This weekend I just remembered to check out the notes I had taken while I was reading Thomas Dolby's "Speed of Sound" book which I had already posted about on the blog. I came across one note that said "check out the music of Paddy McAloon, especially the album I Trawl the Megahertz"... It was an album Thomas Dolby was mentioning towards the final pages of the book that had burst him into tears when he first listened to the demo tape sent by McAloon himself. I knew Paddy McAloon from the great English band Prefab Sprout. He was the founder and the leading member of the band that I enjoyed listening to very much during the 1980s. However I never knew that he had recorded such an album. Unfortunately this recording is not available in the platforms such as Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music. You either have to find it as a new CD (I believe it is not easy) or order a second hand CD from Discogs etc... Luckily there are many videos on youtube for you to check out the album. I Trawl The Megahertz: As I mentioned, the album is a work of Paddy McAloon that's been recorded between 1999-2002 and released in 2003. It is an amazing work with an amazing story. The music was created by McAloon right after he had become almost blind due to detached retinas, a condition he still suffers from.
The album is largely instrumental and heavily orchestrated. The words that have been used on certain songs come from McAloon's housebound days (due to his illness) where he was spending most of his time listening and recording to chat shows, phone-ins and such programs on shortwave radio. He later used these snippets and conversations in the album in a creative way. McAloon who had been trained to become a Catholic priest, had deep interest in classical music, especially Ravel's and Debussy's music. He used motifs from his favorite composers in order to create a sound that is significantly different than Prefab Sprout that in my opinion shows his musical genius.
He has composed the whole album on a computer via MIDI tracks, backed up by David McGuinness with the arrangements and Mr McFall's Chamber Ensemble's orchestration. In the first song, we hear Yvonne Connors with spoken word vocals. It is a powerful piece lasting around 22 minutes.
"I Trawl the Megahertz"
The music in the overall album makes you recall the old times not necessarily filled with pleasant memories and has a magic to take the listener on a personal journey to his/her past.
The album also shows what a real musician can achieve in highly challenging conditions even during his struggle with important health issues. In my opinion, McAloon has managed to turn this unfortunate event to a music of rare poignant beauty.
"I am 49"
You can also listen below to an interview with him about this album.
I have been yearning to write a post on Brad Mehldau probably from the first days of my blog. He is by far my favorite contemporary pianist and jazz musician. I had the pleasure to watch and listen to him live on stage a couple of times and each show mesmerized me by witnessing what a versatile and sophisticated musician he is.
During the last months I tried hard to repress my desire to write about him just because I wanted to wait his brand new album that was very recently released.
I am planning to make you acquainted with Brad Mehldau, as usual, not on the axis of his biography but mostly based on his works, particularly his 3 works that, according to me, could give a definition of his true genius.
Brad MEHLDAU:
Mehldau, born in 1970, started the piano early, but until 10 years old, did not do much, just playing pop songs. When the family moved to Connecticut, he began to take classical lessons until 14 and after that switched to jazz. I can say he was really gifted to achieve such a fast improvement in a short period of time. In his high school years he won the Berklee's Musician Award. He moved to New York right after high school and began studying jazz and contemporary music in college.
By the age of 20 he was already a touring and recording pianist playing in different bands.
Early 90s, he worked with saxophonist Joshua Redman, bass player Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade. In 1994, he formed his own band with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy (later to be replaced by Jeff Ballard). This trio was going to make many impressive albums together.
He has been involved in many recordings with a widespread of talented artists from various idioms.
Apart from his primary focus on jazz, he also led many projects from classical to rock and to electronic. One can hear many diverse sounds in his compositions and playing through his use of some traditional elements of jazz without being restricted by them, simultaneous playing of two different melodies with both hands, and incorporation of pop and rock pieces, Mehldau has influenced musicians in and beyond jazz in their approaches to writing, playing, and choice of repertoire.
Especially the use of classical music (even though he practiced a classical repertoire not for long) in his playing is quite extraordinary. Probably this helped a lot in his left hand skills.
He, as a leader, made his first album "Introducing Brad Mehldau" in 1995. "The Art of the Trio Volume One" followed just a year after and this album attracted the attention of the critics. Some even associated him with the playing of Bill Evans. Another resemblance with Evans would be his heroin addiction that lasted till 1998. Somehow he managed to make influential albums during this period, he recorded his "The Art of the Trio Volume Two" as a leader, and as a side man he worked with Lee Konitz, Chris Potter, Anthony Wilson and Avishai Cohen.
