Bideodromage
The maestro of Ethiopian saxophone: Gétatchèw Mèkurya. His music boasts a truly distinctive “nightmare carnival” quality that felled me upon first listen. The purveyors of a Colorado restaurant were kind enough to make a cassette copy for me, and it was off to the races.
Yuja Wang and Jun Asai are two surreal talents. Already phenomenally accomplished at their youthful ages, these two have the world at their feet. We have much to marvel at now, and much more to look forward to.
Formed in Akron, this groundbreaking group achieved world domination upon their Warner debut album in 1978, which was instigated in part by David Bowie, and was produced by Brian Eno. Equal parts punk and new wave, Devo featured lyrics rife with sardonic humour, social satire, and general weirdness, based mainly on the concept of de-evolution, or human regression, and whatnot.
A modest-but-shockingly-great sampler of soul hits from the 1970s, performed live. We have Billy Paul, Blue Magic, The Isley Brothers, Ben E. King, LTD, Brick, The Main Ingredient, Arthur Prysock, The Al Green, The Spinners, and The Stylistics, featuring Russell Thompkins, Jr.
Sirvavigadas: “a characteristically Hungarian penchant for celebrating misery in an extravagant, nay spendthrift, manner.” —R. Sarlos.
Marc Bolan was the founder, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and sole constant member of the English band T. Rex, a group renowned for sensuous grooves and cryptic lyrics chock-a-block with innuendo. When Bolan appeared on Top of the Pops with glitter makeup, the glam era was officially underway. The vocalist also had a memorable way with ballads, as the above performances demonstrate. Most of all, of course, he was The Groover.
Elvis Presley ended up mastering a great many styles and genres, including Gospel, Country/Nashville, Ballads, and…Rock & Roll. An astonishingly dramatic, charismatic, riveting performer, right up to the end.
Note: Elvis is seen above by gospel god and idol James “Big Chief” Wetherington.
“Very Great” moments in Gospel music, throughout history.
A few notes from Wikipedia: Norman Greenbaum: If you ask me what I based “Spirit In The Sky” on … what did we grow up watching? Westerns! These mean and nasty varmints get shot and they wanted to die with their boots on. So to me that was spiritual, they wanted to die with their boots on.
“I had to use Christianity because I had to use something. But more important it wasn’t the Jesus part, it was the spirit in the sky. Funny enough … I wanted to die with my boots on.”
“According to The New York Times article, Greenbaum used a Fender Telecaster guitar with a fuzz box built into the body to generate the song’s characteristic guitar sound.”
Greenbaum daringly defies any and all Anti-Hand-Clapping ordinances in the above performances, and Ms. Hagen takes a commendable swing at the immortal song, as well.
The great South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, a keyboard giant, is here featured. Though his work reflects the gospel and traditional works of his ancestral home, as well as that of jazz legends Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington, he is much more than their sum. Ibrahim is a master of improvisational high-wire acts that leave the listener spellbound. His is a unique, powerful, mesmeric musical vision.
Bideodromage 