Experiencing electronica directly.

A couple of years ago I saw Imogen Heap play at the Royal Albert Hall.  I had been looking forward to the gig for a long time having enjoyed her music with Frou Frou and her solo work and I sat in my seat in eager anticipation.  I’ve always felt Imogen is an innovative artist and I was curious to see how that would translate to the live experience.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Apart from being completely personable and open with the audience, she also managed to include us in the music being made.  She told stories behind the songs she played and I loved the humour she brought to the stories and then the emotion that I felt when she actually begun to play.

Imogen also bravely made use of samples during the show.  At one point she sampled the audience as we sung a refrain and included us in one of her songs.  At another point she sampled herself and layered up a song bit by bit until it was fully formed.  This could’ve gone so wrong (and she did have to restart the sample at one point), but the overall effect was beautiful and made me feel as if I was part of the experience, rather than just a passive observer.

Some people have said use of modern technology detracts from art and music as it creates a barrier between the person creating the art and the person experiencing it.  It is suggested that it brings us out of the music to the gadget that is creating it, but in this instance it firmly rooted us in the music and made it a more powerful experience.

Imi makes extensive use of social media and regularly has video chats with her fans to create music together and share ideas. I’ve loved watching her video diaries online (check out some on her website, she is so endearing), joining in with these video chats and that her connection to the people who buy and love her music is immediate and unfiltered by record companies.  Not only is this refreshing, but it makes me feel more connected to the music she creates.

As a brief aside, Marc Cohn also manages to connect directly with his fans via Facebook in this way.  I love hearing his thoughts on music as he has them and love even more that he (and other musicians who communicate in this way) have control over their voice and what they tell us.

So, not only did the use of technology make my experience of the music at the Imogen Heap gig more immediate and personal, it also means I can interact with her at other times and connect with the music on another level than just the aural.  This can only add to the overall picture and gives me another avenue to integrate music into my life.  Despite some of it’s flaws (as briefly discussed above), technology (and social media) can actually add to our artistic experiences and when used in the right way can bring it to a level previously unimagined.

If you like technology and music then you must also check out Imogen Heaps Gloves that create music.  But that is a whole other blog post.

Visiting Denmark street.

Many moons ago, when I first started playing guitar in my mid to late teens, my best friend and I used to travel to London on a regular basis and browse the guitar and music shops in Denmark street.

If you don’t know, Denmark street (aka Tin Pan Alley) is a side street off Charing Cross road that is famous for it’s guitar and musical instrument shops and it is a mecca for anyone wishing to check out the latest instruments and gadgets.

I remember the anticipation and excitement I would feel as we travelled up on the train and then coming out of the main station in London and walking up the road as people and cars bustled around us.  The whole way up we’d talk about a variety of topics, but the main topic was music and the latest bands and songs that had moved us.  It set the theme for the day perfectly.  We’d often stop off on the way up Charing Cross road at a little CD shop we knew of (that is sadly no more) and buy some CD’s at a great price, then bag in hand we’d continue on up.

Upon reaching Denmark street we’d step into each shop and browse the guitars hanging on the walls and drool over expensive items of craftsmanship we could only aspire to.  The shop assistants were usually condescending and dismissive and I’m sure they thought we were just another couple of window shoppers who came in to gawp at and paw their products.

Occasionally when we were feeling braver and the sales assistants weren’t too antagonistic we would ask to try a guitar and we’d carefully cradle the instrument in our arms as we’d strum our rudimentary riffs and licks and try not to embarrass ourselves in public.

Every visit we’d come away with a new music notation book of some kind, or a capo, or some plectrums or some other gadget.  But once in a while, after we had saved up our money, we would actually buy a guitar.  This was a wonderful day and it felt great knowing we could try numerous guitars, safe in the knowledge we were going to buy one at the end of the process.  We usually knew roughly what we were looking for (acoustic or electric etc), but the final choice was often what grabbed and impressed us on the day.  And what fell into our price range!

