Life along the borderline

John Cale has been around with "Life Along the Borderline: a Tribute to Nico" lately. "Here Comes The Flood" did post some set lists and videos, but I just am not able to link to the posts today
We let Nico sing "Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen" live in Tokyo i 1986, to start the Easter.

McPhee, Corsano, Coxhill, Parker

Joe McPhee, Chris Corsano, Lol Coxhill and Evan Parker at Cafe Oto (London) 10 March 2010.

Portico Quartet

One of the bands visiting Bergen for the upcoming Bergenfest is Portico Quartet . They have released two fine albums: "Knee Deep in the North Sea" (Babel/Vortex 2007) and "Isla" (Real World 2009). The first one was nominated for the Mercury Prize ad the last one is produced by John Leckie.
The band is Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (hang and percussion) and Jack Wyllie (soprano, tenor saxophones and electronics). The music is jazzy with fine melodies, and personally I wouldn´t have minded some sharper edges here and there, but who cares, and I guess they put in some extra energy live. And let me just tell you the truth, they might need it in Bergen, where they are set to enter the stage at 02:00 on a Friday night. Norway and Friday nights out, say no more!
The percussion instrument hang is central in their sound image. Hang was developed in 2000, it looks like something you use for bbqs, and sounds almost like steel drums used in calypso.
Check out this band.

Just Kids

Patti Smith´s book "Just Kids" (Bloomsbury 2010) is her story on the relationship with Robert_Mapplethorpe. They met in New York City in 1967, and became friends, lovers and companions in the struggle to become artists.
She ended up a poet an rock singer, he a photographer, and the story about their ways there, is told in a very sober voice. Even if this is happening in New York, and lots of it in Hotel Chelsea with musicians and all kinds of artists all over the place, there is no gossip! Yes it´s a fight for money, love and fame, but this is a personal story, not a private one.
Why don´t you read it?

Scarfs

This blog has not exactly been overflowing with posts on fashion and football lately. I wear the same old clothes, and my team (Molde) had a terrible start of the season, if i need to excuse myself, that is. What better then, than a post on how to improve your style when it comes to scarfs? I have been secretly blaming Rosenborg´s Swedish trainer Erik Hamrén for introducing fashionable ways of wearing your scarf in Norway, even if you are male! No straightforward tying please, but a bit on the side and dandy!
Today Rosenborg just managed a draw against Vålerenga in Oslo, but the same Hamrén has moved on! I suspect he loves the same fashion blog as me, the fantastic The Sartorialist. Yesterday I found the video in this blog post there, and today I´m quite sure Hamrén was wearing his scarf the same way! What you learn from this blog!

Dancing Cranes

"Dancing Cranes" is an installation made by Kathy Hinde and Maja S.K. Ratkje for "Faster Than Sound".
If you want to make your own origami cranes look here.
And don´t forget the beautiful bird movie Le Peuple Migrateur ("Winged Migration"), having both Nick Cave and Robert Wyatt on the soundtrack.

Have one on me

If anybody should care, I must say I really like Joanna Newsom´s new album. A beautiful box with three CDs might be just what you need for Easter. The first time I heard it it sounded like too much (I usually prefer shorter albums), but it´s growing, and by the end of Easter time, it will be just perfect.
I might need an extra Easter on the lyrics though.

Hugh Hopper. Help

A call to help Hugh Hopper´s wife:

"Dear friends of Hugh. Hugh's wife, and daughter Rosa, are in temporary but pressing need of help. Christine has just come out of hospital and is still not in good shape. Meanwhile, for complex reasons, compounded by the glacial pace of the law, they are desperately short of money. If you are able to help, please send your donation to us - or add it to your order - and we’ll pass it on immediately. Or buy the Brainville3 CD and we’ll send all the money to them. Or use this Paypal link. Thanks. Chris Cutler."

