To the roots

Well you're in your little room
and you're working on something good
but if it's really good
you're gonna need a bigger room
and when you're in the bigger room
you might not know what to do
you might have to think of
how you got started
sitting in your little room...
- The White Stripes(Little Room)

I've only listened to a few of their songs but already can't stop raving about how good The White Stripes are. Surely people proclaiming the death of rock music have gone deaf or simply haven't tuned in enough to what Jack & Meg White have been putting out. For a two piece band they sure create some powerful & seriously good(while staying delightfully loud!) blues-based rock. And all their blues-purist ardor - illustrated best by the simple song above - is starting to have an effect on me :) For the past several weeks on the blog I've noted that there were very few posts related to the N-E. Now most of my blogging is really an expression of things that interest me on a range-of-the-moment basis. And of late I am following up on a whole lot of things. But I've also been stuck in a lahe - lahe mode since the start of the year & that's probably starting to reflect on the nature of topics covered. Well I've had enough of all that and so its now time to complete all the half written posts(most related to the N-E!) before losing the plot completely. And if that means less posts per week then so be it.
[Note: Lahe-Lahe roughly translates to 'taking it easy' in Assamese. Assam my homeland is also called The Land of Lahe-Lahe for the laidback/carefree nature of the people there.]

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As a friend, as an old enemy

I can't believe that it's now exactly a decade today since Kurt Cobain took the easy way out - deciding to burn out rather than fade away. And if not for the deluge of articles in the press and various forums I probably wouldn't have known. I came across a rather curious article written on this occasion by Kurt Loder at MTV News who begins with some nice words about Nirvana's music.

Well my memory is pretty good about these things & Kurt as far as I know loathed MTV just as much as Eddie. Both of these bands then publically took a stand to not air videos on MTV because of all the crap that passed as music videos. Anyway guess this is as apt a time as any for MTV(& indeed other people) to pretend how in sync one was with the grunge movement. Arguing about his legacy and the impact is best left for people who can in a detached way judge the merit of his music. For me and I guess many other drifters the connection was too personal for such an exercise. All I can say is that at times when I'm truly gutted it's his music that I still listen to. And it gives me the same solace it did 13 years back.

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The Messiah & the Little Ice Age

The secret to the Stradivarius violin's rich resonance may be out finally(via Newsday.com). And it isn't special varnishes or wood treatments or some secret craft. A tree-ring dating expert at the University of Tennessee and a climatologist at Columbia University offer a simpler(more scientific) theory: the wood developed special acoustic properties as it was growing because of an extended period of long winters and cool summers.

Dr. Henri Grissino-Mayer at Tennessee and Dr. Lloyd Burckle at Columbia suggest a "Little Ice Age" that gripped Europe from the mid-1400s until the mid-1800s slowed tree growth and yielded uncommonly dense Alpine spruce for Antonio Stradivari and other famous 17th century Italian violinmakers. The coldest point of that age was during a 70-year period from 1645-1715 known as the Maunder Minimum. Stradivari, born a year before the Maunder Minimum began, produced his most prized and valued stringed instruments as the period ended -- his "golden period" from 1700-1720.

To test this theory Grissino-Mayer developed a 500-year chronology, from 1500 to the present, for 16 high-elevation forests of larch, spruce and pine in five countries from western France to southern Germany. He discovered an unprecedented period of slow growth from 1625-1720 characterized by compact, narrow tree rings.

Helen Hayes, president of the New York-based Violin Society of America, which hired Grissino-Mayer to examine "The Messiah" says "I think it is very, very interesting, and it seems to me a valid observation". But she still maintains that it could only be a part of the explanation with other things like the skill of the craftsman or the secret varnishes being a factor too. Grissino-Mayer agrees but states that compared to theories of mythical varnishes, "this is the most plausible explanation."
[Note: The Messiah is the world's most venerated Stradivarius violin which was authenticated by Grissino-Mayer two years back. You can read by on his theory of tree-rings at this site.]

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Tibet: Songs of freedom

The Guardian has this moving story of Soname Yangchen(28), a Tibetian refugee who in a bid for freedom, had narrowly survived a six-week trek through jungle and mountains into Nepal 13 years back. Now this talented singer was the star attraction on sunday night in a glittering gala at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. She was to perform her haunting Tibetan mountain songs at this £130-a-head concert in the venue's Vilar Floral Hall to raise money for the Tibet Relief Fund. Soname hopes that this event will help her find a record producer, as she strives to launch a career that can help reunite her with the daughter she has seen only once in nine years. In what is still a tough life she now makes ends meet by working shifts as a cleaner at Brighton police station.

