Abstract Index Live Recordings 2007-11

At long last I've compiled some live recordings from Abstract Index related performances over the past few years. It features great performances by Jesse 'Dubmatix' King, GuShee, MiMo, Odradek, Kyle Brenders/Scott Thompson/Susanna Hood, Daniel Nebiat, Alaniaris and an unreleased jam from Huelepega Sound System. 

The only way to get one is to become a member of CIUT ($25 donation) during the imminent Fall Fundrasing drive, preferably before my show on Thursday the 20th. Pledge at the CIUT website now & make sure to tell 'em The Abstract Index sent you.

Abstract Index Playlist - December 16/10

I was all set to write about how this funny little project takes the hatchet to a wide range of pop songs past and present, but then Lonely Island's "I Just Had Sex" dropped and arguably did an even better job of lampooning today's hottest hits. Its silly, positive spirit is more evocative of what sex is actually like than Katy's limp double-entendres and Xtina's bionic coochie music.

That video was a fitting way to end a year in which I spent more time listening to Top 30 pop music I don't like than ever before. Sure, I enjoy and play my fair share of pop music (if not usually chartbusters - except from Jamaica...), but it's part of my job to keep in touch with what's going on outside of the music I tend to write about. How can any self-respecting World Music 2.0 journalist write about the brave new sounds around the world without familiarity with how North American hip hop, dance and power pop influences travel throughout the globe? How can I write about jazz without acknowledging what the Bad Plus, Jamie Cullum and Vijay Iyer have done with contemporary pop songs as an update of the Miles and Trane transformations of Broadway standards in the 50s? More tellingly, how can I be taken seriously as a music critic if I high-handedly dismiss this era's "in da club" generation while lionizing previous ones?

I only wish that some of my professional peers would have the same courtesy to explore beyond their comfort zones as I have been trying to do for years since "poptimism" legitimized the scholarly analysis of pop music half a decade ago. But since there's no easy money writing about world music and experimental traditions around the world, I shouldn't be surprised. It still bugs me when the musical territory to which I gravitate most is dismissed out of hand as irrelevant (not enough hype, clicks n' cash behind it), when such criticism is coming from a fundamental lack of curiosity of what's going on in the wide world beyond pop and rock being produced in North America and the UK (to be fair, the editors I work with most frequently do not think this way). With the music industry in tremendous flux, sudden popularity can come from the most unlikely sources, and to dismiss genres and continents as irrelevant is simply bad journalism.

Anyways, I'm happy to have received Pop Massacre: a Christmas gift which combines freeform electronic exploration with hits from yesterday and today: I've always been Hooked On Plunderphonics. Last week's track "La Bamba" was once a radical reinvention of a world music classic, and this version by Mexicans With Guns accomplishes much the same thing more than 50 years later. Starting with a creaky, slowed down representation of the main guitar riff, it quickly collapses into a burbling mess of electronics and reconfigures itself into the Low End Theory glitch-shuffle that Friends of Friends have done such a great job of showcasing to the world this past year. By song's end, it's gone double time, getting into modern day nuevo-tropical beats at the cutting edge of 'global South' dance music. And so it goes elsewhere: the many, many hooks and cultural signposts of these songs are pureed into tongue and cheek remixes which nonetheless hold up for repeated listening. The best parts of Pop Massacre go several steps beyond Girl Talk's serial money-shot shtick, while still tickling those pop music taste buds. Here are empty calories and expert cuisine folded together then cooked until well done.

Save some room for Lonely Island's affectionate satire as dessert.

Podcast

kifo - remmy ongala & orchestre super matimala (real world)
dr. j abuya - daniel owino misiani & shirati band (earthworks)
gborei adesai - psychedelic aliens (voodoo funk)
threeball jazz - yelram selectah (no label)
moon pupils - boxcutter (kinnego)
hot gyal - tnt rmx by bassanova (t & a)
get on downz - switch rmx by le freak selector (no label)
mountains to climb - jahdan blakkamoore (lustre kings)
let it up - empresarios (fort knox)
gusto a nada - les reyes del milanga rmx by teswuino & dj linterna (cabeza)
fulaninha - luisa maita rmx by maga bo (cumbancha)
silbando - los riberios rmx by grc (barbes)
herencia rumbera - roberto roena y su apollo sound (fania)
mr. freedom x - miles davis (columbia)
latin power - eero koivisitoinen (porter)
treehouse - peripheral vision (no label)
no rest for the wicked - a hawk and a hacksaw (lm duplication)
snakes at the euxine - rembetika hipsters (no label)
track 3 - french kiss orchestra (no label)
la bamba - richie valens rmx by mexicans with guns (friends of friends)
bandwagon - kotchy (done right)

Abstract Index Playlist - December 9/10

As I'm mostly through end of year lists it's pretty obvious to me that no one trend in music has influenced my programming more this year than the abstract electronics coming from the west coast of the United States. As epitomised by Flying Lotus, the Dilla inspired beats of last decade have been folded into new generations. There's too much talent coming from California to reduce to one subgenre or a movement. Teebs makes beautifully melodic, crystalline beats whereas Ras G pursues Arkestral ir-rythmia. Still, a creative DJ should have no problems playing both back to back to an open minded audience (seem to be more of those around these days?).

Salva is the latest bright light from out west. Proprietor of San Francisco's Frite Nite label, he tends towards the funkier end of these abstract beats. If you're into Dam Funk but wished he'd wake the fuck up with a handful of caffeine pills, Salva's your man. Dubstep can't help but be an influence on these beats as it explores similar frequency ranges and tempos, and Complex Housing mixes well with the angular head nodding required by the form, though with less obsession with bass sculpture: Salva keeps things predominantly funky. He's like a futuristic Lakeside; always searching for a more epic synth riff.

