musicology #439

Fragments #5

(Junior Byles - Fade Away)

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"There is nothing left to protect us from the scene of the real. Nothing left to protect us from the obscenity of the virtual, (of information, transparency etc). We are no longer the actors of the real but the double agents of the virtual"

Baudrillard, (among others), spoke of the 'Hyper - Real'. Which, as I have understood/interpreted it, is the place where reality, (of human contact, emotion, character and such things that used to define being human), is replaced by the virtual, (particularly visual media). Almost everything in the virtual is created, faked or at least edited to present and maintain the illusion of progress..politics and the news are clear examples...both offer but deliver nothing real.

Society is rotten at the core, (maybe it has always been?), and to cover that truth/reality the hyper - real was created to take our 'eye off the game'. Look at the growth in so called social networking, (or to put it another way the network economy), which is clearly the brave new world of the hyper real...

almost everyone I know, (rebels..hold firm), is on facebook..my children included. It seems to be the place where people choose to 'communicate' to their 'friends' and more importantly colleagues on the banality that fills the post modern desert that has been created for and forced on us. Do a search and see for yourself what the champions of the hyper-real are trading in. My guess is that it's value-less mediocrity or in the case of politricks....tomorrow. the day that never comes.

Anyway...enough of the social comentary and on with the musicology...Today's cut is from the enigmatic Junior Byles..well known slice of the Channel 1 pie that has trembled my marrow for at least 25 years...Seems like the right time has come to throw it down.

musicology #431

butterfly mind #1

(Delroy Wilson – Keep On Trying)

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Over the last few days/weeks/months..maybe even years !! I have been doing a LOT of, (maybe too much?), thinking and subsequently find myself a bit lost as I wander through a maze of internal dialogue that seems to do nothing but ask questions.

The butterfly mind has that capacity, mesmerising to observe as it flutters from one place to another but a hard road to travel and extremely distracting. I don’t know whether ‘the road’ leads anywhere particular as, for me, it tends to be the journey more than the destination but responsibility both for self and others, (children), is a great leveller and something I take VERY seriously so it feels like I’ll have to turn my gaze from the butterfly and focus instead on building “a heaven on the earth”

as for themusicologist, I have spent too much energy searching for cuts that expressed my deepest feelings which has bottlenecked the flow of music. so from now my intention is to set the music free from the bondage of too much meaning and just try to lay down one slice a day that I feel like sharing. It will continue to be the soundtrack to my life but with a little more freedom.

first up…one from Delro’ (Wilson), Jamaican musicologist and sweet soul singer whose career stretches way back to the early sixties when he cut his recording teeth in 1963 at the tender age of 15, hooking up to Sir Coxsone, Downbeat the Ruler Dodd’s Studio 1. big 10 inch from the 1970’s on one of Coxsone’s many labels, (music lab).

musicology #428

noExcuses #5

(Live Good – Burning Spear)

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oi..3 days running !!

are the storm clouds lifting and is that the sun I can see trying to break through?
dont know for sure but what I am learning along the way is how authenticity can and does challenge existence. when someone wants to hurt and blame you for the muck in their life there’s a choice for you to make.
do you look to excuse, (blame), yesterdays behaviour and argue or do you genuinely take full responsibility for your actions, recognise your weakness and resolve to not make the same mistakes again? as the title of this theme suggests for themusicologist the choice I choose to make is, noExcuses.

Today’s cut is courtesy of the genius that is Winston Rodney a.k.a Burning Spear with a top ranking slice of the Studio 1 musicological ‘pie’…