From the Editor

May 10, 2010

Greetings and welcome to the inaugural issue of Music Media Monthly, your guide to the best recent (and sometimes not-so-recent) music-related books, videos, websites and sound recordings.  We’ve got three excellent columns for you this month, plus my own modest contribution, and in the posts that follow you’ll find discussion of a new book on Phish and a new-ish book on Diana Ross & the Supremes; an in-depth review of a website that archives the content of the gone and much-lamented No Depression magazine; a video documentary on Joan Baez; a John McLaughlin concert DVD; and new CD releases in a wide variety of genres.  We welcome your comments, suggestions, and criticisms — expect to see changes as this blog grows and matures, and please feel free to become a part of that process.

Rick Anderson, Editor

rick.anderson@utah.edu

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Posted by Rick Anderson

Websites

May 10, 2010

I first heard about No Depression, the Americana/alt-country/roots music magazine, from my good friend Mark.  Ever since our college years (and that would be decades ago), when we get together we inevitably stay up late, spin tunes, sip a little bourbon, and talk passionately about music. Years ago Mark told me about this music magazine that featured great writing and an editorial crew that shared our love of music – and, hey, the magazine was named after an Uncle Tupelo album, that was named after a Carter Family song.  What’s not to like about that, I thought?  As soon as I picked up a copy of No Depression, I was hooked.

No Depression (ND) was founded in 1995 by Grant Alden and Peter Blackenstock, and remained in print for 13 years.  During that time it developed a reputation for excellent writing and insightful criticism, attracting a loyal readership along with way. While the original emphasis was  the “alt-country” movement, over time ND expanded its focus to cover a wide range of roots and Americana music.  But the fiscal exigencies of putting out a print publication became too much for Alden and Blackenstock, and in 2008 they closed down their print publication and announced that they were going online only.  As a testament to how significant ND had become, its print demise made the headline on NPR’s All Things Considered.

The No Depression website is a worthy successor to the print magazine, and includes an online archive of the articles, reviews, and features from all 75 issues of the print magazine. Granted, a lot of the graphics and photos didn’t make it to the online versions, but there are so many other web-based features that omission of many of the print graphics hardly seems to matter.

As mentioned, what made No Depression so important and entertaining was the quality of the writing. Editors Alden and Blackenstock penned many articles and reviews, and both write with a fine sense of style and an unabashed love of music. But it’s the guest writers that really made it an essential document of Americana music.  A brief sampling from the online archives:  there’s an obituary of June Carter Cash by her former son-in-law Rodney Crowell, a wry career overview of Bill Carlisle by the ever-witty Robbie Fulks, an extended article on Carlene Carter by the great Appalachian writer Silas House, and a profile of Robert Earl Keen by the late Mississippi novelist Larry Brown. Just to put a final stamp of approval to No Depression’s credibility, there are a handful of reviews and articles by Bill C. Malone, author of the seminal study Country Music, USA, and, arguably, the world’s leading academic on the history of American vernacular music.

The rich legacy from No Depression’s 75 print issues is available on the “Archives” portion of the website, and it’s very easy to search or browse by issue, band or musician, or author. There’s even a tag cloud that features links to the most popular musicians in the archives.  With very few exceptions, all the articles, CD reviews, brief band bios, live reviews, and other text that originally ran in print is available online.  That in and of itself would make this worth bookmarking on your browser, but there’s far more on the No Depression website than legacy material. It’s a robust, feature-laden site that’s easy to navigate, and adds new reviews and content on a regular basis.

Current and recent content on the No Depression website is a mixture of articles and reviews from veteran ND contributors and the ND community – essentially, reader-generated content. There is a robust reader community on the website, and anyone can become a member (it’s free) and create add reviews, photos, and other content. Message boards, forums, blogs, videos, music and photos are added regularly by readers, and are categorized and labeled by a ND web staffer. And while the wary might think that all that reader-generated content might make for a weak website, the overwhelming majority of the featured writing is on par with the print edition of ND’s standards.