But then she's been through tougher times in her past. Born into noble family of landowners in the Tibetan countryside near Lhasa, Soname had to live a virtual slave's life in Tibet after their possessions were taken in the Cultural revolution. Then finally at the age of 15 she decided to try escape Tibet with the help of 2 monks. But her companions were caught and brutally tortured by the authorities, leaving her alone at the border. Since people there warned her to not try to go on her own because she might be raped, she hid from the police in the jungle. After 3 weeks luckily she met another batch of 7 monks who were embarking on an escape bid.

This dangerous trek left her exhausted, paralysed and finally unable to walk any more. She had then given up hope waiting for wild animals or the cold to finish her off. But her companions came back for her and decided to rest for 2 days to enable her to recover. To keep her flagging hopes alive they told her that the Dalai Lama was just beyond the next mountain. At the border the Nepal police took away their money and jewelry and locked them overnight. And finally in 1990 Soname came to India and met the Dalai Lama. Completely overwhelmed she simply cried, unable to say a word.

In India she got married and had a daughter, Temzin Eidye but she was only 6 months old when her father abandoned them. Unable to rear her alone she surrendered Temzin to her husband's family. In 1997 she moved to France and then Britain, where she married again and settled in Brighton. Now living her passion for music, she writes songs, many mourning her homeland's plight, performs live and has released two CDs. After yrs. of writing letters in vain, 6 months back she finally managed to contact her family in Tibet where her father, sister and three brothers remain in the Tibetan countryside. Like all Tibetians she now says 'My heart is still in Tibet, and when it is free I will go back to help in whatever way I can.'. And till such time comes Soname's music would hopefully continue to bravely highlight their cause...
[note: 1. Yesterday the Dalai Lama said that despite opening direct communication with the govt. last year, conditions inside Tibet hasn't improved at all. The Chinese Govt. alleges that the Dalai Lama hasn't given up his position of Tibet independence or recognized Taiwan as Chinese territory, both being pre-conditions for resumption for talks.(details)
2. The details of her singing career along with 3 downloadable tracks of her album 'Unforgettable Land' are here]

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Lyrics Quiz

A nice long 80's Lyrics quiz. Just ideal to jog up your memory a bit :)

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My weekend anthem...

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Now which is more inane ?

I couldn't quite arrive at a decision so maybe you can help me out. These interesting quotes from the music industry are cited in this report.

Well maybe they just didn't like your clothes Rod or the young blondes you hang out with. Or the fact that all your best songs are covers which despite being popular don't quite match the quality of the originals.

I think she should use the umm... chemistry shared with Maddona to learn a little bit more about religion. As it is she's busy religiously aping everything the material girl did years back. The latest being a desire to move to London after a sudden 'discovery' of how cool a place it is.

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Unchained melody...

With the current woes Daler Mehndi's going through guess he'll soon be praying that a story like this happens to him.

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So how well do know your rock music?

This is a great quiz to test your knowledge about rock music. It is quite tough and the question bank is massive so it can be quite addictive(speaking from personal experience !). Especially since you can wager points for every question answered. My scores are still poor so won't announce them here :)

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Material girl a fashion imitator?

Maddona long held as a style icon who could influence the latest fashion trends is now accused of being an imitator in this copyright-infringement case. The Material Girl's new music video, "Hollywood," has apparantly swiped images from the erotically charged work of the late French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin(pic on left). Everything from composition, background, wardrobe, lighting, narrative, camera angle, decor and objects are accused of being similar.

A week before she filmed the Hollywood video, Madonna toured a Bourdin exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. And earlier this year, Madonna was quoted in a British newspaper describing Bourdin, who died in 1991, as "so sick and interesting." The images of the video(pic on right) sure look similar so this will be a tough one to wriggle out. Well whatever happens one thing's for sure, even at this stage of her career she's way more entertaining than the new breed of synthetic studio-made popstar wannabes.

