...the Musical!!

So, the work report. Since the beginning of the month I've been working in a record store. It was not without hesitation that I applied for this job. I've had a love/hate relationship with this particular store for about twenty years now, but I knew when I saw their ad that I could walk in and get hired. When I "interviewed" my boss actually said "You've worked for us before, so you know what you're getting into." How's that for an admission of being impossible to work for? Another downside is working for a retail wage again (oof) but still don't think I'm ready to go into a restaurant job yet. And of course, there's the fact that I would much rather be doing something related to what I just spent nearly six thousand dollars learning. (more on that some other post) However, there are some positive aspects to my job.

To start with, I really like most of my co-workers. I'll refrain from discussing any of them by name or in detail in this public forum, but suffice it to say that they are good people. Another thing that I really enjoy is the standing-around-talking-about-and-selling-music part of the job. It feels good to put my knowledge to some degree of use and to maybe turn someone on to something they've never heard before. Plus I had forgotten how much of a good salesman I am. I can often tell a complete stranger "You should buy this" and they do. And yes, people do still buy music. In fact, we have a vinyl section and that sells quite a bit. On the other side of things, we have all sorts of Krap with a capital K. That part gets really annoying because it's the kind of stupid small junk that you have to constantly straighten out and watch over kids as they sit there and play with it forever (with no real intention of buying it.) And some of that junk sells, but mostly it distracts me and the other sales people from actually helping customers who want to buy music. I consider it a wasted 15-30 minutes if I'm hovering over the wig section, making sure people don't take pictures, knowing they're not going to buy one, when I could be helping someone find a Hawkwind album, or turning someone on to Django instead. Another down side is the majority of the music we listen to in the store. Again, this was something I knew going in, but boy-oh-boy is there a lot of garbage. I just take comfort in the fact that the moment I punch out, the iPod goes on and I can listen to something good.

And one final thing, which is, as Uncle Bill once said, "Neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so," is the fact that this puts me in a noticeable position within the community once again. I had spent the last two plus years slipping from the view and even trying to escape this town, and now I'm back in a fishbowl where anyone who happens to wander in can see me. But that will have to wait for another post, as I now must get ready to go see Pete's recital. And beside, two posts in twelve hours after two weeks of nothing... what more do you want from me people!!???

Do not go quietly

So I've spent the last couple of weeks listening to lots of Morphine. Which is not to say that there is a lot of material, but that I listened to all of it multiple times. It's basically impossible for me to be objective about this band. They were a huge part of my life during some very significant times, were one of the best live bands I've ever seen, and since Mark Sandman died nearly a decade ago, that moment in time is gone, thereby making it an even more treasured memory. I really shouldn't even be writing about them, all I'll end up doing is gushing. I will say this one, non-musical thing: the very next disc in my collection, Joe Morris Quartet ~ A Cloud of Black Birds, features Jerome Dupree, the original drummer for Morphine.

Thoughts on the AS220 gig. Over-all I was very pleased. There were about 30 people there, which wasn't bad for a Monday night with four bands that nobody's ever heard of. A good turn out from my friends, and I think more people watched my set than any other that night. The positive reception seemed to be genuine, (including direct feedback from said friends) and the video element worked as well as I had hoped. Which has actually gotten me thinking about what my next step is, both in terms of output and performance. The biggest question I'm looking at right now is "What exactly is a b/3.1 performance?" As I move towards a more integrated film/music experience, I wonder if I'm creating a film to be marketed as such, or am I creating a live musical performance that happens to have a visual. To create something that I present as a "film" is not such a bad idea. Lots of people in this community know me as a "filmmaker." In fact tonight at work someone asked me if I was working on any new films. On the other hand, music gigs are a way to gain new audience. Another thought that has been in my mind lately is that perhaps I should concentrate more on the studio music than the live music. As a solo performer I have to either work with backing tracks (as I've primarily done up till now) or create systems for triggering, looping, etc.. in order to make a passable "live" performance. With a film, I can take my physical self out of the picture, as it were, and ask the audience to just concentrate on the images and the sounds. I think ultimately (or, at least right now) I'm less interested in sound that can be re-created every night, and more interested in sound that can be perfected to the best of my current abilities. Which is somewhat ironic, considering my love of improvisation, but perhaps that love was meant to open the doors to different sound worlds. Perhaps what I love the most, what I strive for, is to start with the freedom of improvisation, to capture it as the fleeting moment it is, and to then manipulate and massage it into something even more beautiful. In other words, I want to be Wah Wah, with an accompanying film.

