CW Hinch's Music Blog

Updating

2006-09-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

I guess it has been a long time. Well, it is clear that I am the only one reading this, so it is more of a personal diary than a public blog about music.

I saw Dave Matthews again this summer. matisyahu pened up, but no one would go in with me so I missed it. For once it was others' drinking that held me back. The same happened with Blues Traveler at Thursday in the Square. That set-up is great for partying but terrible if you are there to listen.

2006-03-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

If you love out-of-date blogs you must love this one. The computer hard drive went down and I lost everything and time. Several live human beings expressed an interest in the blogs at my friend's wedding. They have probably lost interest as that was a few days ago and now is the first time I am blogging in weeks.

Stay tuned, the ideas are welling up.

Jack Johnson's allusion to Plato

2006-02-03T16:09:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of Plato and Jack Johnson. One of the "Friends" Limks on Jack Johnson's site leads you to: Consolations of Jack Johnson: Bring Philosophy to my Peers.

Here are the Lyrics to Inaudible Melodies (via seeklyrics.com)

Brushfire fairytales
Itsy bitsy diamond wells
Big fat hurricanes
Yellow bellied given names
Well shortcuts can slow you down
And in the end we're bound
To rebound off of we

Well dust off your thinking caps
Solar powered plastic plants
Pretty pictures of things we ate
We are only what we hate
But in the long run we have found
Silent films are full of sound
Inaudibly free

Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

Inaudible melodies
Serve narrational strategies
Unobtrusive tones
Help to notice nothing but the zone
Of visual relevancy
Frame-lines tell me what to see
Chopping like an axe

Or maybe Eisenstein should just relax

Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

Well Plato's cave is full of freaks
Demanding refunds for the things they've seen
I wish they could believe
In all the things that never made the screen
And just slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that
Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that
Moving Too....

Need Updating...

2006-02-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

My old buddy invited me to G.Love in Rochester. I've been waiting for the opportunity to get to a show back at the Water Street Music Hall.

I jsut saw a Jack Johnson video on Noggin...apaparently its from the new Curious George movie.

Getting Old

2005-12-29T09:35:00.000-05:00

I had to bow out of going to the Matisyahu show last night in Buffalo. All my friends are out of school just enough to realize they can't go to work hung-over. I have two toddlers and an empty wallet.

Well, those factors contributed to missing the show. I will have to content myself with a copy, hopefully, put up on the Live Music Archive (etree). To assuage my reluctant responsible-ness I have purchased a few tracks from Napster.

If I can find the time I'll figfure out radio.blog and get iut up witht he tunes. Meanwhile check out etree or the artist websites.

Culmination of the Fates

2005-12-16T19:33:00.000-05:00

I heard about Matisyahu a while back. I cannot say for sure where but there is a list of press coverage and I see National Public Radio.

I remember that the story played some clips. The music is a culmination of a variety of styles: rap, roots reggae, jam bands, and religious among others. The religious one stuck out because the name sounds cathcy and fun-loving. These are not necessarily things I associate with Hasidic Jews...that's right Hasidic. I do not know much about the group except that it is very Orthodox. The paradox of this musical styling and that orthodoxy is interesting to say the least. Like most good stuff I hear the sweep of life took me.

The other day I was lucky to get the Buffalo State College, WBNY 91.3, radio station way down in the Southtowns. Lo and behold this yahoo came on and his DJing is too college-y but he played Matisyahu. It was awesome stuff. The same kid played some Mood Cultivation Project.

Today Artvoice, Buffalo's Alternative Weekly, had an ad for Matisyahu coming to town. Lucky for me remembered that my mobile phone has a voice recorder. I googled them all today.

I realize that I know nothing but stereotypes of Hasidic Judiasm. Matisyahu was a deadhead and phishhead. He's had spiritual awakenings/rekonings while camping. His website biography lent more to my interest. I checked out some of his music on Napster. True to his deadhead roots, he has some live shows through etree. I cannot wait to ask for a CD for Christmas (I hope this isn't an offensive joke? Let me know and I'll edit.)