The album drops in February, though you can get the advance single "Blue" here.

Podcast

pek - sally nyolo & la voix du cenacle (riverboat)
african do round - zuzuku rmx by mexican dubwiser (no label)
ananas tornillo - frente cumbiero (names you can trust)
afrodesia - afro soultet (luv n haight)
playing with stones - bunky green/rudresh mahanthappa (pi)
229 - gordon grdina trio feat mats gustafsson (drip audio)
cut form crush: be human pt 1 - mophono (cb)
icey - salva (friends of friends)
full disk - man made hill (inyrdisk)
sin gas - la ola criminal (dutty artz)
garabato - ku bo (man recordings)
el rockers - augustus pablo (pressure sounds)
music dub - horace andy/prince jammy (blood and fire)
page one - carlton patterson (hot pot)
trod natty - odel (ohm grown)
the phantom (om unit dub) - computer jay (no label)
dubliners - nicolas jaar (wolf and lamb)
tonight - elgato (hessle audio)
dubcuttin' - resoe (echochord)
push am - banana clips (bersa discos)
maybe a dream - amenta (no label)
lam tung wai - chaweewan dumnern (soundway)

Abstract Index Playlist - November 11/10

Tradi-Mods vs. Rockers reminds me of the two volume compilation Macro Dub Infection, compiled by Kevin "The Bug" Martin in the mid 90s. In fact it would've been perfect if Martin had been invited to take whack at some of Kinshasa's finest likembe grooves in his own style....

The basis for comparison is both compilations' viewpoints on music as process. The MDI comps may have been the first collection of a decade-old phenomenon which posited dub as a means of composition outside of reggae-based rhythms: take elements of a song, reconsider its structure, and make it more diffuse. Musical background didn't have to enter into the equation to produce convincing dub - as witnessed by artists on the comps as diverse as Mad Professor, Coil, Tortoise, New Kingdom, and Rhys Chatham.

Similarly, Tradi Mods Vs. Rockers taps a wide range of contributors to reconfigure the Congotronics series. If this had happened a decade ago, you could've counted on a brace of thumping dance mixes (like Crammed's Electric Gypsyland Vol 1 and 2, which nevertheless still sound good to these ears) or tepid A-faux-beat, but this project is an excellent example of cross-cultural communication circa 2010.

Even artists in demand for remix work turn in some remarkably different work. Shackleton's mix features a cavernous beat during its consistently entertaining ten minutes, but is one of many meditations on how awesomely cool metallophones can sound sped up, slowed down, stretched out and generally fucked with. This is the inspiration common to all: take the elliptical, distorted and percussive rhythms of the Congotronicians and filter them through your own place in the musical universe.

Where dub started out as the inverse of a song, this project is the inverse of Kinshasan street music culture. Artists explode possibilities within the source material and their own imaginations. Implicit comparisons are made to the repetitive aspects of each artist's music and how the Congotronics sounds appeal to their method.

This isn't a likembe taffy-pull throughout. As with dub since the late 70s, random and unabashedly foreign influences have been successfully stirred into the pot, and that recipe works well here. No matter the cultural background of the contributing artist, each one is committed to finding a synthesis of their talents and the source material. Juana Molina adds her own words, Megafaun essays some Banjotronic styles, Andrew Bird maps out the rhythms with pizzicato violins, and Oneida just giv'er with their guitars roughly sketching likembe patterns.
Distorted textures are this project's sonic constant where digital delay landscapes were the unifying factor for MDI.

Tradi-Mods vs. Rockers might have been the most entertaining musical assignment ever for many of these artists. I'd reckon most of them were honored just to be asked.

Podcast


hymn for louis moholo - dennis gonzalez band of sorcerers (konnex)
kuletronics - burnt friedman vs. konono no. 1 (crammed)
rrrr - peverelist (punch drunk)
part time - ango rmx by selva (no label)
sunset b35 - dj/rupture & matt shadetek (dutty artz)
careful mind - danuel tate (wagon repair)
zharp - lv (hyperdub)
flores de fuego - rita indiana (premium latin music)
sibou odia - orchestra baobab (sterns)
money's too tight to mention - the valentine brothers (bbe)
lero lero - luisa maita rmx by dj tudo (cumbancha)
crumb dub - early worm (no label)
babylon you wrong - cornell campbell & u roy (zion high)
give it up - horace andy (minor 7 flat 5)
conference table - kush i (glover)
warrior no tarry you - junior delgado (sound boy)
dub music give i strength - jah billah ft iyano iyanti (no label)
dem can't stop we talk about dub - dubblestandart feat anthony b (visions from the roof)
awake - janaka selekta rmx by sunskript (no label)
progreso - lido pimienta (helmet room)
goes to hollywood - paul white (no label)
la cygne - say my name (no label)
i don't want to work - kabanjak (esl)

Abstract Index Playlist - November 4/10

I don't know how to love you, Rita Indiana.

This is my second blog post about this incredible talent in the past year. Her album "El Juidero" dropped last month with pretty much no notice. Though she maintains a healthy presence in New York, all the tastemakers were blindsided by the sudden appearance of a brilliant, genre-melting album. Considering all I do all day is comb the internet for music news (yes, I'm available for parties) the notion that someone with any kind of profile would release an album with no advance promo is simply unheard of.

