Some seriously interesting music going on here ...

While watching Kanye West on Charlie Rose last week, I had a discussion recently with my housemate about the dissolution of [musical] culture and the increasingly shared musical vocabulary worldwide. I don't completely agree with him nor share his pessimism because I think there's still a lot of interesting and new stuff going on all over the place (find-able with a little effort).

So it is very invigourating to read about artists like Konono, all the more interesting as they remix the use of a familiar and accessible African instrument like the thumb piano (likembé, mbira).

Check the blurb from the press release (with sound):

Accompanied by dancers and percussionists, the likembés wail and drone, buzz and moan, totally overblown and distorted, sounding a little like sixties fuzz guitars, turning a glorious high life jam into something much more strange and wonderful. Super rhythmic, and thick with the buzzing melodies of the likemebe's, Konono weave a massive sound. It's the wildest weirdest street party you've ever been to. Throbbing with energy and emotion, rambuctiously rollicking and totally infectious.

Click on the title image above to lead you back to the mothership, for images, vid of Kinshasa and sounds.

The EU has wisely and unanimously rejected a bill that would make software patentable. For the implications of all this check out this quote by Mr. Gates himself from back in 1991 and marvel how unflinchingly aligned it is with his current practices:

“If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today's ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today. ... The solution is patenting as much as we can. A future startup with no patents of its own will be forced to pay whatever price the giants choose to impose. That price might be high. Established companies have an interest in excluding future competitors.”

Not much updatage or news going on here recently malheureusement. I'm currently in a struggle with my record pressing plant to cough up my 1000s of records way pastdue or at least get a straight story. Admittedly I'm not the most patient hombre around but it is always the same old tired story. I feel that everytime I call up the plant for a status check that I'm venturing into a revolving groundhog-day-esque world, where anything to give the client (me) The Warm Fuzzy Feeling™ is fair game. Not cool, but alas what to do, other than gripe disgruntledly. Looking at the glass half full, I have more time now to prepare new works, write press releases and otherwise prepare to promote these puppies when they're finally birthed.

In other news, started a new project in January with Georgios Papadelis from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, for publication and show/tell at forthcoming conferences and workshops. Good stuff.

taken by TJ last saturday standing outside Rx with Darlene and Tomas.

I can trace your appearance
the way a camera scuptures
the rainbow from mountaintops
without rippling it
of its watery colours
I can track the your ostritch-neck
and the red pointed-nose
but what of the person
in the fellow who toured away
when the tortoise
was the toast of the jungle
when the snake
was adored at sight
today the cunning tortoise
is caged in the zoo
today the lustrous snake
is trampled upon...
I still remember
when we were fireflies
dazzling up the bushpaths
I beg you come back
you must come home
and see what lessons
I have learned
from the chaos around me
time has lost its strenght to tick
the bird has lost its gift to fly
and it is a taboo for our jaws
to hop with pride in laughter
the invigorating freshness of
the morning is lost
it is a good day to die
as faith has rushed out on us
you must come back
and learn that an easy way
to live life without pains
is an early death.

© 2002 chigbu uchendu eugene

This is a sobering poem that I fortuitously stumbled upon last week while testing out the new MSN search engine. It was written by Eugene Chigbu, an old friend and classmate from Command Secondary School Abakaliki, with whom I have since gotten back in touch.