tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-177963962024-03-06T23:37:40.870-08:00roots and wiresRoots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-75659779544125138232010-03-08T09:32:00.000-08:002010-03-08T10:07:53.169-08:00Dreamplay - March 20, 2010 - 7 PM @ Workspace, SFThe dread and resistance which every natural human being experiences when it comes to delving too deeply into himself is, at bottom, the fear of the journey to Hades.<br />C.G. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12 para 439<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEGi3CeN24fCNRJDvYou8G_M42Q6tsKkoSHbVXN45HbnXze1M3dm8dMUWJOElLQtskFIVHh2aTBUpMIzZeY4RKIWDp_DvWdDgZd-uY-cp6dR31rnBoNHDdF1TZa6SBNv6JmH66w/s1600-h/Modern+Santorini+Snake.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCEGi3CeN24fCNRJDvYou8G_M42Q6tsKkoSHbVXN45HbnXze1M3dm8dMUWJOElLQtskFIVHh2aTBUpMIzZeY4RKIWDp_DvWdDgZd-uY-cp6dR31rnBoNHDdF1TZa6SBNv6JmH66w/s400/Modern+Santorini+Snake.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446321604925692386" /></a><br /><br />Dreams, those mysterious visitors in the night… Are they simply residues of daytime experience, anomalies as the brain de-frags itself? Or are they, as humans have held for millennia, something more substantial, crucial perhaps? Dream work plays a major part of my own psychotherapy practice, in resonance with my Jungian orientation, yet it has cross-cultural roots that go farther back than Freud or Jung...<br /><br />In Greek mythology, Nyx – the Goddess of night – gave birth to the twin brothers Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (death), as well as to the Oneiroi, the dreams… In Indian Vedic tradition, in the Atharva Veda, dreams come from Yama’s world, from the world of death. As Jungian Analyst James Hillman expresses, “each dream is a child of the night, afflicted with sleep and death…” Every transformation involves a symbolic death as well as birth, the alchemical nigredo and coagulatio…<br /><br />Charon, another child of Nyx, is the ferryman of departed souls as they enter Hades through the underworld river Acheron… Hades, through his symbolic connection with the Eagle, has a shadowy affiliation with his brother Zeus, also connected with the Eagle. As Hillman expresses, this suggests an awareness of the Upperworld and Underworld as similar but with different perspectives. Returning to Indian tradition, now post-Vedic – in the Mandukya Upanishad, Visva (waking) and Taijasa (sleeping) are also felt to be similar, different sides of the same phenomena, with one looking out towards external objects and the other towards inner objects… In our own lives, synchronistic phenomenon hint at the dreamlike nature of waking life (something the Aboriginal peoples seem well-attuned to, with their sense of Dream-time) and premonitory dreams make us wonder about the distinctions between inner and outer, as well as the nature of time and space…<br /> <br />It’s easy to think of Hades as an entirely nefarious entity, especially when we’ve split off the dark from the light. Yet, through his connection with Pluto, he is also associated with wealth and riches, and through his connection with Trophonios, Hades is connected with nourishment. Hence he becomes the wealthy one, the giver of nourishment to the soul – if we have the courage to listen…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykAN4jeeOQTqe63rY9yRHvOyjSyJNpGyszDwv6A5lJuKcdBY-lOcOwJKiREN1L5nMKJ5KAsLdTNhlMcipmxEVSLIHSq-gMU6XC1NXJpCHy_KGcFmkz-P0SJyPGEgFF43wmGYCXg/s1600-h/Abaton.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykAN4jeeOQTqe63rY9yRHvOyjSyJNpGyszDwv6A5lJuKcdBY-lOcOwJKiREN1L5nMKJ5KAsLdTNhlMcipmxEVSLIHSq-gMU6XC1NXJpCHy_KGcFmkz-P0SJyPGEgFF43wmGYCXg/s400/Abaton.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446323942542422402" /></a><br /><br />The Greeks would make pilgrimages from across the lands, to Asclepian temples, where they would consult their dreams for healing from somatic and psychological maladies. After a process of ritual purification, there was a descent through chambers of snakes – associated with the creative and transformative potential of the underworld – and into the abaton, where one would sleep and wait for the gods to deliver answers. With regards to the snake imagery, this also forms another underworld-overworld connection, as established between Hades and Zeus – in Greek art and sculpture, Zeus was also imaged as a bearded snake…<br /><br />The image of modern medicine, the Caduceus, also contains an image of interwoven snakes that harkens back to this tradition of Asclepius. Unfortunately, outside of the Jungian world and some psychoanalytic practitioners, clinical work with dreams exists in the margins of contemporary healing traditions. Despite this, many of us still do use our dream and fantasy life to creatively enrich our waking life in one way or another…<br /><br />So, in the spirit of dreaming and the dream world, of Imagination and Creativity, please join us on March 20, 2010 for “Dreamplay” – 7-10PM @ Workspace (2150 Folsom Street @ 17th in the Mission). It will be a playful evening of interactive performance, art installation and soundscapes… There will be a remix of the abaton (Heather King Singh, Khenu Singh) - for this, come bearing dreams you are willing to share, allowing the psychopomp to guide you into the inner chamber, to be recorded and mixed into the event, with an attitude of respect, reverence and creative play... There will also be a sin eater café (Delfina Piretti), dream potions (Heather King), performance art (Raphael Noz), video art (Khenu Singh), spoken word and performance (Eric Subido), shadow dance and art installation (Andrea Bass), as well as paintings and art that explore the mythopoetic realms of Psyche… <br /><br />The night will be a benefit for Haitian Children, with all proceeds going towards this. Please come out and represent! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTheMSDz4ZWziZuLOk3g2DIic2W4tbQ74B-2PQPhuaIIWIE7361orkzpvvfjDf7dlw8TJJe7fIL7BmtA_c5Zg4jcsKTDMOw75hS0JaQpOAt5p-h5kDnYQy4vvVhQO2Rz1YpJVkA/s1600-h/Dreamplay+Front.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpTheMSDz4ZWziZuLOk3g2DIic2W4tbQ74B-2PQPhuaIIWIE7361orkzpvvfjDf7dlw8TJJe7fIL7BmtA_c5Zg4jcsKTDMOw75hS0JaQpOAt5p-h5kDnYQy4vvVhQO2Rz1YpJVkA/s400/Dreamplay+Front.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446325254953770338" /></a><br /><br /><br />Dream Play <br />An evening of performance art, interactive <br />art installations and soundscapes.<br /><br />March 20, 2010<br />7 to 10 PM <br /><br />W O R K S P A C E <br />2150 Folsom Street (at 17th ) <br />Mission District, San Francisco<br /><br />Come celebrate Spring Equinox!<br /><br />Requested Donation: $10.00<br />All proceeds go to Haitian Children. <br /><br /><br />Participating Artists<br />Raphael Noz<br />Delfina Piretti<br />Heather King Singh<br />Khenu Singh<br />Eric SubidoRoots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-91208865279967212652010-03-07T20:12:00.001-08:002010-03-08T15:10:32.739-08:00Dread Bass, Spanda and the Dark Side of the Self<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQCcmhEPn6A-h0D1rSv0Ygx1BPty2zYQYBDpKb2MfZaSw6MOSE99NEC6B8O7jbDbtOSCS743yL_adRr4cpnZgnec4pIhid6TaX9pheAo2BELh9rpUsxihF-Im3h_HsOJcm5_uww/s1600-h/tantric-rotation---high.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 209px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446111157500626178" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQCcmhEPn6A-h0D1rSv0Ygx1BPty2zYQYBDpKb2MfZaSw6MOSE99NEC6B8O7jbDbtOSCS743yL_adRr4cpnZgnec4pIhid6TaX9pheAo2BELh9rpUsxihF-Im3h_HsOJcm5_uww/s400/tantric-rotation---high.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">In a dark warehouse space, a roots tune comes to close and a siren unit bleep is triggered and dubbed through an analogue delay, a rhythmic drift into thick, humid and pregnant space – peppered by a few anticipatory hoots and screams… a few syncopated beats deepen the tension… then we’re released and dropped into the fierce wobble of a heavy dubstep bassline, one that seems to drive straight into our hearts and souls… First we simply experience and perhaps later we wonder – why are we affected as we are by these dark, shimmering low-end tones? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">The scene shifts to the Balinese countryside, the lush, breathtaking emerald-green of the Ayung River Gorge fades to night... In the dark, the images are sonic ones (1), the growling sound of our motorcycle and the syncopated barking of stray dogs slowly crossfade into the songs of frogs and crickets that sing alongside a Gamelan ensemble playing a village ceremony… Quivering interference beats (2) arise in the space between two metallophones tuned just slightly apart – with a pulsating quality reminiscent of the sub-bass wobble… What is this connection in the perception and experience of these sounds from such different cultures and traditions? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">At the back of our mind, somewhere in our being, we feel the archetypal pulsation that the Kashmiri Tantrikas referred to as <i>Spanda</i>, the pulsation and dynamic creativity at the heart of everything. Back of the mind – what does “back” or for that matter, “depth” (as in depth psychotherapy) or any other signifier of linear, temporal-spatial dimension really mean in the realm where Kronos<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family:';"> </span></span>(3) is intoxicated by honey as Nyx (4) sings her songs, and the entire Universe moves in ecstatic dance to the beat of Adrasteia’s cymbals and drum…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">We will circle around these questions as we explore <i>Spanda</i> and view this in relation to Carl Jung’s seminal exploration of the Self, in <i>Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self </i>(5)… Though he drew from Vedanta and the Upanishads (6), which also explore the nature of Atman and the Self, Jung had a complicated and ambivalent relationship to (the spectrum of) the East, and what it had to offer the so-called Westerner. Though he had explored Eastern texts more than most other psychologists of his time, he didn’t always seem to understand that it is in fact such a spectrum. He did have the humility to acknowledge this at some points (though this isn’t as clear at other points) – it was simply too much for him to take on as a more comprehensive study. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">India alone has so much diversity, with some consistent threads and themes that weave in and out with many substantial points of divergence. Jung sometimes criticized the Indian as being otherworldly. There certainly are influential movements in Indian philosophy – such as Shankara’s <i>Advaita Vedanta –</i> that look at the phenomenal world as illusory, therefore supporting Jung’s critical position. Tantra, itself with a diverse and complex cast of characters and groups, took a quite different take on the matter. Here, the world wasn’t seen illusory, but rather, the play of a creative consciousness that seeks to manifest and thereby see itself… </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">This forms another thread that weaves through Balinese culture, which is in part is a fascinating syncretism between indigenous shamanic and animistic traditions and Hinduism (7). In this culture, creative process is prayer, as it mirrors the creative nature of the larger Consciousness (8). Likewise, in Indian creative and aesthetic traditions, <i>riyaz </i>– a term that normally refers to practice of one’s instrument – is felt by some to come from a Sanskrit term for prayer, <i>riyazat.</i> <i><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Spanda </i>is a significant concept in the Shaivite Tantric tradition. It was first introduced by Gaudapada in his Mandukya-Karika – a commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad (where we find reference to various stages of consciousness as well as the idea of Aum). Spanda refers to the vibration, pulsation, or shimmering that is at the core of the Divine in these systems. This helps shed some light on why the Balinese claim to experience more pure contact with God in the shimmering interference beats I spoke of earlier in this essay, the pulsation between tones. Perhaps this gives us another lens with which to look at certain forms of vibration and shimmer in more contemporary musical traditions, from roots reggae to dubstep… </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">In <i>Aion</i>, Jung attempts to expand our understanding of the Self to not only be something creative and of the light, but also with a dark and potentially destructive side. Jung was critical of the god-image in much of Christianity, feeling that the darkness had been split off and been carried by the Devil… He proposed that we need a more encompassing image that reflected both the creative and destructive aspects of the Divine. Indians are fond of establishing parallels between the macrocosm and microcosm; in this spirit, we do see this creative and destructive process mirrored in the phenomenon of interference beats – when in phase there is a creative, additive effect and when out of phase, there is a destructive, negating effect… </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">The cross-fader cuts back and forth between Gamelan field recordings from a recent trip, and Vex’d, with his own metallic cacophony of beats, and distorted pulsations of sine waves modulated by oscillators, sound emerging from electronics rather than traditional instruments – acoustic or digital, just different forms and transformations of creative libido (in the broader Jungian, and Tantric sense) really, a reminder of the spirit and soul that has often been a companion to physics and physicists (9)…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">There is something about the pulsation itself that draws us in – from the perspective of Tantric Shaivism, it could be seen as a form of <i>bhakti</i>, a devotional worship of the creative Consciousness. Yet, there is something in particular about certain tonalities, both the minor keys that are used, as well as the dirty and gritty textures of the bass sounds themselves that stand out in dubstep. Maybe it’s not entirely different from distorted, Punk Rock sounds that draw some of us in as well, that speak to our angst and our knowing of pain, suffering and oppression that exists in life. I argue that one root of our draw into a dark dubstep wobble is a desire to step towards wholeness (10). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">We tire of images of spirituality that are too bright in one way or another. One shadow of various New Age perspectives and voices is the exclusion of the shadow, the darker aspect of life, including that of the numinous. We need to have the darker experience of life mirrored back to us in sound, or it’s a deadening – any extreme constellates something of the other pole – which (when untended) can be thrown into the unconscious, from where it’s either projected externally or haunts us through some form of neurosis. An extreme focus on the light is no exception – though perhaps harder to see in its blinding brightness… </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Many of us yearn to have a psychoacoustic experience of the darker aspect of the numinous – one we can face squarely in the eye, try to relate to, and maybe even howl while doing it (and then, to have this in a collective setting, it feeds our need to have shared ritual with one another). When we do find it, it grips us like any deep and complementing archetypal experience can... This is one aspect of what drives our interest in horror movies – to have a sense of control in relation to what evokes fear and dread… </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">This dances with and completes itself by being in dynamic relation with brighter tones and melodies that bring in some light. Unless this happens – which unfortunately has more often been the case than not in my experience of many a dubstep night, which can be too heavy with the dark (or without other forms of creative diversity) – it becomes equally lopsided, and thereby monotonous and deadening in other ways. What wonders when a roots track kicks in, or a bubbling lover’s rock tune drops us into a different sort of soulful space. Or for that matter, when the melody of a sarod drops in, along the curves of the dark, pulsating, low-end terrain… So many forms and transformations of Spanda, a shimmering echo that dubs through these various rhythmical contours…</span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: right" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">K.S.