Groove is your heartbeat. It is feel, swing, and flow. You can notate rhythm, but you can’t notate groove. It cannot be conjured. It is a living, breathing, propulsive manifestation of rhythm. This blog is in its service.
Yes, I know, I'm late to the party. Doesn't make much sense reviewing a record that came out almost 40 years ago, does it? Well, it's new to me and sufficiently mind-blowing to necessitate some exposition.
Word on the street is that Pete Townshend burned all the tapes from a US tour in a huge bonfire and then booked a short British tour for the purpose of creating a live album. This is after The Who Sell Out and Tommy, and before Who's Next and Quadrophenia, literally at the very apex of the band's prodigious powers. It was common for the band to perform Tommy in its entirety in this period, which they did at the Leeds show, and whose performance they included in the Deluxe edition of Live at Leeds in 2001.
To be honest, it doesn't make much sense to include the famous (at this point, infamous) rock opera with a live album that was always intended to sound and look like a bootleg. The non-Tommy music is The Who at their most unhinged; Tommy is The Who at their most structured, relying on story and order rather than combustible energy. For this reason, I prefer the 1995 reissue of the album, which includes the original six songs on the 1970 album, along with eight other tunes (including "Amazing Journey" and "Sparks" from the Tommy part of the set.)
Recorded Valentine's Day 1970, Live at Leeds fucking rocks the house, busts eardrums and roofs and molars and loins. It is HEAVY, intense, and insane. The Who go all Cream on our heads with all three instrumentalists soloing at the same time ("Heaven and Hell"), but bassist John Entwistle (known as The Ox) and drummer Keith Moon are incomparably better than Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. When guitarist Pete Townshend solos he sounds like a rhythm player, and of course The Ox knows this and solos himself as Pete is going off and Moon is just himself - nuts and playing fills and rolls without abandon - while vocalist Roger Daltrey wails his way to goldenlocked rock n' roll glory.
All the unexpected segues ("See Me, Feel Me" and "Underture," among them) in "My Generation" are flawless; "Young Man Blues" is protometal; the two chord pounce after the "Soon Be Home" section in the middle of "A Quick One (While He's Away)" is punk and grunge melodic power at its mightiest. It's incredible how the record sounds both so heavy and loud and yet so spare at the same time. There's a lot of space between the instruments. Perhaps that has to do with the lack of rhythmic accompaniment (either bass, keys, rhythm guitar) to "main" instruments, since all musicians are basically playing lead. Everybody is going at it, it's life or death, jam out or risk annihilation. It's the most rock n' roll record I've ever heard, the most unapologetic, and the most prophetic. Yes, The Who's maximum R&B is highlighted here, but there are also punk, metal, and grunge moments.
Listening to this record makes me wonder why The Who is the most underrated band among the rightly famous British bands - Beatles, Stones, Led Zep - from the golden age of rock. I think their reputation has suffered in the last decade or so because the perceived and acknowledged pretentiousness of Tommy the rock opera. The band's standing in rock's pantheon of greatness will surely be subject of another post, but for now, let Live at Leeds be exhibit A for The Who's immortality.
This is my personal favorite musical performance on Sesame Street. Ray sings with conviction, emotion, and heart, taking a somewhat whimsical tune and making it a soul ballad. It's an incredible performance. The song may sound corny - especially if you're hearing Kermit sing it - but the movement from shame and self-doubt to pride and acceptance is truly touching. "Bein' Green" of course is a metaphor for feeling inferior, for being made fun of or discriminated against for whatever reason (race, disability, religion, social status, anything) and then realizing that you don't need another person's acceptance to feel good about yourself. You need your own. What better lesson for kids to learn than to love and be proud of who they are?
Dubstep, a British subgenre that derives as much from grime, jungle, and dub, is the next club music. The slow rolling grooves are punctuated by big bass, computer blips, thick synths, and the insinuation of a dub beat.
