Do you want to write for Ink 19?
Outsight
Outsight: AMBIANCES MAGNÉTIQUES
**************************************************************
Outsight brings to light non-mainstream music, film, books, art, ideas and opinions.
Published, somewhere, monthly since July 1991. Feel free to re-print this article.
Please, keep Outsight informed:
Email Outsight at outsight@usa.net
Ratings are (1) = :(, (5) = :)
Outsight Radio Hours Internet radio Webcasts with live interviews:
Sundays 6pm-8pm EST http://www.new-sounds.net
**************************************************************
NEWS NEWS AND VIEWS **************************
AMBIANCES MAGNÉTIQUES
Ambiances Magnétiques, the distributor of fine electronic recordings of musique actuelle goes by the acronym DAME. A prolific label of fascinating albums, DAME is now working a bevy of new and current releases. From the duo of Martin Tétreault and Otomo Yoshihide comes the three-mini-CD box set Studio-Analogique-Numérique. The pair recorded Studio live in the studio, with no reprocessing, although the set was edited. Letting in chance and eschewing compositional form, this is an organic collage of turntables and electronics. Like a gathering storm this collection of monstrous sounds is ominous and almost unsettling. Then, each took the tapes "back to the lab" for lone reconstruction without input from the other. Tétreault opted for antique tape equipment on Analogique, which adds warmth and even charm to the sounds. Yoshihide went the opposite route and employed state-of-the-art digital reshaping on "an ultramodern computer" and a crisper, sharper piece emerges of low volume, high-pitched drones and alien, cybernetic ruminations… Instead of contrasting styles, personalities merge in the following case. Soshin is a modern guitar album from Antoine Berthiaume. The lead, title track is a solo piece that is a vague meandering but suggests that this guitar album is not about riffs and leads. The rest is duets with masters of the experimental guitar: Fred Frith and Derek Bailey. The pieces flow into each other as the sound architects twang, rub and groan their instruments with sustain only science can give. How was that done? One wonders with each moment. A moaning dog arises out of "Wolf's Wood" before the disc disappears as subtly as it came in "Aquathèque"… Often, we find ourselves enjoying sounds that are not music, but put forward by our environment. It is this reverie induced by Grain from Klaxon Gueule. The album was recorded in a barn and the mostly electronic and homemade percussion sound mosaics offer a barnyard of impressions. In "Fonte sur Plomb" I hear the ducks and roadside traffic of a suburban lake. "Fer Blanc sur Frêne" is the fast-paced chatter of an industry of metal-munching machines… On Asymémtries we have reeds this time being re-evaluated as to how to make sound with them. The Swiss pair behind this disc is Bertand Denzler (tenor sax; Günter Müller, Bob Ostertag) and Hans Koch (bass clarinet and soprano saxophone; Cecil Taylor, Elliott Sharp). The duo goes for a deconstruction that cuts so close to the bone that the pieces are often made up of merely amplified respiration and the sharp squeak of a breath cut in half by a reed… But it is not all about dismantling and rebuilding reeds. Tim Brady offers to bridge the past and the future through his exciting chamber works for saxophone and ensemble on Unison Ritual. The set of three works leads with two that are tightly constructed and fiercely demonstrated examples of post-classical modernism. The final piece is "Kappa" which reconstructs with studio multi-tracking Brady's 100-wind instrument live outdoor performance of 1983…
MOE.DOWN
The 4th Annual moe.down's line up, now confirmed, includes Flaming Lips, Antigone Rising and They Might Be Giants. The festival is in Turin, NY, Labor Day Weekend, August 29-31. Hardworking moe. performs six sets over the weekend, including three sets on Saturday, between sets by Rusted Root, Yonder Mountain String Band and more. Says moe. guitarist Chuck Garvey, "We'll be playing in the company of friends that we've known for years, as well as influences both past and present..." Tickets are available at http://www.moe.org.