I only caught one Mood Cultivation Project tune before my daughters melted down and we headed home. It was clearly int he realm of jam bands witha little New Orleans, bluesy taste to it. I need to hear some more and their own website has tunes to download. Again in jam band fashion they point you to etree. too.

Mood Cultivation Project

Morcheeba in the Middle East?

2005-12-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

I guess you could say that my musical tastes are quite liberal. You could also say they are too open?

Two mp3 blogs ( Aurgasm and ORTF) helped me to:

Adapt or Perish Collectors and Snobs

2005-12-08T11:47:00.000-05:00

Collectors are a interesting breed. What in their nature makes them desire and acquire? I have a friend who really prides himself on not being one. Moreover, he disavows any and all clutter in his house. Until recently he held to the idea that if what you own does not fit into a closet it is not worth owning. He kept his wife from buying clothes dressers. But in the end he collected motorcycles. He would not ever refer to it as collecting and he keeps them in a storage unit away from his condo. In these senses he has not cluttered his life with objects. Yet he has two bikes and takes great pride in them. There was talk of selling them in order to get a boat. That was year ago and even owning a boat might fall under acquisition and in turn collecting. I suspect that his will is not the real limit but that the desire is held in check by finances.

My recent mp3 blog surfing has led me to wonder about the nature of collecting. This reminded me of a great article in 5 September 2005 issue of The New Republic. Michael Crowley writes in “Remastered” about the decline of the “rock snob.” He laments that the advent of digital music files have brought an end to an era of collecting. Several of his assumptions are valid and worthwhile. But something else lies beneath the surface of the essay. It is a vital component of why music collecting is not becoming extinct but is evolving to a higher and true appreciation.

There was a time when music snobs could physically inspire awe with their collections. Crowley clearly recognizes the ego involved. He quotes the intro to David Kemp and Steven Daly's Rock Snob Dictionary “Since the dawn of rock, there have been individuals, usually young men, of argumentative tendencies who have lorded their encyclopedic musical knowledge over others." The adjectives here get to the heart of the matter quickly. Even now, as I write, I feel the very thing I want to highlight. I want to write and it is personal while at the same time egotistical. I want to have people read this blog, listen, and envy me. I want the have my thoughts in physical form. Is this a defect in personality or a part of human nature?

What I think Crowley does not quite hit is that that “refined taste” is what collectors really want noticed. The collections are the manifestation of that taste. It is what easily and quickly points the audience to the desired conclusion. The dawning of manageable digital files is not the end for rock snobs (or any other genre's collectors). It is in fact a chance to evolve. It is a clearer separation of taste and knowledge from half-wit and luck

The fact that almost all music is available to anyone is the key to the evolution. It is not the end of it. Collecting was, previously, often a matter of luck. Connoisseurs may know of an artist but never stumble across the album or piece necessary to genuinely display their ascendancy. This aspect has been largely muted with the onset of the internet and digitalization. Snobs are no longer beholden to physical collections. Taste and knowledge are what now pulls them above the masses.

The masses have access to the canon of Great Books. What actually sets the well-read from the rest who has actually read. In Fitzgerald's Great Book, two things impress a guest about Gatsby's library. The first is that the books are real and not cardboard facades. Still wealthy Eggers could buy afford real books. The final factor is that the guest suspects that Gatsby actually read them. What separates the snobs now is that they have listened to the music.

There are numerous mp3 bloggers out there. The possibility is open for countless more to join their ranks. What is happening is not the end of music collecting. The best of these blogs draws the awe-inspiring music to the surface. They display the refined taste and knowledge that deserves true envy. So Crowley is correct in that the days of musty record stores and vinyl collections are dwindling. Any lucky fool with an memory and eye for names could have built an “impressive” collection.

