Idiopreneurial Entrephonics Festival, Wesleyan 2/17/23

 Leave it to the music theory nerds at Wesleyan to come up with the I.E. festival. A two day event that focuses on improvised electronics. Idiopreneurial Entrephonics, google it, just kidding, google has no idea what it means. It seems like it is an anagram of syllables, a syllabanagram if you will. Entrepreneurial we know, but idiophonic? It seems that term is defined as an instrument “the whole of which vibrates to produce a sound when struck, shaken, or scraped, such as a bell, gong, or rattle”. Not sure if the music I saw was idiophonic in nature, but vibrations and sound were abundant. The first artist on the Friday night bill was Bonnie Jones. Jones piece “Samesame” was billed as a multichannel sonic counternarrative. Using field recordings, circuit bent electronics, samples, and historical recordings, Jones wove a sound tapestry that was fascinating. Sitting at a folding table with computer, Jones read some passages on being a Korean-American while surround sound traffic noises filled the air. Another passage sounded like she was ripping open a package below a rotating helicopter blade. Next up was John Bischoff, founder  of the League of Automatic Composers and professor at California’s legendary Mills College. Bischoff played three pieces. The first two “Bitplicity” and “Visibility Study” start with pulse wave analog circuits controlled by Bischoff that are fed into the computer and interpreted and played back. Bitplicity’s response sounded like an army of rubber band twanging while “Visibility Study” sounded like dinner conversation at R2D2’s house. There was harrumphing grandpa D2, cackling auntie D2, and even Cindy Lou D2 (who couldn’t have been no more than 2). The final piece was “Calliope” which was billed as a take-off on Leon Theremin’s realization of Henry Cowell’s concept, an instrument called The Rhythmicon which automatically reiterates its tones at rates corresponding to the ratios of selected pitch combinations. To me it sounded like a staticky AM radio getting busy with a Geiger Counter. Wesleyan is the Mills College of the East, so left of center that even the Moogs have pronouns. It was a treat to watch these extra-terrestrial sonic explorers ply their trade. I am the proud son of a higher order thinker, I realize that asking this crew for bus fare would be a problem, but having them invent a monetary system to fuel their hover-bus mass transit system, now that’s up their alley.

Glen Roth Center Street Brewing 2/17/23

 Glen Roth is hiding in plain sight. Local acoustic picker has been playing coffee shops and farmers markets for years. We even saw him play a Christmas pickathon in the lobby of my old gym. It’s only natural then, with the exploding population of breweries, that artists like Glen have a few more corners to inhabit. Apparently CSB has been around for several years in a hidden tract behind Archie Moores in Wallingford. Breweries, basically man caves for white guys with dough, bring in bodies on most Friday afternoons, and this was no exception. Glen had a corner and a tip jar, assessed the crowd, and launched into some favorites. The vocals are soothing, but the guitar work is stellar, even if I was the only patron paying attention. Blue Skies, In Your Eyes, Heart Of Gold, Here Comes The Sun, Feelin Groovy, I Am A Rock, Teach Your Children, Redemption Song, and Another Brick In The Wall are all staples and could elicit a hum from the middle age crowd. I remember chatting with Glen about his exploits busking in various NYC subway stations, cataloging the acoustics and optimal placement for sound. His Spotify offerings lean on picked covers, Seal’s Kiss From A Rose seems to have received some sideways popularity. Glen travels solo, acoustic, small amp, all he needs is an outlet. If you are walking the streets of New Haven in a downpour, duck in a lobby for cover, and happen upon a solitary figure playing guitar, it’s probably Glen Roth studying foyacoustics, just cuz he can.

