playlist from 10-10-10

For 10-10-10, I'm doing my first "topical" set.  This music highlights creative uses of the human voice.  Most of this music is entirely vocal-based, though a few tracks feature really wild singing in a larger ensemble context.  Though there are other musicians innovating in the area of vocal music, these musicians and groups are a great introduction to various kinds of approaches to the voice that often end up influencing those working in more "normal" forms of music as time goes on.

1. Segmenti due by Demetrio Stratos. From Metrodora, 1976, Cramps Records.

Stratos was the vocalist for Italian band Area from 1972 until his untimely death in 1979 at the age of 34. In addition to being a simply great singer with an enormous range, Stratos studied various disciplines related to music, the voice, and language. He was able to produce some truly unusual sounds with his voice, many of which were documented and are now available for the public to glimpse through the 2009 documentary, La voce Stratos.  Here's a youtube clip showing him in action in a variety of settings:

2. Si Veriash La Rana by Charming Hostess. From Sarajevo Blues, 2004, Tzadik.

Charming Hostess has been part of the West Coast avantgarde scene for a long time.  I remember first hearing of them in the late 90s, when Idiot Flesh was essentially their backing band for the album Eat.

Primary composer and bandleader Jewlia Eisenberg has continued to take the Charming Hostess project in a number of interesting directions.  The recent Bowls Project release, part of a multimedia installation, is a great album that touches on a variety of musical approaches.  This track, though, comes from 2004's Sarajevo Blues release, and really highlights the Hostess' ability to incorporate Bulgarian vocal harmonies and unique ornamentation...or as Eisenberg puts it in her liner notes, "Forced gender compliance for Bulgarian Jewish girls."

3. The Jump by Bobby McFerrin. From The Voice, 1984, Elektra Musician.

Almost everyone is familiar with Bobby McFerrin for his surprise 80s hit with "Don't Worry, Be Happy."  The reality is that he was a vastly accomplished vocal performer and musical mind before that, and he has continued to write music that is uplifiting and technically stunning.  I chose this track because I particularly admire his ability to make the kinds of giant intervalic leaps that he makes constantly in this song, but I can't really think of anything McFerrin has recording that I don't find both musically interesting and emotionally nourishing.

4. Where Is The Line by Björk. From Medúlla, 2004, Polydor.

As a "pop" artist with a long career of her own, and the Sugarcubes before that, Bjork has managed to continue making music that challenges her audience.  2004's Medulla album, a recording made entirely of voice-generated sounds, is probably the most extreme example of that.  However, the record isn't compositionally or orchestrationally thin for the decision--instead, Bjork works with a variety of choral groups and individuals with unusual voice talents to make the music as varied and rich as most records with additional instrumentation.  On this track, the percussion track is provided by Rahzel, lead melody vocals come from Bjork and Mike Patton (whose experiemental vocal work we'll cover below), and additional harmonic pads and accents are covered by the 22-voice Icelandic Choir.  A stunning recording, and there's a freaky video for the song, too:





5. Pulse by Zubi Zuva. From Jehovah, 1996, Tzadik.

Zubi Zuva is a vocal trio featuring Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins and Koenjihyakkei fame.  It's a playful project, and it's obviously intended to be mostly a fun/funny experience, but they do take some interesting musical chances in that space between singing and speaking that are worth a listen.

6. Voice by Maja Ratkje. From Voice, 2002, Rune Grammofon.

Ratkje is a really interesting composer and singer from Norway.  I've heard and enjoyed some of her work with the improv group Spunk, but I especially like her "Voice" album.  It's a great listening experience that manages to balance the beautiful and the bizarre.  You get a sense of her compositional skills making careful and deliberate use of her vocal technique to make this album work.

7. Song Of Schopsko by The Bulgarian State Radio And Television Female Vocal Choir. From Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares, 1986, 4AD.

The Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares CD series is probably responsible for most of Americans' familiarity with the Bulgarian vocal style, which includes odd, close-stacked harmonies with the occasional dissonance for emphasis, and very unusual ornamentation to melodies, which I've heard extended into other instrumental performances from the region, too (the Norweigan band Farmers Market is a great place to hear these ornaments on horns, accordions, and guitars).

