If I had to chose one stand out live performance from many years of concert going then, bearing in mind that I have been privileged to have had the chance to see many of the greats such as John Lee Hooker, Lou Reed, Sir Peter Maxwell Davis and Frank Sinatra live, it would have to be the performance by Ensemble Modern & Synergy Vocals of Steve Reich's "You Are (Variations)" and "Music for 18 Musicians" in the National Concert Hall on Sunday 19th February 2006 in the presence of the composer. Reich is often lazily described as the Father of Minimalism but, it would be more accurate to say that he is a composer who values rhythm over melody. This is most clearly seen in his 1970-1971 masterpiece "Drumming". Commentators often state that Reich's trip to Africa in the summer of 1970 inspired the piece which is in four parts that are played without a pause and may last from 55 to 75 minutes in performance depending on the number of repeats but Reich himself points out that’s what that trip to Africa provided was, "confirmation. It confirmed my intuition that acoustic instruments could be used to produce music that was genuinely richer in sound then that produced with electronic instruments." Commentators also mistakenly point out that the piece is also influenced by his study of Balinese Gamelan Semar Pegulingan and Gameland Gambang at the American Society for the Eastern Arts in Seattle and Berkley, California but this study period did not occur until 1973, two years after the completion of 'Drumming". 

Surfing seems to attract more than its fair share of bongo bashers and bores who drone on endlessly about "Bali and Indo" so you could say that "Drumming" would appeal to them on some level but that doesn't alter the fact that it is a wonderfully complex and rich composition and ironically it has become a touchstone for succeeding generations of pecussive composers who work with electronic instruments. Indeed, Reich's own record company Nonesuch Records even produced an album entitled "Reich Remixed" in 1999 featuring remixes of excerpts of "Drumming" by both Fourtet and Mantronix Maximum Drum Formula but these are but a pale shadow of the original. In addition, Reich's influence can be clearly heard on the Arcade Fire track 'Keep The Car Running" where the opening mirrors that of the opening of "Music for 18 Musicians"

Anyway, to give you an easy to digest sample of Reich's muse here is a 1min 7sec clip of a live performance of his piece "Clapping Music" courtesy of YouTube.

Clapping Music (1972)
two musicians clapping
published by Universal Edition (London)
both musicians amplified

Details courtesy: www.stevereich.com

After which you can enjoy an excerpt from his 1983 work "Eight Lines".

Eight Lines (1983)
for ensemble
2fl(=picc).2cl(=bcl)—2pft—strings(2.2.2.2.1)
For performances where the concert hall has a capacity of greater
than 200 the flutes (but not piccolos) & clarinets/bass clarinets and pianos
must be amplified

 

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I just got a press release in for this CD and thought I would let y'all know about it. "Chairman Of The Board" is a compilation of rare surf soundtracks all but lost to the genre that created it. From 1964-74 film directors immersed in the surfing culture commissioned original music for their cinematic creations, much of which has been lost or gone unnoticed until now. Harmless Records will release this 19-track compilation on 7 June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out  www.myspace.com/surfthechairmanoftheboard for more info.

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Ok, I got a new DVD copy of this film cheap off Ebay a while back when I was flirting with the idea of moving up to a longboard and certainly this rather goovy, mellow, laidback flick did have a positive effect of my view of what longboarding entailed until, that is, I had to actually pick up one of those 9' 6" monsters and stagger to the beach with it under my arm. Nevertherless, 'Singlefin: Yellow" is one of my favourite surf flicks because it is actually attempting to be a film and not just a randomly edited collection of extreme surfing footage cut together to some rubbish speed metal soundtrack. The film is basically about a a 9'6" single fin, yellow, classic longboard shaped by west coast shaper Tyler Hatzikian who then sends it on to the first of a series of surfers with the message to surf the board until they are done before passing it on again. The board travels around the world, making it as far as Australia and Japan before it ends up in Hawaii in the hands of Bonga Perkins who surfs it in Pipeline before shipping it back to Tyler. Most of the surfers I know don't like the movie because it is too slow in pace and doesn't feature enough jacked up action but don't let that put you off. The best part of it is the soundtrack which is comprised of a series of tracks by underground West Coast artists and my copy of the film came with a free CD of the music used in the film. The artists featured include Euphone, Bluebird, The Dylan Group, Mighty Flashlight & Calvin Keys.

Anyway, here is the trailer for the movie .

 

 

 

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One of the simple pleasures surrounding a summer surf trip is that feeling of heading down the M50 on a sunny Friday evening with your board strapped to the roof, dreaming of the weekend ahead and imagining the adventures you are going to have. It is on occasions like these that a certain kind of in-car music is called for; upbeat, breezy, sunny, uncomplicated and positive. The kind of music that The Beach Boys had mastered, that Picturehouse had tried and failed to get a handle on and that UK based five piece The Feeling appear to have become quite adept at producing on their debut album, “Twelve Stops and Home”.  If you listen to FM radio at all, you will probably have been unable to escape songs like, “Never Be Lonely”, “Sewn” and “Love It When You Call” and, to be fair, there is no reason to escape these sunlit ditties. Too often, surf music seems to be leaden reggae, identikit metal and, worst of all, surfers simply playing acoustic guitars so The Feeling are, if nothing else a breath of admittedly retro fresh air. Maybe you might get tired of them sooner or later but, in the meantime, they certainly brighten up a long drive westwards.

 

Anyway, here are the lads performing 'Love It When You Call" live @ Abbey Road.

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According to the May 2007 edition of Surfing Magazine, Texas band The Sword are the new hip Heavy Metal kids on the block. With a sound that is inspired by bands like Pantera, Slayer and The Zep they are certainly loud. Here is their video for the single 'Winter Wolves'.


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Timmy Curren is currently ranked No. 6 in the world ASP ratings and is considered to be an aerials master but, like Jack and Donny before him, he is looking ahead to a career in music. In fact, Jack Johnson once wrote a song about him in which he says, " I know a boy know named Timmy Curren he likes to sing".

Tiimmy has just completed the double whammy of both performing at and competing in the Boost Mobile Surf Show alongside Dave Reardon-Smith (Coolum), Ozzie Wright (Narrabeen, AUS), Dion Agius (Currumbin, AUS), Yadin Nicol (Western Australia, AUS), Dru Adler (Gold Coast, AUS) and Julian Wilson (Sunshine Coast). Here is a clip of Timmy in action

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Ripcurl have launched, in association with i-Tunes, a new radio style podcast service via their website Ripcurl.com which will allow subscribers to download surf themed audio and video podcasts to their i-Pods. The new service signals a greater integration between surf and music companies and shows how global players like Ripcurl have moved far beyond simply making wetsuits and are now defacto fashion and entertainment companies in their own right.
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More surfing videos on SurfingMagazine.com
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