And the hits just keep on coming.........the continuing adventures of Classical vinyl....

 Reflecting on my last post here, I re-read the lines “a literal avalanche of new music” and considered what the thrift stores have been coughing up lately – indeed an avalanche of new LPs! Here is a quick look at the spines of about 80 new records that have come in the door over the past few months:

  The vast majority of what's here is music I've never heard before – a good deal of modern, 20^th Century stuff in fact! Seems like a whole collection of this Vox Turnabout series got dumped at one of my local thrift stores.

 I didn't bring home everything of course – left most of the vocal-oriented records there (a tougher nut to crack for me, alas.......). As usual – the going rate is still about $1 per LP. At that price point, a person could walk away with a few months worth of engaging listening material for $20 - especially with this genre of music. There are a number of different ways to use whatever downtime life affords us if we are lucky enough to have that luxury. It wasn't always the case for the vast majority of humanity. Once again, all this outpouring of creativity in the 20^th century gets me thinking...........

Although there have been some significant changes to the socio-economic landscape of the US in the past 30 years, the leisure time factor remains a reality for a fair percentage of the population. Out of this percentage, it would be interesting to consider how many of those people are likely to be “music listeners” as opposed to “movie watchers” or “video game players” or even “readers”. Now, out of those “music listeners” (already a pretty esoteric group) how many are listening to “popular” vs. “classical” or “jazz” music? How many of THOSE people are listening via youtube, spotify, streaming services or CDs and vinyl LPs? The “classical vinyl listener” group would most certainly seem to narrow down to a very elite percentage of the population I am sure. Yet, like me, there could easily be those who listen to a variety of genres, of which classical makes up a certain percentage. 

For the past couple years, I've had a little extra competition to my “serious music” listening time. For the first time in a long time I've heard some new releases in the popular field that I actually like - a lot! Yet, as in the case with the “classical” music – the new popular music in my collection is mainly vinyl. Here's what I'm coming to understand about my listening patterns in both cases: portion control. Vinyl LPs are a good way for me to portion control my intake of new sounds. There is a limited amount of information that can be squeezed onto a vinyl record. Although hearing Mahler's 3^rd Symphony via LPs means flipping sides 3 times, those natural breaks are important. Listening to the whole shebang on 80-minute-long CDs can be sensory overload unless one makes a concerted effort to “pause” on purpose. Back in the early 90s, I remember checking out a compact disc of a band I'd never heard before. For the first 20 minutes of the disc I remember thinking, “Wow! What a great band! I really like these guys.” Then, over the course of the remaining 40 minutes of the disc my enthusiasm gradually wore to the point that (I am not kidding) I never returned to that CD or group ever again! That band said all they needed to say in the first 20 minutes of their album. The rest of it was overkill – it seemed like the same song with different lyrics over and over. What started as enjoyment ended in tedium. And, no – this group did not become a mainstream success, as talented as they were. Sometimes too much is just TOO MUCH. 

Vinyl LPs force a group to get down to the essence of who they are quickly. Prior to the ascent of the LP in popular music, 7” singles (45s) were the main currency. Before that, 78 rpm discs. With the amount of competition for attention from audiences, if it takes you too long to get it together in popular music, you'll be left out in the cold. People were busy in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Are they less busy now? Ah, but maybe that's why portable devices are so popular now. Consuming some vibrations in between the various responsibilities modern folks face is the new way to roll. Anyone with the time to actually sit down isn't likely to be whipping out the Stockhausen for a few good hours of bewilderment in front of the stereo. Or so it would seem.

Taking into account the socio-economic landscape can tell us a lot – not only about the format(s) of the media people use to access their entertainment vibrations, but perhaps even the content itself. The great dichotomy of the 20^th century, from a political standpoint, was the tension between the ideologies of capitalism and communism (in their most extreme forms). On the one hand, the nightmare of the Soviet totalitarian state did little to foster artistic freedom in the arts. Witness the tortured life and work of Shostakovich, for example. 

Yet, somehow the music of Shostakovich does have merit despite the climate of oppression in which it was created. Perhaps he is the exception to the rule. On the other hand, the performance of “serious music” in the capitalist marketplace could be considered even more grim. Where would the modern orchestras be today were it not for government grants as well as corporate funding? And what do many of those orchestras have to do to survive? Please an ever-fickle public (same as the popular artists). Anyone who wants to devote their life to composing cutting edge new music (living in a capitalist-oriented society) might consider Charles Ives' approach – insurance is a better commodity than weird vibrations. Tyranny can come in many forms!

