Meeting Minutes #2

January 25, 2007

On January 25th, 2007 we made an additional attempt to continue our overarching effort to make Bloomington Better. Unlike The Bush Administration, I will refrain from declaring “mission accomplished.” This will be a long war people. Sorry these notes took me longer than usual. While writing them I became obsessed with “Myspace.” It is becoming pretty standard to have a Myspace account for artists these days. If the artist mentioned below did not have a “Myspace” account I made substitutions. There are some new resources over to the left that might help you find the music you are looking for. Check out Pandora.com…very interesting.

OPENING EXERCISE: We sustained silence (a tribute to John Cage) for over three minutes in order to attune our ears to the following sounds:

Aaron
Ruben Gonzalez “De Una Manera Espantosa” from Chanchullo
While living in Tucson, Arizona, Aaron moved into a home that had once been occupied by a “pack rat.” Fortunately, this rat was packing music. Unfortunately, he passed away and Aaron took on the responsibility of selling the collection. He picked some favorites and Ruben Gonzalez was salvaged. Ruben Gonzalez came out of retirement work on the now infamous “Buena Vista Social Club.” Unfortunately, he passed away in 2003 but his music lives on.

Jeremy
Nina Nastasia “Why don’t you stay home?” from On Leaving
This was such a sweet song. Nina Nastasia has an incredibly lilting voice. I am listening to the song again that she has on her Myspace player. Check it out here. Nina Nastasia lives in New York City. This is such a simple arrangement but her voice is so sweet. I would follow it anywhere. Jeremy continues to bring excellent music from all genres. Check out Nina’s space.

Rebecca
The Derailers (w/Buck Owens) “Play Me the Waltz of the Angels” from Full Western Dress
The country tunes keep coming from Rebecca. The Derailers pay to the great Buck Owens who passed away last March. Owens was the impetus for what they call “the Bakersfield sound” in reference to Bakersfield, California. Buck Owens is also famous for co-hosting the television show “He-Haw.” Rebecca admitted to “crying her face off” when Owens died. This was certainly a big loss for American music. The Derailers feature Buck Owens on vocals on this tune.

Lauren
Tribalsita “Carnivalia” (album unknown)
Lauren came across this band while living in Madrid, Spain. The rhythm certainly makes you want to dance. So I looked up Tribalista on the myspace and this came up…she frightens me. Forget the myspace account idea.

Jim P.
Handsome Boy Modeling “The Truth” from So How’s Your Girl
Jim introduced this tune by saying that “he doesn’t know what else to say about this tune.” Thankfully, there are times when people don’t write blogs that rattle on about an auditory experience. Ironically, I have learned that this group is actually a “concept” band that comments on self-absorbed, crass, and materialistic members of society. Whatever the social commentary behind it, this song was characterized by its heavy heavy bass line and sounded great.

Jim
Andy Leftwich “Minor Swing” from The Ride
During our last meeting minutes I made a comment about Jim and his ability to always have a great line up his sleeve. The show keeps getting better because I think Jim made me laugh the entire night. He’s more Letterman than Leno. On Thursday night, he was on. He introduced his music as “some cheesy NPR background music.” Leftwich is a fiddler from Tennessee. Jim then pointed out Andy’s religious roots which he writes about in the liner notes. Interesting effect this religiosity can have on the listener. Either way, it seems that The Almighty is alright with myspace.

Elise
Artist Unknown “Chatma Nachshisi (Connected Song)”
Elise is immersed in her Uyghur community these days. Yesterday Elise showed me a video on the You Tube. While playing this video, she danced in front of the computer and smiled. I used to be involved with someone who always wanted to dance. I was constantly confronted with different dance styles from all over the universe. It was exhausting. I think if she had asked to start dancing Uyghur that would have really put an end to it. Although, I think I like the Uyghur dance for men. Elise found this song title on a blog she looks at about the Uyghur community. Next time you see Elise ask her what she is listening to on her iPod. I bet $50 that it is not The White Stripes, but it is the podcast dedicated to Uyghur news.

