There is something which I find as mysterious as rare in music scene... not at every point in time, there is a group or a soloist who shakes the building down to basement, the music is brand new, fresh, unheard, the voice, the instruments blending is simple, yet intriguing, inspiring and seminal... the names which come to mind are several: David Sylvian, John Fahey, Bjork, Third Ear Band, Pentangle, Robert Fripp and King Crimson, Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk...
... in groups something still different happens: the meeting of different human and musical identities combined rarely creates a new creature, where the whole is FAR better than the sum of the parts...
I'm right now listening to some "Penguin Cafe Orchestra" music, from "A History" 4-disks booklet/CD of some time ago... it's music coming from Simon Jeffes' pen, but which also lives in Annie Whitehead and other members sensitivity and musicianship...
It's strange, relaxed, slightly alien music, coming from a "somewhere" which is not on this planet... when Simon Jeffes died in fall of 1997 of brain cancer, there wasn't any discussion among PCO's members... simply they stopped Penguin's as a collective which lived around Simon, the wizard and... well... no commercial involved in re-creating the magic...
... when Jerry Garcia died too many years ago, all Deadheads worldwide knew The Grateful Dead were at a natual point of their history... the end.
I find so mysterious, deep, so full of meanings, yet simple the two above groups so different, both were like an organism built of more bodies and minds...
Jerry and Simon's death was accepted, digested by the rest of the members, who preferred to stop at their zenith... musically and friendly.
... not everyone's will, when the same happened in other groups... a sort of Frankenstein's affaire? More often NME's logic wins... and when "insisting" on a heartless path music loose quality, soul, trueness. Always!
Who am I to judge... BUT being the fatalist, romantic and dreamer I am... definitely not my cup of tea.
Will always be in debt with Jerry and Simon and all those geniuses, known and unknown, who plucked their souls strings, sincerely...
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2 comments:
I acknowledge your authority on music, or Music. It just amaze me how your deepness of thought conflicts with the anti-zen quest for the Ultimate sound system...
... no conflict at all, as I'm almost sure the ultimate sound system doesn't exist... maybe only exists the ultimate listening experience...
Seriously, I consider audio gears as a (musical) fridge or a stove or an oven: they're able to do something - Music in this very case - otherwise impossible to obtain (... like a fresh drink, a clean dish or glass, a cake), and like in zen, the path (audio?) is as important and worthwhile as the destination itself (musical enjoyment!).
So, again, no conflict... just having good time with myself, my senses, friends and... life.
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