I want to thank the bloggers for sharing the music. There can be no doubt that some are after the praise. Hopefully though they will be eclipsed by those who generously and appreciatively want to lead the masses from the dark cave.

Sputters, Starts, and Stops

2005-12-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

I definteily go through cycles. I've been ont he music surfing one lately...driven by Buffalo's second snowfall and the onslaught of December.

Anyway I've (re)discovered a tone of mp3 blogs and focused ont he ones with holiday tunes. Here are a few I've been frequenting:
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Spread the Word
Keep the Coffee Coming
Music You Won't Hear Anyplace Else

The Refugee All Stars

2005-12-03T07:02:00.000-05:00

I think that I may have stumbled onto, thanks to NPR again, the culmination of Bob Marley and the roots he traced. It leads back to simple music. Not simple in a negative sense, but in the most positive.

The Refugee All Stars are a group of musicians from Africa. The NPR article is entitled “Music born of Strife.”

Being relatively unversed in music, the first thing that came to my mind was Wyclef Jean's album Carnival. But these refugees are not the same. Wyclef hails from Brooklyn via Haiti and his status was not gained easily. These All Stars were forced from their homes in Sierra Leone and into Guinea. Their history is vital to their music and ours. There is a documentary that is soon to be released.

The trailer helps an American to see. I am reminded of the horrors of the violence in Sierra Leonediamond trade and Kanye West's track. I wonder if he and I can really communicate on the issue. Or as Americans do we have more in common with one another than either of us has with our racial/ethnic histories. (I being “European:” German, Irish, English... and he “African”?) (An anecdote to lighten the mode: a man from South Africa who had immigrated to the US claimed “African American” status on a college application. At the interview he was accused of lying because his skin was white. He was told that African-American meant black more than it meant someone from Africa.)

Either way the music of the Refugee All Stars seems to complete a circle. Well, circles are already complete and have no starting or end point. The sound reminds me of reggae and Paul Simon's Graceland. Both of those claim roots in Africa. In the trailer, Black Nature, raps for the camera. He smiles and tells us he'd like to rap like Busta Ryhmes.

“Although things are difficult, we still stand up and say with courage, we can make everything work again and get all that we have lost.”

Katie Moore

2005-11-29T20:24:00.000-05:00

Said the Gramophone had a post about a Montreal based singer:

Katie Moore - "Russian Nut"
I first saw Katie Moore play in a local band called Timber. I noticed almost right away that there was something astounding in her voice. Yes, she was effortlessly singing pitch-perfect harmonies, but more than that, it was the timbre of her voice that captured my attention. She has a strong, round tone, with complete control of her tremolo flourishes. She is neither piercingly trebly, nor crooningly bassy. She is the sound of drinking whiskey and soda in an old wooden bar, during winter, playing Scrabble. [Info]

Check her out. She’s too new for Napster (or just Canadian?)… Her website says that you have to email her to buy a CD. It’s my next step.

NPR leads me back to Mp3 Blogs

2005-11-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

National Public Radio does a lot of things well. You can see from previous posts that they go well beyond the stereotypical NPR listener to cover things like Hip-Hop (my Kanye West post). I caught an article on their website today. Its relevancy applies to music and blogging…both need innovative promotion.

The article covers the way one new band has been promoted. Not all bands can get major label coverage and marketing. Let’s just say not all of them deserve it. There are bands out there that do. After a couple of listens I’m not sure where the article’s band fits…

It did lead me to start surfing mp3 blogs again. An article from earlier this year in the Buffalo News leads me to music and blogging. For awhile I made a stab at perusing Pitchfork Media and other music blogs and ezines. I’m glad the NPR article lead me to it again.

Said the Gramophone is a great blog. Especially appealing is the fact that it hosts mp3s. With an easy click (and the proper plug-ins) you can hear what the blog is discussing. I found that hard to do with Pitchfork.com.