Film at Eleven

Just a few snippets about what's on the horizon.

Project-wise I'm about to do Morphine. I do not go lightly into this territory. The importance of this material in my life both past and present can not be overestimated. The likely ensuing review will be anything but objective, although may contain some interesting personal insights.

On the Banter front, I have my first as220 show in less than a week. I had been trying for the better part of a year to get a gig there to no avail. Recently, Harry mentioned that they have a new booker and I should try again. So, I filled out their stupid online form again and, surprise surprise, they got back to me within a day and offered me a spot on April 14th. One of the other funny aspects is that my friend Daniel, who I've played shows with before, was already on the bill for that night. Aside from the fact that this show might be good exposure for me (crosses fingers) there are some other factors in my looking forward to it. For starters, it will be my first Reason-based gig. And the other main thing is that I will be adding a visual element to my performance. For the last few weeks I have been working on an ambient video that will be projected behind me as I play. Today I sat down and watched the video while listening to a mock-up of the set and I have to say, I think it works. And not to get too far ahead of things, but I think this might be the next evolutionary step in the Banter Cycle. What I'll be presenting on Monday is sort of random, but next on the plate is to more tightly integrate the music and the images.

And finally, I'm back to work. ...yeah... Not crazy about it ("it" in this case being both the place and the idea) but it will suffice for now. Perhaps as I get deeper into that particular mud I'll give a more detailed report.

Oh what sounds!

Here are some miscellaneous musings on some musics I've been listening to.

First up, the main project. I'm one (eighteen minute) track away from completing Mood Processor, which was me and Kyle. There were two main varieties of MP, Mood Processor proper which was Kyle on acoustic guitar and me on tenor sax, and The Electric Mood Processor which was fun with the four-track and whatever/whomever we could get our hands on. In either instance we played what we called "Plook Grok," so you can see that my love of made up genres goes back a ways. The one definitive statement I can make about MP is "We sure did get the good drugs back then." Yowza.

I also just recently finished Thelonious Monk, which I really took my time with. I've always been a big Monk fan and it was nice to spend some time with that particular crazy man. I think the biggest surprise for me was the solo piano stuff. Listening to that I got a sense of the entire history of Jazz. It swings, it's often based on popular tunes, and yet it's deconstructed, dissonant, and somehow entirely listenable. At one point during January I went into a Starbucks and they were playing a Monk track and I thought how odd it is that this music, which is really quite challenging if you really listen to it, is being used as background music for my corporate coffee experience. What's next? Ives at Dunkin' Donuts? Messiaen at Petco? (extra nerd points for anyone who can identify the logic in those two examples)

And now, to work my way through commenting on some choice-based listening, yet going about it chronologically in terms of the technology.

You spin me 'round like a rekkid baby
For the first time in years I have a) easy access to my vinyl collection, and b) a turntable in my office. Let the Easy Listening begin!! A huge portion of my records came from thrift stores at a time when I was very interested in lounge music. And I have to say, I will freely admit to actually liking 50's and 60's Easy Listening. Enoch Light, Bert Kaempfert, Dick Hyman, Jackie Gleason... Oh yeah, bring it on. I also seem to have a sizable collection of Moog albums such as Switched on Country and Everything you ever wanted to hear on Moog but were afraid to ask. And I've been listening to a fair amount of quote good unquote albums/artists such as Joe Jackson, Eric Dolphy, Wayne Horvitz, the afore mentioned Monk, and (right now) Joni Mitchell.

I meant it when I said I got "all kinds" a' tapes
It's back to the Soccer-Mom-Mobile for me for a bit, which means (oh the horror!!) cassettes. Among these terrifying little plastic creatures we find my collection of Rhode Island death metal bands from the early nineties. So far I've listened to two of the five such tapes I have. It made me realize why I roll my eyes and get immediately bored with current hardcore/metal type bands. 'Cuz this shit was boring over fifteen years ago, and hasn't progressed much since then. Does that make me a grumpy old man? I don't care if it does.