 

Whether escaping the tyranny of an oppressive government or the “bottom line” of supply and demand, musicians are usually at a disadvantage in some way or another (though the best conditions are when extreme tyranny is held in check, mainly through governments supportive of human rights as well as private property). If a system only favors the vision of a monolithic government, progress is impeded since the dialog created by progressive art is stifled. If a system only favors the advancement of a super-elite class, there is no middle class to support a culture of music that includes progressive goals and again – progress is impeded.

Although the consumption of music via vinyl records is now an elite activity, it wasn't intended as such. In fact, for the latter part of the 20^th century, the proliferation of vinyl records ushered in a more widespread appreciation of all genres of music – from medieval to modern – from European to Asian and beyond. One could argue that the internet has only further democratized the music creation / appreciation process. Now, more than ever – the availability of serious music to the masses (for free!) is at an unprecedented level. So much music at our fingertips just begging to be experienced. Case in point – I recently read an enthusiastic review of a Pierre Boulez composition I'd never heard before and I was pleased to find a nice version in decent quality uploaded to u-toob. Check it out here: 

Yet – the original recording of this piece was professionally performed, recorded and distributed through a large and well-respected record label. A business – where monetary gain was the concern of all interested parties on some level. Nobody rides for free, really. Now, I am personally not satisfied with the quality of the free u-toob video so this will inspire me to purchase a legitimate copy. Yet, I am sure not all those who sampled the music for free had the same reaction. So what happens when composers and performers are not compensated for their recorded works? At the very least, the desire to expend time and resources on recording on such a professional level will evaporate over time. This kind of environment can't sustain professional music people - at least in the ways the industry used to do that (even if for a small percentage of professional musicians and composers back in those days). This reality has forced artists to find other ways to get their music known – even if it takes giving it away “for free” over the internet, though in a decidedly less polished form. Yet, if nearly every artist is playing the same game – the potential listening public is drowned in free options. And ironically enough – even with so much great and diverse music available “for free”, what does the general public clamor for? Overexposed Top-40 radio? Why? Because that is what is given the mass exposure and advertising. So where are the advocates for “serious” music? Where is the mass advertising now? What kind of a chance does any new “serious” music have in the current climate of “give it away”?

What is missing is a filtration system. These days, almost anybody can create “music” through computer programs and publish it themselves directly to the internet via youtube. But without some kind of advertising push – nobody will care! Vinyl records – being tangible products – were subjected to advertising even in the most basic ways since the company behind the music wanted to SELL PRODUCT – period! No matter what it was. Vinyl records, as a final end product of a long chain of artistic events, took time to create – and lots of resources and human-power! From the musicians to the recording engineers to the mastering process to the manufacturing process and distribution of the final plastic waffles – the whole chain was labor intensive. Consequently, if music wound up as the featured art in this process it was a BIG DEAL. If the wheels of industry were going to turn for your art, you had to prove yourself worthy of the bother in some way or another. In other words – you had serious competition! 

 

Of course, the big record companies (and the small ones) were akin to working for banks, really. Depending on the budget, the debt you might incur would be offset by sales based on a percentage that always favored the “bank”. That's how the risk was minimized for the company. What the artist got out of the deal was exposure (at the least) and – if the product was a “hit” - a percentage of the sales against the costs incurred to manufacture the damn things in the first place. Stories are legendary about the horrifically bad deals artists signed in desperate attempts to have their art mass produced and distributed to expand the fan base. Add radio and (if by some bizarre stroke of luck) television exposure (film was an even better option – witness the Elvis movie phenomenon) and there's your career! If you even get that far. Yet, even the “name” composers had to hustle. How about that wacky, yet true, story of Philip Glass and Steve Reich and their furniture MOVING COMPANY based in New York City! Say what!??!? And these are the guys that SOLD records, man! Maybe schlepping couches is ultimately better than quaking in fear every time a knock comes at the door (like poor Shostakovich).  Glass and Reich article

 

Despite the harsh realities of the “grim science” of economics – lots of interesting music (from both sides of the Iron Curtain) got pressed up on vinyl and literally scattered across the world due to the industry of record production. It is possible that the time to appreciate, evaluate and dig into this fantastic outpouring of creativity is RIGHT NOW. The might of industry in the latter part of the 20^th century produced such an unprecedented explosion of culture, it could easily take a few lifetimes to gain a reasonable handle on a mere fraction of what was produced. In a sense, it is much to the detriment of current artists – musicians and composers alike – that their art has less of a chance at being manufactured on such a durable format as vinyl these days. 