Joker's "Digidesign" (see video above) unites a nightstalker tempo to a hip hop inflected reggae beat. The funky come hither melody at times gives way to a dirty synth, who then takes over. The roles reverse before any one melody really has a strong hold. It's an unsettling, paranoid track, and it evaporates as quickly as it came to. It's easily one of the most adventurous tracks I've heard in the last year or so, and certainly deserves more exposure.
Most of the dubstep artists are on the Hyperdub label. A compilation was recently released, celebrating its five years in the genre. The next two videos are by label owner Kode9 ("9 Samurai") and Burial ("Distant Lights.") Hope you dig it.
No words from me today. This is Iggy Pop on James Brown and "I Can't Stand It '76."
The one that flipped me out - I still remember being in the car, hearing it - is "I Can't Stand It." He was down to fuck the chorus, fuck the melody. This is barely a riff. But he pushes the group along like the coxswain on a Roman galley: Stroke, motherfucker, uh!
For a brief moment this week, Temple of the Dog reunited on stage. The band, formed in 1990 after the death of Mother Love Bone frontman Andrew Wood, released their eponymous record in 1991. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard from Mother Love Bone joined Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and drummer Matt Cameron, along with guitarist Mike McCready and vocalist Eddie Vedder, making his debut on record. If these names seem familiar it's because all members excluding Cornell, are now Pearl Jam. (Cameron has been Pearl Jam's drummer since 1998.) I can't think of another supergroup that didn't form as a supergroup. When Pearl Jam dropped their debut in the summer 1991, Temple of the Dog became a big deal.
At their recent show in Los Angeles, Pearl Jam brought Chris Cornell out on stage for "Hunger Strike." Click here for their full performance of "Hunger Strike." Another Seattle moment materialized at the end of the show when Alice in Chains lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell took McCready's place during their performance of "Alive."
The first single of their upcoming record Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1 finds the Beastie Boys on firm Beastie ground. As far as hip hop traditionalism goes, it's not quite the return of the boom bap. The production is murky and heavy, making the mood of the tune slightly paranoid. The drums busily hack away at the beat while a distorted stream of bass, guitar, and sometimes turntables encircle the voices. Much like Erykah Badu's most recent record, the Beasties and Nas manage to sound simultaneously old school and futuristic.
"Too many rappers and there's still not enough MCs," Nas raps during the hook. MCA expounds on the wackness of said rappers in one of his verses: "Too many rappers to shake a stick at/I oughta charge a tax for every weak rap." No weak raps in this bunch. The mutual admiration society these veteran MCs belong to lash out at - what else - sucka RAPPERS and tell them who's boss.
[We wish MCA a swift recovery from his surgery due to a cancerous lymph node in his parotid gland.]
I was listening to Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim a few days ago and was thinking a lot about bossa nova and how it had inspired the most vapid elevator muzak. (Exhibit A: "The Girl From Ipanema.") It's unfortunate, because it is a rhythmically and melodically complex genre, paradoxically profound by being supremely breezy and easy to listen to. Also, most people in the U.S. know bossa nova only through saxophonist Stan Getz and his Getz/Gilberto record (which Jobim is featured on), so it is not difficult to see how the bossa nova cliche arose. Anyways, I woke up in the dead of night yesterday and thought, "Elis and Sade" and immediately fell back asleep. That's probably the craziest shit that has ever woken me.
After some reflection the next day, the main commonality I heard was the emotional restraint combined with the sexual longing. It must be terribly difficult to express vocally because the sentiments are at odds with each other. Elis and Sade are brilliant vocalists, but stealthily so. Here are two clips for you to decide. The first is "Pois E" by Elis and Jobim (whose nickname is Tom) from their album Elis & Tom, the second is by Sade, "Nothing Can Come Between Us." By the way, please focus on the voice, not the visuals, otherwise you'd call me crazy.
I'm a journalist living in the U.S. by way of Venezuela, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. I received my B.A. from Bowdoin College and my master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University's Newhouse School. I worked as an editorial intern at Spin Magazine, publishing an album review in a recent issue. I've also written for RollingStone.com. Film and album reviews will be the focus of this blog, along with occasional musings on literature, politics, and life in exile. I enjoy go, flat fifths, double plays, and modal scales.