Now that it's out there, you'll want to read Club Fonograma's excellent blog post which sings the praises of this album in depth. It's got 160 BPM dance workouts heavily garnished with metalloid guitars. It's got rambling dub workouts for days. It's got those sour, one-finger synth lines. It's got a neo no-wave posture that drives the hipsters wild. But I don't pretend to be able to fully appreciate her. I don't speak Spanish, and with this artist, that's a real liability. This music is far more than "A Bailar, A Gozar".

I can't enlighten you about the specific political issues she gets into this album. Heck I couldn't even do that if she were singing in English (which she apparently can quite well, judging from abut 5% of the album). Even if I could speak Spanish, there's a great deal of slang at play and a heaping dose of Dominican reality & personal backstory in the works. Lyrics are crucial to this album, and in failing to understanding them even after Google Translate, I'm missing a significant part of the art.

Admittedly, this is a problem in writing about non-English and French music. So often I'll hear music whose words I can't understand, and I'm in a position of critical authority in writing about it. Often there's a press release or liner notes to give some context, but that can only be partially helpful at best and totally misleading at worst.

But, hey, I've never staked my reputation on my analysis of English lyrics either. My brain condemns me to seize on the music rather than the lyrics of a song, though I totally respect my music critic peers for which the opposite is true. Nor do I think that being an outsider to her music is categorically a bad thing. This was a strong theme in Yo Soy Cumbia which aired a couple of weeks ago. Uproot Andy observed "I come to almost all music styles living in an immigrant city for more or less my whole life, the different music that I’ve been exposed to, have always been brought to me from different places. I think, more and more, that is a natural situation for a lot of people, I mean, whether we grow up rooted in some musical tradition or not, we’re all much more exposed to music of different parts of the world now. So I think that it’s only natural that we like those things, and take those influences when we make music and as listeners, you know, listen to those things".

From my standpoint Rita's music is trading in a number of elements that I, and most urban dancefloor guerillas throughout the world are familiar with. That's where my appreciation starts. In her case, I just stand back and marvel at how she's brought severely danceable elements together with such substantial lyrics. That's an explosive combination.

I'm really hoping to interview her. No doubt a short, staticky conversation won't be a wide open window to her soul. However she's someone whom I would love to hear explain where she's coming from in her own words; the words I can't get to in her music. Do I understand exactly what she's all about? No. Can I write about her music intelligently? Let's hope so.

Podcast

o aetnos - alaniaris (trio)
traducteur de tradition - glenn kotche vs. konono no. 1 (crammed)
impulse - gaslamp killer & daedalus rmx by teebs (brainfeeder)
dance music - r.d. burman (nascente)
build to last - dubblestandart (visions from the roof)
dear heartbeat - darkstar (hyperdub)
pasame a buca - rita indiana y los misterios (premium latin music)
chacarerada del engano - semillo vs. elpidio herrera vs. tremor (zzk)
regresara a cali - greenwood rhythm section (names you can trust)
cinnamon sugar - danuel tate (wagon repair)
riddim box - nb funky (soul jazz)
ruby (live at berghain) - mount kimbie (hotflush)
khalija pt 1 - khalija (force intel)
pressure in the air - dark bird (under see)
the tribe of triclops - lori freedman (ambiances magnetiques)
bicycle - tania gill (barnyard)
brother b - arthur jones (byg)
leaves and smoke - opsvik & jennings (rune framofon)
el farrah - aisha kandisha's jarring effects (barbarity)
eki attar - huun huur tu (world village)
massani cisse - quartete sextette (syllart)
ena eye a mane me - african brothers dance band (afribos)
tirogo - tirogo (qdk)
pichito - frente cumberio (names you can trust)

Abstract Index Playlist - October 28/10

(Note: there's no playlist or podcast last week due to the Abstract Index fundraising show. If you like what you read/hear on this site, please donate to CIUT)

So we're just into November, which means that hard-bitten music critics for myself are closing out 2010 already with lists upon lists. One artist who will certainly make mine this year is James Blake. A few months ago he released one of my favorite singles of the year "CMYK" (the word "damn" is pretty much foolproof hook).

More recently comes the Klavierwerke EP released a few weeks ago. The serious-sounding title translates into music with a darker tone. Unlike the Burial-meets-Kanye vibe of CMYK, the slow moving dubwise atmosphere isn't so much post-dubstep (if lumped in with great records by Darkstar and Mount Kimbie) as strongly reminiscent of Pole's glory years of the late 90s. There's one big difference between James Blake and Stefan Betke, though - Blake keeps things warm and round-toned, whereas Pole in his numbered albums was trying to stay as remote from dub's Jamaican sunshine as possible.

I love the slow, undulating textures of Klavierwerke. It sounds like steam driven-pistons gradually urging things along, punctuated by terse piano statements. Often the rhyhthms and melodies will be hocketed between the small selection of sounds in each piece. This makes the distinction between "groove" and "breaks" much more nebulous. The uncertainty of the song structures heighten the drama of these minimal constructions. But this isn't tense music: this music is full of heart warming, bass-heavy reassurance. That always finds a good home on the Abstract Index.

