Martian Voodoo

I am going to make a clean break from the previous posts. So, I no longer even pretend to have the energy or the discipline to do music reviews. If anything, I may start recommending albums without doing as detailed reviews.

Since my last update, I have decided to continue with my education in the Classics (Greek and Roman culture and literature) and now I am aiming for a PhD. I begin a graduate program either here in California (UC Irvine) or in Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in the Fall of 2014.

On the art front, I am very stagnant. I have a few art pieces I have worked on here and there, but for the most part I haven't been drawing consistently. I mostly draw during seasonal breaks, which would more or less amount to me managing only one to four drawings a year. It's a bit of a shame.

 I have a new website where I upload all of my art work though!

http://www.martianvoodoo.com

This website has been in MASSIVE need of update and reorganization and all of the above, but hopefully that will be taken care of when my schedule lets up.

| E M E R G E N C Y ! |

tracklisting

o1. emergency

o2. beyondgames

o3. where

o4. vashkar

o5. viathespectrumroad

o6. spectrum

o7. sangriaforthree

o8. somethingspecial

Before I begin, let me give a summary of Tony Williams Lifetime. Miles Davis, the leading force in the realm of jazz and music before his passing, had enlisted a number of talented musicians to adventure with him down into the annals of time. Tony Williams had joined the ranks of Davis to wage war on the staler music conventions and following his service on records such as 'Sorceror', 'Nefertiti', and 'Filles de Kilimanjaro' -the beginnings of Miles' own Electric experimentation- Tony Williams created his own band. Tony Williams Lifetime devoted itself to the continuation of Miles Davis' fusion sound as it had just begun on 'Filles de Kilimanjaro' and critics were antagonistic to the sound when the debut album, "Emergency!" was first unleashed in 1969. It is through 'Emergency!' that John McLaughlin, legendary guitar maestro, and Larry Young, keyboard legend that had jammed with Jimi Hendrix, were introduced to Miles Davis just in time for the 'In a Silent Way' and 'Bitches Brew' recording sessions. Before 'Bitches Brew', there was 'Emergency!', perhaps the first important Jazz Fusion album (however, overshadowed by the behemoth that is 'Bitches Brew'). Now, unlike some of the other reviews I'll do, I haven't listened to this album at all yet. Matter of fact, my commentary on it will be written and the music will be unleashed upon virgin ears simultaneously.

"Emergency!" - The album title commands attention and panic or, even more urgent, action. With hesitation I press play and listen to this album. The title track bursts with immediacy, the drums and slick keyboard effects of Larry Young give the song a percussive element while John McLaughlin unleashes his Hendrixian energy upon the guitar. It is evident that, even without the reputation of working with Miles Davis preceding him, Tony Williams is a master musician and band leader in his own right. The song 'Emergency', after a frantic opening, calms down to a simmer, a vibe like that of a classic jazz café. Tony Williams finishes and begins the track with a drum roll before leading into "Beyond Games". The keys serve as the bassline and they sure are funky as a mutha. I was a bit shocked to hear vocals on the track though, but the words are spoken in a very classic 70's rap/spoken word format - words of romantic deceit.

Enter 'Where'. The track begins with Tony Williams' vocals and I don't know what to say, "Where are you going? Where did you come from?" The words are repeated a few times against an eerie backdrop of the organ. Eventually, a riff is repeated by Young while Williams provides the spine for McLaughlin's sonic exploration. 'Where' forces the sense of urgency once again, an unraveling aura of panic and one realizes that they are lost - occasionally interrupted by Williams' "Where are They Coming? Where Did They Come From?", perhaps referring to his aural explorations or an allusion to the Afro-futurism of Sun Ra.

'Vashkar' begins with aggressive drumming on the part of Williams, thus far, the most urgent. Young and Williams work together to provide a sweeping crescendo of sound to support the young McLaughlin, occasionally, Young taking the reins and embarking on a dramatic, anxious organ solo. The entire song, albeit short, suggests the most alarming sense of chaos on the entire album. In direct contrast, 'Via the Spectrum Road' opens with a bluesy electric guitar and Shuggie Otis sounding vocals. After a bit of singing, the song becomes frenzied before settling back into a mellow groove. There seems to be a forced restraint when Tony Williams sings, followed by an all too anxious funk brought on with Young's organ at the low end. As if picking up where 'Vashkar' ended, 'Spectrum' is a frenzied Voodoo funk that is unwilling to relent. While there is a definite jazz foundation in the grooves and riffs of 'Spectrum', the soundscape is dark and heavy, like territory that would be explored further on 'Bitches Brew'. As the track continues, the jazzy vibe dissipates and reveals a darker undercurrent - the layered jazz-fusion funk was hinted at earlier in the song and laid bare by the end. 'Spectrum' is a definite highlight on this album and nothing could have prepared you for its intensity.