No Depression has made the transition from print to online publishing rather well, keeping the quality of the content intact while adding the tools and community features that web publishing can offer.  As you might expect, they offer email updates when new content is added. The most recent email featured a review of an upcoming Cowboy Junkies CD, an article on Arlo and Sara Lee Guthrie, a CD/concert review of Carrie Rodriguez, and an extended interview with Richard Thompson from the ND archives. Plus a bit of industry news (Concord Records buys Rounder – another indie done gone), and an essay entitled “Pour some Sugarland on me: Why country music is the new classic rock,” which includes some interesting comments from readers.

As a lover of that broad range of music labeled Americana and roots music (and many other genres, as readers of this column will discover), I lamented the end of No Depression’s run in print, and was initially concerned that their website would be just a shadow of their print edition.  But I’ve come to enjoy and rely on the ND website for the same good writing and exposure to new music that the print version offered. That’s a tough act to pull off, but the folks at ND have done it very, very well.

– Gene Hyde

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Posted by genehyde

Sound Recordings

May 10, 2010

It’s been a rough few years for the CD marketplace, and I don’t think it’s going to get any better anytime soon.  Yet against all odds, top-quality recordings keep being released—not in the numbers we used to see, but still more of them than most of us can afford to buy or make space for on our shelves.  Here, in no particular order and placing no restriction whatsoever on genre, are some releases that have knocked my socks off recently:

In the Weird Electronica Department we have the reissue of a 2006 recording by Markus Reuter titled, charmingly enough, Trepanation (Lotuspike LS-0010). Technically, this album would have to be characterized as “ambient music”—it’s beatless, generally consonant, and mostly quite easy on the ear.  But pay close attention and things get a bit more complicated: the nature sounds are as often disquieting as they are soothing, and those chords, pillowy as they are, often harbor hidden spikes of discord. But the music is consistently beautiful—not just pretty in a wimpy, New Agey way, but in a deeper and much more rich and evocative sense.

For sounds of a more organic but no less luscious nature, check out the Emerson String Quartet ‘s new three-disc set of Dvorak string quartets, titled Old World-New World (Deutsche Grammophon B0014106-02). It includes quartets numbers 10, 11, 13, 14, the “American” quintet, and a rather strange suite for quartet titled Cypresses. Very few ensembles can match the Emersons for both tightness and soulful virtuosity, and Dvorak’s chamber music is especially well served by this group’s particular skill set.

If it’s music from the really “old world” you’re interested in, then consider picking up on the East Meets West Music label’s new series of archival Ravi Shankar recordings. The series is called Nine Decades, and the first volume (EMWM1000) gathers a quirky but useful trio of recordings onto a single disc: first, a live outdoor performance by sitarist Shankar of the raga “Gangeshwari.” The recording was made with a single microphone (and not a very good one, judging from the sound quality) under less-than-ideal circumstances, but it still provides a thrilling example of Shankar’s playing at its finest. The other two tracks consist of interviews with audience members following the performance, and a recording of liturgical singing by temple priests in Allahabad, India.

Jumping back to the Western hemisphere, we have the continuation of a brilliant series of discomix compilations from the Jamaican studio of Joe Gibbs, one of the most accomplished producers of reggae music’s roots-and-culture period (roughly 1970-1985).  At various times he played host to such A-list singers as Junior Murvin, George Nooks, Dennis Brown and Junior Byles, and his house band included the absolute cream of the session-player crop. The Joe Gibbs 12” Discomix Showcase series (on the 17 North Parade label) now numbers five volumes; each compilation features extended mixes of classic Gibbs singles, each with a dub remix appended, often featuring the prototypical rapping of Jamaican “deejays” of the period. If you want a perfect introduction to the music of reggae’s classical era, start with the first or second volume; if those pique your interest, then keep exploring (though the last couple of volumes will be of more interest to period completists than to those with a casual interest).

Of course, the 1970s was also a golden era of soul music in the U.S.A., and if you miss that period and style, then you’ll be happy to hear about the latest album from soul revivalist Sharon Jones and her band the Dap-Kings.  I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone DAP-019) sounds vintage partly because it was recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine, and partly because Jones and her band have an absolute lock on their chosen style—not just its characteristic horn charts and guitar licks, but also its carefully-contained passion and exuberant funkiness.