After he quit his drug problems he became even more productive and recorded "The Art of the Trio Volume Three", in my opinion one of the top 3 albums of Mehldau. In one interview he stated that "once I stopped using heroin, it was like a rush of creativity that had been held in check came out". And I believe this album reflects this very well.
The album contained his original compositions and major standards like "Young at Heart," "For All We Know," and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," as well as covers of Nick Drake's "River Man" and Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)." One can feel Keith Jarrett's lyrical playing and Bill Evans' intellect through Mehldau's piano.
"Exit Music", Radiohead cover
The amazing thing that makes him so great is how he makes you feel especially on the covers and standards. It is like he picks every single note with a pair of tweezers deconstructing the full piece sound by sound and then re-architects them again. By doing so, you hear the same song but in a very different feel that has been passed through Mehldau's very own distillation process (just like a dram of fine whiskey)...
"Bewitched, bothered and bewildered"
Until 2002, he made couple of other records for the Warner Bros label like his first solo work "Elegiac Cycle", "Places" "The Art of the Trio Volume Four and Five" and "Largo". From this period I could recommend "Largo" as it has a different sound with some use of electronics along with woodwind and brass sections and "Elegiac Cycle" probably as one of his most inventive recordings. You can easily hear how he is influenced by Chopin, Brahms and Schumann. I never understood why these 2 albums did not earn the credit they both well deserved. If you ever come across the CD of "Elegiac Cycle", please read the liner notes written by Mehldau himself in order to understand his intellectual side as well.
"Paranoid Android" another Radiohead cover
"Memory's Trick"
In 2003, he made his first Nonesuch label album. I think it was a good move for him to switch labels (even though the parent company is still Warner, Nonesuch is known for its high quality recordings and amazing artists) as probably the new label was letting him to express his music in a freer way. In the very same year he recorded another solo piano album "Live In Tokyo" followed by 2 albums with his usual trio (but replacing Rossy with Ballard on the drums). In 2005 he worked with Pat Metheny for 2 recording sessions.
In 2006, Mehldau co-led an album with a well-known soprano Renée Fleming. The duo recorded the "Love Sublime" album musically performing the poems of Rainer Maria Rilke called the "Book of Hours". In later years Mehldau recorded a similar album with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter again based on poems of Teasdale and Cummings.
During 2008 and 2011 he recorded the albums "Ode" and "Where do you start?" with the classic trio. I think "Ode" is one of the best recordings that illustrates the musical complexity and the development of the trio.
In 2014, came the "Mehliana: Taming the Dragon" album, in my opinion the second one that proves Mehldau's genius. In this recording he is accompanied by drummer Mark Guilliana. Mehldau plays synthesizer, Rhodes and piano, he also has some vocal parts as well. This is a completely different sound compared to what he has done previously and his use of electronics is amazing.
"Just Call Me Nige"
It is a wild album with a heavy mix of beats, samples and textures that I very much like (on the other hand, for some Mehldau fans, a catastrophe...). This recording is mostly improvised.
"Taming the Dragon"
After 2014 Mehldau slowed down a little bit, most probably to spend more time with his wife and 3 children. Anyhow he managed to make 2 albums until his last one also releasing a box set of his "10 Years Solo Live" performances.
Now let's come to his latest album that was released couple of weeks ago, "After Bach". This is the 3rd album that shows his genius once again. It is a confirmation that he is also a great classical pianist, just like he has always been a highly influential one in the jazz idiom. As the album's title suggests, Mehldau plays Bach. But he does so in a different manner. First he plays a prelude or a fugue of Bach's from the "Well-Tempered Clavier Book", followed by his own composition in response to the previous piece.
"After Bach:Rondo"
Please don't think that this is an album similar to Jacques Loussier's renowned Bach albums. It's not that I don't like those albums, but Mehldau's is somewhere up there musically. He makes the listener to think once again how close Bach was to jazz structurally. Listening to the rich harmonies and contrapuntal highlights significantly raises the bar for the future Bach interpreters.
With this album, if I may be bold, Mehldau has reached a level where Keith Jarrett had settled down for a long time now. In my opinion an artist can only achieve this with some sort of enlightenment and this album proves that Mehldau has reached the peak thanks to his musical genius, philosophical and literary intellect.
I tried to highlight some of his major works but you need to dig deeper in order to truly understand the things that make Brad Mehldau who he is...
