Friday Frequency – Beale Street Blues

In 1916 WC Handy’s Beale Street Blues was the first piece of blues music to be printed and distributed widely in the United States. It exposed the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, to the blues music that was coming up out of the Mississippi Delta, and to the song’s titular street.

If you’re familiar with the musical structure of the blues, you might have trouble hearing what ties Handy’s work to that of Son House or Robert Johnson, but listen to the phrasing. The traditional three bar blues is still there, just “whitified” for popular consumption. Because of Handy and his ability to turn poor, Southern folk music into something for everyone, blues would skyrocket in popularity, meld with jazz and ultimately give birth to rock and roll. Everyone from Cab Calloway to Buddy Holly to the Beatles to Public Enemy can look to Handy and say what they did started with him.

And all because of one short, dirty street in Memphis, Tennessee.

You’ll see pretty browns in beautiful gowns,
You’ll see tailor-mades and hand-me-downs,
You’ll meet honest men, and pick-pockets skilled,
You’ll find that business never ceases ’til somebody gets killed!

If Beale Street could talk, if Beale Street could talk,
Married men would have to take their beds and walk,
Except one or two who never drink booze,
And the blind man on the corner singing “Beale Street Blues!”

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This has been your Friday Frequency.

Friday Frequency – Goblin’s Suspiria

Goblin started off life as the Italian prog-rock band Oliver, only to have their named changed to “Cherry Five” in an arbitrary act by their record label. They were sort of your localized Italian version of King Crimson and all those other bands that required their listeners to be incredibly high to “get it”.

They were saved from going down in history as a band no one would remember by a spat between horror film impressario Dario Argento and Giorgio Gaslini, a composer that was working with him on the film Profondo Russo. Gaslini had called the band in to record some some music for the soundtrack, and after his firing, Argento dumped the entire score on their hands. He gave them just two days to turn the project around. One to write, one to record.

Changing their name to Goblin for the score, the group would score their biggest hit yet. The score to Profondo Russo would stay on the charts for more than a year and sell over a million copies. The group had cemented a place for themselves in cinematic music, and as a partner to Dario Argento.

But this isn’t about Profondo Russo‘s score. This is about Suspiria’s.

Suspiria was released in 1977 as was the opener for what Argento refers to as his “Three Mothers” trilogy. The movie is filled with stark contrasts between dark and color, decay and ornate finery. The brutal deaths in the movie are the stuff of horror movie legend. But, you know what stuck out more than the cinematography or the gore or the acting? The music. The insane blend of orchestration Goblin produced for Suspira was far scarier, far more stirring than anything Argento could come up with. Goblin’s score made the movie.

Here are my three favorite pieces from the soundtrack to give you an idea of what Goblin was doing

Suspiria

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Witch

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Sighs

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The combination of Argento’s auteur filmmaking and Goblin’s soundtrack has made Suspiria into what is general acknowledged to be one of the best horror movies ever made. Hopefully after hearing a bit of Goblin, you’ll understand why.

This has been your Friday Frequency.

Friday Frequency – Bulgarian Women’s Choir

This is a story of generations, of war, of momentum, of language, of music. It all starts in Central Asia. That nexus of the world where bits of Turkey, India, Russia and China smash into each other, making something that is the child of all of them, but unique unto itself.

The Roman Empire had pushed out into the world. Following in Alexander’s footsteps, they had marched over the ends of the Earth, bringing roads and the concept of the large world to isolated peoples. The steppes of Central Asian were the farthest reaches of the Empire, and the home to the people that would one drive it to its end.

When the Roman Empire contracted, opportunistic warlords rose up its wake. Goths, Vandals, Huns spilled into the cracks. The spoils of former oppressors were theirs to take. They pushed into the heart of Europe, and ultimately settled there. Roman and Germanic cultures were supplanted by invader’s, creating a pocket of the East, smack in the middle of the West.

The Eastern influence was reinforced when the last spasm of the Mongol invasion petered out in Bulgaria. The Mongols had fought for so long, and come so far from home, that they didn’t know how to get back. Luckily, they found a group of people that weren’t so different from them and settled down. Two cultures, far removed from their homes, merged into one, making something new.

Now that we’ve gotten the history lesson out of the way, what does all of that mean and what does it have to do with music?