LIFE IS ABUSE
Record label Life is Abuse has a lot of really noisy, and scary stuff but its wicked sense of humor comes out in Le Scrawl. Check out the album Too Short to Ignore. It's full of miniature grindcore songs ala A.C. but it mixes in a wealth of musical genres - jazz, pop, and world dance riffs taken from the Brave Combo songbook. It is like Mucky Pup on one end and the Cookie Monster sound vocally (Cannibal Corpse, etc.) on the other with a zany multi-genre approach. The styles change at breakneck speed and it is best to sit and enjoy and not try to predict the hyper-eclectic ensemble. Too Short to Ignore is the entire discography, so far, from the band on one CD… For more consistent heavy noise rock get with the self-titled Brainoil album. On the one hand this is like wall-of-noise in the vein of Neurosis, but on the other hand it is ossified stoner rock, like Acid King… Also heavy and malevolent is Teen Cthulhu. This group is heading more toward doom metal with its vicious sludge but boasts the same Cookie Monster vocals. Teen Cthulhu is black metal with a hardcore heart, delivering vicious omens with bloody, murderous themes…
MUTE NEWS
Among the happenings at the Mute label: The Warlocks sign a record deal and Nick Cave is releasing his first-ever DVD. While the Cave DVD is through Mute, Cave continues to work with Anti/Epitaph. Mute Records signed four-guitar group The Warlocks to its international roster. Mute North America will provide promotional and marketing support to Phoenix, available through Birdman Records domestically, raising awareness of the swirling neo-psychedelic gem. Mute UK will release Phoenix in the UK on September 1, 2003. The first single is "Shake the Dope Out." Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' God Is In The House DVD is due out August 26, 2003. The DVD contains live footage from Le Transbordeur in Lyon, France, as well as the John Hillcoat directed documentary No More Shall We Part - The Recording Sessions. The documentary has exclusive film of the band recording No More Shall We Part at Abbey Road. The DVD includes the videos Hillcoat directed for the singles "As I Sat Sadly By Her Side" and "Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow." The Lyon concert from the 2001 No More Shall We Part tour features the line up Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis.
Listen to or Buy Phoenix at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy No More Shall We Part at Amazon.com
6168
No, it's not the name of a space adventure set far into the future. Sixty One Sixty Eight is a co-operative of artists put together by Bob Green (Grassy Knoll) and Peter Beddow (Absorption) that shares the financial burden of promotion while the artists maintain full control and ownership of their wok. The CDs, available only at the website, are similarly packaged in cardboard sleeves. A compelling urban visual in a middle band on the cover separates the band name above from the CD title below. The first disc on this label I will bring your attention to is the first disc from Absorption. This slow-groove, ragged electronica is a project from Peter Beddow that includes two members of Grassy Knoll: Bob Green on bass and David Revelli as one of the guitarists. The lo-fi, trippy music has an early trip-hop feel (Portishead, Massive Attack) but is sans vocals… Grassy Knoll itself has a record on the label, Short Stories, and it does have vocals. Bob Green's post-electronic experimental rock project uses electronic styles, like repetition and beat, and tools to create music. This CD is built on samples of New York spoken word artist and actress Becca Ayers as well as trumpet tracks from Chris Grady. This is the first Grassy Knoll album I've heard with prevalent female voice and the result is similar to Meg Lee Chin's album… Squadra Fantasma by Jettatura brings us back to an instrumental sound. Jettatura uses fat bass grooves and brisk break beats in a formula that is deconstructed funk in a space music style…
DOWN COUNTRY ROADS
Mark Insley migrated from Kansas to Los Angeles and developed his post-Bakersfield Sound ala Buck Owens. Supermodel (Rustic) is an achey-breaky collection of narrative ballads is an excellent album featuring top-notch understated guitar work from Insley, Rick Shea (Dave Alvin), Greg Leisz (k.d. lang, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins) and bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, John Fogerty). Ex-Butthole Surfer David Raven handles percussion and the distinct voice of Clare Muldaur delivers backing vocals. This daughter of folksinger Geoff Muldaur recalls Geoff's ex-wife (not Clare's mother) Maria Muldaur… David Allen Coe has had a three-part career starting as an outlaw country purveyor of "country porn" and then the outlandishly garbed "Masked Rhinestone Cowboy" but is now an elder statesman of country music and pre-eminent songwriter. Sounds like the lead "Ain't that the Way (Love's Supposed to Be)" in duet with Kim Hastings indicate his talent as well as "Take this Job and Shove It" on Live at Billy Bob's Texas (Smith Music Group). Still, Coe never obtained the mainstream recognition he deserved. Johnny Paycheck built a career on "Take This Bob and Shove It" such that the number of Paycheck albums