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Notes:</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(1) Jung and post-Jungians often have a particular focus on the image. Jung alluded to this, but later post-Jungians have expanded the “image” beyond the visual, encompassing auditory, somatic and other forms of “imagery.” That these aspects of image, or modalities of perception are linked becomes clear in synasthetic phenomenon, including dreams that my tabla teacher has shared with me, in which tabla compositions were experienced as colors…</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(2) Two sounds tuned to slightly different frequencies will produce a phenomenon called beating, where the volume alternates as the sounds interfere constructively and destructively, as they move in and out of phase with one another</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(3) The Greek god associated with time</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(4) The Greek goddess of night, mother to Hypnos (sleep), Thanatos (death) and the Oneroi (dreams) amongst others</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(5) Collected Works, Volume 9, Part 2</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(6) Jung may have been inspired to read the Upanishads by another of his intellectual influences – the German philosopher Schopenhaur, who was said to read from the Upanishads on a regular basis and who had named his cat Atman! In his lecture on <i>Aion</i>, Jungian Analyst Edward Edinger acknowledges that Jung did take the idea of the Self from the Upanishads</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoFootnoteText">(7) Bali, with its Hindu majority, is in contrast to the other islands in the South Pacific which are mainly Islamic.</p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(8) Consciousness used here is a larger term then the Conscious aspect of Psyche which is contrasted against the Unconscious – it is a term that encompasses what the Jungians would call the Unconscious, and has a teleological aspect</span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(9) Jung had a long exchange with physicist Wolfgang Pauli – see for instance “On the Nature of the Psyche,” in <i>Collected Works, Volume 8: Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche</i></span></p><p style="TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">(10) I choose “step towards” intentionally as this is a lifelong process, rather than some discrete state or final endpoint</span></p>
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<br />Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-13179670023928137562009-07-05T17:37:00.001-07:002009-07-05T18:01:13.775-07:00Roots and Wires in Session: 07.24.09<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6YjQmLpWz0dL-rK-FpqL42HZkUvzdJdnBsmSfGuTAxm8Fxlf06O3FacAmtxkJ4Rur9jygiphPXI-Mbz4ht9_Lo6zhuBO8_cutbkKgYolvcHcLLDN2ibhEX2VXkW0fpzO7cwyQQ/s1600-h/earthlight+flyer+final.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6YjQmLpWz0dL-rK-FpqL42HZkUvzdJdnBsmSfGuTAxm8Fxlf06O3FacAmtxkJ4Rur9jygiphPXI-Mbz4ht9_Lo6zhuBO8_cutbkKgYolvcHcLLDN2ibhEX2VXkW0fpzO7cwyQQ/s400/earthlight+flyer+final.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355139882874832210" border="0" /></a><br />World of Reggae music live and grow. This time around Andy G of Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional along side Lionheart Sounds, Low Tones, and many more singers and players of the slowly emerging SF-Oakland Bay Area Roots Underground come together for a unity dance in commemoration of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I's 117th Earth Day Celebration.<br /><br />The aim herein is to forward a collective effort and build a community around the word, sound, and power of dub reggae music. Heartical, Rootical, and deeper than deep we strive in this time to go.<br /><br />Come one, Come all.<br /><br />All Roads lead to Triple 2 Seven Gallery, 2227 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94606 on Friday 24 July 2009!<br /><br />Reach!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGe-m3iDjHeXGd8Jdtx9H7G_4dYShilXqC3V1T5hmgn1kIbooticTAuFHLdNVqCw77i5hhsZiyRXgjDV6D8mz6FYPlW33ydjOfr20Ga_ikX9Jmtp3xUx9p002vzCa9ZALORW06A/s1600-h/Earthlight+09+Poster+B%26W.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 442px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGe-m3iDjHeXGd8Jdtx9H7G_4dYShilXqC3V1T5hmgn1kIbooticTAuFHLdNVqCw77i5hhsZiyRXgjDV6D8mz6FYPlW33ydjOfr20Ga_ikX9Jmtp3xUx9p002vzCa9ZALORW06A/s400/Earthlight+09+Poster+B%26W.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355143199094233682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h1XSYsA7W-igZAZS_3Nwde9fDb_pDM1PK9jHb_QUOulQzMoHjpCkpuTFHQCkUVqtLJUhwDUp_YbiwlrPF-_C78NIuoJx-71nSIJlcWIjmwTrQtStHSEcEIvZLybeNS3keZpdgA/s1600-h/Earthlight+Handbill+Front+final.jpg"><br /></a>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-36801961978698107992008-05-21T17:42:00.000-07:002010-03-08T10:28:24.608-08:00Clusters of Time and a Journey Into a Timeless Temple of Sound History<a style="font-family: courier new;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUH6ddGbkGX_TAWHb_AIn73YwKbfLH9tYf_tEYRBeNrzNvQHCsPri4vUKNZIBaE-bRTu-LvWqbgRy6wr_Okhf9vyvwxBxl7qg5AQTvAZNmC9yo7ZfZUA3Eh3W0fmsfq12hEJq-cg/s1600-h/IMG_4350.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUH6ddGbkGX_TAWHb_AIn73YwKbfLH9tYf_tEYRBeNrzNvQHCsPri4vUKNZIBaE-bRTu-LvWqbgRy6wr_Okhf9vyvwxBxl7qg5AQTvAZNmC9yo7ZfZUA3Eh3W0fmsfq12hEJq-cg/s400/IMG_4350.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206026233040510882" border="0" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:100%;" >Time often seems to coalesce around <u>clusters</u> of memories or experiences.<span style=""> </span>Periods in life ebb and flow with the seasons not unlike recurring themes in the universal human story – fog rolls in, Sun shines up, the end of something, the start of a next thing.<span style=""> </span>Blink your eyes and a season has past or one memory has flickered away to the next.<span style=""> </span>But still, the grooves on the record must rewind from time to time…So rewind and come again my selector…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-size:12px;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">One such brief cluster of time in the 10 year story of the Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional was lived some five months ago on the Indian Subcontinent.</span><span style=";font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">After having been invited to play at the <u>Indian Electronic Music Festival </u>in late November of last year, we found ourselves barreling forward on an outernational adventure to the land of many a bustling metropolis, thousands of temples, and oceans of humanity so thick as to be beyond comprehension at times. The full story of that adventure is indeed a story for another time.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For now, I am going to step back to one moment in that journey - A moment that I had been anticipating for years before I ever set foot in India.<span style=""> </span>Some years ago Khenu described to me what sounded like some mythological chamber within a chamber within a chamber lined with an endless union of priceless gold and gems all kingly in character. <span style=""> </span>The temple and gems of which Khenu spoke had nothing to do with the Taj Mahal in <st1:city st="on">Agra</st1:city> or the <st1:placename st="on">Golden</st1:placename></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><st1:placename st="on"></st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Temple</st1:placetype> in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Amritsar</st1:place></st1:city>, but everything to do with them in a way such as it is.<span style=""> </span>To me this place and the multitudes Khenu described became imbued with just as much majesty as the many temples, mausoleums, and shrines I was blessed to visit while India.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWA8BHeUaepwrDNYcT6ptiddniSNBS0NCoQxdqxaEu6cuSZ8WtFKI5aLgs9cGISMl04V0BWKW-HI-afu9ZiJvxaRFStuOZquMUsTmv7Gj_rZX2aeN6rY5MkWJXHeeMom7EYdSomw/s1600-h/IMG_0776.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWA8BHeUaepwrDNYcT6ptiddniSNBS0NCoQxdqxaEu6cuSZ8WtFKI5aLgs9cGISMl04V0BWKW-HI-afu9ZiJvxaRFStuOZquMUsTmv7Gj_rZX2aeN6rY5MkWJXHeeMom7EYdSomw/s400/IMG_0776.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206024364729737090" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">The multi-chambered temple of which I speak is lodged in bustling neighborhood only a short rickshaw ride from the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Rajouri</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Garden</st1:placetype></st1:place> stop along the Delhi Metro Rail.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>This particular shrine was first anointed with one simple but revelatory act: the purchase of a long play vinyl record.<span style=""> </span>The year was 1964.<span style=""> </span>The record was “Uran Khatola (Na Toojan Se Khelo)” by the legendary Hindi musician <u>Rafi</u>.<span style=""> </span>The sonic curator-to-be was a young Lakhwant Singh known affectionately as Lakhi Uncle.<span style=""> </span>Anyone who has ever felt the tactile shiver of opening a gatefold record sleeve, stared for hours at a particularly artful album cover, or studied the minutia on the back of a album sleeve can relate to the feeling Lakhi Uncle experienced.<span style=""> </span>An unfolding. A coming home to a sense of pure, direct, unadulterated experience.<span style=""> </span>Musical dispensation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><a style="font-family: courier new;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLfyvlaz8h7mTRHVGohbISlhfmsrJqY3hIqff9SP5OVJAoRoafcN2cYNc9euKzihLTH0VG1Cs4tXh6Y20J2uYoCbXXXml6u6vZ9bstcC_C7EI0lzilhQbzMQwex9TKkJd5MkqHQ/s1600-h/IMG_0490.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 135px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjLfyvlaz8h7mTRHVGohbISlhfmsrJqY3hIqff9SP5OVJAoRoafcN2cYNc9euKzihLTH0VG1Cs4tXh6Y20J2uYoCbXXXml6u6vZ9bstcC_C7EI0lzilhQbzMQwex9TKkJd5MkqHQ/s400/IMG_0490.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206016006723378946" border="0" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqKqNe5-kEkbXbjp8QVvNw9LijQqXLjaTKRBIsT-LqmVQaCqtkKKAby1S3z2O6kbGFL4fHrs4G2F6xwc3RQwYmUyVV8mkYhiSY6h7WzG09kUEFmd5tcJXolyfKnSJhJ0IcqpnFw/s1600-h/IMG_0485.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqKqNe5-kEkbXbjp8QVvNw9LijQqXLjaTKRBIsT-LqmVQaCqtkKKAby1S3z2O6kbGFL4fHrs4G2F6xwc3RQwYmUyVV8mkYhiSY6h7WzG09kUEFmd5tcJXolyfKnSJhJ0IcqpnFw/s400/IMG_0485.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206016771227557650" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">Place it on the platter. <o:p></o:p><br />Lift the needle. <o:p></o:p><br />Let it drop.</span></p><a style="font-family: courier new;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVl1k-S3tpVkgkj7Viu3CUGJIfKMpVRDvIZzZ28bhFni5c5hf6kHWz9cIMBTTU0LXAMQTb3REDbiNnGxNjPv9Iee3pF7SeT5IW9ytv-0q3xNtiNyaOJGn4JQdiOQvpsw0TwwFqA/s1600-h/IMG_0500.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsVl1k-S3tpVkgkj7Viu3CUGJIfKMpVRDvIZzZ28bhFni5c5hf6kHWz9cIMBTTU0LXAMQTb3REDbiNnGxNjPv9Iee3pF7SeT5IW9ytv-0q3xNtiNyaOJGn4JQdiOQvpsw0TwwFqA/s400/IMG_0500.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206017647400886050" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Records, as Sociologist Paul Gilroy has said, are complex cultural artifacts. Gilroy </span><span style="line-height: 115%;">writes in his book <u>Small Acts</u>,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">The music encoded onto the surface of the discs may be the primary inducement to acquire a record, but the sleeve with its combination of text and images comprises an important…element…</span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><a style="font-family: courier new;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BVTxkOYfgSyLbhbaEtBXt12wJEp4D8W-fEWsIFPKb_4Qsm01Io9lL8hibIVYRfCUh5YZ0auavck2Fh5Zm2oD5ZdfaDrTPPX0J4MLkWdu43q-LB0vBUjLiDm_jnZ2b4iNB1vzDA/s1600-h/IMG_0753.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BVTxkOYfgSyLbhbaEtBXt12wJEp4D8W-fEWsIFPKb_4Qsm01Io9lL8hibIVYRfCUh5YZ0auavck2Fh5Zm2oD5ZdfaDrTPPX0J4MLkWdu43q-LB0vBUjLiDm_jnZ2b4iNB1vzDA/s400/IMG_0753.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206021293828120434" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">The pictures of Hindi album covers sprinkled throughout this article point to the multifarious purposes that album sleeves serve.<span style=""> </span>Gilroy reminds us that album covers have, first and foremost, served as a way of defining an artist to an audience.<span style=""> </span>Album jackets also function as a way of conveying symbolic “sub-culturally” distinctive ways of dress, fashion, and such.<span style=""> </span>Album sleeves open a dialogue on how a cultural group, a sub-culture, or, as may the case, a nation views itself.<span style=""> </span>The album sleeve and the music found therein “facilitates the circulation of styles and symbols, creating an aura of pleasure and desire around them which is an important political phenomenon. … They also help to solicit…audiences into specific modes of cultural and political identifications.”</span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">This article is meant to serve as a brief opening and meditation on the lost art of the album sleeve and the multifarious meanings they carry.<span style=""> </span>Each one of these images captures in one way or another, the essence of a particular historical moment in a way that the music cannot do alone. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">Lakhi Uncle carries this history with him.<span style=""> </span>Who feels it knows.<span style=""> </span>Lakhi Uncle feels it.<span style=""> </span>Lakhi Uncle knows it.</span></p><a style="font-family: courier new;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUCdsjYI34LLE0EBWSq6Jo2Vgo3Jyvxxgf4cZSKHnXTtbzoChbATL0ahtcDb0G5CcYnhi4Giclei6Imax0fmMjwTni9AwCbhuy0sMsh9wBgUlgftvbetSOBMzhbKjJGc5U4uXKQ/s1600-h/IMG_4345.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUCdsjYI34LLE0EBWSq6Jo2Vgo3Jyvxxgf4cZSKHnXTtbzoChbATL0ahtcDb0G5CcYnhi4Giclei6Imax0fmMjwTni9AwCbhuy0sMsh9wBgUlgftvbetSOBMzhbKjJGc5U4uXKQ/s400/IMG_4345.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205267982334205650" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">Should you be interested in exploring the depths of his musical ark you can contact Lakhwant Singh at <a href="mailto:lakhwant_7@hotmail.com"><span style="">lakhwant_7@hotmail.com</span></a>. Likewise, Lakhi Uncle is open to sales should you be looking for anything in the way of vintage and rare turntables and sound equipment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><span style="">Text by Andy G of Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;">Photos by Heather King Singh<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MA4aggCQROUDTYZY3WOlLzotFwhqpbb19hdESFSDtQ_R_52fYIeaK7cA_WBP6Ectq858Ibx-PVkg0fN8AYB1vK7_pXkezR6ijzbdCXf9FNSg85jQ0xf-YqcJoRFbNQTJWyak2w/s1600-h/IMG_0798.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MA4aggCQROUDTYZY3WOlLzotFwhqpbb19hdESFSDtQ_R_52fYIeaK7cA_WBP6Ectq858Ibx-PVkg0fN8AYB1vK7_pXkezR6ijzbdCXf9FNSg85jQ0xf-YqcJoRFbNQTJWyak2w/s400/IMG_0798.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206033478650339346" border="0" /></a></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCh3-vFY3ODiEPboFm9HK1hFHGKYP7edq0LzhFx3GYvrj0cQxXuse6ffnn6YjwsU9qqovFD9OD_05jgt7p5KVJr134FvdLsXf-Yzp8vcV7pF5imVYg2uzj4A3-7SGFa5dejcZm8Q/s1600-h/IMG_4371.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCh3-vFY3ODiEPboFm9HK1hFHGKYP7edq0LzhFx3GYvrj0cQxXuse6ffnn6YjwsU9qqovFD9OD_05jgt7p5KVJr134FvdLsXf-Yzp8vcV7pF5imVYg2uzj4A3-7SGFa5dejcZm8Q/s400/IMG_4371.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206032254584659970" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;font-family:courier new;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hUwSZL7MS8oin3XUbhgIqWOzH1bLBshqgGdYVbQCoiPK0tPsCM0Rl8polTk03g_AmonYZ2-a0nM4nit-5KRJWhSOuCAUK1J9IQScImrl_3_1yZTk2HZw-0feoUX__I0oUW7wbQ/s1600-h/IMG_4349.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hUwSZL7MS8oin3XUbhgIqWOzH1bLBshqgGdYVbQCoiPK0tPsCM0Rl8polTk03g_AmonYZ2-a0nM4nit-5KRJWhSOuCAUK1J9IQScImrl_3_1yZTk2HZw-0feoUX__I0oUW7wbQ/s400/IMG_4349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206030678331662306" border="0" /></a></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG3-v5j9ITadslcn06DmSCr9HWNNBYN8LbfAEx5v9TAxEGrRevnGhz4FRNUJZ0TXfSiKJT3in6MDNXq5WOWZeZhLXrYzTwKTpVDNfMFQNdZVz09T6O2iPwhIthJjtH1hVANLvCg/s1600-h/IMG_4368.