Mass in Minutes

Thanks to all for coming to my house for MiM #41, and for sampling the Chinese vegetarian pork...I still don't know what it is. Anyway, here's the playlist:

Frank says Frisell's one of the best guitar players he's ever heard. Others said the music was "very atmospheric" and "like Pat Metheny Meets a VW commercial"...which led to a conversation about Aubuchon - or is it O-BUH-kon?

This one-man indie rapper layers his pieces a lot with repetitive, quirky lyrics, as in, "It's them...with their tree-stumps, cat litter, & clay masks," and "It doesn't look like an ice sculpture...or does it?!!!"

The collection includes remakes by Paul of stuff the Beatles didn't like the first time they recorded it. I loved the words of the song, and the fluid way Lennon delivers them. Here's one verse:

Hey Rebecca, the words we couldn't make out were Jai (Live Forever), Guru (Teacher), De Va (Heavenly One), Om (Vibration of the Universe).

Burton feels like he's heard the song a million times. Bowie Bonds came up - the singer issued them in 1997, based on the profits he figured he'd make off his back catalogue. Turns out they have a AAA rating. Who'd a thunk it? Here's an article about them: http://slate.msn.com/id/2894/#ContinueArticle.

It's a surreal, graphic song about the dismemberment of a girl. Sergio liked the vocal melody, which showcases Bowie's voice and disjointed piano. He thinks Bowie's obsessed with being relevant, and is a great musical synthesizer, rather than an innovator. (hopefully I am repeating that correctly?)

Jason told a story of being 16 years old and meeting this beautiful guitarist who performed with Cale. J.J. Cale is a go-find-him guitarist with a really chill groove, but he has written a lot for other folks, and played with them too.

Jason K.: collection of songs from the radio show Morning Becomes Eclectic (http://www.kcrw.com/show/mb), "Opening" by Philip Glass

Another great story by a Jason, this time about borrowing an album with a beautiful song...

Spoon's latest full-length album is a mere 35 minutes long. They are wunderkinds from Austria [ed: Austin, actually, but Vienna would certainly be a bit cooler] who write no-fluff songs.

Mass in Music XL. Sounds pretty big, huh? Actually, it was; twelve people crowded into my living room to listen to our music expose. I started things off with...

Jerad: David Bowie, "Rock and Roll Suicide" from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
I've become obsessed with this song lately. Just listen to Bowie scream "Give me your hands, because you're wonderful!" and I challenge you not to love it, too.

Jen: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "I'll Be Faithful to You"
Here, we got to enjoy some of Jen's Old Thyme music. I also made a note about Emilou Harris, but I forget why. Maybe she played on the song. That'll teach me to write my minutes sooner.

Brian: Frog Eyes, "Masticated Outboard Motors" from The Golden River
The consensus seemed to be that these guys are weird, almost to the point of absurd. Of course, that's why some of us loved it. Comparisons were made to the Divine Comedy because of the lush, theatrical production.

Burton: Ricky Lee Jones, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" from Flying Cowboys
The advantage of waiting to type up the minutes is that you get to see what was played at subsequent meetings. Someone (Jenny, maybe) played something else from this album at Ken's in February, so I'll defer to his comments on this one. Yes, I'm a slacker.

Ken: Keith Jarrett, "Butch and Butch" from Up For It
Ken picked up this album in Taiwan, so we had a lively discussion about his difficulty in finding any good music while there. He played this track from the album since it was the shortest. Still, it was quite lively - Ken's doing a pretty good job of getting us jazzed.

Jen: Santa Esmeralda, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" from the Kill Bill, Vol 1 Soundtrack
This was the first thing that she played at our Mass in Music. We're thinking of renaming this gathering Jen And Other People, since the name is pretty widespread. This instrumental piece reminded us of '70s TV shows. Ken wanted to put on go-go boots.

Sergio: Passengers, "Your Blue Room" from Original Soundtracks, Vol 1
This band is a collaboration between Brian Eno and U2 that came out in the early '90s between U2's Zooropa and Pop albums. Someone made a note of Bono's gravelly voice, and Anna pointed out that the song is just four chords with no chorus or hook.

Anna: Odd Little Snigglets, "Toast"
The songs from this CD were recorded by one of Anna's friends in CA under the "Two-hour Rule"; all of the songs were written and recorded within two hours. Obviously, spontaneity is key and no idea gets tossed out for being too far out there. The lyrics to this homage to toast certainly showed that. This reminded me of a song, also called "Toast" I used to hear on the morning shows when I was in elementary school. I just found the lyrics to it on this page (search for "toast").

Jen again: Sarah McLaughlin, "Stupid" from Afterglow
This is Sarah's latest release. Jen described the album as "samely."

Alison: Gill Aharon Trio with Tronzo from a live recording at the Zeitgist
This band is the Zeitgeist's resident band. We heard an out-there-but-not-so-far-that-it-can't-be-enjoyed song. Alison is good with hooking us up with this kind of stuff. She highly recommends you going to see them.

Jerad: U2, "40" from War
It's the 40th Mass in Music, so it's just appropriate. This song is based on Psalm 40 and U2 used to close every show with this one.

Alison: Modeles
She closes things up with another local band. I forgot to write anything more about these guys - sorry Alison.

Minutes... just minutes after MIM39...

December 9, 2003 Mass in Music chez Reich-Kass

In attendance: Sergio, Jenny, Frank, Mark, Burton, Jay, Rebecca

Jay played “The Post-War Dream” by Pink Floyd (album: The Final Cut). The song starts off quiet but has dark overtones. The line “Maggie what have we done (referring to Margaret Thatcher)?” seems to point to bad economic times in England (capitalism, shipyards closing down). Mark’s “wall” story resurfaced. Burton observed that there are few “protest songs” these days. Sergio brought up the fact that would rap be considered socially conscious music, describing living conditions? Folk music lends itself more to communicating political messages these days. Another observation was that even during protest times (late 60's, early 70's), majority of Americans were not part of protests that were for the large part on campuses.

Did you know the distance between your elbow and wrist = length of foot (this got everyone contorting in bizarre ways) and fingertip to fingertip with arms spread = height (Burton measured with a phone cord).

Frank played “Get Gone” by Fiona Apple (album When the Pawn…). He says that the album can be listened to in its entirety. Fiona writes all of her stuff. "She’s skinny, she’s angry – what’s not to like?"

Burton played Sevilla, which was interpreted beautifully on guitar by Andre Segovia. At times, sounds like >1 player. He passed away in the last 5 years. Jay passed up an opportunity to see him play when Jay was 10; he just wasn’t interested at the time. Frank and Jenny thought it had medieval/renaissance flare to it.

Sergio played Endomorph by Rasputina (this group will be in town on the 11th downstairs at the Middle East). They are 3 women who play cello and sing. One toured with Nirvana. The voice was very fairy-like.

Hope to see you all again soon!

