music

I've been blessed to collaborate with some amazing artists on a performance work over the past year or so. I've composed sound for the ~30 minute work that will debut at Columbia's Dance Center as part of their Ten Year Celebration on September 25th.

It's been a really great experience collaborating with Ni'Ja and the performers. Creating this work has taken me to places emotionally that I didn't even know existed. It's been hard, scary and really exciting all at the same time. There are moments in the piece of a brutal fierceness of one fighting for their own survival, and moments of tenderness and real vulnerability. See the info on the show below, check out a sampler of the sound I created for the show, and come see the show next Saturday!

I Still Live Here is the premier work of Chicago-based African diasporic performance project, The Artisans of Alchemy (AOA). AOA's founder and director, Ni'Ja Whitson choreographs this eclectic and gripping interdisciplinary performance work, that locates and expresses body memory; a gesture boldly traversing the collection of scars and narratives stored between skin.

Supported by original compositions from sound artist nikhil trivedi, site specific performance for video composed by Whitson, and presented through expressive and dynamically moving bodes, the multimedia landscape of I Still Live Here questions our complicity and personal relationship to violence, connects the horrific reality of “corrective rapes” occurring in staggering numbers in South Africa, to shared histories of, struggles to overcome, and experiences within, collective trauma.

I Still Live Here
September 25, 2010
12:30 pm
1306: Ten Years Later - Dance Center of Columbia College
1306 S Michigan Avenue
FREE

Last time Sheena came into town, we were listening to a lot of Nirvana. Aaaaah the memories, of wearing flannel shirts over concert t-shirts and ripped jeans; of thrashing, moshing, and body-surfing and not calling it dancing; of first using our instruments as tools to make noise, then turning it into music. When we were in a band, Nirvana was one of Tolgar's bigger influences, and we ended up doing a good handful of covers. Aneurysm, D7, and other b-sides and covers Nirvana did that no one ever heard of. Lol.

Nowadays I'm making music that's more focused on purity of tone, and ridding all the nuances blips and squeaks that dirty up my sound. quite a contrast from yanking, banging, and thumping my strings between low rolling basslines. But Nirvana and loud noise will still hold a special place in my heart, so I'm sure I'll turn into an old man that'll associate the group with memories that the next generation will have no grasp of, and probably consider them "classic rock" or some lame genre term like that. Worthless.

Sunday afternoon I played a benefit for Yawp!, an Asian youth writing program in Chicago. I played sitar with two writers, sarwat rumi and imi rashid. The event was awesome, it was to raise money for Yawp's fifth year program, and there was such a great collection of artists there, from kids currently involved in Yawp's program, people who had been through the Yawp program themselves, and other artists in the area. It was such a blessing to be part of such a great group of artists.

Our piece consisted of sarwat and imi reading a collection of pieces they had written before, during, and after a recent trip they took to Bangladesh, that they described as the "bizarre joys and surreal challenges of being muslim, deshi, queer, and deeply engaged in family during muslim holidays, blockades, violent protest, and postponed elections." this is the second time I've collaborated with sarwat, and the first with imi. sarwat is such a great writer, her poetry is deeply affecting, and beautifully written, and imi's writing is powerful, and flows through details and feelings like water. I played sitar along with their readings in Raag Khamaaj and Raag Kirwani.

Photos by Angela Steele

I was at Subterranean a few months ago, and there was a small hip hop crew chillin there. Some dude was painting while a dj spun some dope records. The dj played a remix of Planet Rock by Afrika Bam, and it was only then that it hit me that the Bollywood movie Koi Mil Gaya ripped a sample off Afrika Bam!! Check out the beginning of this segment from the movie:

Then check out the beginning of Planet Rock:

Uh... hello?? It's the same thing. Dre samples Lata Mangeshkar (Guinness Book holder or most recordings in the world) thinking no one would notice, then Rajesh Roshan samples Planet Rock (one of first electronicly produced songs ever, arguable launched hip hop and most forms of electronic music in one shot) presumably thinking no one would notice? Man, people got problems.

Ever since Don Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team a bunch of nappy headed hos, there's been a lot of talk about racism in the media. And a large amount of the debate in mainstream media outlets have unfairly imposed the question on hip hop, asking 'should we complain that a white sports anchor used the same language black males in hip hop use?'

Worthless. Racist comments are messed up no matter who uses the language. Reappropriating the n-word, for example, doesn't negate the fact that it's been used under very disturbing circumstances. Scapegoating hip hop is an immature way to talk about the bigger problem of silently accepted racism. But the conversation's still been happening on a lot of media outlets. Like the Oprah Winfrey Show.