Podcast

set the captives free - gregory isaacs (shanachie)
let's dance - gregory isaacs (virgin)
all I have is love - gregory isaacs (trojan)
black liberation struggle - gregory isaacs (virgin)
mr. know it all - gregory isaacs (blood and fire)
mind you dis (rude boy) - gregory isaacs (vp)
system breakdown - dubmatix (seven arts)
answer my question - ras david (no label)
he o de oro - puseletso seema e tau ea linare (globestyle)
no lies - mc zulu/dub gabriel rmx by caballo (no label)
lero lero - luisa maita rmx by dj rupture (cumbancha)
tale of two cities - carlton livingstone (channel one)
samba - moussa doumbia (lassasse)
think - bossa 70 (jeff)
no swing - ramadanman (hessle audio)
a dark and stormy night - alaniaris (trio)
by ear - tania gill (barnyard)
kamogawa - hauschka (fat cat)
hopscotch (for john zorn) - fred frith arte quartette (intakt)
klavierwerke - james blake (r&s)
her string - clown n sunset collective (clown n sunset)
helicopter does not exist - walsh (tough love)
track 2 - vine (no label)
remain in jam - lemonade rmx by chrissy murderbot (true panther)
oro yi bale - king sunny ade and his african beats (mesa/blue moon)

Abstract Index Playlist - October 14/10

Maddslinky's first album in many years reminds me of Roni Size's New Forms thirteen years ago.

Make A Change brings sharp, fast beats to soulful, hooky songs. Maddslinky knows how to make LFOs growl, but he's also unafraid to break out well-loved jazzy soul motifs that make his music feel so right. Whereas drum and bass exploration was Roni Size's manifesto, dubstep and whatever grime turned into are informing these beats. Given all the percolating joy, it's hard not to think about soca and other Caribbean echoes. Anyways, I'm not too worried about researching the microgenres at play; these beats are simply inviting.

It's the vocals that take the songs to another level; whereas Burial did such amazing things with one smudge of soul, these songs feature out and out bravura performances from the likes of Omar (!!!), Jenna G and Taiwah which channel the deep house emotions of Robert Owens and then some. The vocal tracks bring that lush British jazzy soul sound to the fore, which means there are going to be 50 year old Incognito fans getting down to this without hesitation. It's probably this last ingredient that tethers the release to Tru Thoughts as opposed to putting this record out on a more dubstep identified label like Hyperdub.

This record is a good summation of the kinds of beats that have been moving me of late, and its excellent songcraft will give it more staying power in my music playing devices.

Podcast

going downtown - gene shaw (argo)
certa noite - 3 na massa (nublu)
samba de orfeu - don cunningham (luv n haight)
receita de cancao - pedro moraes
snows & taxis - gold panda (ghostly international)
good life - brassroots (do right)
the decider- rudresh mahanthappa (pi recordings)
wayne's shorts - lina allemano four (lumo)
arthurs birds - teebs (brainfeeder)
candylane - gonjasufi rmx by bibio (warp)
bicho de luz - frikstilers (zzk)
take it easy - rise ashen & ammoye (balanced)
oh what a feeling - solomon burke (e1)
that's how it is - otis clay (hi)
love is gone - choice of colors (kent)
imagine - jeff mills & montpelier philharmonic orchestra (tresor)
peru - maddslinky (tru thoughts)
grape donut - distal (soul jazz)
shotta - bonjay (no label)
fram - blawan (hessle audio)
fiesta de cumbia - pacho galan (no label)
la guarapera - pepe molina y su combo (sonolux)
a place called grace - saidah baba talibah (no label)

MiMo Live Set During Fundraising

Next week is the Abstract Index fall fundraising drive. I'm still putting together the final program (YOU can be a part - both on air and in the phone room) but the main event is MiMo.

To be honest, I don't know much about Samuel Morganstein and Matthew Miller. But I'm intrigued by their forthcoming vinyl release of 96 'locked groove' compositions. They're doing a launch party on October 24 featuring Insideamind and many members of AIMToronto improvising with the vinyl source material. It seemed like a good idea to put that concept on the air and combine it with fundraising. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN. That's how we roll at CIUT, where presenting art, improvised music and turntablism is always a priority.

Hopefully you agree and will support us during the show with a membership. The Abstract Index needs 20 pledges of $25 or more to keep going. There will be giveaways - not just CDs this time - and guests, but this is a really special event and a true expression of the power of community radio. Please tune in.

If you would like to pledge in advance, please do so.

NO INDEX

Kicking out the live jams twice in two weeks? Unheard of! But I've got a few live events coming up.

Of critical importance is NO INDEX. I'm joining forces with the No Beat Radio crew to wreck shit at Teranga on Wednesday October 20.

Here are the details:

Beats, noise, cultural collisions, improvisation, major lasers.

CIUT's late night mixologists concoct a night of digiturntable madness and DJ bricolage. A fundraising event in support of CIUT FM

Wednesday October 20 - 9PM

Teranga
$5 - all proceeds go to CIUT FM

Featuring: Minesh Mandoda & Marco Landini of No Beat Radio
Mondays 10PM-midnight
(http://www.ciut.fm/index.php/shows-2/no-beat-radio/)

David Dacks of The Abstract Index
Thursdays 10PM-midnight
(http://www.ciut.fm/index.php/shows-2/the-abstract-index-2/)

Live bruit from JFM http://www.myspace.com/jessefrankmatthews

I'll keep updating this post as more people pile on.

Abstract Index Playlist - September 16/10

This one's here for the purty cover art.

Just kidding, it's a heck of a record. I don't know much about the history of Gold Panda, and I'm not sure if the name will lead to instant recognition among the herds of animal-monikered bands out there.

He's just one man. The bio doesn't read like much; he's done remixes for Bloc Party, Simian Mobile Disco and The Field, but only the shimmery yet disciplined electronic compostion of this last artist gives a clue about how this music unfolds.

