Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap

We had the gift of Hip Hop which collectively described the DJs, MCs, Break dancers and Graffiti artists thrust into our lives in the mid 70's by a bunch of creative and inspired adults and kids from the inner cities of New York City. Now three and a half decades into Hip Hop's existence there have been many DJs and MCs come and go, so many styles born and stories told from not just the east coast of America but worldwide.

We had the gift of Hip Hop which collectively described the DJs, MCs, Break dancers and Graffiti artists thrust into our lives in the mid 70's by a bunch of creative and inspired adults and kids from the inner cities of New York City. Now three and a half decades into Hip Hop's existence there have been many DJs and MCs come and go, so many styles born and stories told from not just the east coast of America but worldwide.

Ice-T, a founding member of the Hip Hop movement now turned actor, takes the directorial seat in what can be referred to as a homage to the pioneers of a cultural ideology and past time that grew and became commercially the biggest music genre of modern times.

Scenes of MC greats such as Rakim, KRS-1, Nas and Eminem, to mention just a few, reminiscing on what made them start writing their rhymes plus their views on the cultures progression are what this film manages to convey pretty well.

There are also moments of genius that occur when the artists are asked questions about their favourite reciteable rhymes, from other MCs who have influenced them. These are met with nostalgic laughs and gesture heavy raps, often done in the original MC's voice tone, emphasising the passion for a well written verse that these classic raps can still stir up. Narration over the movie's interwoven scenic shots and locations is provided by Ice-T himself who also conducts all of the interviews the film.

The shortcoming of this experiment in trying to bring a deserved attention to the humble beginnings of Hip Hop culture and the art of rap is that at times it comes off looking and sounding a little bit like an old boys club reunion; backward looking and, harshly, irrelevant to a newer generation to whom these icons are simply music their parents liked. Patronage from and acquiescence to our favourite rapper is as evident as there are differences in the regional rap styles present in Hip Hop today. While I can't deny the importance of this documentary it's relevance to those who are carrying the torch for the art might be hindered in that it almost wags a disparaging finger at them.

The newer generation of Hip Hop tend to be referred to by rap elders as dull, materialistic and lacking in the ethics that made the Hip Hop songs of their era so memorable to this day. While there are many relevant points made about the corrupting effects of commercialism on what started out as a joyously simply sound track to a party, mixing turntable skills and slick poetry, there is no real evidence presented to show that todays artists place in the evolution of rapping has contributed to the legacy. This indifference to the future of the music will certainly be a divisive point to younger viewers and may dam the documentary to simply being seen as an exercise in cosy and narrow minded nostalgia.

While there are so many ways to express oneself with poetry over rhythms there are only so many ways that a documentary of this nature can concisely convey the diversity present in this form of expression that accurately represents all manner of rap artist. Constraints of time mean we are missing some popular names from the role of honour interviewed. All you have to do is wonder what happened to the opinions and experiences of the likes of The Sugar Hill Gang, Stetsasonic, Kid N Play, Mr. Scarface, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Black Thought (The Roots) and the list can go on forever. Also certain MC s featured only provide reminiscences without a rap and vice versa. Hopefully there are some extra interviews and raps as DVD extras!

To sum up you are certainly left with an appreciation of the featured living rap legends and their legacies by the time you get to the final words which bring the show to a close from our beloved Cop Killer. We are simply reminded of the love that we'd forgotten we had for what seemed like a handful of MCs and DJs on a couple of now world renowned record labels. Ultimately it is a subjective personal tribute from Ice-T on our behalf to these 1st and 2nd generation Hip Hop men and women. Something from Nothing; is precise and there is probably a more poetic phrase tucked away somewhere that better sums up the phenomenon now known to the world as rapping. The chosen one will do as it is seeks to make a point without pretence and it does so, it could also do some more on the subject and it won't surprise if another installment follows soon and a franchise is born!

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Pop culture reads

In preparation for the UK summer (yeah right!) I have dug out some top pop culture reads...

