Music – Moon Under Water

Beg, Borrow, Steal – Art, copyright and the internet

When Shakespeare plays were originally performed, it was not allowed for audience members to bring in paper for fear that they would write down and steal the plays. To counter this, furtive audience members would go to performances and each remember different sections of the plays, then meet later and write down all they could remember. Each section was then stitched together, and the works were stolen regardless.

With the development of the printing press, pirated material began to be spread rapidly. Action was taken politically to attempt to stop intellectual property from being copied or stolen. In 1662 the Licensing of the Press Act was passed to restrict the reprinting of material without advance permission from the owners. This act planted the seed for the establishment of copyright law. Continue reading “Beg, Borrow, Steal – Art, copyright and the internet”

Boogie Monsters – Ghosts of the 70s in the digital age

Installation shot from Kraftwerk's 2012 music and art installation at MoMA PS1, New York — Installation shot of Kraftwerk’s 2012 installation at MoMA PS1. Forty years on Kraftwork retain the design motifs that place the band both in the past and in the future.

It is difficult to deny that Kraftwerk have been an astoundingly influential band since their formation in 1970. Revolutionary at the time, the German quartet incorporated an almost entirely synthesised music in an attempt to foreground the oncoming new media phase. But one of the more interesting quirks about Kraftwerk is not necessarily their music itself, but the idea of time that surrounds their music. With its industrial, drum-machine-driven synth and robotic sound, the music was designed to be “music of the future” in the 70s. However, it has since dated due to the technology that they employed in making it, and has instead placed them irrevocably at a certain point in the past. They are a band that lack a temporal definition, both part of the past and part of the future.

The digital age is popularly seen as an age of infinite information. It is described using terms like “interactivity” and “new media”, and is highlighted as an era that allows for the endless access of customised information at the fingertips of every individual user. The result is often a transient relationship between the user and the information, and as a result the idea of time, and our use of time, is becoming topical in current cultural writing.

I recently had a conversation with a friend where we discussed how this overload of information that we are faced with in digital life is becoming impossible to keep up with. He pointed out the growing trend in online browsing to switch from search engines and web-surfing to following “digital curators”. Continue reading “Boogie Monsters – Ghosts of the 70s in the digital age”

Blink and You’ll Miss It: Events on the Internet

perennial |pəˈrenēəl|

1640s, “evergreen,” formed in English from L. perennis “lasting through the year (or years),”
adjective
lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring
• (of a plant) living for several years

Some things last a long time. Others are over in an instant, as they pass from the near future into the recent past. This piece concerns the former. Some occurrences seem to become mainstays overnight. Although certainly nothing lasts forever, some events can span lifetimes or generations. Continue reading “Blink and You’ll Miss It: Events on the Internet”

Caribou at NASA, Reykjavik (Tuesday, June 28, 2011)

Caribou are an enigma. The band perform with an elaborate amount of gusto live but seem to lack impact on recording. Caribou is Canadian multi-instrumentalist David Snaith and his live stage crew (i.e. Ryan Smith, Brad Webel and John Schmersal).

The most recent album, Swim, was a catchy electronic mish-mash, but does not withstand extended listens and seems to get lost in it’s own tame mixing and recording. However, live Caribou hit hard. The full band create a wash of energy and vitality that contradicts the album completely. They played a relatively intimate show in NASA, Reykjavik in June 2011.

Sinfang, Reykjavik 1 — Sinfang at NASA on the night

Supported by the exciting and engaging Icelandic act Sin Fang Bous (the solo project of Sindri Már Sigfússon of Seabear) the night started brightly, Continue reading “Caribou at NASA, Reykjavik (Tuesday, June 28, 2011)”

Halves at The Model, Sligo (Friday November 5, 2010)

Halves are one of the emerging scene of outstanding Irish music acts. Alongside a host of other swirling-noisemakers, Halves stand out from the crowd with their infectious melodies and brooding compositions.

