I recently watched his 'instructional video' and though the song excerpts
are generally short, there's some amazing stuff on there, brilliant
interaction between the three of them. It's amazing how little we hear of
this on their releases...
> The compositions were a strong point, but there's something more: IMHO
> Frisell has achieved all he could in the 'intense mutual listening'
> idiom at the live disc with driscoll and JB (BTW i have a videotape of
> their concert from warsaw, ansd it's much better!). It waould be hard
> to go on that way - and on 'Gone' he has achieved a more relaxed, not
> that intense way of working with rhythm section. But the good thing
> got lost on 'good dog'.
> Marcin
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 13:06:48 -0400
From: "Caleb T. Deupree" <cdeupree@erinet.com>
Subject: cd vs. cdr
Almost two weeks ago, David Keffer "<keffer@planetc.com>" asked:
>I am confused about the difference between a cdr and an ordinary
>cd, when the cdr only contains music.
Sorry to be so late on this thread, but it took me a while to track down an
article from last August in the Cadence magazine, where Vladimir addressed
this subject in his always-great Sonics column. Since I haven't been able
to find the article online, here's a fairly long quote:
- ---
A commercial "pressed" CD is just that, pressed. The data on a CD is read
by a laser which sees the change from land(0) to pit(1). These are the 1's
and 0's that make up the data stream that is fed to a digital to analog
converter, turned into a voltage difference, amplified, and played back
through a speaker. These lands and pits are just like the smooth surface
and raised bumps of a music box cylinder, except that they are much
smaller. A glass mother is made that contains the inverse of the lands and
pits that make up the 1's and 0's of a CD. This mother is used to stamp
(in much the same way that LPs were stamped) the polycarbonate pellet that
makes up each CD. That clear disc is then plated with a reflective layer
and a protective coating. Silk-screening is applied later to create the
"label" side of the disc. Discs made in this fashion are quite robust and
fairly resistant to scratching. They are also not affected (unless they
actually melt) by UV rays.
Recordable CDs start off life much the same way except that instead of any
pits being pressed into the disc they are left smooth with an additional
coating of a material which can be "phase changed." When a CDR is
recorded, a laser is used to heat up the phase changeable material to
create a "virtual" pit. This is one area where a CDR can run into
problems. For the best performance, it is critical that the pit-to-land
transition is very clean, or steep, so to speak. The more vague the
change, the greater the room for error creation. Also, the phase
changeable material is, by its nature, light sensitive. UV rays can harm
these discs. These discs also have less reflectivitiy than a pressed disc
so often they will not be able to be played back in DVD players. Part of
the DVD player standard is the playback of CDs, but CDRs are part of that
standard "stretching" that is going on and basically they will not play in
those players. The final concern is one of durability. These blanks are
not nearly as resistive to scratching as a pressed disc. All told, CDRs
used for frequent playback may not last as long as you would like. For
people making compilations of their music this is not a big deal, but for
those who are purchasing "finished" product from labels or musicians, this
may come as an unwelcome surprise.
In case any of the archivists out there are alarmed by all of this, you
should not be. CDR is the most cost effective and high performance method
of making archives. Archives are generally not a daily use item so many of
these issues will not be a problem. CDRs that were made in reliable
machines and stored properly are proving to be very reliable. The trick is
to use good equipnment and good blanks.
- ---
- --
Caleb Deupree
cdeupree@erinet.com
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 11:00:28 -0700
From: Skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Odp: Odp: Jazz History
>
> The compositions were a strong point, but there's something more: IMHO
> Frisell has achieved all he could in the 'intense mutual listening'
> idiom at the live disc with driscoll and JB (BTW i have a videotape of
> their concert from warsaw, ansd it's much better!). It waould be hard
> to go on that way - and on 'Gone' he has achieved a more relaxed, not
> that intense way of working with rhythm section. But the good thing
> got lost on 'good dog'.
> Marcin
>
I'll try listening to it that way. I'd love a copy of that Warsaw video,
though.
skip h
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 11:34:04 -0700
From: Skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Wilco
> In a message dated 10/6/01 1:32:38 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> velaires@earthlink.net writes:
>
>> I've heard very little of Ryan, but, again, it doesn't work for me. I grew
>> up listeneing to Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson (before he turned into Barry
>> Manilow), Dolly Parton (when she was still singing country music), and it
>> wrecked my grading curve. I have no great love whatsoever for Neil Young,
>> and, as far as the "no depression" vibe goes, I have little use for all
> that
>> stuff that sounds like someone trying to imitate Neil Y and Gram Parsons.
>> In that "Americana" world, I tend to stick with Dave Alvin. I am, by
>> definition, a cranky old stick in the mud.