It's 'worldly' in the sense of being woven from exotic microsamples. However, these songs hit hard with a hiccuping funkiness, though some of my favourite tracks ("Snows And Taxis") feature really compelling downtempo soca beats. It certainly helps that its celebratory mood manages to interpolate Sublime Frequencies-like grimy samples with clear yet creative beats. Despite its clicks and cuts bricolage, this isn't tentative or ironic music in the slightest - it's boldly synthetic.

This week's track "Same Dream China" has been making the blog rounds and it's got a whiff of Konono via Steve Reich about it; soon after that theme establishes itself the beat drops and it's all over.

Podcast

it doesn't stop - from bacteria to boys (aum fidelity)
soheb - fond of tigers (drip audio)
polka story - warsaw village band (barbes)
la danza azteca - nahuatl sound system (no label)
suzie q (dem hunter bowel blood remix) - gonjasufi (warp)
sanmidor - kaly live dub (jarring effects)
wb - system (rump)
walk moon combo - arthur's landing (no label)
fluck flick - bobby jackson (jazzman)
ne noya - cos ber zam (analog africa)
bump jive #6 - the movers (gallo)
carolina carol bella - os brazoes (mr. bongo)
summertime our league - babe, terror rmx by four tet (no label)
abiogenesis track 7 - tatsuya nakatani (no label)
pareiodolia - steve raegele (songlines)
the shitman - moha! (rune gramofon)
same dream china - gold panda (ghostly international)
respek i speck/touch i heart - dubkasm rmx by gatekeeper & appelblim (sufferahs choice)
chronicles - odel (ohm grown)
black star dub - gg all stars (heartbeat)
seventh seal - sound iration (year zero)
el majagual - systema solar (no label)
chico ye - menea (no label)
tile ban - donso (comet)
el aguajal - los shapis (barbes)

Yo Soy Cumbia - A CBC Radio Documentary

Maybe not the most flattering picture of Benoit Liard and Sergio Elmir...

At long last, Yo Soy Cumbia, the documentary I've been working on with Sergio Elmir, Mr. Dos Mundos Radio, has been given an air date on CBC Radio's Inside The Music.

More information is coming but here are the details.

There are release parties in the works for Toronto and Montreal; I will blog and blog again as details firm up.

Meanwhile...

-----------------------------

Yo Soy Cumbia traces the journey of Cumbia from the Caribbean coast of Colombia to become one of the most popular rhythms in the world. This is more than just a documentary about music; it explores how Cumbia has shaped the identities of some of this generation's leading figures in the genre.

Featuring interviews with:

Ruben Beny Esguerra: Toronto based percussionist and professor of music at York University

Mariano Franco: ringleader of Montreal's Psychotropical Orchestra and part of Sonido Nordico DJs

Andy Gillis: aka Uproot Andy, Brooklyn-based Cumbia producer and DJ

Roberto Ernesto Gyemant: compiler of Colombia! and Panama! series for Soundway Records

Benoit Liard: aka DJ Bendude, host of Masala radio on CISM-FM and co-founder of Masalacism Records

Yo Soy Cumbia was produced for CBC Radio's Inside The Music.

Hosted and co-written by Sergio Elmir
Produced, edited and co-written by David Dacks

Yo Soy Cumbia airs on Inside The Music Sunday October 17 at 3PM Eastern Time on Radio 2 and 9PM on Radio 1

How to listen:

In Canada:

On FM radio: find your frequency here: http://www.cbc.ca/frequency/
On Sirius satellite Channel 137: http://www.cbc.ca/sirius/index.html

Everywhere else:

Online: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html

Or: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs.html?INSIDE_THE_MUSIC - go to "listen now" in the right-hand column

http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/

Abstract Index Playlist - July 29/10

One of my favourite things about being involved with the Polaris Prize is the continuing conversation with music critics from Quebec. Even though this artist didn't make a dent in the 2010 long list, Kenlo Craqnuques was the most welcome surprise of this year's process.

There doesn't seem to be an overwhelming amount of bio material on our man Kenlo, other than "born in Africa (nobody seems to know where), lives in Montreal". Brun is volume six of a series of colour themed free downloads of some of the most abstract bass music coming out of Canada today.

Straddling the line between beats and fully-fledged songs, Brun will initially impress with Madlib and FlyLo points of departure, but what keeps me coming back is his sense of melody. It's as if the real momentum of these compositions hockets between various blurps and bleeps, and requires a good 45 seconds in each one of these songs to really establish itself. Naturally, when songs max out at three minutes, one's attention is held. "Russletarrapbeat" from this week, features a slow, sharp synth undulating through the hyper-compressed mix (is compression abuse this decade's update on the delay abuse wrought by so many laptop recording platforms over the past ten years?). There's maybe a bit more unsteadiness in the momentum of the beats than much of what's coming out of LA these days, but that's not a negative thing on the ever-wobbly Abstract Index.

KenLo is super prolific - he had eight releases last year - but hopefully Brun will bring new ears to his music before it too whips by like a blur in the rear-view mirror.