Stick it Up Your Punter!: The Uncut Story of the "Sun" Newspaper by Peter Chippindale and Chris Horrie. Hilarious account of UK tabloid newspaper The Sun's rise to notoriety during the 1980's. At the rotten core of it all is editor Kelvin Mackenzie who comes across like a modern Rasputin crossed with John Self (the amoral capitalist from Martin Amis' novel Money). Repulsive but you end up strangely rooting for him as he influences all the worst aspects of politics and pop culture, a poster boy for Thatcher's Britain, with a deranged swagger. The way he is privately canvased by the Conservative party as a tool to win elections is a salutary pointer towards the future world of spin developed under New Labour. Laugh out loud funny and written like a cautionary tale about greed, power and the gullibility of the great British public.

The Strangest Man: The Life of Paul Dirac by Graham Farmelo. Interesting study of the bizarre Nobel Prize winner Paul Dirac. Dirac is regarded as the founder of quantum electrodynamics and this book treads a fine line between hardcore science and an intriguing character study of the possibly autistic Dirac. The strong contrast between his sensitive obsessive search for beauty within complex equations and his taciturn socially inept persona is extremely moving. The book also works as a concise history of the leading players of quantum physics such as Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg. One for the geeks!

Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal. A big thick book and admittedly a bit of a struggle but once you get past Stanley's boyhood it reads like a boys own adventure. The madness of Stanley; walking across Africa, picking fights with angry natives, suffering flesh eating foot rot, his party cannibalising babies and colluding with a despicable European tirant along the way in the rape of Africa...this is a real life version of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio by James Young. Young's excellent account of his jaunt across Europe with Nico, while acting as her keyboardist, is both harrowing and hilarious. Features a cast of grotesques you just don't find in today's anodized music business, Young is both thrilled to be in the presence of a legend and desperate not to be dragged down into the drug fueled insanity of the tour. The best bit is Nico playing Deutschland über alles to a gig full of liberal students in Poland.

Warhol: The Biography by Victor Bockris. Extremely readable biog of the enigmatic Mr Warhol. A nice mix of critique and dirt this is the most fully rounded portrait of both the artist and the man. Not afraid of the lurid details, Bockris stakes a claim for Warhol to be recognised as the Machiavellian architect of todays fame obsessed culture. Virtually everyone who is anybody from the 60s to the 80s makes a cameo appearance from Dylan, Bowie and Jagger to Capote, Jack Nicholson and Jean-Michel Basquiat. But it is the various desperate hangers-ons like Edie Sedgwick, used up and spat out by Warhol once he tires of them, who make the strongest impression.

Iggy Pop: Open Up And Bleed: The Biography by Paul Trynka. Long before he was selling insurance with a possessed puppet by his side Mr Pop was the original bad boy of rock. Trynka is brilliant at describing the sheer visceral power of Iggy at his best (or worst). Pop comes across as both a naive innocent and an arch manipulator, particularly with his treatment of his band The Stooges, who will do anything to survive. In-between rolling around in broken glass, covering himself in peanut butter and bedding every groupie he can lay his hands on Pop invents Punk rock and rock show as performance art. The book flags a bit once Iggy becomes a rich rock icon in the early 90s but the first half charting straight A student James Osterburg's drug led transformation into Iggy is enthralling.

Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of Heaven's Gate by Steven Bach. All the madness and vanity of Hollywood in one handy volume. Steven Bach was senior vice-president for United Artists studios who bank rolled and were then destroyed by the legendary flop film Heaven's Gate. Rather than the expected Hollywood greed and idiocy the final impression is more of starstruck naivety on the part of the executives in the face of Oscar winning director Michael Cimino's excess perfectionism. Miles of film were shot looking for the magical take while an army of extras wondered about in exquisite costumes and sets as the production hemorrhaged money. The final product was a beautiful but soulless mess than tanked and took United Artists and everyones job's with it..The tragedy is that the freedom previously given to film makers by the studios which produced such epic cinema through out the 1970's was subsequently snatched back after the Heaven's Gate fiasco.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-drugs-and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Changed Hollywood by Peter Biskind. ...Or how the industry ended up with Heaven's Gate! A terrific page turning story of the revolution in 1970's cinema where the director became god and art was paramount, until they blew it in a hurricane of drugs and egomania. Gasp as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and William Friedkin churn out such classics as The Godfather, Taxi Driver and The Exorcist while pursuing a scorched earth approach to celebrity which puts todays bland handwringers to shame. Dennis Hopper who pretty much kick started the freaks are taking over Hollywood theme is the most incandescent lunatic on display, a gun brandishing self proclaimed acid Christ figure who has it all and throws it in the bin with terrifying speed. A good companion piece is the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now, "Hearts of Darkness" which covers the nightmarish shoot in all it's torrid detail.

