INTRO
Greetings - for those who haven’t bumped into me elsewhere on Nervosa let me introduce myself - I’m String, I’m new here, and I’m havin’ a blast loitering in this audio obsessive locale. This may say something a bit too revealing, and perhaps a little sad about me, but music has been, more so than love, career, family, spirituality, community, country, world, the single greatest attraction and motivation in my life. Maybe if I’d admitted this to a paid professional, years ago, my life would have been more, how shall I say, BALANCED. But I accept my lot, gladly, for the consistent pleasure and satisfaction that music, in its many forms and variations, has given, both played by myself and in listening to others. It’s the listening to others that this website, at least to me, is all about. The gear, as we all know well, can become an obsession, an unfortunate distraction at times, putting the method and manner of reproduction before the truly grand event - human beings in the sublime act of creation, recordings of their sweaty passion and cool technical prowess preserved for our careful inspection, our vicarious consideration. Musical Moments - trapped in amber.
AN ARC
This period of my life represents a reincarnation of sorts, both as an active appreciator of recorded musical performance, and as a hobbyist of the sort known as audiophile. My previous existence as such culminated back in the early 80’s at a point in time where I had reached a peak both in terms of my analog playback system and my life as an all-night long rock-n-roll beast. I could sustain neither aspect of my existence - something called the Compact Disc came along and destroyed recorded sound quality, as I understood it, and substance abuse cut me down where I stood.
Years later, contentedly married, sober, working DAYS, healthy in body, mind and spirit, I dared to once again enter the world of audio and the portal it provides to musical experience. I was encouraged by reports of substantial improvements in both digital media and playback mechanisms. I GEARED UP! It wasn’t close to what I recalled from my Glory Days of Sota Sapphire turntables, C-J bi-amplification, Acoustat panels, and VINYL. But it was OK, it was serviceable, and most of all - music was back.
One of the very first CD’s I purchased was a “blind pick”. I’ve always preferred sitting down to listen to a recording that is totally unknown territory. I love the promise of adventure, the possibility that this particular artist(s) just MIGHT take me somewhere I haven’t been before. So it was that I wandered in to Amoeba Music, by the Cal campus in Berkeley, CA, and plunked down a bit of my hard-earned cash for a recording called “Acadia” by a guy called Daniel Lanois.
If you’re not familiar with the name Daniel Lanois, you probably should be - HE’S EVERYWHERE! Well, maybe not but he does get around. Aside from his own recordings, and there are several, most of his recognition has been gained through his production work on recordings such as U2’s “Joshua Tree”. His production style is unique, and for some, an acquired taste. Densely layered, ALMOST to the point of dis-articulation, but always to me supremely musical in its values.
And so it was with my first Lanois, “Acadia”. After my initial listen I KNEW that I had experienced something different. BUT the sound was so freakin’ thick, could I allow myself to actually reset my standards for what constituted a “good recording”? Well the songs were just too fine, too potent, too damn memorable to throw it all aside in the name of AUDIOPHILE MASTER QUALITY PRESSINGS. Nope, too much at stake, too bloody much musical goodness to absorb and savor. Lanois is, if I’ve got my facts straight, French-Canadian transplanted to New Orleans. “Acadia” is chock-full of the feel of comfortable familiarity, like a favorite pair of well-worn shoes. Strains of traditional song structures, filtered through northern snow banks and Bayou wetlands. A real novel stew.
The “arc”, as I’ve phrased it, picked up a bit down the road with the purchase of Chris Whitley’s “Living with the Law”. Produced by Malcolm Burns, keyboardist on “Acadia”, “Living with the Law” was made possible through the efforts of Daniel Lanois, to get Whitley “hooked up” with a recording contract - thanks Daniel, this is a desert-isle Top Ten for me. From the opening snippet of bluesy dobro, to the pounding Electro-Pop “feel” of “Big Sky Country” that quickly follows, this one grabbed my attention in a big way. I knew it’d be a journey, and it surely was. Whitley, felled by cancer and I’d guess the strain of a hard-lived life back in 2005, was that rarest of creatures, a White guy who could convincingly play and SING the blues. Sorry, don’t get pissed at ME, I didn’t arrange things this way - I’m just observing. I call it the Robben Ford Effect. If you insist on playin’ the blooze white boy, just keep yer mouth shut and play - don’t punish my ears with your limitations. Well, Whitley had the WHOLE package. A painful weariness dripping from his slide on the dobro and from the tongue in his mouth. An entire lifetime of frustration and disappointment oozing from every track, a walk down a dusty road dissecting a sun-parched landscape. Don’t worry, there’s no need to take the suffering upon yourself, but this is the sound of a ragged life laid bare. I’ll miss Chris W.’s recordings, his Cry of Love, but now I’ve got Trixie.
It was one of those weird deals, lookin’ for one thing and somehow finding the TRUE thing I was needing. I decided I just might need a couple more Dub recordings in my library as I’ve always enjoyed Dub, in a big way, but have only occasionally invested in any titles. So it was that as I searched the ‘net for hints of the finest new Dub available I stumbled on Black Dub. Lo and behold! It’s a NEW Daniel Lanois thing, assembled and recorded while recovering from a near-fatal motorcycle accident he experienced back in the Summer of ‘10. How good is this! His longtime sidemen Brian Blades on drums and Darryl Johnson on bass/vocals. A tighter rhythm pairing not to be found. Daniel towards the front, singing some and carrying the day playing his guitar, laying down all the glue that binds. But what is this? Who is this impossibly young, heart-achingly attractive woman smack-dab in the middle? This almost frail looking person, who in contradiction to this appearance is digging deeper into herself, for the right notes, than anyone I’ve heard in some time. A person who could not possibly have felt the anguish I’m clearly hearing, in a voice too big to be emanating from such a slim frame, with a sense of soulful wisdom too hard earned to be contained within such a youthful presence, kind of like Chris Whitley. Well, its his daughter Trixie, and she is something else. Clear away all the contrived, “industry” manufactured, pop-freakin’ divas and make way for the REAL DEAL. Trixie is a tightrope artist. With Daniel and the gang laying down thick, sweltering layers of rhythm behind her, I-wish-she-were-mine Trixie emotes, in the best possible way, reaching for notes she just might not have in her, but putting it all out on the line, for the sake of what’s aching to come out. It’s an act of bravery, this channeling of her inner passion, this expression of what it’s like to be the surviving daughter of someone as talented, and damaged, as was her father. This is some really compelling stuff, this Black Dub. Lyrics that are real and meaningful, music that is both intimate and fierce, playing that is as natural as the hurts that life can inflict and the joys that can spring forth, unexpected, for us all.
THUS THE ARC ENDS & AN APOLOGY, IF NEEDED
It is simple and true about me that if a thing can be described in six words, I will likely take a dozen to do it. I love the gift of language and the power and poetry in words. But I am guilty, more often than not, of being long-winded. If I have exceeded any reasonable standard of posting length, I apologize. I’m new to this whole forum posting thang, and I do not mean to abuse the privilege, so, if I’ve succeeded in pissing any of you off with the length of this entry, I apologize. I trust that old-timers here will set me straight if there’s an expectation of “limitation”, and I WILL COMPLY. But I gotta say, this has been FUN! - String