Now, 'Sangria for Three' continues with a very heavy fusion vibe, much like 'Spectrum', however, the intentions are different. If 'Spectrum' was meant to show you the 'rock' side of fusion, 'Sangria for Three' was intended to show off the vastness of fusion. Young and Williams waste no time in providing another powerful canvas onto which McLaughlin paints an abstract image of chaos and at the same time, a spaghetti-western. Initially, the track carries on the same density of 'Spectrum', but as Williams lightens up on his drums, the guitar paints a picture of cowboys and ghost towns. This track shows how much control Williams has over his band, directing the mood from utter frenzy and then into a drunken bliss, but only when he ceases to play his drums with vigour. Williams returns to a very structured, yet raw drumming style and the track never ceases to amaze. The entirety of 'Sangria for Three' points in a very exploratory direction that would be hinted at in 'Bitches Brew', and not fully revisited until Miles Davis' heaviest album of all, 'Dark Magus'. Near the end of the track, McLaughlin unleashes a masterful guitar solo, only accented by Williams' drumming and the entire time, Young slams on his keys, increasing the overall effect of the song. In its entirety, 'Sangria for Three'' is a very chaotic and interesting exploration into the funkier side of fusion. As the song comes to a relatively abrupt end, Tony Williams Lifetime leaves the audience with 'Something Special'.

'Something Special' alternates between the ethereal workings of Young and a sudden funk groove. Unlike the later 'Sanctuary' by Miles Davis, closing 'Bitches Brew', 'Something Special' is relentless once the funk is introduced early in the song. Near the end of 'Something Special', the song reluctantly offers its initial calm, but the restraint is so forced that the song is still heavy and funky. It's a bit impossible to explain. When it is all said and done, the praise that 'Emergency!' has garnered over time is well-earned. In retrospect, this album is as important as Sly's 'There's a Riot Going On' when it comes to creating a new and fresh sound. If more musicians had followed in Williams' footsteps to push the envelope of convention instead of settling in a complacent ditch.

| M A D V I L L A I N |

Let’s Talk a Little Bit About Hip-Hop. Most of the time, a Hip-Hop duo is composed of the MC and the DJ - The Beat and the Soul of Hip-Hop itself. Most MCs create a persona with which to attack other MCs while in the cipher. In the cipher, the persona helps establish a mythology and signature appearance/sound for the MC, this being no different than an artist’s personal life and their artistic caricatures of themselves. With commercialization of Hip-Hop, these personae have become less differential - mostly the thuggish persona that builds reputation like that of a Classical Greek hero set upon the Negroid streets and ghettos opposed to a spear-bedded field outside of Troy. But this commercialization has proven itself a true Greek hero, an Achilles dragging the ravaged soul of Hip-Hop around the radios, thrice, disrespecting its origins and spirituality. Now, Hip-Hop is seen as party music, club bangers, etc, and not the artistic onus of putting witty lyrics to hardhitting and throbbing beats.

With this status of Hip-Hop [and black music overall I’d say], Madvillain comes through resurrecting the lost Hip-Hop scriptures, with an unorthodox and perhaps even sacrilegious appeal. MF DOOM and DJ Mablib come together to birth one of the most exciting Hip-Hop albums of the decade. Madvillainy evokes images of Marvel Comics, although, as the title implies, without the heroes. MF DOOM dons a mask much like that of the Supervillain Viktor Vaughn (Dr. Doom) and with this evocative persona established, MF DOOM and his villainous accomplice spin tales of Hip-Hop heads ripping rhymes with a stoned face and getting that money like curls.

There are a lot of tracks on this album and this blog is somewhat slow with the uploads, so I won't even list the tracks. I'll just tell you this, the album has superior production thanks to Madlib, so the beats are blunted [as in short and probably Mary Jane-inspired] and sweet. MF Doom is smooth like butter on these tracks and it's pretty awesome. Not much more I can say in words. Check it.

Madvillian - All Caps
Uploaded by 6souls. - Explore more music videos.

| B I T C H E S B R E W |

tracklisting

o1. pharaohsdance

o2. bitchesbrew

o3. spanishkey

o4. johnmclaughlin

o5. milesrunsthevoodoodown

o6.sanctuary

When it comes to Black music, I find the most interesting to be the sort with extraterrestrial or supernatural implications and themes. Whether Jimi Hendrix is singing the blues about how he's a "Voodoo Chile" or Sun Ra is eerily whispering (with an echoing chorus) that "There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)," the psychedelic and metaphysical soundscapes involve me the most. Such is the sentiment when I listen to Miles Davis's most controversial and compelling album.

