change, it feels like we can’t escape our natures or our circumtances.

But for all the isolation Tweedy might feel, there is also the notion that we cannot live alone, even when it frustrates us. Tweedy says in ‘One And A Half Stars’: “You mean too much to me I'm angry I could need so much.” Even when he is alone, he is/we are tied to those who have come before us (‘Before Us’) and we’ve got family “out there” (‘Empty Corner’). We all feel alone and yet we are all tied together.

This sense of what to make of our need for others is a theme throughout the record. ‘White Wooden Cross’ finds Tweedy again in his thoughts, but this time wondering to what he would do if a white wooden cross on the side of road meant that he had lost someone dear to him; even someone he’s angry that he needs. Even when we feel weighed down by our relationships, we’re not sure we would want to be without them.

Death, loss, failed relationships, the inability to change our circumstances; they are all present. And it’s not just relationships that seem to weigh Tweedy down. The album addresses riots, never-ending wars, the inability to change ourselves (or others), and self-deception. It’s not just inter-personal relationships that get us down because Society is made up of relationships. It’s all about us. We’re all in this together. And sometimes it feels like society is a mess. It’s easy to think in depressing terms. Vice says “The music is weary.” Vulture chooses the word “glum” while NPR says the album has a “heavy atmosphere.”

But the beauty here is that there is beauty to be found at all.

The full Vice quote reads: “The music is weary, but it's also the prettiest entry in the Chicago outfit's vast discography, one that synthesizes every era of the band's career into something forward-thinking and essential.” As my friend Jason Woodbury points out at Pitchfork, Tweedy “populates the album with surprise flashes of brightness, too. These are love songs about possibilities and the way our vision may be limited by our vantage point.” This leaves us to ask: “What might a shift in position reveal?” What if we don’t give in to despair?

I keep thinking about what it means that Wilco titled their 11th album ‘Ode to Joy’. 

Of course there is the reference to Friedrich Schiller’s poem which was co-opted by Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9”, whose opening stanza reads:

“Joy! A spark of fire from heaven, Daughter from Elysium, Drunk with fire we dare to enter, Holy One, inside your shrine. Your magic power binds together, What we by custom wrench apart, All men will emerge as brothers, Where you rest your gentle wings.”

There are certainly repeated themes if you read Schiller’s poem and listen to Wilco’s album, but we are all products of our times and I can’t help but wish that Tweedy meant more than literary allusion here. He looks frustration in the eye and chooses not to blink. These are difficult times. People are choosing politics over family. Our current president seems more intent on dividing than uniting. May of us feel alone.

And yet, in spite of it all, despite how hard it all is, Tweedy chooses not to give in to despair or hopelessness. He’s still got a desire to change that we should all hold on to. After all, society doesn’t change if individuals don’t change.. And there are things still worth believing in and fighting for. He sings on ‘Hold Me Anyway’:

Are we all in love just because?
No! I think it's poetry and magic
Something too big to have a name
And when you get it right it's still tragic
And when you die who's to blame?
Did you think everything would be okay?

Even knowing that it all feels tragic and it might not turn out okay, love is “poetry and magic, something too big to have a name.” Even when things don’t make sense, “Love is Everywhere,” and it’s power can be frightening (‘Love Is Everywhere’)"“

So many things I do
I can't explain to you
Right now, right now
Love is everywhere
Right now, I'm frightened how
Love is here, beware

In ‘One And A Half Stars’, Tweedy admits that he is worried about the way we’re all living. But he doesn’t respond with anger. He doesn’t give up. Instead, he says: “I'm worried about the way we're all living, and this is my love song.” He responds with a “love song.” He responds with love. Even when it doesn’t come naturally and certainly doesn’t come easy.

Love ties us all together. Love brings us out of ourselves into community. We are bound together for good or for ill, so why not choose joy even if those we are tied to don’t? We can name our shortcomings and we can acknowledge other people’s failings, but we’re all in this together.

The tension between individual and community seems to lie at the heart of ‘Ode to Joy.” On ‘Before Us’, Tweedy knows that even when he is physically alone, he belongs to those that came “before us’ and that we are part of a lineage. We are part of a community. This theme is repeated throughout the album, most notably in the closing track ‘Empty Corner’. Even if you don’t care, “You've got family out there.” Family transcend circumstances. Love ties us together. There is always reason to choose joy. Especially when things seem their bleakest.

Relationships, immediate and far are what make the world go around, even if no none likes it. We can’t escape this, so we have a choice. We’re left with only our own desire to change (‘One And A Half Stars’) and maybe that’s the point of this record. Things suck. But what are we going to do about it? What will each of us choose? Maybe, the best that we can hope for is to declare with Tweedy: “I tried, in my way, to love everyone'“ (‘Quiet Amplifier’). What more would you ask of your neighbor in difficult times?

It takes maturity to own our faults and name our difficulties. It takes wisdom to choose joy anyways.

Uncle Tupelo (05/01/94)

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Wilco week continues by pulling more from my live show stash. This time we get to bask in the infamous glory of Uncle Tupelo’s last show. A whopping 31 songs. All killer, no filler. Well, except that the last two songs here ‘Stay Free’ and ‘Wherever’ don’t seem to be part of the show, but they’ve always been on the discs I have and I’m not sure their lineage. They’ve just always been a part of this set for me so I’ve simply passed this show along to you as I’ve had it for lo, these many years.

Enjoy.

The notes that came with the show read as follows:

This is the legendary final Uncle Tupelo show. Haven't seen it posted here before, and it is a thing of beauty, so here you are. Enjoy!

Source: SBD (lineage unknown)

Quality: A

Uncle Tupelo

The Final Show, St. Louis, 01 May 1994

Disc 1: (64:34)

01 No Depression

02 Chickamauga

03 Watch Me Fall

04 Grindstone

05 Satan,Your Kingdom Must Come Down

06 Fifteen Keys

07 The Long Cut

08 Anodyne

09 New Madrid

10 Slate

11 Atomic Power

12 Postcard

13 Gun

14 High Water

15 Acuff Rose

16 True To Life

17 We've Been Had

18 Give Back The Key To My Heart

Disc 2: (57:53)

01 Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

02 Whiskey Bottle

03 Looking For A Way Out

04 Gimme Three Steps

05 Sandusky

06 Steal The Crumbs

07 Nothing

08 Life Worth Living

09 Willin'

10 Truck Drivin' Man

11 Effigy

12 Stay Free

13 Wherever