The Ballad of Britain

Inspired by Cecil Sharp and Alan Lomax, who collected folk and blues in England and USA, Will Hodgkinson decided to hunt for the musical soul of Great Britain. In a worn out car, and with quite basic recording equipment, he set ut on a travel to look for the folk music.
All this and more is described in the book "The Ballad of Britain. How Music Captured the Soul of a Nation" (Portico 2009). You get traditional folkies, morris dancers, hippies and noise fanatics (!) in Sheffield. Hodgkinson visits some famous people too, and lets us meet Pete Townsend, Richard Hawley and Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy and others.
A tiresome trip for Hodgkinson, turns out a relaxed and fascinating story for us. I didn´t know that everybody in Liverpool are Pink Floyd fans, but can agree on "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse being a brilliant folk song. On Goths: "I´ve always liked goths for the fact that they stand for absolutely nothing whatsoever beyond being pale and misunderstood".
Borrow or buy this book, and see if you can find "Guitar Man" by the same author too. This is the story about Hodgkinson learning to play "Anjii" by Davey Graham. Thinking about it, you better start with "Guitar man"!

Some of the recordings from the trip are collected on this CD.

PELbO

I have mentioned PELbO earlier in the blog, and here they are with their self titled new album on RinoProd Records (2010). PELbO is Ine Hoem(voc), Kristoffer Lo (tuba) and Trond Bersu (drums). Vocal, drums and tuba, now that´s a great mix, and the album is well worth a listen!
It works best for me when they start rocking a bit, as on "Hey people" and "The Noise", and I´ll bet this material sounds great live too.
May be downloaded from eMusic.

Bobby Womack

It´s about time for a classics blog post again, and this time we make room for Bobby Womack. If you need a reason why, I liked the Gorillaz video "Stylo", featuring Bruce Willis in tip top shape, and among the guests on the track, soul man Womack!
I will not pretend to know Bobby Womack´s discography, but in the beginning of the eighties I fell for the two albums "The Poet" (1981) and "The Poet II" (1984). This is pretty polished soul music, but so what?
I´ll choose the first album over the second, both for the music and the clothes on the cover, but "The Poet II" has Patti Labelle and Martin Luther King Jr! Check out "If you think you are lonely now", "So many sides of you", "Just my imagination" and "Tryin´to get over you".
A lot of sad songs indeed, but I guess you may dance to it still.

The Lovely Bones

After some reading on enoweb, i finally realized that Robert Wyatt is on the soundtrack to Peter Jacskon´s "The Lovely Bones", playing piano on "1/1" from Brian Eno´s "Music for Airports" (1978).

Robert Wyatt links

- Robert Wyatt´s "Sight of the wind" was nominated by someone or the other "being that American Beauty plastic-bag moment set to music"? Heh?
- Lars Horntveth and Jaga Jazzist list Robert Wyatt among their favorites.
- And since The Yorker wrote about Björk´s "Medulla" (2004), where Robert Wyatt participates, i find an excuse to post "Oceania".
- So many people mention Wyatt as a reference point now, that I have given up checking all results from my standing Google searches. He´s mentioned in close to every piece on The Unthanks and Hot Chip, so let me just link to a site where you find the Hot Chip boy band video "I feel better", not that Wyatt has got anything to do with that! (Sorry, a Sunday posting this one). EMI won´t let us see the video on YouTube in Norway, according to the message I get. How smart is that?

Ham

Atomic in Chicago

Fredrik Ljungkvist, Haavard Wiik, Magnus Broo, Ingebrigt Haaker-Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love at the Chicago Cultural Center (March 8, 2010).

Espen Eriksen Trio

And just when you thought you had heard it all, Rune Grammofon is releasing a relaxed, but swinging piano trio! Espen Eriksen Trio is Espen Eriksen (p), Lars Tormod Jenset (b) and Andreas Bye (dr). Rune name drop Tord Gustavsen and Esbjörn Svensson to put the trio´s album "You had me at goodbye" on the map, but I´ll just gamble and throw in Keith Jarrett and some 70s feeling I´m not sure I can define too. I still think you better listen for yourselves, but it suited me just fine now, as the snow is melting here and all.
Cover: Kim Hiorthøy (and since I downloaded from eMusic I only have the front cover).