8. Inconsolable Widows In Search Of Distraction by Mike Patton. From Adult Themes For Voice, 1996, Tzadik.

Mike Patton is probably best known for his work as vocalist in Faith No More and Mr. Bungle in the 90s, but he's a very busy man who co-founded Ipecac Records, composes for and plays in a variety of other bands and projects, and continues to surprise with every new recording.  This track, and another short track later in this playlist, are part of a small series of voice-based recordings that were made to 4-track cassettes in various hotel rooms on tour.  The limitation of the medium, however, didn't hold Patton back on tracks such as this one, where he's obviously bounced tracks of ululation sounds back and forth to create a massive throng of "inconsolable widows."  Perhaps even more fun listening to this album is thinking about what the folks in adjoining hotel rooms might have been feeling while these recordings were made!

In addition to his other prodigious talents as a conventional vocalist and composer, he might be the best screamer in the business.  Check out this performance as part of Zorn's Moonchild ensemble:



9. Burst by Tagaq. From Auk/Blood, 2008, Jericho Beach Music.

To tie into Patton above, his Ipecac label has also issued this recording.  I first heard of Tagaq when she performed on Bjork's Medulla album, also mentioned above.  There is a brief glimpse of Tagaq in the recording studio featured in Bjork's DVD about the making of Medulla, and I was really impressed with how much of herself she gets into while performing/recording.  Her whole album is a very original take on combining "art music" avant-garde techniques with traditional Inuit throat singing.  And yet the whole of the work remains appealing to people outside of both of those traditions, with a sort of primal appeal.  Great stuff.

10. Stimmung: Model 11 by Paul Hillier & Theatre of Voices. From Stockhausen: Stimmung, 2007, Harmonia Mundi.

This is taken from the middle of a Stockhausen vocal piece I really enjoy.  It's hard to give a quick summary of what's happening in long-form pieces like this, but basically drones are intoned, repeated, and modified over time, and names of deities are also intoned.  The piece functions through gradual change/synthesis.  For the purposes of this set of music, I liked the sounds of the gradually-shifting phonetic segments, which start to sound really bizarre when they're repeated and shifted within the ensemble.

11. Mahoko by Adachi Tomomi Royal Chorus. From Yo, 2003, Tzadik.

Yet another weird vocal release from Tzadik, Tomomi's "Royal Chorus" is a project of his intended to combine the work of professional and non-professional musicians.  Generally, the pieces are scored for 6-8 vocalists and can have a variety of notational approaches (rhythm defined but no pitch definition, for example).  These pieces tend toward musical humor in spots, but in others they remind me of that same transcendent approach to combining singing and speaking sounds heard in the Zubi Zuva record.

12. La Molina by Yma Sumac. From The Ultimate Yma Sumac Collection, 2003, The Right Stuff.

This is by far the most "normal" recording of this bunch, but Yma Sumac's voice absolutely puts her at the level of the other folks in this playlist.  Sumac had an enormous range, incredible control, and at times incorporated native vocal techniques and emulation of animals, etc into her performances, making her an interesting fit--and proving that even exotica and the avant-garde can exist in perfect harmony.

13. Wuxiapian Fantastique by Mike Patton. From Adult Themes For Voice, 1996, Tzadik.

We covered Patton a bit above...this track is a 17 second onslaught of voice overdubs placed close to and over each other.  This like this are really fun for me when I think about how much work can go into such a short recording, but the audio result is really fun.

14. Karolinka by Urszula Dudziak. From Malowany Ptak, 1997, Polonio.

In a way, Dudziak can be compared to Bobby McFerrin: both are very accomplished musicians with jazz/improv leanings, and both are better known as one hit wonders (hers was "Papaya" in the 70s) than for their long, complex, and rich careers.  Other than some jazz-meets-disco experiments, most of Dudziak's music tends to be fairly loose improv jazz stuff using all kinds of vocal approaches.  On that music, I hear a bit of a Phil Minton influence.  On her 1997 Malowany Park album, though, voice takes center stage in overdubbed pieces that often have grooves I'd associate with Bobby McFerrin.  She uses some effects on the record, notably octaver effects to drop her voice into an appropriate range for making vocal "basslines," but overall the music is well-arranged voice-songs that deserve a wider audience.