I still have fond memories of striking a bargain (probably not as great as I thought at the time) and walking back to the station with our new purchase in it’s guitar case, eager to get home to tune it up and start to play it.   Even if it was my friend buying the guitar that day, the excitement was nearly as great and we both vicariously enjoyed the others purchase and growing guitar collection.  Hell, we shared nearly everything anyway, so a new guitar for one was really a new guitar for us both.  We’d cradle the guitar case in our hands on the train home and talk excitedly and then we’d walk to one of our houses from the station at the other end sharing carrying duties and often not even feeling the weight in our excitement and anticipation.  You can’t beat plugging a new guitar into an amp for the first time, or that first full strum of an acoustic guitar.

We may have been belittled by the arrogant shop assistants who I’m sure only worked in the shops until their own bands ‘took off’, but overall I have happy memories of visiting Denmark street.  It was a day out in London with my best friend, it was exploring new music and it was savouring that glow that comes from creating music yourself.  I no longer buy new guitars, or even play much anymore, but the experience of buying them and learning is one I still savour and those years were formative in my musical education and I’d not give them up for anything.

Introductions: Johnny Cash

I know I only wrote about Johnny Cash relatively recently (‘Embraced by Johnny Cash’), but an old friend asked me the other day where was a good place to start with listening to his music and I thought I’d share what I told him with you.

Initially I suggested he start off with a good best of compilation.  One of the best ones in my mind is ‘Ring of Fire: The Legend of Johnny Cash’.  This has the best of his early music, as well as a good selection of his later work and it is great to see labels collaborate to bring out a rounded best of collection for fans. 

I then said he should move on to the prison recordings (’At Folsom Prison‘ and ‘At San Quenstin‘).  This is the time when Cash was reborn as an artist and found his path again after his struggles with drugs and these albums sound especially alive and fresh.  The perspective of a live concert inside a prison is unique as well and the atmosphere as inmates holler and whoop along with the music and laugh at the gentle jokes at the prisons expense only adds to the music on offer.

Then I would jump ahead and work my way through the American recordings (7 albums).  These series of albums again revived Cash’s career after he was neglected by past record labels.  Rick Rubin took Cash to the studio and told him to make the music he had always wanted to without label interference or pressure and the result is a staggering collection of gospel, traditional, reworked and new music that rates extremely highly in Cash’s back catalogue.  Some albums feature just Cash and a guitar and others have a complete band, but regardless the music feels intimate and personal.

On ‘Unchained’ (the second in the series) Cash is backed up by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the cover of Petty’s ‘Southern accents’ is a real highlight.  The lyrics and significance seem to mean something more when sung in Cash’s rich timbre.

Across the series of albums you get covers of U2’s ‘One’, Sheryl Crow’s ‘Redemption Day’, Springsteen’s ‘Further on up the road’ and Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt’ and these all sound like they could’ve been written especially for Cash.  These are just a snapshot of the covers across the series and each album offers something new to tantalise and delight.

One hidden gem in the American recordings series is ‘My Mothers Hymn Book’ and as its name suggests it is a collection of songs that Cash grew up with at home, singing in the fields and church with his mother. This album was recorded towards the end of his life and was recorded in a cabin on his property.  Cash sings instinctively and accompanies himself on a guitar and he had said before he passed away that of all the albums he ever made, this was his favourite and who are we to argue.

I think if you managed to get these albums and spent some time listening to them you’d get a good idea of Cash and his music.  Of course there are other albums that are worth tracking down if the bug has bitten you and the collection of early Sun records tracks is worth a listen at some point.  But with a good best of collection, the prison recordings and the American recordings, you’d have a solid and satisfying introduction to an American legend.  I am still only scratching the surface of his music and it has moved me a great deal and quickly become an integral part of my music collection.

Singing the Blues

Funnily enough for quite a young boy, some of the first music I grew to love in my life was the Blues.  Maybe I was a morose young chap (although I don’t like to think so), or I had an old soul, but a part of me revelled in the stories told in the songs and I adored singing along ‘the sky is crying’ or ‘I’m a hoochie coochie man’ and I loved hearing the raw blues guitar or harmonica as it ripped through me and made my insides ache.

