Joyful Noise

Among recent additions to the superb UBU web archive I found this 60 minute documentary on Sun Ra (1914-1993). For anyone unfamiliar with Ra this is a great introduction. Apart from the amazing music, virtuosic playing, and outlandish costumes, what makes him so interesting a subject is his theoretical sophistication and originality. Director Robert Mugges gives Ra time to introduce and expound both the afro-futurist ‘mythocracy’ underpinning his work and the more concrete, everyday philosophy of discipline and precision instilled in the Arkestra’s musicians.

Singing/Rain

Ive become a little obsessed with the Gouldian positioning of voice(s) against noise. Here is yet another recording with this arrangement, this time recorded from our apartment window. The voice in this instance sounds like it might be a Karaoke or pub singer. After making the recording I wandered the streets to locate the source and my ears led me happily astray to a free outdoor short-film screening. The film showing when I arrived had music by Aphex Twin, Brian Eno and John Foxx!

Oh - the animal calling towards the end of the recording is, by the way, a racoon.

Ariel's Freaky Disco

I went to see Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti last night. My big question going into the evening was: what is he going to be like as a live performer? Before-hand he was out on stage brooding and looking awkward. Dressed in white jeans and striped Russian navel shirt he aimlessly paced up and down playing anxiously with his hair. He stared vacantly at band mates as they hurriedly readied their instruments and then he stood, centre stage, rocking from one foot to the other scrutinizing the crowd face by face. His demeanor changed as soon as the music started. Singing he looked focused, and as the set progressed he relaxed and started to let loose. During one early song he removed his belt and proceeded to swing it around his head accidentally whipping his own arm. Then he took the belt and feebly lashed the monitor speakers lining the front of the stage. Returning to the mic stand, he dropped his trousers to the knee revealing baggy black under-pants rumpled up at either side to his hips. This wasn’t the first time the trousers came down either, later when asked to ‘show us your cock’, they came off again, only this time fully and permanently. He performed the final stages of the show in what could have been his pajamas - underpants and tee. He thrashed about the stage with great energy and exuberance but he can’t really dance. He was pretty inventive with the belt though, it featured throughout - done up in a noose around his neck, swung around lasso-like or just dangled between his legs. There’s no doubting his creative intelligence and originality. I suspect as time goes and he settles into this new way of doing things we’ll see more drama (and, I hope, costumes!) in Pink’s performances. His theatrics last night were a bit silly but never-the-less endearing, there was no irony; this is just the way the man gets down - like a child messing about in his bedroom when no one’s looking.

Much has been made recently of the new material and what Pink’s transition from lone bedroom recordist to live group means for his distinctive lo-fi sound. I’ve not got much to add now, skint I haven’t heard all the new album yet. Based solely on last night I’d say having a band has extended his range of possibilities. For example: though some of his old tracks have a swaggering rhythm, I’ve never danced to them. His music has always been a head-phone listen for me in part because the loose beats and less-than-metronomic playing don’t help a dancer keep time, but also because his small sound was never sufficiently enveloping. Last night, backed by a tight band and amplified over a huge sound-system I felt it and danced...