"Blastitude"
is a word coined by Angus MacLise, original drummer
of the Velvet Underground and quite possibly the
coolest hippie of all time. (cf. track four of his
posthumous CD release The Invasion of Thunderbolt
Pagoda, released by Siltbreeze/Quakebasket.
Click HERE
for immediate cf'ing.) |
|
(or
just click on Angus) |
| |
Issue four of the 'tude would like to start by
making an aesthetic mission statement of sorts
by quoting from Lester Conway Bangs (as he is
quoted on p. 54 in the biography Let It Blurt:
The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, America's
Greatest Rock Critic by Jim DeRogatis):
"...On
to incredible unglimpsed horizons of masterfully
abstracted sound...You discover new things every
time you listen that you'd missed before in the
buzzing haze...Fact, I dig buzzing hazes for their
own sake!...this is the beauty of rushing many-streamed
complexity which when it
finally grabs you can literally take your head
away so that you'll find yourself...It demands
involvement on the part of the listener.
You've got to pay attention to it, it's not for
the passive listener. But shit, here I go sermonizing
again."
Your editor,
L. "Fuzz-O" Dolman.
|
|
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[...]
I dunno...I mean, I LOVE
the first two De la albums (I also just got _Stakes is
High_ and dig that one up down and sideways, even if it's
not really similar to the others), but Buhloone is the
only one where all the lyrics are very focused on one
subject...black crossover into the pop market. It kinda
covers all the different aspects of "selling out" (social
elements in "I Am I Be," to lack of respect for one's
peers in "Patti Dooke," to fake gangsta-isms in "Ego Trippin',"
and it really ties together as one statement. The others
both have a structure (game show, talking book), but the
songs kinda go all over the place idea-wise. Stakes Is
High seems to have further refined their focus, but I
don't know for sure, only given that one solid listen
so far. Hell, I just love De La (and most of the Native
Tongues for that matter, Tribe Called Quest R.I.P.), and
should probably get on getting their new one.
Ed.
note:
Well said, but to me, the De La of the last two albums
just isn't the same without the samples, skits, segues,
concepts, and general dreamtime ambience that Prince Paul
seemed to instigate. I prefer his solo album Psychoanalysis,
even though it is a mess, it's as offensive as Eminem,
and anyone who can't stand it, well hey, I feel ya.
[...]
A
kind of strange by-product of heavy delusioning sessions
is the way joke telling from there on becomes a highly
coded process...it's kind of hard to understand for people
who didn't catch the original jokes, but with that kind
of a backstock of images and rememberances, it's easy
to just slip in a line from a past delusion during some
jive-talking session or whatever, kind of like a bebop
soloist playing some inverted version of "london bridge
is falling down" during their solo. Adds a bit of spice
to things, but it can also bog down newcomers.
[...]
It's
weird just how segregated these things have become over
the years. I think it's the fact that there's just SO
much music being released, new and old, that if you want
to get into one genre (post-rock, noise, psych), you really
have to specialize. The result is that everyone's music
knowledge is turning to all depth, no coverage. You can
spend a whole week's paycheck on just post-rock and not
have to deal with arena rock in any way. I've been chatting
a bit with Eddie Flowers (mr. Gizmos/Crawlspace) lately,
and he was saying how among his social circle in the '70s,
it was expected of you to not only know your Velvets and
Stooges and MC5, but to at least have some idea about
reggae, southern boogie, free jazz, '60s pop, country,
the stuff on the radio. I dunno if it's such a good thing
that more and more music fans are being brought up to
only listen to "good" or "quality" music...it really puts
a pucker in the arsehole, among other things, and what
are you gonna do when you want to go out to the bar with
your buddies? You can't go put Belle & Sebastian on the
jukebox, you better figure out an Aerosmith song you like
quick. C'mon, those Jethro Tull songs aren't going to
select themselves!
CMS
BLASTITUDE
will be published on the 23rd of each
month...or every other month. We're not sure yet. If we
go monthly, some issues may be kinda slight, but back issues
will always remain online. Since the 'fast-paced' web isn't
supposed to be for reading, and Blastitude offers lots of
reading, it might take you two months to get through all
this bullcrap anyhow. Either way, thanks for blasting in.
(If this is cyberspace, rather than, um, the cybersea
shouldn't we be 'blasting' around the internet, like in
rockets or spaceships, instead of 'surfing' the net?)
Letters, recommendations, complaints,
submissions: blastitude@hotmail.com
Any music/tapes/books/artifacts/records/documents
for consideration should be mailed to Blastitude
at 1136 A Street #2, Lincoln, NE 68502
editor,
designer, collater, curator, writer: Larry "Fuzz-O"
Dolman
"Only Seat in the House" by Christopher Dean
Heine
"Real Music Conversations" by Matt Silcock
"El Depresso Musico" by the Phat-ass
BLASTITUDE #4 © 2001
Published by Tiny Press
|