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoG3-v5j9ITadslcn06DmSCr9HWNNBYN8LbfAEx5v9TAxEGrRevnGhz4FRNUJZ0TXfSiKJT3in6MDNXq5WOWZeZhLXrYzTwKTpVDNfMFQNdZVz09T6O2iPwhIthJjtH1hVANLvCg/s400/IMG_4368.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206030141460750290" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><br /><span style=""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="courier new" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; font-family: courier new;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Sm7gN9q4EYy6e1FQk0GEu4LrXasW24SCWcWW6c5PvTGojXrD2S4w9YTqgn9Gv-oKxKVQKhlZa0OvqUx2nifeGxcGQd4p-ZfQLxte-f5ycZ1JucoaCEkBtikRFE9bKpO6gWD27w/s1600-h/IMG_4356.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Sm7gN9q4EYy6e1FQk0GEu4LrXasW24SCWcWW6c5PvTGojXrD2S4w9YTqgn9Gv-oKxKVQKhlZa0OvqUx2nifeGxcGQd4p-ZfQLxte-f5ycZ1JucoaCEkBtikRFE9bKpO6gWD27w/s400/IMG_4356.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5206031451425775602" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" style="font-family:courier new;"></span>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-18014394443190630712007-12-15T13:21:00.001-08:002007-12-15T13:33:00.045-08:00Roots and Wires inna India!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6BkYUxDdD1n_iTAAiCf-fkGzIr4ClEes5SkCjZBqc1p_-yrJYIy5h35JAKWcglc3ZqdhLuEjJfTLq_4i0ER-M9DeXugbZ7wfhCsaiosNhVMg7eMIV8FMgJht3_5NEuUmff9DEA/s1600-h/RWSDlogo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6BkYUxDdD1n_iTAAiCf-fkGzIr4ClEes5SkCjZBqc1p_-yrJYIy5h35JAKWcglc3ZqdhLuEjJfTLq_4i0ER-M9DeXugbZ7wfhCsaiosNhVMg7eMIV8FMgJht3_5NEuUmff9DEA/s400/RWSDlogo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144313424176037298" border="0" /></a><br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" >Greetings Musical Fans, Friends, and Extended Family,<o:p><br /><br /></o:p>Recent events in the World of <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=73826671">Roots and Wire Sound Dimensional</a> have unfolded in ways synchronistic and magical. A few weeks ago we were asked to perform at the <a href="http://www.indianelectronica.com/festival">Indian Electronic Music Festival</a> in New Dehli on 21 December 2007. The opportunity to dig into our dub basket and play a set of our original productions alongside some exclusive tracks sent our way is an honor indeed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">A big thanks to Qasim, the festival organizer, for offering us the opportunity to play this gig.<br /><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" >So if you are going to be in New Delhi during the holidays make it a point to swing by and check Roots and Wires in action. The outernational audiovisual vibes of Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional will be present in full force. The festival venue details are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:formulas> <v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"> <o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style="'position:absolute;" allowoverlap="f"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\ANDYG~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg" title="part1.04020406.06050104@indianelectronica"> <w:wrap type="square"> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><strong>Venue:</strong> The 2007 Indian Electronica Festival: Delhi will be held at Kuki - a new spot located in Greater Kailash II. </p> <p>Kuki<br />E 7, Greater Kailash II,<br />Masjid Moth Commercial Complex<br />Phone: 29225241 </p> <p>Kuki's website: <a href="http://www.kuki.in/">http://www.kuki.in/</a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" >Tickets at the gate<o:p></o:p>! Come early! Stay late! Roots and Wires will be hitting the stage at 11 PM so Don't be late. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ><o:p></o:p>While in Delhi we will be entering the studio to record with a number of Indian classical musicians including members of the Roots and Wires extended family, Kishu and Vishal Nagar. In typical Roots and Wires fashion we will also be documenting our journey with camera and video cameras in tow. Nuff magnificent audiovisual magic must rise! So fret not if you can’t bounce to India!!! 2008 should bring some more audio inventions, deep dubs, and visual trickery from the RWSD set and sound. Stay tuned and in touch whether you may hail from east, west, north, or south!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ><o:p> </o:p>May this holiday season bring blessings to you and yours. A special musical message from Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" >Peace,<o:p></o:p><br />Andy G and Special Agent K<o:p></o:p><br />Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="tel"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-24870727213188141782007-08-12T12:06:00.000-07:002010-10-07T18:29:36.954-07:00Who Was Mr. Brown?<div align="center"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEU2iCffn_KrcGp3Z1CGbosBvP_BTU7Vz9C-K11r3R3wPtHpL1E11d4YcRDp76Zo5lNh17hf4-HlQJyYFhLP1A5lyws6434bK3Ec1tqOWpYG7ZJR0-lIztZGae4UkPxhbahujhQ/s1600-h/mr+brown+flier.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; DISPLAY: block; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097897253010457202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEU2iCffn_KrcGp3Z1CGbosBvP_BTU7Vz9C-K11r3R3wPtHpL1E11d4YcRDp76Zo5lNh17hf4-HlQJyYFhLP1A5lyws6434bK3Ec1tqOWpYG7ZJR0-lIztZGae4UkPxhbahujhQ/s400/mr+brown+flier.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/07_08%20111%20minna%20session.m3u">Link</a> to 111 Minna Performance Audio Stream</div><br /><br /><br />I was recently invited to perform at a <a href="http://www.newglobalcitizens.org/">New Global Citizens</a> fundraiser, sponsored by <a href="http://www.alarmpress.com/">Alarm Magazine</a>. The visual and aural artists were asked to give individual expression to a fantastical story of a coffin that was said to have floated through Kingston with three crows perched on top… Though there are several versions of this tale in reggae music, the most known is Bob Marley’s – “<a href="http://www.lyrics007.com/Bob%20Marley%20Lyrics/Mr%20Brown%20Lyrics.html">Who is Mr. Brown</a>?” It’s been referred to as one of his “most memorable songs.” Perhaps we can understand some of it's popularity through a consideration of socioeconomic forces, but upon reading the 1970 news report from the “Jamaica Daily Gleaner,” it seemed to me that there was something deeper at work in the capacity of this story to fascinate. Let’s take the first few paragraphs of this news report as a launching point for our own depth psychological exploration:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Hundreds of curious persons chased through the streets of downtown Kingston yesterday. For the<br />Majority the object of their chase was both elusive and invisible.<br /><br />With pedal cyclists setting a hot pace, hagglers, office clerks, and school children rampaged along<br />King Street, Orange Street, Beckford Street, invaded Tivoli Gardens, and then doubled back on<br />their route; all the while searching for a glimpse of the object. The chase was provided with added<br />fuel by the spate of fanciful and weird rumors.<br /></span><br />The whole narrative has a feeling of the mysterious and the fantastical, a numinosity that makes it clear that there are deeper elements of psyche at work... It can be looked at as a dream in which all the elements are aspects of an individual psyche, or also at the level of the group or collective psyche. Viewed from a Jungian perspective, in either case there is something from within or beyond (chose your preferred metaphor here) seeking relation or emergence. How will we respond to the calling? The frenzied quality of chasing after this strange and mysterious object, seems to reflect an ambivalent curiousity and an existential yearning for the numinous and spiritual – a hunger for the otherworldly. The collective nature of the frenzy reminds me of a good soundsystem dance - being connected in individual and yet collective ways to something (and some process) that we often term spiritual...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Of course, this type of contact can also evoke dread (which is why I say "ambivalent curiousity"), as obvious in the next quote:</span><br /><br />A policeman shot at it in Spanish Town, a rumor stated. He was immediately stricken and taken<br />to the Spanish Town Hospital in an unconscious condition. The Spanish Town Police denied that<br />any member of the Force in that town was so incapacitated.<br /></span><br />It’s fascinating to see this arise in the narrative. This fearful shooting at the otherworldly is associated with a state of unconsciousness. If looked at as a dream, the shooting can be equated with attempts to repress - in part, because of the intense anxieties associated with the unknown. Rudolph Otto, in his "The Idea of the Holy," defines the numinosum as <em>Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans</em> - the mystery that not only fascinates, but also evokes dread and fear. As we know, we often try to destroy what we don't understand and what we fear. Yet, if we can't step up to it and into it, if the communication is repressed or ignored, consequences can follow, leading to or sustaining states of unconsciousness… If we look at Jung's recently published Red Book, we see the devastating consequences across Europe (during the World Wars) when the material in the personal and collective shadow was ignored. And we only have to open a newspaper or get online to see how the devastation emerging from unconsciousness continues across the globe through to the present...<br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Returning to the news report, it's interesting that it's a policeman that does the shooting. If we look at this "dream" in another way, we might also consider the police to symbolize something of the collective order that needs to be broken down, to allow space for new structure that is more congruent with the spirit of the times. This is like the myth of Osiris, Ra and Horus - where the old patriarchal order needs to be symbolically killed off in order for the new patriarchal principle (a new and more dynamic king principle) to be established. This is the potentially healthy impulse in rebellious energy (as Jungian Analyst Heinrich Karl Fierz says, the health versus dysfunction of this depends on whether we are trying to depose the Ra or Horus principle)...<br /><br />The details of the elusive, mysterious object are also intriguing – it was reported as a coffin that either floated through town in mid-air, or rolled on three wheels. On top were perched three crows – in some versions, they were dressed in coats! This seems to accentuate the archetypal, trickster aspect often associated with crows. As well, from shamanic and Native American traditions, the crow is seen as the mediator between worlds (e.g. consciousness and the unconscious). Synchronistically, as I was preparing for the show – just the morning of the performance – I heard cawing and looked out over my laptop and midi controllers to see two large, black crows sitting on my fire escape. It was as if they had escaped from Mr. Marley's track and this blog piece into the world, flowing as ravens and crows do between worlds! The world as having qualities of dream is an interesting topic but for another time. I will say that the archetypal has a tendency to externalize at times, with the related phenomenon of synchronicity blurring the boundaries between internal and external, between dream/myth and so-called consensual reality… It's uncanny to see this unfold or emerge when I get into deeper processes with the patients in my psychotherapeutic practice. And back to the "dream" - the coffin image is also relevant. In alchemical treatises, where the goal was most deeply a process of transformation of cultivation of the <em>lapis</em> (philospher's stone) or the Alchemical gold (i.e. a living relation with our core nature - what Jung and vendantics call the "Self" or Atman), one important stage along the way was the <em>nigredo </em>which involved the dying off of older and relatively limited ways of being, perceiving and so on, in order to pave the way for a new and more whole or authentic relationship with oneself, others and the world...<br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha27q-bNOwXwuZbf_P6zvx6iPXagDlXMkopplytQ8T-zYaxD9ayK1Ouf4p7jMicwjGDhYb-mgH3IpamsDPQuDqVFrZ3r5N6yv4teareUA0lVwT2s59qyexNX0gRfRvwkMvGnAh4Q/s1600/Nigredo+1.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 288px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525443916550879234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha27q-bNOwXwuZbf_P6zvx6iPXagDlXMkopplytQ8T-zYaxD9ayK1Ouf4p7jMicwjGDhYb-mgH3IpamsDPQuDqVFrZ3r5N6yv4teareUA0lVwT2s59qyexNX0gRfRvwkMvGnAh4Q/s400/Nigredo+1.jpg" /> <p align="left"></a>(this image is from a 17th century Alchemical text depicted the <em>Nigredo </em>- note the presence of the raven/crow!)<br /></p><div align="left"><br />Rewinding the story a bit, as I sat with this news report in Andy G’s echo chamber, the whole account seemed to come together as a contemporary fairy tale or myth. Starting with the mundane, ordinary state of consciousness. Then, the encounter with the Mystery – or psychologically, the encounter of the ego with the Self, or consciousness and the Unconscious. Next, an initial fear in relation to the encounter, as it shakes things up and breaks things down in a sort of symbolic dismemberment. Sometimes we don't have the ego-strength or right attitude to pass the initiatory trial (e.g. the policeman who shoots and is rendered unconscious) - leaving us with a failed initiation. And sometimes we do - see Jung's essay "Spirit Mercurius" - Alchemical Studies CW 13 - for another version of this myth and this theme. There’s an ensuing struggle and the process of potentially transformational contact between consciousness and soul, as the ego seeks to reconstitute itself in new relationship with the depths. In our composition for the event, we tried to capture some feeling of these dismembering-fragmenting processes by transitioning from slower, darker dub (<a href="http://www.littletempo.com/">Little Tempo’s</a> “Boogie Man Walk”) to subsequent, more frenetic junglist riddims. Finally, when all goes well, there’s the reconstitution of a more integrated person/group/culture. When it doesn't go well, there's some form of psychosis - either literally or metaphorically...<br /><br />The collective unconscious emerges in images. The most vivid images are found in popular culture. There is a compensatory aspect to this emergence from the shadows, with the goal being movement into a relatively more whole and integrated state of being - again at both personal and collective levels. Of course, this is always an ongoing process, rather than some final end state. Along these lines, there is the history of Jamaica as a former colony, largely composed of the descendents of former slaves. In the 1930’s, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Garvey">Marcus Garvey</a> started the “Back to Africa” movement, echoed throughout roots reggae and reggae-influenced songs. This is another expression of yearning for the (breakdown and then re-) creation of a new, more empowered and authentic identity - here, one with more capacity for self-determination and with connection into a larger framework of roots and culture… We attempt to convey this sort of movement in the Aswad track “Back to Africa,” as well as a version by the Japanese band “Tokyo Reggae Clash.” This theme also continues with the classic <a href="http://www.earlsixteen.com/">Earl Sixteen</a> track, “Going to Africa,” and concludes with the wicked <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=92950249">Smith and Mighty</a> version of Mudala Kunene's “Ubombo” that evokes a sense of trembling and quivering connection with one's deeper nature and power...