15. Prelude To Biocosmo Pt. Two by Boris Savoldelli & Elliott Sharp. From Protoplasmic, 2009, Moonjune Records.

I've been looking for Savoldelli's solo voice album for a while, but so far I haven't found it (no US distro, argh).  In the meantime, here's a track from his duet album with NYC stalwart Elliot Sharp playing guitar.  This music is possibly the most abstract and abrasive of this playlist, but still well-considered and made of sensitive interplay between the musicians.  Much of Savoldelli's live approach is based on a kind of "live overdub" concept using loop pedals and singing over them layer after layer.  While technically interesting, I've heard a lot of guitarists play loop-based music in a similar fashion, and I must admit I'm more entertained by the moments when he's interacting with Sharp moment to moment, with no loop-building in the background.  That said, Sharp is a layer-building live improvisor himself, so you never get away from that kind of technique for long on this record.

16. What white horse by André Goudbeek Quartet& Phil Minton. From As it happened, 1999, WIMpro.

I'm most fond of Phil Minton's work with Bob Ostertag's ensembles (by the way, you can learn about Ostertag's music and listen to any of it you'd like for free at his website), but I thought it might be fun to include this relatively "normal" track that features the Minton brand of singing with his arsenal of odd sounds (grunts, mouth sounds, etc) over a fairly conservative Goudbeek Quartet arrangement.  While I can't say that I'm a fan of a lot of Minton's work directly, he has influenced a large number of other vocalists and composers over his long career.  Minton's work shows many kinds of unorthodox sounds can be used to great effect if you're committed and sing like you mean it.

Here's a bit of Phil's take on the English folksong idiom to take us out:

Playlist from 10-3-10

1. Bengal Spice Mix  by End.  From Percussions, Tigerbeat6, 2004.

This playlist starts off with a danceable bang.  Not to be confused with Canada's metal band The End, or the British band, or the US record label, this End (sometimes capitalized or used with a period behind the word) is the work of NYC's Charles Peirce.  I haven't kept up with his newest music, but I've long been a fan of his 2004 release, The Sounds of Disaster, which mixes dance and breakbeat music with rock, rockabilly, and cinematic-sounding music to great effect.  I was listening to that record a lot during a period of immersing myself in some of JG Thirwell's instrumental music as Steroid Maximus, as the two share a similar approach and sound.  In the case of this track from the Percussions album, the source music used is from jazz and exotica sources, so it's  a more mellow experience than the Sounds of Disaster, but still very good.

Here's a recent video for an update on what he's been up to since these records:

2. Sagaie by 1980. From Self Titled, Trendkill Recordings, 2009.

1980 is a French band currently working in that ever-interesting field between metal and jazz influences.  So far, they only have one self-titled album, and it's a great first record.  1980 isn't afraid to use longer passages of mellow/introspective music when the need arises, which I appreciate.  On the other hand, they can throw and and thrash with the best of them, too.  And the jazz influence is legit: this gets far beyond the fake walking bass and swinging ride cymbal routine that some bands consider the "Jazz Odyssey."  Another good recommendation for those into Naked City, Silencio, and some other bands we'll continue to explore in coming weeks.