Well, it means that you’ve got a language and a music theory in the middle of Europe that doesn’t match anything around it. The folk music of Hungary and Bulgaria has more in common with Chinese opera than it does with anything in Europe.

The specific example I’m going to give you is the Bulgarian Women’s Choir.

This is Pilentze Pee (Pilentze chante) off the Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares – Volume 1 record.

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Just on a surface level, you can feel the mystery that permeates this music. But if you apply a knowledge of history, and understand just who these people are, and why their music sounds like this, then you can start to peel the music apart, layer by layer. You can hear all the history that came together to make this amazing sound happen.

Here is Mar Stanke le (Chant de moisson thrace), a slower ballad off the same record.

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Lastly, just to show you that these impossible people are still rolling new bits of culture into themselves, here is the Bulgarian Women’s Choir performing “Oh! Susanna” on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

This is your Friday Frequency.

Zoe Keating – Into the Trees

Zoe Keating is amazing. She plays the cello, and through the magic of digital technology manages to transform a single instrument into a full ensemble. Using sampling, Keating records bits of music and then layers them, one on top of another, to build one of the richest, most amazing sounds I’ve ever heard.

She has a new album out that you can get for a measly $8 through BandCamp, and you can even stream the whole thing before if you want to know what you’re getting into.

Listen to it, buy it. You’ll find yourself coming back to it time and time again.

Friday Frequency

I’ve been banging around ideas for a more regular feature on the Brain Release Valve, since things like ThisBrokenWorld and I Dare You To Watch This are sporadic as all hell.

Note: That is not a cue to the world at large to start dumping tons of bizarre shit onto the Internet, there’s enough of that as it is.

Starting this Friday, and hopefully every Friday after, I’ll be posting something I’m calling “Friday Frequency”. I’ll take a piece of audio, most likely music – but there are a few radio dramas/speeches/etc I’ve got designs on, post it here and give you a few hundred words about why I find it interesting. This won’t be a review or me saying “You should like this because XYZ”, but rather me pointing out the context or the elements of the piece of audio that I find interesting. The idea is not to make you want to go out and buy a record, but simply to make you curious about what I’ve posted and find out more for yourself.

Hopefully it will be short enough to keep things punchy and fun without me spiraling down into some half-mad fugue where I rant for a few thousand words about Ulver’s musical evolution.

Friday Frequency. Starting this Friday. Hope you like it.

EDIT: Changed from Frequency Friday to Friday Frequency. Allowed for a better ending bit.

Can some one tell me if this is any good?

THE SORE LOSERS – “Beyond Repair”

Peter sent me this video this morning, first thing in the morning, actually, before I’d had a chance to glue my head bits together, so I couldn’t tell if this song was any good or not.

And in watching it now, I still can’t make up my mind. The visual completely overtakes any brain cells I should be devoting to the song, which makes me think that it isn’t that good, but I’d like a second, or third, opinion.

Finally, a music video that goes so far that it actually makes you forget there is a song playing.

Ah, progress.

“Into the Silent Waves” by Pyramids and Nadja, remixed by Ulver

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The track is about ten minutes long, so just hit play, pop a new tab, and go about your day.

It’ll sneak up on you. At first you’ll think you’re hearing bits of Sigur Ros, but then the Creepy pokes its head out and it all changes. It gets big and hollow and intricate the glides off into nothingness.

I think I’ll be listening to it for the rest of the day.

Andreas Martin

Story goes that Martin decided to learn how to play guitar one day.

And that’s how he decided the instrument would be played.

Good luck finding anything by him, though. He does a lot with minimalist composers, but very little of his own solo work. Supposedly there is an album partially finished somewhere, but God only knows if it’ll ever see the light of day.

The Protomen @ Newby’s 03/21/2010

They played Act 2 straight through, but then they came back around for some old favorites.

EDIT: Slightly cheating and making this 045/365 for my Project 365

More at my Flickr.

And you can see the rest of this year’s Project 365 here.

Missed Connection: The Douchebags at the Shell

Me: A 20-something at the Lucero show last night with his girlfriend and roommate on a blanket.

You: A horde of douchebags with no respect for the Shell or its rules.

Last night was a perfect sort of early fall night in Memphis. A little muggy, but warm enough to make you forget that it is already October. Lucero was set to kick off their biggest tour yet with a free show at the Levitt Shell. The opening bands were two beloved Memphis acts. I had a perfect spot in the middle, a soft quilt and a cooler full of samosas. It was going to be a good night.