Rebecca and Jay

Yes yes y’all…I am sending out the minutes for the last meeting. Regrettably, there were not many minutes to record for there were only three of us in attendance. (Jennifer “Little-Big-Face” Morone, Jerad “Reese’s” Lewis and yours truly). However, a good time was had by all. In fact, a more orgiastic collection of music has never been played. Words cannot describe the musical joy which was felt by the three of us. So as not to inspire intense jealousy in you, the unlucky not in attendance, I will write no further of the music. I will however, let you know that the spread which I laid out for us was awe inspiring. At one point, Jenny said, "You know, this spread is quite simply the words of Susan Miller made manifest…'Eat well, live long, be happy!'"

So, attached are two photos of said spread. This was no Reich-Kass Trader Joe’s Extravaganza nor one of Mule’s Brie cheese cornucopias, but it was…how you say…good.

Our first post-Mule meeting of the music. It was a smallish group, but we played lots of music from all over the place.

Ken: WEEN, "Tried and True" and "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)" from their latest album Quebec
Ken saw these guys a few weeks ago and was still in awe of these two guys who just rock, and sometimes roll. Apparently, Ween are in a prog-rock mode after their last album, with bits of The Beatles, Yes, and Pink Floyd very evident in these songs.

Jerad: British Sea Power, "Apologies to Insect Life" from their brilliant debut The Decline of British Sea Power
These guys played at TT's a few weeks back, and it's been a while since I've been as completely blown away by a new band like I was by them. This doesn't even have anything to do with the faux-taxidermed birds and non-faux-tree branches strewn across the stage. Anyhow, this song is a roaring guitar energy thing, which should be sufficient evidence for most that I'll never make it as a rock critic who actually has to describe a song or write something relevant about it.

Brian: Buck 65
I didn't get the title of the song that he played. Buck 65 is not the sort of artist that you think of when you hear "hip-hop," which got us (again) into the "what is 'underground' hip-hop?" conversation. I think that Brian prefers the tag "indie white-boy hip-hop." The lyrics were quite serious - this guy was rhyming about breast cancer and his mother. I won't say that this kind of stuff is my favorite, but I've certainly been exposed to quite a bit of new interesting music from this genre since I moved in here.

Sergio: Rasputina, "Mr E. Leon Ravis" from their debut Thanks for the Ether
Do you remember watching Nirvana Unplugged on MTV set on repeat for a week after Kurt Cobain died? Do you remember that girl in the corner adding these great cello parts to half of the songs? Well, she went and got some of her fellow cellist friends together and formed Rasputina. Three women wearing sexy goth outfits bowing away at their cellos - not a bad concept for a band, right? This song was written about an old photo - just a story put to a photo that didn't have a story. We discussed that they seemed to be a bit hard to categorize, which I actually quite like to hear about a band.

Jerad: Relaxed Muscle, "Sexualized"
This debut single from Jarvis Cocker (of Pulp, see the post below for my feelings on them). This is just one of the most over-the-top ridiculous songs I've heard in a long time. Only Jarvis could pull this off.

Paul: The Action, "Love Is All" from Rolled Gold
The Action were supposed to be the "next big thing" back in 1966, but it just never happened for them. This album is basically their demo for the psychedelic album that ever got released. Too bad, because this is better than most of the stuff that I've heard from that time.

The theme that I chose for this week was "CHAOS." I apologize for taking so long to get these minutes out. I could blame it on my recent move, but I've had plenty of time to type these up...I'm just lazy. However, I should note that these are the first minutes to be posted straight-to-web, bypassing the antiquated system of e-mailing the minutes to the list.

As is the custom, we first ate food in the kitchen, and then migrated to the living room to surround ourselves with music. Ahh yes, the music...

1. Jerad (that would be me) started things off because I had a special treat/horror set up specifically for this night. I had mentioned the Flaming Lips' album Zaireeka to the group before, so I felt like I should take this opportunity to show it to the group and let everyone make up their mind about whether they thought it was genius or madness or somewhere in between. Zaireeka is a four CD album, and all four discs are meant to be played simultaneously. The same eight songs are on each disc, and each disc has a different part (or parts) of the song on it. Rather than go into extraordinary detail here, I'll just say that you can read more about it at the Flaming Lips' website; follow the links to "Music" and then "Zaireeka." The three tracks that I played from the album were the first, "Okay I'll Admit That I Really Don't Understand," the catchy "Riding To Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)," and the ear-piercing/rumbling "How Will We Know? (Futuristic Crashendos)."

2. Susan - "The Swan," Camille Saint-Saens, performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
This cello piece is taken from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals. Rebecca related a story about the '97 Montreal ice storm and staying in a shelter while everything was frozen.

3. Ken - "Liquid Swords," GZA, the Genius, from Wu-Tang Clan
Again, Mr. Forton is keeping us educated in the realm of hip-hop and always has the best background stories to back up the music. This title track from one of GZA's solo records was described as a mix of a Japanese samurai movie and NYC drug dealers. We were led into the song by a spoken intro by a kid from a samurai movie. After hearing the song, we discussed the full culture of the Wu-Tang and how they work both as a loose collective and as separate but intermingling entities.

4. Allison - Sun Ra (I didn't get the title or album, but it was live)
Very challenging is probably the best way to describe this way-out-there piece. It was about ten minutes of "free jazz" with not much sense of melody or rhythm. It challenged us to evaluate whether those elements are necessary for us to enjoy a piece of music. The music itself was a wonderful mix of synths, resonant filters, and a wailing sax to end things. I think some drums and bass almost crept in at once point, too. We ended with a discussion of performance and video art.

5. Frank - "Grosse Fugue," a bit of the old Ludwig (van Beethoven)
Frank saw this piece performed at the New England Conservatory where the conductor broke down the individual parts of the music and tried to explain to the audience what was going on in the music and the performance. This piece is obviously incredibly difficult to play. Frank mentioned that it's not unusual for a quartet playing this to just stop in the middle to figure out where they are. A prince commissioned an alternate version of this because it was deemed to be too chaotic (which is exactly why Frank chose to play it tonight).

6. Sergio - "Carry Stress in the Jar," Mr. Bungle
This band arose from the ashes of Faith No More (think flopping fish, exploding pianos...yes, them). The chaos in this song (and the band) came from mixing styles like free jazz and metal. This had screams fading into saxes.

7. Chris - "Transmitter," Daniel Lanois
Most people probably haven't heard Mr. Lanois's own music, but we have all certainly heard something that he's had a hand in producing or recording. He has worked extensively with U2, Peter Gabriel, and many other well-respected musicians at his New Orleans studio. The chaos that Chris was displaying was not in the music, but in the actual making of the music on a pedal steel. This instrument, as Chris demonstrated on my acoustic guitar, is played with the neck laying flat and moving a slide up and down the frets. As if slide guitar isn't already difficult enough, a pedal steel also incorporates a series of pedals and knee levers that will bend the strings to a different pitch. Obviously, the pedal steel can take years (or decades) to master, but it's a beautiful instrument when played with the proficiency and grace of someone like Daniel Lanois. Best of luck to Chris as he attempts to learn this instrument.

