Archive for the ‘Rock’ Category
Updating the archive: interview of Moroccan rock star Reda Allali (Hoba Hoba Spirit)for MTV IGGY
Moroccan Rock Legend & Journalist
Reda Allali Wants to Save The Music
JOURNALIST AND HOBA HOBA SPIRIT GUITARIST, SINGER AND SONGWRITER TALKS THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC IN MOROCCO
By MTV Iggy
October 10, 2012
Words by Jeffrey Callen, Ph. D.
Hoba Hoba Spirit was there when an alternative music scene came together in Casablanca in the late 1990s. They were there on the front lines of the protests after 14 heavy-metal musicians and fans were arrested and accused of being satanists in 2003. Creating distinctively Moroccan rock ‘n’ roll (with lyrics in French, Darija and English, and music infused with healthy doses of Gnawa music, reggae & Moroccan rhythms), many critics and supporters considered them too hip to ever be popular outside of Casablanca. Playing wherever they could get a gig, they introduced the live experience of rock ‘n roll to audiences in small cities and villages throughout Morocco and, by 2007, they had become one of the most popular Moroccan musical acts of any genre. More than any other alternative band, Hoba Hoba Spirit has advocated an opening of the Moroccan cultural landscape—through music and through the writing of bandleader and journalist Reda Allali in the magazine Telquel. In a far-ranging interview, Allali talks with ethnomusicologist Jeffrey Callen about the Hoba way, their unexpected road to success, the alternative music movement and the obstacles to making a living as a musician in Morocco.
(to read the rest, click here)
Updating the archive: article on Moroccan Alternative Music for MTV IGGY
In Search of Alternative Music in Morocco
A DEEP DIVE INTO THE STATE OF MOROCCAN MUSIC OVER THE YEARS.
By MTV Iggy
September 27, 2012
Words by Jeffrey Callen, Ph. D.
In the late 1990s, an alternative music community came together in Casablanca that would dramatically change Moroccan popular music. Cultural outsiders, brought together by shared aesthetics and the support of a local community organization, hip-hop, rock, electronica, and “fusion” musicians joined together to make common cause to expand the boundaries of Moroccan music. Although it was their joining together in the late 1990s that would dramatically change the country’s musical landscape, each of these genres has its own separate history in Morocco.
The Prehistory— Genres on the Margins
Rock ‘n’ roll. The history of rock ‘n roll in Morocco goes back to the 1960s when young musicians formed hundreds of rock bands in cities throughout the country. By the 1970s, the first Moroccan rock explosion was over, eclipsed by a folk–revival that began in Casablanca and soon swept through North Africa, (to read the rest, click here)
Fat Freddy’s Drop: Live in San Francisco (@Afropop.org)
Here’s my review of the best live show I’ve seen this year — published on Afropop.org today.
Fat Freddy’s Drop: Live in San Francisco
Fat Freddy’s Drop tore up the Independent in San Francisco on Friday, June 25. Soul drenched vocals and reggae riddims mixed with electronic effects, club beats and a killer horn section to create a fresh sound that is contemporary but deeply rooted in a diverse collection of black music styles that came of age in the 1970s. Funk, soul, reggae, ska, dub—sometimes straightforward, sometimes deconstructed—were not unexpected from an outfit that started out as a jam band. What was unexpected was that it all worked!
I was drawn to Fat Freddy’s Drop’s show by the song “Boondigga” (from their last album Dr. Boondigga and the Big BW), which had been firmly entrenched on my personal playlist for a month before the show. The song came early in the eighty-minute set so if things had bogged down or fell flat, I wouldn’t have second thoughts about cutting out and looking for a plan B but I didn’t leave until the show ended. Now back to the song that drew me to the show because I think there’s something in there that explains the appeal and brilliance of Fat Freddy’s Drop. “Boondigga” opens on a smooth soul groove, anchored by the sweet Philadelphia sounds laid down by the horn section and driven by a very ‘70s electronic drum track. Joe Dukie’s smooth vocals ride on top of the slowly building arrangement that does not gain its full power until after the break, three minutes in. A subtle shift in the horn chart brings in the more harmonically extended controlled dissonance that Tower of Power brought out of Oakland signaling the beginning of a major deconstruction of Boondigga’s smooth soul sound. The horns exit and a soulfully deviant aural soundscape is created from distorted guitar, swelling keys and electronics. Live the horn section left the stage at the start of the deconstruction, which was given twice as long to develop as on the album – a full four minutes. And that was true of the entire show: (for the rest…)
Local Bands Get a Boost at Noise Pop
Judgement Day and the Mumlers headline for the first time this year.
By Jeffrey Callen
From its humble beginnings in 1993 as a single club show of five bands, Noise Pop has grown into a week-long “celebration of indie music and culture.” It now includes a film festival, art shows, a music industry mini-conference, and a design fair and marketplace. However, music remains Noise Pop’s focus with more than thirty shows in large and small venues scattered around San Francisco and, for the first time this year, at the Fox Theater in Oakland.