Miles Davis always has been considered one of the greatest within the jazz community, his name often uttered in the same breath as John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Not only had he managed to posit himself in the forefront of nearly every major movement in jazz, yet in a number of cases, Miles Davis became the face of various movements with his cool persona. Cool Jazz, a slick, jazz-nocturne style genre was spearheaded by one of the first of Miles Davis's remarkable releases aptly titled, "Birth of the Cool". With "Birth of the Cool," Miles' prolific career was birthed, he becoming jazz in its various manifestations, perhaps fully recognized with the release of "Bitches Brew" decades later.

"Bitches Brew" - the title evoking the dark imagery of Shakespearean witches brewing malignity with their boiling kettle. The various song titles even hinting at the blackness of the album, beginning with "Pharoah's Dance". The opening track dances around the sound of congas - a frantic collage of horns and piano riffs played by Jazz kings, swooping in and out of the foreground. At times, "Pharoah's Dance" sounds like a disjointed, fractured and abstract reworking of a Fela Kuti song with his "Queens'" chants replaced by Miles Davis's trumpet. The titular track however sets the tone for the entire album - an eerie trumpet solo by Miles Davis weaves in-between the heavy piano riffs that come close to deep-groove of funk, yet never reaching that level of levity, brooding just low enough to possess the listener however. "Spanish Key" and "John McLaughlin" offer slight reprieve from the darker opening tracks, but if one were to go by song length alone, the two tracks combined don't even equal the aural journey that was Bitches Brew. The latter of the tracks is the shortest on the album and as a result, "John McLaughlin" is the tightest and grooviest of all the tracks, blues notes echoing throughout the entirety of the brief track.

"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" is one of the highlights of the album, standing off with "Bitches Brew"as my favorite song. The track resembles Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" in the beginning, attempting to touch on the sonic blues with a loose-jazz influence. But as "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", the title becomes more and more fitting, the song becoming more and more chaotic - Miles Davis' masterful trumpet playing being the only thing holding the song together. For a brief moment, the track boils down, the pace slows to a walk instead of a run and the rhythm is relaxed apart from Miles Davis' increasingly energetic solo. It's as though Miles Davis makes a frantic effort to shed his reputation as a "cool" jazz musician - his horn shouting aggressively and vigorously near the end of the song, nearing utter cacophony in his effort to "...Run the Voodoo Down".

"Sanctuary" sounds as the name implies [within the context of the album, mind you]. The soothing conclusion to "Bitches Brew" revealing a similar vibe to Herbie Hancock's magnum opus "Maiden Voyage". The last track, not even making the eleven minute mark, drifts along. Occasionally, the aggressive trumpet solos of Miles Davis push the track along, rousing the listener from their peaceful drifting, only for the vibe to calm again. The album as a whole tells a story that is best recognized upon repeated listens. Initially, the album was met with criticism for its loose, aggressive and disjointed sound. Only in later years was the album's relevance acknowledged and lauded.

| E X P E N S I V E S H I T |

This week, I'm going to focus on the Legendary Black President. No, not Obama. But Fela Anikulapo Kuti. And yes, you have no choice but to listen.

Let's go back to Africa - 1960's Nigeria was changing amidst the colonialism of the British and the imposition of Eurocentric values and cultures upon the African people. While this led to the introduction and fermentation of jazz and various forms reaching the continent during this period, this also lead to the dilution of the African culture and music especially.

Fela Kuti was a moving force in the Afrobeat genre - actually, scratch that. Fela Kuti IS the Afrobeat genre. For a while, he was playing the highlife genre that was popular in the 60's, giving him a light fusion of jazz and African rhythms to his repertoire. After studying in London for a period of time, he was further exposed to African American influences and even visited Los Angeles for about a year in 1969. It was then that Fela Kuti became enchanted with the Black Panthers and the influence of Malcolm X. From that point, Fela Kuti's political activism would begin - he incorporating elements of the Black Power and Pan-African Movement into his music and his livelihood. But it was the exposure to the music of James Brown that shaped Afrobeat into what it would become today - Jazz, Funk and Yoruba Music all in one.

Returning to Africa, Fela Kuti had a new mission. He had already been touring with his band, Koola Lobitos, yet the band was renamed Nigeria 70 and his music thrived in his newly erected club - The Afro-Shrine (often called the Shrine). His title of Black President however, came not through his music alone, but through his commune in Lagos, Nigeria. The commune, titled the Kalakuta (rascally in Swahili) Republic, had housed The Shrine, Kuti's band, family members, and even had a free health care center. Fela Kuti declared his commune separate from the Nigerian government and from his pulpit at the Shrine, he'd sing and incite the Nigerian people with his lyrics and rhythms, all while encouraging Pan-Africanism and national pride. But Fela Kuti never encouraged violence against the Nigerian regime, but the military nonetheless was against Fela Kuti and constantly harassed him.

