Music For Airports

Just listened to an interview with Brian Eno. A person I've always found interesting in a nerdy kind of way. Some of his job titles would be, futurologist (paid to think up ideas for the future in the areas of urban design, transport and culture), music producer, musician, visual artist, composer (the clown responsible for the annoying windows start up music, ambient music), perfumer (is that what they're called?), arts festival curator, rock star (roxy music), political activist/commentator, newspaper columnist, author, and, thinker/strategist, amongst other pigeon holes.

How much can you pack into a life? The sheer breadth (never mind the depth) of what he does is astounding, I have trouble just thinking about surfing and going to work. Leonardo Da Vinci was also a huge breadth thinker type of guy.

Regards

TheBagwan

The Berlin Trilogy

I usually discover music 10, 15 years after it was made, don't know why, thats just the way it appears on my radar. I'm happy with that, so I think I'll just keep that flow going. My latest discovery has been David Bowies Berlin Trilogy. The albums Low, Heroes and Lodger. Way ahead of their time. Produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and also featuring Brian Eno. The muso's used in this trilogy went on to form King Crimson.

Don't you wonder sometimes
'Bout sound and vision

Blue, blue, electric blue
That's the colour of my room
Where I will live
Blue, blue

Pale blinds drawn all day
Nothing to do, nothing to say
Blue, blue

I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
And I will sing, waiting for the gift of sound and vision
Drifting into my solitude, over my head

Don't you wonder sometimes
'Bout sound and vision.

Man, that is so deeep.

Regards
TheBagwan

The Tele..

Andy Summers writes about the love affair he has with his little '61 Tele and how it came to represent his ethos. Nice story.

(go to "in Andy's words")

Regards
TheBagwan

Talking about old ugly rockers, as we were...

Apparently the Stone Roses debut album, "Stone Roses" was twenty years old in April. No joke. The rave party kings are just another bunch of old farts like me.

The Maquis de Sade don't have no boots like these...

Regards

TheBagwan

The Doors

"What!? You've never heard of The Doors?" This guy said to me, it was many years ago, and I've forgotten the guys name John, Pete, but, he had one of the best record collections I'd ever seen. Hundreds of them. But, for some reason, what sticks in my mind was the look on his face when he said it. The look you give some one when you think they're weird beyond comprehension. "Its the The Doors, you know, Jim Morrison and the Doors". Who?

He shook his head and said nothing further. He was right though. As soon as I heard, John Densmore boson ova introduction to "Break on Through" I was hooked. Still am. Pity about Jim the poet, he peaked before his time, and extended his stay in Paris indefinitely. My mum went all the way to Paris to get me this picture of him, for me. The old girl rocks.

Regards

TheBagwan

The Hunners

The "Jaws of Life" was a concept album written about a crazed murderous truckie.

http://www.humanfrailty.com.au/albums/the_jaws_of_life.htm

Get out ya wife beater and a slab of VB...... The Slab (Betty's Worry).. best version..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdWEHT9sGrQ&feature=related

Regards
TheBagwan

Sunnyboys

Over christmas we were discussing who was the first band we ever saw. An episode of Rockwiz was on I think..

I thought it was the Sunnboys, circa 1982/3. Alas, I remembered it could well have been Elton John or slightly better maybe KC and the Sunshine band.

The Sunnyboys were very good live, better than their recorded sounds. Jeremy Oxley was the main singer/songwriter guitarist and was backed by an insanely tight rythm section consisting of his brother Peter Oxley on bass, Bill Bilson on drums and Richard Burgman on guitar.

Bilson and the Oxley's hailed from Kingscliff on the southern end of the Gold Coast, so to youngsters growing up on the Coast they were proudly ours. The Oxley's were also talented surfers, J Oxley was a state junior champion or the like, and members of Snapper Board Riders.

Rob Younger was in the mix to be the original vocalist but was replaced by J Oxley. Apparently they were pulling large crowds to gigs as soon as they started, INXS and Midnight Oil were their openers in those days. The self titled debut album was a success straight away. Remarkably, a lot of the songs were written by J Oxley when he was around 16-17. Sadly, J Oxley suffered from a debilitating illness and the band made a couple of more albums but never quite regained their original standing. They certainly remain one of the great bands of that era and one of my personal favourites of all time.