July 1, 2003 Mass In Music XXIX
by Chris Mule

The Twenty Ninth Mass in Music was held on July 1, 2003 inside my home on 9-11 Elmwood Street in Somerville. The turnout for this particular meeting was quite large and we were fortunate to welcome four new members, Sergio, Jessica, David, and Allison who have since added a depth to the group that makes me wonder what will be played on our 99^th meeting.

I asked the group to go around and explain what was going on in their lives, who they thought they were, how they got here, and what their yearly income was. First up was Allison, an artist in her own right who plays Djembe drum in a Malian Drum group. I had seen Allison on the subway with her large drum. I walked up to her and asked, "Is that a drum?" Thankfully she looked past my train wreck like attempt at conversation and decided to join us anyway. Mark and Brigid spoke about their recent engagement. Jay and Rebecca spoke of their recent wedding. Jerad responded with having met his girlfriend in the music club. Sergio spoke of having met a friend of mine at a wedding and that he was sorry his wife could not make it. Ken and Jessica who are currently married spoke about how a married couple they know turned them on to this music club. With all of the marriage talk this seemed to be a good opportunity for Frank to announce our engagement. I am just as surprised as the rest of you, but I am sure that many of you could tell by looking at me that I am way past due. It’s a shotgun wedding.…if I am lucky, it will look just like Frank. All of these commitments to preserving relationshiops set up a nice segue for the 29th meetings theme.

I had asked the group to bring music that reflected the idea of preservation. Music can be used as a tool or agent of preservation. After experiencing the language tension in Montreal, I observed how the French language could be used to preserve the French culture. Music is used as a tool of preservation as well. It can be used to preserve a particular philosophy, idea, musical tradition, a national ideaology, a memory, feeling, idea, religion, or culture. Musical Museums. This time around I asked the players of the music to write about what happened at the meeting by reflecting on it afterwards and sending an email my way. Here is what they had to say:

Jerad - "Baby One More Time" by Travis (not Britney)
"'Baby One More Time' is nothing more than a simple POP song, which should not mean that it's immediately thought of as a throwaway tune. I think that our group really picked up on this when they heard Travis's version of the song. I imagine that the song has been dismissed by many people (me included) simply because of the connotations of "Britney," "manufactured pop," and "schoolgirl outfits" that have been unavoidably intertwined with this tune. When you take all of that away, and just have two Scottish guys singing the song on acoustic guitars, not to make fun of it but to show their genuine affection for the song, it can take on a new meaning and can be appreciated at face value again. I think that many of us heard that this rendition of the song stripped it down to its most basic - a few chords and an extremely catchy melody - and we were able to actually enjoy the song (after a few initial giggles, of course)."

Allison- On Her first Music Club Experience
"I chose to play a song from my Malian drum teacher Moussa Traore's last recording because it seemed to fit well with the theme from the perspective of cultural preservation. As western culture was imposed on the world through colonialism, and as the world continues to become more homogenous through the distance-shrinking effect of technology (and other influences), it seems that the diversity which was once naturally protected by physical limitations is being seriously threatened. Mali is still an extremely poor country- they have absolutely nothing in comparison to our basic comforts of life. However, they have an extremely strong culture with deep roots which all Malians (that I have encountered anyway) feel belongs to them personally. So although they may have nothing materially, they have so much in their culture and community that we are lacking-- part of which is their music. As Malian music becomes more known and widespread, it is subjected to the influences that come with contact with new places and sounds. The question that comes up is: How much at risk is this culture which remains still relatively "pure" as it begins to merge into the mainstream? Will increased popularity bring more people to its side to help preserve this culture, or is increased contact with western culture an inevitable threat to its continuation?"

Jay and Rebecca "You Make Me Feel So Young" Frank Sinatra {comment by Chris} Recently married, Jay and Rebecca chose this Frank Sinatra standard as their wedding song and we were lucky enought to have them give an encore performance of their first dance. I was lucky enough to be at their wedding and can tell you first hand how moved everyone was with Jay and Rebecca's beautifully choreographed swing dance. I think it was effective when the Rabbi and The State of Vermont recognized their marriage, but I think I was convinced in witnessing the rhythm they find together. If they would like to preserve their marriage, I would suggest dancing to this song once a month. It is probably the only hope of getting Jay back in that suit.

Britt "Angel Eyes" by STING from Leaving Las Vegas
"...to tell you the truth, I don't think I remember it from the movie, but someone gave me the soundtrack, and I was taken with all of the Sting songs, especially that one, since I was so familiar with the song to begin with. I thought it tied in with the preservation theme in that it was a very old song that he kind of resurrected in a way. Any time a major star does anold standard, new people who may not have listened to that particular standard suddenly can appreciate it. For whatever the reason, if more people are listening, I think it's a good thing. Also, I think I mentioned that I made a lot of my high school vocal sudents sing it so that they might be able to appreciate jazz and the genre of the "standard."

Ken- Fear Not of Man by Mos Def
"I chose "Fear Not of Man" off of Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides." This is a highly politically charged album, but the music itself is so well rendered you might not even notice it. Listening to hip hop has closely honed my listening skills, since it takes a couple passes to figure out some of the jam-packed lyrics. Mos Def is asked when hiphop is going to get better. He responds that it has no life of its own, that we create it. So it will get better when we get better, reflecting the African-American tradition of
creating music that describes life as it is experienced by black people. Thus we get the blues, jazz, R&B Soul, Funk, hip hop, etc. More importantly, he claims that people will only get better once they understand that all people are created by God and have dignity and worth as a result, that people are invited to enjoy the same communion with each other as God calls us to with God's self. It is the communion that makes this song so great for me, since I believe that is the general purpose of our common life, which we do not achieve very often. You can tell I was going to be a priest, can't you."

Frank "Wild Man Black Fella"
"In the selection "Wild Man Black Fella" of the album Track to Bumbliwa one of the composer/musicians' name was Jim Harvey. I'll come back to that later - sit tight. The fact that the song I played used mostly traditional instruments of the Australian Bushmen and were recorded in the places sacred to these wonderful, small, tongue-clicking people is to me immaterial. This has nothing to do whatsoever with the theme of preservation. I'm not sure that their culture is even worth preserving. Have they ever made a good blockbuster movie?...Has a star come from the Bushmen's culture?...NO. However, if you'll recall the name I mentioned above (Jim Harvey)I feel that the name "Harvey" must be preserved. Even though it was not his surname it still counts in my mind and heart as a true "Harvey". Did you know that only 1 in 253,000 newborns are named Harvey? What the hell is going on?...and for that matter, did you know that the name Harvey is not short for anything? That's right, it is simply H A R V E Y. The only known nickname existing today is "Harv". The name Harvey means warrior. Please spread the word. Please preserve our warrior-Harveys by naming your child Harvey and by coming back to music club real soon. "

~Since we are engaged I asked Frank (The Warrior) to give me a little more of his knowledge on this music~

"The recording of the album, Tom Wasinger and Jim Harvey sought to "sing the land", as they traveled through Australia. The song "Wildman Blackfella" is a traditional song which has it's roots in the 40,000+ year old Aboriginal culture. All of the cuts on the CD were recorded in sacred places under the direction of Aborginal people such as a man enigmatically referred to as "Charlie" in the liner notes (is that what they call them?)"

