Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
RIP Hugh Hopper
One of the finest electric bassist to ever play. I was immediately attracted to his simple and poignant bass playing. I think it was "Kings and Queens as well as "Drop" and "As If" from Soft Machine 5 that most acquainted me with his style. Unlike a lot of musicians, he's able to say a lot while playing few notes. His groovy-ness was unlike many of the other bassists who played fusion in the early to mid-70s: no slapping and no ostentatious presentation. Aside from being a superb bassist, he was one of the few people who experimented with tape-delay manipulation. Around the same time as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, Hugh Hopper, (who seems to get little recognition for manipulating live samples via reel-to-reel tapes) made sound scultpures that can be heard on Soft Machine's seminal album, "Third," along with his first solo release, "1984"
Hugh Hopper - Hopper-tunity Box (1976)
A medieval march song from his second solo album. Includes Gary Windo and Elton Dean
Soft Machine - Kings and Queens (written by Hugh Hopper)
from "4"
Alan Gowen & Hugh Hopper - Morning Order (1982)
A beautiful blend of cascading synths and robust electric bass, from their album "Two Rainbows Daily"
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Aleke Kanonu - N'Gwode & Mother's Day
N'Gwode (1980)
An extremely rare afro-beat/funk album featuring Wilbur Bascomb on bass. Before recording his self-titled album, Aleke performed with Stanley Cowell and recorded on his '75 Strata-East release, "Regeneration." No other information seems to be obtainable about his musical output or his current location - his one and only album release; all the tracks are heat.
Mother's Day (1980)
A beautiful and sparse percussion track with pidgin mutterings and lush piano chords.
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