I started out with Eric Clapton and one of the first albums I owned was ‘Journeyman’.  The track ‘Old Love’, whilst slightly too polished to my ears now, was a great introduction to the blues.  I now prefer the slightly more emotional version from ‘24 Nights’.  Clapton’s album of blues covers ‘From the Cradle’ is still one of my favourite blues albums to this day and I will happily turn up the volume on this album and feel strangely uplifted by the blues on offer.

Jimi Hendrix is another early blues artist for me (I’ve mentioned in ‘Discovering Jimi Hendrix’ how I discovered his music) and whilst he has some great rock music in his back catalogue, tracks like ‘Red house’ are as blue as they come and the original version of ‘Voodoo Chile’ still gives me Goosebumps to this day.

I quickly began digging out other blues albums and blues compilations and mixed them with more rock stuff as well.  Gary Moore is a great example of a rock guitarist who also plays some searing blues guitar.  ‘The Loner’ and ‘Parisienne Walkways’ are both simply breath taking.

I also remember one track from a blues compilation that I used to play, rewind the cassette and then play again, called ‘Christo Redemptor’ by Charlie Musslewaite.  The version I had was a live performance and to hear the harmonica wailing away as the crowd whooped and yelled in the background was magical to my young ears.  But boy was that a mournful, melancholy soaked song!

My blues listening developed into a roll call of the greats, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Robert Johnson, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and on and on and on and my blues education continued apace.

Even after my tastes moved on to other types of music and I started to listen to heavier rock during my teenage years I still had/have a soft spot for the blues.  I enjoy Seasick Steve and his style of blues and I have been playing his various albums a great deal recently.

The blues was for me and I still believe is for anyone, a great grounding to explore other music.  From the blues I explored soul and gospel music, jazz, the great rock bands of the 60’s, some of the heavier rock of the 70’s and 80’s and I can see it’s influence in some of the great metal bands I enjoy listening to today.

It goes without saying you don’t necessarily have to have a blue personality, or have experienced the same strife in your life as in the songs you hear.  The stories are often universal and the emotion in the music carries you along where there are holes in your own personal knowledge.

Although I may have been a slightly unusual child and when other kids were outside playing and still listening to the music their parent enjoyed, I was often inside reading my books and exploring my own musical avenues, but I wouldn’t of had it any other way.  It stood me in good stead when I started to experience my own heartache later in life and whilst I couldn’t stop these things from hurting me and shaping me, at least I could relate more directly and I had a damn good soundtrack to go along with them.

Getting hooked on Audioslave

I remember the first time I discovered the band ‘Audioslave’.  I was working in London and a group of us who worked together used to share music on a regular basis.  We’d talk about music on our lunch breaks, go to record shops after work and browse the vinyl, go to gigs together, pass on new musical finds, as well as suggesting old favourites and over the years I found some great bands in this way.   

One day a friend suggested I check out the new (self titled) album from Audioslave and when I said I didn’t know them, he gave me a little history.  He told me they were the joining of the band members from Rage Against the Machine (Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford) and Chris Cornell (the singer from Soundgarden) and that all the sounds you hear on the album are made using only musical instruments and no samples.  He told me they were relatively heavy, but considering I like heavy music this was no problem for me.

Here are some small band facts to set the scene for you.  They were brought together by Rick Rubin who has had his hand in the success of many bands and musicians over the years.  At one point the band nearly didn’t get it together due to quarrelling managers and record companies, but a compromise was finally reached which allowed them to move forwards and release the first album and form a group. Cornell was battling with drug problems during the making of the first album and used the project to find his feet after leaving Soundgarden and pursuing mixed success solo work.  Later in their career they became the first American band to play in Cuba and at the time Morello insisted there was no political message to this, but that they were on an artistic cultural exchange, although the impact of their decision could never be ignored when RATM had been such a political band in the past.  Anyway….