Podcast

party machine - bruce haack (omni)
you don't know me - circle research (urbnet)
russletarrapbeat - kenlo craqnuques (no label)
all static - natural self (tru thoughts)
i get lifted (dub) - barbara tucker (bbe)
bushwick baile - dj sabbo (latino resiste)
hunters - donso (comet)
bamana niya - toubab krewe (upstream)
the naming - galeet dardashti (jdub)
cocekahedron - brass menazeri (portofranco)
no more blood (cosa nostra riddim) - poirier & face t (no label)
cumbia de la cerveza - grupo sonador (lourdes 68 urban)
chinatown - bobby paunetto (fania)
when will the blues leave? - archie shepp's new york contemporary five (delmark)
wander - idris muhammad (fantasy)
gbmojo - segun bucknor (vampisoul)
valley of jehosephat - willi williams (blood and fire)
7th sea dub in twilight - ras amerlock meets professor balthazar (les cristaux liquident)
future back - patrick pulsinger feat fennesz (disko b)
grandma's words/rise out of concrete - shigeto (ghostly international)
hope to meet you - anonymous (minky)

Abstract Index Playlist - July 22/10

A little late to this acieeed party, but four months after its release, Charanjit Singh's Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat may hold up as the reissue of the year.

As with any reissue of the year candidate, there's gotta be a boffo backstory (such as some of my previous selections). Singh, a hot Bollywood composer during the 70s and 80s with ten albums to his name, should already be familiar to listeners of the amazing Bombay Connection label. His progressive grooves were a standout on previous comps, but Ten Ragas is a different story all together.

In 1982, Singh cobbled together a setup of two hot Roland products, the TB 303 bass synthesizer and the TR 808 drum machine, together with the very versatile Prophet 5 keyboard and set out to create digital, danceable ragas. The results are basically the dawn of acid house. The album is so fully realized that some people thought it was an Aphex Twin hoax, but this is the real historical deal.

I wish I had the liner notes of the actual release (suitably enough I bought a digital download) to tell me about the significance of these particular ragas, and his own words about what he modified and what he left alone. Then again, there's nothing to "leave alone" - the percussive scale of a digital keyboard doesn't match up with, for instance, the flexible pitch and intonation of a sitar. It sounds like above all else, Singh was a master of the pitch wheel, able to slide between notes to get the pitches he needed. It's not the first time anyone had successfully represented Indian scales in digital music (even Bruce Haack was pretty good at it), but there's something about Singh's playing that captures the ecstasy of the variations within the scales of each rag that elevates this experiment.

Acid House was fond of endless synth arpeggiations, but here Singh adds much more melodic interest than a repetitive 4 note phrase (not that I mind those...), he always seems to invert expectations about what's going to happen next, which is a feeling seldom associated to ultra-minimal 80s digital dance music. Considering how much digital music was DIY by artists with no formal musical training, to hear a great and learned player express himself with the same tools is just remarkable.

Judge for yourself, it's on vinyl too.

Podcast

mt - ethnic heritage ensemble (delmark)
the subterrain - mark dresser/susie ibarra (wobbly rail)
solar plexus - mercury falls (portofranco)
lokombe moka - kenlo craqnuques (no label)
what a life - kaly live dub (jarring effects)
let it go - reefer rmx by flying lotus (alpha pup)
phase em out - dam funk (stones throw)
a town called obsolete - andreya triana (ninja tune)
tode que voce podia ser - milton nasciimento & lo borges (emi)
in concert - ofege (soundway)
sola - orchestra bella bella (syllart)
night in ethiopia - jackie mittoo (soul jazz)
rome - sugar minott (moll selekta)
tribulations - earth roots and water (light in the attic)
fighting youth - ljx (no label)
wild suspense - wailing souls (island)
juizo final - seu jorge & almaz (now again)
upsetting furriada - arogalla rmx by dadub (les cristaux liquident)
roforofo fight - havana cultura rmx by little louie vega (brownswood)
no bailes de caballito - grupo el mexicano (musart)
raga megh malhar - charanjit singh (bombay connection)
naxaniseka - tiyiselani vomaseve (honest jons)

Digidoombia

Wow! Colour me surprised.

I just found out that Huelepega Sound System will be supporting the Argentine digicumbia superstars, Zizek Club. Why don't you read this fine article about them.

It's at Wrongbar tomorrow, we're on at 9:30. They take over after that... hope to see you there.

Playlist Abstract Index June 17/10

Looking through my Facebook group page, I noticed that my last several weeks' worth of blog post images have been black and white. Some have a hint of colour, but dammit it's summertime and it's time for the red gold and green.

Nick Manasseh has been one of my favourite UK producers for many years, but I didn't realize just how far back his career stretched until I heard this album.

Setting up a sound system in the mid 80s, by decade's end he'd started producing custom dubplates, and also music for a commercial audience. Teaming up with Scruff (not Mr. Scruff) they called themselves Sound Iration In Dub.

The irating sound in question takes off from where Augustus Pablo left us with his digital-era Rockers Come East album from 1987. Manasseh's melodica soars over rhythms which strike a perfect balance between urgent and relaxed. Many point to this album as the first example of UK Steppers, characterized by the DIY, drum machine driven sonic choices. One can see where this sound in the early 90s would get both harder, especially when married to breakbeats, which led to jungle, and weirder, as their label mates The Orb would pick up on the trancier elements of this kind of dub. However, this sound has never really gone out of style: being home studio dub, it's basically the prototype for the laptop aesthetics of dub, that is, something that doesn't need a live room bigger than a closet. It's timeless in its own way, playing well with reggae from all eras; you can spin Sound Iration In Dub in a nostalgic 70s and 80s set, or in a contemporary mix.

Rejoice in this encore edition of a classic slice of UK sound system history!

