Soft and Music

If music from countries outside North America and England is considered world music, and music by people from English speaking North America is considered popular music, what would you call music performed by a band whose lead singer was born in the States to parents originally from the Punjab region of North India, who moved to the South of France when she was ten, and now lives in San Francisco? In an industry where an entire band can have been born and bred on the streets of Brooklyn, and still be referred to as world music, I guess the answer is obvious, but it does beg the question – Which "world" are they talking about? The one Rupa, the lead singer of Rupa & The April Fishes, was born into in San Francisco, the world her parents left behind in the Punjab, or the new world they all discovered in Aix-En-Provence in southern France? With the majority of the songs on their first release, ExtraOrdinary Rendition on the Cumbancha label, being sung in French, the answer seems obvious, yet there's a lot more going on here then what first meets the ear. It's true that some of the songs contain elements that are associated with French music; the drawn out sound of the accordion, a slightly melancholy air, and a passionate vocalist. Since the days of Edith Piaff, these have been hallmarks of French chancon style of performance, but that's only one of the elements that have gone into the music you hear on ExtraOrdinary Rendition. There's Latin beats mixing with the swing of a gypsy violin while a guitar strums in a style reminiscent of American folk, and a cello dances in the background. Now there are plenty of bands that combine elements from various styles of music to give their music a transcontinental flavour, but there is something about what Rupa & The April Fishes does that distinguishes their music from others who attempt something similar. It's not obvious at first, but gradually you realize there is a sensibility at work in this music that's not prevalent in others. Others who I've heard combine musical styles seem compelled to attack with their music, as if the only way they can succeed is by breaking down any barriers an audience might have preventing them from accepting it. Rupa & The Fishes have taken another approach. While some of their music is every bit as high tempo as other bands, there is also a subtlety about it that makes it feel less like a direct assault upon your senses and more like a gradual seduction. With the majority of the lyrics being sung in French, those of us with limited language skills are forced to rely upon the music and the sound of Rupa's voice, the lead vocalist, for our clues as to the nature of each song. However listening to the songs, one gets the feeling that the band has taken that into account. The compositions are such that the sounds of the instruments and Rupa's voice work together to create an overall emotional landscape that tells us enough about each song's nature we can appreciate them without understanding the lyrics.

As a follow-up to the CD Edition of my favorite 2008 reissues, here are my Vinyl LP choices:  1. The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies Limited Edition, 180 Gram Vinyl. Ray Davies is certainly not like everybody else here, nor is he a dedicated follower of fashion: “I’m a 20th Century Man but I don’t want to be here,” he angrily seethes. At the same time, in the nostalgically exquisite “Oklahoma USA,” he fairly yearns for the company of Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae and a cinematic escape away where “All life we work / But work is a bore / If life’s for livin’ / then what’s livin’ for?” Embracing music hall and vaudeville, with songs ranging from country-folk to boozy blues, and subjects covering, say, demon alcohol and “sad memories you can’t recall,” or ocean-side holidays where “the sea’s an open sewer,” 1971’s Muswell Hillbillies is one of the Kinks’ more consistently first-rate albums, in both lyrical wit, bite, and poignancy – and in musical terms, as rooted in its infectiousness and ferociousness with which it conveys the ambiguity and ambivalence toward life in general, and living on London’s Muswell Hill, specifically. 2. The New York Dolls – The New York Dolls Limited UK 180 Gram, Vinyl Pressing. When friends were listening to ‘70s luster and sludge like Journey and ELP — whose tunes I could not get attuned to — I discovered this debut '73 New York Dolls LP in, of all places, my local branch of the Orange County, California Public Library. I whisked it away, and soon got carried away by the reckless glam and proto-punk spirit. My friends thought I suffered a 'personality crisis' – and, fortunately, I had. 3. The Beach Boys – Endless Summer  Two LPs, Limited Edition. Twenty-one tracks of '60s pop perfection from the first Wilson Administration. “And we’ll have fun, fun, fun ‘til her daddy takes the t-table away…” 4. The Band – The Band  Four-Color Gatefold Jacket, 180 Gram Vinyl. A drunkard’s dream if I ever did hear one. Rustic Americana done right by a bunch of mostly Canadian guys. 5. House of Freaks – Monkey on a Chain Gang Back2Vinyl.com Though it doesn’t pack the powerhouse punch of their 1989 sophomore stunner Tantilla, this stripped-down but striking 1988 debut presents the range of the guitar-and-drums duo (Bryan Harvey and Johnny Hott) from melodic pop to more dire declarations, such as found in the Wolfeian avowal that “You Can Never Go Home”: Standing on a dusty road Praying for a sign Lightning only struck me once And then it struck me blind… You can never go home.Tragically, Harvey’s life came to an untimely end on January 1, 2006, when he was found by Hott in the basement of his burning house murdered — beaten, slashed and bound with electrical cord and tape — along with his wife and two young daughters.

