Sundaze 1220

Hello, some good news this week on an much older Maya chart it is assumed we have 17 baktuns, not 13 till the end of the world, that gives us another 1600 years and that ties in better with Nostradamus 3797..bla bla  Here comes the apocalypse....surprsie ! How many of you really now what it means ? It has got nothing to do with destruction, though that could come as a consequence. Unveiling can have shocking consequences for individuals but more so for the powers that be, thats why they relentlessly frighten us with their apocalypse. We humans can pray for an apocalypse, but not like those sadly deluded US socalled Christians, they have completely lost the plot many years ago. In the end the apocalypse means nothing more or less then enlightenment, unveling of what has thusfar been hidden.

That was the good news this week, now the bad news, it looks like our sun can go beserk on a scale thusfar unanticipated, and the last time it did this was when the last iceage came to an end. It has grown unually quiet of late, this could well be the prelude to some huge belching, not only to the detriment of our electric systems but our ecosystem could be damaged for years aswell, in a worse case scenario billions could die of starvation and cancers. The elite meanwhile have build themselves a huge underground complex underneath the largest airport in the US, Denver International, but i reckon getting there might be rather more difficult than in the case of a planned catastrophe. You're own hole in the ground stocked with plenty of food and water will do, as well as the will to survive (not so self evident as we all reincarnate anyway-now that could be an apocalypse-this awareness). Enough of that and I'll tell you tomorrow how poor Hamilton did in the F1 race after he lost his pole position and will have to start at the other end..

So back to Sundaze, much ado about Bob Marley this week with his docu-film release Marley aswell as his death last friday 31 years ago, so when i scanned past my titles Ambient Translations Of Bob Marley In Dub stood out and as the man behind that is good old Bill Laswell a post was born. Plenty to enjoy...

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Laswell's artistic and commercial breakthrough came via jazz icon Herbie Hancock's Future Shock album (1983); Laswell produced the album, played bass on all the songs, and co-wrote most of the material. Its track "Rockit" has frequently been regarded as a pivotal moment in the influence of hip hop and turntablism (via Grand Mixer D.ST). The track was the first hit song to feature turntable scratching. The remainder of the 80’s saw Laswell produce albums for people like Sly & Robbie (who Laswell continues to work with) Mick Jagger, PiL, The Ramones, Iggy Pop and Yoko Ono. Many of these projects afforded Laswell the opportunity to bring in some of his normal working crew to record on more mainstream records.

The later part of the ‘80s also saw Laswell completely sever ties with the Celluloid label, which has since been sold several times. 1990 marked a watershed year in Laswell’s control and ability to produce high-quality recordings controlled by himself. In addition to purchasing his own studio (the famed Greenpoint Studio in Brooklyn), Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and longtime Laswell booster, gave Laswell the opportunity to begin a new label with the backing of Island Records. Thus, Axiom Records was born. Axiom played the ‘Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted’ credo to its fullest. With a sizable budget and minimal interference from Island executives, Laswell had the means to make arguably some of the most important music of his career. In addition  to albums by Material that featured players ranging from Sly & Robbie, William S. Burroughs, Wayne Shorter, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell, he produced and released albums by drummer and Ornette Coleman acolyte Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock (featuring Pharoah Sanders and Elvin Jones), Laswell main-stay Nicky Skopelitis, Last Poet Umar Bin Hassan and Ginger Baker.

The most successful project and one of the few still in print on Axiom – where the first release was produced, was Praxis. Originally the moniker that an experimental Celluloid 12” by Laswell was released under in 1984, Praxis now became a full-fledged band, The release, ‘Transmutations (Mutadis Mutandis)’ featured the enigmatic guitarist Buckethead, drummer Brain, Bernie Worrell and Bootsy Collins. The project has spawned other releases, never with the same line-up twice, generally consisting of the core trio of Buckethead, Brain and Laswell supplimented by others. 1994/1995 saw a bit of a slow-down in Axiom’s output, but a number of genre-shattering 2CD compilation sets were released. Axiom Funk’s ‘Funkronomicon’ saw previously released tracks by Praxis and Nicky Skopelitis paired with a host of tracks mainly featuring various members of the Parliament/Funkadelic crew. Axiom Dub was another compilation, Laswell also remixed the whole of the Axiom catalog into a 2 disc ambient mix called Axiom Ambient

The ‘90s also saw a number of other labels associated with Laswell, most prolific of these was Subharmonic. Though not owned by Laswell, the label was essentially a release house for his projects, most of which fell into the ambient or ambient-dub catagories, notably Psychonavigation (with Pete Namlook) and Cymatic Scan (with Tetsu Inoue). The label also released albums from Praxis and Laswell’s new project, Divination, an ambient dub project (umbrella moniker for releases of ambient compilations).

Laswell released two albums of remixes from dead artists – Bob Marley’s Dreams of Freedom on Axiom and Miles Davis’ Panthalassa. The first contained airy, ambient dub translations of some of Marley’s Island catalog, largely sans Marley’s voice. Chris Blackwell requested the album as part of a planned series of remix albums by various producers who were rooted in the reggae/dub tradition. Blackwell’s departure from Island killed any further albums. For Panthalassa, Laswell took the tapes from Miles’ ‘electric period’ and re-imagined (cut-up and remix) them. The impetus for the project being that the original releases were just mixes made by Teo Macero from long in studio sessions. Needless to say, critic and fan responses varied wildly.