David- "Soukora" by Ali Farka Toure
"I bought the CD because I was a fan of Ry Cooder (he co-authored the much of the music) and at the time--during the college years--I really liked world music (Ravi Shankar, Klezmatics etc.) The album I think also won a grammy (not sure if that's a good endorsement). The track I played has always been my favorite. . .it's very mellow w/ a nice vibrant tone. To be honest, there wasn't too much of a constant "preservation theme" running through my mind since Frank invited me at the last minute. But the need to chronicle/preserve/expose world music might fit in that niche nicely. Hope that's helpful. PS. I think the group liked the pick. . .a few people, I think, also played world music selections."

Chris- Ani Difranco & Utah Phillips "Bum on the Rod"
I remember buying this CD simply because it had something to do with Ani Difranco. Yet I was thrown a curve ball when I realized that it was a CD full of spoken word - stories by a folklorist named Utah Phillips with musical accompaniment by Ani Difranco. It took me some time but I got used to it. I heard Utah tell a story about driving in a car with his 8 year old son and explaining his experience in the Korean War and how it changed his life forever. He learned non-violence to be essential to our existence and concluded that he knew then that change had to happen, and that change had to start with him. It was extremely moving and an interesting way to experience these stories. Phillips has been around for decades telling stories in a socialist vain, but now Ani was bringing his ideas and philosophies to a younger audience by bridging the gap. A musical hijacking. Brilliant. She is bringing experience and history to new audiences through music. Utah Phillips and Ani Difranco succeed wildly in preserving the folk tradition as well as the power of storytelling. This a beautiful CD that never fails to make me think. I think the group enjoyed the story I chose called, "Bum on the Rod" and appreciated the interesting format it was placed in.

[top] [home]

This week’s theme was “Summertime” – we drank beer and lemonade and some people ate a lot of blueberries

Prologue: 1min and 10 seconds of ‘silence.’
A wailing siren zoomed past and right towards the end the wind rustled the leaves by the porch door.

1. “Summertime” (version 1 – Nick Drake; Tanworth in Arden 1967/8; 18 Rare Home Recordings.)
Nick Drake fans were impressed to learn of this CD imported from England: Someone noted that this was the cheeriest tune they ever heard from this very talented but sad guy, who eventually committed suicide.

2. “Summertime” (version 2 – Leontyne Price; reDISCOVERED; February 28, 1965, Carnegie Hall Recital Debut)
This diva sang it in a very different way from Nick. Susan reminded us that the protagonist of the song is the family servant singing to the child about mama and daddy (this is of course from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess)Chris noted that the melody is in a major key while the chords are minor.

3. “Summertime” (version 3 – Janis Joplin; from her Greatest Hits album in this case)Janis rocks! And she was only 23 years old when she was singing like this!

4. “Summertime” (version 4 – Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald, Hot 5s and Sevens)What can you say? Whenever these two sing together it is heaven. Some felt that Armstrong’s voice is crappy in that really incredible way; a la Lou Reed, Tom Waits.

Amazingly, we could have played more versions of this tune (at least I wasn’t tired of it) but some were more creative in their interpretation of the night’s theme.

5. “303” (Kula Shaker; Summer Sun)
A British band with an Indian influence. Their hit single is in Sanskrit!

6. “Buggin’” (the Flaming Lips, Soft Bulletin)
“the buzz of love is busy buggin’ you” This is a band of crazy lyrics, but Ken told us that these particular lyrics actually made a lot of sense to him. The album is recorded in Cassaday, NY in the Finger Lakes region near where Ken grew up, and he remembers the bugs splattering on his windshield as he drove around just like they do in this song. It also must be noted that this band has made a recording on 4 separate discs meant to be played on four separate stereos simultaneously!

7. “La Petit Mort” (Erin McKeown; Distillation)
Jen and Burton first heard this local gal playing in Harvard Square a few summers ago. Speaking of longing, this title appears to be a double entendre. Estelle dies (a little death) at the consummation of her marriage.

8. “Jeux Interdits” (Camilo Silvar)
Andrea feels this song expresses a feeling of longing for summertime. She heard this guy in the subway in Paris and bought his CD from him. So if we want to find it we can try this website: www.ar8.com.fr/camilo

Good luck to Andrea, who was headed back to Germany. She said she would start a Munich-based Mass in Music!

These minutes summarize the 25th time that Mass in Music has met. It is a milestone that I am sure we are all proud of. I am glad that I found this group and that Burton Flint asked me to attend. It is a high point of my week when we meet.
I think that the highlight of the 25th Mass was my hi-fi system, which I just loved sharing with those who attended. I love the equipment as much as I love the music that is played on it. There is something strangely romantic about a bunch of engineers trying to enhance the emotional connection between listeners and their music. As we discussed that night, I am from the emotional connection camp and not the "absolute sound" camp. I just want music to make me feel: pathos, joy, whatever. So much of our surroundings deadens the feelings we have; music should arouse those feelings and make us feel more alive. The best systems have this effect on you without your even realizing it.
This discussion reminds me of a conversation I had with an audio dealer I knew in Vermont. An audio dealer friend of mine told me about a year ago, that he had run out of records to buy and that there was nothing good out there any more. I was struck dumb as he said this. After I regained my faculties, I realized that this was partly due to his audio philosophy: dynamics, dynamics, dynamics. All he cared about was sound. He had sold all of his 70s era LPs because they didn't sound good on the Holy Grail system he had assembled. This is the polar opposite of what I am after in building my hi-fi system. There is such a tremendous variety of music out there, how could he say there was nothing good out there anymore? Maybe that's why he is no longer in business a year later.
Chris requested that I make some mention of my equipment. I have owned upwards of 60 separate pieces of equipment, but nothing has intrigued me like the 47 Labs equipment I own now. If you want to read about the whole company, you can check out www.sakurasystems.com. Sakura is the American distributor of 47 Labs equipment in the United States. Yoshi Segoshi, who runs it, would be happy to answer any of your questions. He is a great guy. The main philosophy is that simpler is better. They use very few parts and lots of engineering to make components that really sing.
I own the entry level products in the 47 line-up. They are still very expensive, given what the average person is willing to spend at Best Buy or Tweeter. If any of you are putting systems together, please avoid these stores. They may wear matching polo shirts, but they are not hi-fi specialists. They are specialists in moving product. I can put together a true hi-fi system for you for $1500-2000. And if that is too much, then we can get as close as possible. For me it is worth it because I love just plopping down and listening to music and doing nothing else at the same time. If you don't listen to music like this, then a hi-fi system may not be a great investment. But if you do, then please contact me. I am happy to spread the hi-fi gospel.

For the record, my system is:
47 Labs Shigaraki integrated amplifier
47 Labs Shigaraki CD transport
47 Labs Shigaraki digital-analog converter
47 Labs OTA cabling throughout
J.A. Michell Gyrodec SE Mk. II turntable
Rega RB300 tonearm with Expressimo Audio Heavyweight counterweight
Shelter 501 Mk. II cartridge
Channel Islands VPP1 phono section
Proac Response 1S speakers on Target sand-filled speaker stands (these speakers are no longer made)
Symposium Svelte Shelves under most of the equipment, including the speakers
An Essential Sound Products Essence power cord on the integrated amp.
Wiremold filterless multi-outlet strip.