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Jeff Buckley: an unfinished legacy... (Part II)

'Voice' of a generation: Jeff buckley didn't have to emulate much, for he had the same multi-octave (4 & above) voice as his father. Combined with how similar they looked it was no surprise that he caught everyone's eye at a 1991 Tim Buckley tribute performing "I didn't ask to be your mountain". And after a string of impressive live shows he soon secured his first major contract with Sony Records. The album that ensued (Grace) is an impressive collection of songs revealing his varied influences. An expressive singer with an astonishing range, Buckley soared and swept across a near-perfect collection which included cover versions of Nina Simone's' Lilac Wine and a take on John Cale's version of Leonard Cohen'sHallelujah alongside several breathtakingly original songs. All the songs showcased his amazing vocal range. He was often called a 'Robert Plant singing soft rock' in reviews, not surprising since he counted Led Zeppellin as his favourite band and Robert Plant as the first voice that excited him.

Last Goodbye: Despite a lot of critical acclaim, Jeff remained a confused young man worried that the dictates of big studio's will pollute his vision of where he could go with his music. These concerns led to numerous delays in the production of his 2nd album and despite recording demos of many songs the recording sessions were aborted initially. On the night of his death he was set to go into a month of rehearsals with his band members to rework the songs. The album was to be produced after that. The circumstances around his death are just as tragic as his father's before him. On the night of Thursday, May 29, 1997 Jeff was hanging out with a friend at the Mud Island Harbour marina, half a mile inland off the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee. They were listening to a stereo and playing a guitar when Buckley waded, fully clothed, waist-high into the water. He started singing and laid back on the water, when a tugboat went by causing waves to come in to the shore. The friend on shore turned his back to move the stereo away from the incoming waves and when he turned around, he couldn't see Buckley. Jeff had been fatally pulled under by the wake from this passing tugboat. His body was found 4 days later.

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Jeff Buckley: an unfinished legacy... (Part I)

Jeff Buckley was born on 17th Nov, 1966, in California's Orange County, the only child of Tim Buckley(pic on left), a struggling 20 yr old musical prodigy and Mary Guibert a classically trained pianist. Before his birth Mary, frustrated with the hardship they had to endure, gave Tim an ultimatum to choose between music or his family. It didn't prove to be a wise move. The marriage soon fell apart and Tim would later lament the pain he caused & endured and his helplessness in the song I never asked to be your mountain. A true original, Tim stayed a cult figure all his life with little commercial success. His music had no limitations or considerations of commercial viability; songs being a mere springboard for risk-tasking, for delving into the dark side of man's nature and the indefinable nature of the spirit. Tim only knew that once he found the edge, he had to go over it. And through a series of 9 extraordinary albums that tested the limitations of jazz, folk and rock and his own freeform fusion of the elements he took those who listened with him. And on June 25, 1975, at the age of 28, Tim Buckley was dead from an accidental heroin overdose given to him by a friend.

An unclaimed Legacy: In his short life Jeff would show much of the same unflinching idealism by holding out his end of the promise made in his diary. He met his father only a couple of times when aged 8 yrs old before Tim died and never quite forgave him for abandoning his mother before he was born. So he initially consciously avoided listening to his fathers records before curiosity got the better of him. However he always dissociated himself from his musical legacy because he wanted to chart his own course. But like his father he.was a restless, demanding spirit and had an almost pathological aversion to pop convention; he craved both immaculate perfection and naked revelation in his music. An ardent enthusiast for a myriad of musical forms, Jeff Buckley was an early champion among young American musicians for the work of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He was a product of the Greenwich Village folkie and bohemian circuit, choosing to mix it amongst the communes and squats where he found what he called the last real writers, artists, expressionists; people he could relate to, people unafraid of society's mores and dictates, willing to take a chance.

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Jeff Buckley: a tear that hangs inside the soul...

A large part of Jeff Buckley's legacy is the influence his thoughts & words had on his friends, admirers and fellow artists. In fact, almost as many songs about him have been released as songs by him. There's also a wealth of material - music, writing, art - which people all over the world have been inspired or encouraged to create after discovering his work. His unshakeable faith and idealism along with his sensitivity seemed to endear him to all who came in touch with him. As photographer Merri Cyr put it "He was very intense and focused. Deep, moody and very very watery. He was a Scorpio, with all the trimmings".

