Staff Picks: Music
The current season for “spooky” stuff brings to mind a time honored classic – Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Oldfield was an unknown English teenager in 1973 when the haunting opening sequence from his highly acclaimed debut gained worldwide attention as the backdrop for Friedkin’s film version of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist.
Since that time, Oldfield has revisited the Bells structure and themes for a host of sequels and alternate interpretations, including an orchestral version, various remixes, reissues, live and demo recordings. (Six different packages were released this summer alone!) The piece has also received several inspired (re)interpretations by others, including a 2008 recording for piano ensemble, and a wonderful version by the California Guitar Trio.
While trolling the murky depths of the internet this weekend, I ran across an interesting video of Oldfield performing the first segment of Tubular Bells for the BBC-TV on November 30, 1973, along with a rather stellar cast of accomplices...
- Mike Oldfield (bass, guitar)
- Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) (guitar)
- Steve Hillage (Gong) (guitar)
- Pierre Moerlen (Gong) (percussion)
- Fred Frith (Henry Cow) (bass, guitar)
- John Greaves (Henry Cow) (keyboards, bass)
- Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow) (keyboards)
- Geoff Leigh (Henry Cow) (flute)
- Mike Ratledge (Soft Machine) (keyboards)
- Karl Jenkins (Soft Machine) (oboe)
- Ted Speight (Kilburn & The High Roads) (guitar, bass)
- John Field (Jade Warrior) (flute)
- Terry Oldfield (Mike’s brother) (flute)
- Tom Newman (voice)
(The full version of the video can be found on Oldfield’s Elements DVD.)
As it turns out, this was only the second first public performance of Bells – the first having occurred on 25 June 1973 in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, just a month after the album’s release. The reclusive Oldfield was so shaken by the public reaction to his initial concert that he avoided the live stage for several years. What’s truly “scary,” however, is that some 26 albums and three-and-a-half decades later, this stunning debut still holds up.
Music
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
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http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=tubular+bells{TI}&library=BRANCHES&language=ANY&format=ANY&item_type=ANY&location=ANY&match_on=KEYWORD&item_1cat=ANY&item_2cat=ANY&sort_by=-PBYR
There is something about the descending temperature and the vibrancy of Autumn leaves, the unmistakable stench of pumpkin innards, and the knowing that a long Midwestern winter is just around the corner that pushes me toward listening to jazz. Most of my favorite artists and albums generally fall under the broad categories of Be-Bop, Cool and Vocal. I've never been all that drawn to the more esoteric sounds of free or experimentally avante-garde jazz. Some of my favorite musicians include horn players John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, and Chet Baker, vocal virtuosos Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Horn, arrangers Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans, and pianists like Bill Evans and Vince Guaraldi. I have to admit that my knowledge of contemporary jazz is quite limited so my recommended Fall listening list below tends to be specific to the 1950's and 60's. Grab that ribbed cardigan, sip on on some hot cider and fall under the melodic color and hypnotic rhythms of some of these great albums.
Music
In the wee small hours
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Be sure to catch the Blue Moon Blues Band in an intimate “unplugged” performance on Wednesday, October 21st, at Central Library, as part of KPL’s ongoing Live Music series.
We have it on very good authority that this should be quite a unique and memorable event, including a rare opportunity to hear some of Mr. Carambula’s smokin’ acoustic(!) guitar work, and some brand new music they’ve never played in public before!
Blue Moon’s library appearance will also be one of the band’s final public performances - after nine years and four CDs, they’re moving on to new and different opportunities, so stay tuned! Don’t you dare miss this chance to see one of the final (and perhaps finest) performances by one of Kalamazoo’s most revered musical institutions.
Here’s Blue Moon, recorded live at Clydes Side Door in Battle Creek on March 21, 2009.
Book
Blue Moon Blues Band
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http://www.kpl.gov/events/blue-moon-blues-band.aspx
Mat Kearney has such a mellow voice and subdued style that he reminds me a little of Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen. Some of the lyrics on City of Black & White are quite striking: "We're all one phone call from our knees." You're sure to hear some thought-provoking turns of phrase on his album.
Music
The Very Best of Echo and the Bunnymen
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The Malian duo Amadou & Mariam have been in nearly constant rotation on my ipod and home stereo since I became aware of their music with the 2005 release of Dimanche a Bamako. I knew little of the couple’s inspiring story then, but responded immediately to the music they create. Singer Mariam Doumbia and guitarist/vocalist Amadou Bagayokothan, who are both blind, met at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, the capital of Mali, 30 years ago and have been making amazing and infectious music ever since. Already huge stars in West Africa and Europe; in recent years Amadou & Mariam have gained a large following in the indie rock world where they have become a show stealing staple at large festivals, which has helped spread their popularity across the glode. The duo’s latest title, Welcome to Mali, has received almost universal, and I would say very well deserved, critical acclaim and I can't stop listening to it. Even without the faintest clue as to what the lyrics of the songs are saying (the couple sings primarily in French), it is easy to hear why the global spread of Amadou & Mariam's hypnotic sound cannot be stopped.