Driving home on a Friday evening after work, listening to my favorite radio station, a concert announcement caught my attention instantly. I was quite surprised when I heard the names Morton Subotnick and Alec Empire were going to be in town Saturday night for a concert. First I thought it was going to be a tribute concert or something like that because I knew Morton Subotnick was not so young anymore and I did not know he was still touring. Immediately I checked on the web to see what was the real deal and there it was, the guy who is 85 years old was indeed coming to Istanbul and with another great and interesting artist, Alec Empire (you might know him from Atari Teenage Riot). I pulled the car over to check if there were still tickets available. My wife is abroad for a short holiday as well as my synth-head friend (a big thanks to him since he is bringing some modular synths for my setup). So I was looking for someone to accompany me to the concert. Anyhow I bought two tickets thinking maybe my 17 years old son would join me. Of course I did not tell him anything about the music.
Next morning I was again in the car as I received a message from the ticketing company. I could not read the message properly but caught the words "due to health problems" within the message. My first reaction was to think that Mr. Subotnick was sick and not going to manage to be on the stage. After a careful reading I understood that it was Alec Empire who had actually been sick and would not be able to participate his colleague tonight on stage. It was disappointing because I was really wondering what an incredible duo they would make but I am sure there will be other shows to watch somewhere in the world one day. In the meantime I must say that Morton Subotnick looks and performs like he is 60 years old max...
A short interview with Morton Subotnick
For those of you who are not familiar with Morton Subotnick or his works, here is some background info.
I can easily claim that he is one of the founding fathers and still a living legend of electronic music. Before that he was playing the clarinet and being trained to become a classical music composer. At some point of his younger years, he was a student of Darius Milhaud, one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. I do not know if he had such a huge impact on Subotnick, but after his studies with him, Subotnick began to search new sounds that could not be achieved with conventional instruments, at least through their usual playing techniques. That is how he met the great synth designer Don Buchla, in order to create one of the first analogue synthesizers in the world, Buchla Series 100.
Subotnick always viewed his musical expressionism similar to a painter or a sculptor. He always searched opportunities to use musical sounds as a canvas. In recent years he also developed an Ipad app for kids that teach music via drawing and colors.
Subotnick
He has led the way to many firsts in his own genre. He was one of the co-founders of the California Institute of Arts which is a very important school for its visual and performing arts departments. Subotnick is also known for his album "Silver Apples of the Moon" that celebrates its 50th anniversary. The album is the first electronic music album commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch Records. He co-founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center with Pauline Oliveros (tape music is a technique that artists use tapes and a tape recorder to capture sounds and making collages and creating new sounds via various different playback methods).
Attracted to the "other" sounds maybe caused him quit his classical clarinetist and composer career but in exchange he became a true pioneer of electronic music.
And about tonight's concert. As I mentioned above, Alec Empire was absent due to a severe allergic reaction as told by the visual artist of the night, Lillevan. Most probably this caused a slight change in the program but whatever the change was, the music and the ambiance was terrific.
Subotnick's setup for the night
One can notice some major traits in Subotnick's live performance. First of all, I am quite surprised how he is able to use all this technology. Even though his setup for tonight was relatively minimal but still you can understand that a lot is going on even with this minimal setup. On the other hand, his collaboration with Lillevan, the visual artist, was extraordinary. The visual creations were so linked with the music as it made me think of Subotnick's passion of using sounds as a canvas for an abstract picture.
After the performance
I guess for such concerts the visual performance helps a lot for the average listener to be able to identify himself/herself with the live music.
For me, it was really an experience, an experience that the artists beamed the audience up to another galaxy. The stereo effects were so well designed one could easily argue that the performance was plugged at least to 5 channels. The sounds designed by Subotnick on his Buchla modular were ethereal and sensory. It was more like a trip guided by the sounds and visuals.
The performance allowed me to forget the outside world and really took me in for a brief journey to somewhere mystique.
First, Subotnick played his masterpiece Silver Apples of the Moon from 1967 and then another composition of his, which he told was still in progress and he did not know if he was going to be able to finish it. Regarding the "Silver Apples" piece, he told the audience that it was never intended to be played live on stage and it was only meant to be a commissioned recording for people to enjoy on their stereo systems, but since it was the 50th year of the recording he decided to go on tour and perform it for one last time.
Here is a video clip of the duo's performance from 2010 in Austria.