If you want funkiness of a jazzier nature, check out drummer Stanton Moore’s new release on Telarc Records: Groove Alchemy (TEL-31890-02).  It finds him working in an organ-trio format, with Hammond B3 mastr Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard (organ trios typically omit a bass player, as the organist plays basslines with pedals while simultaneously supplying chords, melody and solos). This album is actually designed for pedagogical as well as pleasure-listening purposes: Moore intends with this release to provide something of a master class in the history and rudiments of funk drumming, and a companion book and DVD are to be released simultaneously with it. But you don’t have to want to learn in order to enjoy; it’s a wonderful program of jazz-funk in a variety of styles.

– Rick Anderson

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Posted by Rick Anderson

Books

May 10, 2010

Da Capo Press has recently published books on The Supremes and the rock group Phish. Both should be of great interest to those readers — and they are legion — who venerate these icons of pop musical culture.

Both books include virtually everything their fans will want to know about each groups’ genesis and early successes, leading to the international acclaim they’ve received.

“The Supremes – a Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal,” by Mark Ribowsky, traces the singing group’s meteoric rise from poverty in the Detroit housing projects to their audition with Motown Records producer Gordy Berry in 1960 and success at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre to their nationally televised appearance on Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” to their top three off-the-charts singles with their 1964 LP, “Where Did Love Go.”

Ribowsky chronicles the rivalry over top billing, which ultimately led to Diana Ross becoming the group’s lead singer, and of course, her later stellar solo career.

If you cherish the memory of songs like “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Baby Love” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” you’ll want to read all about the back story and intrigues that made The Supremes the best of Motown’s R&B and Soul groups of its day – the label’s biggest moneymaker, a rival to The Beatles and an urban legend, all while taking R & B to mainstream airplay and recognition. “The Supremes – a Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal” is a great read.

“The Supremes – a Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal” was published in July 2009; $26, hardback. 440 pages. ISBN: 978-0-306-81586-7.  (A paperback edition was recently published as well — Ed.)

“Phish: The Biography,” by Parke Puterbaugh, is the first book-length chronicle of a unique phenomenon: a rock band known and admired for their heady, edgy and eclectic mix of improvised jazz, progressive rock, bluegrass, funk — even classical and whatever else intrigues the group musically. The quartet’s influences belie their sound, which is unique.

Phish has attracted both cult and fan culture status, as well as sellout crowds in their live performances on their extensive touring circuit.

Puterbaugh, like Ribowsky in his book on The Supremes, can claim to have penned the definitive biography; a journalist with extensive rock credentials, he’s written about Phish from their beginnings as a party band at the University of Vermont in 1983 to their breakup in 2004 and subsequent reunion last year. Highly recommended.

“Phish: The Biography”; published December 2009 in hardcover. 318 pages; ISBN: 978-0-306-81484-6

Both books are amply illustrated with photographs. Contact Da Capo Press (www.dacapopress.com)

Da Capo has also recently put out their 10th anniversary edition of “Best Music Writing 2009,” with Greil Marcus the guest editor; Daphne Carr is the series editor of the yearly publication.

Marcus is well-known and highly regarded for his cultural criticism, as well as for his rock criticism for Rolling Stone Magazine and for The Village Voice newspaper, his books and articles on the politics of rock and for his wide-ranging commentary for Salon Magazine online. Among my favorites is his book “Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island.”

“Best Music Writing 2009” features writing that is often edgy and unbridled, as befits the music. Always thought-provoking, this collection of essays, interviews, liner notes, artist profiles, news stories and blogs illuminate the incredibly wide range of popular music culture across the stylistic spectrum: from blues to pop, from country to hip-hop. Each article originally appeared in 2008.  Among the highlights are authors such as David Remnick writing about jazz legend Charlie Parker, Wendy Lesser (The Threepenny Opera,) Jonathan Lethem (a discourse on rock singers down through the ages,) three intriguing articles by Carrie Brownstein culled from her NPR Music’s “Monitor Mix” series and much more.

For a can’t-put-it-down survey, “Best Music Writing 2009” admirably fills in the blanks, explains, cajoles, reveres and lambastes the music culture and the artists who define contemporary popular music – today and as we’ve come to know it. Highly recommended.