After the recommendation I went down on my lunch break and bought the album (as well as numerous other CD’s) and I remember slipping the disc into my CD player as I walked home and the raw, powerful intro to ‘Cochise’ washing over me.  I was instantly hooked.  I didn’t really know much Soundgarden stuff, so Cornells vocal style was new to me and to my ears suited the music perfectly.  Heavier songs like ‘Gasoline’ are balanced with slightly gentler tracks like ‘Shadow on the Sun’ which has some incredible bass lines and overall it is solid album from start to finish.

Their first album is one of the rare gems where every track is outstanding and the CD didn’t leave my stereo at home or my portable CD player as I travelled too and from work, for weeks.  It quickly became the music that coloured and influenced me during that summer and I happily passed on the recommendation to anyone who would listen.  They managed to blend the power and rawness from RATM’s sound with Cornells distinctive vocals and come up with a sound that is instantly unique and compelling.  There are some albums that set the time and place when you heard them so perfectly that every subsequent listen over the years instantly takes you back there.  ‘Audioslave’ became such an album for me.

Over the bands life they made two other albums and whilst they are also good (‘Out of Exile’ especially developed the bands sound), they each have a different feel and for me don’t quite match the urgency and power of the first album.  Whenever I play the album it reminds me of walking through London’s streets during the summer, feeing the heat from the pavements, watching groups of people drinking and laughing outside pubs, making my way home as it grew dark and having these songs as the soundtrack to my thoughts and feelings. 

I came across many great bands through the sharing of music with work friends, but this is one of the albums that endures and even now, at the first sniff of summer, it comes out and I play it loud and proud.

The Prayer Cycle

Many years ago my brother recommended an album to me and as always I quickly tracked it down and gave it a listen.  But the album he suggested was more unusual than most and it has become a moving and integral part of my music collection, if not my life.

‘The Prayer Cycle’ by Jonathan Elias is a choral symphony in 9 parts where various prayers/poems are sung by different known and unknown musicians.  Names include Alanis Morissette who sings in French and Hungarian, James Taylor and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to name just a few.

The prayers/poems are included in the booklet and the theme of the album touches upon nuclear weapons and the affect they have upon the world.  This may sound bleak to some people, but this is a deep, moving album and it is also an album of staggering beauty that never fails to take my breath away.

The blend of choral and solo voices with the orchestra is perfect (there is no other description) and the raw, emotive vocals that Morissette brings sits alongside the plaintive, penetrating singing of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the whole thing becomes a stirring experience.

The first time I listened to this album I read the poems at the same time and it was an incredible, memorable event.  My spirit was affected by the music I heard in my ears and my mind and thoughts were overwhelmed with the imagery and emotions given in the words.  It was, and still is, a powerful experience.

There is a second album in this series called ‘The Prayer Cycle:Path to Zero’ and this also has some well known vocalists who add their talents to the piece.  It has similar themes and it is a good album and is as moving in places, but the original album has a depth and power to it that I will never tire of.

I was recently able to pass on the pleasure this album has given me when a colleague at work heard me playing it and remarked at how beautiful it was.  I bought him a copy of the album that evening and I am so happy to pass on something that has affected me so deeply and share something that has now become a part of my life with him.  It sounds melodramatic when you put it that way, but music (some more than others) has the ability to make you feel that way.  I guess I just need to thank my brother for introducing me to something so profound and beautiful and sharing this music with me.

http://www.globalzero.org/ (The organisation Elias supports and tries to highlight with his Prayer Cycle albums). 

Emailing new music.

On Friday evening I sat indoors at my computer and after checking a few websites and updating my ipod with my weekly podcasts I put on some Beethoven and set about replying to some emails I had let sit too long in my inbox.  Snow drifted silently down outside and the house was warming through nicely, whilst a cup of tea steamed beside me.

There was something soothing about sitting there as it snowed outside and the music played quietly in the background.  I replied to some friends in various international locations and thought how they’d appreciate my current musical choice.  I enjoyed re-reading their news and set about sharing my own.

As is often the case I also included some YouTube musical links within each email to share some music that has moved or delighted me.

