#chrisroper

Sequenza V - Luciano Berio.

I love this piece, although you really have to watch it on YouTube to get the full effect, as it features a trombone-playing clown in red and yellow.

"Sequenza V" is a composition for solo trombone by Luciano Berio, an Italian composer who lived from October 24, 1925, to May 27, 2003.

According to Wikipedia, “The piece calls for many extended techniques including multiphonics (singing and playing at the same time), rattling a plunger mute against the bell of the instrument, glissandi, and producing sounds while inhaling. In addition, the trombonist mimes and must at one point turn to the audience and ask, ‘Why?’

“Sequenza V was composed as a tribute to Grock, called "the last of the great clowns" by Berio. As a child of 11, the composer saw the clown perform and in the middle of his routine, Grock stopped, turned to the audience, and asked "warum?" ("why?"). This powerful performance had a lasting impact on Berio and he later said of it, "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry and I wanted to do both”.

Give it a listen, alt.rock people, jazz people, pop people. The old can sometimes be new.

Beaten By The Gun - Taxi Violence.

I can't believe it's been ten years of Taxi Violence. I remember hosting a pop-up secret gig with them, in the bush at Oppikoppi, using the Red Bull Radio Land Rover and setting up in a random place, to random passersby. They played the most amazing 'unplugged' gig, still one of the best things I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of great bands. This is off Tenfold, which is out now I think. They've stayed true.

Andro Queen - Pixies.

The opening track off the new Pixies ep. The other tracks are perhaps more what we would think of as classic Pixies, but this one has a mournful energy that points to what they would have sounded like in 2013 if they hadn't broken up. Oh wait, this IS them in 2013. But you know what I mean. There's no Kim Deal, which seems to be a big (ahem) deal to some reviewers. I love the ep, though, and I can't wait for my limited edition vinyl to arrive so I can listen to them with proper sound.

Put Your Hoodies On [4 Trayvon] - Steel Pulse.

Steel Pulse DMed me a link to their new song, "Put Your Hoodies On [4 Trayvon]", a marketing device that I find pleasingly modern for a band that started in 1975. Back then, I'd listen to them on bootlegged cassette tapes. Today, I'm downloading free mp3s. That's either full circle, or impossibly different. Follow them on @steelpulse.

According to the band, the song "is a plea for justice. Written by David "Dread" Hinds as a reminder of the FACT that an innocent teenager is dead, shot by a man who was playing “vigilante” - pursuing the teenager around the neighborhood despite being advised against it by the authorities."

It's an instant reggae classic. 

She Haunts My Dreams - Spain.

All of the songs on this album are about love, and why not. That’s what the fundamental ur-rock song is all about, love in all its manifestations and emotions. And cars, I guess. Spain are from LA (no idea why they’re called Spain), and have been going since the early 90s. Josh Haden is the main driving force in the band. Johnny Cash covered one of their songs, which is a great recommendation. 

Cruelty On Beauty On - Dear Reader.

A purdy little ditty (I don’t know why I wrote it like that, something to do with the beauty of Dear Reader’s Cherilyn MacNeil. Probably best not to dwell on it) off Dear Reader’s latest, 2013’s "Rivonia". The music is lovely on this album, but the lyrics seem a little twee sometimes. As befits a band that used to be called Harris Tweed, I guess. Each song is about an episode in SA history. This song is my favourite, although I haven’t bothered working out what it’s a reference to. You might get a Tori Amos feel here, but don’t overthink that reference.

Happiness - Mafikizolo.

Loving the groove on this track, and it goes immaculately with the styling on the cover. Cool, bright, quirky, and indubitably gorgeous. I'm going to make this my song for the winter months. And great to see Mafikizolo back after the travails of the last few years. This is off their very recent album, 2013's "Reunited".

Graceland - The Tallest Man On Earth.

So they call him the new Dylan, but they said that about Conor Oberst as well. And that didn’t really go anywhere near Dylan’s authority. Ignore that music industry shortcut for actual description, and take a listen to Kristian Matsson’s beautiful cover of the Paul Simon classic, taken from the "King Of Spain" single B-side. If you don’t have Tallest Man on Earth’s three albums yet, get hold of them. I favour "The Wild Hunt".