Scratched Into Our Souls

The Music Teacher

I just finished reading The Music Teacher, the terrific new book by Barbara Hall, who's written a number of novels (several of them young adult titles) but is best known as the creator of Joan of Arcadia and Judging Amy. She was also a regular contributor to I'll Fly Away and Northern Exposure. So it's no surprise that the book is peppered with biting bon mots about California in general and Los Angeles in particular (where "you're exposed to yoga against your will. It's everywhere, like smog."), the kind that only someone who's lived and worked in that particular paradise/hell could deliver convincingly.

But if you didn't know her CV, you'd guess from The Music Teacher that she's a musician first and a writer second, and you might be right. She's a helluva singer and has a pretty fine band (The Enablers), and she writes about music like, well, only someone who's lived and worked in that particular paradise/hell can do.

Full disclosure: I know Barbara a little bit through an email list I'm on and a group blog, Holler If Ya Hear Me, that we both write for -- here's some of her stuff. So I've had the pleasure of reading Barbara's more casual writing, where she's always witty and insightful and big-hearted in the kind of seemingly effortless way that you adore and are insanely jealous of at the same time. The Music Teacher has all of that going on and then some.

It's the story of Pearl Swain, a frustrated coulda-been-a-contender violinist who teaches lessons at an L.A. music store called McCoy's, and her relationship with Hallie, the kind of natural musician that comes along only once in a lifetime. We see Pearl see herself in Hallie, see the potential that she herself once had before she sacrificed music for marriage, and we see Pearl slowly invest too much of herself in her student. Sure, the notion of a teacher living vicariously through her student is nothing new, but Hall writes both Pearl and Hallie with such empathy and insight that she breathes new life into stock characters—they're both irresistably likable because they're flawed and tragic and wonderful in the very real ways that we're all flawed and tragic and wonderful.

The cast of secondary characters that surround Pearl—the rest of the crew at McCoy's—are equally well-drawn; the back-cover blurb from Brock Clarke (author of An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England) says the book "does to, and with, music teachers what Nick Hornby's High Fidelity does to, and with, record store geeks," and he's right. Anyone who's hung around musicians will instantly recognize Franklin, Patrick, Ernest, and Clive and their self-justifying takes on what "real" music and "real" musicians are.

And, as we watch Pearl make her way among all of them, and finally come to some degree of acceptance of her strengths and shortcomings, we learn a whole lot about how to accept our own. In other words, it does exactly what the best music does.

This Week's Obsession: Mono

I'd never listened to Mono, a Japanese crescendo-core quartet, until I reviewed their new one, Hymn to the Immortal Wind (Temporary Residence [and, evidently, Conspiracy) for Blurt (it'll be posted soon), but now I can't get enough of the album and the band. In the same vein as Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky, but more emotionally affecting, Mono combine the four-piece rock band (2 guitars, bass, drums) with a full orchestra -- which can be a recipe for disaster, but producer Steve Albini helps them keep the sound intimate and raw at the same time it's sweeping and grand. It's beautiful, noisy, haunting, scary, heartbreaking stuff. My favorite track on Hymns is  "Ashes in the Snow," which sounds not just a little like Ennio Morricone, but the whole album is great. So's their previous one, You Are There -- if you don't believe me, check out this review by All Music Guide's Thom Jurek, which is every bit as powerful as the music itself.

Here's the video for one of the quieter songs on Hymns, "Follow the Map." Gorgeous.

This Week's Obsession: Thru You Just Blew My Mind

Music mashups have been around since 2002 or so (the Nirvana/Beyonce mashup "Smells Like Booty" is the first one I remember), and video mashups for nearly as long. But I've never seen anything like what Kutiman is doing with his Thru You series of videos, taking upwards of 20 YouTube videos from as many different musicians and weaving them together into something completely unique and—and this is the most important thing—musically and visually compelling.

For some reason, though, he doesn't allow you to embed the videos in your blog, which seems to—ahem—contradict the spirit of the project itself. Still, it's amazing stuff. Check it out.

Update: Kutiman doesn't have the embed code on his page, but (duh) the clips are on YouTube. Here's the first one, "The Mother of All Funk Chords":

The Bridge

Over on Holler if Ya Hear Me, a group blog I belong to, Dave Marsh posted an email he received that I think is worth sharing, for the way it so clearly and powerfully captures the power of what he calls "rock/blues/rap/soul music," and why we need to cherish it and defend it when it's attacked. I also love his reminder, in his introduction to the message, that it's just as likely (maybe even more likely) to be attacked by liberals than by conservatives, and that when it is, it's an attack on the people to whom it's a lifeline and a balm, not mere "entertainment." Here are Dave's comments; you can find the email itself here.

People ask me why I remain devoted to rock/blues/rap/soul music. You can see it in their eyes, even if they don’t ask, that they wonder why an almost 60-year-old man would still be so wrapped up in things that are so flimsy and childish (to them). I have spent most of my career trying to articulate the reasons. This morning I read an email from a friend, who lays it all out with extreme clarity. Granted, this is in some respects a singular story and certainly an example of lousy shrink/great patient. (“Intact” must be jargon. Nobody who is at all informed about this issue could think that anyone who has been abused is “intact” psychologically. But professionals insulate themselves from their own emotions by pretending otherwise.) Abuse isn’t the only reason that I—or my friend—love the music. But it is a huge part of why we regard the music as something that has saved our lives in the truest sense.

I want to say this again, now, because I think there is a storm coming that will include more witch-hunts against hip-hop and maybe metal, especially with a Presidential administration run by someone associated with the Oprah Winfrey wing of punitive cultural criticism. I will join the fray again, on the side of free speech, and for as long as I am able. I hope people who read it will learn to think in the same terms. For every kid who needs what the email calls the “bridge,” we need to support this culture, no matter how off-track it may become in other ways. Somebody is surviving because of this and giving the worst parents an excuse to take it away (or for that matter, indulge in further abuse because of it) is unacceptable. Period.