<br /><br />So enough of these meandering and words for now! Get cozy in your space, and click on the link below to hear the performance as played at 111 Minna on August 10, 2007 by the Special Agent K…<br /></div><br /><div align="center"><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/07_08%20111%20minna%20session.m3u">Link</a> to 111 Minna Performance Audio Stream</div>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-48007626758622070862007-05-24T11:45:00.000-07:002007-05-25T09:25:31.812-07:00Bass is Maternal: Rob Smith in the Sound Arena<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAy4gYjTHY7Bz-Wc5RUVdrN169eDCVpS3Re2ROBfDRjXnuz1VFnK_fgyQ4q4oK3gNXi_KPoNMhL_q_ybjiY873DlDDXt9TrSbywqJ_BWrAtjn5TvgTsSrHCWRn8RC2TO54vD-WA/s1600-h/statelesseflyer6.8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAy4gYjTHY7Bz-Wc5RUVdrN169eDCVpS3Re2ROBfDRjXnuz1VFnK_fgyQ4q4oK3gNXi_KPoNMhL_q_ybjiY873DlDDXt9TrSbywqJ_BWrAtjn5TvgTsSrHCWRn8RC2TO54vD-WA/s400/statelesseflyer6.8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068212270070570354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">BASS IS </span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MATERNAL: Rob </span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Smith in the Sound Arena</span></span><br /><br />BY ANDY G, Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">“For me, dub is about the combinations and the omissions… hard and soft, rough and smooth, and also about the space in between sounds.”<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">~Rob Smith~</span><br /></div><br />Music on my sound system in the here and now:<br /><br />Smith & Mighty’s first full-length album, BASS IS MATERNAL.<br /><br />With each pulse, each hi-hat rewound and rerubbed, each sliver of keyboard omitted and reintroduced in between the constant heartbeat of a dubwise bassline, the boundary between me and the sub-frequencies entering my ears and body is diminished. I have entered an all-encompassing womb of sound…BASS IS MATERNAL. WHEN IT IS LOUD I FEEL SAFER…Belie<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6T3Xjc4H1NqJo1PkjAslQAh7svaPSxluGL81M_f-ECLvLUhdSUmxpaRFz2TxK0uYf5hqWKVOSJJbACAGVV-QSj7gY2h-HbQyaxVU6oae006YM0tkW87sL_Da-C3Ghbb4NT7FMrQ/s1600-h/SMBM.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6T3Xjc4H1NqJo1PkjAslQAh7svaPSxluGL81M_f-ECLvLUhdSUmxpaRFz2TxK0uYf5hqWKVOSJJbACAGVV-QSj7gY2h-HbQyaxVU6oae006YM0tkW87sL_Da-C3Ghbb4NT7FMrQ/s400/SMBM.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068206033778056450" border="0" /></a>ve…<br /><br />In the realm of sounds and blues, Rob Smith, founding member of Bristol beat makers Smith & Mighty, Blue & Red, and More Rockers reigns supreme. Born out of the rich musical firmament of the early 1980s Bristol U.K. scene, Rob Smith cultivated his now distinctive sound through endless experimentation with old reel-to-reel tape recorders. Slowly but surely, Rob began making loops and playing sounds through echo pedals.<br /><br />Given the dub reggae foundation on which his sound has been forged it is no surprise that Rob also cultivated his skills by playing rhythm guitar for early Bristol reggae band, Restriction. During this time his band shared the stage in support of many a roots reggae stalwart. He did the Rasta Serenade along side Aswad. He did the Herbsman Hustle on the same bill as Sugar Minott. He recorded for the mighty Mad Professor at Ariwa Studios.<br /><br />All the while Rob soaked in the vibes of roots reggae sound systems: Jah Shaka, Jah Tubbys, too many to mention. Dub like dirt. Musical dispensation. Heartical revelation.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJJSnGus_EkYEENsqn-5U6Z17JwIPhdUfMSQURu8BCSd9Hf6WOKv6g14_MftnpzwV2VLoUDbh8nDIDNAP20_GvlS7WicPWLVXIauiWVHgfyWePdXq5iJZDX0nIHFIdmSM0Vpe-g/s1600-h/S&M.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEJJSnGus_EkYEENsqn-5U6Z17JwIPhdUfMSQURu8BCSd9Hf6WOKv6g14_MftnpzwV2VLoUDbh8nDIDNAP20_GvlS7WicPWLVXIauiWVHgfyWePdXq5iJZDX0nIHFIdmSM0Vpe-g/s320/S&M.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068201910609452178" border="0" /></a><br />Around 1985 he met up with Ray Mighty. On discovering that they had a similar interest in synchronizing beat machines, synths and sound effects, the untrained pair began producing their own so<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuCWa_NI_uViE95mWrzNKeoGdGBRsYVaEbZXa60ewh8yJ0FHe-i77oMmTJ5FaUk3xIN62WgHgwYwR5ACZRiDwL8pmVxqEyUAM9ADgbw2yEGMkp4abJ5V2OAM-n1mQ-3es5s62WQ/s1600-h/bigworld.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuCWa_NI_uViE95mWrzNKeoGdGBRsYVaEbZXa60ewh8yJ0FHe-i77oMmTJ5FaUk3xIN62WgHgwYwR5ACZRiDwL8pmVxqEyUAM9ADgbw2yEGMkp4abJ5V2OAM-n1mQ-3es5s62WQ/s200/bigworld.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068210917155872066" border="0" /></a>und based on hip hop beats, dub reggae treatments and sixties melodies. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/smithandmighty">Smith & Mighty</a> was born.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-byE6CD8_wETszr4Yf177VCyQiPjvbd17tTTBrgb8kKrpsgO0SRKdX0tIKNE3H6y7ZGIvaW5tQWbXo4tQIZq0UOk8tNP242zjRdjcQTpMYRx928ZouG8bULuj6qbYMTyXAwR6Q/s1600-h/lifeis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-byE6CD8_wETszr4Yf177VCyQiPjvbd17tTTBrgb8kKrpsgO0SRKdX0tIKNE3H6y7ZGIvaW5tQWbXo4tQIZq0UOk8tNP242zjRdjcQTpMYRx928ZouG8bULuj6qbYMTyXAwR6Q/s200/lifeis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068211226393517394" border="0" /></a><br />In late 1987, on their own Three Stripe Records label, Smith & Mighty produced and released ‘Anyone,’ a bass driven cover version of Burt Bacharachs ‘Anyone Who Had a Heart.’ After their follow up underground hit ‘Walk On By,’ the pair took on a string of productions including Massive Attack’s debut single ’Any Love’, and top ten hit ’Wishing on a Star’ for The Fresh Four who’s members included the young DJ’s Krust and Suv. Since those heady days Smith & Mighty have released three albums, the aforementioned "Bass is Maternal," "Big World, Small World," and "Life is..." as well as contributing to K!7 record's longstanding "DJ Kicks" series.<br /><br />I was first exposed to the revelatory sounds of Rob Smith’s productions via the foundational drum & bass junglist “Dubplate Selection: Volum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0AvmjZ7TURdm3kGy4elwH8LrWNYw13PeGezPdHu1FhHamFNqrj4mGDQdqZSPu6R-PgNj-mW3bgQ8KLH5QeF8n_GtcgHRBUOOSlBW9A2a8WJ4dPx98xIYlas-eYTTUeB2jDjnNA/s1600-h/MRR1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0AvmjZ7TURdm3kGy4elwH8LrWNYw13PeGezPdHu1FhHamFNqrj4mGDQdqZSPu6R-PgNj-mW3bgQ8KLH5QeF8n_GtcgHRBUOOSlBW9A2a8WJ4dPx98xIYlas-eYTTUeB2jDjnNA/s200/MRR1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068203546991992002" border="0" /></a>e 1.” Released on Smith and company’s very own MRR (More Rockers Records) imprint, “Dubplate Selection: Volume 1” represents one of the finest mixes of wicked ragga junglist basslines, atmospheric and soulful lyrics, and tough-like-lead dubwise reggae samples. When a tune like “Selector,” with its Jah Tubby’s sample hits one’s ears the debate need not continue. “Selector him good. Selector him Wise.” <a href="http://www.myspace.com/morerockers">More Rockers</a> runs proper junglist vibes. Unsurprisingly, Smith has carried the More Rockers sound far and wide with Volume 2 of the series coming on Select Cuts Records out of Germany and Volume 3 featured on Japanese imprint Rush Productions. Also not to be missed is the compilation "Select Cuts From More Rockers 12 Inch Selection," a set of dub, drum & bass cuts originally released as singles on the MRR label.<br /><br />The next brick that the builders of pop culture refused but that caught my curio<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3We48duucMeJUtdF31EcEKy3hDQ6VtWdbzkd5rhoEjJpKVbyCcFSObAH18597gXqEvoaGf7Sx5V00JtK3fYc66JcKx4Y7VBFKrJKFJM2lYskXAJ1f0N0S9tINNr7ibvRitN81Q/s1600-h/HenryLouis_RudimentsCD.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3We48duucMeJUtdF31EcEKy3hDQ6VtWdbzkd5rhoEjJpKVbyCcFSObAH18597gXqEvoaGf7Sx5V00JtK3fYc66JcKx4Y7VBFKrJKFJM2lYskXAJ1f0N0S9tINNr7ibvRitN81Q/s200/HenryLouis_RudimentsCD.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068203989373623522" border="0" /></a>us ear, the mid-1990s underground and shamelessly overlooked digital roots masterpiece from Rob Smith collaborators <a href="http://www.myspace.com/henryandlouis">Henry & Louis</a> entitled “Rudiments,” brought me deeper into Smith’s sonic fold. Whereas Smith & Mighty’s soul inflected, dub inspired breakbeats and More Rockers dubwise jungle meet somewhere between a Jah Shaka session at Digwall’s and a Soul II Soul dance at the Africa Centre, Henry & Louis is pure roots dub tailored for those that champion the next generation UK digital roots reggae sounds such as Manasseh, Iration Steppas, and Aba Shanti I. Seek this on<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lAHt02qoR1m1BykT4s2FYCUWzlyBTPRQBEhboRoUbLgFhpm8x8CJiIMjSWWD0EYG9L9G43clSJ0nGTby6EWkDahqsgiGdZy_3qz_MO23E5JvjoobtIfpnqBXR03LZ4WrPaA81A/s1600-h/Timewilltell.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lAHt02qoR1m1BykT4s2FYCUWzlyBTPRQBEhboRoUbLgFhpm8x8CJiIMjSWWD0EYG9L9G43clSJ0nGTby6EWkDahqsgiGdZy_3qz_MO23E5JvjoobtIfpnqBXR03LZ4WrPaA81A/s200/Timewilltell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068204766762704114" border="0" /></a>e out at all costs. One for the steppers crew.<br /><br />Born out of the same collaboration, Rob Smith/<a href="http://www.myspace.com/blueandred">Blue & Red</a> and Henry & Louis released “Time Will Tell” on the now sadly defunct Portland based BSI records in the early 2000s. Once again, roots reggae was the sonic glue. Recorded in both Jamaica and the U.K., “Time Will Tell” was another digital roots scorcher replete with guest vocalists such as Johnny Clarke, Tony Tuff, Willi Williams, and Tippa Irie. Keeping up his strong connection to the Japanese dub/reggae/breakbeat scene Smith released the dub companion to “Time Will Tell” on the Japanese Rush Productions imprint.<br /><br />More recently, Rob’s passion for bass and dub treatments has been evident on his solo album projects ’Up On The Downs’ and ’In One Way Or Another.’ Continuing in the same vein as Smith & Mighty, these <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdQ3vBdKP9OAojjjtXT_-FarSUEdWwS1Z-yKoq__dB1k5oGSTbJX34o5taXGm1ACLx6zKg3gCKNshnygBwKc5qHSoVkc73Xpknl5en4RzQkI8DQALArnMnoNAo92xT4JZV-5K_g/s1600-h/up_downs_203.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNdQ3vBdKP9OAojjjtXT_-FarSUEdWwS1Z-yKoq__dB1k5oGSTbJX34o5taXGm1ACLx6zKg3gCKNshnygBwKc5qHSoVkc73Xpknl5en4RzQkI8DQALArnMnoNAo92xT4JZV-5K_g/s200/up_downs_203.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068208726722551090" border="0" /></a>two full-length sets represent a mix of breakbeat, dub, soul, and hip-hop.<br /><br />Year 2007 has seen Rob unsurprisingly moving from strength to strength. So far this year Rob has released two breakbeat dub twelve inch singles on the Functional label entitled ‘Give Love’ and ‘Loveage.’ Likewise, he has entered the dubstep realm via the new Bristol dubstep label Punch Drunk. This time, working under the nom de beat, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/dubrockers">RSD</a>, the tunes ‘Dub Corner’ and ‘Pretty Bright Light’ are serious entries into the “Best of 2007” category. Never one to rest long, Rob will also be releasing a new heavyweight dub track named ’Kingfisher’ on Earwax along with ‘Firewall’ on the Dub Related imprint. Rob is also busy making remixes for UK digital roots crew Zion Train, UB40, and Japanese outfits Antennasia and Rub-A-Dub Market.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsRlmOiLJ82HaUAKzE5Tq3kwOpOb2XrQtFiPAFZytX1QP2Wo1vWiD-6WzoMdv6Ei2NGh9rZZvsbI64fU66SedKZfBHNh15dxLwN0OB28xkC97aAg5ldPRSXQv6VCJCzpqzHqojQ/s1600-h/RSoneway.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsRlmOiLJ82HaUAKzE5Tq3kwOpOb2XrQtFiPAFZytX1QP2Wo1vWiD-6WzoMdv6Ei2NGh9rZZvsbI64fU66SedKZfBHNh15dxLwN0OB28xkC97aAg5ldPRSXQv6VCJCzpqzHqojQ/s200/RSoneway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5068207635800857890" border="0" /></a><br />Currently deejaying all over the globe from London’s ‘Fabric’ to Tokyo’s ’Club Yellow’, Rob drops a combination of reggae, breaks, dub step and drum and bass. He will also be playing guitar with Bristol ten-piece band Dub From Atlantis at this year's Glastonbury Festival. The long standing UK festival will also see him once again join with Ray Mighty as one-half of Smith & Mighty.<br /><br />…But hold tight… Before you start booking your flights for Europe’s premiere summer music fest you can see the mighty Rob Smith live in his first San Francisco appearance in over five years.<br /><br />The STATELESS crew (Michael K, Andy G, and Special Agent K) are proud to present Rob Smith at the <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.myspace.com/rickshawstop">Rickshaw Stop</a> on June 8th. Featured along side Rob Smith will be <a href="http://www.myspace.com/dwurkur">The Worker</a> and <a href="http://rootsandwires.com/">Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional</a> dropping the very best in outernational beats. Check this <a href="http://www.myspace.com/sfstateless">link</a> for more info. Reach early. Stay late. Miss it at your own peril.Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-48384957059032236662007-03-04T09:03:00.000-08:002007-03-04T09:12:35.310-08:00STATELESS @ Rickshaw Stop V. 1.2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZxupDfmCp-KmuHd439iWlJ2HOdQoaOF6JkW7PYr2EEwCxcoGurFeSJ4E1CElFduwRAYfJBYcGTD9Ww1iDF3WT457rsueb9dlON0XyDshHf5VnUE5Z7JRnNRxTAUm5IsieSt7BQ/s1600-h/Stateless2flyer.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 432px; height: 393px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZxupDfmCp-KmuHd439iWlJ2HOdQoaOF6JkW7PYr2EEwCxcoGurFeSJ4E1CElFduwRAYfJBYcGTD9Ww1iDF3WT457rsueb9dlON0XyDshHf5VnUE5Z7JRnNRxTAUm5IsieSt7BQ/s320/Stateless2flyer.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5038117385235882722" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Men and Women, Young and Old…All of them are ready for Chapter Two of the Stateless crew’s run at the mighty Rickshaw Stop coming this Saturday, March 10<sup>th</sup>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hot off the heals of our successful party featuring Stateless stalwarts Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional and the Worker along side SF favorites, Lemonade, and Rio’s Magabo, Chapter two only increases the heat as we move into the spring months.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This time around we have very special guests and Soot Records recording artists DJ Rupture and Filastine.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Barcelona</st1:place></st1:city> based, DJ Rupture will be bringing his trademark sonic clash of global beats mashed up inna 3-turntable fashion.<span style=""> </span>Audio alchemy through a 21<sup>st</sup> century filter!<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Filastine, in his second performance at a Stateless event, will be dropping his politically charged sounds siphoned through a laptop and stitched together with hip-hop backbone and live percussion.<span style=""> </span>Postworld sonic grit aimed straight at the World Bank’s head!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">…And just in case you thought it ended there, Roots and Wires will be playing their trademark blend of original productions and outernational beats from dubstep to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> steppers.<span style=""> </span>Of course, Special Agent K and Andy G will be running it all through their wide array of sound banks, effects units, and secret sonic weapons inna dubwise fashion!<span style=""> </span>Roots and Wires’ highly individual take on visuals will also be omnipresent throughout the night…So open your eyes and ears for the sounds and sights of the Roots and Wires!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rounding off the bill will be the Worker with his always tight and tip-top minimal house, ragga breaks, and international hip-hop vibes.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As always reach early and stay late for this musical dispensation meant to rock the nations!</p>For more information check these links:<br /><br />www.rootsandwires.com<br />www.myspace.com/statelessRoots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1171833469555929562007-02-18T13:05:00.001-08:002007-02-19T17:53:02.967-08:00Serious Sonic Pressure a Gwaan!<div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjALz09jl_zVkNWWKso1oEZbcd6Zuaidh1sncQL2sRjPXMmx_ripsYeMsVSGMGhuejUFuhMeWErMZsMmYdsXTyT-J9E72e9hqwfKDuZwj0R6WF0-UJAR3OIAaptM1e8g51RDewA/s1600-h/rwsd11.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033427410385349586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjALz09jl_zVkNWWKso1oEZbcd6Zuaidh1sncQL2sRjPXMmx_ripsYeMsVSGMGhuejUFuhMeWErMZsMmYdsXTyT-J9E72e9hqwfKDuZwj0R6WF0-UJAR3OIAaptM1e8g51RDewA/s320/rwsd11.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div>Attention all music lovers…<br /><br />Thank you for the massive attendance at our inaugural Rickshaw Stop event. Maga Bo (from Brazil) and Ustaad Vishal Nagar (from New Delhi, India), alongside the Worker and resident soundsystem Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional, dropped some serious sounds that night... It was a truly outernational event. There were 500+ people and such warm, sweaty and beautiful vibes that night. People were even moved to tears at certain sonic moments and quite a few told us it was one of the best events they had been to in some time - I kid you not! </div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033427736802864098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaYWy33Iq6_GXaqB7sP9AyhCMYuXcMlJN4Znx-zk3EC9dnfCTdoD8UNJrAVOKdv3ns3p4VmpCd290CDNpXzi8Q_qOV6_AP4Md9YEPLJU4MXT-N4ch1qywmMSv6_rH3D-RzVE3RQ/s320/vishal07.