Since most of Fela Kuti's records are only a few songs long, yet extend for long periods of times, I decided to simply review my favorite album of his: Expensive Shit.

"Water No Get Enemy."

Tracklisting

o1. expesnsiveshit

o2. waternogetenemy



A little history on this album. As I mentioned earlier, Fela Kuti was a political force that spoke against the corruption of the African government. With the government actively trying to subdue him, cops had planted a blunt on his person. Well, being the quick thinker that he was, Fela Kuti consumed the joint and the police then held him until the drugs could pass through his system. So, as the story goes, Fela Kuti exchanged his own excrement for that of another inmate and voila. There was no THC found in his droppings and therefore, Fela Kuti was set free to make fun of the event with Expensive Shit.

There isn't much I can really say about the tracks. They're African Funk Jams that last for 25 minutes all together. Being an import, the CD is usually 17 dollars and this is probably making people go like, "Dude, wtf, this is some Expensive Shit". But as you listen to Fela Kuti weave in and out of the groove with his commandeering saxophone while the African Polyrhythms ride a funk, not unlike Parliament's Horny Horns (look forward for a review on that later).

There's not much more I really have to say. I mean, heck, Fela Kuti stays in pocket with his band from beginning to end. In the title track, he and his band improvise for about six minutes before he lets out a howl and begins his political rants. Mind you, he speaks in pidgin for almost all of his songs, a sort of minimalist English as to reach a larger Pan-African audience (even though most Africans speak French and Dutch if I'm not mistaken).


//end.

| B L A C K s u m m e r s n i g h t |

"Make me crazy, don't speak no sound/ I want you to prove it me in the nude, addicted to the way you move."

Tracklisting

o1. badhabits

o2. cold

o3. prettywings

o4. helpsomebody

o5. stoptheworld

o6. loveyou

o7. fistfuloftears

o8. playingpossum

o9. phoenixrise



The first words you hear from Maxwell's newest CD, BLACKsummers'night are "make my crazy, don't speak no sound". The first part of his epic musical trilogy is a masterpiece on its own. While some are upset by the short tracklisting of only nine songs, one must remember that the fewer number of songs makes an album concise. The most popular song, "Pretty Wings", is a beautiful song of falling in love with that right sweet thang, but having to let her go because the time just isn't right. But it's "Cold" and "Bad Habits" that I favor, just badass songs. Now, mind you the whole album is bleak in emotion, singing of heartbreak and love gone wrong, there are some pretty amazing upbeat jams.

Remember Marvin's "What's Going On"? Well, Maxwell basically did a Maxwell version of that called "Help Somebody" and it's pretty awesome. "Stop the World", "Love You", "Fistful of Tears" and "Playing Possum" are what you'd expect, a song about love, another song about love, and then two heartbreak songs. Given an album so heavy on the feeling of helplessness, the final track [one of my favorites] offers a reprieve. "Phoenix Rise" is the album's only instrumental track, but the vibe is uplifting and gives you hope of solace after all of "BLACKsummers'night"'s despair.

BLACKsummers'night is a Maxwell album, there's not doubt about that. But, I'd have to say that it differs from the rest in terms of theme alone. No "Til the Cops Come Knocking" or "Temporary Nite". This Album comes across as a sequel to "Now" if you will, the songs being tighter than "Embrya" or "Urban Hang Suite". All in all, I think this album is probably his best, not in terms of having the best songs all around, but in terms of having a really on point album, this is Maxwell's greatest thus far. The live band accentuating his songs giving a live vibe is just a treat. Don't expect his mellosmoothe falsetto this go around though, eight years obviously putting some maturity and partial strain on his voice. But, this vocal alteration is a benefit in my opinion, giving his voice that raw hurt that strengthens all of his songs. He tries his falsetto and instead of sounding like a young 20 something year old boy trying to fit in his father's shoes [albeit well], Maxwell comes off as if he'd lived the life and is just singing his experiences out. If "Urban Hang Suite" was a kid trying to be Marvin, "BLACKsummers'night" is Marvin's attempt at doing "Here, My Dear"...minus the anger.

BLACK is to be the album of bleak emotion, SUMMERS' is supposed to be full of hope and summer magic, and NIGHT is the sex album, made for baby making. xD So 2010 and 2011 have some pretty good gems on their way. Badu is in the Badudio working on Return of the Ankh for its release this year, and D'angelo iunno. I hope he releases something.