3.  Erase Yourself by Ron Miles.  From My Cruel Heart, Ryko/Gramavision, 1996.

In my opinion, My Cruel Heart might be the most under-rated, tragically under-appreciated albums of all time.  The follow-up album, Woman's Day, is no slouch, either.  Ron is a wonderfully sensitive trumpet player and composer, and on this album I understand that he was interested in exploring some sound ideas that occurred to him one day in a practice room at the University of Denver (my alma mater).  The old Lamont rooms were less than perfectly soundproof, and legend has it that Ron stopped practicing for a moment and became aware of a cool sound combination coming from the combination of a trumpet player in one adjoining room and an electric guitar player in the room on the other side.  Those kinds of juxtapositions, usually done in groups of two instruments playing "opposite" other pairs, happen in several awesome spots on this album.
That's not to say it's a harshly experimental record, however.  If you like your jazz more straight-forward, there are plenty of moments you'll love on this record.  And Ron has a knack for making the weirdest experiments and juxtapositions sound truly beautiful.  He's a great communicator with his music and his playing, and I wish more people got to hear his work.  For the moment, though, the records of this period are somewhat difficult to find, as Gramavision (Rykodisc) has let both of 'em slip out of print.  Fortunately for all of us, Ron's newer work, such as the amazing Stone/Blossom double disc, is available from Sterling Sound.

4.  Right Away by Pattern Is Movement.  From All Together, Hometapes, 2009.

This band started life as a five piece?--four piece?--I don't remember.  They've been living as a duo for their last couple of albums, though (drums and keys w/vocals), and it's remarkable how rich and full they sound.  From math-y beginnings among other Philly and NYC avant-rock acts, their mature sound focuses on gorgeous melodies and rich, sonorous arrangements.  All Together is a short but incredibly potent album, and one of those rare records that manages to be "serious" while leaving you in a happier mood for having heard it.  These songs/melodies are incredibly memorable, too, so don't be surprised if you're humming half of the album as you walk down a street days later.

5. Le Silo by Le Silo.  From 8.8, Tutinoko, 2004.

This intense prog trio from Japan is lead by pianist Miyako Kanizawa, who also plays piano and sings for one of my favorite Japanese bands, Koenjahyakkei.  And like Koenjahyakkei, this music has an obvious French prog influence.  But the trio arrangements allow for maybe more intimacy than many of the chamber orchestra-sized bands the music references.  I think this album might be an appealing jazz/prog "crossover" album for folks who are generally into jazz but have an interest in rock/prog musical directions.

6.  Silence Is Sexy by Einstürzende Neubauten.  From Silence is Sexy, Mute, 2000.

Neubauten is one of my all-time favorites, and they've covered a wide range of stylistic and conceptual ground throughout their career, which just reached the 30-year milestone!.  This album immediately follows their Tabula Rasa, the record which most clearly delineated a shift toward more songform-oriented compositions, and more gentle passages in the music compared to earlier periods in their work.  This song is a favorite of mine for the many long pauses in the music, and the beautiful recordings of quiet moments like lighting a cigarette that arrive just before the music kicks in many times.  And there's a great (unofficial) video worth seeing, too:

7.  Stampede by Godley & Creme.  From Consequences, Mercury, 1977.

Godley & Creme are probably an acquired taste for most people, but I seem to have finally added them fully to my palette. Though there are certainly many moments of bad and/or cheesy throwaway material mixed into almost all of their albums (and how could there not be with a TRIPLE album such as Consequences?), they do succeed in writing some truly epic stuff at times. This track, which aspires to combine some orchestral thoughts with both psychedelic and arena rock moments, is one of those successes for me. I love the Queen-esque harmonies that dissolve into musique concrete halfway through! Silence is Sexy, indeed...

8.  Lixiviate by La Part maudite.  From Our Balls are like Dead Suns, &Records, 2010.

I only recently heard about this band, but any group who names themselves after one of my favorite books by Georges Bataille (published as "The Accursed Share" in English) can't be all bad. Indeed, I find this project very appealing: trumpet/bass/drums trio. Bass and trumpet: heavy on the distortion. Drums: hard and heavy and mostly dry-sounding. It's a very free record at times, but there are some great riff/melody sections, too, bathed in some wild distortion. Looking forward to more!

The album title, by the way, comes from this Bataille poem:


“DE LA BOUSE DANS LA TETE...”

