Mind the Gap!

swaying to and fro, its the only way to go, on the subway.

-To childhood too sweet to be left alone by the corrosive influence of the modern world. Coming to America at a young age meant looking to the idiot box for signs of identity. In Hindsight, I see how dangerous this could have been. But thanks in part to my rudimentary knowledge of programming schedules, and the ease of my delightability, I became completely engrossed and founded my dreams on the backs of the muppets. Leave it to Humans to viciously poke, prod and taunt a good thing into a clean unoffensive corner. Today, the muppets are ludovico treated pc saps, and the dvd release of the old shows come with a dire warning: Showing these to children may induce pillaging/ and or punk rock sentiments...

this article sums the carnage up rather nicely...

Hot Chip - One Pure Thought (Supermayer remix) (savefile)

Taj Mahal, Ramata Diakité & Toumani Diabaté

Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabaté.
"Queen Bee," a song with bluesy lovesick lyrics and the rich sounds of Mali.
Listen and download here at Savefile.

As far as categorical titles go, "world music" is probably one of the worst. It implies that everything that doesn't hail from the West belongs in one huge category, when everything actually seems to influence each other (think of Vampire Weekend constantly being referred to as "Afro-pop" - the picture above is from afropop.org!). This song by Taj Mahal, Ramata Diakité and Toumani Diabaté is a beautiful example of a fusion of the music of Mali and the blues. I found this little gem on a buried-away CD called "One World, Many Cultures." The inside slip informs me that Taj Mahal feels "the music of Mali shares a strong musical connection to the blues." So in 1999, he formed a trio with these two Malians, one of whom has a gorgeous voice (Diakité); the other, Diabaté, is a kora player.

Bon Iver - The Wolves (Act I and II)

The beautifully haunting Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) was introduced to me by my co-blogger but the video lurking was done all by myself. "The Wolves (Act I and II)" features heartbreaking echo-y vocals, like he's simultaneously wincing and soothing his own pain. The story behind the video is as melancholy and strange as the song itself: shortly after arriving in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the director, Matt Amato, received news that one of his best friends had passed away. He ultimately decided to stay and film the video; from the original story: "Almost by default, Matt remained in Eau Claire in the company of his newest acquaintance. Something about it was safe, and that was enough. The next morning, Matt read the lyrics to 'The Wolves' and felt as if those were the exact words he needed to hear from his departed friend."

To me, the video looks like what Everett Ruess would film on one of his escapades in the wilderness, had he had access to a camera, to supplement the prose he wrote and woodcuts he made. One of the perhaps most random parts I like best about the song is when a musically-anachronistic auto-tune effect (a la T-Pain) is used as he sings "What might have been lost."

John Vanderslice live at the Windmill, Brixton 6-3-08

John Vanderslice- Guitars, Vocals
Ian Bjornstad - Moog Synth, Wurlitzer
Dave Douglas - Drums, Moog

Commuting to Brixton was a long and arduous affair, marked by chance busrides and lightning quick tube changes. Luck was on my side as I narrowly squeezed into several important moments in Public Transportation, but I arrived at the windmill in the nick of time, minutes before John Vanderslice began to play, with enough time to arrange for a guinness to be placed in my thirsty palms. His set was mechanically accurate in execution, but intimately heartfelt in delivery. These guys knew each other perfectly, were completely in step, but still managed to behave with all the camaraderie of a small farming family... They had us in stitches time and again, before launching into the sometimes dizzying arrangement of darkly melodious jangle pop dissonance and lyrical self scrutiny... Vanderslice's songs oscillate constantly between stripped bare singer/songwriter fare and hauntingly composed multi storey consciousness explorers...The effect of both was quite remarkable...

After about twelve songs, John proclaimed that although this would be the official last song, more would follow on the patio, and indeed it did... Wading gingerly through the crowd and strumming "my 424" with the accompaniment of the deeply devoted multitudes, He and the band set up shop on board an outdoor wooden table, and cooed and cooed with subtle magic. Whilst confidently serenading us with "letter to the east coast", Ian took on the guise of Melvillean weathered sailor, with one leg propped on the table and lofting a canorous concertina! After deftly rapping on a discarded beer bottle, drummer Dave produced from nowhere a xylophone, and carefully put the song to bed. More followed, and we squealed with delight, like neglected POWs being rescued by Americans in Tanks decorated with ribbons. Never has so much care been given to the perfection of a show that I've seen... Even after all was said and done, A jubilant John and co. engaged willingly with their fans, actively pursuing us, asking us questions, and sharing anecdotes. A nice bunch of people, to say the least.

some songs:::

Trance Manual(mp3) from 2005's Pixel Revolt...

Pale Horse(mp3) from 2004's Cellar Door... The lyrics are adapted from P. Shelley's the Mask of Anarchy, which is bloody good anyway....

there are loads more mp3s at JV's website,
and his new album, Emerald city, can be completely streamed from the dude's myspace

If you get a chance, do see him live...

Bukka White

"I play so rough - I stomp 'em - I don't peddle 'em"

District Attorney Blues
(savefile-follow the links)

Shake 'em on down
(savefile)

Both these groovy numbers were written whilst Bukka served two years time for getting into a brawl in 1937. The guy was a professional boxer, and I'm sure he earned his sentence well. When later asked about his experience in the slammer, he responded nonchalantly, "Well, I mostly played guitar". Awesome.