Music
Welcome to Mali
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Fusing jazz, classical and blues music together like no one before nor after her, Nina Simone was a one-of-a-kind artist whose artistic achievements and life-long support of civil rights places her firmly within the pantheon of twentieth century greats. Her long-time battle with bipolar disorder, her tumultuous relationship with the music industry and her self-imposed exile are also part of her rich narrative as the “High Priestess of Soul” but it is the plaintive beauty, ferocious spirit, immovable anger, and affirming force of her music that makes Simone so vital. One need only listen to her eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Why? The King of Love is Dead to grasp the depth of character her music embodied.
Music
To be free [sound recording] : the Nina Simone story
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The other day while listening to online radio at last.fm, I heard the sweet voice of Jazmine Sullivan singing to a funky, rhythmic beat. I was tapping my foot before my brain engaged with what the lyrics actually were: "I bust the windows out your car..." I then had to laugh that a song so fun and upbeat to listen to was about getting even with a cheating boyfriend.
Then, I remembered a song I heard on a country radio station by Carrie Underwood called "Before He Cheats" (on her album Some Hearts). That one is all about knives and ball bats intended to help men stop their cheating ways! So, it seems this topic is universal enough that it spans genres of music from country to rhythm and blues.
(By the way, each of our branch libraries has a different collection of music. I found Sullivan's Fearless CD at our Eastwood Branch. Our online catalog has a special link for searching music selections. Go to the catalog then select "Music Search" on the black navigation bar near the top.)
Music
Fearless
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For some strange reason, I’ve always enjoyed hearing demos and working versions of familiar tracks by fave musicians. Like peering into an artist’s sketchbook, these “bare-bones” run-throughs (warts and all) often give us a sneak peek into the creative process. Dylan’s “Bootleg Series” is a prime example.
Crosby, Stills & Nash “Demos” is a newly released collection of working versions by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, both individually and collectively (though Neil Young sits in on one track), produced by Graham Nash and long-time friend Joel Bernstein. Though by no means as interesting as say Neil Young’s “Archives” series or the aforementioned Dylan example, “Demos” does offer up a dozen tracks that have never been officially released.
I must admit that I’ve never really been a fan of the production work on the first CSN(Y) studio releases (CSN (1969) and Déjà Vu (1970)). Though vital for their era, several of the tracks (“Marrakesh Express” and “Déjà Vu,” for instance) have always seemed a bit flat and lifeless in their fully produced standard versions. “Demos” now gives us a chance to hear a few of those songs in their original form without added instrumentation and late 60s studio “sweetening” (or “flattening,” as it were).
Pleasant surprises here are the 1968 demo of “My Love Is A Gentle Thing” by Stills and a pre-Nash version of “Long Time Gone” by Crosby and Stills from June 1968. Not drastically different arrangements (as is sometimes the case with such early versions), but intimate and sometimes inspired run-throughs of some of their most significant work in relatively unaltered form. No real revelations here, but some interesting and pleasing listening.
Here’s “Marrakesh Express” from BBC television in 1970...
Music
Crosby, Stills & Nash “Demos"
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http://www.catalog.kpl.gov/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/5?searchdata1=Demos%7BTI%7D+AND+Crosby,%20Stills%20&%20Nash%20%7BAU%7D
In the early 1970's, three African-American R&B musicians from Detroit transformed their sound after being inspired by local musicians, Alice Cooper, the Stooges and MC5. The trio called themselves Death, which did not sit well with the Columbia Records executive who funded their first recording session in 1974. The unwillingness to change their name was literally the "Death" of the band and their debut record was never released commercially.
Music critics have hailed Death as being "visionaries" in the punk movement. Their sound straddles the line between punk, funk, and arena rock. Death could have been playing to sold out shows at Cobo Hall, but instead ended up being a footnote in the history of Detroit music.
The Drag City label has rescued the never released record For the Whole World to See for fans of the early punk sound. Check out this Motor City band who was way ahead of their time and should be considered a catalyst for punk music in America.
Music
For the Whole World to See
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Tonight’s third annual Kalamashoegazer festival, organized by local dreampop icons glowfriends, confirms that a rock style long thought to be out of style is enjoying a healthy afterlife. Anyone unfamiliar with shoegazer music (named after shoegaze guitarists’ tendency to keep their eyes focused on their effects pedals) can initiate themselves with any of the glowfriends’ ethereal CD selections available for loan at KPL.
The uninitiated can also go straight to the groundbreaking 1991 release by shoegaze pioneers My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, to hear what’s generally regarded as the shoegaze masterpiece. Lush vocal harmonies float above a wash of searing guitars, distorted at an incredibly high volume, pitches bending wildly. However strange the mix sounds, the end result is, to my ears, quite beautiful - despite the overwhelming effect of the wall of guitars, melody is not sacrificed.
Live, MBV has been known to play so loudly that some audience members have claimed permanent hearing damage (earplugs are routinely offered for free at their gigs). It’s doubtful any of the bands playing Kalamashoegazer 3 will generate such dangerous volume levels, but it’s likely that the rush of sound will still awe those in attendance, and make shoegaze believers out of newcomers.
Music
Loveless
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