Tag Archives: Music

Apr 17 2008

Queen of Album Covers

In doing more research into great album covers, one artist kept coming up again and again for the unique artwork that graces her recordings. Ms. Millie Jackson is the undisputed Queen of Album Covers.

According to Wikipedia, the world’s leading authority on all topics, Millie is a renowned R & B artist who rose to fame in the 1970’s. Her early style was characterized by an innovative rap style of racy, raunchy language, which I’m sure will come as a shock to those who are familiar with her album covers. Her hits include such titles as “Hot! Wild! Unrestricted! Crazy Love”, “Younger Man, Older Woman”, and “Butt-A-Cize”

Although Millie has not released a record in seven years, her previous albums have attained cult status. Here are a few of my personal favourites…

1.  E.S.P. (Extra Sexual Persuasion).  This one’s a classic.  I gaze deeply into the crystal ball, and I see sagging in Millie’s future.

2.  Feelin’ Bitchy.  Bitchy isn’t the first word that came to mind when I saw this cover.  Hungry, maybe?  Needy?  Chapped?

3.  Just a Lil’ Bit Country.  I guess Millie decided she need to branch out and reach a whole new audience.  I’m just a lil’ bit worried about what she’s planning to do with that horse.

4.  Back to the Sh*t.  This is my new pick as the most awesome album cover of all time – I simply can’t get it out of my head.  As if the cover wasn’t enough, the album also includes the memorable song “Muffle That Fart”. 

It amazes me that someone (actually, several people), must have thought this was a good way to drive record sales.  In a way they were right, as original copies are going for $50 on some sites.  And am I the only one who thinks she looks like Oprah?

 

Apr 7 2008

Choices

Ten years ago at this time, I started down a path that has been immensely rewarding, and yet lately it’s caused me to ask some difficult questions about myself.

In January 1998, I was a grad student at the University of Toronto. Most of my time was spent practicing, reading, and exploring the city. My career plans were pretty undefined – a vague notion that I’d get my name added to various sub-lists, take some auditions, and work at HMV until I got a real gig.

Around that time, the NAC announced it was looking for someone to work on the operations side of the orchestra. B applied and suggested I do the same (I guess she wasn’t looking forward to living with an unemployed drummer with a student loan). I wasn’t really interested in an office job, but the starting salary of $35,000 plus benefits was pretty attractive considering my limited earning potential.

I applied, and over the next four months I jumped through the required hoops – written test, interview, personality test, etc. I was surprised to get the job, and gladly accepted. I naively thought I could continue to practice and perform regularly, especially since I had the money to buy my own marimba. Aside from a few concerts with the Kingston Symphony, though, I didn’t really do that much playing after I took the job.

Sometimes I feel like I sold out. I spent seven years at school locked in a practice room, thinking I wanted to be a professional musician, yet at the first promise of a steady paycheque I gave it all up. I admire / envy artists and musicians for their willingness to make sacrifices in pursuit of their goals. Some of them scrape by for years, maxing out credit cards and chasing grants just to put on another show. Why wasn’t I willing to do the same?

Somewhat regrettably, I’ve accepted that I’m better suited to being an administrator than a musician. I’m more suited to making it possible for others to create art than making art myself. As a player, I never really could let go and just express myself – I was way too self-conscious. I realize now that I was more concerned with technique, form, and precision than affecting people on an emotional level. I wasn’t prepared to give up stability for uncertainty. Too much head, not enough heart.

Stuck between being an amateur musician and a professional one, I chose neither, and in doing so, lost something that was important to me. It’s time to find something – a bar band, an orchestra, a Japanese taiko group – and start playing again.

Oh yeah, if anyone’s found my chops, please return them to me as I think I lost them a few years ago.

Mar 28 2008

A Death in the Family

One sad fact about the orchestra business is that sooner or later, practically every orchestra is going to face a life-or-death struggle. Take a look around Canada – Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Kitchener, Toronto, Montreal – they’ve all dealt with significant financial crises in the past decade.

The stories are usually remarkably similar. Expenses are greater than revenues, deficit increases, bankruptcy looms, media debates role of classical music in today’s society, community rallies, musicians agree to wage cuts and concessions, and most of the time the organization rises from its deathbed.

