PopplagiWest's Last.fm Journal

Notes from Keith Jarrett's, "Spirits" Album

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:36:53 +0000

On the album Spirits, Keith Jarrett plays 18 instruments, using bare-bones multi-tracking to record. These are Keith's notes on the making of the album.

"These tapes were made in my studio in New Jersey without an engineer and without anything but cassette recorders. They were recorded during the month of May-June, 1985 with no purpose other than allowing them to happen; filling a need.

The music was not recorded with the intention of release to the public. During the month or so that the project lasted, I would go into the studio every day and "make" something. There was no "studio" feeling at all because I was alone with the instruments "at home". These instruments have lived with me for quite some time and there is a Pakistani flute (originally a nose flute) that I bought in Sweden in the 60's that plays a central role in these pieces. There also was no program to follow and, by far, most of the pieces were not written at all. Some of them that sound written were, also, not written. Spontaneity is what I worked with. Some flute and drum tracks were recorded "flute-first", others "drums-first". There were no rules followed in sequencing or arranging. When it felt finished it was finished.

Occasionally, when I added one more track, I would listen back and realize it was one too many. Since I could be in complete control I avoided controlling anything (including the recordings themselves). If there is such a thing as cosmic music, that music should certainly be in touch with the earth, which is the largest part of the cosmos to which we have access. What if so called "ethnic music" or "primitive" music really has been cosmic all along? (We've been wrong about other things). We see our mistakes in the name of progress. What if there is only one channel left for remembering this since religion has condoned it in order to survive? What if this channel is "art", because in its deepest sense, its moral sense, it is participation, not separation. What if art is the only way left to penetrate the armor we've built up to eliminate seeing our true nature. What if progress is a hot air balloon, and keeping people alive longer means nothing when there's so very little inside?

There must be something to do. Prayer is the doing of being. It is not asking, it is creating. There are already too many questions that cover up the only important ones. We must do something. We must be something. We must will something. Musicians occupy an interesting place because music can penetrate, even against opinions, as long as it is heard. Electronic music for the moon is just more "progress-filibustering". We try to cover up the less and less we are by wanting more and more we haven't got. What are we? There's a question. We must give up something to know the answer: our blind assuredness, our naive "hope" for the "future", our identity, our personality. It's not like a treasure hunt. We are the treasure, but we don't want the responsibility of caring for it. Our most intimate truths are the universal mysteries. We think that after solving the next problem everything will be all right. ("Let's see, if I could afford a synthesizer, I could be a great musician")

.........one more thing, one more thing, and then........

We need to find the strength to feel what we feel: to be what we are. There's a small sacrifice involved: we must give up what we thought we knew. That "giving up" is the state of surrender (or possession) in which positive, creative music can be made. Anything else is a continuation of our conditioned assumptions. When you drop your attitude towards something, you can see what that thing is. But, first, you must know it in every possible aspect. "Knowing" and "Seeing" (understanding) are totally different in quality. Then, you may enter and drop your pile of goods, separate no more, vital to the core; like the earth; like the cosmos.

I cannot say what I think is right about this music; I only know the "rightness" of it. I know it when I hear it. There is a release, a flowing out, a fullness to it that is not the same as richness or musicality. I can talk about it in this way because I do not feel that I "created" this music as much as allowed it to "emerge". It is this emergence that is inexplicable and incapable of being made solid, and I feel (or felt) as though not only do you never step in the same river twice, but you are never the same when stepping in the river. The river has always been there, despite our polluting it.

This is a miracle, and in this day and age we need it.

At least I do." - Keith Jarrett

Joe Henry - God Only Knows (VIDEO)

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 14:54:20 +0000

Joe Henry - God Only Knows

darkness settles on the ground
leaves the day stumbling blind
coming to a quiet close
and maybe just in time

we'd almost lost the heart to know
how to keep our best in mind
we'd almost lost the heart to know...
how to keep our best in mind

time has turned an angry face
and throws a dark eye back to sea
that what will pass for mercy now
how we practice unforgivingly

as is if might and will make right
or either one could make us free
as if might and will make right
or either one could make us free

lovers laugh and cross this way
weaving out into the street
it seems we never were so young
or it was never quite so sweet

but the world is always beautiful
when its seen in full retreat
the worst of life looks beautiful
as it slips away in full retreat

well god only knows that we can do
no more or less that he'll allow
well god only knows that we mean well
and god knows that we just don't know how

but i've tried to be your light and love
and pray that is enough for now
i tried to be your light and love
and i'll pray that is enough for now

Top Albums of 2008 (So Far)

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:41:24 +0000

This isn't any kind of definitive list, just a list I'll keep adding to, so I'm not going crazy at the end of the year to try and remember all of the ones that really moved me through out the year. What are your top albums so far?