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><br />You can see some video footage of our set, with Tabla Virtuoso Ustaad Vishal Nagar dropping vicious tabla bhols over original Indian Classical Dubstep, at our myspace site:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/rootsandwires">www.myspace.com/rootsandwires</a><br /><br /></div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033428067515345906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5VmejQerZHYx1m6zEqJg0dfYCRNvGqbdP6lIWDjMPun5B7Bnd8wuvAa_p-vmfsyrRutyeuWE5OQJ3dtg8tFP_4nEU56euCSxokXOndpWDclyvRMKqKOWjZ0TW7mDzwvcBt4dGA/s320/rwsd18.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The next STATELESS will be even more massive, but first:<br /><br /><br />This Friday night all roads lead to Madrone Lounge (500 Divisadero at Fell).<br /><br />Six Degrees records presents Casa De Degrees: A Night of International Music featuring <a href="www.rootsandwires.com">Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional</a> dropping tunes hotter than lava and heavier than lead. Your auditory nerve will be blessed with original digital dubplates produced in the firmament of the Roots and Wires studio as well as a serious selection of roots reggae, dub, dubstep, junglist rhythms, and beyond.<br /><br />Roots and Wires….Serious Dubwise Pressure….Seen?<br /><br />Featured along side Roots and Wires will be The Worker (Stateless, Six Degrees) serving up International hip-hop, hard-hitting Brazilian beats, and global techno sounds.<br /><br />Reach Early! Stay Late! </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033425490534968258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQ1BlPH_dYFWn2YRMe_ObT6lvkbPKwlWpJMtRhaL3ZVS_cdruLKaDs66rR6lFCihF3JXMZm1bDfSR5TDa0kCYzZlnpTr2F_F_Xyr1I-DQIKT6a1E-VUfkpayKIsHbnm_P7awZ8Q/s320/07_02_19+march+rickshaw.jpg" border="0" /><br />And, just in case you haven’t been taking your recommended daily dose of sonic vitamins you can mark your calendars early for the next chapter of STATELESS at the RICKSHAW STOP. Coming up March 10th the STATELESS crew will once again be bringing in a unique blend of sonic sculptors and knob twisters for an outernational sound conference.<br /><br />This time around, <a href="http://www.negrophonic.com/">DJ Rupture </a>and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/filastine">Filastine</a>, two premier beat blenders from the SOOT record label, will be blessing SF with their transnational mash ups and jarring effects.<br /><br />As usual, Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional and the Worker will be holding down the foundation and turning the tastemakers’ heads with a unique set of sounds unlike any other club night in San Francisco. Believe.<br /><br />Warmly,<br />andy g & the special agent k<br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/">http://www.rootsandwires.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/rootsandwires">www.myspace.com/rootsandwires</a> </div></div></div>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1167462263652978362006-12-29T22:41:00.000-08:002006-12-30T11:16:22.600-08:00The Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional - Stepping Forward into the New Year!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7557/1723/1600/662430/flier%20image%202%20for%20web.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7557/1723/320/453703/flier%20image%202%20for%20web.jpg" border="0" /></a>With year 2007 around the bend Andy G along side the Special Agent K have been deeply immersed in the Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional Audiovisual Laboratory. We have just completed our new logo and updated our website. We've been working on new musical matters which are getting airplay across the globe, via digital dubplates. To top it all off, we have been gearing up for an exciting year of STATELESS.<br /><br />Our first event of the new year will be 1.12.07 at the Rickshaw Stop. Topping the bill is Rio's rising underground star Maga Bo (Soot Records). Maga will be mashing it up with borderless beats - from Capoiera to Drum & Bass and beyond.<br /><br />The Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional will be dubbing tabla virtuoso (from New Delhi, India) Ustaad Vishal Nagar over fierce original dubstep productions and ragga jungle riddims inna raw session style!<br /><br />San Francisco band, Lemonade, will be playing their own brand of experimental punk sounds that sit somewhere between the sounds of CAN and Tropicalia.<br /><br />Rounding it out will be the mighty Worker with a dancefloor ready set of tasty selections.<br /><br />It will be massive no doubt.<br /><br />Finally, in case you have not peeped it yet make sure you check the new Roots and Wires website:<br /><br /><a href="www.rootsandwires.com">www.rootsandwires.com</a><br /><br />More content soon come.<br /><br />On the Blog sides, Special Agent K will soon be breaking down the origins and archetypal significance of the labyrinth and the squared mandala which have been incorporated into our new logo:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7557/1723/1600/504765/RWSDlogo-corner.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7557/1723/320/657776/RWSDlogo-corner.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />So sit tight, listen, and look keenly as Roots and Wires Sound Dimensional high steps it into the future 2007 style!Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1159850211403184242006-10-02T21:32:00.000-07:002006-11-19T19:28:06.603-08:00The Stateless Pounding System - 9/30/2006<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/crowd%202.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/crowd%202.2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br />The Sun was just dipping under the tree line of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Golden Gate</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<span style=""> </span>6:00 PM, Saturday 30 September 2006.<span style=""> </span>Darkness would soon descend over <st1:placename st="on">San Francisco</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">City</st1:placetype> and yet another chapter of “Stateless” would unfold deep in the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mission</st1:place></st1:city> at Club Amnesia.<span style=""> </span>As I walked down the way premonitions of sounds filtered through my sonic mind’s eye…Blink forward…Sound check…1, 2, 1, 2…Just right?<span style=""> </span>Maybe not, but no reason to fuss and fight.<span style=""> </span>Just sip a whiskey and let the stress digress and the night progress…<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/vanka%20image%201.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/vanka%20image%201.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And progress it did.<span style=""> </span>This particular evening of sonics went down in serious fashion.<span style=""> </span>Marking his first appearance at “Stateless” was DJ Vanka.<span style=""> </span>The Belgian born Vanka dropped some serious Afro-Beat-Brazil-Poly-Rhythmic-future funk that reached a boiling point by the end of his two hour set.<span style=""> </span>Having never reached his legendary “Misturada” sessions at Club Six, his aura preceded him in my eyes.<span style=""> </span>I, along with the bubbling Amnesia masses, no doubt were fully engaged by Vanka’s set.<span style=""> </span>Big.<span style=""> </span>If you ever see that he is playing in your neighborhood, check him out! You won’t be disappointed.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By the time Vanka was done, the warm glow of Amnesia was burning just right.<span style=""> </span>Next up was the “Stateless” foundation, the man that holds it all down, the Worker.<span style=""> </span>The big beat pieces of plastic selected by the Worker bounced from rough ragga-tinged breakbeats to full force techno.<span style=""> </span>The Worker rode the energy Vanka laid out early on and pushed it up a notch even so. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/wailing%201.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/wailing%201.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">In keeping with the “Stateless” mission, the night switched it up to a live vibe.<span style=""> </span>The Wailing Junktet, a Brazilian influenced drum ensemble pounded some serious poly-rhythms that landed somewhere between <st1:city st="on">São Paulo</st1:city>, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:city>, and a stateless commune run by Orishas from outer space.<span style=""> </span>Echoes of DJ Vanka’s set took on a live presence through this very talented ensemble.<span style=""> </span>Kinetic and propulsive to the core.<br /></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Check an audio clip here:<br /></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_09%20stateless%20junktet.m3u">link</a><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/wailing%202.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/wailing%202.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Closing out the night was Roots and Wire Hi-Fi.<span style=""> </span>Our set ran the gamut from vintage dubwise evergreens from the Tubby’s, Bullwackies, and Yabby You stables on through uptempo ragga jungle tunes and two blazing Roots and Wires exclusive dubplates with production by Special Agent K.<span style=""> </span><br /></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">You can check our set here:<br /></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_09%20stateless%20rw.m3u">link</a><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/crowd.5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/crowd.5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">A big thanks goes out to Amnesia and especially Ben who did double duty as sound man and bartender.<span style=""> </span>No easy task given that the club was corked with dancing bodies working up a healthy thirst.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So hold tight until the next “Stateless” storm comes your way.<span style=""> </span>If you missed this time, make sure you reach next time.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Peace,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Andy G</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Roots and Wires Hi-Fi</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></o:p></p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1155797147612597372006-08-16T21:55:00.000-07:002006-08-24T10:41:08.530-07:00Stateless - 8/25/06 - Grey Filastine Meets the Roots and Wires Hi-Fi!<div align="justify"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless_flyer.ft.web.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/400/stateless_flyer.ft.web.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless_flyer.bk.web.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/400/stateless_flyer.bk.web.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />first off, we've finally joined in on the myspace thing: </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/rootsandwires">http://www.myspace.com/rootsandwires</a></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">it's still sparse and basic, but does host initial drafts of some of my own works in progress...</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">thanks to all that came out to last month's stateless. this was a serious soundclash - stateless sound meets the roots and wires hi-fi - featuring the special agent k and andy g (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/">roots and wires hi-fi</a>) and the worker (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/">stateless</a>, six degrees), dropping some wicked tunes... andy g and i closed out the night with some thundering UK steppers and soulful roots and dubwise sounds for an appreciative dancefloor, who were whistling and hollering for more. i really enjoyed my debut with the video manipulation as well - this will continue forward with stateless episode 8...</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">so please mark your calenders for STATELESS, this august 25th (friday) at amnesia (voted best dive bar in the bay guardian) in san francisco's mission district (853 valencia, between 19th and 20th) starting at 9 PM and continuing until 2 AM. for this next event, we return to our model of guest dj, resident soundsystem, and live act. for our live act, we will be flying in <a href="http://filastine.com/index.html">grey filastine</a> from seattle, to debut material off his new album... grey will be playing a live set and will be featuring music off his recent release on DJ rupture's <a href="http://www.sootrecords.com/">soot records</a>. the album has already been receiving top ranking reviews:</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"filled with both with jagged edges and moments of sad sweetness... Burn It is sure to win fans across multiple scenes" - XLR8R</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"worldly field recordings, sound collages and electro burners line a tracklist with concealed explosives that loom in the splitting beats and impending ruin of cuts... promising paranoid sleeplessness for all in earshot" - Remix Magazine</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">'It’s a news clip you can dance to, a “report from the frontlines” given a beat'... a distinctly inclusive style of music" - PopMatters</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"reminiscent of the murky drama of Ninja Tuners like Amon Tobin and DJ Food, and throughout the album the lines between live performed contributions and meticulously contextualized samples is slurred and burnt... feels like a thrillingly tense interaction between these ideological factors and the gold-toothed, whip-riding luxury of hiphop culture" - The Stranger</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"easily one of the best records that will be released this year, electronic or otherwise... a thinking-man’s record, assembled by the thinking-man’s DJ" - Slug Magazine</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"This is grit. This is raw. This is...actually...a bit spooky... One of the more interesting releases to land on our desks in quite a while." - Kotori Magazine</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">"a hypnotic variety of both sequenced and live percussion. Murky hip-hop beats melt into rapid tabla workouts and then further transform into intricate patterns... a musical tincture that’s simultaneously aggressive and lovely" - Missoula Independent</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">wow - some serious soundbwoy business! the night will start out with guest dj cyan, who will drop a downtempo, dubwise, and dubstep set. the worker will follow and drop his mix of microhouse, electro and ragga breaks, as well as other outernational sounds. headliner grey filastine will play next. finally, the roots and wires <a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/html%20pages/Sonics.htm">sound</a> will close off the night, with the special agent k and andy g manning the turntables, laptops, dubwise sirens and effects units, analogue delays, melodica, and perhaps even some tabla. also, prepare for more original dubplates from the special agent k - steppers, dubstep and drum and bass meets sarod, sarangi and classical indian vocals... so please join us for a night of bass heavy, diverse and eclectic sounds, spanning roots, lover's rock, dub, dubstep, UK steppers, electro, asian underground, bhangra, old school bollywood, ragga jungle and drum and bass, with a touch of baile funk and afrojazz...</div>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1155612740354519842006-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:002006-08-14T21:31:51.293-07:00My Operator, My Selector: White Mice in the Area<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/brwm-7sa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/400/brwm-7sa.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">As Khenu a.k.a. the doctor, and many others, well know there are very few conversations about music in which I do not utter the words “Roots,” “Steppers,” “Shaka,” or some such dubwise variation.