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad. The history of the pioneers of American punk and hardcore who paved the way for the underground becoming corporate "Alternative" rock and the subsequent world domination of Nirvana. Pioneers is not too strong a word as bands like Black Flag almost single handedly build the audience, distribution and venues for hardcore music. Traipsing around in a beat up van and playing to tiny audiences with flame thrower intensity Black Flag's quest was built on by icons like Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth as well as more obscure but still brilliants bands like The Minutemen and Mission of Burma. Devoting a chapter to each of the leading bands this book is written in a pacey style which keeps you charging through it, totally absorbed.

Hotel California: Singer-songwriters and Cocaine Cowboys in the L.A. Canyons 1967-1976 by Barney Hoskyns. This book is about everything the hardcore punk movement was fighting against. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, CSN, lost in a blizzard of coke and money, in a bizarre twist the self satisfied millionaires of California soft rock come across as more nihilistic and hate filled than Black Flag. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young are the star performers with their demented coke histeria. David Crosby getting a blow job while being interviewed, Stephen Stills so out of his mind he tells people he served in Vietnam, the brilliant anecdotes go on and on. Even artists who survived the fall out of punk like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young come across as petty and money mad, their present credibility appearing more a product of artful spin than integrity. Orchestrating it all is the arch executive David Geffen like an evil puppet master.

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: 100 Years of the Disc Jockey by Frank Broughton and Bill Brewster. Brilliant history of the DJ, from such bizarre uncool pioneers as Jimmy Savile through the more credible David Mancuso and Nicky Siano up to the current superstars. What comes across is the strange mix of characters from the sober Al Pacino look alike Mancuso with his almost messianic approach to parties at The Loft contrasting with the barn burning druggy House debauchery of Ron Hardy, all drawn together by a total commitment to playing music. The chapter dealing with the intense Hardy and his club the Muzic Box is my favourite, it is hard to imagine Tiesto leaving such an impression on his clubbers!

The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries by Bill Brewster. A companion volume to the one above, this is all the original uncut source interviews for Last Night a DJ Saved My Life. Great to hear the history of DJing straight from the mouths of such legends as Grandmaster Flash and Francis Grasso.

England's Dreaming by Jon Savage. The definitive account of the rise of punk rock. An epic tome which starts at the proto punk nihilism and pranksterism of the Dada and Situationist art movements, takes in radical sixties political groups like the Weathermen and then crash lands in CBGB's and the Westway with Patti Smith, The Ramones, The Clash and the meat of the book, The Sex Pistols. Captures all the excitement, scheming and social upheaval of the times perfectly. It is a detailed book and maybe a bit of a struggle to get into but there is no better social history of the movement.

Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess by Walter Yetnikoff. The wild ride of President of CBS Records Group Walter Yetnikoff during the 1980's as he threatens and abuses virtually every major rock star of the day. Driven wild by power Yetnikoff bullies and bribes his way to the top but artfully makes himself come across as a lovable grizzly bear forced to use tough love on his spoilt children. Despite the numerous amusing stories about Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger you get the feeling Walter still has too many friends in the business so holds back from the juiciest details! The first half when he transforms from a straight arrow lawyer to a figure whose volcanic personality almost overshadows his rock star employees is the most interesting. The book takes a sentimental dive near the end when he undergoes a "spiritual transformation", but up until about three quarters of the way through this is a great read. Happy reading!