Podcast

noche de estrellas - dj dus (no label)
gruppenweise - root 70/rashad becker (nonplace)
new style (scruff dub) - sound iration (year zero)
rebel dub - citizen dub feat prince blanco & ammoye (vx)
errare humanem est - seu jorge (now again)
turtle eyes and fierce rabbit - torngat (alien 8)
thrills - matana roberts (central control)
jazz is the teacher funk is the preacher - james blood ulmer (strut)
undressing - ronald shannon jackson & the decoding society (antilles)
la botellita - grupo palma africana (soundway)
beteando - los beta 5 (vampisoul)
mambo no. 8 - los socios del ritmo (emi)

DJ Marcus Boon

Un Niño Que Llora en los Montes de María - Petrona Martinez (ZZK)
Do_the_Astral_Plane - Flying Lotus (Warp)
Yes [Bongo Disco Mix] - Mgo (remix) (Outhere)
Show Dem (feat. HHP) – JR (Electromode)
Hungry For The Power - Azari & III (I’m a Cliché)
Footcrab (James Braun Edit) - Addison Groove (Swamp81)
Zuata Zuata – Puto Prata (Akwaaba)
En La Nalga (On The Ass) feat. Jordy - Ronny Santana (DL)
Duro Duro - María y José (Cocobass)
Maldito Fiesbu (Dj Fantasy Original Mix) – Rita Indiana y Los Misterios (DL)
You Don't Wash (Dub)- Kode9 (DJ Kicks)
Webaba (Black Coffee & Culoe De Song Remix) - Culoe De Song feat. Busi Mhlongo (Electric Melt)
Distant Planet – Mr. Fingers (Blackmarket)

Abstract Index Playlist - May 27/10

The vibe has changed.

Three weeks into my new time slot (and already behind on blogging) I'm starting to get used to my new digs.

Being neighbours with Jason Palma is wonderful. we really have a lot in common jazz-wise, and talking with him has spurred me to dig out more avant-soul-jazz than I'd been playing recently. Not surprisingly, I've also noticed that many other albums sound better at night than in the evening.

John Kameel Farah's Unfolding is one of them. Its fiendishly complex layers of keyboards, hand percussion and breaks take some time to appreciate, and probably didn't make their best impression when I played the disc during the dinner hour. But drop that shit at 10PM, and it's no wonder a happy listener called up to rave about it.

This has been one of my favourite Canadian releases of the past year, and as the title implies, I keep finding new avenues to explore within the dense sound. As the tags at the bottom of the post say: "electronics, Middle East, jazz/improv, 21st century composition" all collide with a purpose. I'm going to vote for it on my first round of Polaris Prize balloting.

Podcast

vala izwe - big voice jack (motella)
purity - music revelation ensemble (diw)
untitled/fantastic - suite for ma dukes orchestra rmx. by georgia anne muldrow (mochilla)
procisao - tamba trio (universal)
charade - the quincy jones orchestra feat roland kirk (emarcy)
expanse - john kameel farah (dross:tik)
8 mile road - the asphalt rmx by juju & jordash (deep explorer)
afro punk reggae - steel an skin (em)
chance (dub) - cobblestone jazz (k7)
bastard - high tone (jarring effects)
dj lillemor - band ane (jenga)
thoda resham lagta hai - lata mangeshkar rmx by daniel haaksman (man recordings)
back at caligari's - andrew downing (black hen)
limnoid pt 2 - aidan baker (alien 8)
restoration - the acorn rmx by four tet (paper bag)
underground - loop 2.4.3 (music starts from silence)
know love - twin roots (trojan)
whispering dub - skatalites (motion)
girl i love you - keeling beckford (hit)
spacing out - the invaders (duane)
rollin' home - dr. music (grt)
yes - cinister cee (neferiu)
loulou - orchestre african all stars international (albarika store)
can't get used to those - dimlite (afterlude)

Abstract Index Playlist - May 13/10

Early 2010 has yielded some particularly great music, and I'm fortunate to have had the chance to interview the artists behind some of my favourite records thus far. This past week brought the interview with Flying Lotus, and recently posted at Exclaim.ca is my interview/review with Gonjasufi - a fellow traveler of West Coast bass-ways. FlyLo contributes a couple of productions to A Sufi And A Killer, but this album is a murderous showcase for the Gaslamp Killer's harsh re-edits. It's a trip through the recesses of the Finders Keepers and Normal/QDK style of global psychedelic curation. Gonjasufi's vocals are part tuned sandpaper and part wavering falsetto; always skirting the edge of coherence and focus. This blown-out, analog, and defiantly proggy music can stand next to the most energetic beats and keep the momentum going with the truly hallucinogenic effect it provokes.

Podcast

children of today - burning spear (burning sounds)
at the klinik - daniel blomquist (sutemos)
nite after dub - clive hunt and the dub dancers (believe)
alza la manos - el remolon (zzk)
jumeirah riddim sequel - sticky (mixpak)
361 degrees - kenlo craqnuques (no label)
whores: the movie - el-p (def jux)
dust - gonjasufi (warp)
no contact... contact - clutchy hopkins (ubiquity)
sacatelo bailando - grupo fantasma (airesol)
cachubembe - fruko y sus tesos (vampisoul)
ochimini - francisco aguabella (cubop)
gossiping - shadow (caribbean music group)
keep the vibes pumping - jigsy king/south rakkas crew (no label)
fire singer - dennis brown (tuff gong)
mmmhmmm - flying lotus feat thundercat (warp)
coi technology pavillion - john baker (trunk)
new years yves - nomoreshapes (drip audio)
the bath - the rent (ambiances magnetiques)
il cielo una stanza - mike patton (ipecac)
sweet power your embrace - james mason (soul brother)
the love i lost - harold melvin and the blue notes re-edit by dimitri from paris (bbe)
techno rumba - chief boima rmx by uproot andy (dutty artz)
glitch feisty rub - bonjay vs emvee (no label)

Abstract Index Playlist - May 5/10

How better than to mark my transition to a new timeslot than saying a few words about Flying Lotus?

