It had to happen sooner or later, of course, that the summer
would end, and that life would resume its typical humdrum course of ‘normalcy,’
as if summer were more of a carnival show than a respite, more of a vocation
than a vacation, since huge sums are made and squandered in the business end of
summer—traveling, resting, relaxing, recreating, and procreating, or working at
it, anyway.
You better include music in that list, too, since festivals
are a major part of the pop music experience, what with the demise of the record
industry these days. In fact it can be
hard to find an American band in the homeland during the summer, since there is
so much more money to be made overseas, especially in Europe . So this is like the Christmas retail season
for an American band, in which they can make half the year’s income.
What… you were thinking that there are a plethora of bands over
in Europe singing in German, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese? Not much. And those are the major languages. Actually outside of the UK and Ireland I can
pretty much count all the classic rock acts in Europe on one hand, actually on
one mano negro: Manu Chao, who’s great, of course; and… ABBA, if you’re
into bubblegum; and… Russia ’s
Mumiy Troll (who most Americans don’t know); and… Bjork, if that’s classic yet;
and… and… Nina Hagen, maybe? You
remember that song “100 Red Balloons,” right?
Did you know it was written by one Carlo Karges (no relation)? Ich bin ein Berliner… From there you go quickly downhill into
B-bands like Scorpions and Cranberries, each of whom scored a couple of mainstream
mediocre hits (and did well in Thailand BTW). Then there’s Swedish death metal…
It’s not so easy in England , either, though they’re
holding their own. The best stuff is not coming out of London , AFAIK. Follow the money. Good roots-rock needs low rents to nurture it,
I guess. High-rent places tend more
toward trance and dance it seems, electronica and DJ’s and such, whether by
chance or choice, I don’t know. That’s
cool, too. Of course the biggest
non-Anglo act ever is Bob Marley and the whole Jamaican scene, though that’s a
rare case.
And then there’s Mexico ’s Mana’, an even rarer case,
and hardly known outside of Latino countries.
Thank God for world music, which tends to transcend all the star-making
machinery behind the popular song. But
it’s too bad third world musicians are having such a hard time traveling nowadays,
what with visa problems and such. Persevere.
This weekend will be another good one for tunes in LA, with
multiple quetzales, fusion flamenco, straight-ahead jazz, Austin/Iranian
setar and Ghanaian reggae heading the list. That’s Quetzal Guerrero at Levitt LA tonight
with his hyphenated-Latino eclectic mix, then plain Quetzal at Levitt
Pasadena Saturday night with LA/Jarocho son and more. And the Bay Area’s LoCura gives flamenco a
much-needed makeover (beyond the sound of ten hands clapping) out in Pasadena tomorrow night. For more about them see here.
Saturday will be tough to choose, with Justo Almario at
LACMA, Iranian/Texan Fared Shafinury at Grand Performances downtown, and
Ghanaian Rocky Dawuni doing reggae. Rocky’s
really good, BTW, and I’m not a huge reggae fan, but I owe him an extra nudge,
having once taken a cheap shot at him. Always
suspicious of PR rap, I even asked my cab driver in Accra , Ghana Syria
will be there. He’s wild. His country is dying.
Next week will be tougher.
The season is ending, organisms are dying, systems are shutting down,
and I’m clearly not ready for it. I don’t
want summer to end, and I don’t want to grow up. My ‘permanent record’ back in school daze used
to say that I was a model student until spring came along… every spring. Some things never change, I guess. I’ll have to get creative for next week. Stay tuned.
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