Remember how Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The name Of" suddenly became the Christmas number one in the UK last year, clearing the top spot from X Factor winners and such? Well, this year a similar endeavor is in the making, this time in order to get John Cage's famous 4'33" (4 minutes and 33 seconds of an orchestra staying practically silent) to reach number one. I think it's a wicked idea, especially because last year's campaign got critiqued for the suitability of a RATM song for such purposes.
John Cage
However, the decision to pick this particular "song" has created a few problems, too. On the CATM campaign blog [here] the person behind the campaign and its Facebook page [here] tells about The Royal British Legion planning on recording a piece of silence as well.
And to make things even more confusing, apparently it isn't the original John Cage piece people are encouraged to buy but a retake, recorded by a number of British artists, such as Suggs of Madness, Orbital, Pendulum and UNKLE [says BBC].
The retake was probably made to be able to donate all the campaign profit to various charities (including British Tinnitus Association *cough*) but since the CATM campaign wasn't originally meant to become this huge, nobody seems to be taking charge of the sudden media frenzy and it's all becoming a bit of a mess. With three pieces of silence out there to buy (the original by Cage, the retake of Suggs & co. plus the The Royal British Legion one), I think there's a real danger of the whole thing going down the drain.
Oh well. I hope it succeeds anyway. I wonder what John Cage would think of it though?
Multi-talent is a term often thrown around ungroundedly. But it's the only word that can be used to describe Alain Johannes. In addition to being able to play the guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, keyboard, flute, clarinet, saxophone, fiddle and several other instruments, Alain Johannes is also a gifted singer, songwriter, recording engineer and producer. You may not know him by his name but if you've listened to Queens Of The Stone Age, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures, Spinnerette, Desert Sessions or Mark Lanegan records, you probably know some of his work.
Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times
I was lucky enough to see Alain Johannes play as an opener for Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa a couple of days ago - a somewhat odd slot for him, if you ask me, but of course nobody does and of course I was happy to see him even only for 30 minutes or so.
On stage Alain seemed exactly as one might expect - perhaps slightly unaccustomed to being alone in the limelight but obviously a very skillful and talented musician, equipped only with his cigarbox guitar (as in the photo). The set consisted mostly of songs from his first solo album "Spark", released this autumn.
So why did such a talented musician wait till his forties before going solo? I'm guessing Alain just never had any reason to work alone before. He found his perfect match both in life and in music in Natasha Shneider, his life partner for over 20 years, who unfortunately passed away due to cancer in 2008. The story about the two meeting, living and working together, completing each other every step of the way is pretty exceptional. In addition to having a band together (Eleven, with the drummer Jack Irons) they often worked together on many of the aforementioned collaborations.
In a way, Natasha helped Alain on "Spark" as well. In his recent interviews Alain's told about how he felt Natasha's presence so strongly while writing and recording the album that it was like she was there, guiding him. This "gentle ghost" of Natasha was the only one who's help he agreed to have on the album, which is written, played, recorded and produced solely by Alain himself.
The most staggering thing about "Spark" is how balanced and hopeful it sounds. Obviously, the album is dedicated to Natasha and it deals with the tremendous loss of a very close person. The end result however is not a dark requiem but a beautiful collage of intertwining moods and musical textures, a perfect mixture of light and shade. A highly recommendable and inspiring effort, and definitely one of the best albums of 2010. And next year Alain's set to collaborate with Mark Lanegan on his upcoming solo album. Somehow I've got a feeling it might turn out pretty fine as well.
Duffy's new single "Well, Well, Well" could be the catchiest song of 2010. It's fun and has that infuriating quality of vaguely reminding you of some other hit song - although you can't quite tell which one.
Compared to her previous efforts, on "Well, Well, Well" Duffy's adopted a somewhat different style of singing which admittedly suits the song. However, listening to her repeat it practically throughout her new album proved to be an exhausting experience. Whereas on "Rockferry" (2007) Duffy sounded fresh and natural and a bit like young Petula Clark, on the new "Endlessly" she seems to have lost most of her depth and ends up sounding more like Millie Small. Even her dance moves seem to bear resemblance to Millie's back in the 60's. Sure it's entertaining for a while but then it does get plain boring.
But hey, as the song suggests, maybe she's not guilty of the things I've said she's done. Given Duffy's 60's girl band inspired look blaming an evil producer for it would be just as fitting.
Whoa, great shows yesterday by Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa (and Alain Johannes too, but more about him later)! Truly inspiring to see how both bands manage to mix so many influences from around the world and do it in completely different ways. Whereas DeVotchKa's approach is subtle, dreamy and indie-ish, Gogol Bordello's gypsy punk kicks your butt and slaps you in the face. Both work like a charm, especially live.
Usually I try my hardest not to mix music with politics but during the shows last night it was hard to avoid certain trains of thoughts. This year the whole Europe's been discussing, arguing and debating the rights of Romani people to leave their home countries and try their luck somewhere else. A group of them actually set up a camp only a few miles from last night's venue but it was recently taken down by the city - which also gave the people money to go back home. So what's my point? I don't know. I guess some ways of expressing the gypsy way of life are just more acceptable than others.
Well, now it's possible, in a way. The new Grinderman merchandise, available on grinderman.com, includes tea towels with the faces of Mr. Cave and his partners in crime printed on them. So whether you loved or hated the new Grinderman record now there's a brilliant opportunity out there to express your feelings by buying one and using it the way you find most appropriate.
Personally, I think tea towels are the most useful piece of merchandise I've seen in a long time and perfect for such a whimsical band. Actually, I wouldn't mind getting one for Christmas. Could use one in my kitchenette.
In addition to being a filmmaker, David Lynch is also a musician and has recently released two new singles. The first one of them, "Good Day Today", is something I'd call a miss. It seems like a quite generic and monotonic electro track although I guess it could work well as a soundtrack for meditation. And knowing Lynch's enthusiasm for TM maybe that's what he was after.
The second single however is definitely a hit. It's just as twisted, haunting, slinky and cool as one could ever wish for. So here's "I know". I love it.
I wonder what went on inside of Polly Jean Harvey's head when she wrote this song. The first 45 seconds of the song have an eerie, My Bloody Valentine kind of sound - but then, totally out of the blue, a reggae sample kicks in. And somehow the two components manage to blend seamlessly. How's that even possible?
"Written On The Forehead" is from PJ Harvey's upcoming album, due to release on February 2011.