For one friend in New York I included a piece by a group called Rondo Veneziano.  They are a classical group that also include drums in some of their pieces and which my father introduced me to as a child.  Whenever I hear them I think back to those times listening to them on vinyl in his living room and that warm glow you have as a child when food and safety are taken care of and you can just sit back and enjoy what life brings your way.  I told my friend it reminded me of a time before you realise your parents are fallible and when I loved my father unconditionally.  Whilst my relationship with him has changed somewhat over the years, I think beneath it all, that nugget of unconditional love still lingers, despite (or maybe because of) our ups and downs.

For another friend in Geneva I shared a song I have recently discovered and which I adore.  The song is ‘Laura’ by Bat for Lashes.  I discovered this artist (Natasha Khan, who performs under a band name) when she performed on Jools Holland on the BBC and after buying her first album I quickly went out and bought the other 2 as well.  I love her style, her lyrics and her voice.  I keep thinking I must get a copy for my father-in-law as I think he’d enjoy her as well. 

I hope with both friends I have shared something both beautiful and new to them and I can think of nothing better than sharing a part of myself with music in this way.

So now on this Sunday evening, as it still snows outside I thought I would sit down and share both of these music snippets with you as well.  I hope you enjoy them and if you are shivering in the UK cold somewhere they help to warm you up just a touch.

Connecting with music in Switzerland.

A few weeks ago I spent a week in Switzerland on a business trip.  One evening during the middle of the week the group I was with were driving back in the dark through the Jura mountains after a day of training and discussion, returning to our hotel.

As is inevitable with me after the chat died down and people started to doze off I pulled out my ipod and headphones and plugged myself in.  It was peaceful to gaze out of the window at the tops of mountains shrouded in darkness and then to whizz through brightly lit tunnels that bore through the sides of vast rock faces.  All the while music played through my head as a soundtrack to the journey.

One other person was awake and looking around at the same time and I tapped our translator on the shoulder and asked if she wanted to listen to what I had playing.  Soon we were scrolling through my ipod and her phone, sharing music recommendations and the music that has shaped and moved us.  There was some crossover in styles and artists, but there was also a lot neither of us had heard as well.

I loved her reaction when I played her a song she had never heard before and which I loved and I could see how she reacted in a similar way as the first time I heard it.  Soon she was making a list of artists/bands she must explore further and it grew as each song passed.

She also played me some music I have never heard before, mainly some great French jazz musicians and I can now go off and explore them further too.

There is something magical about bonding with someone via music.  It is such an intimate, personal connection.  Especially when the music is being played through headphones and no-one else around you knows what is moving or inspiring you so much.  I cherish that moment when you suggest something you both already know and you can say ‘I love that song too’ and then you can bond over a shared feeling you have had when listening to it. I also love it when you hear/play something new and you can share something that may have been a part of your life for many, many years.

Before we knew it we were arriving back at the hotel and not only had the journey passed quickly and pleasurably, I had also developed a friendship with someone over the music we had shared.  For the rest of the week the translator and I talked about a vast range of subjects and grew closer over our shared interests and a great deal of it stemmed from the music we shared that evening travelling through the mountains of Switzerland.  The perfect end result that comes from both travel and music, which is why I love both so much.

A misty morning in the Jura mountains.

Keep your head up

As some of you may know, I have had a particularly stressful year for a variety of reasons and one of the things that has helped me get through has been my love of music and as suggested in a past blog post (Changing my mood with music) using music to self medicate and keep me buoyed up and positive (ish).

One recent example of this is the track ‘Keep Your Head Up’ by Ben Howard.  I bought his album ‘Every Kingdom’ in the past couple of months and have played it extensively ever since.  One evening I was working out on my exercise bike and had the album playing in the background.  As I pedalled away I thought about various things and put the world to rights mentally.  The track ‘Keep Your Head Up’ came on and the chorus hit me full force.  I felt the message keenly and strongly and I felt my cares slip away.  As I pedalled away even more furiously I used the message in the song to blow away some mental blocks and to also fight back some physical tiredness from the exercise.

Here are the lyrics for you to read through:

I spent my time watching the spaces that have grown between us.
And I cut my mind on second best or the scars that come with the greenness.
And I gave my eyes to the boredom, still the seabed wouldn't let me in.
And I tried my best to embrace the darkness in which I swim.

