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Mr. T Experience: Self Pity
Pardon me for the generalization, but it seems like “intelligent” lyrics these days are often vague and excessively uninterruptible. It’s as if “poetry” means “use lots of adjectives and don’t so much as mention what you are actually talking about.” Here’s another generalization: That “intelligent” people often dislike disclosing much about themselves.
I’ll only condemn on a case-by-case basis, but esotericism can be a symptom of inadequacy. It’s not the most difficult psychological tendency to understand; the desire to be different and unique is the desire to avoid judgment. If you don’t compete, you can’t lose.
This is one reason why Dr. Frank’s straightforward lyrics are so refreshing. He’s in the league of the angsty, “you don’t know me” types, and probably was one himself, but he is too grown up to get stuck in that mire. From this combination, he knows how to disarm the arty ones before discussing their foibles and fears. He’s even willing to point out his own flaws and kindly ask us to forgive him. It’s all done with an honest incision that can speak to anyone on any level they’re comfortable with.
Chain of Zeuhls: Magma vs. Ruins
Magma may have been one of the most unique progressive bands ever, but it’s questionable whether they were the sole occupant of a genre. Zeuhl, as it’s called, would be bona fide if a Wikipedia page were your criterion. But in the early 1970s, totally unique, Earth-shattering bands were a dime a dozen. It’s like when you could just sail a ship from Europe, get lost, land somewhere, and then get to name a country after yourself. Or how scientists today discover 10 new species for every spoon they stick in the bottom of the ocean.
In many ways, Magma is typical of the era. Magma’s multi-album-spanning science-fiction concept is as thorough as the symphonic ambitions common in the early ’70s. Most of Magma’s lyrics were sung in Kobaïan, the language of Kobaïa, a planet where humans fled after an ecological disaster threatened to destroy Earth. Magma’s strongest album, 1973’s Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, tells of the prophet Nebehr Gudahtt, who urges all humans to avoid self-destruction through worship of the Supreme Being, Kreuhn Kohrmahn. It’s pretty involved. Similarly, contemporaries and fellow Frenchmen Gong spun out more ironic concept albums about a planet called Gong, radio gnomes, and an Angel’s Egg that embodied 32 octave doctors. That’s just how it was back then.
Magma is also like King Crimson in that the music and concept were property of drummer Christian Vander’s massive brain. Just as Robert Fripp was the only essential member of Crimson, Vander hired a rotating cast of guitar and sax virtuosi as well as falsetto-savvy singers. A fantastic, classically-trained drummer himself, Vander has the same technical stature as Fripp or any other frontman you’d name.
People Like Us: Vanguard of the Avant-Retard
by: Nat Roe
Vicki Bennett, better known as People Like Us, has dazzled and bewildered listeners for over 15 years with highly original audio and video collages. Long before “mash-up” became part of the common vernacular, Bennett’s mutant pop completely dismembered songs and reconfigured the scraps into an absurdist playground. Today, she is one of the world’s foremost collage practitioners, with numerous awards and grants to her credit. Her recent collaborations with Ergo Phizmiz, including their most recent release, Rhapsody in Glue, have found great critical and public acclaim. Her extensive solo recordings and radio show with WFMU, Do or DIY, are unmistakably unique expressions of her eccentric worldview.
On the afternoon of our interview, the prolific artist was gardening at her London home, preparing herself psychologically for a new major project. “It’s like the way a cat walks round and round in circles before lying down in the middle,” Bennett muses. “I have ambitious garden ideas this year.”
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by: Nat Roe
published: July 10, 2009
in column: Feature Story
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