People have a really hard time understanding that mainstream hip hop is not a reflection of hip hop overall, let alone the entire African-American community. Hello. Mainstream hip hop (what you hear on the radio) is out there to sell personalities, sell records, and sell out amphitheater shows. In mainstream hip hop, sex sells. Just like it has in rock n roll for the past 50 years. Remember Nine Inch Nails' Closure? Motley Crue's Girls, Girls, Girls? or Elvis's "suggestive and downright obscene" hip shaking? No one took these songs as a reflection of white america and said "we're all a bunch of perves!" If I said something nasty to a white woman and defended myself by saying, "Nikki Sixx said the same thing, so you must feel the same way. It's all good" would you seriously hear that argument?? Nikki Sixx is as much a spokesperson for white people in america as 50 Cent is for black people. Furthermore, misogyny in hip hop is a reflection of what the consumers in America are looking for. Not the African-American community's views towards women.

But Oprah can't see that. Cause she must have never listened to Mos Def, Talib Kweli, or The Roots. Saul Williams wrote an open letter in response to Oprah's quick-critique of hip hop:

"You see, Ms. Winfrey, at it's worse; Hip Hop is simply a reflection of the society that birthed it. Our love affair with gangsterism and the denigration of women is not rooted in Hip Hop; rather it is rooted in the very core of our personal faith and religions. The gangsters that rule Hip Hop are the same gangsters that rule our nation... For a Hip Hop artist to say "I do what I wanna do/Don't care if I get caught/The DA could play this mothafukin tape in court/I'll kill you/ I ain't playin'" epitomizes the confidence and braggadocio we expect an admire from a rapper who claims to represent the lowest denominator. When a world leader with the spirit of a cowboy (the true original gangster of the West: raping, stealing land, and pillaging, as we clapped and cheered.) takes the position of doing what he wants to do, regardless of whether the UN or American public would take him to court, then we have witnessed true gangsterism and violent negligence."

A few high schools in New York have started teaching African drumming as part of their curriculum. That's pretty sweet. I studied music in high school, too, but it was western classical music and folk guitar. I've heard of one-day workshops where djembe, congo, and dhol players go into school and give crash course workshops on their instruments and styles of music for classes, but never a full course.

"In many traditional cultures around the world, people celebrate life with music. In Africa, making music is a communal event where both the performers and the audience participate. Drumming plays a significant role in these life celebrations. As many of the traditional drumming groups and suites are played in an ensemble setting, the promotion of a sense of community cannot be overemphasized. Students in this class learned a habit of learning principle such as Interdependence by playing in an ensemble setting. They learned an artistic skill by playing in the group. They also learned a life skill by learning how to work together in a group, accept constructive criticism and build confidence.

Students also learned how to play as soloists. As a habit of learning, it refers to Interdependence. By playing individually, students are inspired by the drumming vocabulary that they learn in class. To reach that level of independence, students have to apply another habit of learning known as Interpretation. This is done by their listening to traditional music, composed rhythms and contemporary music and then interpret it through deconstruction of the piece. To express themselves and play well, they have to apply all the principles learned and to bring out their own rhythms hence their own Voice.

Another point worth noting is that drumming in Africa imitates the nuances of the human voice and is used mostly to communicate. Like any other language in the world, to communicate well and effectively, one needs a large stock of vocabulary. Students were taught on how to brainstorm these sources and were also taught how to play distinctly so that dancers and the audience can hear, interpret and enjoy their performance. Students have not only learned how to play drums but how to sing as well. Songs such as "Agoo, Agoo, Agoo" and "Kusum Agoro" were learned in class.

All these artistic, academic and life skills learnt in class were evident during the culminating event at the Bowery Poetry Club held recently. Students such as Ebony, Francis, Valentine, Talisa, Aisha, Zach, Rafael and José treated their own mates, teachers and the audience to some pulsating drum suites through solo work, duet as well as played in an ensemble setting."

This... is awesome. I saw a buddy at work walking around with this mug, and it's awesome. Emacs is a text editor I use when working on code on Linux, and there are a ton of features it has to make work easier, and this mug is a dandy little reference to some of this features. I know, I'm a dork, but this mug is awesome.

I heard a few tracks off Ghostface Killah's new album today, and it sounds HOT. I do still buy cds, so I might just pick that one up.

