Beausoleil

I saw the well-known Cajun band Beausoleil perform a free concert on the quad at UC Davis last night. It was perfect weather for a picnic/concert on the green. I used to listen to this band a lot, even before I worked for their first label, and last night was a reminder of why.

I generally prefer more archaic Cajun music, such as the incomparable Wade Fruge (check out J'ai Ete Au Bal for some beautiful footage of traditional Cajun music), but the musicianship of Beausoleil is outstanding. I think Michael Doucet keeps getting better and better (he can also be heard on the arch-traditionalist Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, along with Marc and Ann Savoy).

Beausoleil has a new album out. I have not heard it yet, but if it reflects what I heard last night, it will be good.

John Taverner, Proulx, and the rest of those Insipid Twits

The worst aspect of our musical culture, worse, even, than crime and violence saturated (c)rap music, are the timid, dull, inept twits that make up the backbone of the neo-tonalist movement. They generally merge their awful harmonic retreads with gimpy mysticism, a general feel-good worldview, and a rabid dislike of anything more interesting than their own pap.

As a rule, they are long-haired, "thenthitive" types who often dabble in vegetarianism, pouting, yoga, and other false religions. They tend to be (surprisingly) heterosexual, and use these nasty limp-wristed traits to attract the wrong sort of women.

The first of these on my list, John Taverner, a boring schlockmeister from England, is probably the worst of the bunch. Repulsed by the logic of the Western Tradition he went Eastern Heterodox and now seems to have moved even farther into Blavatsky land. It will be a good day when the last score of Taverner's treacle rots and the last recording is found unplayable.

"But," sputters my readers, "Proulx! How can you say that?"

Easy. Proulx is nothing but Marty Haugen played on pipe organ instead of piano/guitar. Useless, boring, awful. A disgrace to the traditions of the church, not the restoration thereof. Blech!

It looks like it's that time again...

Don Jim has his latest list up. So, here's mine:

1. "Infernum + Gaillard" composed by Anthony Holborne (1550-1603), performed by the Amsterdam Loeki Stardus Quartet.
2. "Segesta" by Lino Cannavacciuolo
3. "Sea of Heartbreak" written by Hal David/Paul Hampton and sung by Johhny Cash with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4. "Ricordati Ragazzo" by Natalino Otto
5. "Here's That Rainy Day" written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen and sung by Tony Bennett
6. "Lost Mind" written by Percy Mayfield and sung by Diana Krall
7. "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by The Smiths
8. "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock
9. "Refrain 2" composed by Stephen Stubbs and performed by John Potter, Stephen Stubbs, John Surman, Maya Homburger and Barry Guy
10. "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed

Jacques Brel

Is there anyone who writes songs like this anymore?

Sad News from Jamaica

For anyone who has ever had any interest in ska or reggae, The Harder They Come was a landmark film. Its director died recently.

When I played ska, we were definitely out of the Two Tone School, and that was the stuff that my bandmates were really into. My first love in Ska/Reggae, however, was the Studio One sound, with its more relaxed rhythm, its complex horn lines, its more Latinate percussion, and its rougher edges. The early reggae of The Harder They Come, including the title track, came right out of that great sound.

By the way, if you want a more modern and very fun cop film set in Jamaica, check out Third World Cop. It definitely owes a debt to The Harder They Come. Sort of like Spillane in Jamaica with a Sly and Robbie soundtrack.

73 Martini Day Pledge Break

It is twenty to two and, so far, we only have six cocktails pledged. I know that my readers can do better than that. We have sixty-seven to go. Let's step up to the plate and not let this special observance go by. Next year we will need to get 74 pledged, and, frankly, if we can't get 73 this year, I don't know if we can keep up our end.

If it keeps on...they will even try to bring back Prohibition.

"Old Bill ran for Sheriff
Against the Proh-I-bition Man.
He swore he'd drink the county dry
If the folks would put him in.

It almost tickled the wets to death
When the dries got drunk on Old Bill's breath.

Old Bill Jones was a son of a gun,
When he got a good drink or two."

-Ozark folk song "Bill Jones"

We could always have someone put in a matching grant challenge! Make your pledges here or below.

Ah yes, but I said Stan Getz

Sorry. I went to find some Getz and got distracted by Monk. It happens.

To make amends (warning, the sound level is quite low on this one, so if you turn it up, remember to turn it down later):

But most people, when they hear "Getz" want to hear (remember, turn the volume down if you listened to the last one):

And after that you can be forgiven if you want to just get lost in Brasil...

But now we are clearly off the topic!

For Those Of You Who Do Not Like Radioactive Cicadas...

Mr. Riddle, in the same breath that he calls Set Sail for the Sun "indistinguishable from cicadas, except perhaps by volume," goes on to laud Space Age Bachelor Pad Tiki Music. Now, you might be surprised to know that I love this stuff, too. In fact, in Martin Denny's stranger moments, he and Stockhausen shake hands behind the Mai Tais.

Recently, I have relied on this show out of Kansas Public Radio to provide a source for this sort of thing. There are a couple of others out there, too, like Space Age Pop.com that provide background information as well as plenty of discographies and links.

I will let you guess who my favorite easy listening musician is.

It is really not too hard, if you think about it for a bit.

While you are trying to figure it out, I will be down at the bullring by the sea...

Finally, one last bit of Stockhauseniana...

The interview is much more interesting than the introduction, although the excerpts from Licht are quite fun. My favorite part of this is towards the end where he is asked about traditional music and whether or not he wants to break from it.

Reflective Pond

For those who want some visuals to go with their Stockhausen...