And recently I acquired an Audiomat Phono 1. I have been looking for one of these for over a year now!!! They are no longer made but are near legendary now:
I am also probably trying out some new speakers soon. I am hoping to acquire a pair of Reynaud Cantabile or Gallo Nucleus Solo, two very weird looking but effective speakers. I have a feeling I'll be pursuing the perfect speakers for a long time, since the variation in speaker sound is greater than any other component.
Before we get to the music, I should also mention that we cleaned a record on my VPI record cleaning machine. A good record cleaning system is essential to enjoying vinyl if you want to keep the records for a while. And all that grunge destroys your cartridge needle if you don't get rid of it. We cleaned Jay's Allman Brothers record on the VPI, giving it the full treatment with a natural sponge and all. The vacuum, as it always is, was the most fun part of the process. If $450 is too much to spend on a record cleaner, there are cheaper ones available for $200 or $250 from other companies.
Enough of the equipment, friends. On to what matters most: The Music.

Our theme this week was BLUE. I was hoping that we would go in different directions with it, and we did. I'll just get to what people brought.

Burton (Lawrence) (It's a long story.): Bob Dylan, "Tangled Up in Blue"
Lawrence had to choose a CD from Ken's collection because he arrived straight from work not knowing whether he could make it or not. This reminded me of the John Lennon song that Jerad brought last time. I don't know about Lennon, but I believe more and more in Zimmerman every time I take the time to sit and listen to his songs. They seem more lyric driven than most music these days. Dylan got his start in folk music, which eventually became sort of ossified. So Dylan broke out of that mold with an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Legend has it that he was booed off the stage because he dared to use an electric instrument at the folk festival. So much for folk music being protest music.

Ken: John Coltrane, "Afro Blue"
For me Coltrane is religious. I don't pretend to know as much as some of his devotees, but I love getting to know him slowly and deeply. His music has the power to shatter me and bring me to tears. He is somehow touching the trnscendent when he screams through that saxaphone. As I said that night, this record was recorded in October of 1963, when a good part of th country wouldn't let Mr. Coltrane use the same bathroom or drinking fountain as you or me. That tension comes through in his playing during thise period. He was not all that overtly political, but the power of this music is greater than nearly all of the political speeches I am familiar with. Then we went on to share how most of us came to know Coltrane. The stories were quite different, but there was a common theme: a very excited person delivering Coltrane to us. I think Chris described his music as "medicine". I just call it the gospel, the lifegiver

Rebecca: Chalav Udevash, "Halleluya"
This was quite a change from Coltrane bleating saxaphone--this was a little more Vegas. Burton said, "That was definitely Israeli ABBA." She wanted to play it at the 24th MIM, when Jay was gone and she was feeling BLUE, so it fit right in. She learned this folk song when she was in elementary school. I also think that we played it on the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Israel. It was clear that Rebecca felt the same emotional attachment to this song as I felt for Coltrane's piece.

Jerad: Elastica, "Blue"
Jerad was deeply troubled by the blue theme because it generated so many ideas for him. He was able to narrow his choices to 2, but choosing came down to almost a flip of the coin. He received the album in 10th grade when he had his wisdom teeth were pulled. Rebecca: "When your face was blue." Though this band was popular a while ago, we all liked the groove of this song. Some people described the sound as punk. It never fails to amaza me how capacious the definition of punk is. I would never have described it as punk, maybe new wave or something like that, but then again some people call Blondie and Talking Heads early punk. The more opinions, the better.

Susan: Stereolab, "John Cage Bubble Gum"
Susan did not recall the name of this song at the time, but I looked it up on allmusic.com, a great resource. There was no connection to blue on this tune, but Susan brought blue Pepsi, which Jessica and I are still drinking. It does taste different than the usual black stuff. I love Stereolab and can listen to anything they do, so this was a treat. In December, their keyboardist was run down while she was bicycling in England. It is uncllear what their future is now, but I certainly hope they continue to make music.

Jay: The Allman Brothers Band, "Blue Sky"
The blue connection is obvious, but Jay's story about the song was great. A grizzled character from Alabama, who drove carpets up to Tufts, convinced Jay that this was the best Allmans song. This was also the day that Jay first met Mark, I think. Played on my system, I finally understood why people say Dickie Betts is such a good guitarist. Most of the time, I hear his playing as muffled garbage, but I could hear his technique, etc., which was amazing. Susan also told a good story: her grandfather met her grandmother when a young grandpa said that he was going to marry that woman over there. He helped her with her bags, and later they were married. I think we all felt good about that story.

Chris: Miles Davis, "Blue in Green"
This song comes from "Kind of Blue", the best-selling jazz album in history.
The players on this record are Davis, Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. What a line-up; it was almost impossible for them to make a bad record, but this one is truly special. Chris and several others said that they had never heard many of the details in this particular song before. This, of course, makes me very happy because I think that a good hi-fi will help you appreciate and connect with music more easily because the amazing technique is so easily revealed. And, as Chris pointed out, the band had never rehearsed the songs on this album before it was recorded. Maybe this is why this recording is so alive--producers haven't mucked it up. Do you know how long it takes to make a Britney Spears album? Months. Jazz takes days. I just love this music.

A final reflection: the bookends of this Mass were Dylan and Davis. Dylan shocked the world in '65 by going electric. Most of his fans would say that electric instrumenst were a natural progression that helped Dylan's music. Davis did the same in the 70s and 80s, even recording Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper songs. Most would say that Dylan improved, but I can hardly think of anyone who thought that Davis improved in the 80s. His commercial releases are pretty horrid, and he started to dress like a Japanese anime character. This always reminds me that drugs are no joke. Miles fought with addiction for all of his adult life. He wanted so badly to remain relevant with these records, but when he played live he would pretty much ignore these commercial releases and play the bop that made him famous. I am sure his fans were grateful for that. What is it about jazz that makes it jazz?

April 29, 2003    Mass In Music XXIV
by Chris Mule

The Twenty Fourth Mass in Music began a new chapter our 24 meeting old story. This marked the group’s first encounter with Themes. Prior to this meeting, I had sent out an email establishing what theme our music selections should be centered around. The basis of my theme was something “Fxxx the Fewtch’(future) and I was hoping people would bring music that brought them back to a different time or place; expressing their discontent with the now and then, and saying hello to the past; in short, nostalgia. I showed up with thoughts of the Led Zeppelin song I was listening to when I drank my first can of beer (the beer was Schlitz and the song was Celebration Day), but the rest of the group showed up with some of the best stories I have ever heard.