“Best Music Writing 2009” – paperback. ISBN: 978-0-306-817823. Contact Da Capo Press online at (www.dacapopress.com).

– Steve Dankner

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Videos

May 10, 2010

@ Belgrade Live. John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension. A presentation of Mediastarz Monaco; produced by Ina and John McLaughlin. Cary, N.C.: Abstract Logix, 2009. $17.99.

This live concert—taped by Radio Television of Serbia in the summer of 2008 at Belgrade’s Dvorana Doma Sindikata– is the first complete John McLaughlin concert ever released on DVD (and perhaps for good reason, as an unadorned stage setup and un-intimate venue made for a somewhat bland viewer experience). The set primarily features McLaughlin on the electric guitar, projecting an expected fusion of jazz and electronic music with his 4th Dimension collaborators. Among the show’s highlights are some virtuosic solos by bassist Dominique di Piazza and a couple tight, snappy percussion features by drummer Mark Mondesir. Multi-talented Gary Husband showcases his keyboard, snare, and mouth percussion skills throughout the show. McLaughlin has been playing with 4th Dimension since 2007 and while they have released several live recordings in various formats, their first studio album comes out this spring. All the compositions played on this concert are McLaughlin’s except for one number, which was written by Husband.

Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound. DVD. Directed by Mary Wharton. New York: Razor & Tie, 2009. $17.98.

Narrated by Baez herself, this documentary film explores the ups and downs of her career as an activist and performer. She touches briefly on her childhood at different times throughout the film, and specifically mentions two catalysts—her family’s conversion to Quakerism and her first-hand observations of British discrimination against Iraqis—that occurred at a young age and spurred her into a lifelong quest for human rights. The film is rich with fantastic archival footage that chronicles Baez’s interviews, performances and appearances at protests and peace marches from the late 1950’s to the early 1980’s, including some of her first weekend gigs at Cambridge’s Club 47, her big break at the Newport Folk Festival, and many subsequent solo and collaborative performances. Her professional ties with Martin Luther King, Jr. are highlighted with photographs and video of the two speaking at rallies and walking arm-in-arm with Mississippi schoolchildren on their way to attend the first day of desegregated classes. The viewer is also treated to video of Baez performing “We Shall Overcome” and “Oh Freedom” prior to King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington. The unstable romantic and musical relationship between Baez and Bob Dylan is explored through interviews and footage of some memorable performances from their England tour and their later Rolling Thunder tour in the United States. Baez’s first-hand, opinionated accounts of the state of civil rights—both in the archival interview footage showed in the film and in her present-day interview—provide invaluable insight into her ongoing motivations as a singer and songwriter. Other notable interviewees who attest to Baez’s ferocious commitment to her cause are the Reverend Jesse Jackson, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, Roger McGuinn, and Steve Earle. At one point in the film, Baez unabashedly confesses that music is—more than anything—a vehicle for her causes and that it “plays a secondary role in [her] life.” The film concludes with footage of Baez performing at various venues during a 50-year anniversary concert tour in 2009.

Alfonso und Estrella. DVD. Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Canada: Naxos, 2009. $29.99.

This 1997 performance of a consistently-criticized opera showcases the artistry of Harnoncourt—capable and prepared, the gentleman rarely glances at his score. While it is widely thought that the libretto—written by minor poet Franz von Schober at the request of his chum Schubert—was the downfall of this collaboration, the music itself sounds unenthused and unremarkable. It is believed that the score was composed alongside the libretto. Schubert was devastated when the manuscript was rejected at first submission to Vienna’s Kärntnertorttheater; an adapted version of the opera was given in 1854 by Liszt, who claimed to have conducted it as “an act of piety.” In spite of its dramatic limitations, however, the staging is appropriate and the singing is glorious. Subtitles are provided in English and in German.

– Anne Shelley

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Posted by sonnyleotoy

Welcome

May 4, 2010

Welcome to Music Media Monthly, a new blog highlighting recordings, books, videos, and Web sites for students, faculty, librarians, and music-lovers in general.

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Posted by Alexander Street

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