First we had "You had me at hello"
and now "You had me at goodbye"! How about hitting it after some work, but before it´s too late, next time?

Susanne Sundfør

Susanne Sundfør is getting rave reviews for her new album "The Brothel" (EMI 2010). This is dramatic and beautiful music, and I already posted the title track for your pleasure here!
I downloaded the album, and have no decent cover information (*angry*), but find these musicians: Morten Qvenildd (Susannah, In the Country), Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Gard Nilssen (Puma) and Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), who also produced the album.
Let me just point to the first album "Susanne Sundfør" (2007) too, you may just as well buy both of them.

In fact I heard Susanne Sundfør play something from her new project in Bergen in May 2009, where she worked with artist Kristin Austreid (who probably did the cover). A couple of pictures from the exhibition around here.

And here is "Turkish Delight" from Norwegian TV program Lydverket":

Frkwys Vol.3

Anthony Moore of Slapp Happy fame releases an instrumental album with ARP (Alexis Georgopoulos) April 20. 550 vinyl copies, and digital version from iTunes. Here are the tracks, and you´ll see that one of them is dedicated to Robert Wyatt:
1. Today’s Psalter
2. Spinette
3. Piano Waves
4. Wild Grass I (for Arthur Russell)
5. Wild Gress II (for Robert Wyatt)
6. Mirrors & Forks
7. Yesterday’s Psalter
8. Slow Moon’s Rose

More at FACT.

River Remix

The remixed version of Jeanette Lindström´s "The River", from "Attitude and Orbit Control" (2009), should be available in all good online stores now. Still I couldn´t find it in iTunes today, but in Amazon and (Norwegian) Platekompaniet. On this digital EP you will also find both versions of "The River" from the original album.
This is a great song, and I like all versions, but if I really had to choose one of them, I would pick Robert Wyatt´s from the album.
The remix is done by Håkan Lidbo.

Volda

In the spring of 2008 Peter Brötzmann (as, ts), Michiyo Yagi (koto) and Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) toured Norway together with sound man Audun Strype, who recorded all the ten concerts.
I heard them at the Landmark club in Bergen on this tour, and really enjoyed that show, but the concert held in Volda was considered the best, and so we get "Volda" on Idiolect (2010). The CD has three tracks lasting from 11 to 23 minutes ("Volda 1-3"), and it sure is a varied and really great album (music by Brötzmann, but improv - free jazz is the game). I´ll listen to Brötzmann and Nilssen-Love in all kinds of bands, but this trio with Yagi´s koto is something special. Yagi plays 21- and 17-string kotos, that are modified in some way or the other.
See if you can find this album.

Flying Start

Sunny weather, wine bottles and some sing-a-long! It just might help? Anyway, here is a Kevin Ayers video I haven´t posted before.
"Flying Start" is written by Mike Oldfield, and is a track on "Falling Up" (Virgin 1988).

Street Art Norway / Release 18 March

Kontur Forlag.

Borealis 2010 - Day number five

Saturday, and the final day of Borealis 2010! I started in church listening to two works by Gerhard Stäbler and Kunsu Shim mixed into one. Military orchestra, choirs and even perfume sprayed by the composers. Pretty easy to pick out the ones who were allergic to perfume there.
This church (Korskirken) is situated in an area of Bergen where you have a lot of heavy drinkers and drug addicts, and since the double doors were not closed, their noise added some extra flavor to the music. Usually I´m not tolerant at all to disturbances during concerts, but here it was OK.