with that song rival in number if not surpass the number of albums Coe has at all. Indeed, much of Coe's material is marked by near desperate name dropping and hagiography like the excellent songs "When I was a Young Man", "If that Ain't Country" and "Longhaired Redneck" here updated as "Long Haired Redneck 2001". This updating marks Coe's acceptance by hip-hop figures Uncle Kracker and Kid Rock, bringing Coe to bring hip hop into this song and others, like "You Never Even Call Me by My Name". Such populist moves didn't upgrade Bo Diddley's repertoire and it doesn't help this Coe set. Dig into Coe's signature "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" and you will find excellent songwriters Steve Goodman and John Prine. Dig into country music and you will find premier songwriters Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and David Allan Coe. That much will always be true. This concert from the stalwart legend is also preserved on DVD from Smith Music Group… Coe also gave us an excellent version of "Storms Never Last", the song Waylon Jennings and Jessi Coulter made famous as a husband-wife duet. On Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings (Dualtone Records), Allison Moorer does the song solo and the tribute to the original outlaw country singer concludes with a revved-up title track by Henry Rollins. Standouts tracks include Guy Clark ("Good Hearted Woman"), Robert Earl Keen ("Are You Sure Hank Done it this Way") and Randy Foster with Roger Creager ("Luckenbach, Texas"). This mix of pop, rock and country artists, including Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin, Norah Jones, John Doe and Kris Kristofferson, produced a remarkably consistent and solid compilation… A generation before the outlaws, Western music was all about popularity, not marginalization. Nolan Bruce Allen pays tribute to this whole time when western music fused country, jazz and pop into western swing on Nolan Bruce Allen Salutes the Bob Wills Era, Vol. 1 (Glad Music Co.). The 22 tracks from New York's "King of Western Swing" on this first installment in a three-volume series features such stellar players as guitarist Tommy Allsup (Buddy Holly) and, when a female voice is needed, Chris O'Connell (Asleep at the Wheel). Also from Asleep at the Wheel, Tim Alexander plays piano. Steel guitar is an important instrument in this genre, and Allen has a legend on hand: Tom Morrell, whose Western swing resume goes back to the '50s. The rhythm section is Western swing greats Mark Abbott (upright bass) and Greg Hardy (drums)… Also having Western swing roots is brothers Willy (vocals/guitar) and Cody Braun (vocals/fiddle/mandolin/harmonica) of country-rock band Reckless Kelly. The Brauns toured with their father in Muzzie Braun & the Boys, a Western swing band. The new Reckless Kelly album is Under the Table & Above the Sun (Sugar Hill). It is a tasty dozen country rock songs that tend toward the John Mellencamp end of the spectrum… Eleven Hundred Springs does it with a Texas swing on Broken Dreams (Last Beat). This album features Kim Pendleton (Vibrolux) on vocals. This group of twenty-somethings plays excellent, refined music worthy of their forebears… Just as the Western swing formula continues to thrive, so does the Bakersfield country plus rock formula, mixed with outlaw elements and base humor by Billy Joe Winghead on Precious Moments with Billy Joe Winghead (R.A.F.R.). Vagina jokes ("Hairless Kitty"), real bathroom humor ("Rest Stop Romeo") along with a strong backbeat and nods to hardcore are all found here. These Okie punkers culminate this "best of" compilation with a version of "Freebird" replacing the guitar with theremin… Collaboration is a sort of living cross-tribute and this is what we find when Cracker and Leftover Salmon unite for O Cracker, Where Art Thou? (Pitch-A-Tent Records). Recorded live in the studio, Cracker's David Lowery and Johnny Hickman sing with Leftover Salmon providing bluegrass-inspired backing. This one-off recording project sprung from an impromptu performance of "Eurotrash Girl" by Hickman, Lowery and Leftover Salmon after the duo and group met in Cracker's home base of Richmond, VA…
Listen to or Buy Supermodel at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy Lonesome, On'ry and Mean at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy Nolan Bruce Allen Salutes the Bob Wills Era, Vol. 1 at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy Under the Table & Above the Sun at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy Precious Moments with Billy Joe Winghead at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy Broken Dreams at Amazon.com
Listen to or Buy O Cracker, Where art Thou? at Amazon.com
DVD REVIEWS ****************************
Rachel Amodeo
What About Me
Eclectic DVD