The Magical Hanukkahtime Section Variety Hour is an eight-day cruise through every section at BC Magazine except the one where the author has any knowledge whatsoever. On the third evening: BC Music! Earlier this year, I was on a date with a girl and she had never heard of a rickroll before. I remember trying to explain the concept behind it, then I explained why it was funny. Needless to say, there was no second date. (Had I had a second chance to eloquently and succinctly describe it, the art of rickrolling was like the existence of Larry "Bud" Melman, but not as strange or as ugly.) It's been fun to see the interaction between an Internet inside joke and a real-life fleshy human being who actually sang that song back in the day, not realizing then that his relevance today somehow superseded his relevance back when he was, well, actually relevant. And it was refreshing to see Rick Astley embrace the cyberspace's reaction to his 1987 tune "Never Gonna Give You Up," because it's easy for a performer to get cranky and crotchety seeing their art transformed by someone else's creative control. (Heck, I would.) Natalie Imbruglia also showed a good sense of humor when she sang on stage alongside comedian David Armand during his interpretative dance of "Torn." It's a little more exciting when, for example, comedian Frank Caliendo does a great impression of NFL commentator John Madden and the Hall of Fame coach isn't a fan of the parody at all. To name another example, choreographer Frank Gatson Jr. wasn't at all amused when Saturday Night Live parodies Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)", despite the fact that, y'know, Beyoncé herself was halfway okay with it — but only once she saw Justin Timberlake in a leotard. We're all trying to advance good morals on everyone, and a sense of humor is one of them. Maybe it's time for an exception, since as we all know, famous people don't have to be nice. When the artist's down with the esoteric interpretation, it's immediately sends a good feeling through the veins, but then the parody suddenly loses its bite. When they rail against it, the interpretation becomes exponentially more awesome. Case in point: the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was rickrolled by none other than Rick Astley himself. The first impression was, "sweet." The next impression was … "well, shit, there goes my idea for a blog post about finding exclusive video of Osama bin Laden dancing the Cha Cha Slide." There's really no other precipice this 4chan-inspired prank can reach, unless Barack Obama has a different Rick in mind to be at his inauguration. Anything else anyone does on the Internet that results in a rickroll just won't hold a candle to the actual singer pulling the feat on Thanksgiving. Game over, man. Also, because of that Macy's Parade incident, grandparents everywhere are having rickrolls explained to them by their hip young descendants. That can't be fun. It's probably better to have musicians be stuck-up about their craft. After all, they're different than us, so they shouldn't be indifferent like us. They have beautiful voices and play guitars plugged into subwoofers, not Xboxes. They are surrounded by men in studios with professional mixing boards, not roommates who just downloaded a hacked copy of GarageBand. Also, they also don't talk about Internet memes on first dates. Perhaps this, along with pretentiousness, is one of the keys to becoming successful like them.

It’s the news fans have been waiting for in the three long years since Playing The Angel. Synth-rock titans Depeche Mode have put the finishing touches on its next album, due for a 2009 release. “We’ve completed the record,” singer Dave Gahan revealed to The L.A. Times last week. “There might be a couple of bits and pieces we’ve got to clean up, but I feel really good about the fact that we’re finished. I think we’ve made a great record.” As the band told Rolling Stone recently, the as-yet-untitled record has employed plenty of vintage gear. “Martin’s [Gore] got this new fetish which is basically buying gear on eBay,” Gahan recounted. “He must have bought up half of the analog equipment around the world. We’ve got all these old drum machines from the 1970s, and even some of the stuff that we used in the ‘80s as well, like old Moogs and Arps.” As back in October, Depeche Mode has begun mapping out its вЂ?Tour Of The Universe 2009’ to coincide with the album’s release. New dates are being added here and there – none of which, sadly, point to an Australian visit.

It used to be you could safely walk into a record store and pick up a long playing record of Irish, zydeco, klezmar, or gypsy music and know what you'd be getting. You could tell just by looking at the covers that those were simpler times. Everybody was wearing their colorful ethnic clothing and had big happy smiles plastered across their faces. You knew who was who and what was what; gypsies were gypsies, Jews were Jews, and you would never confuse the music they played with anything somebody from New Orleans or County Warwick released. Now, not only do you have to buy your music on those CD things, where you can barely see what the people on the cover look like let alone what they're wearing, you can't even be sure if you pick up a recording of gypsy music it will sound like its supposed to sound, like the way you want it to sound. It's all the fault of that damned, so-called Irish band, The Pogues. They were the ones who first started messing around and changing people's attitudes towards ethnic music. Making them believe that it didn't have to be played the same way over and over again. That it was all right to sing about contemporary issues instead of the great events from hundreds of years ago that were truly meaningful. Well, it was bad enough when it was only Irish music, but now its spread everywhere. Punk zydeco bands who play klezmar music, klezmar bands that use hip hop techniques and gypsy violins, and now, worst of all, punk Gypsy music. All you have to do is listen to the upcoming CD from the Serbian gypsy band KAL, Radio Romanista, being released on Asphalt Tango Records January 2009, to hear an example of how deeply the influence of those miscreant Pogues has spread. First off, just look at the way the members of KAL dress. Instead of wearing the colorful costumes of their people, they dress in black. What kind of statement does that make? Haven't they ever seen pictures of how they're supposed to dress, don't they have any respect for what we expect gypsies to look like? Then there's the music they play. While they might play all the right instruments; violin, accordion, guitar, percussion, and drums, it sure doesn't sound like what its supposed to sound like. I don't care what the lead singer says about "stereotypes" and "cliches". Where does he get off saying things like, "If you expect from me music because I am a Gypsy then I'll do it but don't think that I'll not use it to say very important things about my people – Don't just look at us as entertainers – we're no longer going to stay silent and entertain you." That's all very well and good, but what kind of gypsy music sounds like a runaway train, or is accompanied by that hip-hop, beat box, rhythm that you usually hear in dance halls. They have the gall to take so much pride in the fact that they've even given it a name: Rock 'n' Roma!