For sake the dung among the head
I detonate I execrate the sky
the clouds expectorate
it’s bitter to immensity
my eyes are pigs
my heart is ink
my balls become dead suns 

the fallen stars gone fathomless grown grave
I weep my language leaks
it imports no immensity’s a round
and rolled and bound in sound
I passion death petition it
in Holy Father’s butchery. 

—Georges Bataille (trans: Mark Daniel Cohen)

Sorry, unrelated to the band, but I simply must link to this rare video of Bataille speaking on the notion of literature and evil:

playlist from 9-26-10

This week, I'm going to try something new: if you miss(ed) the show, and still want to hear these tracks while you read this stuff, click here for a zip file of (most of) the playlist.  I may not do this every week, and may not include every track I play on the show, but this might be a fun way for people to check out music they haven't heard.  Let me know if you find it helpful!


I also put up zip files for my previous shows.  They're updated at the end of each show's blog post, but here they are in one place, too:


8-22-10
8-29-10
9-12-10
9-19-10


Now, back to our regularly scheduled mini-reviewing...


1. Black Black by Masses.  From Unreleased, Smother Nature sessions.

Masses is one of my favorite local bands, and if they continue to live up to their name so well, they won't be local for long.  This cut will probably be released on vinyl soon--I hear rumors of a tasty 10'' format (save me a couple of extra 10'' plastic sleeves, dudes--nobody around here sells 'em).

I don't like "post-rock" as a genre name because it isn't a descriptive term.  What should "post-rock" sound like?  I suppose Masses generally falls into this category as the term is currently used, but I think their music transcends the genre.  Sure, it's instrumental, guitar-based music, and it features the dramatic shifts in volume one associates with "post-rock," but there are other elements at play, both subtle and overt.  Masses manages a lot of dynamic control with subtle alterations in texture, for example, rather than always going for the "distorted/clean" switcharoo so common in the genre.  They're better at building and sustaining drone-based passages without losing musical momentum than most of their peers.  Melodic movement doesn't always take place with the highest notes being played.  Ultimately, you have the textural vocabulary of guitar-oriented bands like Ocean, but with the compositional control of a band more like Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  And they're snappy dressers.

2. A Man To Hide by Time Of Orchids.  From Sarcast While, 2005, Tzadik.

I am a huge fan of almost everything Time of Orchids released, but this track is surely one of the high points of their recorded career.  Each of their first three full-lengths features a fantastic guest artist: Marilyn Crispell on Melonwhisper, Kate Pierson on Much Too Much Fun, and the incredible Julee Cruise on Sarcast While.  This is my favorite of the tracks featuring Julee Cruise, whose voice you might remember from David Lynch projects like Blue Velvet or the Twin Peaks theme.

This is one of those songs that can take listeners through a novel's worth of drama in less than ten minutes, and it's hard to describe.  So listen to it for yourself:

3. Look At My Hawk by Make A Rising.  From Rip Through The Hawk Black Night, 2005, High Two.


This is another of my favorite bands from the incredible avant-rock Philly scene.  The music seems to have a "legit" classical/jazz background in places while spending lots of time in psych and Krautrock passages, too.  I love the arranging in this band--lots of instruments make appearances, but generally things are gathered into really effective "chamber groups" within the bigger ensemble.  The group also manages to balance impulses of being silly with being more serious sounding at times.

It's been a while since Make a Rising released an album, and members have moved away from Philly, but plans for a third album are still moving forward.

4. To Composer John Cage by Anthony Braxton.  From For Alto, 1969, Delmark.


For Alto is one of those classic albums whose influence on subsequent musicians is hard to measure.  If you haven't heard it, the title is quite literal: Braxton plays solo alto saxophone over 73 minutes, divided into 8 compositions named for folks Braxton admired.  Braxton's original liner notes for the album weren't used, but are available to read online from his label.  Having read some of his more recent texts, these were some oddly random notes!

This is one of those albums that creates its own world, its own rules, and its own language/grammar/syntax.  It might take a while to "break through," but once you do it's endlessly satisfying.  And I think Braxton is tragically underrated as a player--he plays the crap out of his horn on this album, with a lot more fire and passion than many folks touted as "masters."