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LSS "Dark" DNB Selection

A while back Frank asked me to point him in the direction of some DNB albums he'd hopefully find interesting... That time has long passed and he's now asked me to find a few more bits he'd be interested in stemming from that selection....

Frank was leaning towards the darker side of DNB from what he told me. So I've started a play list (which I'll continue to add to) of some of the harder hitting stuff from the past few years. There's some recent material in there, as well as some older pieces and a few classics. This is by no means a definitive selection, just some tunes that I'm hoping he'd like.

As said, I'll continue to add some more songs to it over time. It's quite funny how when pressed to think of certain songs your mind goes blank! And YouTube recommendations only lead so far!

The problem was he wanted a few more albums as well. With DNB culture traditionally revolving around 12" singles or 2 x 12" EP's (albums seem to have only recently been truly embraced) I was initially struggling for inspiration. So what I've said is, he are some artists you might like, and if you do - explore their back catalog further. Also, knowing which labels release which type of music helps a lot as you can then delve into their archives and stumble across a whole new heap of talent.

Self exploration is extremely rewarding!

Anyway, enjoy it for now and check back in the future where I'll hopefully have updated it quite significantly...

LSS Dark DNB YouTube Play list

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Downloading discussion

A recent download made me think about the difficult ethics of illegally downloading music from the net...



A friend of mine recently passed me a USB stick containing the MP3s of a very rare album on it, by a French fusion group called Dun. Their sole album was going for £250 on Discogs and was impossible to find to buy anywhere else. He had ripped from Youtube by converting song posts into MP3's. Poor quality but the only way to own the album. I have immediately passed on the album to several friends who would enjoy it and spread the word. It struck me that this band are almost completely forgotten and I only heard about them through people posting the album on Youtube. Without someone having stuck up their music illegally online they would remain an unknown myth inaccessible to all apart from the rich obsessive vinyl collector. If enough people hear and pass on the music then there is a possibility that a small label will eventually rerelease the album due to the interest.

For cult artists this can work as people into obscure music would most likely buy the CD if rereleased, mainly due to the improved sound quality, but also to support the label, invariably small and fan driven, and band. Even if you buy an album at an inflated price second hand the band still does not receive any royalties, if the CD is rereleased and available new they hopefully will. In the past the recordable cassette was seen as the death of the industry but did not significantly effect sales, in fact it was soon seen as an unlikely form of stealth promotion. In the past many albums such as The Modern Lovers then unreleased demo's (a huge influence on the UK punk rock movement in bootleg form) and more recently The Beach Boys "Smile" album have only been circulated and reevaluated through dissemination as illegal bootlegs. Often a flood of bootlegs forces the artist to acknowledge an audience for a particular aspect of their work, such as Bob Dylan's "Biograph" box set and Led Zeppelin's "How the West Was Won". Ripping files from the internet is just the new form of bootlegging.

However there is a possibility that the downloading phenomenon has damaged the industry in another way. Record companies' back catalogues are proving significantly more stable income than newer artists principally through the massive costs of promoting a new act. A rerelease frenzy that has created a retro obsessed "dad rock" industry. Too busy re-promoting the past to spend time developing the future? Newer music is absorbed by a generation to whom packaging and historical significance is less important than before, in general people have a less personal connection to artists. The emphasis in breaking a modern act, which is closely linked to film and advertisement tie-ins, is that the music is now selling the concept of consumption not the idea that you consume because of your believe in the values or messages expressed in the product. Modern pop is seen as a tool to fluidly create connections between disparate products in the minds of the public. You are as likely to picture a soft drink when hearing a pop song as you are to remember the lyrics.

Another aspect in retro active consumption is that modern music is such an extravagant display of wealth, either explicitly through the clothes and jewelry or through the subtle technological showcase of the promo videos. Many people imagine that either the artists will not be significantly financially effected by your illegal download, after all they are practically forcing their wealth down your throat, or consumers desire the music but resent paying money to fund such ostentatious neo yuppy life styles during times of recession. An artist from the past is protected from this to a certain extent by the passage of time. They are not constantly in your face through the over saturation of multimedia, and their extravagance or foolishness is given the protective perception of "retro", the 70's, a decade of terrible record company corruption, prejudice, the worst excesses of rock star arrogance and debauchery is now seen as a fun pimped up era of afros, bell bottoms, double necked guitars and disco glitter.