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>So keeping with form, I have to give my 100% Roots and Wires sound-dimensional props to the <a href="http://www.basicchannel.com/">basic channel</a> crew for their hotly anticipated recent reissue of four purely wicked 7” singles.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">All serious selectors take note:<span style=""> </span>These singles from the mid-eighties Jamaican singer White Mice are pure worries.<span style=""> </span>The Basic Channel site tells the story so:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Born in 1970, in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Monte</st1:city></st1:place><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">go Bay</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Jamaica</st1:country-region></st1:place>, Allan Crichton aka White Mice is a graduate of three sound systems - Sugar Minott’s Youthman Promotion, Jammy’s Hi Power, and his hometown Ticka Muzik. His first break came at Sun Splash in 1985, when he and Little Kirk were called on stage to perform with Tenor Saw. Recording at King Jammy’s and Channel One studios, with Junior Delgado at the controls, over next the few years Mice let off a series of records amongst the very deadliest of digital reggae - nearly all on his brother Blemo’s Intellitec imprint, out of Miami…”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The four singles that make up this particular brace of White Mice tunes are “It’s A Shame,” “Try a Thing,” “Youths of Today,” and “Tallawah.”<span style=""> </span>Each one is a slice of serious mid-80s computer riddimized roots.<span style=""> </span>Like Little Kirk’s “Ghetto People Broke” from the same era, these singles retrospectively bridge the gap between the anachronistic roots-steppers vibe of the 70s and the nascent <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> digital roots that was soon to give birth via such artists as Dred and Fred from the Jah Shaka stable and Nick Manasseh/Sound Iration via the Mr. Modo imprint.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I first heard White Mice’s minor-key digital classic “Youths of Today” on a Jah Shaka sound tape from around 1986.<span style=""> </span>With Shaka chanting over the dub I was hooked.<span style=""> </span>Since that time, the mythology around these White Mice singles only increased as my luck in finding them hopelessly decreased.<span style=""> </span>Soon come…</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">About a month ago, I received the four singles in a printed white paper bag.<span style=""> </span>Crisp, solid pressings ready made for pushing bass bins in a dance.<span style=""> </span>They have been rotating on and off my turntable ever since.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“It’s Shame” starts with a wicked digital drum roll before White Mice wails “<i style="">Oh it’s a </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/brwm-1a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/400/brwm-1a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">shame, oh it’s a shame to see my brother’s blood running down the drain….</i>”<span style=""> </span>From there White Mice licks lyrical shots at world leaders that build nuclear weapons to ghetto youths that kill one another. Sub-bass lines rumble under the propulsive digital riddim.<span style=""> </span>The version accentuates the snapping snare in counterpoint to the rolling bass line.<span style=""> </span>“Oh it’s a shaaaa…..mmeeee” echoes out, guitar and keyboard licks bounce around the echo chamber in fine fashion.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/brwm-3a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/brwm-3a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Try a Thing” is a 4/4 mid-paced marching stepper with the Mice once again singing lyrics dedicated to all those sufferahs trying get by in the ghetto – “<i style="">Just try a thing… Brother and Sister try a thing…</i>” The guitar evokes Black Uhuru circa “Red.”<span style=""> </span>The version on the flip, is proficient if a bit unadventurous.<span style=""> </span>The kick drum and staccato guitar dominate with snare shots echoing in and out alongside shards of White Mice vocals.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/brwm-2a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/brwm-2a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>“Youths of Today” is the tune that brought me to White Mice in the first place.<span style=""> </span>It is, to my mind, the centerpiece in this serious brace of reissue 45s.<span style=""> </span>“<i style="">So the youths of today will be the man of tomorrow, but when your old and getting grey…and we are the youths gonna lead the way… and try and try youth to get a bly…</i>”<span style=""> </span>The riddim on this one hits harder than hot iron to anvil.<span style=""> </span>The drums move back and forth from full-fledged digital roots riddim to pared down kick-kick-snare dancehall roughness.<span style=""> </span>The dub version begins with an unorthodox skipping echoed shard of White Mice vocals before the strident riddim kicks in.<span style=""> </span>From there out it is dubwise marching time.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/brwm-4a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/brwm-4a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Talawah” in Jamaican parlance means sturdy and strong.<span style=""> </span>On “Talawah,” White Mice comes in a strong fashion.<span style=""> </span>Over top of yet another blistering minor-key steppers, the Mice warns all upstarts not to judge a book by its cover.<span style=""> </span>By this point, they should know White Mice a come in “Talawah.”<span style=""> </span>The version is a rudimentary dub unhindered by major studio trickery. The marching riddim is given space to breath.<span style=""> </span>Time to clear out the living room and start stepping.</p><p class="MsoNormal">So once again the reissue folks at basic channel/basic replay come with pure sound quality. For all folks interested in a few 7" singles of serious minor-key mid-80s digital roots reggae these White Mice tunes are for you. Check them and support the labels that tread the lonely waters of diminishing record sales to uncover beautiful music such as this.</p>In coming installments of the Roots and Wires blog I am going to highlight more of my favorite recent roots-dubwise reissues. Likewise, in the coming months make sure to stay tuned to these pages as Roots and Wires Hi-Fi spreads the word in the San Francisco-Bay Area and beyond.<br /><br />Peace,<br />Andy G, Roots and Wires Hi-FiRoots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1152086799521884012006-07-05T00:41:00.000-07:002006-07-16T01:58:27.126-07:00Stateless Six Month Anniversary - Photos & Audio<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/Micropixie.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/Micropixie.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It's been a nice, deeply synchronistic flow during these first 48 hours in Seattle, my first return to the Pacific Northwest in three years... I'm taking off tommorrow early morning for a four day backpacking trip into the "Enchanted Valley," in the Olympic National Park, and pretty excited about this (as long as I don't get mauled by bears).<br /><br />Thanks to everyone who came and made a special six month anniversary of Stateless... Our two live acts were great, a nice contrast to one another. Micropixie was ethereal, dreamy and wonderful. MC Rai producer Jeff Stott composed some amazing beats, played oud, and had two guest percussionists.<br /><br /><br /><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/Jeff%20Stott.jpg" border="0" /><br />Check it for yourself and post some comments:</p><p>Micropixie Set</p><p>stream (pending)</p><p>Embarka Soundsystem Set<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_06%20embarka%20soundsystem%20set.m3u">stream</a><br /><br />Special Agent K Set<br /><br />set one (check out the electro set!)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_06%20stateless%20sak%20set%2001.m3u">stream</a><br /></p><p><strong>playlist</strong>:</p><p>punjabi mc - jogi</p><p>asha bhosle - chura liya (from yaadon ki baaraat 1973)</p><p><strong>special agent k</strong> feat. kishu nagar (vocal) and preetam ghosal (sarod) - dubstep 13</p><p>e.m.s. - close encounters</p><p>freezie freekie - flow (with an original recording of ghanshyam sisodia on sarangi mixed in)</p><p>errol davis - path i have taken</p><p>irration steppas - rasta headquarters</p><p>irration steppas - revelations dub</p><p>irration steppas - rejection remix</p><p><strong>special agent k</strong> feat kishu nagar (vocals), preetam ghosal (sarod), ghanshyam sisodia (sarangi) - classical roller </p><p><br />set two (some ragga jungle in this one!)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_06%20stateless%20sak%20set%2002.m3u">stream </a><br /></p><p><strong>playlist</strong>:</p><p>navdeep - amrit</p><p>bally sagoo - tum bin jina (strobe's drum and bass remix)</p><p>andy c and dj hype - potential bad bwoy</p><p>congo natty feat. top cat - over u body</p><p>chopstick dubplate feat. general pecos - got the lovin'</p><p>mighty three's - nearer to dub</p><p><br />The Worker Set</p><p>stream (pending)</p><p>Ok, there's more audio to come soon...<br /><br />Peace,<br /><br />khenu </p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1151959325346164812006-07-03T12:58:00.000-07:002006-09-03T16:29:02.666-07:00Outernational Travels through the realms of pounding Percussion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/raycubastyle.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 131px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 197px" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/raycubastyle.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/Andy2.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/Andy2.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/Africanpercussion.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/Africanpercussion.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The early hours of June 22nd saw my brother and I make our way to LAX on course to catch a flight to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Toronto</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Ontario</st1:state></st1:place>. My recollections of this great metropolis were informed by the bitter winter I experienced there in January 1997 so I was looking forward to landing during the summer. June, no doubt, would be a mellower affair. What was not mellow was the security we had to navigate as we checked in at the desks of El Al, the national airline of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The tension was palpable as security eyed our passports intensely. They peppered us with questions pertaining to our intent to carry nefarious cargo aboard. The experience offered a brief window into the negative human costs of the perpetual </span><a href="http://euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&article=367161&lng=1"><span style="font-family:arial;">Israeli-Palestinian conflict</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Ironically, the history of diasporic displacements experienced by the Jewish and Palestinian peoples would find parallels in our outernational travel through the realms of pounding percussion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Our central reason for journeying to <st1:country-region st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> was to attend a two-day percussion retreat outside of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city> co-sponsored by the wonderful people of the </span><a href="http://www.tanglefootlodge.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tanglefoot Lodge</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and Mountain Rythym drums. The Tanglefoot Lodge is part yoga studio and part retreat house run by Russ and Nicky Hazard. Nestled in the woods Northeast of Toronto, the lodge made for the perfect zone to commune with nature and the nature of sound. These two know how to run a retreat space. Their tranquil and positive vibe was apparent in all of they did during the weekend. The vegetarian meals they cooked were some of the best I have ever experienced. Ital and pure! I highly recommend checking their website and definitely encourage one and all to visit them. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The other sponsor, </span><a href="http://www.mountainrythm.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">Mountain Rythyms</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, is one of the premier makers of high quality hand percussion. They innovated the “simple twist” tuning system. For anyone who has tried tuning or retightening an old style Djembe this system is a godsend. Mountain Rythyms very own resident percussionist and teacher </span><a href="http://www.tanglefootlodge.com/guest_facilitators/ray_dillard.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Ray Dillard</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, along with Russ, created a two-day introduction to “rhythmic teachings from around the world.” Entitled </span><a href="http://www.tanglefootlodge.com/seminar_descriptions/rhythms_of_the_world.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">“Rhythms of the World”</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">As the lattice of coincidence would have it, Ray is originally from <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Texas</st1:state></st1:place>. Fresh from leaving <st1:city st="on">Houston</st1:city> for <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">San Francisco</st1:city></st1:place>, I could only smile when he told me. Mirroring Khenu’s previous posts, the synchronistic moments that mark beginnings and ends; births and rebirths never ceases to amaze. While living in the Lone Star state Ray spent much of his time as a member of the Music and Audio Engineering faculty at San Jacinto College Central in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Houston</st1:place></st1:city>. He spent three years studying tabla in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. He has studied and played in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region></st1:place>. He has toured throughout <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place>. He can jump from a Samba to an Indian Tal before he ends with a Cuban Clave. More importantly, he can teach it. Ray’s ability to convey his knowledge and passion for rhythm makes me wish I knew him ten years ago. I would be much further along in my own musical journey no doubt.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Outside of Ray, the organizers brought in two other superb instructors. Along with being an instructor at Humber College of Music, </span><a href="http://www.tanglefootlodge.com/guest_facilitators/rick_lazar.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Rick Lazar</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> is the creator and artistic director behind </span><a href="http://www.sambasquad.com/frames/home.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Samba Squad</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">, one of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Toronto</st1:place></st1:city>’s main </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba_school"><span style="font-family:arial;">Samba schools</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">. Rick was a seriously feisty cat. He had twenty people who had never met and even some complete novices like my brother and I playing serious samba in unison. The sound we created rivaled the sonic dominance one hears in a sound system dance. Our ears were pounding after Rick’s session on the seminar’s first night. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The following day </span><a href="http://www.tanglefootlodge.com/guest_facilitators/andy_morris.htm"><span style="font-family:arial;">Andy Morris</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> connected the diasporic dots from <st1:country-region st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region> back to <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>. He dedicated his session to various aspects of Ghanaian drumming. As would become a theme throughout the weekend, there were numerous points of overlap; a kind of sameness within differentiation that penetrated through the various sessions. Rick’s Afro-Brazilian lessons bled seamlessly into Andy’s discussion of West African traditions. The West African session provided a kind of centeral axis around which the other African diasporic traditions coalesced. Moving out of Andy’s session into Ray’s lesson on Afro-Cuban percussion gave one the sense of a resonant connection between the rhythmic patterns we were playing and their historical roots in the forced dispersal of African-descended peoples. