This week Killer Opening Songs is not bringing you an introductory track, but rather, as part of our mini-series within a series of K.O.S. that became trailblazers in their own right, Your Weekly Column will be profiling the work of two of the most prolific musicians ever: Scottish-born Ian Anderson and Nigerian firebrand Fela Kuti.
Each artist developed his own revolutionary style, Anderson as leader of Jethro Tull, Fela as the backbone of Afrobeat, the rhythm he pioneered in the 70s with his band Africa '70. The Tull became one of the linchpins of the so-called prog-rock movement in the 60s and 70s despite the fact that their early recordings had a strong blues influence. Fela, meanwhile, brought his political activism to his music and, on returning to his homeland from LA in 1969, founded the Kalakuta Republic in Nigeria, turning it into a commune with a recording studio and home for those connected with the band.
The clip below shows these two artists' incredible musicianship. I hope you enjoy it. Killer Opening Songs certainly did.
Copyright 2008
Showing posts with label Fela Kuti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fela Kuti. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Road Songs (Experimental)
Start the engine, get into first gear, check blind spot.
When turning left or right, follow the usual procedure: mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
When approaching a roundabout, check first which exit you want and then move into the corresponding lane, check your mirror and blind spot as you drift from one side of the road to the other.
Instructions, instructions, instructions. Automatic instructions, robotic and impersonal instructions. They make up the bulk of what we call driving.
Yet they leave the human factor out.
Today I had a near-miss. I was going to turn right onto a main road. I checked right first (I live in London, as you all know) and then left and proceeded to drive on. My wife let out a scream. Had she not done that, I would not be sitting at this computer right now. Neither would my son be asleep in his bed now. The likelihood is that we'd both be dead. A car turned round a bend as I was coming out and it was travelling at probably 40mph. It was not the other driver's fault. It was mine. I should have checked that right side again before carrying on, but I did not. Because I am human. And we, humans, make mistakes. Sometimes, costly ones.
So, my lesson from today's near-miss was, be human, check, double-check and triple-check. Drive defensively. And above all, do not assume. When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Remember we are human.
Music is the same. Musicians are taught a variety of notes and symbols, the purpose of which is to produce a sound, or a succesion of sounds that will trigger a reaction off in our brain. That's all very well. But, how about when the music industry sugar-coats the outcome and produces endless rubbish such as boy and girl bands whose only goal is to create a caramelised sound that will dull our senses and turn us into zombie-like consumers? It's the same effect as driving by the book. You just join the queue of vehicles going in the same direction and at the same pace. Fortunately, unlike in traffic, in music it is the near-misses that save you from the utter tosh that industry seems to represent in this day and time.
The examples below are by artists who don't conform or have never conformed to a norm established by an A&R person or a producer. They are innovators in their own right and we ought to be grateful that they still dare to take risks. After all, these are the near-misses that enrich our soul musically.
As for my almost-accident today, I could have done without it. I don't need to have a fatal crash when I have been colliding with music like the one below for most of my life.
Copyright 2008
When turning left or right, follow the usual procedure: mirror, signal, manoeuvre.
When approaching a roundabout, check first which exit you want and then move into the corresponding lane, check your mirror and blind spot as you drift from one side of the road to the other.
Instructions, instructions, instructions. Automatic instructions, robotic and impersonal instructions. They make up the bulk of what we call driving.
Yet they leave the human factor out.
Today I had a near-miss. I was going to turn right onto a main road. I checked right first (I live in London, as you all know) and then left and proceeded to drive on. My wife let out a scream. Had she not done that, I would not be sitting at this computer right now. Neither would my son be asleep in his bed now. The likelihood is that we'd both be dead. A car turned round a bend as I was coming out and it was travelling at probably 40mph. It was not the other driver's fault. It was mine. I should have checked that right side again before carrying on, but I did not. Because I am human. And we, humans, make mistakes. Sometimes, costly ones.
So, my lesson from today's near-miss was, be human, check, double-check and triple-check. Drive defensively. And above all, do not assume. When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Remember we are human.
Music is the same. Musicians are taught a variety of notes and symbols, the purpose of which is to produce a sound, or a succesion of sounds that will trigger a reaction off in our brain. That's all very well. But, how about when the music industry sugar-coats the outcome and produces endless rubbish such as boy and girl bands whose only goal is to create a caramelised sound that will dull our senses and turn us into zombie-like consumers? It's the same effect as driving by the book. You just join the queue of vehicles going in the same direction and at the same pace. Fortunately, unlike in traffic, in music it is the near-misses that save you from the utter tosh that industry seems to represent in this day and time.
The examples below are by artists who don't conform or have never conformed to a norm established by an A&R person or a producer. They are innovators in their own right and we ought to be grateful that they still dare to take risks. After all, these are the near-misses that enrich our soul musically.
As for my almost-accident today, I could have done without it. I don't need to have a fatal crash when I have been colliding with music like the one below for most of my life.
Copyright 2008
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Road Songs (Allegro)
Open the front of a car and show me its insides and I will be legging it before you can say 'valve'. There is nothing more daunting and scary than that labyrinth of cables, pistons and plugs. Just before my third attempt to pass my driving test my instructor and I had a little run-through the various car parts I would be questioned on by my examiner. I am sorry to disappoint you my dear fellow bloggers, readers and posters, but I failed really badly.
Luckily I managed to scrape through on this subject in the actual test and was flunked twice in a row on my poor driving rather than on knowing when I needed to check the car oil.
And yet, this whole maze of tiny, medium and gigantic parts fascinates me no end. It is amazing to me how the combination of all these different components work together to move your car forwards or backwards, accelerate or slow down.
Sometimes music works in the same way. Certain combinations defy logic and go beyond our understanding.
Take my first example. On the one hand hand you have not only Nigeria's social conscience, but Africa's singing warrior. A thorn on the side of the corrupt government that ruled that West African nation for many years, Fela Kuti became a musical icon to many people around the world. His songs had difficult and complex arrangements and were heavy on the use of trombones, saxophones and trumpets. On the other hand you have 'l'enfant terrible' of prog-rock, Mr Ian Anderson, he of English band Jethro Tull, whose complicated and poetic lyrics delighted those of us who came to them via other groups from the same era: Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Genesis. The result is an intrinsic, comprehensive and mind-blowing collaboration between these two musicians which resembles the inner world of a car. Masterful.
My second offer is a mélange of blues, country and rock, and just like pistons and valves working together inside a vehicle, these various rhythms have a nice, funky beat going on that makes want to get up on my feet and dance with total abandon. I discovered The Audreys via Radio Paradise, the online radio station that should be a blueprint for wanna-be radio stations everywhere. Groovy.
Number three song this weeks brings what is normally called a chanteuse. She is a cross between a busker (which she has done after eloping to Europe following the success of ther debut album, strange way to celebrate, ain't it?), a jazz singer and troubadour. Madeleine Peyroux is not your traditional singer and her voice smacks of a throaty, powerful engine revving up nicely as all the different components conjure up their magic to make the car move. Smoky.
Finally this song is living proof that music is cyclical. Salsa is rooted mainly in son, a hybrid between African rhythms and their Spanish counterparts. And as the following track shows Orchestra Baobab took it back where it came from and transformed it into an African song with Latin undertones. Compelling.
And this is all for this week. In the meantime I am still trying to work out what to do when going on a long journey. What's the requirement my tyres must meet before I set off again?
Copyright 2008
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