 Well, perhaps in recent years this has become an option again, but not like it was at the height of the golden era of the LP. Perhaps portable music players are here to stay. Perhaps they can hold the entire output of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Stockhausen, Bach and Varese right alongside of neighbor Bob Jones's “Concerto for Ipad in Q-minor”. After a long day of interfacing with digital devices, with that precious 2 hours of leisure time before passing out – are the music listeners going to reach for that other digital device to scroll the list of endless files in search of some invisible vibration source to get their musical rocks off? Maybe so. However, I don't think digital devices are going to produce MORE listening time, necessarily. Decent wages is what creates leisure time (and we all know what the trend has been in that direction for the past 30 years). 

Perhaps the era of the big music industry, driven by the proliferation of the ubiquitous plastic waffle, wasn't perfect. Yet, it seems that despite a trend toward more choices today, there is a lot of new music slipping through the cracks (with the very real potential to be permanently deleted from history). Is any of it worth preserving beyond the 1's and 0's of binary code? I hope to find out sometime before my own clock runs out! In the meantime, here are a few examples of things I've been listening to courtesy of the record stamping businesses of the past and present!

Nils Frahm - Felt

        Now here's a record that came out only a few years ago and I'm glad it was pressed on vinyl otherwise I might not have heard the music. This record is made up of piano compositions resulting from sampling and looping repeating phrases - with wonderfully musical results. So, I consider this composed and certainly more engaging than Conlon Nancarrow's bionic piano madness (much as I like that stuff too on the right day!). 

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition
       Yes, I am including this record because I was reminded of how much Keith Emerson particularly contributed to the general appreciation of the classical cannon through his life's work. Rest easy, Maestro!

We also lost Pierre Boulez since my last post here. Above is his groundbreaking recording of Debussy's La Mer for CBS. This was the first classical recording I went out of my way to buy as a result of hearing the piece in a music appreciation class in high school. This is still the definitive version for me!

Scored another Hovhaness Poseidon Society LP! This time the spelling is correct - the other LP I found was actually the first pressing of the first release (!). I love this stuff!

This Finn Mortensen symphony was very enjoyable, but more importantly it represented a watershed experience for me. In the past five years of diving into classical, I hadn't quite managed to divine a composer's influence (from an earlier composer) in quite the way I am able to do so with jazz or rock music. However, when I was spinning this Mortensen piece for the first time I actually thought "Man, this guy must have really been into BRUCKNER!" When I read the liner notes - my suspicions were confirmed! Hot dang! FINALLY! I was all ready to high five someone, but nobody in my house would have the slightest inkling what I was all worked up about. Such is life......

Same was true of this nifty 10" disc featuring the Charles Griffes piece "Poem for Flute and Orchestra". I posted this picture on a facebook "classical vinyl" appreciation group (see above pie chart) and outta NOWHERE I'm getting comments (and engaging in a very fun online chat) with a one Mr. Barret Hansen - a/k/a Dr. Demento himself! I didn't even know he was a member of this group - never saw him comment before. Cool beans! The music is great stuff as well.

Very interesting album from Polish composer Lutosławski. I think I found this sealed. I quite enjoy his Concerto for Orchestra - inspired by, but not a retelling of Bartok's famed composition with the same title. Once again - excellent music composed East of the Iron Curtain. He lived through the bulk of the 20th century which was not particularly kind to the Polish people. His support of the Solidarity movement in the latter part of the century cemented his reputation as Poland's premier composer of the age. I look forward to hearing more of his music in the future! Here he is:

And what blog post would be complete without the latest Elgar report? So, although I have heard Elgar's Cello Concerto before, I hadn't heard it performed by Jacqueline Du Pre. Of course, I was totally ignorant about her tragic life (MS cut her down too early - a tragic loss)! Thank goodness for modern technology which captured her brilliance for future generations to marvel at. She breathes FIRE into this Elgar piece in a way that is causing me to re-evaluate his status as a composer (am I wrong to append his name with "the reviled" any longer?).

And finishing off with the record pictured above from the daring Vox Turnabout 20th century American composers series - this record features lots of cool electronic music sometimes including live musicians along with the electronic tapes! Although I am at a loss to comprehend the sonic architecture behind this music it is ultimately enjoyable to listen to. Ditto the Beethoven Piano Sonatas LP on Decca. Found a beaut of a mono LP pressed on STYRENE here and could not say no. Remember kids - styrene was used for mono LPs since the surface was deemed to be quieter than vinyl! This record illustrates this concept very well. If you spot some of these, give them a whirl. Just make sure you've got a clean specimen to examine. Abused records pressed on anything will sound bad no matter what.

And that is just a small percentage of the haul..........more to come soon! Cheers!