Later in the evening there was a screening of a film about drummer Øyvind Skarbø (1982) and his thoughts about transferring experiences as an inexperienced skater into music in "This is why people O.D. on pills" by Jennifer Walshe! I hope they put it on YouTube with english subtitles for you all.
Danish Dygong played noise and electronica, commented by the one and only Boris Jeltsin (picture).
And I´m not lying to you, suddenly we had a dirty disco party, with audience and organizers all jumping around with their hands waving, like this is what we really were waiting for. Party! Not lying, but to be completely honest, the London band The Chap worked pretty hard to make it! Sound clips and videos on The Chap´s MySpace site, but they sounded even better at the Landmark club. A bit like B-52s on too much espresso?

Borealis is a great festival, no doubt about it, but let me offer a kind advise to composers and musicians in the contemporary field (from an amateur, yes I know): Don´t keep going as long as you intend to. Please?

Borealis 2010 - Day number four

Friday, and another marathon day at the Borealis festival. In the afternoon I heard Anders Førisdal play Clemens Gardenstätter. The same guitar player ran through close to all rock cliches known to humankind, with composer Laurence Crane in "Some Rock Music for Alan Thomas"., and we even got some headbanging at Borealis. Yeah! Yeah!
In the evening there was a "cabaret" at the Logen theatre, and again let me point to the rhythm doctors of Madras Curry, playing Siegfried Kutterer´s music! Robyn Schulkowsky joined them in "Indigo" (top picture), and she also played a set on her huge "sub-contrabass marimbas" with local musicians.
And poor Trondheim Jazzorkester (bottom picture), did not get on stage until after one o´clock. This orchestra, with among others Kim Myhr, Sidsel Endresen and Christian Wallumrød, deserve better than the half sleeping (and sleeping!) bunch left in the hall. I hoped they would wake us with a big band bang, but the music was quiet and beautiful as long as I was present (night bus two o´clock sharp!), and for all I know they might have slept both on and off stage in the end.
And if you are still awake, you may want to see some Flicker pictures from the festival.

Borealis 2010 - Day number three

The Borealis festival in Bergen is still happening in different kinds of concert rooms. Wednesday was in an old factory (but I had a day off), but Thursday I attended a fantastic lunch concert in a bank building. Madras Curry played works by Siegfried Kutterer, who is a part of the trio together with Domenico Melchiorre and Szilard Buti. Great stuff! Borealis call these fine gentlemen "contemporary music´s Crosby, Stills & Nash"!
At the public library Norwegian poet Erlend Nødtvedt read his poems in such a musical way, that you would have loved it, even if you didn´t understand a word. But watch out! This guy reads, and one second later he has left the building!
Kerry Yong played Stockhausen, Clementi and Knut Vaage on his Casio keyboard. This happened in an art exhibition, and later in the evening, he even played an Ivor Cutler tune with Casiokids at a club!
This evening was close to perfect, but hell, they did it again! They dragged the audience along to perform! I mean, putting masks on grown ups like that! I´m sweating.

Biko

Mojo (number 197, April 2010) ask several artists to choose their favorite Peter Gabriel track, and Robert Wyatt chooses "Biko" from Gabriel 3 (1980). This is of course a song Wyatt himself has recorded too. He claims he did not listen to rock bands at that time, and didn´t know who Peter Gabriel was, even when he filled in the publisher details, having heard the song on the radio in another version.

Borealis 2010 - Day number one

I really like the way the Borealis festival in Bergen use different arenas for their concerts. Tuesday they really got going, and i managed to hear and see Norwegian author Mette Karlsvik in the public library, the opening of the exhibition "Catabolizer" by Gerhard Eckel in the Lydgalleriet, the opening concert "Helios Nordwärts" by Gerhard Stäbler (composed for orchestras, fire engines and helicopters) inside and outside a hotel, a nice concert by Else Olsen Storesund (picture) (works by John Cage and Storesund) in a piano store and then concerts in the homes of families in the Kalmarhuset building!
In Kalmarhuset we were divided into groups and guided up and down stairs to the different appartments. I managed to switch groups after a while, so I got to hear Stian Westerhus (picture) twice. Westerhus close up, and not so loud as he usually plays was just fantastic.
And we even got wine!
Check out my photos.

