Darn dude, I went to the library yesterday and they only had Artpop or Born this Way, and I chose Artpop. Came home and after reading online reactions to it it seems like its considered one of her weakest. A quick sampling of it showed it pretty EDM-focused which was unexpected. This will be an interesting week.
I found something really lovely this week.
Iāve been keeping a wishlist on Bandcamp since I got an account. Occasionally, Iāll listen through and choose a couple of things to buy. Well, I was listening through Eastern Sounds, an album by Detroit jazz legend Yusef Lateef. An incredible album that uses a diverse instrumentation. I had originally added it to my wishlist because I was researching jazz flute albums that avoid this kind of frantic stereotype (this search in fact inspired by Andre 3000ās New Blue Sun. A record I enjoy but I wanted something, idk, deeper?)
Bassist Ernie Farow plays the rubab on I think āThe Plum Blossomā and āThe Three Faces of Balalā. The rubab is a string instrument, plucked and strummed like a guitar or lute. Itās the national instrument of Afghanistan. I realized I hadnāt heard any Afghani music before, so I went looking. Well, I came across this.
Itās a recording of rubab player Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz in his home, accompanied by various friends and visitors. While I love the composition and performance of this traditional Afghani music, what makes this truly remarkable and beautiful to me is the accompaniment of birds. Itās such an organic and naturalistic recording. I am absolutely transported by this record, and I recommend checking it out.
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When songs have birdsong or similar sounds in them, it feels like they are mostly used to cover up a blank space or to provide an incredibly subtle base layer for the rest of the music. This is the first time Iāve seen it be used so prominently in the music and it kind of rules. Thanks for sharing this!
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new Pulp single. Not bad for old people victory lap music. Any thoughts on Pulpās āSpike Islandā from someone who was there @Tom ?
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Sounded a lot like Pulp. If you had told me it was an undiscovered song from the 90s Iād have believed you to be fair. Never really my cup of tea, but as itās been over two decades I can see why people are excited, if theyāre fans. The video was an interesting concept though.
I do want to clear up the whole āme attending Spike Islandā thing: I was 10 years old when that concert happened, lived in London and at that time not a fan of the Stone Roses. So my tastes in music, combined with the fact it was a Sunday and I would have school tomorrow meant sadly I can confirm I was not at that show. Also I was 10, I do think thatās quite an important factor.
While itās known as the āWoodstockā for the baggy generation on wikipedia, I wasnāt part of said generation, both in my tastes in music and geographical location.
That said itās entitely possibly that we can see said show and more at some point in the future, to see if it really was the concert of a generation or just an incredible memory for out of the 20,000 people there, the six people who werenāt āoff their titsā:
Yes @yeso - one day we could both be there
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Iām ready to declare that the Beatles were the better band over song, but the best Rolling Stones songs are better than the best Beatles songs
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i really enjoyed the new pulp single, though i heard something about AI that kind of soured it for me. also heard the new garbage single which wasnāt that good imo
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As I understood it was just the music video that had AI on it, and the whole thing was a learning experience for Jarvis Cooker. He used photos taken during the photo shoot for Different Class and had fun with it. Itās actually a pretty good video as it includes his outtakes and experiments, with notes on the screen on what happened.
it was making fun of ai, but still using it, so of marginal value at best
yeahhh thatās what i had assumed, wouldāve made more sense to make fun of AI with real artists tho
Another week, another Bonsai yap session.
Time has been going by too fast. These entries have become a way to mark the end of one week and the start of another, and I canāt believe weāre already in April. I started doing this in February and seriously it feels like two months have gone by in a second. Scary stuff! Luckily this project has kept each week interesting.
Letās get into it!
Ali Farka TourƩ - NiafunkƩ
Lady Gaga - Artpop
Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP
Philip Glass - Music with Changing Parts
Ali Farka Toure - NiafunkƩ
This is the second album I pick out from Ali Farka TourĆ©, the previous being The Source. The CD Booklet (which was intact, a rare thing in my experience) says that this album was created in a couple of sessions in Ali Farka TourĆ©ās own neighborhood in the rural city of NiafunkĆ©. After seeing some international commercial success, he decided that returning to Mali and recording there was his way of returning to his roots, which is implied is something he lost sight off a bit after the success of previous albums.
