Perfect Sound Forever online music magazine- Oct/Nov 07 issue
Jason Gross
In the latest issue of Perfect Sound Forever
<http://www.perfectsoundforever.com>, you'll find (among other
things):
AGITATION FREE
Krautrock interview
Luul Ulbrich "cannot answer the question of how Krautrock was born,
although he was deeply involved in shaping it. 'It's always
complicated with categorizations. Primarily, we saw ourselves as a
rock band, as psychedelic rock. We never called it 'krautrock.'
There's a nice explanation in France, 'musique planante,' which means
'music of the spheres.' Maybe it's just experimental rock music.'"
ANGELS OF LIGHT
Michael Gira interview and confessions
For five fine albums, Michael Gira has led a changing cast of musical
Angels through light and dark realizations of songs merging dream
visions and imaginative reality abstractions. This time round he
started out backed by his young protégés Akron/Family, trying to keep
things simple. Then an urge to embellish took hold and more musicians
laid down parts, most strikingly Eszter Balint's droning violin
GREG DULLI
His angst & his art
For its raw exploration of alienation, loss, and rage, Sly Stone’s
There’s A Riot Goin' On can be seen as a companion to John Lennon’s
Plastic Ono Band. The Afghan Whigs’ 1991 album Gentleman dared to bond
with those two frazzled, gut-wrenching masterpieces to make up a
trilogy, and began a creative odyssey that expanded on that raging
wrestling match with appetite.
DAVID JOHANSEN
Interview
From New York Doll to solo years to Buster Poindexter to movie star to
Harry Smith and back to being a Doll again, David Johansen has hopped
around roles the way that most people change clothes and yet somehow
kept his sanity. We interrogate him to find out how he sorts out the
many lives that he's led.
MAXIMO PARK
Romance & disconnect
Romance may or may not exist, but if it does, it's up to the
individual to define it. Relativism, while immediately practical,
produces a kind of disconnect that in turn produces a potentially
soul-numbing cynicism that is contrary to the very notion of romance.
British pop rockers Maxïmo Park examine different tensions that
signify this postmodern disconnect between individuals and romance and
love. Romance and love in the postmodern world turn out to be very
slippery things indeed.
OUTSIDER MUSIC
The inside out of...
The term "Outsider Music" is relatively young. It was first coined by
radio personality and music enthusiast Irwin Chusid in an article he
wrote in 1996 for Pulse! Magazine. He described it as "a mutant strain
of twisted pop that's so wrong it's right." "Outsider music can be the
product of damaged DNA, psychotic seizures or alien abduction; medical
malpractice, incarceration or simple drug fry," Chusid wrote. "Or
chalk it up to communal upbringing, demonic possession or bad beer."
QUEERING CLASSIC ROCK
Testerone implications
There's a reason why classic rock (which back then at least, was an
ostensibly a male adolescent mass entertainment), invokes gender
variance. Long before Lou Reed crooned about transsexuals on the AM
dial, rock's will to shock manifested itself with long hair (prompting
the derisive question, "Is that a boy or a girl?"). This rebellion
wasn't merely theatrical or rhetorical: in an age when Vietnam and the
draft suffused American consciousness, for a male to adopt any
appurtenance of femininity was a clear breach and rejection of
military readiness.
TERRY RILEY
His middle years
Colfax, California, 1935. Who in that NoCal hamlet would've guessed
that a major influence on modern music had just been christened?
Unlike religious icons, angels don't appear when artists leave the
womb and commence their slog through the muck of the world, but that's
where Terry Riley nonetheless saw his advent, soon trafficking along a
childhood not terribly dissimilar to that of most other young males in
America. He did, however, display early on a strong bent for music.
Still, little reveals itself historically with very much clarity in
his first decade and a half. Colfaxians did as adolescents tended to
do since time immemorial: goof around, have fun, discover a little bit
of the world, and try to figure out why the hell anyone was even put
here in the first place.
SAMPLING
From concrete to hip-hop
There are many opinions on sampling. Some view it as a fresh,
post-modern take on music; music had taken us only so far and sampling
helped to shake things up, re-evaluate the past, and use it to create
exciting new music. Others view it as simple thievery, a refuge for
the untalented to hide behind. What inspires both these views? Is
either correct?
SURF BALLROOM
Pilgrimage to history- site of Buddy Holly's last concert
"On our way north, we passed through a hamlet in Iowa named Clear
Lake. Seeing the city limits sign made the shiver that was in my
spine, jump out of the top of my head. Being the amateur music
historian that I am, I knew precisely where the sense of dread was
radiating from. Its epicenter was in the middle of this quiet
settlement; a small, unassuming venue named The Surf Ballroom. A voice
inside me said, "You absolutely must stop here on your way back home."
I was in total agreement with myself."
RALPH TOWNER
Segovia's Mutant Brother- Part 2
Part 1 looked at the nascent Oregon as an ironically inadvertent
subversion within the Paul Winter Consort, further paradoxical in its
production of the best work Winter's ensemble would ever see. Topping
the paradox, the sub-group wouldn't release its first LP until many
years after the attainment of firm regard in the music world (as we
saw, Music of Another Present Era wasn't really Oregon's true first
set of recordings). Unparalleled in its creativity, the band quickly
grew in critical and consumer eyes and ears, first nailing down a
quartet signature sound that later attempted to induct new members...
elegantly failing every time. Oregon was ever and only best as a
foursome, a chamber jazz effort embodied by Colin Walcott, Paul
McCandless, Glen Moore, and Ralph Towner... most especially Towner.
VINYL ANACHRONIST
The end is near
"After twenty-five years of digital playback, I finally heard a CD
player that sounded as musical as any analog rig I've heard,
regardless of price. The amazing part is that it wasn't an SACD
player, or a DVD-A player, or any of the so-called high-resolution
digital formats. It was an ordinary CD player, and it played ordinary
CD's."
WEST CORK CHAMBER MUSIC
Classical festival
"The Irish love music of almost any kind, so it seemed logical to
consider the possibility of music festivals. What happened is a
variety of them, devoted to various musical categories: early music,
jazz, contemporary and traditional Irish being among the first
suggested. They were so successful there are now other varieties, as
well. The West Cork Chamber Music Festival comes pretty close to being
all things to all people. They certainly try hard."
We're always looking for good writers and/or ideas so let us know if
you have anything to share.
See you online,
Jason
Perfect Sound Forever
online music magazine since 1993
<http://www.perfectsoundforever.com>
see website for contact information