Then, you show up. With your twelve packs of Bud Light and Marlboro Light cigarettes. You set up around me and mine, and I eye you warily, but not with any overt malice. Maybe you’re just going to bend the rules a little bit. Sure, the Shell bans all alcohol and smoking because it wants to stay a family-friendly venue, but this is a Lucero bar crowd. (Except for those dozen or so small children running around the stage for the first two acts. Oops.) Turn one of those aluminum cans from your beer into an ashtray, and I’m fine. Put your shitty beer into a bag or trashcan after your done, and I’m fine. Don’t do any of these things, and you’ll piss me the fuck off.

Remember what the Shell used to be like? Before the Mortimer Levitt Foundation spent millions of dollars to rebuild and update the dilapidated structure that was there? Remember all of those broken, jagged, splintering benches that were more often than not occupied by a derelict or drug addict? Remember how all of that lush, green grass was nothing more than caked dirt or mud? Remember how the speakers were blown out and the lighting was non-existent? Well, you may not, but I sure as fuck do. The Levitt Shell is a musical wonder in Memphis. A free musical wonder at that. And assholes like you that come in and destroy something like that don’t deserve to use it.

It isn’t like the Mortimer Levitt Foundation set out to block your fun. There are ashtray/trashcan things all over the outer edge of the Shell space. Get off your lazy ass and walk the twenty yards to one of them. It isn’t hard. I watched my girlfriend do it a few times, she didn’t seem put out at all. And the booze? I don’t really give a damn about it as booze, I’m more concerned about walking past a group of frat boys with their crushed empties spread around them like  territorial markings. This isn’t your front porch, broheim. You’re taking money out the Shell’s pocket when they have to clean up after your lazy, cheap beer swilling ass. If you want to drink at the Shell, and God knows last night I did, mix up a cocktail and put it in a water bottle or something. There is no need for idiocy like that.

The bottom line is that the Levitt Shell is a public space, and public spaces should be left as good as you found them, if not better. I walked out last night with a bag full of trash that wasn’t my own because of you douchebags. The Shell is one of the best things going in Memphis, and it’ll never cost you a dime for a show. But, if you mistreat it, it will go away. And if that happens and they start thinking about turning it into a parking lot again, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Check out the real Missed Connection on Craigslist.org

Also, check out the girlfriend’s reaction to Lucero’s addition of horns to their old songs.

I….I guess this is a good thing?

I have a horrible feeling they’ll completely miss the point of all of this, but whatever. No such thing as bad press…right?

http://www.memphisthemusical.com/

The about blurb:

And lets not forget the ever important YouTube video.

Free stuff from Those Darlins

You know I’ve got a soft spot around these parts for Those Darlins, a spot which grows bigger in direct proportion to how much better they get each time I see them play. I caught them again on Saturday as they hit the last date of their album release tour. The show was incredible. In the few years that I’ve been following them, they’ve evolved from this kitschy acoustic 3 piece to a full out fucking rock show. God help you if you underestimate the petite trio. If their music doesn’t smash your face in, then Nikki surely will (as she related to my friends after the show – she’d left a guy at their last show bloody and battered).

Enough gushing. I promised you free stuff.

Hit up their website: http://thosedarlins.com/

Give them your name, email address and zip code, and they’ll give you their first EP, Wild One. Same deal as the How I Became The Bomb EPs, but they go one step further – Those Darlins won’t even email you if you don’t want to hear from them. They’ll just give you their music with a smile and a nod.

Not sure how long this will last, but take advantage of it while you can.

And, if you like what you hear on the EP, buy their album. I’m listening to it now. It is just like the EP, only more.

I am here to do bad things to your brain

Korpiklaani – Vodka

Neo-folk metal people doing a song about vodka.

The fucking refrain is:

Vodka, you’re feeling stronger
Vodka, no more feeling bad
Vodka, your eyes are shining
Vodka, you are the real MAN
Vodka, wipes away your tears
Vodka, removes your fears
Vodka, everyone is gorgeous
Vodka, yeah vodka

Is there really anything else that you need to know?

You should all thank me for expanding your horizons.

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

Realized I haven’t given you kids any music in a while. So, here we go.

