Archive for July, 2008
Listening to: Seeed, Live
Posted on | July 15, 2008 | No Comments
Reggae from Germany. Why not? Is it surprising that Germans can get their groove on and sound indistinguishable from Jamaicans? Francophone Europe has a long tradition of embracing reggae, particularly reggae from Africa (Alpha Blondy, Lucky Dube, etc.). Germany has, in the last few years, developed its own authentic reggae/dancehall scene with acts like Gentleman, Mono & Nikitaman and Nosliw. But the biggest, most popular reggae outfit from Germany is without a doubt Seeed (yes, three e’s). In the (apparently spectacular) live configuration, there are 11 band members, a whole soccer team’s worth.
So far, they’ve made three studio records (four if you count a somewhat silly ‘compilation’ for the English-speaking market) and the Live record I’m talking about here. The music is a blend of modern roots reggae and dancehall. The lyrics are half in German and half in English (the English is a very authentic-souding Jamacian patois, no less). The fun factor is writ large, and this is immensely entertaining summertime music (as is most reggae… but then I’m a bit of a reggae aficionado). As an English-speaking person, your entertainment and amusement mileage may vary with this. Musically, it’s fantastic – in my opinion more elegant, musically spirited and better arranged and produced than much of commercial new reggae out of Jamaica these days (excepting, maybe, Damian Marley’s recent records, which are lovely).
Seeed often celebrate Berlin, their city, so there’s a lot of ‘local patriotism’ in their lyrics. A lot of ‘Berlin’ boasting to go with the Seeed boasting. Seeed’s message is empowering. Lyric sample (with loose translation):
[Du] befreist alle Tiere aus allen Zoos | Bringst den Frieden direkt nach Nah-Ost | Jeder fragt sich, woher hat der die Power bloss? | Seeed Sound macht kleine Typen gross
You free all the animals from all the zoos | You bring peace to the Middle East | Everybody’s asking, how did he become so powerful? | Seeed’s sound makes little guys huge
Seeed has apparently had some success in Jamaica, with tracks like ‘Waterpumpee’ (Anthony B guests) and ‘Dickes B’ (with Black Kappa). That’s a big stamp of approval for a band from Germany.
This is party music, drive-your-car-with-the-windows-down-and-turn-it-up music. There will be summer wherever you decide to play this. And if you happen to understand German, you’ll laugh a lot. (As I’m writing this I realize that perhaps, this is the ultimate in ‘long tail’ music: there’s me and, like, ten other devoted reggae fans who will fully appreciate this music, bilingually, for the humour in both languages.)
Currently reading
Posted on | July 14, 2008 | No Comments
Intelligent review and notes here: Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools.
Listening to: Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986
Posted on | July 10, 2008 | No Comments
This is a really great little compilation that neatly summarizes an era and a particular sound. Compass Point was Island Records’ founder Chris Blackwell’s studio in Nassau in the Bahamas. It was a very popular recording studio in the early 1980s – lots of ‘big’ acts recorded ‘big’ records there, like AC/DC’s Back in Black and the Stones’ Tattoo You and countless others.
But Chris Blackwell had also assembled a kickass ‘house band’ consisting of Sly & Robbie and a few other reggae and new wave greats. This band supported artists like Grace Jones and is responsible for creating the legendary ‘Compass Point Sound,’ a blend of reggae, disco and new wave/no wave.
This compilation presents an informative and entertaining cross-section of Compass Point’s 1980s output. The liner notes are excellent and (almost) worth the purchase price by themselves.
A related recommendation:
Vastly more entertaining and vital than you probably think. Most importantly, there’s something very contemporary about this sound. I’m not sure what it is, but it still sounds relevant. Maybe this band really was so far ahead of its time and it’s full relevance is only now coming into orbit. For me, anyway :)
Commented bookmarks for July 9th, 2008
Posted on | July 9, 2008 | No Comments
Bookmarks for the last few days:
- 5 Whys – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – The 5 Whys is a question-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem.
- Five Easy Ways to Go Organic – Well – Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog – The key is to be strategic in your organic purchases.
- Village Telco – an easy-to-use, scalable, standards-based, wireless, local, do-it-yourself, telephone company toolkit
Oliver Schroer dies at 52
Posted on | July 9, 2008 | No Comments
Sad news this morning on CBC Radio 1: Toronto fiddler Oliver Schroer died from leukemia on July 3, 2008.