It will always remain a controversial topic but it is worth remembering the amount of money and resources squandered by the record business. It is unfortunate that artists and sound engineers are suffering because of a situation created more through record company incompetence and mismanagement than what is promoted (by the record industry) as the greed of the consumer. I see the industry splitting into two linked but ideologically divided sides. One will retain the old model and will see music become merely a supporting player to reality TV, film and advertisement. It will not be created for aesthetic worth or longevity but as a cog in a capitalist machine for aspiration and consumerism. On the other side a new industry will grow up from the grass routes level where small labels of enthusiasts promote artists driven more by the music than the desire for fame and money. This is already happening, with artists accepting that their music will remain something which has to give satisfaction in and of itself without being a route towards financial independence. Future music for both creator and listener will provide a spiritual but not a financial release from your day job.

Maningrey







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The Maningrey Review # 2 - Larks' Tongues in Aspic

An informal series of reviews of prog/psych/weirdness for the drug crazed and incontinent...

Does anyone else have the thing where you KNOW a particular album is the best creation by a band but time and again you read reviews where inferior albums by the artist are recommended in magazine reviews and blogs?

Well with KC you will be told that their debut album or "Red" or "Discipline" or "Starless and Bible Black" are the first port of call to get into the band...They are not...the pinnacle of the Crim's catalogue, and possibly prog rock in general, is "Larks' Tongues in Aspic".

Don't get me wrong I love a lot of KC's previous albums, I love the weird culty appeal of liking such stodgy over ripe fair as "Lizard" or " Islands". Yes they are easy to mock for the pretension and opulence of the arrangements, hell "Lizard" practically defines the word "rococo" with more folds and ruffs than a King Charles II portrait, but they are bold, imaginative and unique. In a world of Starbucks and X Factor such strangeness and exuberance is almost shocking when rediscovered on dusty old vinyl.

But early Crim suffered as much as any band of the era from the flaws that bedeviled prog and still keep it as the music you hide in a cupboard when a girl comes to visit. In fact with their massive debut album "In the Court of the Crimson King" they more or less defined the genre in both the positive and negative aspects. Hideous "poetic" lyrics, hilariously overblown chest beating vocals (by Greg Lake later of the god awful ELP) and aimless jamming.

Following the collapse of the original band guitarist Robert Fripp led a motley crew of ever changing sidemen and drifted further and further into complete abstraction, nothing wrong with this of course, but it was by way of a particularly weedy form of light jazz which reached it's nadir in the terrible track "Formentera Lady" as bland as "21st Century Schizoid Man" was fiery. Fripp was at a cross roads and he made the first step towards a brave new world by jettisoning the horrible lyrics and influence of Peter Sinfield and sought out a younger hungrier set of musicians to reclaim the fury and promise of the first line up.

Having poached drum prodigy Bill Bruford from mega successful Yes, former Family bassist John Wetton and deranged free jazz percussionist Jamie Muir the band's first shows created an instant stir. Gone were the flourish and ornate orchestration of old, replaced by a brittle sound based on improvisation that foreshadowed both obvious progeny such as Tool and more unlikely bands like Public Image Ltd and This Heat.

The new units first record together is a culmination of all the varied strands that Fripp had been attempting to weave together but until now a firm alloy had always eluded him. Serene violin reminiscent of Vaughan Williams (by David Cross) abruptly switches into spasming Teutonic riffing. Dark swathes of mellotron glower over bubbling Gamelan percussion. Sludgy Wah bass straight from a Sly Stone record rumbles against percussion which sounds like scurrying cockroaches after a nuclear fall out...and that's just the first track, the mighty "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 1"!