Matthew Ryan - Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State
de la Mancha - Atlas
Brian Blade (Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band) - Season of Changes (Album of the Year)
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Hecq - Night Falls
Paul Bley - About Time
The American Dollar - A Memory Stream
Lotte Kestner - China Mountain (solo debut from Trespassers William's, Anna-Lynne Williams)
Lights Out Asia - Eyes Like Brontide
Blackfilm - Blackfilm
Joan as Police Woman - To Survive
Subheim - Approach
Snow & Voices - What the Body Was Made For
Daniel Lanois - Here Is What Is
Dday One - Heavy Migration
Cat Power - Jukebox
Paper Route - Are We All Forgotten EP
T Bone Burnett - Tooth of Crime
Balmorhea - Rivers Arms
The Jealous Girlfriends - The Jealous Girlfriends
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Gregor Samsa - Rest
Hammock - Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow
The Teenage Prayers - Everyone Thinks You're The Best
The Seven Mile Journey - The Metamorphosis Project
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Shark's Teeth
Slow Dancing Society - Priest Lake Circa ’88
Portishead - Third
Her Name is Calla - The Heritage
The Cinematic Orchestra - Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Autumn's Grey Solace - Ablaze
Greg Laswell - How the Day Sounds EP
Gregor Samsa - Rest
Travis - J. Smith
The Drift - Memory Drawings
Shearwater - Rook
Over the Rhine - Live From Nowhere, Vol. 2
Beck - Modern Guilt
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Library Tapes - Fragments EP
Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Brad Mehldau Trio - Brad Mehldau Trio Live
Experimental Aircraft - Third Transmission
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Revisited
Peter Broderick - Float
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
pg.lost - It's Not Me, It's You!
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie - After the Night Falls
Cornelius - Gum
The Daysleepers - Drowned In A Sea of Sound
Ef - I Am Responsible
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Winona - Rosebud
Cassandra Wilson - Loverly
Ben Woods - A Collection Of Thoughts
Jasper TX- This Quiet Season
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Bill Frisell - History, Mystery
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
July Skies - The Weather Clock
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Beach House - Devotion
Various Artists - Little Darla Has A Treat For You v.25: Endless Summer 2007-08 Edition
British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
Wayne Jackson - The Long Goodbye

Top 5 Recent Last.FM Album Discoveries

Wed, 7 May 2008 00:57:38 +0000

These may be old to some people, but they were new to me and if you haven't had the chance to hear any of them, definitely check them out.

1. Slow Dancing Society - The Slow and Steady Winter

www.myspace.com/slowdancingsociety

Words won't do this ambient album justice. I had the pleasure of listening to it out on a river this morning - it's music made for crisp air and the morning sun. Imagine Brian Eno meets Ólafur Arnalds meets Eluvium meets M83 meets Balmorhea, meets something so familiar, it's strange.

His 2006 release, The Sound of Lights When Dim is equally as moving.

2. Immanu El - They'll Come, They Come

www.myspace.com/immanuelband

When you're young and you've already opened for Sigur Ros only good things can happen. Immanu El, originally hailing from Sweden, is a wonderful contribution to the post-rock catalogue, with spiritual lyrics and intense, passionate vocals.

3. tobias lilja - Time Is On My Side

www.myspace.com/tobiaslilja

Tobias himself writes of the album, "Time is on my side" was all about spontanity and roughness. I felt I wanted to incorporate my own voice, and during the early recording sessions I improvised freely over ambient sketches trying to capture the energy of the moment. On Ex-leper, I used the harmonium as an organic element, but with my voice I could also add lyrics. The idea was to make the music more upfront and personal - taking it from the background to the foreground. Lyrically, the album revolves between three themes: time, choices and longing. A long for lost loves, new times or just being able to sleep.

4. Tearwave - Tearwave

www.myspace.com/tearwave

Shoegaze. Newgaze. Nugaze. Whatever you call it. It's great. This band from upstate New York gets it right. Fans of My Bloody Valentine, Asobi Seksu, Slowdive, Holler, Wild Rose! and Blonde Redhead will love them.

5. The Seven Mile Journey - The Metamorphosis Project (2008)

www.myspace.com/thesevenmilejourney

I am a sucker for great albums - those albums that stand as a whole and feel more like one long song, instead of a collection tracks. The Metamorphosis Project, the latest from the Danish quartet, is a story, a great story, told in post-rock prose and as one reviewer said, "it is executed with such precision and detail that it makes you shiver." If you enjoy Godspeed You Black Emperor, Destroyalldreamers, Johnnytwentythree, Ef, Mono and Mogwai, you have to give these guys a listen.

