One of the privileges of age is to be able to sound convincing when singing old people’s songs. And I don’t mean old songs; I mean those lyrics that require time and experience to be sung right. A very good example is Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters: one thing is to hear a 25 year old sing it, a whole different story is to hear a 50 year old Muddy deliver it – and mean it. Another song of the same family is Born Loose by Rod Stewart (circa 1977, when Rod still brewed his nasty brand of Rolling Stones on steroids r’n'r). Maybe he meant it when he sung it (he didn’t know he’d be making Christmas albums in the future), but I can truly wear his lyrics with pride, especially when he says:
Born loose, I was born loose baby
Slow me down, you can’t slow me down
I was born loose, born loose
Wrong side of my mama
Wrong side of my dad
Wrong side of the tracks
I was born loose baby
Can’t change me now
Cause you’re too late now
Too late
To change me now
Never change me now
Born loose
Born loose
Los Angeles, mural by Mac, lettering by Retna
(click to enlarge)
PS: Beh, che sorpresone. Grazie a Deemo, a cui non sfugge quasi mai quasi niente, adesso sappiamo che il modello del murale qui sopra è nientemeno che Flycat, MC italo-losangelino della primissima ora (e uno dei pro-motori del primo hip hop italiano). Insomma: vai a LA, fai una foto a un muro e sopra c’è uno che conosci (e saluti: hi dude, whazzup?): tres bizarre.
PPS: Dice sempre Deemo, a cui in fatto di immagini non sfugge mai proprio niente: “La roba di El Mac devasta”. Come dargli torto?
One of my favorite Dj/producers is DJ Muggs, the man behind Cypress Hill’s best music, as well as the multiplatinum evergreen Jump Around, by House of Pain. Muggs’ label is called Soul Assassins, it has a website and a whole lot of musical goodies in free download: vintage mixtapes, demos, previews – the lot. It’s a fantastic example of how Hip hop communities operate, here on the West Coast and elsewhere. A side note: SA isn’t just a record label; among its artists you’ll find Mr Cartoon, tattoo artist extraordinaire, and the photographer Esteban Oriol. This is a true art collective, exactly the way I feel art collectives should be.
One of my favorite flavors of Hip hop (and House too) is when it’s mixed with Jazz, a la Waldeck for example. On the SA website I found this fabulous Jazz/Hip hop mixtape made DJ Solo & Roger Jao. It’s called Jitterbug Driveby, and it features amazing bits, including Iggy Pop, Parov Stelar, Cab Calloway, De La Soul, Basement Jaxx… It’s truly a crosscultural music experience, that will shake your butt while enlightening you on how very diverse music can bounce together very nicely. Dope art for the 21st.
C’è un nuovo pezzo nella zona musicale: è un remix di Traction in the rain di David Crosby, ottenuto interpolando due versioni: quella dell’album If I could only remember my name, e quella registrata dal vivo alla BBC circa quattro mesi prima – molto simile ma non uguale. Il ritmo, come sempre già presente nell’originale, è assai pastoso – come si addice a una canzone che dice: “E ‘abbastanza difficile, lo so, trovare la forza di tornare dove tutto è cominciato. E’ difficile abbastanza avere della trazione sotto la pioggia. Sai, è difficile per me capire.” Per la mia ultima ex fidanzata.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Traction in the rain di David Crosby, tratta dall’album If I could only remember my name, 1971
remixata nel 2009
There’s a new song in the music zone of this website: it’s the David Crosby remix I mentioned in my last post. It was made interpolating the original (that has a subtle and funky beat) with the live at BBC version, very similar but not exactly the same. The beat is sticky and slow, very apt for a song that says: “It’s hard enough, I know, to find the strength to go back to where it all began. It’s hard enough to gain any traction in the rain, you know it’s hard for me to understand.” This one’s for my last ex.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of If I Could Only Remember My Name early in my life. The long awaited (by the world, I was a kid then) David Crosby solo album came out in 1971, I got mine in ‘74. It was stunning music, by one of the finest singers and guitar players of the time (of all times, I’d say), and took the Crosby sound, well explored in the collaboration with Stills, Nash & Young, to a whole new level. The album is full of fabulous music, played and sung with incomparable skill and grace. You might not like the genre, but this is among the finest pop music ever made.
I’m working on one of my remixes of forgotten music, a song from this album called Traction in the Rain (it’ll be shortly audible in the music section of this website), so I looked for versions around, and I found this gem on Youtube.
It’s a sept. 1970 gig done at BBC, featuring Crosby and his longtime associate Graham Nash (who in most of Crosby’s songs doesn’t actually play the very complex guitar parts). Music doesn’t get much more delicate than this. If you like it, you should hear Song with no words and Guinnevere also from the same sessions: gems of Crosby’s repertoire in sublime, uncluttered versions.
It’s been my mobile ringtone for almost two years now, and I still like it very much. It was made by Painé Cuadrelli, and it’s available for free right here (in Mp3). What’s more, now there’s an iPhone version, complete with simple installation instructions. Enjoy.
The kind of work I like best at this point is definitely performing live. So, in order to stimulate bookings, I set up a little Live page with a list of available performances, talks and music gigs. Including the Interactive Tv (see image), which I did a few times in the past 17 years (in a number of permutations, according to the context): the audience really loved it (some people still remember it after years) and so did I.
We all know (and many of us dislike) that in some countries there is a different Internet: the Chinese, for example, or Iranians don’t see what we see, and if they search for sensitive words (such as the name of dissidents in China) they get different results. What I hadn’t realized is that, while in the States, I also saw a different web:
It isn’t just Hulu: Amazon won’t sell you Mp3 files, and Newegg will let you buy nothing – unless you’re in USA. I can see Hulu’s point, much less Amazon’s (certainly inspired by RIAA and the Major record labels): I might be bothered by this restriction, but the average internet user (and music fan) will simply close their browser and open Emule, or Limewire…
I’m back in Milan, and as I have a little time I started to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time: gather my published music in a single web space and serve it both in streaming and downloading. The place is the music section of this website: you’ll find both my albums (the first has never been presented online) and a lot of bits and pieces I made over the past 20 years. Most of it is published, but there are a few premieres: the original A Forest remix (unpublished in any form), the violin piece I’ve used for my Into roses video in its original, longer form and a few remixes only published on vinyl, or as singles.
Benvenuti su Fosforo, compilation di amenità verbali di Sergio Messina di cui come sempre risponde di persona attraverso questa pagina.
Welcome to Fosforo, Sergio Messina's blog. Click here (and bookmark) for the english section, or navigate it below under the english category. You can reach SM through this page.
One of my favorite Dj/producers is 
Benvenuti su Fosforo, compilation di amenità verbali di 