Like many people, I'm utterly blown away by Cosmogramma, FlyLo's new album. It exemplifies the very best of what I enjoy about music, and doing the radio show: combining beats and freedom, smoothness with roughness, and an ebb and flow of tempo.

He talks like that too. On Thursday, I'm going to air a portion of the conversation I had with Mr. Stephen Ellison for my debut Thursday show. It was inspiring to speak with him; he's not doing a ton of press for this record, and he sounds awed by life right now. He can't believe his good luck, his situation in L.A. which sees him supported by a community of abstract beat-seekers, and most of all his state of mind is bubbling over with creativity and a need to express it. It's one of those conversations that renews one's faith in music; although I will say that the energy of this interview is better suited to 11PM than a 7PM broadcast.

This interview produced this article. That runs down the story, and my impressions of the album, but you should run out and get this for yourself. The many Hendrix comparisons he's engendered are absolutely valid in that it is so rare that a work of such abstraction to have such widespread appeal.

Podcast

la chiquita esa - jorge lopez ruiz (chango)
multidimensional - the rent (ambiances magnetiques)
we find our way in - robin crutchfield (important)
recoiled - flying lotus (warp)
plastic memory - mr. beatnick (apple juice breaks)
baobab connect - chief boima (dutty artz)
can i be yours? - tanika charles (no label)
cruising down sunset - the 4th dimension (jazzman)
mulatu - mulatu astatke (strut)
klowds - gonjasufi (warp)
get down - minotaurs (saved by vinyl)
bowls - caribou (domino)
very big in america right now - voice of authority (on-u sound)

DJ Ripley

Power ends where resistance starts - disrupt (Jahtari)
Warning Warning max romeo (Black World)
Heads a go roll - Max Romeo (Black World)
Dance of the Vampires - Scientist (Greensleeves)
Baptized by dub rmx - fleck (Unreleased)

Abstract Index Playlist - April 21/10

It's not the greatest band name, but it's accurate.

I was trying to describe this record to someone and talked about the hooky, melodic, heavily filtered synth workouts, the sometimes robotic, sometimes swinging beats and terse vocals. She responded "So they could be from anywhere, right?" Which was exactly the point. They could be just a band from Toronto, or London, or even Kenya.

Just A Band is worldly, but coming from a different place in the world, and theirs is a well-curated survey of many contemporary trends and sounds in hipster dance music. There are several obvious questions: do I like this particular collage because it's African, whereas I might not give it a second thought if it were some buzz band from Brooklyn? By the same token, do I, or other listeners, expect something more African or specifically Kenyan out of this music? To what extent is a band like this a new phenomenon?

Though there are plenty of historical examples of transglobal African sounds produced by Africans and non-Africans alike, there are surely more examples than ever these days. The local origins of this band aren't downplayed or watered down, they're updated and placed on equal footing with all the other international musical and technological influences; there's no subordination or fetishization of geographically based stereotypes. Probably the clincher for me in this case are the vocals, which sound like a seriously spliffed-out Tone Loc wrung out through an autotuned vocoder. The declamatory singing and spoken word style combined with the melodic sweetness is quite appealing.

This album represents yet another round in the continuing debate over "what do North Americans expect from African music?" We should know by now that contemporary African sounds are not just furious drums, chanting and nine-minute dance til you drop workouts; but manifestations of a continuous flow of music from and back to Africa as channeled by myriad individual, local and national circumstances. Even so, Just A Band anticipates and leads such conversations rather than simply follow them. These guys may be Just A Band, but they're far more talented than Just An Example.

Podcast

kamiki - orchestre kiam (syllart)
carruseles - afrosound (vampisoul)
latin roots - larry harlow (fania)
tingiza kichna - just a band (akwaaba)
thermodynamic orchestra - pierre bastien (western vinyl)
chocolate - l'ordi (zonda)
maze - actress (honest jons)
hela mmaneyu - kabasa (atlantic)
pecoussa - francois lougah (syllart)
united nation/saidi style - mahmoud fadl (piranha)
immigrant visa - poirier feat mc zulu rmx by maga bo (ninja tune)
cancion para colombia - huelepega sound system (inyrdisk)
alergia - very be careful (barbes)
n'ouhoumba - bako dagnon (discograph)
think twice - gilles peterson's havana cultural band rmx by 4 hero (brownswood)
end titles - jamshied sharifi rmx by solar lion (kiahkeya productions)
brigadier sabari - alpha blondy (syllart)
time tough - romain virgo (vp)
tribute - jah cutta (stomp)
don't fool the young girls version - the gladiators (studio one)
flash gordon meets luke skywalker - roots radics rmx by bill laswell (trojan)
log on dub - horsepower productions (tempa)

Interview - Poirier

photo by May Truong

Today is the official release date of Poirier's new album, Running High. It marshals previously released EPs with new material and remixes, which makes it more of a long form compilation of his work of the last couple of years. I've only listened to the double disc twice in sequence but it certainly holds up as an album, in part because hearing all the EPs jumbled together on the first disc underlines the central aesthetic of 90s dancehall sounds anchoring the various cultural and technological streams running through the mix. Disc two changes up the sounds and rhythms with remixes - two which I'm feeling right now are by Uproot Andy and Maga Bo.

Having been a guest on the show before, I'm sure Poirier and I will have an interesting conversation about where he's at compositionally and as a DJ - and that's just for starters. Tune in at 7PM tomorrow.