Saturday, 14 January 2012
The only published interview with Nick Drake in his lifetime
Last week I spoke to Nick, and eventually discovered that it has been precisely these kind of gigs that had hung him up - the reason why he has shied away from public performances almost without exception.
"I think the problem was with the material, which I wrote rather for records than performing. There were only two or three concerts that felt right, and there was something wrong with all the others. I did play Cousins and one or two folk clubs in the north, but the gigs just sort of petered out," Nick explained.
Nick pointed out that he was not happy with the way the gigs were working out and he couldn't get into them properly. Why, then, was he performing at such esteemed venues as the Festival Hall?
"I was under some obligation to them, but it wasn't the end of the world when I stopped. If I was enjoying the gigs it would have made much more sense."
Don't, however, gain the impression that Nick is not a superb artist. Placed in the right context, his songs produce quite a stunning effect over a period of time. He has worked on two albums with Witchseason producer Joe Boyd, the latter having been released only only last week. Entitled "Bryter Layter", it features some of the musicians who contributed to the success of the John and Beverly Martyn albums, notably Paul Harris; and Robert Kirby's arrangements are just as important as Nick Drake's songs.
Says Nick: "I had something in mind when I wrote the songs, knowing that they weren't just for me. The album took a long time to do, in fact, we started it almost a year ago. But I'm not altogether clear about this album - I haven't got to terms with the whole presentation."
What's the next step for Nick? "I think there'll be another album and I have some material for it, but I'll be looking around now to see if the album leads anywhere naturally. For the next one I had the idea of just doing something with John Wood, the engineer at Sound Techniques."
Would there be any gigs to promote the album? "I don't think that would help - unless they were done in the right way. I'm just not very sure at the moment, it's hard to tell what will turn up. If I could find making music a fairly natural connection with something else, then I might move on to something else."
(Jerry Gilbert: Sounds, March 13, 1971)
Via
Ritam i Zvuk/Rhythm And Sound (Macedonia 1955)
In the superb Macedonian countryside filmed in colour, men and women plant rice, harvest with peace and joy. A vibrant ode to nature rings out. The commentary emphatically praises the simple joys of a life punctuated by the seasons and dances passed down through the history of the Macedonian people. Each traditional dance is performed with beauty and precision. The clarinet, mandolin and violin lead the women's farandoles and the men's circle dances.
The movements have special meaning. The Tikwesh springs like a warrior charge, the Rusalli chases away evil spirits using a well-sharpened sabre. The more ludicrous "rabbit dance" mimics a hunting scene. With Popov's classic direction, the film gives a stylized panorama of Macedonian folk culture. An ethnological lyricism that is difficult to interpret.
Macedonian national folk dances performing by National Folk dance ensamble "Tanec" from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
Director: Trajche Popov
Grinderman - Bellringer Blues (Nick Zinner Remix)
Taken from the album Grinderman 2 RMX – a collection of remixes, reinterpretations & collaborations released on March 12th (U.S March 13th)
Tracks include “Super Heathen Child” - which teams the band up with legendary guitarist Robert Fripp (King Crimson, David Bowie, Eno); a remix of “Mickey Mouse & the Goodbye Man” by producer/-musician Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age); “When My Baby Comes” by Cat’s Eyes (a duo consisting of Horrors’ front-man Faris Badwan and soprano Rachel Zeffira) and “Evil” reinterpreted by Silver Alert (Grinderman’s Jim Sclavunos) and The National’s front man Matt Berninger.
www.grinderman.com
False Flag
The memos, as described by the sources, one of whom has read them and another who is intimately familiar with the case, investigated and debunked reports from 2007 and 2008 accusing the CIA, at the direction of the White House, of covertly supporting Jundallah -- a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization. Jundallah, according to the U.S. government and published reports, is responsible for assassinating Iranian government officials and killing Iranian women and children.
But while the memos show that the United States had barred even the most incidental contact with Jundallah, according to both intelligence officers, the same was not true for Israel's Mossad. The memos also detail CIA field reports saying that Israel's recruiting activities occurred under the nose of U.S. intelligence officers, most notably in London, the capital of one of Israel's ostensible allies, where Mossad officers posing as CIA operatives met with Jundallah officials.
The officials did not know whether the Israeli program to recruit and use Jundallah is ongoing. Nevertheless, they were stunned by the brazenness of the Mossad's efforts.
"It's amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with," the intelligence officer said. "Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn't give a damn what we thought..."
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Friday, 13 January 2012
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