ChordStrike

ABBA World Says Thank You For The Music

There was a time when you kept your enjoyment of ABBA’s bouncy pop melodies to yourself, but those times are gone. In these enlightened days of the early 21st century, pretty much everyone has come to accept that during the eleven years of their existence, ABBA was responsible for creating a portfolio of perfectly crafted pop.

The resurgence of interest in the band, most recently witnessed in the phenomenal success of the Mamma Mia stage show and movie, has now culminated in the opening of ABBA World, a museum/theme park in London. It features almost 3000 square meters of ABBA-dedicated exhibits including displays of questionable satin jumpsuits and, in one large corner, the helicopter which features on the cover of Arrival.

Interactive exhibits encourage visitors to try their hand at the ABBA mixing desk and allow them to sing alongside the band in the ABBA holographic karaoke. The exhibition has the blessing of all four of the members of the band, and the management plan to create similar fan Meccas in Australia and New York by the end of 2010.

--Hazel @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout

I recently had the mixed pleasure of reading the newest biography of the great Satchmo, entitled Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout. Having previously read Teachout's The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken, I'd expected a reasonably satisfying read, fueled by extensive research and delivered in rather pedestrian prose. As it turns out, that's exactly what the book offers.

My fellow blogger Dave Callanan named it one of the "Best Books of December" and had the following to say by way of justification:

"Crafted with a musician's ear and an historian's eye, Pops is a vibrant biography of the iconic Louis Armstrong that resonates with the same warmth as ol' Satchmo’s distinctive voice. Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout draws from a wealth of previously unavailable material – including over 650 reels of Armstrong's own personal tape recordings – to create an engaging profile that slips behind the jazz legend's megawatt smile. Teachout reveals that the beaming visage of 'Reverend Satchelmouth' was not a mark of racial subservience, but a clear symbol of Louis's refusal to let anything cloud the joy he derived from blowing his horn. 'Faced with the terrible realities of the time and place into which he had been born,' explains Teachout, 'he didn't repine, but returned love for hatred and sought salvation in work.' Armstrong was hardly impervious to the injustices of his era, but in his mind, nothing was more sacred than the music."

Frankly, I think that's rather higher praise than the book deserves, and Teachout himself all but recommends Armstrong's own Satchmo over the book at hand. Nevertheless, there's a lot on offer here for the trumpet enthusiast, the armchair jazz scholar, or the lover of musical Americana.

Among the most interesting sub-plots is the fluctuating opinions of Armstrong held by his fellow black musicians in the States. Dizzy Gillespie, for one, for years publicly declared Armstrong as just this side of Uncle Tom before eventually recognizing his trailblazing predecessor for the inarguable giant that he remains today.

Most surprising to me, though, was the fact that Armstrong was a life-long user and advocate of marijuana, to the extent that, in his early days, he even pushed it on a number of his sidemen before going into the studio. Teachout returns again and again to Pops' marijuana use, ladeling an almost disproportionate amount of ink on the topic. To wit:

"The word muggles was one of many synonyms for marijuana used by jazz musicians in the twenties. It was also called 'tea' and 'sh[*]t,' and those who smoked it were 'vipers'... [A]ll that is known for sure is that [Armstrong] started smoking it on a regular basis in 1928 and continued to do so for the rest of his life. He would later explain to an acquaintance that it 'makes you feel good, man. It relaxes you, makes you forget all the bad things that happen to a Negro. It makes you feel wanted, and when you're with another tea smoker it makes you feel a special kinship.' It was also, unlike alcohol, legal, though by 1931 twenty-nine states had outlawed its sale and use."

Those looking to pursue overt references in Armstrong's music should start with "Muggles"...

     -- Jason Kirk

Editor's Choice: Othmar Schoeck, "Notturno"

By the time the European avant garde had advanced to breaking china and blowing train whistles, Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck was deemed "too accessible."  Their loss, as "Notturno," op. 47, (1931-1933) is a post-romantic chamber gem.  Poems by Nikolaus Lenau, scored for string quartet and baritone are given a new reading on an ECM recording featuring the rock-solid, Rosamunde Quartet, with Christian Gerhaher.  This is attractive, meaty, but agile musicianship, showing a wonderful dynamic range.  Extra props go to Herr Gerhaher for his beautiful tone, and impeccable diction. – Hugo Munday

Hope for Haiti Now

Download the Hope for Haiti Now benefit album featuring live performances from last night's star-studded Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief telethon.  