>>
>> best --
>> skip heller
>> http://www.skipheller.com
>
> Skip,
>
> See, for me it's a breath of fresh air having all this "no depression" stuff
> around. Since I didn't grow up with any kind of country music and, until a
> few years ago, had only been exposed to the most schlocky aspects of country
> music (big hats, big hair, rhinestones, line dancing, chewing tobacco),
> discovering legitimate country music via the likes of Wilco, Uncle Tupelo,
> "The Anthology of American Folk Music," etc. has been such a musical
> epiphany. It's like getting to Miles Davis via Dave Douglas after thinking
> for years that Kenny G and Steely Dan were jazz. (That didn't actually
> happen to me, but you know what I mean.)
>
> By the way, I like Dave Alvin too. :)
>
> Cheers,
> Tom
To me, the "no depression" thing that so many people really glommed onto had
been done to perfection by about 1990 (check out the Jayhawks 2nd LP, THE
BLUE EARTH), if not by Gram Parsons, and -- in certain portions of his work
- -- Neil Young ("Powerfinger" espec). But so much of it is equal parts
carbon copy and posturing that I just can't go there. It's like turning
country music into something that can now be accepted by NPR types, so it
can be discussed.
If you've ever been through the San Joaquin Valley, which starts in
Bakersfield or so, you understand that Merle haggard wasn't making songs to
be "related to". He made songs that spoke to people's lives. Not beautiful
people, either. His language, his chord progressions etc. They weren't
"designed". He just made those songs, and he made them in such a
straight-ahead way that there was no mistaking who and what they spoke
about.
When the whole roots phenomenon really grabbed things around 1995, I was not
only aware of it, I was (and still am) around the people who made many of
those records, either as producers, sidemen, record company guys, or
whatever (look hard at my catalog as a producer, and you'll see my personnel
lists include Greg Leisz, Dave Alvin, and Rosie Flores, among others). I
saw their targets change because they smelled a new audience (and the radio
and therefore $ that come with it). This might sound cynical, but it's not.
It's a fact of life that so much of the "alt country" world is as designed
as any corpo-rock movement. I know because I've sat at tables with artists
who are praised for their divine integrity and heard them talk about getting
everything from "a 'no depression' drum sound" to "a publicist with NPR
cred". If you think it's any different anywhere where large $ is spent on
music, you're sadly mistaken.
Back in the punk rock days, there was this "we're destroying rock and
reinventing it in our own image" party line that everyone parrotted. Except
that, with few exceptions (Dead Kennedys and Ian McKay, most notably), most
of these bands signed to the the first major label that handed them a pen,
went out on fairly standard rock tours in established venues, and had
publicists that got them written about in all the usual magazines. Look at
the PEOPLE magazine "New Faces For 1977" issue, and note that the Ramones
were the lead off in the "Song" category. That was a major coup for a
publicist at Sire records, not some magical moment for music. And things
are no different. The Ramones (who I love) were trying to capture the same
flag as Journey. Just as Bjork is trying to capture the same flag as Janet
Jackson. And, for all the percieved nobility, you'll notice Bjork is as
carefully packaged as any other pop sensation these days, and has even
topped it off in one case by behaving like Sean Penn. I don't afford her
any cred I don't give Janet Jackson.
( I even went to see the Velvet Rope, and it was a well-executed theatrical
package, with lots of great dancing. You wouldn't consume it the way you'd
consume Masada, but it beat the pants off anything Andrew LLoyd Weber could
come up with.)
Affording a whole lot of credibility to packaging-oriented people is a
slippery slope, because they want to be stars, and they will eventually do
stuff that is designed to reach a wider audience, which means sell out.
But, for the most part, they sell out the moment they make a video, because
then they're offically courting MTV and VH1. And there is nothing --
NOTHING -- alternative, non-mainstream, or integrity-driven about that.If
you argue that there is, look at the budget for that video and understand
that the label wants to make that money back.
skip h
np: johnny guitar watson, hot just like TNT
- -
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 11:34:04 -0700
From: Skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: The function of the studio
> These two examples spring to mind easily, are there more examples of
> straight jazz spiced with studio techniques?
>
Check out the Miles/Gil Evans box. It's largely driven by that.
skip h
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 13:12:38 -0600
From: Dan Frank Kuehn <smokey@laplaza.org>
Subject: Witness
Jim n all,
WELL. Last night in Santa Fe:
It was pretty cool, the only downsides were having to sit through the
first act, the competent but narcolepsy-inducing sounds of the Larry
Goldings Trio, and that Witness only performed for an hour or so, and
that there was no way for me to record, as the promoters were already
doing it.