Then again, you don't have to "get it" to love it, either.  It's a great album if you just want to hear a guy totally shredding on alto, too.  And an old pet of mine, a tabby cat named Mazzy, was positively entranced by this album and no other.  Whenever I would put it on, she would drop whatever she was doing, leap onto the top of a speaker, and lay her head out in front of the speaker to positively bathe in the music.  She never did it with any other record, but it happened several times with this one.  I wish I would've taken a picture.

I understand that Braxton intended each piece on this record to focus on different aspects of his new language: trills, multiphonics, "sheets of sound" ala Coltrane, and so on.  Notably, John Zorn used a somewhat similar approach on his (mostly) solo alto sax albums "Classic Guide To Strategy," Volumes 1 and 2.  Those are also great records to check out if you like this album.

5. Temptation by Either / Orchestra. From The Half-Life of Desire, 1994, Accurate Records.

Either/Orchestra is a really fun group, but I chose this song especially for the guest singer: Mark Sandman, best known as the frontman of the "low rock" trio Morphine.  Sandman delivers a great performance on this track, which evokes a bit of his band's approach mixed with a film noir vibe.  There are some great details in the production of this recording that help to establish its atmosphere, too: listen for the horn parts that interject with a very dry tone, and how disorienting they are on the rest of the reverbed-out mix.

6. My Prostate by Andrew d'Angelo. From Morthana With Pride, 2005, Doubtmusic.

This is a great slice of jazz/noise/skronk from the d'Angelo camp.  Mike Pride's vocal performance on this track really puts it over the top, as his vocal performances often do, while his drum work adds to the already crazy drumming of Morten Olsen.  Above it all, d'Angelo's alto sax squeals and gyrates and gets down, with the guitar work of Anders Hana adding somewhat violent punctuation with a punk approach.  This is kind of an unusual album, collectively, for the players it features, but it's proof that they can hang with bands like Zu or its related project Black Engine with bravado to spare.

Andrew d'Angelo has had a rough couple of years recently, ultimately requiring brain surgery.  Fortunately, he's on the mend and making great music again.

You're probably going to have a hard time finding a copy of this album now, but it features some really great packaging that I thought I'd share:




7. Novella by Noah Creshevsky.  From Hyperrealism: Electroacoustic Music, 2003, Mutable Music.

I've just been listening to Creshevsky's music for a few months, and I don't now how I feel about it yet.  I like the underlying philosophy of his "hyperrealism" approach, essentially making tight edits between lots of different performances and layers of performances to create an artificial but highly detailed sonic space, but I'm not sure if his music actually lives up to the philosophy.  There are moments where I think it works and creates one of those artificial but dreamscape-esque more-than-real moments, but at other times the edits seem too obvious to my ears, and the montage technique becomes more obvious than its desired effect.  Is there a way to intentionally make jarring edits and multitrack juxtapositions without drawing attention to the edits themselves?  To place the emphasis on the newly-created sound world?  I think there is, but it's been done better on albums like The Getty Address by the Dirty Projectors.  Maybe I'm just spoiled by that album, but it seems exponentially more successful as an artistic (emotional) statement than the couple of Creshevsky albums I've digested so far.  In fact, the sax punches in the Either/Orchestra track above also work toward this goal of creating a new "hyperreal" soundspace, like film noir within a dream layer.

Perhaps the issue is one of compositional intent.  When I listen to something like The Getty Address, I get the impression that the music was created to elicit emotional responses--to emote, to express.  In contrast, Creshevsky is coming from the academic music tradition, and I don't get the same emotional impression.  Instead, the music seems to exist for its own aesthetics, or for the sake of following its processes to their logical conclusion(s).  Is that enough?  I suppose it is, but for me it's the difference between "interesting" and "incredible" in terms of my relationship to the music.

And maybe part of the issue relates to the origins of the music.  Creshevsky is combining pre-existing recordings in new ways, wheras Dave Longstreth wrote and recorded his own music for the Getty Address, to ultimately put through a similar process of "recombination" later.  That approach certainly makes for a more personal kind of music.