Here is a direct quote from him about the album:
This record is more real, more authentic. It was recorded in the place where the music belongs - deep Mali. We were in the middle of the landscape which inspired the music and that in turn inspired myself and the musicians. My music is about where I come from and our way of life and it is full of important messages for Africans. In the West perhaps this music is just entertainment and I donāt expect people to understand. But I hope some might take the time to listen and learn.
Quotes like these paired with the particularity of the sound of the music and it social context is what is so perplexing about the genre category of āWorld Musicā ā at face value, the label is a catchall for non-Western music. Sometimes the division seems to be more of language than anything else. For example, an aggregation of several "Top 100 World Music Albums of All Time" includes Buena Vista Social Club in #1, which is very much a Cuban album, thus Western.
Even this glowing review of NiafunkƩ cannot escape it:
NaifunkĆ© displays less of an American influence ā the chiming, stacatto picking that prompted comparisons to Robert Johnson surfaces only occasionally here ā in favour of a more African feel that relies on droning circular guitar lines which overlap and play off each other like ritual chants. World music at its finest."
Iām not smart enough to explain why, but something feels off about enjoying this music as World Music.
Though itās apparent to me that World Music is a lazy categorization borne out of some mix of Orientalism and general western-centrism, on a practical level it helps me quite a bit when I have to go to the library to find music: those sections usually have the good shit.
I digress!
One thing I find riveting about TourĆ©ās music is how he constructs intricate melodies between his unique style of picking the guitar, his general tendency towards blues and the inclusion of the surrounding elements, particular the human voice.
Allah Uya is a great example of this ā the guitar playing doing a call-and-response to the intermittent choir is riveting. The sensibility on display there is present throughout the whole album, which is what makes it and Ali Farka Toure such a pleasure to listen to.
Despite the DIY-looking studio setup depicted in the CD cover, the recordās sound is pristine. I realized in the process of writing this that Buena Vista Social Club does have something in common with NiafunkĆ©: both are records executive produced by one Nick Gold. Clearly the focus this time around is on Ali Farka TourĆ© more explicitly, thereās less variety in the instruments included, the rhythm sections mostly stays out of the way.
In general, the album feels pared down compared to the more luxurious moments of The Source, but the more minimal approach does work, though surprisingly thereās no analogical moment to The Source stellar track, Cinquante Six, where itās just TourĆ© on guitar.
I also want to point out something perplexing about the album, one of the albums mellowest tracks, Cousins, includes several moment of Ali Farka himself talking as if telling a story. The song itself has a sorrowful tone to it ā I donāt understand the language (though it sounds French is some sections), but I would like to know what is said.
The problem is that even on the liner notes, all we get is this:
A tribute to the people I grew up with, and to true friendship. Composed in memory of the people who shared the hard times of my youth and are no longer here to share the better times.
Itās lovely, but I am not sure why itās all we get. Thereās lyrics in the track, clearly, so why not provide a translation? If my assumption is correct that the label itself created the liner notes, etc. The exclusion of a translation seems to me like lazy (if not disrespectful) choice.
Overall, phenomenal album and receives my utmost recommendation, as does his other album The Source.
Lady Gaga - Artpop
This is my first time going through a Lady Gaga album in one sitting and I have to say, this album went in an unexpected direction. The bottom line is that I didnāt like it too much, but I am also a bit fascinated by it. In hindsight I should have started my journey with another one of her albums ā Artpopās aesthetic cohesion is strong and it comes across as more of a concept album than anything else. Not a bad thing, but perhaps not beginner friendly.
Right off the bat, I think my favorite song in the album has to be G.U.Y ā it encapsulates the best part of the albums for me. This is a good example of why the album feels like a callback to early 2010s EDM production techniques and sound design. Itās over the top and dramatic and I enjoy the brazenness of it ā itās straightforwardly an EDM album with Gaga at center stage. G.U.Y represents a nice balance between that sharp-edged highly digital EDM tone and a more classic pop song structure. The short intro monologue is also nice touch ā thereās no reason for it except to add personality to the experience. I expected more moments like that through the album.