After travelling to Montreal to record their first full release a full two years after the band first broke onto the Irish music scene, Halves departed on a brief tour of Ireland. Known to the country’s music aficionados but still something of a mystery to those outside of it, they have grown in reputation thanks to a host of laudable live performances and gained notice at festival dates in recent years.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgz9A-XlCgA]

The Model, Sligo can be a difficult venue. There is a high seating capacity in the Black Box performance room, Continue reading “Halves at The Model, Sligo (Friday November 5, 2010)”

Anna Calvi at Vicar Street, Dublin (Saturday November 19, 2011)

Anna Calvi has exploded onto the UK music scene over the last few years. She has seen her work nominated for the Mercury Music Awards and the Brit Awards in 2011 and 2012. Her self-titled debut album featured collaboration from Brian Eno and Dave Okumo from The Invisible, and was produced by renowned producer Rob Ellis. She had previously worked with the recent folk revival’s golden boy Johnny Flynn, and has played support to major acts Interpol and Grinderman.

Anna Calvi Vicar Street — Anna Calvi Live at Vicar Street

Certainly on record Calvi’s early career has seen some bustling activity. Boasting a robust guitar sound and overwhelming vocal prowess, Calvi’s music has garnered a flurry of attention, being compared to acts as broad as Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey and Ennio Morricone. Continue reading “Anna Calvi at Vicar Street, Dublin (Saturday November 19, 2011)”

tUnE-YaRdS – w h o k i l l

2011 has thrown up an abundance of great music. To get the ball rolling on Moon Under Water, as officially the first post of the site, I figured tUnE-yArDs were adequate recipients of this prestigious accolade.

Merrill Garbus, the multi-talented eclecticentric who plays and provides vocal on all of tUnE-yArDs’ work, has thrown up an arguably iconic album in the form of 2011’s w h o k i l l.

The album layers funk and lo-fi with the undeniably unique overall quality of Garbus’ loops and vocals. Opening on the infectious My Country, the album immediately promises an anthemic and thematic musical beast of styles and sounds, with South American beats and a resonant lyrical offering for a disenfranchised generation echoing 2011’s discontented youth as much as it observes the global turmoil in which it was written.

Laughing brass and a big layered sound comes to dominate, giving rise to an album that doesn’t let up for a second. Gangsta, arguably my favourite individual song of 2011, is a big-hitting loser’s dream – a dark and punchy piece about success and the price of not achieving it. This piece is also backed up by a cracking video (below), directed by the New England superstar herself as she continues to add to the vast collection of skills that she has on offer.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbkMPHW67xM]

Sliding between these funky beats and brassy overtures to more dreamlike haunts reminiscent of TV On The Radio in songs like Powa and the creep-up-your-spine slow drift song Wooly Wolly Gang, the album never fails to surprise, and grows with each listen. There is a constantly lingering South American influenced percussion sound too that does not let up, but never fully invades the music, capturing a feeling of a global sound in some very local themes.

The highlighted single from the album is Bizness (listen below), a punchy, choppy tune that was always going to be the “hit” of the album. Hiding behind a powerful chorus are chirpy backing vocals and a dollop of the brass that is the main new introduction on this album in terms of instruments that Garbus collects and plays with. The chorus, “What’s the bizness yeah – don’t take my life away” leaves little room for explanation, and although not the real stand-alone track of Whokill, it is still a cracking tune that you will not be able to avoid foot-tapping and hip-swinging to.

http://4ad.com/tuneyardswidget/biznesswidget.swf

The thematic concept that dominates the tracks is that of a rebel generation – a lifelong power struggle that rises and falls, and this is carried off expertly by both lyrics and music in Garbus’ unfaltering style. This album is a decidedly large evolution from tUnE-yArDs’ 2009 release, the much more lo-fi (but still expertly crafted) BiRd-BrAiNs.

So, overall, Whokill is a stunning success from an artist that looks like she can do no wrong at the minute. With a European tour upcoming at time of writing, tUnE-yArDs is a treat for the present and the future, and fans like myself will be eagerly anticipate the next release.

My only complaint is in the damn name – these erratic upper and lower case shifts are not built for typing in a blog…