NaNuchKa’s Red

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That voice you’re hearing? The one with that wonderful mix of snarl, soul, heady wine and an undefinable, world-traveled accent? That’s Yula Be’eri, frontwoman and bass player for NaNuchKa. She’s formerly of the World/Inferno Friendship Society. Which should explain a fair amount.

If you’re one of those people that grew up in the MTV generation and you need a visual to go along with your sound, here’s the video they did for Red.

This is the Place I Come From

Memphis Music at SXSW by Live From Memphis

Volume IV: Through Adversity To The Stars

Today is the Apple WWDC, but honestly, fuck those guys. Something much more important and fulfilling is happening.

How I Became the Bomb is releasing their fourth and final free EP today. I’m listening to it right now, and while it may occupy the least amount of time on the clock, I have a sneaking feeling it may end up being my favorite of the four. It is full of chunky synth goodness and delightful levity. It is just fun. A whole lot of bloody fun.

Anyway, stop reading this drek and go get it. Give them your name and email and they’ll give you free music.

$5 COVER: EPISODE 10X

This won’t last long. Watch it while you can.

Bands Not Bombs, Saturday at 2pm

From the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center:

Over a dozen local bands, food, drink and hundreds of your favorite Memphians. During the day we will have a moonbounce for the youngins and the concert area features shade and grassy areas. So bring a blanket and some sunscreen. Kids under 12 get in FREE.

Featuring the music of…
Featuring the music of Two Way Radio, Hope Clayburn, Pezz, Yazoo Shakes, Jeffrey James and the Haul, Bulletproof Vests, While I Breathe I Hope, Soul Enforcers, & Jessica Jones.

Cost: $10 will get you in all day and you can come and go as you please. Another $10 will get you all the PBR you can drink throughout the day and into the night. We’ll also have an unlimited supply of water, drinks for the kids and delicious food from the Cooperative Association of Memphis.

Rain Location: The Abbey, inside LifeLink Church and the place where Johnny Cash played his first concert.

Tickets are here. They are also doing a bike ride tour of Cooper-Young before hand for $15, more info is at the site. But, I’ll be at Star Trek, so I don’t really care about that. However, I do care a LOT about the $10 bottomless PBR cup they are offering.

10 hours of music and endless beer for a total of $20? Fuck, you know I’m there.

$5 Cover

I’ll make this as short and simple as possible.

I saw the whole thing last night. I went in wanting to hate it. I was packing a flask full of whiskey to encourage that hate. And, I’ll admit, the first bit with the drummer is the worst part of the whole thing. But, there are pull-outs from that first 7 minute segment that make you forgive it. (Namely Amy Levere in her underwear.) By the end of the second episode, you’re sold on the whole thing. Which is perfect, since the show is broken up in a way that 3 single episodes fit inside a half hour block. The first of those 5 groups will be shown tonight on MTV.

I am not the biggest Brewer fan in the world. I think Hustle and Flow was a great big screen opener, but Black Snake Moan had…issues. He shoots $5 Cover in an up-close cinema verite style, which works both for and against him. It keeps his actors, all untrained locals with the exception of Clare Grant, from over acting too much. However, there are a lot of choppy camera movements and weird compositions that come along with that style. These problems may be lessened on a smaller screen, but on a movie screen they were pretty jarring.

In a little less than two hours, Brewer does more to make Memphis look cool and interesting than any tourism board could do with a budget five times his. Of course it was a joy to see people that you’d grown up with, places that you frequent, things you’d worked on and people who you admired on screen, so it was an easy sell to this all Memphis audience. Before the lights came down, Brewer encouraged us to make noise and “act rowdy” whenever some one came on that we knew. I burst into guffawing laughter a few times when I watched one of my friends stumble by in the background, trying their damnedest to act cool.

I’m not about to tell you that this didn’t have the air of something your friends made, so you inherently love it more and cast its flaws aside. It did, and that works for it. The question that remains, though, is if that feeling can translate out to the rest of the world that didn’t already love these people and this city.

Personally, I’m hoping for an encore.

You’ll be able to find the whole thing here in a few hours. Watch it on the web. They get more money for that. And they only need this to be a moderate success for them to come back and do another round.

Basil Poledouris’ Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom

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From the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, one of the most epic and over the top pieces of musical scoring ever. I figured this day could use a little more kick-ass.

I might post the opening theme from the Hunt for Red October if this day needs even more kick-ass.