The import of the musical message is often polluted--and diluted--by consumerism. When in New York recently visiting a good friend, I saw an amazing show on Broadway called Fela!, and it reminded me, quite poignantly, that music is much more than some cultural trinket to be bought, sold, and rated. Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a Nigerian musician who pioneered what is now known as Afrobeat, which is a fusion of Jazz, Funk, & Psychedelic Rock. He used his music as a political and cultural tool to fight against British colonial oppression and to champion human rights. His life and music are vastly more complicated than this and reach well-beyond my own knowledge base. I recommend finding some info about him online and checking out his music. It can be difficult in our generation of fragmented information and pre-digested culture to remember the ways in which music can be holistic, truly meaningful, and revolutionary. There's something dangerous, lazy, and belittling about slapping a rating--whether it be stars or a ten-point scale--on music. That being said, I've been trying to take the musical inclinations of certain websites (cough! co-pitchfork-ugh!) a bit less seriously. I've really been digging The Quietus (www.thequietus.com). They're not afraid to give legitimate credit to risky albums, and they write reviews without assigning a rating. They're also the only British based online review site I read. Coincidence? This review ripping Animal Collective a new one is fucking awesome and totally worth reading if you're an Animal Collective fan:
With this in mind, here are some tunes I've been checking out lately, beginning with Fela Kuti:
Artist: Fela Kuti (Nigerian, 1960's-1970's)Album: Complete Catalogue
Standout Albums: Expensive Shit (1975), Gentleman (1973), Zombie (1976)
I was listening to Fela quite a bit before I even learned of the Broadway production. Most likely I came across his name while reading about the recent compilations Analogue Africa has been releasing. There's something extremely evocative about the way Fela composes his music. I'm certainly the furthest from an expert on Jazz (and Afrobeat for that matter), but he seems incredibly talented and more seminal and influential than I'm able to fully realize. In fact, the Brooklyn based group, Antibalas, played all the music during the Broadway show. Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof") is an Afrobeat ensemble. If you like Fela's stuff, you'll dig their album, Security. They also contributed to TV On The Radio's last record, Dear Science. It was great to see the Broadway production for many reasons. It was fun to learn the origin of the song names and lyrics I had been hearing over the previous months. "Expensive Shit," in particular, has a crazy back story. But if you don't want to hear a story involving poop and drugs, skip the next paragraph.
I'm assuming this is actually true (because, as we know, everything produced on Broadway is authentic and unbiased), but it's worth cross-checking elsewhere based on its enjoyable preposterousness. Apparently, the reason Fela named an album/song "Expensive Shit" was because he once ate a huge blunt to avoid being prosecuted and imprisoned in Nigeria. This is how it went down: military officials stormed his club in Nigeria. An officer approached Fela holding a huge blunt, held it in front of Fela's face, and said, "What is this?!" Without hesitating, Fela did what any sensible revolutionary would do: he chomped the blunt right out of the officer's hand and swallowed the whole thing. The military officials proceeded to arrested Fela. When they brought him in front of the judge, there was no evidence with which to prosecute Fela, so they held him captive for three days while they waited for him to "shit out the evidence." On the third night, as Fela was in serious pain from his intestinal withholdings, a cell mate and Fela sympathizer--as most Nigerian's were--approached Fela with a bucket:
"The guards are all asleep," he told Fela. "Now's your chance! Go in this bucket with the rest of us and they'll never be able to prove it was you!"