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Jeff Buckley: a pure drop in an ocean of noise

There's the moon asking to stay
Long enough for the clouds to fly me away
Well it's my time coming, i'm not afraid to die
My fading voice sings of love,
But she cries to the clicking of time
Of time
Wait in the fire...
And she weeps on my arm
Walking to the bright lights in sorrow
Oh drink a bit of wine we both might go tomorrow
Oh my love
And the rain is falling and i believe
My time has come
It reminds me of the pain
I might leave
Leave behind
Wait in the fire...
And I feel them drown my name
So easy to know and forget with this kiss
I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow
   -  Jeff Buckley (Grace)

In this errily prophetic song Jeff Buckley's voice soars and sweeps across the ornate arrangements that would be associated with much of his studio work. A song about love, parting and dying, Grace confirmed that Jeff much like his legendary father Tim Buckley, had the rare gift of charging songs with an emotional depth few have ever reached or dared to try and find. A casual listen is enough to get hooked on to the strange co-existence of joy & profound sadness in his rich voice. In Mojo Pin another stunningly original song in his debut album he pays homage to Led Zeppelin, self-admittedly his biggest musical influence. And like others before me I was left musing whether his voice actually soars above Robert Plant in between the Jimmy Page-like guitar coda's in that song. One E.P of 4 songs(Live At Sin-é), a critically acclaimed studio album(Grace) and a bunch of half-worked demos that was released post-humously as Sketches(for my sweetheart the drunk), that's all he left behind as his legacy during his brief starburst of a life. But it is still tough not getting caught up in melancolia listening to his songs and reading about his tragic life. And musing what might have been...

For his was a life cut short before his immense musical gifts took flight and found the right expression. Now rock legends like Bono lament that "Jeff was a pure drop in an ocean of noise". And no less than Bob Dylan himself called him One of the greatest songwriters of the 90's at a tribute. Since I've got so immersed in reading about him & his music recently I thought of doing a tribute post. But it kind of became too long so I've decided to post it small parts instead. This just being a general announcement and also a means to appease JustZen who I gave word about 3 weeks back about doing a post on Jeff. Of course if you aren't into my kind of music, it may well serve as caution for some music-related posts in the immediate future that you may not care a lot about :)

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Music: Light on the dark side at last !!

Came across this report about an upcoming DVD(due August 26th) that will look into the making of Pink Floyd's classic 1973 album Dark side of the Moon(DSOTM). Like many of Floyd's best work DSOTM was a lot about their founder and original frontman Syd Barrett who had to quit the band once he crossed over 'to the dark side of the moon'. My favourite album of all time DSOTM, was Floyd's first to chart in the U.S., reaching No. 1 in 1973 and residing in the Top 40 for over a year (it remained on Billboard charts for more than 700 consecutive weeks). Over the past 30 yrs, DSOTM has sold nearly 30 million copies. The film will break Dark Side down track by track, offering commentary about its nine songs from Floyd principals singer/bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason, keyboardist Richard Wright and engineer Alan Parsons. It will feature bonus footage, including Waters performing a stripped-down "Brain Damage" and Gilmour's acoustic "Breathe."
This is the gist of what the band said in interviews with Rolling Stone earlier in the year (very enlightening to say the least !):

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Music: Ring them Bells !!

Two of my favourite people on this planet, Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan, are soon going to be teaming up for a BBC-backed biography, Bob Dylan Anthology Project exploring the early years of Dylan's career. Expected to be complete sometime in 2005, this biography will attempt to chart Bob's rise to stardom in 1963, focusing on such seminal recordings as "Blowin' in the Wind,""Maggie's Farm,""Masters of War,""Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Like a Rolling Stone," as well as his influence on culture and politics. It's expected to conclude with Dylan bidding goodbye to his folk-hero status by going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and his near-fatal motorcycle accident a year later.

This project promises to be an unique battle of wills in itself. Dylan has rarely spoken about his early career and still remains notoriously camera-shy--Dylan's last filmed interview took place 20 yrs back in 1985. But Scorsese apart from his epic-filmmaking resume, has also done some seminal work in the field of rockumentaries having edited 1969's Woodstock and directed 1978's The Last Waltz. The latter captured the Band's final concert performance and happened to feature an appearance by Bob Dylan. Like The Last Waltz, Scorsese plans to revisit never-before-seen concert footage of the young Robert Zimmerman and mix it up with studio sessions and the one-on-one. Hmm... I can't wait to see this one. And if you are a fan or just want to know about the origins of the whole singer-songwriter revolution you should look out for this documentary too. After all artists like Joni Mitchel, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith and countless other following in their wake(like R.E.M) were inspired enough by Dylan to tread their own paths and in essence define the sound & philosophy of rock.

