Four Things #32
The last couple of weeks have been, well, a hard slog. As an independent record label owner and musician who’s also released on a range of other labels you sometimes find yourself deep in the administrative weeds. It is there that you notice how many of the systems in place to release and distribute music are stacked against the independent musician and are meant to benefit a larger music industry. I was reminded of that fact by James Blake’s viral IG post yesterday.
The story of Four Tet’s contractual spat with Domino is another famous example but there are hundreds of much smaller artists in similar situations, unable to make decisions about their intellectual property because of agreements made in a time when the music industry looked radically different. This is a real problem and we should educate younger musicians to avoid these situations and set them up for success later down the line (whether their music hits ‘the big time’ or not). I will probably go into more detail about this some other time but one thing is for certain - waiting for the industry to present us with solutions to these issues is pointless - it is simply not to their advantage to change, so we will have to do it ourselves..
Let’s get to the things, comments and ideas are always welcome, and of course feel free to pass on this link to friends - that’s what these letters are for! If you feel like voluntarily supporting the cause you can sign up for a Bandcamp subscription where you get all new 3024 music, or subscribe to this Substack. For more reading check out my newsletter archive. Wishing you love and health!
Martyn
Mar 5th, 2024
FIRST THING : THE ELEPHANT ORCHESTRA
The common answer to the question ‘What is Music?’ is usually something along the lines of ‘sound organized in such a way that it expresses an emotion’ or ‘organized noise’ in short. I came across an interesting article questioning that very notion in the Taiwanese art magazine White Fungus. If music is organized, the intent lies with the creator (who is doing the organizing), and so as long as the musician is expressing themselves it can be called ‘music’. But we often classify whale song as music, even though to whales themselves it’s just talking to each other.
The Elephant Orchestra in Thailand raises a slightly similar question. It’s a band of elephants playing instruments, they actually have a bunch of albums out on Bandcamp (!). No doubt the result of their play is beautiful, but we can’t tell whether the elephants are producing sound on their own out of curiosity, or if there’s some form of coercion by their handlers or whether they are actually responding to each other and conveying an emotion? I suppose having fun or being happy is an emotion? Check out the music below:
SECOND THING: JERRY HSU’S REALNESS
Jerry Hsu came up as a pro skater in an era when I wasn’t paying particular attention to skating very much, so I learned of his incredible talent and style well after the fact. Skating to me is so interesting as a culture of innovation not because it’s constantly becoming more technical and harder, but because it continuously develops in a variety of different directions. There can be a period where lots of new tricks are invented, followed by a couple years where certain objects to skate are in vogue (like handrails, steps or ledges), followed by an era where it’s more about the fashion that comes with it (the skinny jeans era) or even where the idea of skating as a social movement is redefined. Don’t get me wrong, skaters from all these eras are indeed very good, but the context makes it fun to watch skaters across the decades.
Jerry Hsu keeps it very real: tenacious, unassuming, hard and fast but still technical street skating without much flash or cool clothes. While filming his part in 2010s ‘Stay Gold’ he injured his foot and was only able to complete tricks while riding switch stance (using the opposite footing on the board, like writing with your other hand, or driving a car in reverse), making everything incredibly difficult. After a hard to watch series of injuries the video part shows his incredible tenacity. In Enjoi’s Bag of Suck from 2006 you can watch Jerry on top form. Both parts are must watch!
THIRD THING: DIGGING WITH FLO
Music podcasts often tend to suffer from two major issues, they’re about very narrow subject matter that becomes repetitive too quickly and they do not seem to employ any editors whatsoever; some of these pods are sooo long! Digging with Flo on NTS is quickly becoming one of my favorite series to listen to as it’s both short, to-the-point and provides space for artists’ personalities to shine through while discussing the lost art of .. Gardening? People like Jeremy Deller, Crass’ Penny Rimbaud and Tirzah discover the secret of growing onions and strawberries, and I couldn’t help but think about how unmistakably British a display that is.
Podcast host and NTS Breakfast Show ledge Flo Dill visits her guests at various London ‘allotments’ (land in the city owned by the local government but designated for gardening by citizens). Even though there are similar things in other European countries and in the US, I don’t think the culture around allotments is as pronounced as it is in the UK. It’s deeply connected to the historical relationship between ‘the government’ (who owns the land) and ‘the people’ (who need to be kept in line). It’s also deeply connected to British culture; Flo mentions on one of the episodes that there’s an unwritten rule that you have the freedom to grow whatever you want, but do NOT venture into someone else’s allotment, ever! What an interesting metaphor for the British state of mind! I’m definitely going to have to dig a little deeper :| about the cultural significance of gardening but in the meantime this pod is an extremely enjoyable and wholesome listen.
FOURTH THING: PINO PEÑA REMIXES
One of my favorite things about running the 3024 Mentoring Program is that people not just improve their music making skills but also become part of a vibrant community of producers, where new ideas spawn all the time and collaborations are born. Berlin producer / DJ / promoter / label owner Pino Peña has been super active in his local scene as well as in our group and he’s just put out a couple tracks for his birthday. They include two remixes that were made as part of the mentoring curriculum as well as a very cool refix of a Sister Zo track. These may not be online forever so make sure you grab now!