Can ART be defined as structure out of randomness? Even the most chaotic or random art forms have some structure. Is ART our attempt to make sense of an apparently chaotic world? Is there any significance in 'word' and 'world' being only a single letter apart? (No, of course not...what are you, a nut? Random syntactic/orthographical correspondences have no hidden meaning)
I used to listen to John Peel in wonder, not just at the music he played, but also at his skill in structuring his shows, born from a detailed knowledge of the subject and an intuitive grasp of form. In this respect, I have always tried to follow him, because I love structure in art. It is through working with structure that we find freedom for our expression. Sometimes, the more restrictive the form the more profound the art that comes through it, for example haiku, in which the poet has a greatly limited number of lines/syllables to express profound ideas. Hence my recent shows, in which I have played with just covers, or even covers of specific artists. This month, perhaps in keeping with the energy of the moment, in keeping with the great vernal explosion of life, I just bunged a whole load of tunes into a list and picked a few. What I notice is that form imposes itself. Perhaps it's because of my experience, my hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours arranging music into a loose narrative, that structure emerges regardless of my scattergun approach. There is a structure to this show, as there always is in my work, but I didn't know what it was until I performed it. There's some amazing funk, some expansive, thrilling jungle, some achingly beautiful electronica, there's stillness, and there's even Mama Cass (who snuck in as an after thought).
And...no, the title of this show is not a spelling mistake, it's a pun. The socks? They are 'Ley Line Socks'...look 'em up. It's a metaphor.
As usual, you can download an MP3 of the show to listen to at your own pace and pleasure, by clicking this link: EMFAB April 2021
Or you can stream it on Mixcloud:
Lord Tanamo - Iron Bar - 7” - SEP Records - 1964
Booker T & The MG's - Melting Pot - Melting Pot - Stax - 1970
Chapter 24 - Chapter 24 And The Hepcats - 7” - Sorted - 2006
Israel Voice - Farm Up The Land - 7” - FarmLand - 2005
Cheb Khaled - (Hada) Raykoum - (Hada) Raykoum - Triple Earth - 1987
The Noveltones - Left Bank One - 10” - Music De Wolfe - 1964
Death And Taxes - Gandhi - (unknown)
The Wailing Wailers - I'm Gonna Put It On - The Wailing Wailers - Studio One - 1966
Ennio Maccaroni - Put It There - 7” - Super Mango - 2012
Sun Kil Moon - Angela - Welcome To Sparks, Nevada - Caldo Verde - 2021
Goldie - Timeless/Inner City Life/Pressure/Jah - Timeless - Metalheadz - 1995
Dennis Brown - The Man Next Door - A Little Bit More Joe Gibbs 12” Selection - 17 North Parade - 2008
Leon Thomas - Love Each Other - Blues And The Soulful Truth - Flying Dutchman - 1972
Aisha Devi - Aurat (Tool) - Conscious Cunt EP - Houndstooth - 2015
Prefuse 73 - Oh Linda, You Lit Up My Life With Your Voice And Made Me Fall In Love With You - Dublab Presents In The Loop 2 - Plug Research - 2005
The Field - The More I Do (Thomas Fehlmann Mix) - 12” - Kompakt - 2009
Jack Teagarden - Casanova's Lament - 12” - VDisc - 1945
Blackman - Bastards (Remix) - 12” - Red Light - 1994
Jackie Mittoo - Henry the Great - The Keyboard King Of Studio One - Universal Sound - 2000
Ry Cooder & V.M. Bhatt - A Meeting By The River - A Meeting By The River - Waterlily - 1993
Mamma Cass - New World Coming - 7” - Dunhill - 1970
Some vidz
A sterling performance, if a little stiff:
The audience is the problem:
