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Caetano Veloso writes for TATE ETC

Caetano Veloso has written an article about Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica for the current issue of TATE ETC, the magazine of the Tate Gallery in London. Read it here.

David Byrne on Caetano Veloso

Been listening to an advance copy of Caetano’s new CD- Cê. It’s another radical shift of direction for him- every recent record has been different than the one before- this time I guess you could say it’s an immersion in the land of experimental indie rock. And it’s probably the best indie rock record to come out this year. He may disagree with that categorization, but though not completely accurate it gives some idea what the record sounds like. Distortion pedals, drum kit drums rather than typical Brazilian percussion, live in the studio performance rather than tracks built up on a computer. He had help from his sons- I think they produced the record and played on it and brought in their friends to play on it. Sort of a tribute that anyone’s sons would even want to be involved in their dad’s work- and that a dad would place his creative output in the hands of his kids. Imagine the possible Freudian mess, but it doesn’t sound like dad micromanaged the record, but rather it sounds like a real meeting of generations and sensibilities- his melodies and vocal approach married to their guitar pedals and funky drumming.

I can make out some of the lyrics, but my Portuguese isn’t good enough to sort out what the songs are about yet. Mauro in my band says the words are good. One song is called “Waly Salomão”- who was a great songwriter and cultural force of nature that I met when he ran a center in Salvador. I was filming Ilê Aiyê, a doc about Candomble at the time, and I interviewed Waly to get a poet’s POV of that religion- he didn’t disappoint. His reply to a question turned into a poetic dance. A few of these songs are a little “noisy” for my taste, but most will join the ever-lengthening CV playlist on my computer.

Click to listen to "Outro" from Cê

David Byrne: The Venue Shapes the Music

By David Byrne

Duisburg, Germany
I’m over here for a part of the RuhrTriennale called A Century Of Song. The Ruhr valley was the former Germen rust belt, and in recent decades became Germany’s poorest, most depressed area — so a fair amount of money was poured in for revitalization, including arts budgets. Former factories were converted into venues and industrial ruin parks. Bassist and arranger Greg Cohen has been curating a performance series and I was invited to join him and his friends as well as the Duisburg Symphony for two shows. To prepare we have almost a week of rehearsal.

We had dinner last night and Greg talked about the roots of popular song structures. Most standards are AABA form, and many jazz pieces, being adaptations of the chord changes of standards, follow that pattern. (A lot of rock and roll and R&B is ABABCB — B being the chorus, A being the verses and C the middle 8 or bridge.)

Twelve Hours at the 2006 Bang on a Can Marathon

By Glenn Kotche
Photos by Stephanie Berger, except Anthony Braxton photo by Wellington Lee. Many thanks to Bang on a Can for allowing us to feature these images.

Just got back home to Chicago from an incredible weekend in NYC. I was lucky enough to be invited with my dear friend and collaborator, David Cossin, of the Bang On A Can All-Stars, to perform a short duo set at the 2006 Bang On A Can Marathon. David and I have been able to perform together a few times recently: first at an impromptu show at the Stone in New York and then at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati as a part of the Music Now Festival.

Packaging and Music

By David Byrne

David Byrne recently posted this article in his own journal and is generously allowing us to publish it here as well.

There are those who mourn the vanishing of the nice big cardboard packages that vinyl came in. The format allowed fairly large images, credits, and photos. The usual assumption is that much of this imagery, like music videos, is a reflection of, and extension of, the music creator’s sensibility. As if the packaging and the videos were usually under the direct control of the author. This is absurd. Though pop artists attempted to wrestle control of the way they were presented from the distributors beginning in the 60s, most LPs design, and music videos as well, are directed and designed under the control of the record companies. Here are some obvious examples:

Young Rapture Choir in France

By Laura Veirs

About a year and a half ago during a tour through France, a man named Patrice introduced himself after a show. He told me he was teaching some of my songs to his middle school music class. "Wow, I'd love to hear a recording," I told him. A few months later, back in Seattle, I received a package with their renditions of "Rapture" and "The Cloud Room". Forty-five pure, young, French-accented voices piped through my speakers, and I sat there dumbstruck. Accompanied by cello on the first song and a rock band on the second, this mysterious children's choir gave me the surprising gift of hearing my songs in a whole new light. I wrote them a letter thanking them for the honor, and they replied with a plan to do a full concert of my songs the following Spring.