Borealis 2010

The Borealis festival is happening in Bergen these days, and reports will come in this very blog. Today, meet the festival dog Zulu. Rumors say that this is the only dog that festival director Alwynne Pritchard does not react allergic to.

Comicoperando: "Sea Song"

"Sea Song" from "Comicoperando", a Robert Wyatt tribute, Modena (Italy), March 1st, 2010. Musicians: Alex Maguire, Annie Whitehead, Chris Cutler, Cristiano Calcagnile, Dagmar Krause, Gilad Atzmon, John Edwards, Michel Delville, Richard Sinclair.

Martin Simpson: "True Stories"

Since neither Jackie Oates nor The Unthanks won any of the BBC Folk Awards 2010, I just had to check out some of the others. One of them, Martin Simpson, won a prize for best traditional track with "Sir Patrick Spens" on"True Stories".
The whole album sure is great, living up to it´s title "True Stories", Martin Simpson being a good story teller. The guitar playing is fantastic too, and Danny Thompson is the bass man on several tracks.
We also get a nice version of the classic " Stagolee", better known as Stagger Lee.
I see no reason not to get this album.

Winter in Tyrol

Terje Isungset, Lena Nymark and Sidsel Walstad on the Val Senales glacier in Tyrol (28 February 2010).

Element

To straighten out my stuff on Element's "Transformation to paradise" (Jazzaway 2009), I have to lean on Norwegian jazz writer Roald Helgheim (in Norwegian).
This album is partly recorded in 2002, with among others the late bass player Bjørnar Andresen, and partly recorded with new musicians in 2009, and then mixed in Bugge's Room (Bugge Wesseltoft).
The original Element was Gisle Johansen (sax), Håvard Wiik (p), Paal Nilssen-Love (dr) and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b). On this album we miss Håvard Wiik, but we still have a smorgasbord of Norwegian jazz musicians present! And the album is a fine one too, being a brew of modern electronic jazz. Check it out.
These fine gentlemen play:
Gisle Johansen sax
Stian Carstensen acccordion g fl
Anders Aarum keyb
Bugge Wesseltoft p
Bjørnar Andresen b
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten b
Eivind Opsvik b
Paal Nilssen-Love dr
Cover: Knut Rasmussen.

Someday

See Claus Arthur Breda-Gulbrandsen's new video to Susanna and The Magical Orchestra's beautiful song "Someday" (from "3", Rune 2009).

The Birth of the Long Now Foundation

The complete video here.

Live at Henie Onstad - vinyl

Smalltown Superjazz recently released Soft Machine "Live at Henie Onstad Art Centre 1971" on vinyl (STSJ187LP, 2010). This is a double album with (not a fold out) cover with layout by Kim Hiorthøy.
The music is (of course) just as good as on the Reel Recordings CD. Buy from Robot.

The madness and the damage done

"The madness and the damage done" taken from Shining´s album "Blackjazz". Bigger and better over at Shining´s channel.

Comicoperando

Stefano Bertoncello was present at Comicoperando, the Robert Wyatt tribute concert in Italy. Check out Twogoodears.

All my friends

John Cale is in London to perform "Paris 1919" with The Heritage Orchestra (Southbank Centre 4 March). "Paris 1919" is of course the album everybody should own, but reading a piece on John Cale in The Independent, I realized Cale had made a cover of LCD Soundsystem´s "All my friends".
His version is on an EP (2007) where we also get LCD Soundsystem themselves and a version by Franz Ferdinand.
I think Franz Ferdinand find the pop potential of the song and John Cale is a bit more intense than LCD Soundsystem.
Shop at iTunes.