The seemingly ridiculous title of the album actually sums up the twin obsessions of impossibly gentle pastoral and terrifying bludgeoning which have always been a KC trademark. Except this album combines both poles within tracks rather than the traditional "heavy track" vs "ballad" split on previous albums. This schizophrenic quiet/loud arrangement trick was later turned into a cliche by bands like The Pixies and Nirvana. Oddly Kurt Cobain was a fan of the follow up album "Starless and Bible Black".

One of the features of the album is how Bill Bruford's elegant drumming is prevented from the fussiness which permeated his work with Yes by the thuggish brutality of Wetton's distorted bass and Muir's scatter gun approach to percussion. I still have no idea how Muir creates half the sounds that squirm throughout the music. Scurrying insects, buzzing flies, ripping suspenders, laughing clowns, Muir has a whole menagerie of creatures at his disposal. There is a crawling sense of unease in even the gentlest tracks, a Gothic crepuscular tension as the instruments fight for space amid the sound effects.

The second track is also the weakest, "Book of Saturday" is a gentle ballad with terrible lyrics in the tradition of older tracks like "Cadence and Cascade". A pretty tune but bland after the fireworks of the previous title track. One positive is that it shows Wetton to be a much stronger singer than previous members although I tend to think of KC as an instrumental unit who happen to sing the odd song.

However the next track more than makes up for it, "Exiles" is possibly my favourite track by the band. Massive and mysterious it drifts in on a swirl of dissonant mellotron, not unlike something by Tangerine Dream. Delicate verses are interrupted by this returning storm cloud of sound at regular intervals preventing the melody becoming saccharine. This track shows off the melody of Wetton's bass playing and the restraint in Bruford's percussion. Few guitarists have such an ability to match exquisit lyricism with brute force as Fripp and this track is a web of fluttering Spanish guitar and liquid soloing. Despite the technique the solo at the end is simple and melodic, completely servicing the song. This is the reason Fripp had a concurrent session career with such artists as David Bowie and Brian Eno.

The next track "Easy Money" could not be more different and is the most dated song. An uneasy mix of jazzoid chords, funk and power chording anthemic chorus the track is let down by rank lyrics about a prostitute. KC were unable to find a good lyricist until Adrian Belew joined the 80's line up with his Talking Heads inspired word play. After the song part of the track it breaks into a elongated jam with some inspired minimalist funk between Muir and Bruford before Fripp's dense tangle of notes brings the track home. This track shows the influence on bands like Rush and Voivod.

The last two tracks are brilliant as they are released from the restraint of supporting lyrics and charge headlong into the music pure and simple. "The Talking Drum" starts with a simply drum patten and the sound of buzzing flies before being joined by a repetitive bass line, so far it sounds a bit like Neu. Gradually the track moves up a gear as first David Cross with his violin and then Fripp start playing variations of a riff which crosses dervish intensity with a sitar drone. David Cross was an often overlooked member who eventually left due to being reputably drowned out by the Wetton/Bruford axis in concert. Live sound systems of the day were simply not up to capturing all the nuances of this band so perhaps inevitably it was the harder heavier material which won out in concert. Fripp was an admirer of the Mahavishnu Orchestra so perhaps Cross was added to mimic that band's mix of instruments? On this track though he plays like a demon and the track finally explodes as Wetton steps on his fuzz pedal and the music grinds to a halt amid a scream of feedback.

The intensity does not let up as the second part of the title track comes in like Godzilla destroying Tokyo. One of their most violent pieces of music "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 2" starts with a simple hacking chord which is then slice and diced by Wetton and Bruford. A hall mark of this album is the way the rhythm section play with time signatures, juggling the "one" about, while still keeping a hard pounding groove. Fripp plays with punk like abandon, he is the only guitar player of his generation who could play with such dirty jagged fury in such a complex context, assimilating the brute force of a garage punk Les Paul with the bare wire harmolodics of Derek Bailey. Cross rips into the music with a shrieking solo before the song rumbles to a halt with a blaze of thrashing chords that sound like a dentists drill.

If you want to get into a truly unique band then this is the place to start.

Thanks for reading.

Maningrey

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Loxy & Resound - Kernel [Free Download/Session Files]

Ever wanted to know what a "professional" Drum & Bass session looks like? Thanks to Loxy & Resound, the wait is over...