Jerad
The title of my theme evoking nostalgia was called F--- the Fewtcha” and Jerad took it as an opportunity to play us a song that says “F--- the Past.” He found this notion inside the prolific verse of John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band composition entitled, “God.” For many, John Lennon embodied the 60’s, and was vital in giving people happiness and hope in the music of the Beatles. This song finds Beatle John reflecting on the past and letting listeners know to leave it behind, and let it go. He sings:

I don’t believe in Zimmerman (Dylan)
I don’t believe in Beatles,
I just believe in Yoko and me
And that’s reality
The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over

After a life of being mixed up in a blender of religion, politics, music and culture, John Lennon was telling his devoted followers, and followers of all sorts, to let go of all these “things” and put the power of being and believing in your own hands. He believed that we are all artists, musicians, writers, and leaders and to stop delegating this responsibility and to find it within ourselves. Music plays a powerful role in shaping identity and I think the Beatles were a source of that for many. I have spoken with my father about this and he tells me that the break up of the Beatles played on the same significance as when Nixon stole the election, and JFK was assassinated. Someone from the group asked about John’s line that read, “I was the Walrus” and asked what is The Walrus all about. How do you explain that?

Jen
Recently, Jen encountered the latest effort from Joni Mitchell that finds her with the London Symphony Orchestra. After hearing Joni’s latest effort, Jen found herself nostalgic for the Joni of old. After viewing a special on PBS entitled “Jonesing for Joni”, Jen realized that Joni Mitchell is best to be realized in the past of her album entitled “Blue,” and she played us the song Carey. She noted how much her voice has changed since this album, and how bright it sounded then, and dark it has become. This song brought Rebecca back to memories of summer camp.

Mark
When Mark entered the meeting he was carrying the dorm room staple, Pink Floyd The Wall. Immediately my mind went to past memories of myself getting “Comfortably Numb” with the same CD on various occasions, with various people, on various evenings, on various substances. It has played a role in so many smoky rooms that sometimes I mistake it for an ashtray. The Pink Floyd the Wall video often accompanied friends and I to the local 7-Eleven as we performed a junk food prelude to a weekly viewing of Pink Floyd The Wall. With blood shot eyes we would gaze at the store clerk who was waiting impatiently as my friends and I once took 10 minutes to pay for the all important supplies.   Deliberating the amount we each should pay we would create a 7 Eleven filibuster of sorts. We cared little for we were opposed this Modern society and all authority in it. We were alternative and we carried our Pink Floyd The Wall Video like it was the Bible, armed to the teeth. We believed in Pink Floyd for we would soon be comfortably numb and “thank you for the nachos sir, sorry we cannot do the grammar school mathematics necessary to pay for this junk food but we don’t need no education…you communist!” I am baffled at our improvisational/bizarre read of this very important work…After Mark’s story, I must take credit for the most shortsighted musical investigation of my entire life.

While my friends and I were getting creative by mixing the flavors at the 711 slurpee machine, Mark’s family decided the summer of ’89 before his senior year of High School should be spent doing something creative. Mark didn’t want to at first. He wanted his summer hanging out with his friends on the beach; playing basketball, but his parents put it in his head that maybe he should get some experience in Europe. Mark was off to Hanzla, Czechoslovakia for an internship at a chemistry lab. He just happened to be mixing chemicals just after the collapse of the Berlin Wall took place. Roger Waters performing The Wall for the first time in 30 years marked this event.   Mark being the person that he is, decided to be there.   So Mark and some friends got inside a Schoda (small European automobile) and drove to Berlin, Germany to see Roger Waters perform the entire Pink Floyd The Wall album and gave a helping hand in tearing down communism by renting a hammer to help knock down The Wall and celebrate this liberation. He met people from all over the world as 30,000 people gave a hand in the celebration of the collapse of communism, and The Berlin Wall. This album reminds him of a special time in his life, and he had felt that he had participated in something special, and I would say it was beyond special. Thanks for the inspiration Mark!

Burton
Burtons chose a song that took him back to a more simple time, 1975, when girls were girls and men were men, and as he aptly placed it in our memories, “when Nissan was Datsun.” Burton chose to have music transport him to be “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” just wasting time with Otis Redding. He remembers driving with his parents in their Datsun wagon looking out the window “watching the time roll away.” This brought him back to a more simple time in all of our lives.

Ken
Like Burton’s, Ken’s song of a choice was a vehicle that took him back to a very important highway. This was no ordinary highway. This highway took him through the streets of, as he put it, “one beat down city” of St. Louis at a time when he was “one confused puppy.”   He drove for hours and hours, playing the Wilco song entitled, “So Misunderstood.” He listened to this song 50 times at Max Volume in a little Nissan while pondering the question of whether to be married, or to continue his commitment in becoming a Jesuit Priest. This song brings Ken back to one of the most important decisions of his life, and I cannot even imagine what this was like. Ken reminisced the brotherhood, and family he had experienced within the order, but fortunately for all of us, Rock-n-Roll won.

Susan
Susan played us Clair de Lune by Debussy. She found it as a young girl when she was digging through here mom’s closet looking for things to play dress up and came across her record collection. She remembers just playing it over and over and over, and we were all glad that she did. The song was beautiful.

Chris
We all have friends that make us laugh. My friend Stephanie and I could laugh out of nowhere, for reasons unknown and it would go on for 5-10 minutes about three times a day. Together we could beat the joke. We were hardly on drugs. As the frosh years of college go, it’s pretty intense. You leave home and enter a cell like inhabitance with bad cafeteria food as you watch as your identity, values, and sanity get tossed inside a blender. A sick social experiment wrapped in textbooks and binge drinking. Stephanie Bell was the lifeboat I came across in my freshmen year. Fearless and funny, she quickly became an essential part of my diet. We spent countless nights in her dorm room listening to music and talking until breakfast and would continue over it as well.   The song I played brings me back to those late nights but as it hits its final note, my memory drops to the sound of the phone call I received from her mother telling me that she had been killed in a car accident.

April 15, 2003 Mass In Music XXIII
by Susan Miller

Thanks to everyone for the rich discussion about music, politics, and the politics of music. Here's what we heard:

