Four Things #17
Four Things #17..
It has been a while, but I have another Four Things for you. After the initial couple weeks of dealing with a new situation, people seem to have found some sort of routine, trying to strike a balance between creativity and ideas on one side, and depression and despair on the other. I am floating between the two to be quite honest, I do see a lot of blandness, lack of inspiration and complaining especially in my own field - maybe it was always there, but this crisis has exposed it more. On the other hand, fresh initiatives are popping up, people are helping each other out, some really good music is being made and I get a lot of energy from that.
Shouts to all the people who reacted to my Bone Thugs N Harmony blurb from the last letter! An IG Live battle against Three 6 Mafia has happened but it was kind of lame and nothing like the really enjoyable 'Verzuz' battles that Swiss Beats and Timbaland have been putting together, including this ace one between Premier and the RZA which is hilarious!
I would like to thank some of our new subscribers for joining, especially my mentoring crew through Patreon. Your thoughts, observations and feedback is always appreciated! Let's get to the Things. If you enjoy reading this news letter, feel free to pass on the link to your friends, or check out the archive right here https://tinyletter.com/Martyn-Deykers. Stay safe and look after yourself and your family..
Martyn
May 3, 2020
FIRST THING: BLUE RIDGE
Because of the decrease in traffic and air pollution due to the lockdown, people in Northern India were for the first time able to see the Himalayas from more than 100 miles away. Living only a few miles from a major airport I must admit that here too, visibility and air quality is now getting better by the week, and it makes you think that if everyone put in some more serious effort, you'd be able to experience a better environment much quicker than you would expect. I have always loved the massive skies around here, especially during bad weather, but to be able to distinguish the Blue Ridge Mountains much more clearly in the distance really gives me energy. It's not quite the Himalayas but I'll take any little bit of positivity I can get.
SECOND THING: THE MUSICIAN'S TRIANGLE
A screenshot I took from Egon's Instagram ages ago has a quote from jazz pianist/composer Reggie Andrews, accompanied by the following text: "Reggie Andrews' musical philosophy, sketched on a post-it note. [..] Atop you see an equilateral triangle where the artist, the music, and the crowd are in perfect balance. On the right you see an acute triangle, where the artist is extremely close to the music, but far away from the crowd. This, Reggie said, is jazz. On the left you see a right triangle, where the music and the crowd are close, but the artist is isolated. This, Reggie told, occurs when an artist creates a piece of music, usually popular, that resonates with many but that they feel alienated from."
THIRD THING: IRON CHEF AMERICA
A couple years ago I was watching a Dutch show called "Zomergasten" (Summer Guests), a several hours long TV program in which a famous artist presents his "perfect TV night", by choosing favorite clips of shows from past and present and a full movie of choice. This particular episode featured the producer / film composer Junkie XL, who was born and raised in the Netherlands but left for the US (like me). To illustrate that move he picked a clip of what he called a quintessentially American TV show, where anything, no matter how dull, can be turned into truly captivating entertainment. That show was Iron Chef America, and funnily enough I found myself watching a marathon of it recently and being so excited by the action in Kitchen Stadium during the Spinach Battle. Watch the battle here or watch this hilarious compilation of Secret Ingredient announcements (def the highlight of every show!).
FOURTH THING: LADY
For a Pitchfork video feature, Thundercat was asked to break down his all time favorite bass lines, and the very first one he picked was the simple yet irresistibly funky three-note bass line played by Raphael Saadiq on D'Angelo's "Lady". I hadn't heard that song in a very long time. But you know when you've had a rough week, and everything feels out of place, you go for a walk and the perfect song comes on.. And when you get to a spot where there's no social distancing elderly couples around, you sing it out real loud , and when you arrive home, things feel just a little bit better... Music is great. See you next time!