Four Things #23
Four Things #23..
In a Zoom call recently I was reminded that in 2022 our record label 3024 has its 15yr anniversary. The fact that I had absolutely no idea it had been that long already tells you a lot about how much I value 'looking back'. We did nothing for the 5th or 10th year anniversary, perhaps too absorbed with being 'forward thinking', or maybe it just takes people a couple years to reconcile with old work. For a long time I wasn't comfortable playing my old music for example, thought it was too basic and I even got a little annoyed when people wanted to hear 'that tune' again. But instead of compulsively trying to progress, there's something to say for reflection, even if just to figure out which things work, and which ones don't and need changing. So, in recent years I learned how to be happy, yes sometimes even a little proud of my past achievements, and I think it has made me a better and more thoughtful musician. This edition of Four Things has a nice balance of (ancient) history and a bit of future for you.. Hope you enjoy!
Your thoughts, observations and feedback are always appreciated! Feel free to pass on the link to your friends, and check out the archive here https://tinyletter.com/Martyn-Deykers. Stay safe & healthy and be kind!
Martyn
April 6th, 2022
FIRST THING: MARK SUCIU
People don't talk enough about the many parallels between skateboarding and other creative disciplines. As a skater the urban landscape becomes a canvas, a completely different dimension than the one 'normal' people move about in. Every set of steps, ledge, handrail, curb, driveway has the potential to become the setting for your next line of tricks, and the tricks themselves are always progressions of your own skill or those of others who came before you. Instead of albums, skaters make video parts and even in those they make statements only other skaters would understand. I absolutely loved this brief insight written by the author Shane Anderson for 032C into the mind of NYC-based skater Mark Suciu (Soo-choo) who has turned his videos into little pieces of art following structures reminiscent of poetry. I've been thinking a lot about how much more you can learn from other disciplines rather than just your own, because instead of focusing on details you have to translate and understand larger concepts to be able to apply them to your own art. Watch his 'Verso' part (mentioned in the interview) here.
SECOND THING: RHYTHM NATION 1814
My favorite thing about discovering new music is the path that leads you there, and because everything in music is inherently connected it should come as no surprise that two people can make radically different journeys to eventually end up on the same artist or album. When I was doing my NTS show I was exploring the music of Junie Morrison and his music was a strong influence for Prince in the late 70s / early 80s. That brought me to some other funk bands from Minneapolis, as well as several of Prince's 'side projects' such as Mazarati, The Family and Morris Day and The Time. Out of The Time came the famous production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Jam & Lewis). And just when I was revisiting their work, someone on a discord I was reading randomly mused about Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814" - a record I never took the time for but was produced by Jam & Lewis (!). Here's a really great interview with Jimmy about the recording process of that record, especially interesting to read how they juxtaposed the 'sweet' and gentle sound of Janet's voice with really jarring contrasting instrumentation (lots of metal clanging noises, 80s synth industrial sounds) which really makes this a pretty amazing, dark and tough yet soulful sounding album. Worth a thorough listen! Here for the video, here for the full album.
THIRD THING: THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING
When a book is advertised as a 'radical retelling of human history' it's either completely overhyped and wacky, or something that makes you see everything in a different light. "The Dawn of Everything", written by David Graeber (of Occupy Wall Street fame) and the archaeologist David Wengrow is definitely the latter. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a book as much as this one. It has many really interesting observations about mankind's historic relationship with equality, hierarchy, and societal evolution but something that relates to 'our' world in a way is the evidence presented that thousands of years ago, groups of people were used to 'switching' between different hierarchical forms of society, ie. live in small relatively egalitarian communities in the summer, but in larger strictly feudal hunter groups in harsher times when food was more scarce (winter), basically 'code switch' between them when the circumstances ask for it. Ancient relics of this paradoxical way of living are what we now see as celebrations of folklore, for example on May Day or during the Dutch carnival where we have a day where there is no law, no rules, no restrictions and no hierarchy. Maybe clubbing is similar to that, not because we want to 'escape' something but because we are hardwired to live in multiple societal forms at once; an egalitarian club environment and a much more unequal environment outside of it. Good article about this book here, but also read this amazing article about Malanka, an ancient carnival in Romania with roots in lost societal forms (the photo below), and the book by Graeber/Wengrow can be found here (US) or here (UK).
FOURTH THING: SISTER ZO
The future! An amazing artist who's affiliated with the 3024 Mentoring Program is NYC based (via Columbus OH) Sister Zo, who recently released an EP on the ever excellent Scuffed Recordings. "Screw Cheek" has four top notch percussive bass hybrids that have been a bit of a staple in my playlists/mixes. Expect much more from her very very soon! For now, check it out on Bandcamp.