Chris set the tone with Ani Di Franco's "Serpentine" from Evolve. (See righteousbabe.com for more.) Here are the lyrics:
serpentine
pavlov hits me with more bad news
every time i answer the phone
so i play and i sing and i just let it ring
all day when i'm at home
a defacto choice of macro
or microcosmic melancholy
but, baby, any way you slice it
i'm thinkin i could just as soon use
the time alone
yes, the goons have gone global
and the CEOs are shredding files
and the democrins and the republicrats
are flashing their toothy smiles
and uncle tom is posing for a photo op
with the oval office clan
and uncle sam is rigging cockfights
in the promised land
and that knife you stuck in my back is still there
it pinches a little when i sigh and moan
and these days i'm thinkin i could just as soon use
the time alone
cuz all the wrong people have the power
of suggestion
and the freedom of the press is meaningless
if nobody asks a question
i mean, causation by definition
is such a complex compilation of factors
that to even try to say why
is to oversimplifly
but that's a far cry, isn't it dear?
from acting like you're the only one there
unrepentantly self-centered and unfair
enter all suckers scrambling for the scoop
exit mr. eye contact
who took his flirt and flew the coop
but whatever
no matter
no fishin trips
no fishin
cuz mamma's officially out of commission
and did i mention
in there
somewhere
did i mention
somewhere
in there
that i traded babe ruth?
yes, i traded the only player that was bigger than the game
and i can't even tell you why
cuz you'd think i'm insane
and that's the truth
and the music industry mafia is pimping girl power
sniping off their sharpshooter singles from their styrofoam towers
and hip hop is tied up in the back room
with a logo stuffed in its mouth
cuz the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house
but then
i'm getting away from myself
as i get closer and closer to home
and these days i'm thinkin
i could just as soon use
the time alone
an i must admit
today my inner pessimist
seems to have got the best of me
we start out sugared up on kool-aid and manifest destiny
and we memorize all the president's names
like little trained monkeys
and then we're spit into the world
so many spinny-eyed t.v. junkies
incapable of unravelling the military industrial mystery
preemptively pacified with history book history
an i've been around the world now
and i can see this about america
the mind control is steep here, man
the myopia is deep here
and behold
those that try to expose the reality
who really try to realize democracy
are shot with rubber bullets and gassed off the streets
while the global power brokers are kept clean and discreet
behind a wall
behind a moat
and that is all
that's all she wrote
an my heart beats an sss o o o sss
cuz folks just couldn't care care care less less less
as long as every day is superbowl sunday
and larger than life women in lingerie
are pouting at us from every bus stop
shelovesme shelovesmenot shelovesme shelovesmenot...
and "big government should not stand between a man and his money"
cuz "what's good for business is good for the country"
our children still take that lie like communion
the same old line the confederacy used on the union
conjugate liberty
into libertarian
and medicate it
associate it
with deregulation
privatization
we won't even know we're slaves
on a corporate plantation
somebody say hallelujah!
somebody say damnation!
cuz the profit system follows the path of least resistance
and the path of least resistance is what makes the river crooked
makes it serpentine
capitalism is the devil's wet dream
so just give me my judy garland drugs
and let me get back to work
cuz the empire state building
is the tallest building in new york
and i always got the feeling
you just liked to hear it fall
off your tongue
but i remember my name
in your mouth
and i don't think i was done
hearing it close to my ear
on a whisper's way to a moan
but pavlov hits me with more bad news every time i answer the phone
so i play and i sing and i just let it ring all day when i'm at home
a defacto choice of macro
or microcosmic melancholy
but baby, any way you slice it
i'm thinkin i could just as soon use
the time alone
On a more positive note, Erin played Amy Grant's "Marching to Zion" from Legacy...Hymns & Faith. An upbeat version of the traditional hymn, complete with bagpipes.
Ken brought something completely different: Cannibal Ox, "Iron Galaxy" from The Cold Vein. He explained that this was underground hip hop, which raised the question, what is mainstream hip hop? A discussion of co-opting different cultures' music ensued.
BZ gave another example of musical cross-pollination with reggae by German guys, Seeed, and the song "Dance Hall Caballeros." See www.seeed.de. So much fun! The discussion got really interesting, and Christine questioned the legitimacy of preferring only music that doesn't come from the major stations, and also people's assumptions that much of the music we enjoy in the U.S. also originated here.
Jen continued the intermingling of cultures theme with "Ozark" by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays, a musical journey across the states. It had this cool sweeping, rolling hills kind of gesture. From As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls.
If Jerad could be anyone, he would be the British band Pulp, playing tunes from his favorite album, Different Class. He played "I Spy," which sadly hasn't gotten enough play on the U.S. radiowaves.
I did the cultures intermingling thing, too, with the Splendours of Topkapi Palace by the Bezmara Ensemble. I am forgetting the name of my own song, but it has that East-meets-West feel of Ottoman Turkish music, and supposedly it also incorporates Western ideas of what Eastern music should be like. (!)
Frank offered up some bedlam from Chris Cornell's newest hard rock gig, Audio Slave. From their self-titled album was the song "Show Me How to Live."
Britt finished things up with a happy tune! "Penny for Your Thoughts" by Acoustic Junction, a jam band that also does groovy a capella numbers. www.acousticjunction.com

Thanks again to everyone for coming!

What do people think of this music publication? www.nme.com

[top] [home]

March 11, 2003 Mass In Music XXI
by Jennifer Flint

The reason these notes are so late is because Burton and I have, over the course of the last few weeks, been mastering an interpretive-dance routine to reflect the music played on the evening of March 11. Sadly, a technical glitch proved this impossible. Hence your late minutes, with humble apologies but sans a dance video:

Ken played “I’ve Been a Mess,” by American Music Club, from the album Mercury. According to Ken, the song is based on the biblical story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead, and the song’s lyrics (“Lazarus wasn’t grateful for his second wind.”) supported this notion. If that weren’t enough evidence to convince the skeptics, Ken reported meeting a member of the band and asking where their ideas come from. “From the bible, man,” came the response.

Jerad shared his memories of a chance encounter with Peter Buck, a member of his favorite band, REM. At a later Mass, photographic evidence was produced, verifying that Peter was at least as thrilled as Jerad to make his acquaintance. (Peter to Jerad: “Are you gonna to get doubles? Can you send me one, man?”) Anyway, Jerad followed on Ken’s heels with Elvis Costello’s “I Want You,” from his best-of album. “I might as well be useless for all it means to you,” Elvis wailed. “I’m going to feel this way until you kill it.” Frank admitted that the song made him feel “a little uncomfortable.”

Slipping into something more comfortable, Frank played that Schubert jingle, “Blessed Night.” The encore presentation only enhanced our enjoyment of the leit, even if it is based on a poem by someone named Goatee.

At this point in the evening, BZ did not play German reggae, owing to the fact that she didn’t have it with her. But no matter: The song was heard on a later occasion, and the conversation gave us the opportunity to delve into a thoughtful and informed discussion of African-American Germans.

Burton played “Willow” by Joan Armatrading (who is of African-American English descent, I believe), from her Classics Volume 21 album. In her smoky voice, Joan croons about promises to be one’s shelter from the storm and other lovey-dovey stuff.

Karen, correctly sensing that we’d strayed too far from the evening’s theme of despair and love lost, played “Usted se me llevo la vida,” by Brazilian-born pop singer Alexander Pires. Not only was the song, which was sung in Spanish, beautiful, but Pires is hot (see below for significance).

Jenny played “The Bone Machine” by The Pixies, from their Surfer Rosa cassette. It was a wacky good time, like riding around in cars in high school.

Chris played Nora Jones and brought the conversation around to: what does it mean for music to be mainstream, and is it ok to like it? (If she’s as hot as Nora, the consensus is yes.) “I woke up after the Grammies, and it was like the world liked good music,” he said. “And did I mention that she’s gorgeous?” Indeed.

The club started off with a discussion about pirated music. Not that I particularly endorse such things, but I will pass on the names of the software programs that are available out there should you decide to embark on this journey through music cyberspace:

Kazaa - get Kazaa Lite, not the full thing
WinMX - good for indie, rare music
Morpheus
emusic.com

Jay started off by playing some music in the background and then claiming it as his song. It was the Clash, chosen as a tribute to Joe Strummer who died suddenly at a young age from a heart defect. The song was "London Calling". Jay had some recollections of listening to this when he was young(er).