Amodeo's tale, starring herself, is the story of a cast-off that slowly descends through successively more desperate and futile societal strata. The gritty black-and-white picture works well as a vehicle for the Johnny Thunders sad ballads that punctuate it. (As for songs, I was greatly pleased to hear "Another Girl Another Planet" by criminally underrated The Only Ones in the party scene.) The characters Rachel's character meets on her descent are a who's who of the underground. Nick Zedd, Richard Hell, actor Richard Edson (Let It Ride, Do the Right Thing), beat figure Gregory Corso, actress Judy Carne, Thunders, Thunders bandmate Jerry Nolan, Dee Dee Ramone and actress Rockets Redglare (Down By Law, After Hours) are all in this film. Included on the DVD of this Lower East Side tale of one woman's fall into street-life are two Amodeo shorts. The silent Rest in Peace co-stars actress/musician Dame Darcy with Amodeo and is a ghost tale with double exposure special effects. Pierre Paolo sees Amodeo exploring a town in rural Italy. (3.5)
More on the DVD from Amazon.com
Nina Simone
Live At Ronnie Scott's
Wadham Films/MVD
This DVD of a 1984 performance starts abruptly, but powerfully as Nina, worked into a trance, slowly and intently sings "God, God, God" as she plays piano softly, but briskly. This sets the tone for the first half of the concert; intimate and personal. In between the songs interview segments are interspersed. Nina is quite chatty and entertaining in these talks and it works well with the set, as we can imagine her conversing the same way with the audience on the songs, as she was wont to do live. The second half of the concert is more energetic, starting off with a medley of "Mississippi Goddam" with the Brecht/Weill tune "Moon over Alabama". The only accompaniment Simone has at the legendary jazz venue is drummer Paul Robinson (Van Morrison, The Proclaimers). Robinson ably supports and reacts to Simone in this memorable concert. (4)
More on the DVD from Amazon.com
Shane MacGowan
If I Should Fall From Grace: The Shane MacGowan Story
MVD
This is a revealing and humanizing documentary of Shane MacGowan, singer for The Pogues. Apart from his famous drunken and unpredictable behavior, this DVD glimpse into the life of MacGowan shows him to be a warm and gregarious person comfortable at clubs and pubs as well as with his parents and partner. While this highly talented songwriter may never come across as articulate he also appears well-read and intelligently motivated for his art. A large number of songs by The Pogues, which can be searched directly on the DVD, make this a musical treat for fans of the band, too. Along with other members of The Pogues, Nick Cave comments on Shane. Cave's interview is more lengthily sampled in the extra's portion, which also contains the iconoclastic MacGowan's thoughts on religion and a conversation between Shane and Paul Simonon (The Clash) about Italian cinema and more. (4.5)
More on the DVD from Amazon.com
BOOK REVIEWS ************************
Larry E. Sullivan, Editor
Bandits & Bibles
Akashic Books
This is a fascinating read of essays, poems and recollections written by 19th Century American convicts. The title may make one think that this is about some sort of Christian reform movement, but the influence of bibles on the life and subculture of these cons is just one of the many facets exposed by this kaleidoscope of the belly of the beast. Some pieces touch on infamous history like Cole Younger's recollection of his final ride with the James-Younger gang. Some pieces are telling glimpses of human nature problems faced re-integrating with society, as in "Problems After Release" by D. B. Smith. Generally autobiographical, these memoir excerpts are revealing and telling windows into a dark and remote corner of society from over a century ago. As with Civil War letters, Frederick Douglass' Narrative and more, 19th Century writing seems imbued with such a gift of literacy and description compared to popular writing of this day when e-mail supplants letters and The Biography Channel replaces biographical books. This collection is another example of such vivid prose. There is also a very entertaining and detailed analysis of period con slang that should not go missed. (4)
More on the book from Amazon.com
Bobby Borg
The Musician's Handbook: A Practical Guide to Understanding the Music Business
Billboard Books
Besides time with Warrant and Beggars & Thieves as well as his own band Left for Dead, Borg has a long history writing music magazine columns and method books. In this book, Borg unites his experience in working bands with his journalistic experience for an informative and detailed text on the mechanics of the music business. Along with bandmates, a musician needs a more extensive team to navigate the practical matters of a career in music. Borg details the roles of the attorney, personal manager, business manager, talent agent and record producer in this team. Borg also goes far to explain the perennially mystifying topic of royalties, advances and music publishing in the complex revenue stream generated by songs and recordings. Borg also explores different employment scenarios, like contract versus self-employment as well the approach of being a solo artist/employer. These helpful chapters are unusual in books of this type. Sections of the book are enhanced with Q&A interviews with such people as Henry Rollins, Fred Croshal (GM at Maverick Records) and Neil Gillis (VP of A&R at Warner/Chappel Music). (4)
More on the book from Amazon.com
CD REVIEWS ****************************
Larval
Obedience
Cuneiform Records