Well, Resound & Loxy have given away their tune Kernel for free download via Loopmasters to promote their new sample pack.

In conjunction with this, if you're a Logic user, you can also download the project files and see what's happening in the arrange & mix windows.

It proves for some interesting viewing (and listening). Which should get you thinking and analyzing your own projects, as to what you may be doing right or wrong, and open your eyes and ears to some new ways of thinking. 

But before you rush ahead and start copying channel strips and doing things because you think you should....  Resound will be answering questions about the session. Anything that doesn't make sense, or techniques you don't understand etc, he'll aim to answer in a video he'll be doing through loopmasters.

If you check out Resound's site, he's got all the relevant info on how to obtain the free mp3 & session files.

His site is actually packed full of other useful information including weekly tips and he offers chances to mix and master your tracks as well as tutoring services.

Unfortunately this is not available for anybody on any other DAW, but the final video where he aims to answer questions should be of general interest all the same.

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The Maningrey Review # 1 - Future Days

An informal series of reviews of prog/psych/weirdness for the beardy long hairs out there...

My first introduction to Can was the excellent but haphazard "Anthology". Fortunately Can are such a distinctive band that it still all seemed to fit together but I always found myself returning to the tracks "Future Days" and "Moonshake" so eventually I bought the album "Future Days" itself.

For me it has always been the peak of Can's music and for a long time I only really enjoyed this and "Ege Bamyasi" from their extensive catalogue. There is a definite split in Can's music between the jagged Velvet's inspired one chord garage drones of the Malcolm Mooney era and the more liquid and original Damo Suzuki music. From Damo's first track with the band "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" you can feel the change in feel as the band mold their music around Damo's voice. With Mooney it often felt as if they were being dragged in his wake such was the strength of his personality. Damo is no less striking but much less declamatory, the tone of his musings blend with the guitar and organ in such as way that with the liberal doses of reverb and delay which cloak the music often it is difficult to say who is creating which melody within a tune.

The title track has been a perennial favourite, it has always felt like a perfect piece, just the right length with not a note out of place. Can with Damo were the only "progressive" band who managed to be both excellent players but also write extremely catchy melodies. The sounds are always extremely organic, no flashy excessive soloing, even though Michael Karoli plays extensively he always plays intricate little tunes which Damo plays off and vice versa. The magic of Can is how they subvert certain prog rock cliches with unexpected twists. The mesmerizing samba rhythms master drummer Jaki Liebezeit weaves beneath "Future Days" is as silky as a Tom Jobim ballad yet also propulsive and muscular. Think of any other prog or Cosmic rock band who would use this groove? Oddly Liebezeit's playing reminds me of Fela Kuti's drummer Tony Allen in that it is jazz influenced but accented in a way that is neither rock, jazz or funk while combining the grooves of each genre.

The next track Splash is my least favourite from the album and feels like it could have come off Can's next album, the Damo less "Soon Over Babaluma" where the jazzy improvisation was removed from the discipline of working with Damo's songs and became indulgent. However being Can it is never less than fascinating, on any other album it would be a stand out track.

It is interesting that noted Kraut rock fan Julian Cope (faded 80's pop star turned all round guru) hates the second side of "Future Days" calling the oceanic 20 minutes of "Bel Air", a total "mess". However I think that this track perfectly demonstrates the perfect balance Can had with Damo. Yes there are self indulgent parts and yes it could haver lost a few minutes here and there but Damo is always there singing his strange incantations whenever it looks like the band has drifted into ambient doodling. Remove Damo and yes it would be a mess, infact I often see "Soon Over Babaluma" as a series of "Bel Airs" without the tunes. Like any long track it demands your attention, but if you look at "Bel Air" as a series of short pop songs which blend together rather than one intimidating slog the beauty unfolds itself, every time Damo sings it is a new song.