Totally 'pod-dular!
As mentioned in the previous post, I've recently "gotten" some things. Some of this has been music I used to have/listen to (R.E.M., Led Zeppelin, etc..) but some of it has been filling in gaps in my knowledge. For example today I listened to the Genesis album Trespass for the first time....ever. As I did I realized that I was/am only familiar with Selling England by the pound and The lamb lies down on Broadway for Gabriel-era Genesis. Likewise, I've had a renewed interest in Pink Floyd and only really know Dark Side and the Wall. So sad. And I've discovered that it's a bad idea to listen to "sing-along" albums (i.e. albums that I like to sing along to) on my iPod as I end up looking like a crazy person as I walk along mouthing the words and/or mumbling them and/or straight-up signing them. (although I use the term signing loosely) Oh well, maybe I am just one of "those people."

Honor among thieves

I've been thinking a lot about the download issue. To start on the personal level, I would like to sell CDs to people. However, is it better to let people simply have the music for free (such that they are actually listening to it) and to then make money in some other way? At my upcoming shows I will be trying out the "Pay-what-you-think" approach to selling the new disc. (On a side note, the new disc, Medicinal Reverb, is going to be the only one available.) And while the idea of earning some cash from CDs is very appealing, ultimately I think it would be better to have more listeners.

Another thing that got me on this issue was reading The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. It's been quite some time that I've enjoyed reading a book based on the fact that I totally disagreed with the majority of what the author had to say. Throughout much of the book he comes across sounding like "We can't let the serfs have too much of anything, they don't know what's good for them! We need mainstream media to tell us what is right and good!" You know that anyone who uses the terms "cultural gatekeepers" and "Fox News Group" in even the same paragraph is an asshole. (oops, it looks like I just did ;-) And when it come to downloading, he takes the hardline "It's stealing" approach. But sometimes the more important question, at least to me, is from whom?

To illustrate: I've recently managed to, um shall we say "obtain," some music. Specifically, Brahms, Stockhausen, and Led Zeppelin. To work backwards, I did at one time years ago legally own the entire Led Zeppelin catalogue, so they've gotten my money. Additionally, the approximately $150 not spent probably means a hell of a lot more to me than the couple bucks of that that would trickle down to Robert Plant. Among the Stockhausen, I got a copy of a recently released version of Stimmung. This disc I will buy soon because a) I want the liner notes, and b) it will help support the performers. Had I not had the opportunity to hear this work before purchasing, I might have put my money elsewhere. And lastly we come to the Brahms.

The other day Chris and I were in the kitchen, talking before dinner. He mentioned that there was a particular recording of Brahms Piano Concerto no.1 by Leonard Bernstein and Glenn Gould that he wanted to hear. As it happened, that was one of the albums I had "obtained" recently. Now obviously, the work itself is in the public domain, but the performance may still be under copyright. Which made me ask, "What's more important? That I get to hear this, or that some grandchild of Bernstein gets 40 cents from my purchase?" This in turn led to another question, which is why is there no equivalent to the museum or the library for music? Now granted, libraries do tend to have music sections, but they are small and unreliable in terms of stock. I can walk into any library and most likely be able to get a copy of Norbert Weiner's Cybernetics, yet if I want to hear Carl Ruggles' Sun Treader I'm probably not going to be able to get it there. (incidentally, I can't even find a torrent of that work)

And as with all things lately, this leads me back to good ol' Charlie. Ives was very much against copyrighting his material, even flying into a rage when Henry Cowell copyrighted one of Charlie's pieces for him, saying "This music is not to make money but to be known and heard. Why should I interfere with its life by hanging on to some sort of personal legal right in it?" Exactly. I want to hear and know the music. All of it, or at least as much of it as I can absorb in a lifetime. And since there isn't a resource that I can reliably (and legally) simply hear whatever I want, I am forced into a life of crime.

Got a minute?

About a year ago I joined an organization called the Electronic Music Foundation (EMF) I'm still not quite sure what the benefits of being a member are, but it was a one time lifetime fee, so whatever. A couple of months ago I noticed, via their mailing list, a call for entry for sixty-second works. The 60X60 Project by Vox Novus, is a touring concert presenting sixty, one-minute long recorded works by sixty different composers. I thought, "Well shoot, I can do that!" And so today, I did. I sat down around 3pm, launched the Tool as I like to say, and started working. A few hours later I emerged with an almost stereotypical b/3.1 piece. Synthesizers? check.. Pattern sequencer? check.. Dulcimer? check.. Mellotron flutes? check.. Improvisation? check.. I have about two weeks before the disc has to be in the mail, so perhaps I'll make another minute long song or two before then. Or perhaps not.

God Damn Maria

I spent about nine hours today trying to get the mix right for Good Night Maria to no avail. Tomorrow I'll work on my entry for 60X60, which is a call for sixty second long works.