Bill Brovold's Larval continues to be the voice for intelligent and challenging sounds with a hard rock basis out of Detroit. This CD sees Brovold relying less on a wall-of-sound guitar dirge to offer more complex arrangements featuring the strings and horns. This post-threnody Larval is menacing and ominous. Dark clouds gather here on this most moody and reflective of the Larval albums. (4.5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Jumbo's Killcrane
Carnaval de Carne
Crucial Blast
Like The Jesus Lizard meets Einstürzende Neubauten, Jumbo's Killcrane is an ominous, doom rock attack that is trenchant and terrible. This is early Sonic Youth amplified to over-modulated levels crossed with that amazing heavy stuff that was coming from Amphetamine Reptile and Touch & Go in the late '80s/early '90s like Melvins and Killdozer. Jumbo's Killcrane plays a sophisticated, progressive post-grunge sludge rock that wants to be played at maximum volume. (3.5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Spring Heel Jack
Live
Thirsty Ear
This is Spring Heel Jack's ultimate exploration of free jazz meets electronica, This 75+ minute extravaganza caps a trilogy with the preceding Masses and Amassed. With Masses, Spring Heel Jack worked with American improvisers, employing their European counterparts for Amassed. This live document is a cross-Atlantic summit that includes the American representatives Matthew Shipp (this time on Fender Rhodes) and William Parker. Ambassadors from Europe are saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Han Bennink. Helping to keep it cosmic is Jason Pierce, a.k.a J. Spaceman (Spiritualized, Spaceman 3). The entire instrumental set is a thrilling, majestic exploration of improvisation as this all-star ensemble of guests jams with Spring Heel Jack. (5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Tom Teasley
Global Groovilization
T&T Music
Tom Teasley is a percussionist of international renown. He performs solo as well as with jazz groups and as a symphonic soloist. Like Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, Teasley also sees percussion rhythms as a unifying principle in music of all cultures. Here Teasley promotes that idea through fun, stylized tracks creating funky beat music out of a grab bag of rhythm foundations from India, Brazil, West Africa and more. (3)
Mudville
Mudville
Slurry Records
This four-song EP from this new Brooklyn band is an introduction to its music. A full-length release is slated for fall, 2003. This is sophisticated trip-hop melding exquisite slow-soul vocals from Marilyn Carino with trashcan downbeat rhythms from an unhurried, post-industrial Benjamin Rubin. Mudville is Portishead pulled in the direction of classic West Coast cool jazz. (4.5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Canned Heat
Friends in the Can
Fuel 2000
Friends in the Can is an excellent blues/rock album from lead veterans of the genre. Several guests appear on this album to spice things up. This includes Roy Rogers on "Bad Trouble" and Walter Trout on "Home To You". The posthumous inclusion of a John Lee Hooker narrative on "Never Get out of These Blues Alive" featuring Taj Mahal recalls the days Canned Heat exposed Hooker to a national audience when these record collectors and rockers signed up The Healer Canned Heat for the massively selling album Hooker 'n' Heat in 1970. It is largely still 1970 and a heady mix of true blues and real rock on this excellent album Canned Heat. (4.5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
The Swords Project
Entertainment is Over if you Want it
Arena Rock Recording Co.
This is the first album from an ad hoc project that grew up from regular jam
sessions held between the groups The Icebreak and Slower Than. This is a multi-layered experimental pop project that recalls the noise-pop experiments of the Seattle-Vancouver scene like Sky Cries Mary and Mecca Normal. This also heads toward the shoegazer arena, in a detached, floating neo-psychedelic way. (3)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Ian Eccles-Smith
Apsiline
Ian Eccles-Smith
Like some of the music of Tangerine Dream, this is an ambitious, prog-rock album heavily based on electronica. The instrumental pieces largely succeed as powerful and somewhat eerie pieces. The London-based composer varies the mood of his compositions from a potent juggernaut to a tranquil melody. All this change and variation flows easily and naturally over the entire CD that can be heard as a unified opus. (3.5)
Loop Guru
Bathtime with Loop Guru
Hypnotic Records
This is the first CD of new material in five years from electronica veterans Loop Guru. As the title suggests, this is a relaxing album of slow-groove beats that would enhance a relaxing soak in the tub. This serene feeling is enhanced by the tranquil sound of horns performing understated and simple melodies answered by synthesizer. As such, this album marks a conclusion of a trilogy ambient atmospherica from the group. The album is also exotica, incorporating ethnic themes, especially the eastern and Asian Indian. The sum total is a warm and bubbling medium of trance electronica to soak the troubled mind and carry way the stresses of the day. (4.5)
Listen to or Buy at Amazon.com
Outsight is non-mainstream music news and views. The content is wholly based on new releases and a focus on the the eclectic and overlooked.