In retrospect it takes some effort to make surfing goal oriented and habitual. Perhaps my problem is that I matured with the internet (I remember its infancy at US Naval Academy in the early 1990's) and still use it as a novelty... more than a reference. For me surfing is like browsinga bookstore with an empty wallet. Perhaps it is time to see it more as a personal library for personal research?

Hip Hop and Me

2005-09-13T15:46:00.000-04:00

I would not describe myself as a Hip Hop fan. In fact, when I recently argued that I do appreciate it, my wife simply laughed. Well, with two toddler daughters our relationship is strained. She thought that I was merely trying to manufacture a common interest where there was none.

Perhaps I was. But more accurately I was confessing abroad-minded appreciation for music and its evolution. On the other hand, I'm often prone to high-minded intellectual snobbery. Usually that stems from being involved in some academic lecture or event that the average person finds boring or nerdy. Cornel West spoke at a church in Rochester, New York in the late 1990's. I rememebr that he called praised early Rap and Hip Hop for their social-conscious art. He, if I remember correctly, then lamented the "art" newer generation. He explained that music often precedes and simultaneously speaks for cultures. Intially the genres called for social responibility and change. This gave way to gangster rap.

I echoed his sentiments inignoring the genre. I tended toward "Jam Bands" and Grateful Dead type music. Which in turn, lead me to the Beat Generation and then to jazz. A few months or years ago there was rap/hip-hop video in which the singer inserted clips of his father, a famous jazz musicians. (Right now I'm trying to Google their names...with little luck).

Anyway, this all brings me to a few revelations. First, I enjoy, in small doses, the original gangster rap (Ice Cube, Easy-E) for their blatant and often ridiculous raunchiness and violence. Secondly, hip hop is not all "effeminate" for twenty/thirty-something preppy white boys to listen to.

And, finally, this brings me to Kanye West and his new song, GoldDigger. I love how Jamie Fox (ala Ray Charles) is sampled. It reminds me of the Cosby Show and the family's lip-synching of Modern Day. To assuage my academic snobbery, even NPR has embraced Hip Hop and Rap... most notaly here in a review of Kanye West's Late Registration.

Joss Stone Show

2005-05-14T22:23:00.000-04:00

A friend won four free tickets to a radio-station-contest-winners-only Joss Stone show. It’s the kind of station most people like but don’t admit. It really covers contemporary adult and pop. I like it, but I’m too “masculine” to go around and say so (I won’t deny it though). The line of winners wasn’t stereotypical. It had stereotypical people in it but not any one type dominated. If a consensus was taken teen girls would have won the day, but not on their own. I’m not sure if I am a target listener, the station’s commercials depict only women listeners and primarily white at that. We are in Buffalo, which severely limits diversity anyway. In the end, it’s the kind of thing that makes you feel both lucky and off.

I always sound under-whelmed and often rude. I do not intend it that way. I was glad to be invited… Our friend, A., initially invited my wife and I. I assumed her husband would come too. Then, I found out that he couldn’t come because he was golfing. He definitely wouldn’t listen to the station and doesn’t seem the Joss Stone type. So A. invited her sister as the fourth person. On top of my impression of the station’s image, it was three women. But I wasn’t too bad off because I am used to being outnumbered. I was an English and Secondary Education Major. During my first real year of teaching I was the only visible male in the 12-person Department. Still, I tried to acquiesce for all the above reasons.

It’s difficult to remember when I discovered Joss Stone. I am the one who turned my wife onto her. I even doubt A., who teaches seventh and eighth grade music, knew about her before me. (We’ve never discussed it though, but please let me have this one egotistical thing). I have to say, before I truly start ranting (I mean reviewing), that Joss Stone is a great singer. Maybe not that unique, but who is?

I had a lot of respect for her and her talent. The respect for her talent hasn’t diminished. The italicized “a lot” comes from a personal disquiet that is tough to pinpoint. It cannot be separated from my high expectations nor cannot it be torn from her youth. Both of which lead me to think about the nature of art itself.