Paul McCartney : Lyrics 2/16/23 Woolsey Hall

 Sir Paul, Macca, whatever you want to call him, is the most famous octogenarian Liverpudlian to grace  the stage at a capacity filled Woolsey. In conversation with a Yale English prof, McCartney and Irish poet laureate Paul Muldoon spoke of their collaborative book Lyrics which exposes 175 career spanning song lyrics arranged in alphabetical order. The Beatles, Wings, solo and collaborations, McCartney’s career is nothing short of legendary. The songs occupy a space in the soundtrack to so many people’s lives, mine included. How fortunate am I to be married to someone who works at Yale who has the manual dexterity to get us on the list to view this pillar of the music we love. The themes are what one might expect; family, place of origin, love of language, hatched in a time that was singular, The Beatles serve as a support beam to much of todays music. While he was talking, I was struck by his awe at the body of work, and how in many instances he attributed luck or magic to the songs. He said that the song Yesterday came to him fully formed in a dream! Take that shitty dream about buying grapes or driving through the woods. His imagination was also on full display, on the tour bus a roadie asked Paul to “pass the salt and pepper” which birthed the entire concept of Sgt. Pepper. Paul stated that he came from a large, happy family while John did not. These perspectives helped the songs to gel, one example was Paul’s “it’s getting better all the time” to John’s “it couldn’t get much worse”. Hey Jude was actually Paul’s message to Lennon’s son Julian (Jules) regarding John’s divorce of his first wife. The yin and yang that is Lennon-McCartney is emphasized by their process. He said that they would sit across from each other for hours with acoustic guitars, Paul lefty and John righty, exhibited a mirror like quality to their songwriting. Liverpool; the “capital of Ireland” is a port city home to working class Irish, and Caribbean communities. Paul attributes this melting pot as home to his love of language and respect for people. When the Beatles first came to America (land of the free and all), they were slated to play in Jacksonville to a segregated crowd. They refused and forced the town elders to bend their policies to avoid riots. The magical Liverpool landscape is a character in this story. Paul spoke of being a Boy Scout wherein they were tasked to help the community by inquiring the locals for “a bob a job”. The small amount of money received for odd jobs paled in comparison to his interactions with old people, your welcome Eleanor Rigby. It’s hard to believe, but Paul has musical influences. Rock and roll didn’t just happen in a bedroom in Liverpool. Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, Motown were thrown in the songwriting pot. Paul said he wrote “The Long and Winding Road” with Ray Charles as inspiration. On songs he wished he wrote, “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys rates. He said he sang it with Brian Wilson and cried through most of it. What was apparent in this talk is that Sir Paul is a willing and capable vessel to trap the lightning needed to forge this music, magic indeed.

Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers 2/1/23 Spaceland

 Veteran noise doyen Spencer ditched his previous outfit the Blues Explosion for a new crew of noiseniks, the Hitmakers. Spencer has been turning up to eleven since the 90s when he fronted DC scuz-punk-blues group Pussy Galore. The music has always been primal, with the marching order “ loud is better, loudest is best”. Spencer leads the charge on guitar and “vocals”, the lyrics are largely unintelligible or maybe it was just my multiple pairs of earplugs filtering the insanity. Not sure if it was the speedy vocal delivery, the two sizes too small Levi’s Jean jacket, the rock and roll or maybe drug habit skinny stature of Spencer that made me think he was British, but wiki tells me he’s from New Hampshire. He’s joined onstage by Sam Coombes on keys and electronics, and two “drummers”. One drummer played a traditional kit in a truly punk style. The other “drummer” resembled Cousin It and banged on a variety of car parts and household objects. His setup had some overturned metal trash cans, five pound weights, a car’s gas tank, and a large metal suspension car spring. He struck these items with either ratchet handles or a pair of hammers that colored the din with a scary junkyard vibe. Coombes has also been around the block. Starting in Texas then moving to Portland, he played in Quasi with his ex-wife, Sleater-Kinney’s Janet Weiss. Sam’s background vocals helped tether Spencer’s assault. At one point, Coombes asked the crowd if there were any Yale students in attendance, to which he got a handful of yelps. He had one question for the brainiacs, “yes or no, can you polish a turd?” I still remember my last viewing of Spencer at this same venue, he closed the show with this decidedly British missive “ de bess fing a bat Spays-land, ease yadont hafta listen ta anywons boo-shit” ( sentence best appreciated when read aloud).