After some initial difficulties, Fela succeeded, and he wrote a song about the incident, aptly titled, "Expensive Shit." Other song and album origin stories were revealed throughout the production, but this was my favorite. The dancing, choreography, costume, and set design were awesome as well, and the audience was often involved in the action by being asked to dance or participate in a call and response. I have an incredible amount of respect for professional dancers/singers/actors on Broadway after seeing this performance. If you happen to be in the NYC area, or if this show ends up traveling to a nearby city, I recommend checking it out. Here are a few more albums, none of which sound anything like Fela's Afrobeat, that I've been listening to almost non-stop over the past two weeks:
Artist: Wild Beasts
Album: Two Dancers
Two Dancers is the logical evolution of this British band's debut, Limbo, Panto. Frontman Hayden Thorpe's impressive falsetto, offset by bandmate Ben Little's deeper voice, makes for a duo unique and impressive across both indie and main stream music (whatever that distinction even means anymore). I'd go so far as to say that it's voices like the one Hayden possesses that allow bands to ascend the ranks to serious acclaim. For instance: Jeff Buckley, Robert Plant, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Joni Mitchell, Joanna Newsom, and Thom Yorke, to name a few. Surely, these bands would have escaped greatness were it not for their unique and impressive vocalists (I'll accept the argument that this may not be true for Zeppelin...). Anyway, Two Dancers is definitely in my running for best album of the year. With this album, Wild Beasts have figured out a way to refine all the raw talent they displayed in their first album. They manage to incorporate the atmosphere and space that was lacking in Limbo, Panto, and their song structures are varied and well-thought out. The whole album is a beautiful combination of sparkling guitars, clever drums, wiggling bass lines, electronics, and vocals. And while each song on the album is able to stand on its own, two standouts are "Hooting & Howling," and "Two Dancers." I predict we'll be seeing (and hearing) big things from Wild Beasts in the years to come.
On a final note, I need to pay my respects to Wild Beast's England-based parent label, Domino Records. I am continually impressed by the artists Domino signs, and the label puts out beautiful records with wonderful sound quality in top-notch packaging. Animal Collective, Cass McCombs, James Yorkston, Juana Molina, and the artist below, Jon Hopkins, are all signed to Domino. Check out their website sometime to see all the other artists they've signed.
Artist: Jon Hopkins
Album: Insider
Listening to this album has forever altered the way I think about electronic music. And in a year that has seen an abundance of excellent electronic releases (Bibio, Fuck Buttons, Air France, Delorean, Dan Deacon, Here We Go Magic, Little Dragon), the fact that Hopkins stands out is an impressive feat. Here's the quick back story: Brian Eno apparently "discovered" Hopkins just before producing Coldplay's latest, Viva La Vida. He was so impressed with Hopkins that Eno asked him to co-produce the Coldplay album with him. Coldplay, in turn, was so impressed, that they asked Hopkins to accompany them on their world tour as an opening DJ act. Insider is the first full-length proper Hopkins has put out. But don't be fooled by his stint with Coldplay--there's nothing bland and recycled about his sound. Hopkins is a trained pianist and, to quote a review I read, "not someone who pushes buttons, but a genuine composer." If I were asked to describe the album, I would say something like, glitchy electronic fused with melodic piano that isn't afraid to be truly beautiful. The album is bookended by two somber tracks that put some of his other, darker tracks in perspective. What I love most is Hopkins' sense of pacing: he weaves dark with light, slow with fast, and somber with aggressive in a way makes it all palatable and enjoyable. Check out the track "Wire" to whet your appetite.
Artist: Beach House
Album: Teen Dream
This album won't be released until January 26th 2010, but you need to start listening to it now because it's just that good. Beach House is a Baltimore based duo composed of vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand, and guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally. Their previous two albums, Beach House and Devotion are both awesome, but there's something different about their sound in Teen Dream. It might have something to do with their move from Carpark records to Sub-Pop. Either way, I think I listened to the first and last track on this album 20 times in two days, and I recommend listening to them to get a feel for the dreamy atmosphere created by Legrand's voice and the duo's musical inclinations. The songs are "Zebra" and "Take Care." Although I recommend listening to all albums on headphones or in the front seat of a car with a kick-ass system, I think this one is particularly effective enjoyed in either one of these two formats.
Artist: Bibio
Album: Ambivalence Avenue
This is another album that will likely make my top ten of 2009 (If I ever actually get around to making the list...which will in all likelihood stretch itself into a top twenty list). I'm not going to drop a bunch of background for this. I'm simply going to tell you that it symbolizes, for me, what 2009 has been all about: creating the perfect hybrid between electronica and rock. This album is chill, funky, and impossibly addicting. If you visit his MySpace, be sure to check out the title track, "Ambivalence Avenue." Another British-based musician. I just realized the irony in featuring three British artists beneath an opening piece about Fela Kuti. Maybe Beach House helps to balance things out a bit.
Hopefully you get a chance to check some of these out. If I don't post again before the New Year, have a safe New Year's Eve and a restful New Year's Day. Thanks for reading.
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