All proceeds from the album sales will go to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, the Red Cross, UNICEF, the United Nations World Food Programme, and Yele Haiti Foundation.

In addition, all proceeds from the special studio version of "Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)" by Jay-Z, Bono, The Edge, and Rihanna will go to Partners in Health.

 

Can You Master The SoundUnwound Genre Quiz?

Hi there!

SoundUnwound is the new music website from IMDb and Amazon. We are primarily a music database, which is editable by all users, but moderated to help keep data quality high. Recently we’ve been adding a few extra features for a bit more fun. We know some of the Chordstrike team have been enjoying them, so we thought we’d let you know too.

We’ve made use of Amazon's vast library of 30-second song samples to put together five genre quizzes which test your musical knowledge, and your reaction times. Do you think you know about pop, rock, indie, country or hip-hop? Can you tell the difference between Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato? Pearl Jam and Soundgarden? Modest Mouse and the Manic Street Preachers? Toby Keith and Brad Paisley? Jay-Z and Ludacris?

 

Yeah, of course you can! But can you make your choice within a few short seconds, before you've heard their voices? The longer the clock ticks, the less points you win for answering correctly. We’ve already seen some users rack up impressive scores. Can you join them on the individual genre leader boards, or on the overall board?

And once you’ve mastered your own specialist subject, why not try the quiz of a genre you know less about? Everything you hear is shown with links to the main SoundUnwound site, so you can find out more about any new discoveries, or add them to your SoundUnwound library.

We have to warn you: please make sure you’ve already done your homework, washed the dishes and put the cat out, because these quizzes can be addictive!

We’d love you to try them out and, if you’ve got any comments on the quizzes or on the rest of the site, please let us know in the comments here, or by sending us feedback.

Ed @ SoundUnwound

Cock Rock: A Definition

The world needs more music critics like Charles Shaar Murray. Looking forward to the release of Jimi Hendrix's Valleys of Neptune (yes, a new Hendrix album!), I've been reading Murray's Crosstown Traffic. It's brilliant writing. Hendrix is the book's centerpiece, but there's a load to learn here for anyone who likes books about music. The subtitle of its best chapter yet asks, "So was Jimi Hendrix a sexist pig or what?"

Murray argues that "the sexuality expressed through the blues gradually mutated into the penile dementia of heavy-metal rock." And with what fervor. He exemplifies the point by comparing Muddy Waters' "You Need Love" -- warm, avuncular, intimate, relaxed, utterly sensual -- with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love":

"Led Zeppelin, by contrast, come on like thermonuclear gang rape. The woman -- who, in Muddy Waters' song, is evoked as a real person with real emotions in a real situation -- is here reduced to a mere receptacle; an entirely passive presence whose sole function is to receive the Great Zeppelin (as depicted on the group's first two album covers: lumbering facetiousness posing as irony) with a suitable degree of veneration and gratitude. Even her response is superfluous: Zeppelin's vocalist Robert Plant virtually has her orgasm for her. After all, the satisfaction of the woman in the case is not intended for her benefit, but for his: it is the validation of his masculine prowess and the price of his admission to the alpha-male society. The stud-strut of heavy metal is a ritual by which men celebrate each other; it is not primarily intended for women, who -- at British metals shows, if not at their American counterparts -- demonstrate their understanding of the nature of the event by not showing up."

As Murray goes on to say, "The technical term for this stuff is 'cock rock'."

Read it and weep.

     -- Jason Kirk

Song for Pain: a Gospel Offering for Haiti

Thanks for the first-hand account of unfolding tragedy, Jason.  It's good to have you back.

I've spent the weekend in Nashville for the 2010 Stellar Awards, as gospel celebrated their big night.

Lots of inspirational, empathetic speeches and prayers as the show began and throughout the evening for the victims of the tragedy unfolding in Haiti.  Underpinning the words, one of the evening's presenters, Kirk Franklin  put the call out earlier last week to singers assembling for the awards, to join him in recording a relief record.