Jenny played "Sancte Verona" by Cesaria Evora, a Brasilian singer. The album is called Cabo Verde. Music had soprano sax in it and was true to the latin style.

Courtney played a Bob Dylan tune called "I shall be released". It was a simple, funky, upbeat folk song with guitar and harmonica, and the album (Biograph) is apparently low-key for Dylan. As we discovered from the album packaging, Dylan is one of the rare breeds called the "Double Jew". Is this song about PRISON? Does anyone have anything to say about PRISON?

Burton played a song that "makes you feel good about New Jersey"...some of us are skeptical...the song was "Jersey Girl" by Tom Waits. He had a raspy voice, and embarrassingly, I burst into a laughing fit thinking he sounded like Animal from The Muppets. My apologies, Burton. Chris said that Tom Waits is "just like whskey" (i.e. an acquired taste).

Jen played "Annie's Song" by the band Cocktail Angst. The song started off ominously with deep piano chords and bass and then turned into a latin-like dance/lounge/60s sounding tune with marimba. Apparently Jen has some family connection to this band. Jenny remarked that it "sounds like Rizzo from Grease".

Frank played Schubert. Frank likes Schubert. He played the Germand lied "Sacred Night", claiming this was the song he meant to play back when he played another Schubert lied. Funny, I think we heard Sacred Night again somewhat recently...anyhow, it is based on a poem by GOETHE (NOT pronounced goa-tee but more like geu-te). Julianne Baird was the soprano.

Jerad played some "good music for being not in a good mood". The song was "Ladies and Gentlemen we are floating in space" by the band Spiritualized, who once opened for Radiohead. Words like "take the pain away" could be heard. This song was in Vanilla Sky. It was ambient but abrasive, and the chords sounded like Pachelbel's Canon (NOT Taco Bell's canon....like our homey W-C... whassup??). Chris claims it was "like smoking a joint". Chris, what's up with the alcohol and drug references?? At this point a discussion of Napster ensued. I don't feel too much like elaborating.

Chris then introduced us to the concept of the "LIBRARY", where one person can "borrow" a CD from another person, and is then obliged to return it at a certain date. What a cool concept! Chris ended the night with the Tin Hat Trio. The style was avant-garde classical, with hints of tango. We heard accordian, viola and the 'dobro' (slide resonator guitar). Unfortunately I don't have a name for the song (BILL), but you get the idea

Following are the minutes for Mass in Music XI. It was my pleasure to have all of you in my Waltham Estate and look forward to hosting again. I apologize for the length of this treatise. I am obviously a student of Chris Mule'.

Susan started things off for us with a ditty by the Bill Evans Trio entitled “I Do it For Love”. This piece was written by Paul Simon and enjoyed by the entire group. Susan had quite a few things to say on the topic of love. She even (off the top of her head mind you) quoted the bible in saying, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if I have not love I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Thank you Susan!

Jenny was next in the all-star line up with a song by Edie Brickell which I believe was entitled “Picture Perfect Morning”. To the best of my knowledge it was the title track from the album so titled. Jenny mentioned to us that the morning is her favorite time of day and praised the light-heartedness of this song. She quoted Edward Fitzgerald saying, with characteristic grace, “Awake! For the morning in the bowl of night, has flung the stone that puts the stars to flight.” Well said Edward and Jenny.

Following L’il Jenny was “Big-as-a-tank” Frank with the first movement of Benjamin Britten’s second quartet. Christine commented that it seemed to tell a story. I more or less agreed and proceeded to wax on about how our minds have the capability to “understand and learn to love” music which at first we feel may not be to our liking. While I was going on about this someone whose identity is still unknown stole behind me and delivered a rather sharp rabbit-punch to the nape of my neck, resulting in my falling prostrate at Britt’s feet and losing my train of thought, not to mention some of my dinner. Nevertheless, Benjamin Britten was heard and I hope enjoyed.

Despite the ruckus described above, the music continued with our founding father, the always gracious Mr. Mule’ playing Beth Orton’s song “Thinking About Tomorrow”. Beth Orton became Chris’ companion on his recent trip to Acadia National Park in Maine , which was described as a sublime place which was “very hard to leave”. We all enjoyed the song very much and enjoyed Chris’ enthusiasm about the blessing of nature and its inexorable place in his life and many of ours as well. Much to the surprise of the group, which incidentally included Brittney Sawdon, David Work, and Christine Gruse (who chose not to play any music because of the late hour), Chris read to us from an Edgar Allen Poe story entitled, “The Island of the Fay”. I have transcribed below what he read for us.

“I love, indeed to regard the dark valleys, and the gray rocks, and the waters that silently smile, and the forests that sigh in uneasy slumbers, and the proud watchful mountains that look down upon us – I love to regard these as themselves all; whose path is among associate planets; whose meek handmaiden is but the colossal members of one vast animate and sentient whole – a whole whose form is the most perfect and inclusive of the moon; whose mediate sovereign is the sun; whose life is eternity; whose thought is that of God; whose enjoyment is knowledge and whose destinies are lost in immensity…”

Hi, it’s Nicole. This past Tuesday was only my second Music Share Club, and I was lucky enough to be able to host it at my apartment. Chris started out taking minutes, and passed the responsibility to me half way through. He also played his song first, so consequently, there are very limited notes for his selection, like the name of the record wasn’t recorded . . . .
Chris brought us Gillian Welch, and played a song called "Time (the Revelator)". We looked up the definition of "revelator" and were pleased to discover it to mean: "one who reveals, especially one who reveals divine will." It seems to be characteristic of Chris to love songs that have profound or poetic lyrics. We like that.
Rebecca played Dave Brubeck from her badass autographed cd. The song was "Blue Rondo A la Turk" according to Chris’s notes, which I’m trying to decipher. This selection was cool b/c of the odd meter. It wasn’t in the usual 4/4 time of most jazz, but rather 9/8 time, I think. Brilliant.

Jay’s selection was The Indigo Girls "The Wood Song" from Swamp Ophelia. We had to listen to it twice b/c we all agreed that the first time it was too bassy and hard to hear the words. And the words were great, as is usually true for the I Girls.
Brit brought "NY Voices, the Songs of Paul Simon," and played "Cecelia." The 5 main "voices," included Peter Eldridge, who got his start in Brit’s college vocal group and from whom Brit once took voice lessons. She said he was very down to earth and a cool guy. We thought the song had tight harmonies and was an excellent rendition of Cecelia, though it sounded quite different from the rhythmic original.

Susan whipped a cassette out of her pocket and threw on Yo Yo Ma playing "Unaccompanied Songs for Cello." It turns out that Chris recognized the super song she chose and said that he once learned to play it on guitar. This lead to a discussion of how we might all enjoy hearing him play it some night, and that we should all feel encouraged to perform music during these gatherings. Ah, the possibilities! Also, at this point we decided that alcohol is the revelator. I don’t remember ho