{"id":5361,"date":"2022-05-02T22:43:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T22:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=5361"},"modified":"2022-12-18T11:58:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T11:58:49","slug":"music-earth-rot-david-axelrod-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=5361","title":{"rendered":"MUSiC: Earth Rot, David Axelrod, 1970"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This reissue of Axelrod\u2019s 1970 eco-doom masterpiece is great. Really, really, really<\/em> great! Six stars great!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Now Again reissue presents the original recording in full, and follows that with an all instrumental recapitulation. We\u2019ll come back to this later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original album starts with a slightly dated and rather odd little spoken word cameo, with female and then male voices declaiming a little bit of Biblical type scripture (\u2018In the beginning\u2026\u2019 etc). Not at all sure what I make of that? But, well\u2026 whatever, as folk say these days!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the music begins. And the music itself is just terrific. But I\u2019ll return to this subject in a bit more detail later. Before that it\u2019s worth noting that with this 2018 re-release there\u2019s lots to read and look at: great unabashed fan-boy style liner notes, by Eothen Alapatt, and plenty of rather cool pic\u2019s, of Axe and co at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Axe, with his charts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then, as noted above, there\u2019s the fact that the musical content is doubled, by the inclusion of instrumental versions of everything. Love it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to say about the music? Well, first off, this, the third of Axelrod\u2019s trio of solo albums for Capitol, it was also the first to feature vocals. And not standard vocals either, but spoken word and \u2018choral\u2019 type lyrics. The eco-doom theme is an odd but prescient one. I\u2019ll come back to why it\u2019s so odd later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I have to confess, whilst I love the original recording, for its oddball singularity, I think I might, initially at least, prefer the instrumental versions of the tracks. In terms of pure music. And I can kind of see why his first two albums were strictly instrumental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, I dig both. What he\u2019s trying to say is great. And I think had he continued to plough similar furrows, he\u2019d have cracked an even better marriage of word and music than he achieves here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my views may change over time? Who knows! And I\u2019m not meaning to damn the vocal version with faint praise. I think it\u2019s pretty extraordinary. And I love it all. Both as vocal and instrumental music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instrumentally it\u2019s very much like the previous two albums, mixing funky soulful jazziness with slightly modern \u2018composing\u2019. I wouldn\u2019t call it \u2018classical\u2019, exactly. Orchestral? Certainly. Although he uses mainly \u2018pad\u2019 type pillows of strings and brass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backing band instrumentation and playing is worthy of some analysis. Earl Palmer\u2019s drumming is very much groove based, and, partnered with the bright elastic funkiness of Bob West\u2019s electric bass*, beds everything on a springy lithe mattress of percolating funky soul vibes, with just a hint of jazziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keys and guitars range from acoustic picking, to fuzzed out leads, glassy gliss\u2019ed electric strumming, and everything from piano to vibes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s occasional moments of lead or solo style melodies from horns, even a little flight on a violin. But by and large the music is both thematic and textural, as opposed to melody driven. Frequent repetition of certain chords, or harmonies, or even phrases or figures lend the whole a suite like homogeneity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I work on this, I\u2019m re-listening to it all again. For possibly the fourth time today. And the vocal stuff is really growing on me. Probably more for the pure musicality of it all, as opposed to the message. Although as message music goes, whatever one thinks of how it\u2019s been done here, it sure knocks the spots off the tidal waves of meaningless dross pumped out by the pop-music machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the latter endlessly reinforces the vacuity of a shallow culture of constant ego-feeding display dependency, a part of the consumer culture that helps bring us closer to eco-doom, for all its hippy-era earnestness, the message here has a consciousness that goes beyond the solipsistic self-obsession of our Twitter-age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, taking the vocals and words away, which initially makes the \u2018pure music\u2019 on offer here slightly more palatable to a contemporary taste, is perhaps too much like vandalism? I dunno\u2026 I can only say that personally I like both. And having the choice to enjoy either, or both, is great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I want to briefly return to the idea of the oddness of this whole package. I\u2019m not one for opera, rock, religious, or otherwise. But it can\u2019t be denied that this does make me think of a kind of \u2018hippy eco opera\u2019. But with lines like \u2018there is a growing rotten-mess\u2019, it\u2019s hardly your Hair or Jesus Christ Superstar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the groovily beautiful nature of the music sits a tad awkwardly with the \u2018conceptualism\u2019 of much of Axe\u2019s music in this period. I find it a little tricky to connect the ostensible subjects – be they the poetry of Blake, or the coming eco-doom – with the beauty and joie de vivre of the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last observation, and that\u2019s to do with how Axe has enjoyed a renaissance thanks, undeniably, to hip-hop producers and rappers sampling his music. Or should that be stealing his thunder? Basking in his reflected glory!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to confess that, other than one DJ Shadow track, I\u2019m not familiar with what these later folk have done with Axe\u2019s legacy. I suppose – whatever I might think of their usage of him – I ought to at least be glad that through their interest some of his music has been reissued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But truth to be told, although I don\u2019t mind some rap\/hip-hop, I\u2019m usually a much bigger fan of stuff they might occasionally sample. And that\u2019s very much the case here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m happy taking a deep bath in the musical rivers Axe tapped into and unleashed. And Earth Rot, like his two Blake inspired albums, is – for my money – totally and utterly sublime. The more I listen to it, the more I dig it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harmonically it just tickles my sweet spot. And there\u2019s loads of beautiful breathy flute. The vibe is, despite the eco-doom stuff, predominantly upbeat, even if tinged, at times, with a melancholy. But I\u2019ve always loved that hinterland, of intense happy-sad beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the interplay of the rhythm section is truly sublime. The music, occasionally richly think with layered harmonies, is just as frequently reduced to a sparse and minimalist stripped down state, so that the whole oscillates and shimmers, between the poles of lightness and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me it\u2019s truly mind blowing. When one finds music that speaks so directly and pin-point accurately to one\u2019s own inner voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earl Palmer, laying down the grooves!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And as a drummer I can\u2019t pass by without observing how wonderful Earl Palmer\u2019s playing is. I\u2019m so taken with it, I\u2019ve ordered a copy of his autobiography. A cat with that much swing and soul, who\u2019s played such a massive part in modern popular music? I need to know more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I have become a gushing fan-boy! And I\u2019m not the least ashamed. I suspect that many won\u2019t \u2018get\u2019 what it is I see and hear in this rather oddball stuff. But I truly couldn\u2019t care less. For me there\u2019s really naught to \u2018get\u2019, anyway. Either such music speaks to you, or it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience and Earth Rot, senor Axe, he speaketh unto me, loud and clear. And I love it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can\u2019t recommend this highly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Arthur Wright is also listed as playing bass. But wasn\u2019t he more a guitarist? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This reissue of Axelrod\u2019s 1970 eco-doom masterpiece is great. Really, really, really great! Six stars great!!! This Now Again reissue presents the original recording in full, and follows that with an all instrumental recapitulation. We\u2019ll come back to this later. The original album starts with a slightly dated and rather odd little spoken word cameo, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “MUSiC: Earth Rot, David Axelrod, 1970”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-1ot","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5361"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5361"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7594,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5361\/revisions\/7594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}