Interview with P Oxley:
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/1064/

Interview with R Burgman:
http://www.i94bar.com/ints/richardburgman.html

J Oxley's website:
http://www.sunnyboys.com.au/

Happy Man:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=D3drdluoYiE&feature=PlayList&p=7A4FF450BF87A8B5&playnext=1&index=25

Regards
TheBagwan

edit:

After a bit more reading found a far better interview with P Oxley:
http://brella.org/sandpebbles/sunnyboys.htm

Apparently Joe Penhall's play "Some Voices" was written about his friendship with J Oxley:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/beyond-the-sunny-side/2006/01/02/1136050387137.html

(Yer Joe that's why its known as "spiv city" up this way. Nice place to visit, fulla dickheads though)

The definitive collection:
http://www.feelpresents.com/thelabel/600/releases/sunnyboys/index.html

Driving musac

Can't drive anywhere without listening to something.

During the last trip I caned Tricky's "A Ruff Guide" which is more or less the best of Tricky up until 2001.

http://www.trickysite.com/tricky

http://www.brownpunkonline.com/brownpunk

Was a member of Massive Attack and part of the Bristol scene. I was instantly attracted to Maxinkaye, his first album through his cover of the Public Enemy song "Black Steel". Punk and best version below:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=5H3TqDu0Tmw

However, Maxinkaye was unlike anything I'd heard before, dark, brooding, strange soundscapes, overlaid with Martina Topley Birds amazing sugar coated voice. Surely one of the great albums of the 90's. "A Ruff Guide" needs a lot of listening as Tricky is an acquired taste. Once you start listening there is a hell of a lot going on in these songs, both musically and lyrically. Crazy chopped up beats odd out of place sounds, strangely depressing lyrics. The only drawback is that Tricky sings to much, and he can't, and doesn't try, but in the end, after a few listens, even that has its place.

My favourite tracks:

"Makes me want to die"
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=jiwmdhNuyqo

"Aftermath" typical Tricky type song from Maxinkaye
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YV1G8v0j28I

"Poems"
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ9pEAABU_I

Regards
TheBagwan

TISM Interview

Don't you understand.....! They're doing it for you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ZgwUDZCc0&feature=related

Regards
TheBagwan

Fool in the Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mws9rDmhePI

Who'd a thought a Bonham shuffle was so hard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWrDsMphoE&NR=1

Regards

TheBagwan

Chic and the Monk

Jazz fusion super group Return to Forever have reformed for a tour of the US. Not coming to Oz. The line up is Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola and Lenny White. My favourite track off the self titled Return to Forever album: "Crystal Silence" written by the brilliant Chick Corea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAkvx5L-zGE

Chic Corea website:

http://www.chickcorea.com

Return to Forever website:

http://return2forever.com/

Thelonious Monk is my other favourite Jazz pianist. I know nothing about music structure or theory, but from an outsider looking in Mr Monk is a fascinating player. Sort of offbeat and playful in that bebop way of things. Don't know how to describe him, so just listen to "Blue Monk".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhP1RgbrrY

Official Monk site:

http://www.monkzone.com/silent/biographyHTML.htm

Regards
TheBagwan

Johnny Rotten is fat, fifty and filthy rich..

and the Sex pistols are back on tour. Not in Oz, unfortunately.

http://www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk/

From a recent interview with Rotten:

"Johnny on...
Britain: 'A bland menagerie of pomp and idiocy. America's a pretty f----ed up place, but it's amazing to come back here and see it done even worse.'
Sex: 'There was so much sex around in the Seventies, it got very boring.'
Death: 'There's nothing glorious in dying. Anyone can do it.'
Bono: 'He should lay off the preaching. If you mean to do some good in this world you don't need to go bowing to the Pope.'
Sid Vicious's famous girlfriend, Nancy Spungen: 'Nancy was a pain in the arse, all over me. So I fobbed her off on Sid. From that moment, that was the end of both of them.'
The Eagles: 'Irrelevant. A band like that doesn't write songs that mean anything.'
Self-harming :'There are scars all up my arm. I stopped it [burning myself with cigarettes] when I got up to the top by my shoulder.'
The Queen's Honours List: 'They're bound to offer me a knighthood. They can stuff it - those institutions are the Devil incarnate.'
Malcolm McLaren: 'The most evil man alive.'"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/05/29/sv_johnlydon01.xml&page=1

Edited 01/06/2008: Note this passage in the article. "Before long he had formed Public Image Ltd (PiL), revealing a musical style more sophisticated than had been earlier evident. The band stayed together for 14 years before Lydon moved to Los Angeles and amassed a considerable fortune on the property market. " So Johnny's obviously pragmatic rather than idealistic.

Found a video of the Sex Pistols in full cry around thier heyday circa 1978. Sid with bloody chest, Rotten with his Laurence Olivier antics, with the awesome gutsy guitar sound of Steve Jones holding it together. Singing, screaming the song Bodies, live..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjyqpxkKJCM&feature=related

GetF**ked
TheBagwan