I see "Bel Air" as a follow up to Jimi Hendrix's track "1983" with it's washes of sound which never fall into ambient banality due to the delicacy and sensitivity of the playing and the tough beats which anchor them. There are parallels in the mood to John Martyn's album "Solid Air" which was also released in 1973 with it's blend of electric piano and reverbed twanging guitar. However where Martyn finds sorrow and darkness in this mix Can find a massive neutral charge, removed from any identifiable human emotion, more like standing on a beach in the sun as a cool breeze brushes your face. Not quite elation, not quite pensive.It is this aspect which means this is an album you can listen to in any mood and find yourself in a different place. Only a later album like "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine would combine this level of the avant and the pop in one sound although again the prevailing mood on MBV's masterwork was intense nostalgia and pain.

Before this monster track comes Can's sweetest pop song. Moonshake has the same sexy samba groove as the title track but this time the Jobim in the beat is given free reign. A cousin to "One More Night" from "Ege Bamyasi" and directly reused by Can themselves on the later "Saw Delight" for the soundalike "Don't Say No", this is a propulsive stomper which is both funky and weird with the odd scratches and bleeps which take the place of a solo in the middle. Can's disco side would coem to full fruition on their one UK hit, the facile but fun "I Want More".

I can see why this album is often under rated compared to the more obviously rocking Mooney era "Monster Movie" and the Damo led "Tago Mago". It is possible that "Future Days" could be perceived as being a little bland after their previous fire breathing sturm und drang. However I feel that many of the early Can tracks are too close to The Velvet Underground and The Mothers in style and simply lacking in the narcotic melody they would find on Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days". Despite the ferocity of Malcolm Mooney I find much of the garage rock Can boring in the same way I find much of the proto punk critics darlings like The Stooges tedious. If you are going to have no tune then go all the way and sound like "Negativland" by Neu! I would suggest that at least half of "Tago Mago" and "Monster Movie" are more of a "mess" than "Bel Air"!

Of their later albums after "Future Days" I dislike "Soon Over Babluma" and "Landed" (their worst album by some way) but enjoy "Flow Motion" for it's odd dub experiments and poppy disco and enjoy the first album with new members Rosko Gee and Rebop Kwaku Baahchaz, "Saw Delight" which has a sunny around the world in a day vibe.

Thanks for reading

Maningrey

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LSS Student Profile: Nadim Amir

Name: Nadim Amir

Courses Taken: Electronic Music Production (SU510) Summer Program

Featured Track:

Nadim - MMXI ( original mix ) by Dj Nadim

Links: 

http://soundcloud.com/dj-nadim

How was your time at LSS? And how did it help you develop your music career?

To be honest I had an amazing time at LSS, the atmosphere is fantastic and I enjoyed the fact that there are students from different backgrounds and musical tastes all together in one class. This made me love the process of learning! 

Taking a course in music production was the perfect step from taking my love for music and my curiosity towards music production towards the right track, and LSS was the ideal place to take it to the next level.

What have you been up to since you left LSS? 

Since I finished my courses in LSS I have been working non-stop for the past year locked away in my room producing tracks and trying out new equipment and techniques. It is important to say that experience is very important, and through it each new track sounds  better than the last because the learning process never stops with music production.

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LSS Student Profile: Andreas Pallikaras

Name: Andreas Pallikaras

Courses Taken: Professional Certificate: Music Production 101, Sound Engineering, Structure Form & Creativity, Sound Design & Synthesis.

Featured Track: 13 Stitches (Dubstep Remix) 

13 Stitches (Dubstep Remix) by NΕΚΡΟΛΥΤΕ

How was your time at LSS? And how did it help you develop your music career?

When I came to LSS I wasn't familiar to anything really and I can say with certainty that I wouldn't be able to learn all the things I have learned so easily. 

LSS for me is a fun place to be at in general and even more fun studying, the people there are always helpful and no question ever seams hard for them to answer so I would say that I had a great time. 

What have you been up to since you left LSS? 

As for now, I'm in Cyprus working a full time job and on my extra time I make music, mostly Psychedelic, but I've also started working on a dubstep project that will be followed by more to come.

 Links: 

http://soundcloud.com/necrolyte

"LSS Student Profile: Andreas Pallikaras" > read the full post