Maria
ZZZZ “Railroaded” from Album Unknown
Maria brought us a tune from a Chicago-based group but admitted to having an interest in the groups Alto-saxophone player, Steve Sostak. Steve has since moved on to Peru which causes Maria to peruse travel fairs to Peru on occasion. The song was pretty intense/frantic and reminded the group of the Dave Matthews Band. I read an article about the band which described the group as “collectively bending and defying genres, Chicago's ZZZZ will hit you like a double-fisted chop to the throat.”

Audrey
Natasha Baruko
My apologies. I believe that I do not have the correct information for what Audrey played for us. My notes were horrible at this point. I think I have the artist name correct and will update this as soon as I find out the correct information from Audrey.

Chris
Daniel Lanois “Transmitter” from Shine
Daniel Lanois is originally from Quebec but he has a huge impact on popular music worldwide. He produced and collaborated with U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Emmy Lou Harris, and Willie Nelson among others. His production usually places a certain “sonic stamp” on the albums he works on. I would use the work “ethereal” to describe his sound. About two years ago, Lanois started focusing more on his own music with particular attention paid to the pedal steel guitar. Lanois has been playing the pedal steel since he was 11 years old and considers it his main musical inspiration. His approach to this instrument, I believe, is not the traditional country twang and is at the foundation of this “ethereal” production aesthetic. Please check out the link above, click on the last video and stick with it. The last section displays raw footage of him and his pedal steel.

Selina
Lhasa De Sela “El Pajaro” from La Llorona
This was a beautiful song. The only thing more interesting than Selina’s choices of music is Lhasa De Sela herself. I just read a bio/interview of this musician and she is really fascinating. In talking about one of her albums she says “the music comes from a place of strength. It comes from the realization that she can live the life of a nomad and still feel at home wherever she goes, because she is at peace with the changes in herself.” I would be interested to find out where Selina is getting her music. Or was it from the collection that Aaron copped off the dead guy? Sorry about that. If anything, check out the “youtube.” Unfortunately, no “myspace.” Here is another interview on youtube. I don’t know what she said but I watched it twice.

Hsin-Wen
Tango Orkesteri Unto “Tähdet Meren Yllä (Stars Above the Sea)” from Finnish Tango
At this point in the evening, late in the evening, the ethnomusicologists made a casually late entrance. Like rock stars. Like cowboys. Like gunslingers. They showed up armed to the teeth. Hsin-wen talked about his interest in Tango music from Finland which is his subject of interest. The group he played are considered “the dream team” of Finnish Tango music.

Stephanie Fida
Pedro the Lion “Eyes on the Finish Line” from Winners Never Quit
Stephanie dedicated this tune to the “ironic twists that life throws at us.” This group is an “indie” band from Seattle, Washington and feature David Bazan and Tim Walsh. The group has recently split. Here is what Dave Bazan is up to. Check out his “space.”

Chui Wa
Luna Sea (J-Rock)
This is evidence that I should have a myspace account. Luna Sea has “space.” This is a pretty fascinating genre of music that is currently very big in Japan. It is called “J-Rock” or “Visual Rock.” It is heavily influenced by American rock. Chui Wa told us a pretty graphic story about how an audience member got extremely “excited” while at a Luna Sea show. It was enough for her to stay clear of Luna Sea concerts in the future.

Gabi
The Magnetic Fields “Underwear” from 69 Love Songs
Gabi described her attraction to this tune by the singer’s deep voice and sarcasm found in the lyrics. Those New Yorkers just love the sarcasm don’t they? TheirSpace.

Ariana
The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” from Let It Bleed
New to the meetings, Ariana brought us back to the classic Rolling Stones tune “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” The Stones are classic…from the old school. There is NO WAY they would have a myspace account.

NEXT MEETING:

Thursday February 8^th, 2007 @7pm