Joss Stone is a teenager. That is not an easy category to fit her in. Being a celebrity, she must have a maturity beyond her years. And there is no way I can say she has no experience, but is it enough? It is the right kind of experience to be singing the songs she does? All of this grew when I saw that she carries a little white dog into the venue with her. There must be many a celebrity with these immature quirks…and businesses dedicated to perpetuating them. Still, it is an immaturity and its impression stuck with me through her show. It simply reminded me of the students and the secret notes I’ve encountered in class. Her songs then, despite the rich voice, carried those undertones.

I wonder what it was like to be back-up to her. Please do not think I question her character. I am just questioning, and not just in her, the link between age, experience, and art. Stone congratulated one of her back-up singers for her pregnancy. While a beautiful and thoughtful sentiment it merely highlighted the link I’m after. Students often congratulated me when my daughter was born. They were polite and well meaning and that was appreciated. Most cannot have had any empathetic sentiment. That is not their fault. How can a teenager add experiential depth to songs about love and life when hers has just begun?

My own students often wrote and discussed these themes in class. A. and my wife reminded me that teenagers immerse themselves in these things even more than adults. The art then is purer because it lacks perspective. But here it makes sense to ask whether the celebrity experience negates this for a teen? I’m not sure whether that can be answered unless you at least know the celebrity personally both before and after fame begins. Believe it or not, Kid Rock and Jesse James discuss something similar on a Discovery Channel special. Anyway, it is pretty safe to say that if you accept A. and my wife’s theory on perspective; then adult perspective then dilutes the meaning. Is it then that Joss Stone, with her voice and lack of experience, is better suited to twang these nerves? Better than, say, Aretha Franklin? These questions lead to a further discussion of the nature of art.

Ironically uniqueness is an issue here and I’m using Aretha Franklin to allude to my point. This surely isn’t a unique comparison. If you take my theory instead of my wife and A.’s then Stone’s lack of uniqueness couples with her lack of experience. I do not mean that her themes lack uniqueness; they are timeless and universal. What lacks is that these renderings of them are not entirely new. Stone is really more of an imitator. This factor does not remove its “art” necessarily. It just reduces the value of her work and places it beneath the originators. I listen to many artists that are less than original and fit easily into categories forged by others. I will continue to listen to her but not in the place of originators.

In this respect Stone’s value lies in its vitality. In that I mean that it is alive on stage and not only in being a recording of the past. The occasion of seeing a live performance is pivotal to Art. Art is alive and not easily recreated onto portable, replayable media. Stone represents that aspect, especially because she is an imitator. That is what makes her valuable, at least to me (and our group). The show we saw provided an opportunity to take in her themes and their presentation.

It is in this that we were disappointed. Stone played a relatively short set, about an hour in total. It was free and so I can’t “complain.” I suspect that somehow the radio station pulled something to catch Joss Stone. A small, scrappy club in Buffalo hardly fits the tour dates of an artist who is already past being an up-and-comer. Perhaps it was booked far in advance and she couldn’t break the date. Whatever the reason, I think her set was affected.

It is not fair, but I judge all concerts from a Grateful Dead perspective. They played live music. It may have ruined my ability to accept conventional shows. Dave Matthews Band epitomizes my frustration. The first shows I saw him play, before his first album was picked up and reproduced by a major label, were jams. He covered tunes, extended his own, improvised… They were pretty cheap too. Then I paid ticketma, the legal “scalper” money to watch DMB play songs that sell his albums. Those shows were hollow. They lacked art. They didn’t engage my intellect. (I’m not denying though, that the ability to go-through-the-motions isn’t technè or skillful, its just not Art). It just wasn’t up to par.

Stone played a sales-show. It was good and even threw in a couple speeches. All in all, a very professional and contract satisfying concert. I wonder if then, it is art or merely a reminder for the art she represents. That impersonal (or forced personalization) just left me wondering what I’d done if I paid to see it.