I can see myself listening to G.U.Y or Do What U Want on any normal day, and the serve as straightforward pops songs beautifully. Swine on the other hand is this album at its most overtly 2010s, and it helped me comprehend what makes this album divisive among Lady Gaga fans. I think Swine embodies what that make this album a bit hard to recommend.
The now-dated 2010s dubstep/EDM seeping through tracks like Swine might be something that people nowadays see as something they outgrew, or something that exists in that weird gray space where something is old but not enough to be vindicated by time. I imagine that once weāre done with the resurgence of Y2K aesthetics that the 2010s are next?
At least for me, this kind of electronic music is hard to hang out with, and I can only imagine myself listening to this kind of stuff while at the gym or on a run. Itās not necessarily a bad thing, but I think the most memorable albums are those that can fit any occasion. I mostly find it kind of harsh and shrill, and a bit soulless. However I used to vibe with this sort of music heavy when I was much younger and getting into music production. So yeah, Iām not fond of the genre influences here, but somehow Lady Gaga makes it work.
Overall, this gets a cautioned recommendation from me. Might work for you, might not.
Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP
This one was alright, a much more tranquil Aphex Twin album than the Collapse EP. I appreciated the more chilled-out arrangements, the tracks here are more contained in their energy, with things getting crazy only here and there. Thereās some catchy synth lines, and overall there is a sense of coherent structure throughout that I appreciate. It feels like a straightforward album.
The standout track for me is CIRKLON3. Like I said, pretty straightforward with just enough crazy stuff happening in the drum programming to make it stand out.
I donāt fault it for it, and in fact appreciate that Aphex Twin is not afraid to play it straight for a whole EP ā no crazy inversions or transitions. The sound design is pretty legible and standard synthwave-y sounds. I also appreciate the cohesion between the tracks ā with a medium that is so open to many different elements, electronic music EPs made with a select few rotating instruments usually is more captivating. The common color palette strengthens each track and favors listening to the release all the way through each time.
The overall effect is that the music sounds very familiar, which might not be what people listen to Aphex Twin for? I donāt know. Iām making that point based on this review in Exclaim:
Aphex Twin has made a good move here by giving a similar feel throughout the EP, but instead of having a few so-so tracks alienated by a standout one, the entire release ends up being fine but unremarkable, especially when pitted against the behemoths of his back catalogue.
I think this is a fair assessment. I didnāt find this EP boring at all, though, and it probably will get more plays from me than some of the tracks off of Collapse.
Philip Glass - Music with Changing Parts
More Philip Glass. I enjoyed my time with the one compilation album I listened to a while back, and I wanted to go in for more, with the aim of exploring the rest of his catalogue more in depth.
Itās a continuous 1-hour track, so Iāll recommend the section thatās about 16 minutes in.
Itās hard to understand this music as classical music. I know the instruments involved lend themselves to that categorization, but everything else about it speaks the language of ambient music. Droning, layering and lack of percussion make this a great piece of music to play in the background of things. Itās beautiful music and the way it builds into each subsequent part brings something new to the table, to the point that I listened to this a couple times all the way through and the hour seemed to pass me by.
For ambient music, aside from maybe Music for Airports, I moreso appreciate a nice wall of sound that is calm but fills my ears, if that makes sense. One of my favorites is Hiemalās Astray, which just feels like a blanket of sound that can be overlayed over the sounds of everyday life. Music for Changing parts has filled that same role, which is why i think this one will stick with me a while.
Good stuff. This felt like a more sustained version of what i liked in the Glassworks compilation, so I think Iāll stay and hang out in this part of Glassā work for a while. If he ever did something wildly different than this, I would be on the lookout for it.
This was a pretty varied selection, though I realize now that with the exception of Lady Gaga, these are all albums by artists I got to know well through this library project. Though part of me wants to make sure I pick unfamiliar artists next time, I donāt regret digging deeper into these discographies.
For next week, Iāll be out of town, so wonāt be able to do my usual library run. Instead I plan to do a smaller in-depth review of Los Terryās From Africa to Camaguey.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far, have a good Sunday!
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Great picks this week brother
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