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LISTS: The greatest guitar albums

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ROCK : Pearl Jam stays true to tune !!

''If you believe in something and stand by your words, then ultimately you're going to be fine. But if you worry about a radio station not playing you, or that somebody is not going to buy your record based on your political opinion, then I think that is dangerous."        -Stone Gossard (guitarist PJ)

Pearl Jam's bond with its own audience remains tight. Part of the reason is the band doesn't sell out to advertisers. (The group doesn't license its songs for corporate TV commercials.)

''That would just cheapen the music and make it feel like a novelty rather than something you related to emotionally"        - Stone Gossard .

The bigger part (of that bond) being their sticking to their roots(related post) despite evolving from the angst-ridden power chords in 'Ten' to a mellower sound in the recent albums like 'Riot Act'. The end of the 'Grunge' movement, & subsequent decline in record sales(first 3 albums: 20 million, last 4 albums: 3 million) have not made them compromise one bit with their long personal history of taking a stand. Rock on Eddie...

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Tori Amos my favourite female rock musician has been ranked no. 5 in this survey of 'Top 20 Live Acts' by RollingStone magazine. Their comments "Amos's studio albums can be overblown, with their big arrangements and mystic imagery, but onstage she's a one-woman wrecking crew". Hmmm... agree with the last bit. The complete list is:

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Recently came across reports of Liz Phair having to defend her decision to go more 'mainstream' in her upcoming record. I must say I was surprised. To me Liz Phair seemed to embody the very last type of person who would ummm... sellout? .Well that's too harsh an indictment I guess since she has every right to sing studio manufactured lyrics(by the guys who were behind Avril Levrine & Matrix) & even strut out her stuff like the Britney Spears & Christina Agueliria's of the world if that's what brings her happiness. But it would be a long journey from the artist whose critical successes(Exile in Guyvhile, Whip Smart) set the stage for more commercially oriented female singer-songwriters, such as Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morissette.

That she was concerned enough to issue that statement is perhaps reflective of how much value to 'being true to yourself' the community of rock fans puts on it's artists. It may well hold true in other fields but somehow from its past origins in folk-rock, protest songs & blues the image of a rock musician is perrenially that of a uncompromising, driven individual.

Poetry, personal authenticity, progressive social consciousness and a desire to chart one's own course are commonly seen traits. Well acid trips, groupies, psychedelic perenphellia & other various excesses too at times for the more indulgent ones. But since Wood Guthrie, the civil rights movement in the 60's, & especially since a young vagabond with dishevelled hair, a harmonica on his lips, & accoustic guitar in hand barged unto the scene, things just haven't been quite the same.

Time Magazine calling him one of the 100 most influential people of the century said "Bob Dylan couldn't wait for the music to change. He couldn't be only part of the change. He was the change itself."

Folk music deep within its core, rhythm N' blues, rock 'n' roll, hymns along with gospel all came together and he found words to match it. Words that were to pierce the consciousness of generations to come, making everyone who listened realise that rock music could be as direct, as personal and as vital as a novel or a poem. That popular music could be expression as well as recreation.

The torch has been passed to successive generations of rock singer- songwriters & great bands. From Joni Mitchel, Bruce Springsteen to U2 , Pearl Jam & R.E.M. And it does in a sense place a responsibility to the artist. A responsibility that R.E.M shrugs off & yet continues to fulfil by just doing what they love doing. Some artists like Kurt Cobain succumb in the attempt to 'live' up to it. Others like U2 retract their steps when they stray out of bounds.

Eddie Vedder for one seems to have found a way(even when grunge as a movement is long dead) to live up to what he sang once....

" I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
Oh, I'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired
Oh, I will stare the sun down until my eyes go blind
Hey, I won't change direction, and I won't change my mind
How much difference does it make
Mmm, how much difference does it make...how much difference..."
          - Pearl Jam in "Indifference"

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