I went to Tower Records on Wabash and Jackson today, and man was it desolate. A few months ago, Tower announced it was going out of business and selling off all it's stores, probably mostly because of lack in sales dues to iTunes selling downloadable music, Amazon selling cds for a lot cheaper, and the like. So I stopped in a few weeks after the announcement, and it's shelves were still pretty full, and the store was still pretty busy with people shuffling through their cds for good deals. But at 30% off, I still couldn't get my self to drop cash for a cd. In a store that's going out of business and discounting their merchandise, their prices were STILL higher than i would pay on-line. I went in there again today, and most of the shelves were empty, they were selling all their hip hop cds at a dollar each, all their electronic music at $1.50, all their remaining magazines for 25 cents, and everything else was pretty much 70% off. Now I bought a bunch of cds, as the stores on its last leg, gasping for its last breath of air. Tower was always a fun stop while I was on my break at school, and on my lunch break now. But over the past decade or so I've been stopping in, I've only got a few cds to show for, but the ones I bought were significant for me. Joi's One and One Is One from Tower, one of the first Asian underground cds I ever bought. I bought Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane from Tower, one of the first jazz cds I ever bought. And my memories of and my uber-curiosity when buying those cds are still so clear. I doubt I'll keep memories like those from purchases I make on Amazon... so I'm sad to see Tower go.

In reference to the initial development of house music in Chicago in the late 70's/early 80s:

"Intriguingly, house took on exactly the same cultural role as hip hop had done in New York. Its original constituency was poor and black. Its energy came from djs competing on a local level. Its aesthetic was a result of djs, dissatisfied with the prevailing sound, rediscovering older music and recasting it in new ways.

Just like hip hop, house stole basslines and drum patterns from old songs (both musics were initially about creating a very minimal and repetitive version of disco). Its creative progression was a result of djs constantly introducing new elements to their performances to outdo the other guy. And house, like hip hop, depended on a fierce "do-it-yourself" spirit. Even the clothes which characterized house in Chicago—baggy and functional—were what would later be identified as hip hop styles throughout the world. The only fundamental difference was the tempo of the music, and that house accepted rather than rejected disco's gayness and its four-on-the-floor beat.

Some Chicago djs, like Pierre, can even recall battles, just like those between hip hop crews in New York, where a series of house djs would perform for the honor of having impressed the largest number of dancers—complete with mcs!

'A dj had to bring his own sound system, his own mc, and bring a big sign with his name on it. And it'd be in a big school gymnasium,' he recalls. 'Then another dj, he'd bring his own sound system, and a third dj'd bring his sound system. And you had to do your thing for like thirty minutes or an hour, and whoever's sound system and djing skills sounded the best won the competition.' Pierre even remembers losing a battle because he didn't have a particular record, 'Time to Jack' by Chip E.

Given the nature of the house subculture, it's no wonder, then, that for many years hip hop was virtually unheard in Chicago. Only in the mid-nineties, after house as a local phenomenon had gone resolutely back underground, could hip hop claim any kind of listenership in the windy city. Today, the musical spectrum on Chicago radio still has a high ratio of uptempo dance music compared to other American cities, but increasingly it succumbing to the swingbeat-style r&b and hip hop which now chokes the US music business."

from Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey

The other day I was in the left hand turning lane of State Street turning westbound on Congress Blvd. My windows were open a little, and my Rashid Khan, Raag Miyan Ki Todi recording got abruptly interrupted by a middle-aged black woman in a mini van next to me blasting Sexyback by Justin Timberlake and totally rockin to it in her driver's seat. She was swaying side-to-side with the beat, waving her hand in the air, and just thoroughly enjoying the song. I felt excited, I wanted to find the radio station that was playing the song and rock out with her, it was awesome. The moment passed with the green arrow, but heading west on 290 I ended up turning off my CD and shuffling through radio stations looking for one that was playing the song. "yea."

It's a hot song, what can I say. And both black people (the people representing the music he's re-doing) and white people (pop-majority) are digging his music. Am I the only one who sees this going on? Looking around on the net, I found some information reflecting similar perceptions. Here are reviews of JT's new album in New York Magazine and the Washington Post that both make comparisons between him and Prince (a completely unfair comparison, cause come on, Prince?? a more appropriate comparison would be between JT and Prince's left pinkie, and even then, Prince would still be more dope). More directly to the point is this summary of a panel discussion entitled "Are white artists like Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Christiana Aguilera appropriating black music?". Which suggests:

...that the industry was keen to promote white artists performing black music, but reluctant to invest commensurate resources in black artists performing black music or specific types of black music. Although participants felt that white artists could participate within black music genres, so long as they acknowledged their sources and influences, there was however a view that there was a deliberate “political” and “racist” policy to sell black music styles with proven commercial potential using “safe” white faces.

But regardless of how you talk about art and audience, his music is still dope. Give it up. Lol, and regardless of whether you credit him or his producers, a lot of what he ends up putting out is dope, and makes you wanna bounce or rock to it in some way. What are you gonna do, not enjoy his music? Are we capable of not enjoying music for political reasons? I think R. Kelly has a racist asian fetish and is a pedophile, but I still find myself bobbin my head to his beats... I won't buy any of his albums, but I don't think any of us can stop ourselves from enjoying music... so as a listener, where do personal politics and music collide?