The Lineup(billed as a sextet):
DD - trumpet
Chris Speed - saxes and clarinet
Jaimie Saft - some kind of Wurlitizer compact portable keyboard
Craig Taborn - Fender Rhodes, with MANY transmorgrifiers
Michael Sarin - drums and percussion
Brad Jones - electric standup bass
Ikue Mori - PowerBook - couldn't see what model, hidden by a music stand
Very satisfying. Dave said the record was released on 9/11....
They were rehearsing at 10:30 am in NYC for a premier concert scheduled
for the 12th - canceled, of course.
Although they were all always on-stage, there were many points where
only part of them were playing.
Ikue, stoic, seated very upright and even stiff at a little wooden table
near the front of the stage, washing over everything with blips, boops,
and other little and big noises.
Jaimie sitting out the most, only to jump in with jumbles of notes or
precise chords at prescribed moments.
Craig (he looks like some kind of redheaded mulatto) was astounding,
totally in control of very bizarre sounds.
Michael was really great too, nailing everything down, only to freak
unexpectedly.
Brad was equally impressive, delighted in everyone else's contributions,
he seemed to have a particularly close connection with Craig.
Chris was in the middle with Dave, looking like a malnourished and
retarded vagrant, an untucked long sleeve dress shirt and baggy brown
pants belying knockout talent every time he blew anything.
Dave was an elf in blak t shirt and black jeans, enjoying himself
immensely, watching and directing everything with delighted attention
when he wasn't knocking our sox off.
One more gripe - no DD CDs for sale, only T shirts...
Gotta go, we'll talk soon,
Dan
PS As my mouse had died, I picked up a cordless, ball-less Logitech
model while in SF. Like a sports car...
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2001 22:59:06 +0200
From: "Marcin Gokieli" <marcingokieli@go2.pl>
Subject: Odp: Odp: Atk & Fris
From: Dave Trenkel <improv@peak.org>
> I believe I heard he's on tour with Greg Bendian's Interzone, with
> Nels & Alex Cline. Sounds like a terrific group. Driscoll has been a
> huge influence on me, and I haven't heard much of him since the
> Frisell group disbanded.
I keep on hering good things about that band. Looks like i got to buy
their disc
- -
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 17:07:51 -0400
From: "Jason J. Tar" <tarjason@pilot.msu.edu>
Subject: Trespass
At 08:13 AM 10/7/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>wo years ago, I composed the score for Walter Hill's "Trespass", in which
>two rap-stars like Ice Cube and Ice-T collaborated, but it wasn't accepted.
>After a previous screening, the film didn't get a good response and they
>thought it was because of my music so it was withdrawn..."
>
>My translation is so bad, but what Zorn meant is that the two metioned
>rap-stars contributed to the music of the film, not as actors (as far as i
>know). I guess that they included some tracks, though. I can't imagine Zorn
>side by side with those guys.
No, Ice-T and Ice Cube did star in Trespass as actors. They may have also
worked on tracks for the soundtrack, they were definately actors in the movie.
- ---
Peace Hugs and Unity Jason J. Tar
W. W. J. D?
(What would Jason Do?)
ICQ@13792120
- -
------------------------------
Date: 7 Oct 2001 15:20:47 -0700
From: Dan Given <dlgiven@altavista.com>
Subject: Re: Tortoise and the function of the studio
Dave Trenkel wrote:>
> I like Tortoise quite a bit as well, especially the TNT disc, which
> has some very nice compositions. Actually, I've been playing "Jetty"
> from that record in a jazz group. I think that when they added Jeff
> Parker on guitar, they had a distinctive instrumental voice in the
> band for the first time, I love his work with them, the various
> Chicago Underground groups, and Isotope 217. I saw Tortoise live this
> summer also, and it was kind of disappointing. On one hand, it was
> pretty impressive that they could do the tunes live with just 5
> players as faithfully as they did, everyone switched instruments many
> times throughout the show, but I really felt it was all very
> rehearsed, and pretty safe. Very little improvisation.
I saw Tortoise about 4 years ago, and had a somwhat similar, yet also quite different, opinion. Similar in that it all seemed very rehearsed and very safe. Different in that I was completely unimpressed with them jumping from instrument to instrument, and felt that much of it seemed like showboating. There were times that there would be two people drumming, or two on a set of vibes, and I kept thinking that I could name lots of individual players who could do more interesting things than the two were doing together.
I wasn't much of a Tortoise fan -- I opted to go on the advice of friends who liked them. Jon Butcher was playing about a 90 minute drive away and that was my choice of the evening and I opted to go the the Tortoise show rather than make the drive alone. Bad decision. (Even my friends who are fans were disapointed).
Dan
Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping!
http://www.shopping.altavista.com
- -
------------------------------
End of Zorn List Digest V3 #587
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