Music Sweet Music # 2

First of all, I'm sorry I haven't left a post here in a while. I've been busy. Though I can't make any guarantees, I am going to try to leave more posts over the course of the weekend. I also want to catch up on some reading as well. Now, on to business. Before I start going off on one of my various tangents, I have some hard news to actually report that I have not seen over at the Hoffman Forum and IMWAN.
Some great old music from Africa has just been released (and in one case was released earlier this year) and will be released in 2010. I have been pushing the Soundway and Analog Africa labels very hard for the pst almost two years. Well, here's what's new that's been released
-Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-81-Soundway-Now Available.
-Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo De Contonou-Echos Hypnotiques Vol. 2-Analog Africa-Now Available
-Legends of Benin-Analog Africa-(released earlier this year)
On top of this, Rolling Stone magazine made mention of an Ethiopian Jazz compilation that appears to be essential to own. It is:
-Mulatu Astatke-New York-Addis-London: The Story of Ethio Jazz 1965-1975-on the Strut label.
In a label-releated note (though it does not have to do directly with Africa), the Soundway label has also just released a title called:
-Tumbele: Biguine, Afro & Latin Sounds From The French Caribbean 1963-74.
To go along with all of this, the big news is that a label known as Knitting Factory is going to be releasing new reissues of all 45 albums from the great Highlife artist Fela Kuti during the course of 2010 as well as albums by his '60s Highlife band Koola Lobitos. You can Google Fela/Knitting Factory and you can see the beginning phases of the website getting everything ready. You can also Google Analog Africa's blog site and read up on their releases as well as commentary from supporters there. I'm very glad to see that more music of this nature being released. The Fela Kuti reissues have me a bit intimidated. I am going to try to put in for the stuff from the '60s all the way through at least 1974 or '75. It would really be nice if you guys over at both Hoffman and IMWAN would pick on this and spread the word around. Soundway and Analog Africa are small independent labels and they deserve being supported so that they can continue with their crate digging efforts and find these gems that they've been doing such a consistently splendid job of doing. I don't give a shit if you steal the information from here or not. Just get the word out, o.k.?
Speaking of IMWAN. You people over there have probably noticed that I haven't posted over there ever since the latest huge wave of anti-Hoffman fever broke out there after the problems Audio Fidelity had with The Doors-Morrison Hotel disc and the Lynyrd Skynyrd-Second Helping as well as some of the mastering issues some of you seem to have. I left a post over there where I mistakenly put out the possibility that perhaps industry people might have had it in for Hoffman and intentionally screwed things up at the plant. I was wrong. It really came down to some quality control issues that they are now dealing with and that I have no doubt that they are dealing with in earnest. What got me pretty upset is how I got lambasted for expressing an opinion over at IMWAN. This is an attitude that I have seen cropping up ever since the board has been taken a harder edged turn which has it's roots in the old political threads (and music threads which turned political). It is pretty ovbious that IMWAN has become a soundboard (though it has toned down lately in the music area) for Republican views there and a general overall change in tone that I have found disheartening. For the record, I am not alone in having gotten political over there. In my case, it was because I fall fairly hard to the Left (and am a Socialist on some issues) and I put out my support for Obama back in the election.
I think what's being overlooked by the people at IMWAN is the fact that a ton of the artists that they love came through and are practicing liberals themselves (with exceptions-Joe Perry of Aerosmith being one). Guys, your're discussing Conservative politics in a music forum? Are you picking up on your own disconnect? Why are you bothering to even be there in the first place? This is why I have made the decision to not leave any posts there any longer. On top of it, the egos over there have gotten out of control. You say the Gorts are heavy-handed at the Hoffman Forum. I've never really had a problem with them. I may have had a post removed because it was part of a thread that got removed. I get along fine with the majority of the people there. I've had problems with a couple of smart-asses over there from time to time, but they were only isolated incidents which may not have been directly target at me. The people that I like over there are older than myself. Some of them have not left posts there lately, but when they do, I enjoy their posts immensely because of the knowledge they bring to the table and also the way that they present themselves theere-as civilized human beings with manners. I don't get this from people at IMWAN anymore except for a couple of people. I can't take that anymore. I will continue to read information there, but I will no longer post there. My health means too much to me (as precarious as it sometimes is) to get stressed out over leaving information and opinions there and running the possibility that I'll get ridiculed or made fun of after all of the help I've given you over the last few years. It's not fun there anymore. It no longer has the wonderful feel that used to permeate the community there when it was still Pete Howard's ICE magazine board. The egos weren't out of control and the only attacks came from trolls who would inhabit the site every once in a while. So, for all of the imperfections of the Hoffman site (and there are imperfections-younger members getting a little too cocky, a few who are too possessive of generally well-established ideas that have been passed around for years and some elitism based on equipment and strict adherences to waveforms), it is not nearly as bad as what some of the IMWAN people would attempt to demonstrate. If you have a problem with Steve Hoffman with him himself, take it to him if you can. I just want the music. I post over at Hoffman now.
I have one regret. That is that I once referred to the Gorts and some of the people at Hoffman as jackboots in a post over at IMWAN. Nobody is a jackboot. It's just a goddmaned music forum and nothing else. It's what IMWAN should be and isn't any longer by my way of seeing it. It's now a bashing board. If you get a post removed at Hoffman, or banned if you go too far, it's not the end of the world people. It's just a music board. And if you don't like the fact that music artists, for the most part, are liberals by trade, then you need to get out of of music forums and start your own forum where you can shout out your conservative political ideas to your heart's content. You'll likely also have to gut the vast majority of your music collections as well (a little sarcasm to throw back at you over there).
I started this blog partly (though not exclusively) for the purpose of expressing my love of music and tying in the personal elements of why it means so much to me in the first place. I am also in the process of withdrawing little by little from the Hoffman Forum as well. I don't see posts from some of my favorite people like RobertKaneda and brainwashed there as much lately. I also enjoy the Gorts Gary and Lord Hawthorne too. I think they must be feeling that the music forums are starting to become a little too heated as well. Some of you IMWAN posters might want to take a look at posts by people like them and learn from them as far as how they present themselves. You might actually like yourself better instead of hiding behind your personas that are guarded by the anonymity of a keyboard. Thank God that IMWAN has nice people like Federico and NoURider over there. I suppose it's not a complete loss.