The late ‘90s saw two other major changes, Chris Blackwell left Island Records. Although he took the Axiom imprint with him to his new Palm Pictures label, the back catalog stayed with Island. Many of the albums are now out of print, efforts to obtain master recordings and new distribution has been unsuccessful. The other change came in the form of studio space. Laswell, seeing that Greenpoint had turned into a sort of hangout, moved his studio to West Orange, New Jersey, now calling it Orange Music or alternately, Orange Music Sound Studios......

The New York-based producer, bassist and visionary is responsible for some of the most interesting and influential recordings of the last 20 years. But unlike other sonic architects, he has no rulebook or pre-defined codes. The range of Bill Laswell’s music has demanded a new openness from musician and listener alike, and through his work points of congruence between genres have become clearer and we now have new hybrid forms to reckon with. “Hitting people on a real level and trying to lift their awareness up a notch or two, to get them to think beyond the conventionally held beliefs that certain musics only work in certain ways. That’s the driving force behind most of what I do, and if it means sacrificing notoriety and acceptance for freedom, creativity and integrity, I’ll do it every time.”

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Dreams of Freedom is the first posthumous Marley release to readily experiment with his recordings and producer Bill Laswell has a unmistakable respect for his music. Oddly enough, it's an experiment that works for a couple of reasons: Marley was such a great songwriter and singer that no spacy overdubs or eerie-sounding background vocals can detract from that.

The selection of songs on Dreams of Freedom is an interesting mix. There's a few of the 'softer' Marley favorites like a dreamy, piano-sprinkled "Waiting In Vain" - one of four songs without Marley's vocal lead - as well as a hearty dose of the more militant music . On the more strident songs, Laswell wisely took a more strident approach to the mix, with the omnipresent reggae 'chinka-chinka' rhythm being pushed along by cosmic guitars and echo-laden backing vocals. For new instrumental bits, Laswell recruited some stellar musicians, including Japanese keyboardist Tetsu Inoue and Senegalese percussionist Aiyb Dieng who add subtle, graceful touches. Laswell wisely chose not to cut up Marley's vocals on any of the tracks. He removed them entirely on a few songs - letting the I-Threes wail in the background - yet the memory of Marley's voice seems woven throughout the album, even on the songs where it's physically absent.  Some hardcore Marley fans may find this dreamy, and at times eerie approach to his music hard to handle, but it does add something new to the Marley mystique.

Bill Laswell - Ambient Translations Of Bob Marley In Dub (flac 343mb)

01 Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock) 10:20
02 No Woman No Cry 4:11
03 The Heathen 8:37
04 Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) 5:57
05 Waiting In Vain 4:42
06 So Much Trouble In The World 4:47
07 Exodus 8:57
08 Burnin' And Lootin' 4:10
09 Is This Love 4:31
10 One Love (People Get Ready) 4:14
11 Midnight Ravers 6:24

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Laswell covers the bass, Style Scott takes the drums, and a few friends help fill out this rambling exploration of the dub.  And what a trip. Laswell and Scott provide an ever-evolving rhythm base, and the other folks (including Laswell) overdub lots of creative soundscape materiel. The base of all these songs are real-time instruments, but the flight is provided by some fine electronic tricksters.  The songs are long and drawn out, the musical ideas are given time to fully germinate, providing a full bloom of gorgeous power by the finish.  Ever more creative ways to use technology and talent to create sound sculptures that are best appreciated by an open and curious mind. Not just a dub meltdown, but a mutation of the dub in the best sense. Very exciting.

Bill Laswell Meets Style Scott Inna Dub Meltdown (flac 369mb)

01 Crooklyn Dub Syndicate 8:02
02 Fourth Column 8:12
03 Aeon 8:06
04 Emergency At The Plant 4:43
05 Radioactive Dub 7:33
06 Fallout 7:55
07 A Greater Source Of Power 7:42
08 Melting Pot Dub 7:23

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If you only ever own one trance or world beat album, I recommend that this be it. This is the kind of album that you could use put you to sleep, wake you up, woo your mate, study to, eat to, bathe to, work out to, inspire your every waking thought and carry you through dreams of paradise. Subtle, serene, powerful, funky, funny, and indescribably deep. Pure auditory bliss. A truly spiritual listening experience reuniting modern recording technology with ancient soundscapes and sensibilities.The playing is all first-rate, with most of Laswell's usual suspects in tow: Bootsy Collins, Nicky Skopelitis, Zakir Hussain, etc. And William S. Burroughs does a spoken-word piece over one tune.

Material – Hallucination Engine (flac 351mb)

01 Black Light 7:33
02 Mantra 8:44
03 Ruins (Submutation Dub) 8:54
04 Eternal Drift 7:35
05 Words Of Advice (William S. Bourroughs) 3:58
06 Cucumber Slumber (Fluxus Mix) 7:30
07 The Hidden Garden / Naima 13:00
08 Shadow Of Paradise 9:45

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elsewhere

Bill Laswell - Lost In The Translation 1  ( 156mb)
Bill Laswell - Lost In The Translation 2   ( 123mb)

Laswell & Namlook -  Psychonavigation ( 94 ^ 137mb)
Jah Wobble • Bill Laswell - Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission ( 01 ^ 99mb)
The Golden Palominos - Drunk With Passion (91 ^ 99mb)
Bill Laswell - Dub Chamber 3 (00 ^ 99mb)

Bill Laswell / Sacred System - Book Of Exit : Dub Chamber 4 (02 ^ 99mb)
Bill Laswell - Version 2 Version - A Dub Transmission (04 ^ 99mb)

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