Now walking back down this mountain with the strength of a turning tide.
Oh the wind's so soft at my skin, the sun so hot upon my side.
Oh looking out at this happiness, I searched for between the sheets.
Oh feeling blind and realize, all I was searching for was me. Ooh ooh all I was searching for was me.

Keep your head up, keep your heart strong. (no, no, no, no).
Keep your mind set, keep your hair long. (Oh my my darling)
Keep your head up, keep your heart strong. (no, no, no, no).
Keep your mind set in your ways, keep your heart strong.

I saw a friend of mine the other day, and he told me that my eyes were gleaming.
I said I had been away, and he knew, oh he knew the depths I was meaning.
And it felt so good to see his face, the comfort invested in my soul.
To feel the warmth of his smile, when he said "I'm happy to have you home. Ooh ooh I'm happy to have you home."

Keep your head up, keep your heart strong. (no, no, no, no.)
Keep your mind set, keep you hair long. (oh my my darling)
Keep your head up, keep you heart strong. (no, no, no, no.)
Keep your mind set in your ways, keep your heart strong.

‘Cause I'll always remember you the same.
Eyes like wild flowers within demons of change.
May you find happiness there, May all your hopes all turn out right.

Keep your head up, keep your heart strong. (No, no, no, no).
Keep your mind set, keep you hair long. (oh my my darling)
Keep your head up, keep you heart strong. (no, no, no, no).
Keep your mind set in your ways, keep your heart strong.

Because I'll always remember you the same.
Eyes like wild flowers within demons of change.



Not all of the lyrics apply to me at this particular time or if they do the context is changed, but they are uplifting lyrics that can help you regain some focus and help you get things back on the right track.

I was glad to share this song with a dear friend of mine recently who is also going through a rough patch.  Often she and I will share our lives and stories in long extensive emails which I adore, but sometimes we will just send over a quick YouTube link and let the music talk for us.  In this case I sent her the link and hoped she would take the same message from the song; to keep her head up and her heart strong.

It pays to remember that the tiring, wearing and hard feelings we may experience in our life will eventually subside and release their grip on us.  But, in the mean time until we reach that point, it helps to have music and lyrics like this that can keep us on a slightly more even path.  I was just glad that I found this particular song and that I was able to share it with a friend who needed the boost and message as well.  I hope you enjoy and take something from it as well.

Enjoying the silence

I’m just going to stop my music as I write this article today.  Funnily enough this week, in my blog about music I’ve been thinking about the lack of music and of silence in our day to day life.

In some music and especially classical and jazz it is often as much about the silences and space in music as the music itself.  That hold for an extra beat, or that elongated pause between songs is as much a part of the composition as the soaring strings or the frantic jazz drumming.  That silence can allow you to take a breath and feel the force of the music all the more, or create tension before the music releases it.  Quite often these silences or gaps are overlooked and where itunes has separated the individual track from the album/composition this interplay of silence and music can be lost.

This lead on to me thinking about those odd times when I have been unable to listen to music for a period of days.  Whether it be away on retreat, or when taking a holiday, or away on business, there have been times when I haven’t played music for a number of days.  I find that when I come back not only am I desperate to play some music and sit and relax with it, but I also appreciate it more for not having it in my life the past few days.  The silence and time away from music makes me appreciate it’s power and place in my life all the more.

Silence and time for reflection are also important for the soul and where music feeds my soul in numerous ways, I am also nourished by those reflective moments of silence in my life too.  I could be sat on top of a welsh hill gazing out at the lush beauty before me, or sitting quietly with my thoughts centring myself before or at the end of a hectic day, but these silent moments are as important as the soaring, stomach clenching emotion I feel from music.

It helps sometimes to press ‘stop’ on my stereo and listen to the rain outside, or the wind blowing against the house, or to appreciate the extra quietness that comes from a snow storm.  That connection to nature, however brief, helps us find ourselves and then when we go back to our lives and press ‘play’ again, we can feel more in touch with our surroundings and in this instance feel the power of the music all the more.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.  Time to press play and see what music I fancy today.