Why Black Sabbath was Amazing

Joe Banks of The Quietus wrote a great piece on Black Sabbath's Sabotage. People have always asked my why I think Sabbath was such a great, important band. This pretty much sums it up:

"This evocation of horror is only part of the story though. Sabbath were also unafraid to tackle in their lyrics the big issues of the day (and today for that matter), whether it’s the inequities of warfare (‘War Pigs’, of course), impending planetary destruction, both nuclear (‘Electric Funeral’) and ecological (‘Into The Void’), drug addiction (‘Hand Of Doom’), or the yoke of capitalism (‘Killing Yourself To Live’). It might not have been the type of nuanced social commentary that got the critics excited, but as an archetypal “people’s band”, Sabbath showed their audience that they gave a shit about the lives they were leading and the world they were living in. Many of their songs are about the moral choices we have to make, and those being made on our behalf (a view that the initially dismissive Lester Bangs expanded on in this piece for Creem in 1972). And frankly, you don’t get that on Led Zeppelin IV or Machine Head."

Do yourself a favor and read the whole article here

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

I came across this post from Jesse Saunders explaining how he got started with mixing records. The whole story is a great read, but this is what struck me:

"One day while sitting in my living room, I flipped the record over to check out the B-side and found a bootleg mashup. This song used the bassline from Player One’s “Space Invaders,”► the “toot toot, heeeeey, beep beep” refrain from Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls,”► and the horns from Lipps Inc’s “Funkytown.”► It was called “On & On” and I knew right away that it was special. The first time I played it in a set, it created such a frenzy on the dancefloor that I immediately made it my signature record, using it as an intro every time I DJed. Looking back, it was probably the first mashup ever created.

Unfortunately — or fortunately, now that I have the privilege of hindsight — it was among a number of vinyl records stolen from the booth at The Playground. While I was devastated at the time, that record thief gave me all the inspiration I needed to create my own version.

I quickly found myself in my bedroom at 7234 South King Drive, piecing the elements of my prized record back together on a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder. I also began to see this as opportunity to take the original “On & On” and expand upon the things that made it great, fleshing it out into a more fully-formatted song. I banged out new drum programming on my TR-808; my songwriter buddy, Vince Lawrence, wrote the lyrics and the melody"

Sometimes, you're forced to create what you need, and thats a beautiful thing.

Saul William on Technology

"In terms of hacking in the bigger picture, it’s clear that the virtual world is very much like the New World. We’re in the position of Columbus and all these old-time past explorers in that there’s a lot of freedom to be had and space to be explored. The surface web that most of us use is as limited as the percentage of our brain that most of us use. There’s a lot of information out there and I think that hackers in general have done some fucking amazing things in modern times."

I couldn't agree more. You can read the whole interview here

Brian Eno on Miles Davis and Context

I came across this amazing piece by Brian Eno where he looks at Miles Davis, his legacy, and how his context and persona may be more to it than the actual music itself.

"I remember seeing a thing on TV years ago. An Indonesian shaman was treating sick people by apparently reaching into their bodies and pulling out bloody rags which he claimed were the cause of their disease. It all took place in dim light, in smoky huts, after intense incantations. A Western team filmed him with infrared cameras and, of course, were able to show that he was performing a conjuring trick. He wasn't taking anything out of their bodies after all. So he was a fake, no? Well, maybe - but his patients kept getting better. He was healing by context - making a psychological space where people somehow got themselves well. The rag was just a prop. Was Miles, with a trumpet as a prop, making a place where we, in our collective imaginations, could somehow have great musical experiences? I think so. Thanks, Miles, and thanks everyone else who took part, too."

It really makes you think, "Aren't there a few otherartists that fit this description too?"

The whole piece is a must read. It was originally published in The Wire in 1993, but I came across it on this site MORE DARK THAN SHARK

Why We (I) Care About Musician's Deaths

Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Diffuser's James Stafford posted a great article on Why We Care About Musician's Deaths. Its a worthy read, but this really drives it home:

"When I hear that an artist from my personal soundtrack has passed, I’m taken immediately to the time and place that he or she was important to me. I relive that moment, be it good or bad, music playing in my head as clearly as it was at the time. I feel what I felt, see what I saw, smell what I smelled. Music is that powerful. When people who give us a gift like that are gone, it’s natural for us to grieve regardless of whether we really knew them."

You can read the full article here

Tower Records Founder Russ Solomon on Vinyl

The full article on Billboard is worth a read, but this really stood out to me. The bottom half is very debatable to say the least:

Why are people so romantically attached to vinyl?

I think it's basically the collect-ability of it. There's something today about the CD being somewhat ordinary while an LP is a package. It has artwork and liner notes. It's readable. Some LP collectors are really nutty. The cover is more important sometimes than the record.

What's your take on the people who say vinyl sounds better -- warmer -- than CDs?

This may be heresy, but I think it's more psychological than reality. Technically, you can't get the amount of frequency range at all on an LP that you can get on a CD. It's just impossible. But that doesn't mean vinyl records don't sound good and they don't sound warm and that there's something comforting about the clicks and pops. There's sort of a nostalgic feeling to the whole thing, which is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Music I've Slept On: Brian Eno's 'Another Day on Earth'

I remember quite well when this record first came out. I was still working at the now defunct-but-still-dearly-missed Tower Records on 4th street. I was only just discovering some of his records ('Music For Airports' series, 'Here Come The Warm Jets') and was curious to hear what this record sounded like.

My manager at the time, Jim, laid on the hype pretty thick, recalling that this is the first record Eno had recorded vocals for in (25 years?). We managed to get a few promotional copies on release day. Jim attempted to play it that Tuesday in store, however once it started playing it became pretty much inaudible (maybe that was the point?) over the noise of customers making their selections on New Release Tuesday.

Even as background music, it really struck me. Jim passed me one of the promotional copies and it soon fell into my regular record rotation for a few weeks. Then after that, I kinda forgot about it.

Not long ago I had that unusual nag in the back of my head urging me to listen to this record again. I was devastated when I discovered this record wasn't available on streaming services (well, at least Beats)*. Fustrated, I had to go dig up my iPod Classic (gasps!) and listen to this immediately.

The record has a calming but sometimes jarring feeling hanging over it. It makes you feel comfortable, but sometimes vulnerable all in the same space.

Well worth a listen if you're into Eno, or ambient music in general.

Key Tracks: "This", "And Then So Clear", "Just Another Day", "Under"

*Currently this record is out of print, but can be found on Amazon for a reasonable price.