Darfur: It's Oil About Us

The Dec. 9 Economist has a special report on Sudan with an angle on Darfur that few have taken yet. In the last few weeks, the Janjaweed militia have helped oil company reps into the southern regions, digging exploratory wells without permission and poisoning livestock. Consequently, the Darfur rebels have gotten together with other local groups and are attacking anyone connected with the oil industry. By and large, the oil reps are connected with China, though there also are Western companies involved. This reiterates an important fact for the new alliance of evangelicals and liberals concerned about Darfur: This will become an oil and resource war, and one of the best things to do to help Darfur refugees is to boycott oil.

Lou Reed's Berlin, On Stage and On Eight-Track

Did a double-take on Dec. 13, when the New York Times gave both front-page play and a cover in the Arts Section to the fact that Lou Reed was performing Berlin in all its self-wallowing glory, 33 years after the fact, over four nights at St. Anne's. I'll let you in on a little secret: Even at age 16 in 1973, when suicidal angst should have ridden in stride, I thought Berlin was a tad bit overblown, like a quaalude soap opera gone mad. If the Mountain Goats had been around when I was in high school, that would have fit my apocalyptic sense of humor much better, but Berlin, while interesting, was over the top. Still, it's about time it got its proper airing. "They're taking her children away, because they said she was not a good mother...."

Conducting a little research on this topic made me realize that I was not crazy back in the 1970s. I bought Berlin on 8-track tape first, and had the most complete version that existed. The folks at the 8-Track Heaven web site confirm that this version had almost one minute of music from the album that was never on LP, cassette, or CD. And they even provide the sound clip to prove it. See, mom? It wasn't the drugs! That strange intro to Lady Day really does exist!

Deertick!

No, not Deerhoof, though they've got a new one coming out in January. Deertick is a Rhode Island folk music artist, aka John McCauley, who sounds a little bit Jeff Mangum, little bit Gram Parsons, little bit Eric Bachmann, well... you be the judge. Find out more at http://deertickmusic.com or http://www.myspace.com/deertick.

In Praise of Inca Ore

There's been some fascinating debates on various blogs and listservs since September on the legitimacy of "primitivism" in improv music, and on whether people who appreciate improv/noise are inherently in a higher state of evolution than those who insist on musical structure. OK, I admit it, I've been tossing some well-meaning grenades at those who just don't grasp free-form improv. But isn't it deserved? Don't you get a little tired of 4/4 time?

The most interesting debate of late has been between the print magazine Rock-A-Rolla, and the online music review journal Tiny Mix Tapes, which recently reviewed the album Birds in the Bushes by Inca Ore and the Lemon Bear Orchestra. The reviewer ragged on a Rock-a-Rolla writer for calling Inca's work "absolute nonsense," and suggested you had to be a more highly evolved creature to grok what she was doing. Maybe this is harshly judgmental, but the TMT reviewer is right: if you don't understand what Inca Ore, a/k/a Eva Saelens, is doing, maybe you're just too stupid.

Inca, a native of mid-Michigan, was with several Portland bands before gravitating toward the Bay Area improv and noise scene courtesy of Yellow Swans. Her early stuff on Jyrk used a chanting voice to yield a musical version of Finnegan's Wake, particularly on A Knit of My Own Fibers and the expanded vinyl Brute Nature vs. Wild Magic. The reviewer battle this summer was over the merits of a strange and widely distributed CD she produced on the 5 Rue Christine label with a guy from Oakland named Lemon Bear. In the midst of chanting, jangling, and frightening sounds, she's toured with Jackie-O Motherfucker to give Tom's band a little more soul. Just in time for Christmas, Inca and Lemon Bear have teamed up with the Eureka, Calif. improv geniuses, Starving Weirdos, for a special jam CD-R. She's also done a duo CD-R with Tom Carter from Charalambides, called Rainbow Trout. Inca/Eva does not make "absolute nonsense." You either realize her name will be recognized in several decades, a la Terry Riley, Diamanda Galas, John Cage, or else you're stooooopid.

Jon Krancich, 1957-2006

My next-door neighbor in high school was one of two Americans killed in Kandahar province in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. Jon Krancich was a man of boundless humor and energy, and I could even overlook the fact that he often worked on the more shadowy side of Army Rangers, private security agencies like USPI, etc. Jon was the public rep for the Rangers during the 1983 invasion of Grenada, and was involved in a lot of funny Balkans stuff in the 1990s. I kept warning him over the past few months that, with NATO being unwilling to commit more in Afghanistan, it was time to leave Kandahar. He was scheduled to leave Wednesday. The Taliban got him first. This is crushing. A toast to you, brother.

Give Bettie Respect!!

There's been an acoustic Betttie Serveert CD out for three months and the label, as well as most of the U.S. music press, would just as soon you didn't know. In fact, the stellar Netherlands band toured the U.S. in October to universal yawns. Come on! We are talking about lyricist/vocalist/rhythm guitarist Carol van Dijk, one of the most brilliant, sultry, sexy, and unforgettable musicians of the century. When they toured with Wilco in the late 1990s, Bettie Serveert drew thousands. When they played Denver two years ago, they pulled in maybe 150 to the Lion's Lair, the notorious Colfax dive that is home to Modern Drunkard magazine. And now their label, Minty Fresh, seems to want to forget they are still releasing albums. They're not alone. Artists require money to market, and indy artists are dying of neglect. Yes, yes, I know, be the media, and be the A&R, and be the marketing department. But some musicians like Charalambides and Hototogisu are used to an audience of 50. Bettie Serveert is not, and shouldn't have to be when Kanye West and Gwen Stefani can sell out stadiums.

"Yeah, I Did It, and I'm Glad"

Augusto Pinochet is clinging to life, and may die before Fidel does. I suppose there's some faint benefit to the fact that he finally admitted, on his 91st birthday, that he was responsible for everything that went on during Chile's reign of terror, and that he has no regrets. Sometimes folks tell me it's the Christian thing, the nonviolent thing, to never wish for another's death or to take delight when they kick it. I may not ADVOCATE such, but I think the world is made a much kinder and gentler place when someone like Pinochet, Henry Kissinger, or Dick Cheney dies. So blowing a party horn when Pinochet kicks it becomes a valiant act.