Popplagi

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:57:01 +0000

Popplagi by Sigur Rós live from the end of their film, Heima.

Charlatans Give Away New Album for FREE

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 11:33:54 +0000

Charlatans Give Away New Album for FREE

The Charlatans, aka the Charlatans UK, are offering their 10th album You Cross My Path as a free download over at XFM, as one zip or as individual tracks. Says frontman Tim Burgess, "We always knew this album was gonna be given away for free, even before we started writing so we wanted to make it the best album we've ever made. This isn't a case of left over tracks and b-sides, we wanted to give our fans a quality record."

Manager Alan McGee agreed, "I completely mean it when I say this is their best record, their best since, Telling Stories. I think for ten years they've been a brilliant band, but they haven't fulfilled their full potential until now."

You Cross My Path will get also show up as a CD and 45 box set on 5/19 via Cooking Vinyl. Below is the video for, "Oh! Vanity," one of the first two singles from the new album.

You can download the whole album by clicking here:http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2008/download-charlatans-new-album-for-free

NIN - Ghosts I-IV

Mon, 3 Mar 2008 11:19:11 +0000

The new NIN collection is "the first four volumes" of an instrumental work entitled Ghosts, and you can get yourself a download of Vol. 1 (nine DRM-free MP3s + 40 page PDF) for the price of nothing. A free agent's gotta eat, though, so if you are in a particularly charitable/completist sort of mood, dig into the higher tiers of participation: $5 gets you a download of all four volumes/36 tracks, $10 gets you the download + the collection on two CDs, $75 comes with a fabric slipcase and a data DVD and other crazyness, and for $300 he'll sign stuff and give you the collection on vinyl and probably cook you dinner if you ask nicely.

Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

Choose your price plan at ghosts.nin.com ... and then confess/brag to the rest of us; we're curious to see if Trent will be less despondent after this one.

New Elbow Single Debuts on BBC1

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:28:31 +0000

Elbow's first single since 2005 is coming out on March 10th. Zane Lowe had the exclusive play of 'Grounds For Divorce' last night and Elbow has just put a clip of it up on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/elbowmusic

If you want to hear the full track click on the link below to go to the Radio One Website player and listen again to Zane Lowes Thursday night show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/

http://dancingafterhours.blogspot.com/

Radiohead plays DJ on BBC

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:35:46 +0000

As Pitchfork news reported a week ago, BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe is on holiday and a number of bands are hosting his show in his absence. Today (January 18th) was Radiohead's turn. Here's a couple of hours of what Thom Yorke and Ed O'Brien have been digging, including, among older tracks by Sonic Youth and XTC, more recent songs by M.I.A., !!!, Grizzly Bear, Holy Fuck, and hey, even Iron and Wine. (From Pitchfork News)

Stream:> Radiohead: BBC Radio 1 DJ Set

19:00

mia - 'Paper Planes' (XL)
The Bug - 'Poison Dart' (South Rawkus remix) (Ninja Tune)
Kings of Leon - 'Charmer' (Sony)
Sonic Youth - 'Youth Against Fascism' (DGC)
!!! - 'Heart Of Hearts' (Warp)
Modeselektor - 'The Dark Side Of The Sun' (BPitch)
Os Mutantes - 'A Minha Menina' (.)

Hottest Record In The World
Burial - 'Archangel' (Hyperdub)

Sugar Bear - 'Dont Scandalize Me' (Solid State)
Happy Mondays - 'Wrote For Luck' (Factory)

20:00

AFX - 'Crying In Your Face' (DGC)
Bass Clef - 'Ballad of The Broken' (.)
XTC - 'Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)' (Virgin)
Holy Fuck - 'Lovely Allen' (Young Turks)
Jorge Ben - 'Umba-bara-uma' (Philips)
Carl Craig - 'Demented (Laurent Garnier Edit)' (Planet E)

Jonny from the band on the phone
Tomas Anderson - 'Happy Happy' (Bpitch)
The Damned - 'New Rose' (Stiff)
Asian Dub Foundation - 'Naxalite' (London)
Iron And Wine - 'The Devil Never Sleeps' (Sub Pop)
Konono No1 - 'Lufuala Ndonga' (Hyperdub)
Grizzly Bear - 'He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)' (Warp)

Scotch Mist, a film by Radiohead (VIDEO)

Fri, 4 Jan 2008 03:33:52 +0000

Radiohead have outdone themselves again. Over the New Year's, the group released a film called "Scotch Mist" which features the group performing every track from In Rainbows. The film can be viewed below.