Click here to read the email.

This Week's Obsession: Antony and the Johnsons, "Aeon"

To be honest, my only real obsession right now is my new baby boy, Ike (born 2/17/09, which explains why Scratched Into Our Souls was quiet last week). But while my wife and I were in the hospital, we caught Antony and the Johnsons on Late Night With David Letterman. Their performance of "Aeon" was altogether remarkable, an absolute show-stopper. In the dark of the  hospital room, baby Ike in our arms, we were surely suckers for anything even remotely emotional, and both the song and the image—it ain't often that a pudgy, pasty guy in yellow eye shadow haunts my waking dreams—have been rattling around my head for the last week. The version on the band's new album, The Crying Light, is lovely, but doesn't come close to capturing the desperate intensity of the performance on Letterman. Amazing.

Otis Gibbs is Everyday People

Otis Gibbs has a new record out, Grandpa Walked a Picketline , and it's his best yet. I've got a review of it over at Blurt; here's a taste:

Otis Gibbs sings at labor rallies, wears an International Workers of the World baseball cap, and releases albums with covers that look like social realist posters of the 1940s.  But though all of his songs are informed by politics—"I log many a mile every year, I do my best to spread the word/ To fan the flames of discontent is what I like to call the lord's work," he sings on "Damn Me"—but they're as far from agitprop as you can imagine.

Check out a sample in my playlist at right; the rest of the review is here.

Free Download: "Let's Get it On"

Amazon is offering a free download of the Marvin Gaye classic today and tomorrow. Just click on the banner on the right, and share it with someone you love.

Qtrax Finally Almost Ready, and Still, Nobody Cares

Announced almost a year ago to great fanfare, the Qtrax music service sounded like a great idea: In exchange for viewing a few ads, music fans can download music for free, legally! It was supposed to launch in January of 2008, but of course it didn't, even though the company says 300,000 users have been participating in its beta test. Word is now that version 1.0 of the software is just about ready, but forgive me if I'm not salivating over the prospect.

All four of the major labels are involved, which of course means that the service will be seriously flawed. It only works with Windows machines, because the tracks will use Windows Media digital rights management that will track usage and prevent users from sharing the music with others -- and from playing it on iPods. (It's not clear if you can burn the tracks to CDs.) So Mac users can't use Qtrax, and the PC users who can will be limited in how they can use the music. I know, I know...whaddya want for nothin', right? Maybe this is the labels' way at getting back at Apple for forcing them to abandon DRM in the iTunes store, but with the foothold that iTunes and the iPod have, I can't see Qtrax being successful.

Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger: Worst Idea Since...Well, Ticketmaster Itself

Oh, it's not a bad idea for the companies, but it's a horrible prospect for the average consumer, who's already finding it harder and harder to get a decent seat for a concert through Ticketmaster. See last week's Springsteen sales debacle, in which people trying to purchase tickets were told there were none available, but that they could be found for twice the price or more at TicketsNow, which just so happens to also be owned by Ticketmaster. That's not the first time that's happened, not by a long shot, and a Canadian man is suing Ticketmaster over a similar bait-and-switch for Smashing Pumpkins tickets.

But it's only going to get worse if the world's largest ticketing service merges with one of the world's largest concert promoters and artist management firms; "monopoly" doesn't even begin to describe it. A few major acts--like those with "360" deals with Live Nation, were in exchange for a huge advance Live Nation gets a piece of every bit of the artist's revenue stream--might do OK, but most artists aren't going to be helped by this merger, either. And music fans are going to be hurt the worst, as noted in this MarketWatch commentary.

By all reasonable accounts, this merger shouldn't be approved, but I'm betting it will be. I'm just looking forward to the time that the government "has to" bail out the merged company because it's "too large to let fail"

This Week's Obsession: Blitzen Trapper, "Black River Killer"

 Here on Scratched Into Our Souls, I'm not going focus necessarily on the newest music or the latest-breaking news—there are plenty of great music blogs out there that already do that (like Stereogum and My Old Kentucky Blog), and the world doesn't really need another. Besides, I did my time covering music news for MTV a few years back, and while it has its appeal (I mean, who doesn't like to be the first to post a new song or information?), it's not a game I'm terribly interested in playing anymore.

Instead, I'll be writing about and posting whatever strikes my fancy, regardless of when it first came out. And so, with apologies to my friend Dave Marsh, who used to have a regular feature called "My Obsession" on his Kick Out the Jams show on Sirius satellite radio (Sunday mornings, 10 a.m. to noon ET), I'm introducing This Week's Obsession, in which I'll share a song or book or album or painting that I simply can't get out of my head right now, or that over the years comes back again and again to haunt me in ways that go beyond rational explanation.

This week, it's the song "Black River Killer" from Blitzen Trapper's 2008 Furr. To be honest, the band's previous album, 2007's Wild Mountain Nation, didn't do much for me—too much self-conscious eclecticism, not enough attention to melody and songcraft—so I never bothered to check out Furr. And when "Black River Killer" came on Sirius last week, my initial response was "Oh, great, another alt-country murder ballad." And it is, but it steers clear of cliches both lyrically (the murder happens on Sunset Strip, not back up in the holler) and musically (it's a mostly acoustic shuffle, but the whistling synthesizer links it not to some stereotypical version of, as Greil Marcus called it, "that Old Weird America" but to 2Pac). The rest of Furr is pretty damned good, but "Black River Killer" is one for the ages.

Check it out: