Abstract Index Playlist - April 22/09

Bell Orchestre's "As Seen Through Windows" is a disc that would never get serviced to me as promo. Being largely identified as an offshoot of Arcade Fire, any advance copies would go to a magazine or newspaper's more senior indie rock writers (if they hadn't already received promo directly from friends in the band). Even though I play my fair share of classical crossover experiments (including Loop 2.4.3. in this show), and would feel comfortable reviewing/being assigned this disc if it were recorded by a bunch of unknowns, it's never going to land on my desk.

However, the best thing about being a Polaris Music Prize juror is access to a site where I can download whatever albums are mentioned by 175 of my music journalist peers over the course of the year. Right now, there are several dozen albums supplied by artists for the jury's consideration. These range from the most popular to complete obscurities. So, such streams of promo like I just described, no longer matter.

These downloads have had a significant effect on my programming over the last few months. The AI is all about a widescreen sweep of music, and this resource IMAXes my range. Sure, I could download everything I'm curious about illegally, but the larger point is that my peers will make me curious about something in the first place through the online discussion forum for jurors. I can then go check out the music immediately with no fuss and excellent fidelity.

This download site helps level the promo playing field. Much of the music I champion is hampered by labels or individuals with tiny promo budgets, and it's unlikely that most of the jury would ever hear or receive this music. It's great to be able to suggest a title, have it available for download, and turn on music critics throughout Canada in a way the artist could never foresee.

As much as I tend to make snide remarks about how indie rock dominates the critical consensus of this country, there's a lot of music to love in 2008-9 (or any year). It's important for me to STFU and open my ears regardless of my what I think belongs on my turf. I may stand apart from many critics in my musical tastes, but I won't reject more popular music on principle. It goes without saying that I hope the reverse is true.

About the music? Bell Orchestre rocks! Secret game-raising ingredient? Producer John McEntire. Not so secret ingredient? A much greater command of the instrumental voicings in the band expressed through better songs than their first album, made super-heavy by McEntire.

For superior coverage of what the album/band is all about, please visit Michael Barclay, who is in the rare position of knowing the band members personally and not resort to a half-assed list of RIYL band names as a substitute for genuine & profound musical analysis.

Podcast

bedeekina iskigetimen - tilahun gessesse (ethiosound)
crazy about you baby - l.t. and the soulful dynamics (numero)
don't burn down the bridge - albert king (stax)
hymn for a perfect heart of a pearl pt. 1 - dennis gonzalez (konnex)
njabala - birigwa (porter)
thorsburger the skinny - now orchestra (now orchestra)
dark matter - loop 2.4.3. (music starts from silence)
blimey - ramadanman (scape)
cat and mouse - mr. scruff (ninja tune)
karnival - ghislain poirier (ninja tune)
icicles/bicycles - bell orchestre (arts and crafts)
la llama - savath and savalas (stones throw)
masenqo - mulatu & the heliocentrics (stones throw)
rosmani - roswell rudd & toumani diabate (emarcy)
eh congo - ahmad janka nabay (no label)
tribulations - earth roots and water (light in the attic)
land of love - sons of light (heartbeat)
binshaker dub - twilight circus (m)
sproing a dub - burning babylon (sound shack)
pure and clean - alpha and omega (a & o)
sha la la - maytones (heartbeat)

Abstract Index Playlist - May 23/07

It's been a while since I last checked in with the Turtle Island (String) Quartet. I recall a couple of albums from the late 80s on Windham Hill Records (yechhhh....) in CIUT's new release rack - back when new releases were LPs displayed on a rack. Despite my utter obsession with harmolodics and SST-style jazz-punk, I ended up gravitating to the lively, shifty arrangements. Some decades later with more albums (and a Grammy) under their belts, comes this tribute to John Coltrane. A tribute to Trane is a tall order for anyone, but the TIQ are up to the task. Their playing is more robust than I remember, and hella more robust than other string quartets.

There's a part of me that wants to try out their original "Model Train" over a big PA to goose the bass to where it should be - it's a true head-nodder begging for a remix. But this week I treated the sturdy JBL monitors at CIUT to Turtles' ultimate challenge, the untouchable "A Love Supreme". TIQ can't be expected to equal or surpass the original's intensity and spirituality, but they sidestep those impossibilities by way of an introspective arrangement by leader David Balakrishnan. In the "Acknowledgment" they resist the temptation to go into funny, self-consciously strident harmonies as some kind of "freedom quest" intro so common to 70s dilutions of Coltrane's work. They launch right into the spiritual quest of the composition, with a careful arrangement which incorporates Coltrane's improvising into the charts. The playing is sincere and inspired. "Resolution" is what sets TIQ apart from other string ensembles, with cellist Mark Summer rock solid propulsion, the group solos with abandon, brilliantly capturing the Coltrane quartet's collective mindset in this unlikely and ambitious setting.

a love supreme: acknowledgment & resolution - turtle island quartet (telarc)
eyi yate/elene ni wa - ebenezer obey (honest jon's)
nyirabisabo - mighty popo (tamba)
voce e eu - domenico + 2 (luaka bop)
smoking car - degenerate art ensemble (tellous)
nutimik - venetian snares (sublight)
city saturate pt 2 - naw (noise factory)
ode a marrouf - nawal (nawali)
black as vera cruz - ethnic heritage ensemble (delmark)
waka kanos - adam solomon (indie)
bodo riddim version - brotherman (minor 7 flat 5)
only for a time - ras myrhdak (minor 7 flat 5)
"a" minor squadron dub - irie band (indie)
the source - high tone vs. zenzile (jarring effects)
tower block dub - urban dub (urban dub)
killing version - ljx (ljx)
justice - meditations (makasound)
revolution dub - augustus pablo (greensleeves)