The O-town Scene

New Music Notes by Mark Boshnack ‘Rave On Buddy Holly’ does its job Don McLean lamented about ”the day the music died” in his classic “American Pie.” He was talking about the 1959 plane crash that killed pioneer rockers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bop- per). But a new tribute album released last month, “Rave on Buddy Holly,” shows that the legacy of at least one of the pas- sengers is very much alive. It contains 19 songs from a wide range of artists who express the vitality of songs writ- ten at least 52 years ago by a musician who died at 22 years old. It is a celebration issued in time for what would have been Holly’s 75th birthday. What is amazing is how many strong performances there are on this album. My favorite track so far is “Not Fade Away” by a group that continues to surprise me with its ability, Florence + The Machine. Lead singer Florence Welch brings her unique vo- cal stylings to an inspired arrangement that blends a New Orleans-style horn and rhythm section, with an occasional guitar reverb. It shows how far ahead of his time Holly was, with his musical hooks and seemingly simple lyrics with a dark undertone. “Rave On” by Strokes leader singer Julian Casablancas brings that dark side to the forefront. It is a vital big, sloppy version of the classic, with all kinds of guitars and voices fighting for a say in a totally up-to-date sound. Cee Lo Green has only 1 minute and 32 seconds to deliver “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care,” and he makes the most of it. With a solid vocal backed by hand claps, guitars and steel drums, it’s another standout on a record with few weaknesses. Patti Smith’s “Words of Love” is a beautiful interpretation, giving new meaning to the original. However, there are a few tracks done by veteran performers that left me wanting. When I first head Paul McCartney’s take on “It’s So Easy,” I forgave the excesses in his perfor- mance, because he was clearly having a great time, and he is a former Beatle. But with repeated listening, the joy of McCartney’s classic shouts became overshadowed by the self-indulgence of the spoken words in the song, which should have been cut. Graham Nash ends the album with a tired version of “Raining in My Heart,” that sounds like it could have been called in. Listen instead to “Maybe Baby” by Justin Townes Earle or “Changing All Those Changes” by Nick Lowe to hear artists that infuse the originals with their own spirit, bringing new life to the classic songs. “Well All Right” by Kid Rock was an unexpected treat. I’m not a big fan of the performer, but he transforms the original, backed by a great horn arrangement and hand clapping. It will make me give some of his other works a new listen. Tribute albums can be uneven, but “Rave On Buddy Holly” offers anyone interested in rock music an opportunity to hear the vitality of the works of an original interpreted by a broad range of musicians. Mark Boshnack is a reporter for The Daily Star and a music fiend. He can be reached at mboshnack@thedailystar.com. Vinyl Vault Brian Eno ‘Ambient 1: Music For Airports’ Polydor, 1978 Rarely does anything good come from a delayed flight. Stranded in the Cologne-Bonn airport in the mid-1970s, Brian Eno grew increasingly annoyed by the sterile sounds within the busy terminals. After experimenting with tape loops, phasing, and minimalist music first with art-rock group Roxy Music, then on his own solo and collaborative records, Eno sought to create music that could either cre- ate or enrich an environment, with as much or as little involvement from the listener as they desired. Inspired by such disparate con- cepts as visual art, architecture and elevator music, Eno re-imagined the concept of music for public spaces and created a new genre of music: Ambient music. The liner notes on 1978’s “Ambient 1: Music For Airports” contains Eno’s manifesto of what defines this new genre. Intrigued complishes exactly what Eno set out to do. These are impressively complex records, all very different from the last, that convey drastically different moods and soundscapes. At a loud volume, Ambient 1 is grand and stately. Much of the record employs phasing, a relatively new musical technique at the time, where multiple instru- ments play an identical part at steady but differ- ent tempos. This creates intricately complex musical patterns from relatively simple melodies. Played at a low volume, it creates a subtle context for the environment surrounding it. Broken into four tracks with thirty seconds of silence in between each, it can be forgettable or captivating, just as it was intended to be. In the decades since the release of Eno’s Eno re-imagined the concept of music for public spaces and created a new genre of music: Ambient music. by the concept of elevator music, though disinterested in its content, Eno sought to create organic music suitable to the atmo- sphere of public spaces. He laments elevator music’s intention to mask the natural sounds of an environment, and declares that music like this should be created to enhance it. He decides to call this genre Ambient music from the term ambiance, by defining it as “an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint.” He declares that “Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” As grandiose and mundane as these goals may seem, Eno accomplishes his task. The Ambient series, consisting of four records released between 1978- 1982 ac- Ambient series, an eponymous genre emerged that took the manifesto contained in “Ambient 1” to heart. What makes this record so remarkable is that it is blatant and intentional in its transparency. Where the act of listening to music is deeply personal and interpreted differently by ev- erybody, “Ambient 1” may be the first piece of music recorded by a popular mu- sician to demand personal interpretation. It is intended to be as memorable as it is forgettable, depending on each different listen. Eno writes that above all, “Ambient 1” is “intended to induce calm and a space to think.” Regardless of focus or interest, “Ambi- ent 1” does this exceptionally well, whether in meditation or stranded in an airport. _ James Derek Sapienza James Derek Sapi- enza is a 25-year- old musician and artist. His record collection contains more than 1,000 LPs and singles, which he has been collecting since he was 8 years old. July 21, 2011 O-Town Scene 5

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