Perhaps that’s why I found the sudden passing of the CBC Radio Orchestra so shocking. Although there were some warning signs recently that its long-term outlook was poor, it was still stunning to see someone simply pull the plug on such a long-standing cultural institution.

Now, I know a little bit about working for a national organization that struggles with funding issues and the difficult choices it can present for its leadership. Still, given the range of options available, it’s unfortunate the CBC chose the extinction of radio orchestras in North America. The orchestra’s annual budget was under a million dollars – isn’t that roughly the cost of producing a couple episodes of MVP – The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives? Which one has the greater cultural value?

Yesterday’s announcement must have been disheartening to this country’s classical music fans. When combined with recent news that the CBC will be reducing the amount of classical programming on Radio Two, and the disappearance of arts programs like Opening Night, it’s only fair to wonder what the future will hold.

A CBC spokesman claimed the money that would have been spent on the orchestra will now go towards commissioning works from other orchestras in Canada. I wish I could believe that was true, but given the CBC’s new priorities, it just sounds like spin to me.

Mar 25 2008

Criticize This

“I love criticism just so long as it is unqualified praise.” -Noel Coward

“I have always been very fond of them (drama critics)…I think it is so frightfully clever of them to go night after night to the theatre and know so little about it” -Noel Coward

I came across a couple of entertaining reviews this past week. The first appeared in an article in Saturday’s Globe and Mail about the vicious nature of London food critics. Here’s what Giles Coren, the Times of London’s restaurant critic, wrote about the chicken marsala at Goodfellas restaurant in Belfast:

“It is revolting. It is ill-conceived, incompetent, indescribably awful … I cannot leave it alone but return to it every few minutes with the grim fascination of a toddler mesmerized by a pile of its own feces. … If you’ve ever sniffed your finger after scratching your arse, and then done it again, then this dish may not be entirely wasted on you.”

I actually lived with a friend at Queen’s who used to scratch his nether regions, bring his fingers to his nose, inhale deeply, wait two seconds, and then say “Interesting”. I guess this dish would be perfect for him.

Ken Winters wrote a scathing review of Yundi Li’s piano recital at Roy Thomson Hall last week. Yundi may be one of the classical music world’s hottest stars at the moment, but Mr. Winters obviously didn’t think much of his performance. Among his comments:

“It was only when he played, alas, that we heard what a fragile hold he has on musical reality.”

“He opened the slender first half of his program with Chopin’s most shopworn Nocturne, the one in E flat, Op. 9, No. 2, and played it very badly indeed.”

“All of these were accompanied by the subliminal but distinct sound of Arthur Rubenstein spinning in his grave.”

“The one thing immediately obvious in Li’s performance was that he appeared to have never listened to it in its original song form. He played the melody in a manner no singer could have followed.”

“Yundi Li will continue to play when and how he likes so long as he fills halls and sells CDs. Everything will profit except the music.”

These two reviews brought to mind food critic Anton Ego’s statement from the movie Ratatouille:

“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”

Pretty insightful for a cartoon…

Mar 6 2008

My Recent Playlist

Here are a few tunes that seem to be constantly playing on my iPod / iTunes these days:

Take Me to the Riot – Stars

Reckoner – Radiohead

Leave – Glen Hansard

Lay Me Down – The Frames

Mutiny, I Promise You – The New Pornographers

Statue – Immaculate Machine

Hymn of the Medical Oddity – The Weakerthans

King of the Past – The Rheostatics

The last one’s been around for a while, but I just can’t get enough of it, especially from 3:01 on. I love the guitar solo, and the falling-down-the-stairs drum fill gets me every time.

Meanwhile, Kieran also seems to be developing some favourite pop songs of late. His list includes:

One Two Three Four – Feist

The Hockey Song – Stompin’ Tom Connors

Good Morning Good Morning – The Beatles
aka The Chicken Song

These songs get a bit repetitive after a while, but it’s better than The Wiggles or Kindergarten Hits.

By The Dearlove • Posted in Music • Tagged
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