Past midnight on Friday, the night before the Stellars, I packed into an overflowing, nondescript studio off Music Row, while Kirk directed a classic, wailing Mary Mary overlay.  I didn't hear the whole song, but did get a preview of some of the chorus / backup work, which was really uplifting.  I bailed just before CeCe Winans came to contribute, but they went well past 2:00 that morning.

I don't have many details, but I know the working title is "Song for Pain,"  it's in post-production and Kirk and others are working all hours to get their contribution out soon.  I will post more about the project and how they plan to funnel contributions, when I get firm details.  – Hugo Munday

Haiti Earthquake Relief

Sosúa, Dominican Republic (Tuesday, January 12) -- I was on the balcony, three floors up, when suddenly I felt a powerful urge to throw up. Then my chair began to sway. When I looked across the alley and saw the laundry lines in full swing, I knew we were in trouble.

As we all fled out into the street, the air of general panic was palpable. Over the next few hours, via spotty cell phone connections, those of us huddled together in the street, half a mile from the beach, realized that the entire island had shaken. Tsunami warnings were issued for Hispaniola and Cuba.

As time passed, power was restored, and news crept in, we realized that Port-au-Prince had borne the brunt of the earthquake. The significant Haitian population in Sosúa took to weeping openly in the streets, though in the scramble to pack and gas up vehicles for a possible sprint inland, none of us yet knew how bad things really were.

Tuesday night passed in a slow haze of fatigue and disbelief. One of the lucky ones by far, I got out the next morning, leaving Santiago airport as originally planned. It wasn't until the plane landed in Miami Wednesday afternoon that I saw televised footage of the immediate aftermath in Port-au-Prince.

Back in Seattle, it was heartening to see Amazon making it easy for customers to donate directly to Mercy Corp, and I was lucky to attend a Thursday-night fundraiser at Waid's, a great local Haitian joint.

Musicians, of course, have been quick to lend their voices to the call for mass generosity in service of the nascent relief efforts. In a written public statement, Maxwell made an important point: "[S]ending cash is the best way to help right now. The easiest way to do it is through text messaging, but other ways to help include donating to organizations such as the Clinton foundation, Unicef, [and] Red Cross ... There are links to those charities here: http://www.musze.com/."

Wyclef Jean's Yéle Haiti Foundation moved with laudable speed, offering regular updates on its own efforts, three ways to donate--the easiest is to text "YELE" to 501501 (a $5 donation)--and beneficiary status for a series of emergency benefit concerts featuring Patti Smith, Living Colour, and many more at Manhattan's City Winery (January 20-25).

I recommend Catholic Relief Services, and here's why.

However you can, please give.

     --Jason Kirk

Metal On the Open Seas

Start saving your pennies now, kids.  In just a little over a year, what will no doubt be the loudest and scariest boat ride since the Sex Pistols took over the Thames will be happening from Miami, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico with 70000tons of Metal.  January 24, 2011 the cruise embarks with room for 2000 metal fans for 4 days on the high seas with 40 bands playing over the duration.  Only six bands have been confirmed so far, but they are pretty impressive:  Amon Amarth, Sodom, Sonata Arctica, Stratovarius, Trouble, and Witchburner.  Even with just these first six acts, you're looking at quite a wide variety of metal.  I'll certainly check back to see who else gets added over the coming months.  I'm not saying I'm going, but I am very intrigued.  You can find everything from the line-up to the sign-up right here.

Lhasa De Sela: 1972-2010

This week brought the sad news that Montreal-based singer-songwriter Lhasa De Sela passed away on New Year's Day, after a 21-month battle with breast cancer. The American-born artist had a one-of-a-kind upbringing with her Mexican father and American mother, spending most of her childhood traveling between the two countries, developing her unique and decidedly pan-cultural artistic skills that led her to sing in English, Spanish, and French. From her official site:

    "Lhasa's unusual childhood was marked by long periods of nomadic wandering through Mexico and the U.S., with her parents and sisters in the school bus which was their home.  During this period the children improvised, both theatrically and musically, performing for their parents on a nightly basis.  Lhasa grew up in a world imbued with artistic discovery, far from conventional culture."

Lhasa released three albums in her short life, La Llorona, The Living Road, and one of my favorite albums of last year, and her first in English, the beautiful, simply titled, Lhasa. If you've never heard her stunning voice, do yourself a favor and watch the video for "Rising" below. Rest In Peace, Lhasa.

--Alan Wiley