New Podcast Up
Download it here or listen at the site.
Downtown driving during lunchtime yielded precious few costumes in connection with GenCon. I spied a fairy, some kind of medieval garb, and what appeared to be a steampunk bartender. Or barber. He wasn't practicing at the time, so it's hard to tell. Between the goth show at Radio Radio on Saturday and the continuing presence of the Arsenal Game Room in the neighborhood, I'm expecting a few more visitors to Fountain Square this weekend, colorful frocks and all.
Soundcheck Smackdown Brings It Around Again . . .
WNYC's Soundcheck recently hosted a discussion on the importance of the bass guitar in today's music. It's an interesting discussion that trots out the more familiar examples (White Stripes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and rehashes some typical stereotypes as well. Most importantly, though, is that the folks involved in the discussion mainly agreed that either dominant bassists or the complete absence of a bass guitar is the search for a new sound. Even the groups mentioned include some kind of bass sound, whether it be detuned or synthesized guitars and keyboards.
And the keyboards bring it back to the last time bass guitarists seemed to fear obsolescence - the 80s, when new machines and electronic keyboards threatened to dominate the low end with their precisely sequenced character. In response, more folks picked up extended-range basses or doubled on keyboards as well. And then the late 80s and the 90s gave us hyperactive bassists like Flea and Les Claypool, which gave us legion upon legion of hyperkinetic players bent on world domination. So folks went for more "tasteful" playing, and thus we are here today.
I think the examples they trotted out were a little old (we already know about the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they haven't even released an album in the past year or so), but otherwise the standard points of what the bass does (bridging rhythm and harmony, providing a foundation for the song, etc.) were brought out and endorsed. And it seems like the host was the only one on the program who wasn't a bassist, so it made for a one-sided discussion.
But half-an-hour on a major public radio station, on the heels of a Victor Wooten interview earlier this summer? Somebody at NPR is pushing a serious low-end agenda, I think.
Play It Like ‘Shaft’
Performance instructions on sheet music usually involve formal Italian instructions or more familiar (yet generic) terms - softly, with gusto, etc. On one piece for "The Wiz," the instructions were more direct.
"Play it like 'Shaft'."
And it's a testament to the cultural impact of the writer and performer (not only with that song, but with his overall body or work and image) that there's only one way to do that.
R.I.P., Mr. Hayes.
So Far This Weekend . . .
Friday night, I was treated to firedancers when I returned home, as evidenced by the photo to the left. The fact that I can no longer expect with any certainty the status of firedancers in my neighborhood makes Fountain Square an infinitely more interested place to live.
Then, on the way into the show Saturday night, I dared the weight limit of the elevator with members of the German national Segway polo team.
On their Segways.
I suppose that's like running into Lance Armstrong in an office building and having him pedal up to hit the 30th floor button.
They were on their way to a celebratory banquet in the Athanaeum, and I spent most the show gleefully anticipating the sight of drunken Segway polo players crashing through the antique walls and laying each other out with mistimed moves and awkward acceleration.
Sadly, they'd cleared out by the time I got back down to the 1st floor. I still imagine someone crashed at some point in the evening. They serve extremely large beers at the Athanaeum, you know.
Too bad they didn't go to the State Fair instead. They probably could have found a tenderloin as big as the vehicle they ride.
Fountain Square Music This Weekend
Radio Radio packs their schedule tightly this weekend. Tonight's Naptown Juke Stomp features Eisenhower Field Day, Freddy T & The People, Creepin' Charley & The Boneyard Orchestra, Nidus, and a reunion show from The Repellents. My Old Kentucky Blog brings Tapes N' Tapes, The Broderick and Win With Willard to Saturday's show.
Half-Pint Jones visits Sam's Saloon tonight. Rusty Redenbacher of the Mudkids and Twilight Sentinels take the stage tomorrow.
Deano's Vino has the Michael Houston Group tonight and Doris Davies tomorrow. Both tend towards the jazzy.
And, appearing in my front lawn this morning, this J-card from a Sandi Patti cassette. I can only imagine how it arrived there, but I suspect it had something to do with yesterday's trash pickup. Or perhaps somebody got fed up with her whole mess and threw it out of the window whilst driving by. I can definitively state, however, that this is not her finest moment, no matter what the title says.
New Podcast Up
The new IMN podcast is up. Download it here or listen at the site.
If you do the math, we're two episodes away from the third birthday of our humble program. I'm not sure how that translates in Interweb years, but I'm pretty sure it puts us amongst the coelacanth of such programs. There's a (rather loose) scripted format for the show already, and we haven't made any big plans to mark the occasion. Any ideas?
It Breaks My Heart
Without rehashing a John Hiatt song, it pains me to note that Stephen Colbert smashed a bass guitar on last night's show.
Stephen, I expected better of you.
And the playing technique displayed before said smashing was weak and sloppy.
Mike Watt’s Bass Stolen
Yes, there were a few other things taken from The Stooges in the Great White North. But, as the article implies, they don't have the significance of this instrument. Watt's playing inspires bassists, other musicians, and just all-around fans, and it's tragic to hear of this news. Hopefully it's found and returned soon.