I had only recently discovered Oliver’s music and blogged about it at length. Sensitive obits from TheStar.com here and here.
Similarities
Posted on | July 7, 2008 | No Comments
The New Yorker recently ran an article about American Idol in which its (very perceptive) rock critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, observes that “pop is too old to have a single, collective memory anymore.” He saw evidence of this during the show’s Beatles weeks, where it was clear that many of the (young) contestants didn’t know the original songs at all and had to learn them literally from scratch, something that for most people over, say, 30, would be incomprehensible.
This led me down a path of thought regarding my own Gen X musical journey, and how I’m able to see parallels where others may not.
Much of pop today seems self-consciously ‘retro’ in some way; in fact, that may be its main mode right now. Uniqueness today stems from an act’s ability to differentiate itself from the morass of other vaguely, or not-so-vaguely, retro acts. What makes Franz Ferdinand stand out from all the other British ‘indie’ bands, for example? They’re good musicians and songwriters. How about Arcade Fire? They’re a wacky Montreal troupe with grand ambitions and a big sound (and you can hear them inch, album after album, closer and closer to U2 circa Rattle and Hum).
But it’s more exciting to discover an unexpected parallel; a moment of intersection that isn’t planned or intentional, and therefore not self-conscious. When somebody does something not in order to be like somebody else, but when it ends up being similar anyway.
Genuine parallel developments often happen in history. Malcolm Gladwell‘s New Yorker piece ‘In the Air‘ points out that the history of science is littered with ‘multiples’ – simultaneous discoveries of new technologies, for example, by different people and in different geographic locations. Often, it’s commerce (or chance) that determines which of the equivalent inventions makes it, and which does not.
Music is very far from science in this way. I think it’s reasonable to say that there are few truly parallel developments in music where two different geographies create the same sound at the same time. Music travels, is heard, musicians are influenced. There’s always a fascinating ‘travel’ story at the heart of unexpectedly great musical discoveries: for example, Senegal’s own version of Cuban son/salsa, which was brought to Africa by seamen in the 1960s.
I like the more ’roundabout’ musical parallels I sometimes discover. For example, Sting’s Bring On the Night and the Dave Matthews Band’s Live at Piedmont Park. It’s all there even if it’s 20 years apart: the extended jams, the long, long tracks, the jazzy improvisations that painstakingly make sure their rhythmic footing remains rock not jazz, etc.
In terms of instrumentation, Dave Matthews Band is the least guitar-focused band of the big stadium touring bands. Dave’s guitar is always acoustic, mostly used for rhythm purposes, and never in the foreground. Sting, on Bring On the Night, played guitar for the first time (or at least in recorded history), having been a bass player throughout his tenure in The Police. As a result of doing double-duty on vocals and guitar, his playing is subdued, rhythm-focused, and not in the foreground.
Another striking point of similarity is the extended piano improvisations by Kenny Kirkland (for Sting) and Butch Taylor (for DMB). Decades apart, the stylistic similarities are too eerie to be ‘planned’ and Taylor is too independent a musician to have deliberately chosen to sound like Kirkland. But as the piano element became more and more pronounced on DMB live recordings during the 2000s, the overall sonic impact of DMB live – to me – became more and more like Sting’s circa 1986.
I’m wondering what other accidental musical parallels you may know about similar to this. Leave a comment if you like.
Currently reading
Posted on | July 6, 2008 | No Comments
keep looking »
Recent Posts on Changebowl, Carsten’s other blog- Playing around with Ontario electoral geography August 11, 2010
- HelTweetica for iPad July 20, 2010
- Facebook privacy & digital NIMBY July 19, 2010
- What we can learn from gear porn May 31, 2010
- Are creativity and intellectual property rights inversely proportional? May 27, 2010
- Comparing the tech giants May 2, 2010
- Corporate applications and content on smartphones March 21, 2010
About
Carsten Knoch
Attentive music listener, reader, vegetarian, affordable audio hobbyist, software and services professional, vision enabler, instigator, product manager, marketer, thinker, writer, blogger, tinkerer, Internet dweller since 1992
Teabowl is my blog about music, vegetarian food, books, art and life.
Teabowl's sister blog Changebowl discusses technology, community, design and business.