While there are no designated headliners at Noise Pop, each year’s lineup includes internationally prominent performers. This year it’s the Yoko Ono Plastic Band and the Magnetic Fields. Star acts add excitement to the festival but Noise Pop’s national status is based on it being one of the premier showcases for that most loosely defined musical genre, indie rock. Noise Pop prides itself on bringing exposure to emerging bands, (to read more go to the East Bay Express).
NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (UPDATED AGAIN)
The Noise Pop festival of indie rock in San Francisco (23 February to 1 March 2010) for its 18th year. I’m checking it out and pondering what exactly is “indie rock?”
- NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (24 February)
- Wondering what exactly “indie” rock is? Is it a genre or a sensibility?
- Anton (violinist) of “string metal” band Judgement Day told me Noise Pop is not about genre but about showcasing innovative bands.
- So this is where the ’80 new wave led: The Fresh & Onlys (REM meets The Cure meets Live) at the Rickshaw Stop.
- Sean Lennon at The Independent — mostly neo-psychedelic singer-songwriter stuff (competent but not interesting or engaging) . Only time he seemed to have his own voice was on the encore song ‘This World is Made for Men.” Then, with only a solo acoustic guitar and a harmony vocal, he made a statement — simple, unadorned, poetic
- NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (25 February)
- Art of Noise cocktail party — only thing more boring than the art was the party.
- Tape Deck Mountain at Cafe du Nord: a great psychedelic trio with no stage presence but great songs with piercing, funny, sometimes touching lyrics. Play those pedals! Look at all those pedals! Ended the set with a straight-forward, funny, touching song: “I’ll Tell You Lies.”
- Greg Ashley followed Tape Deck Mountain: interesting finger-picked psychedelia on a Les Paul. No lyrics — seemed like a collection of intros. Got bored and left during the third song.
- Picture Atlantic: good hard pop rock band with good vocals but a little heavy on the hooks. How many pedals do you need to play pop rock? Tight song structure but ultimately nothing to set it apart from other competent, enjoyable bands. Three songs and I’m out.
- Indie rock — is it a continuation of ’80s new wave (also not well-defined) without the sense of style or the attitude but keeping the sense of humor (like new wave even when it’s morbid, it’s funny)
- NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (26 February)
- No club hopping tonight – spending the evening at Cafe Du Nord where the Mumlers close the show tonight.
- Four band bill:
- The Ferocious Few: guitar/drums duo that began busking the streets of San Francisco — great roadhouse vocals (singer with standard hipster — skinny jeans, scraggly beard, little hat — I should open a little hat store with nothing but little hats)
- Sonny and the Sunsets: bass/guitar/drums trio that plays catchy, quirky tunes a la Jonathan Richmond
- The Growlers: five piece local band with a devoted following — good bar ban
- The Mumlers: six piece ensemble out of San Jose — neo retro Memphis soul — absolutely great! Could be big with a little seasoning and a little luck
- Four band bill:
- No club hopping tonight – spending the evening at Cafe Du Nord where the Mumlers close the show tonight.
- NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (27 February)
- Industry Noise conference on the business of music
- Highlight is keynote by Claudia Monson who handles the business side of Stephen Merritt and also plays with his Magnetic Fields ensemble.
- Industry Noise conference on the business of music
There isn’t one Stephen Merritt style — I like this one:
- NOTES FROM THE NOISE POP FESTIVAL (28 February)
- Dizzy Balloon at Bottom of the Hill (all ages / afternoon show)
- One of the best bands at Noise Pop and one of the youngest — good poppy, almost bubblegum songs with Green Day panache. I was skeptical when Kevin Arnold, festival creator, touted them as one of the bands that the festival might give a bounce but, lo and behold, they are that good. Live, they’re completely professional, musically tight and FUN!
- They ended the show with a good and very fun cover of the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back.”
- The clip below is “Crazy Jane”
- Dizzy Balloon at Bottom of the Hill (all ages / afternoon show)
“Desert Rock”
Desert Rock
Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara.
A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely breaks through the sound of the guitars, becoming louder when it morphs into a sung chorus with backing vocals (three, maybe four words). About four minutes in, the guitars drop out and the song is stripped down: a fast rap over a loopy funk bass line, accompanied by handclaps and soft percussion. The offbeat guitar upstrokes return joined by an arpeggiated riff on a second guitar, then a lead guitar. The vocals become secondary as the guitars propel the song to its ending and the opening riff returns. While the description could fit a performance of an up-and-coming indie band at the Noise Pop festival later this month, (to read more click here for the East Bay Express article)
"Desert Rock"
Desert Rock
Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara.
A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely breaks through the sound of the guitars, becoming louder when it morphs into a sung chorus with backing vocals (three, maybe four words). About four minutes in, the guitars drop out and the song is stripped down: a fast rap over a loopy funk bass line, accompanied by handclaps and soft percussion. The offbeat guitar upstrokes return joined by an arpeggiated riff on a second guitar, then a lead guitar. The vocals become secondary as the guitars propel the song to its ending and the opening riff returns. While the description could fit a performance of an up-and-coming indie band at the Noise Pop festival later this month, (to read more click here for the East Bay Express article)
Deciphering Culture
Deciphering Culture 