And yes my son is still talking to me, but I am not sure if he had wished to have stayed at home and studied for his exams...If you ask me, he is happy inside to have experienced such a beautiful inter-galactic journey but he just doesn't know it yet. Don't forget that introducing new things to kids always pays back in one way or the other...
Let's finish with a short clip from tonight's performance.
Last weekend we lost a man who had dedicated himself to selling records all over the world for more than 6 decades. It is said that he died of a sudden heart attack, while drinking whiskey and watching the Academy Awards, after having commented negatively on someone's dress choice during the ceremony. I wonder who he was picking to pieces...
Tower Records shops were definitely the first places I wanted to go whenever I visited London and New York. The San Francisco shop was a mecca for me when I was a student there and most probably the only place where I was spending most of my pocket money.
Russ SOLOMON:
Mr. Solomon was born in Sacramento, California in 1925. He quit high school and worked in his father's drug store called the "Tower Cut Rate". He never had a formal education but learned the tools of the trade from his dad. His interest in record selling dates back to 1940s where he sold used juke box records from his father's shop. He went bankrupt a couple of times during the 1950s. The turning point in his life was maybe opening a business called MTS Inc. (named after his son) with the $ 5,000 loan he received from his father. This business was going to be the foundation of Tower Records.
"Remembering Tower Records"
He opened the first store in San Francisco in 1960, followed by the Los Angeles branch. By the beginning of the 1980s, Tower Records had reached 26 stores all over the USA and a huge branch in Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately, with the internet boom, download issues and the listeners' disengagement with the vinyl records, the profits of the stores could not fund the fast international expansion and the company was forced to liquidate and close in 2006.
Russell Solomon
Today, as far as I know, the only Tower Records still open are the Japanese stores where they went independent of the mother company by a management buy-out in 2005. There are almost 85 branches all over Japan. Currently the Tokyo store is the world's biggest music retail shop.
I hope they remain open at least till the day I find a chance to visit them.
Russ Solomon worked hard to be in the business trying with other retail opportunities, but could not succeed until his retirement.
It wouldn't be fair not to mention the great Tower Records documentary "All Things Must Pass" by Colin Hanks when writing a post on Russ Solomon. You can watch the whole story behind the Tower empire along with some footage of great artists/shoppers like Chris Cornell, Dave Grohl, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John.
If you can, watch the documentary. It explains well the situation of the music retail business after the digital download craze.
And one last word, please support your local record store and don't forget that it is "Record Store Day" on the 21st of April!
I was surprised when I heard the Pixies song "Hey" on the radio the other day. I was surprised because even though I liked the song very much I had never listened to a cover version of it. There are a lot of Pixies covers around, especially of the song "Where is my mind?" by great bands like Placebo, Kings of Leon and Milky Chance. But hey, "Hey" was just as good as any of them.
So thanks to technology, immediately shazamed the song and boom, another surprise. The singer had a Turkish name whom I had never heard of. Just a finger slide to Google and began typing...
Nilüfer YANYA:
She is a young singer/songwriter Londoner coming from a family with Turkish, Irish and Bajan roots. She has played classical piano but picked up guitar in her teens in order to write songs. Since childhood she was into indie rock thanks to her elder sister. As far as I could research she went to Pimlico School in Westminister London, known for its good musical education. There she had the opportunity to take guitar lessons from Dave Okumu, the singer and guitarist of the band "Invisible".
Determined to pursue music, she took weekend classes to keep pushing herself as an artist. She started performing at 18, the same year she released debut single “Waves,” which she made for a college project. Rejected twice from a popular music degree, she took an artist development course and steadily graduated from the city’s open-mic scene to cooler stages, eventually headlining her own shows.
"Thanks 4 Nothing"
She and her sister started an organization called Artists in Transit, doing creative work with refugees in Greece. They went to refugee camps in Athens along with their friends to help out with work and food distribution, as well as art classes, sports and games. I have read that she is very interested and engaged in politics as well which is a trait not so common with the Millennials.
"Hey" by Nilüfer Yanya with Jazzi on sax
Her music sounds somewhere between pop, R&B and jazz with a lesser choice of instrumentation of guitar, saxophone, drums and her mellow voice. Her silence in the songs are as powerful as her music. I suggest you also listen to the lyrics that I find quite impressive.
"Small Crimes" by Nilüfer Yanya
So far she issued three EPs, "Small Crimes", "Plant Feed" and "Do You Like Pain?". She will be in Istanbul on April 25th for a gig. I say don't miss her...