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The serious mental work came when Ray broke down the some of the most common </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tala_(music)"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tals</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> in Indian music. As Ray states, “Tabla repertoire is traditionally taught orally, so no standardized notation exists.” This lack of a written musical nomenclature presents many difficulties for most western-trained musicians. Indian classical music’s eschewing of 4/4 time in favor of 7,10, or 16 beat measures, to name just a few possibilities, also had many of the participant’s looped. Asian massive cut-and-paste tabla this was not. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><o:p><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:arial;">More could be said about all of the nuances present in the various percussive forms we experienced over the weekend. Suffice it to say, throughout the two days I was trying to work out basslines in my head that might fit over top some of the rhythms presented. With the unfolding and always synchronistic flows of the roots and wires I have no doubt that new rhythmic and musical discoveries will unfold in a home studio or two somewhere in the city of San Francisco…They will no doubt be partially influenced by my experiences over this weekend in the rolling hills northeast of Toronto…stay tuned<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" face="trebuchet ms"><span style="font-family:arial;">...But before I go let me give one last shout out to all the crew of the Tanglefoot Lodge and Mountain Rythym not to mention all of the great warm and welcoming Canadians that we met at the seminar and while wandering the streets of Toronto. Big up to the Canadian crew...<br /></span></p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1150875248298549652006-06-21T00:34:00.000-07:002006-07-09T18:21:45.826-07:00Endings and Beginnings<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/shaka.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 338px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="246" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/shaka.jpg" width="378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">I might brave potential moments of dripping wax, to check out <a href="http://www.jahshakasoundsystem.com/">Jah Shaka </a>at the Sierra Nevada World Music <a href="http://www.snwmf.com/index2.html">Festival </a>this Friday. I’m expecting a different experience than when I last checked him at the Africana Center in London, in the mid-90’s. It was such a powerful experience then to see, hear and feel the "mighty zulu warrior's" sound – especially that feeling of his mighty tube-powered soundsystem thundering in my chest…</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Transition and synchronicity have been strong in the air. I was at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/maneeshthetwister">Maneesh the Twister</a>'s wedding last weekend, witness to the creation of a wonderful union. The next morning, while still in San Diego, we learned that my wife's grandmother had transitioned into the Mystery. Of all days, the funeral happened to be the same day as my entrance into the San Francisco <a href="http://www.sfjung.org/">Jung Institute</a>, as a preliminary psychoanalytic candidate… So beginnings, endings, and beginnings again…</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/stateless.flyer.0.jpg" border="0" /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/stateless.flyer.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">On another note - the last Stateless was wicked – mad props to <a href="http://www.kusharora.com/">Kush Arora</a> for a next-step ragga-bhangra set! Friday, June 30, we will return to Amnesia (b/w 19th and 20th on Valencia, in SF's Mission) with our six month anniversary of Stateless. This should be an extra special event – first off, we have two amazing headliners. <a href="http://www.micropixie.com/home.htm">Micropixie </a>will be playing with a live tabla player. Then, Jeff Stott, MC Rai producer and founder of <a href="http://www.embarkarecords.com/">Embarka Records</a>, will be performing beats and oud, with a violinist and arabic percussion. Michael (The Worker) and I (Special Agent K) will be dropping opening and closing sets - spinning roots, dub, bhangra, outernational breaks and jungle, afrojazz, dancehall, dubstep and so on... I'll be doing my usual soundsystem business, with siren unit and analogue delays. I’m also planning on dropping some dubplates of original south asian dubstep and drum and bass. Finally, we will have visual art by <a href="http://www.orthlorng.com/sue/live.html">Sue C</a>. and live visuals by Yasi (<a href="http://flaminglotus.com/">Flaming Lotus Girls</a>). Make sure and check it!</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1148453568975739772006-05-23T23:14:00.000-07:002006-05-24T02:58:00.223-07:00Stateless - Come Again!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/statelessft.5.26.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/statelessft.5.26.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/statelessbk.5.26.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/statelessbk.5.26.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Join us for the fifth Stateless this friday, May 26th. Our featured guest will be <a href="http://www.kusharora.com/">Kush Arora</a>, a talented Bay Area producer and multi-instrumentalist who has been blowing up recently. One testament to this includes a b-side track on an upcoming <a href="http://www.alphaandomega.co.uk/">Alpha and Omega</a> release - featuring <a href="http://www.foreignfamiliar.com/">Juakali</a>...<br /><br />Check out this special dub - an exclusive to the roots and wires hi-fi:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/kushtrack03.m3u">audio stream</a><br /><br />Kush's unique sound draws together Punjabi and Jamaican elements, with fierce programming and Kush on tumbi, algoze, double flutes, melodica, and percussion (as well as multiple other guest instrumentalists and vocalists)... On this particular track, Kush collaborates with MC Daddy Frank - Kingston meets Jalandhar dubwise!<br /><br />Resident DJ's The Worker (Six Degrees, Stateless) and special agent k (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi, Stateless) will also drop extended sets. Expect some roots, dub and lover's rock from me early on, some afrojazz somewhere in the middle, and some dubstep and drum and bass as the night gets thick and sweaty...<br /><br />A little further away is our 6-month anniversary - this Stateless will be an extra-special one... We will be featuring two live acts: <a href="http://www.micropixie.com/home.htm">Micropixie</a> and Jeff Stott, founder of <a href="http://www.embarkarecords.com/">Embarka Records</a>... We will also have video art from <a href="http://www.orthlorng.com/sue/live.html">Sue Costabile</a>, a photographer and video artist who works with a combination of analog and digital processes, doing "live improvisational video performances using a custom built system in the max/msp/jitter software environment"...<br /><br />Hopefully I will also have my tablatronix setup in effect by then as well...<br /><br />Coming back to the present, please join us this friday, May 26th, at Amnesia (853 Valencia, between 19th and 20th in SF's Mission District). The event starts at 9PM and goes until 2AM. The cover is only $5...Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1146967573114401512006-05-06T03:25:00.000-07:002006-05-08T08:29:19.813-07:00Stateless - 4/28/06 - Photos and Audio!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/IMG_2144.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/IMG_2144.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Mad respect to <a href="http://www.timbarsky.com/">Tim Barsky</a>, for playing an amazing battle-flute set! It was one of those nights filled with many memorable and even moving moments... At the end of the evening, Tim and I were outside chatting about sound and mysticism (check out <a href="http://www.rhythmweb.com/khan.htm">Hazrat Inayat Khan's </a>"The Mysticism of Sound and Music"), as well as some particular cross-cultural instances of sound and healing (<a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/13061.ctl">check out</a> "Dancing Prophets: Musical Experiences in Tumbuka Healing"), while The Worker was dropping a solid set inside the warm, cozy walls of Amnesia. While we were chatting, a woman approached Tim and told him that he had "made their evening." She even jokingly added that if they ever decided to become groupies, they would be his! It was a sweet moment and just nice to see people enjoying the night's sounds... Hopefully the sonic dialogues will continue, with indian classical meets beatboxing collaborations to come later this year - keep tuned...<br /><br />In the meantime, here are links to the evening's music:<br /><br />(1) <a href="http://forwardever.blogspot.com/">Tomas</a> (XLR8R, Votage Music) - audio stream pending<br /><br />(2) Special Agent K (Stateless, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi) - <a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_04%20stateless%20sak.m3u">stream set</a><br /><br />-there are some technical glitches (including a sound guy that dropped the levels a few times during my set), but I'm pretty happy with it otherwise. check out the second track for some original, digi-dubplate pressure (but also still a work in progress)...<br /><br />i'll have the playlist up soon...<br /><br />(3) Tim Barsky - <a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_04%20stateless%20barsky.m3u">stream set</a><br /><br />(4) The Worker - audio stream pending<br /><br />We'll be coming at you with Stateless 5 this May 26th, again a friday at Amnesia. Our live performer for the night will be <a href="http://www.kusharora.com/">Kush Arora </a>- bringing his unique and edgy original dubwise, bhangra productions... I'll also be unleashing some more dubplate pressure - classical indian sarangi and sarod cradled in some fierce junglist breakbeats. We're also hoping to get some visual artists on board... It just keeps on getting bigger!Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1144886828995177752006-04-12T16:42:00.000-07:002006-05-15T10:44:37.860-07:00Stateless - Rewind Selecta!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless.flyer.ft.4.28.06.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/stateless.flyer.ft.4.28.06.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless.flyer.bk.4.28.06.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/stateless.flyer.bk.4.28.06.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Thanks to all the made it out to the last Stateless (a part of Dhamaal's Sights and Sounds <a href="http://www.dhamaalsf.com/">Festival</a>) - Amnesia was once again packed with thick sonics and a diverse crowd of revelers and music afficiandos. <a href="http://www.mcrai.com/">MC Rai</a> played a beautiful arabic set and the DJ crew (Radiohiro and DJ Warp) from Chicago was solid... We'll be steppin' forward with the fourth episode of Stateless on Friday April 28, again at Amnesia. This go round will feature this following line-up:<br /><br /><a href="http://forwardever.blogspot.com/">Tomas </a>(XLR8R) will open the night with dubwise and minimal techno sounds...<br /><br />Special Agent K (Roots and Wires Hi-Fi, Stateless) will drop a set of diverse sounds, spanning from bhangra, ragga breaks, asian massive to drum and bass - all with his live dubwise samples, sirens, and effects... He might even bring his tabla/MIDI controller setup which he has been developing...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.timbarsky.com/">Tim Barsky</a> is our featured live act. He's self-described as a story teller, folk-historian, and battleflutist, he will bring his combination of hip-hop, street theatre, and Jewish folklore to Amnesia on Friday April 28th. He beatboxes, scratches, manipulates beats, drops classics with the aesthetic of a battle DJ while integrating it into the flute... You folks have seriously got to check him out... You can check out some samples of this and his other projects at his website.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/timbarksy.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br />D Wurker (Six Degrees, Stateless) will close out the night with his ecletic sounds - from breaks to baile funk...<br /><br />We have good things in store for you this next year, so make sure you come out and represent!Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1143020746500576452006-03-22T00:08:00.000-08:002006-05-06T03:04:35.193-07:00Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/analystinnercity.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/analystinnercity.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Big up to Roots and Wires Hi-Fi selector Andy G for a wicked set of UK Roots - make sure you check it out (see the link below)!<br /><br />This saturday, March 25th, <a href="http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/nights.php">Six Degrees Records </a>and <a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/">Roots and Wires Hi-Fi </a>bring you the third round of Stateless. I'll be out of town, so won't be dropping my dubwise antics, but the lineup looks stellar:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mcrai.com/">MC Rai </a>performing live with Jef Stott (<a href="http://www.embarkarecords.com/">Embarka Records</a>) and Omar Fadel...<br /><br />Guest dj's from Chicago's 'Bombay Beatbox' crew: Warp and <a href="http://www.radiohiro.com/">Radiohiro</a><br /><br />and a dj set from resident dj, D. Wurker<br /><br />"Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City," refers to a UCSF Department of Psychiatry event I've organized. This thursday, March 23rd, there will be a special two-part presentation and clinical case conference at the San Francisco General Hospital - "Psychoanalysis Meets the Inner City." Neil Altman, author of "<a href="http://www.analyticpress.com/books/435-2.html">The Analyst in the Inner City: Race, Class and Culture Through a Psychoanalytic Lens</a>," and co-editor of "<a href="http://www.analyticpress.com/psychoanalytic_dialogues.html">Psychoanalytic Dialogues: a Journal of Relational Perspectives</a>" (a major journal for contemporary psychoanalysis), will be visiting from New York City to speak on the value of modern psychoanalytic perspectives in public-sector work. The lunch and evening events will be open to providers and trainees throughout the city, so send me an e-mail @ <a href="mailto:bruceleehifi@hotmail.com">bruceleehifi@hotmail.com</a> if you're interested in checking it out...<br /><br />The emphasis will be on the value of contemporary psychoanalysis in inner city work - let me paraphrase some perspectives from Dr. Altman's book:<br /><br />Classical psychoanalysis emphasized the need for analytic anonymity and abstention from action, which isn't really possible in most public sector settings where there are multiple domains in which the therapist needs to be more active. For example, the therapist often also provides active case-management functions such as working towards housing and government entitlements (such as SSI). These far from neutral actions would have been considered incompatible with a classical psychoanalytic approach, but are not incompatible when the analyst's subjectivity and presence are acknowledged and revisioned in the contemporary, relational psychoanalytic frame.<br /><br />The classical criteria for "analyzability" often excluded most patients served in the public sector, since there was an emphasis on the capacity to tolerate frustration and on verbal intelligence. Relational or intersubjective psychoanalysis, focuses more on the capacity to utilize relationship, so this opens up new and less exclusionary possibilities for "analyzability."<br /><br />In intensive case management programs, case managers often visit patients in their environment, which can intensely pull for enactments of object-relations related to early attachment figures. Thus "case managers may appear to their patients as omnipotent rescuers, controlling and punitive intruders, potential rapists, lovers, friends and so on." Contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives can help make sense of these enactments and the various countertransference/transference manifestations that can arise. This is one example in which these perspectives are useful clinically in the public sector, even outside of psychoanalytically informed individual psychotherapy...<br /><br />Classical psychoanalysis has been described as a "one-person psychology," where the analyst was a considered a blank slate for the patient's transference projections. This gradually developed into what has been referred to as a "two-person psychology," where the analyst is acknowledged as a subjective being with his own presence in the relational field. Finally, in a "three-person psychology, " the "third," refers to the systems and sociocultural context in which the therapeutic dyad is embedded, allowing us to more reflexively take into account things such as race, class, and subculture/culture...<br /><br />... As I write this a <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Heptones,+The">Heptones</a> song ("World") comes to mind, bringing us back to roots music:<br /><br />World, for everyone…<br />But somethings are shared only by some…<br /><br />... And we'll leave this post with some words, a fitting invition of sorts, from <a href="http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/aswad/bio.jhtml">Aswad </a>("Pass the Cup"):<br /><br />And yes my friend I know it's not hard to see,<br />What's good for you is so good for me...<br />Pass the cup,<br />Pass the cup,<br />You let it touch your very very soul,<br />Pass the cup I beg you, pass the cup around from one to another...Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1142955953600820472006-03-21T07:44:00.000-08:002006-05-08T08:23:26.203-07:00Respect to all who listened. Here is the play list and the link for those interested in a stream. Should be up for about two weeks. I'll try to get it permanent on my site.<br /> <br /> Respect the UK roots legacy...everytime...<br /> <br /> <a href="http://archive.kpft.org/" target="_blank" class="postlink">http://archive.kpft.org</a><br /> <br /> Just scroll down to "Music Beyond Borders: Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 4 am" and forward the roots...<br /> <br /> 1) Groundation – Juggernaut<br /> 2) Bagga Matumbi – Daughters of Zion/Version<br /> 3) Aswad – Its Not Our Wish (Disco)<br /> 4) Reggae Regular – Black Star Liner (Disco)<br /> 5) Black Slate – Live Up to Love (Disco)<br /> 6) Delroy Washington – Cool Dubbin<br /> 7) Human Cargo – Carry us Beyond (Shaka Cut)<br /> 8) Mystery UK – Kunte Kinte Dubplate<br /> 9) Ras Imhru Asher – Cali Bird (Disco)<br /> 10) 4th St. Orchestra – Half Way to Za-Ion<br /> 11) Matumbi – Jah Movement<br /> 12) Pablo Gad – Reggae Music<br /> 13) Danny Henry – African Gold<br /> 14) Dambala – Zimbabwe<br /> 15) Misty in Roots – Earth<br /> 16) Misty in Roots – Zapata<br /> 17) Johnny Clarke and Dub Band – Guidance<br /> 18) Black Slate – Live a Life (Disco)<br /> 19) Junior Brown – Jah Find Babylon Guilty<br /> 20) Sons of Jah – Psalm 72 (w/Ranking Rueben)<br /> 21) Aswad Dub Charge<br /> 22) Alan Kingpin – Little Jimmy<br /><br />Andy G<br />Roots and Wires Hi-FiRoots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1142790251636275762006-03-19T09:28:00.000-08:002006-03-21T03:28:30.220-08:00Roots and Wires Presents Classic UK Selections<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/1600/PGAD2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5306/1726/320/PGAD2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Presents Classic <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> Selections:<o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once again, another installment of Roots and Wires on the radio will hit the FM airwaves and the internet audio streams.<span style=""> </span>This Tuesday, 21 March 2006 I will be presenting a two-hour special consisting of 100% ever green roots and culture classics culled from the late 1970s/early 1980s UK reggae scene.<span style=""> </span>Rare sides from the likes of Pablo Gad, Aswad, Black Slate, Capital Letters, Matumbi, Misty in Roots, Delroy <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>, and Sword of Jah Mouth will be the order of the day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The prevailing opinion amongst the majority of reggae aficionados is that singers and players from the UK never quite hit the high water mark that their Jamaican counterparts did during the so-called “golden era” of roots reggae’s global ascent.<span style=""> </span>When I first heard Aswad’s<a href="http://www.roots-archives.com/release/6"> “New Chapter of Dub” </a>and its vocal companion <a href="http://www.roots-archives.com/release/284">“A New Chapter”</a> back in the 1980s my ears told me otherwise.<span style=""> </span>Since that point, I have been on the constant hunt for <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place> roots productions from this era.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nearly twenty years on, I hope this two-hour radio foray into all things <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> roots reggae dispels some of the myths that the only good drum and bass comes from JA.<span style=""> </span><span style=""><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Musical pleasure without measure...True<br /><span style=""></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>You can tune in live from 4 to 6 AM Central Time on 90.1 FM KPFT <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Houston</st1:city></st1:place> or stream it 24/7 by visiting <a href="http://archive.kpft.org/">this link</a> <span style="font-size:0;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span>and scrolling down to “Music Beyond Boarders<span class="showdate"> Tuesday, March 21, 2006 4:00 am”</span></p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1141460873931085692006-03-03T23:28:00.000-08:002006-03-12T01:05:21.690-08:00Stateless - 2/24/06 - Photos and Audio!<p>Announcement:</p><p>The third installment of Stateless Version 2 comes to you 3/25/06 (again on a saturday). We are a featured act in the Third Annual <a href="http://www.dhamaalsf.com/Festival2006/events.html">Dhamaal Sights and Sounds Festival</a>. I will be away for the weekend but the lineup looks stellar:</p><p>DJ Tomas Palermo, DJ Warp and <a href="http://www.radiohiro.com/">Radiohiro</a> (from Chicago), DJ D. Wurker</p><p>and as the live act: <a href="http://www.mcrai.com/">MC Rai </a>w/ Jef Stott and additional percussionist (with kit drum set up)</p><p>Back to the blog posting...</p><p></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/alex01.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/alex01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Yes Yes Bredren! Another wicked round of Stateless has come and gone. Thanks to all that showed up for a night of diverse sounds...<br /><br />(1) special agent k - opening set<br /><br />The special agent k brought in his trusty (and newly repaired!) analogue delay box for this round of heavyweight sounds, dubbing out his set live (with some nice, new samples from "<a href="http://www.lifeanddebt.org/">Life in Debt</a>"). He started out with some sublow sounds, progressed through some roots and steppers, took a turn through some bhangra, and ended with some dubstep, breaks and drum and bass! No pictures of him, but see above for a photo of L'emiere who dropped some melodica and live percussion over his set... And here is the audio and a playlist to match!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_02%20stateless.m3u">link</a> to audio </p><p>playlist:</p><p>loefah & skream - fearless</p><p>linton kwesi johnson - dread beat an' blood</p><p>jacob miller - roman soldiers of babylon</p><p>various (from african roots act 2) - journey rock</p><p>creation rebel - mountain melody</p><p>jacob miller - land called home</p><p>sugar minott - war is inna dance</p><p>kenny knots - watch how the people dance</p><p>eight frozen modules - low bite riddim</p><p>bandish project - electronik dausa</p><p>punjabi hit squad - nachie moranie</p><p>punjabi mc - sarwan phuter</p><p>saqi - bolian</p><p>punjabi hit squad - hai hai</p><p>al haca soundsystem - screw</p><p>visionary underground - urban uproar</p><p>skream - acid people bass</p><p>artwork - round sound</p><p>jacob miller - forward ever</p><p>grooverider - c funk</p><p>fernando porto - sambassim </p><p><br /><br />(2) d wurker<br /><br /></p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/dwurker01.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/dwurker01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Next, D Wurker rocked a packed dancefloor with his usual buttery smooth mixing dancefloor selections. Again, L'emiere dropped live accompaniment. Unfortunately, we couldn't get my dubwise setup to work over as planned. <p></p><p><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/alex02.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/alex02.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_02%20stateless%20dwurker.m3u">link </a>to audio<br /><br />(3) maneesh the twister, ferhan, and MC daddy frank<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/twister01.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/twister01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The headliners played a diverse and unique set - with Maneesh on the turntables, Ferhan dropping some wicked tabla bhols, and MC Daddy Frank toasting and freestyling over the mix...<br /><br />link to audio (soon come!)<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/ferhan01.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/ferhan01.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(4) tomas palermo and nada<br /><br />Closing off the night with some nice sounds. Nada dropping samples skillfully over the DJ set. Wicked Lion!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/playlists/06_02%20stateless%20tomas.m3u">link </a>to audio</p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1140081158271657832006-02-16T01:02:00.000-08:002006-02-16T01:12:38.290-08:00Stateless - 2/24/06 - Soon Come!<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless_flyer_front.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/400/stateless_flyer_front.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/stateless_flyer_back.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/400/stateless_flyer_back.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Trodding forward with more thick and serious sounds to rock the foundations of Babylon, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi and Six Degrees Records present another round of Stateless:<br /><br />Friday, 2/24/06, starting at 9 PM, again at Amnesia (853 Valencia, between 19th and 20th)...<br /><br />The special agent k (<a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/">Roots and Wires Hi-Fi</a>) and D. Wurker (Six Degrees Records) will be dropping opening sets. As usual, the <a href="http://www.rootsandwires.com/html%20pages/bruceleehifi%20bio.htm">special agent</a> will be playing a wicked selection of roots reggae, lover's rock, outernational dub, UK steppers, bhangra, dubstep, and south asian breaks - all while dropping rootsical samples, playing the siren unit, and tweaking the mixing board in his usual dubwise style... D. Wurker will once again work the crowd into a dancing frenzy, this time with the special agent providing dubwise treatment to his set. As well, Alex (Lemonade), will be playing kit drum and electronics for parts of both their sets.<br /><br />We also have a special guest for our live performance this go around. Maneesh the Twister (<a href="http://www.dhamaalsf.com/v1/index.html">Dhamaal</a>) will be spinning his usual wickedness, with Ferhan on live tabla, and MC Daddy Frank in from NYC on the mic.<br /><br />Finally, <a href="http://forwardever.blogspot.com/">Tomas</a> (XLR8R, Voltage Music) will again join us as guest DJ, but this time with a special guest providing dubwise sounds on keyboards and via effects units.<br /><br />We will continue in March, this time as part of the Dhamaal Sights and Sounds Festival - stay tuned for more details!Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17796396.post-1139458114262242212006-02-08T19:12:00.000-08:002006-02-10T20:56:19.230-08:00Roots and Wires Hi-Fi Delhi Recording SessionMore details are soon to follow, but we have another round of Stateless coming to you Friday, 2/24/06 @ Amnesia. We again feature DJ <a href="http://forwardever.blogspot.com/">Tomas</a> (XLR8R) as the guest DJ. Maneesh the Twister (Dhamaal) will also drop serious beats, with Ferhan on tabla and MC Frank on the mic. L'emire (Alex from Lemonade) will be playing kit drum and electronics over D. Wurker's and the special agent k's sets. The special agent k will continue to drop rootsical samples, play the siren unit and dub his set live on the board...<br /><br />Get ready for another evening of raw, bass-heavy, experimental (yet dance-floor friendly) sounds from the Stateless/Roots and Wires Hi-Fi crew... Be sure and check it.<br /><br />On with the blog posting... The special agent k was married this winter in India. The joyous occasion was itself full of music, with live dholak and bhangra a constant pulse throughout the several days of ceremony...<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/Dhol%20Players.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/Dhol%20Players.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The last day in India was a perfect conclusion to the trip, a significant sonic thread that wove together as part of the larger, synchronistic tapestry of events. We had a full-night recording session with some of India's finest classical musicians... In 2006, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi will be coming to you with original tracks that incorporate dubstep, grime, breakbeat, UK steppers, and dubwise elements - organized around virtuosic classical Indian compositions... This won't be any lightweight business (e.g. the usual sample of an instrument looped ad naseum), but will instead aspire to highlight the classical compositions in a deeper manner...<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/vishal%20and%20ganshyam.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/vishal%20and%20ganshyam.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p>The recording experience itself was a truly wicked experience. My tabla guruji, Vishal (above, on the right), and I have been dialoguing about this project for a few years. I've introduced him to everything from Asian Massive artists such as Karsh Kale, to UK steppers artists like Jah Warrior, and even grime/dubstep/sublow producers such as Vex'd and Skream. These sounds have been percolating between us and led to the selection of specific musicians to create the mood we're aiming for with this project. Vishal picked a truly gifted selection of musicians - I felt deeply honored to be in their company and will introduce them now (though wait until you hear the recordings)... We were blessed to have Ghanshyam Sisodia (above, left) record sarangi with us (over dark and gritty grime beats!)...<br /><br /><br /></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/preetam.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/preetam.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p>Preetam Ghosal (above), a top disciple of Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, brought tears to our eyes with his sarod work. Stay tuned for some wicked jugalbandi between Preetam and Ghanshyam floating over two-step drum and bass breaks...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/kishu%20in%20the%20booth%2001.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/kishu%20in%20the%20booth%2001.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p>Finally, Ujwal Nagar, brother to Vishal Nagar recorded some moving classical vocals. Prepare for the next step in classical vocal vs. breakbeat riddims...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/1600/dhiman.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7557/1723/320/dhiman.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p>As well, I definitely have to give mad props to sound engineers Dhiman Bhattacharya (above) and Tapan Roy for staying strong until 4 AM!</p><p></p><p>Anyway, stay tuned for the first Roots and Wires Hi-Fi dubplates. I will probably drop some at the March edition of Stateless... If all goes well, we will then shop the tracks around to various labels afterward... Soon come!<br /></p>Roots and Wires Sound Dimensionalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01408503665901707890noreply@blogger.com0