The Brand New Age of Music Let’s discuss New Age music seriously. On one hand, it has been dismissed by critics and listeners as music for yuppies and granola-crunching types, and on the other hand, it has been hailed as music that tries hard to achieve something more lasting, with more depth and experimental ambition. Whichever way you perceive this new strain of music, it has gained a loyal following that shows no sign of weakening. The recording industry has recognized this growing musical force and at last year’s Grammy Awards the New Age category was created. It was won by Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider. Andreas who? Despite its unfamiliarity to a wide segment of the music-listening population, New Age music is purely a 1980’s phenomenon. It does not rock, it rarely has any commercial airplay, and you can’t really dance to it. Dick Clark’s crowd probably wouldn’t have a clue on scoring it. Perhaps it would be easier to describe the music if you locate album covers,most of which have arty photos of green wind-swept fields, contem- plative ocean sunsets, or idyllic landscapes. The music inside these album covers reflects these mellow, naturalistic photos—acoustic, instrumental, with harmonic rhythmic charges that soothe the soul and sensuously stroke the spirit. A major component of this New Age music movement is the Windham Hill record label. The company released an album in 1980 by an unknown artist who played piano and guitar. His name was George Winston and the album was called Autumn. The album was a collection of solo piano composi- tions which evoked feelings of introspection and meditative ecstasies. It sold a half a million copies in its first year. The record only cost $1,720.00 to record, a pittance by industry standards. Windham Hill in 1986 grossed $30 million in sales. Quite an achievement when one considers that there are virtually no vocals on the albums, just acoustic instrumentals recorded with thoughtful musical clarity. New Age music has been given a lot of negative press in the past because it was often linked to the New Age lifestyle. In fact, many of the so-called New Age aitists are quietly trying to disassociate them- selves from the name, the mere mention of which conjures up connotations of holisticism, health food stores, crystals, yoga, harmonic convergences, and materialistic consumer lifestyles. Yet, it is ironic that many of the New Age artists developed their following from those people who frequented such health food stores. Their albums were sold beside rice cakes and wheat-grass juice. Magazines such as the New Age Journal, a leading organic-health periodical, were among the first to review Windham Hill releases regularly. However, the New Age artists are hoping that stations such as WBMW in Washington and KTWV-FM in Los Angeles, which offer entire radio formats for this type of music, will gain them greater exposure. In Vancouver, New Age music can be heard on CKSS-FM between 11-12 pm..on weeknights. : Many of the artists on the Windham Hill label are serious musicians. Michael Hedges, a 34 year old guitarist and one of the label’s top selling artists, holds a degree in composition from the Peabody Conserva- tory in Baltimore, where he studied electronic music and worked on tape manipulation pieces. His popularity stems from his innovative playing and an aggressive picking style colored with melodic touches. Appreciation of New Age artists can also be extended to other notable musicians who have similar _ musical stylings. One such artist is David Sylvian, former lead singer of the British glamor-pop barid Japan, who provide the soundtrack music for the movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and who had an auspicious debut with the 1984 album Brilliant Trees. Much can also be said about the experimental theater-pop of Canadian Jane Siberry, American minimalist composer Philip Glass, and the Brian Eno- Robert Fripp collaboration on their series of ambient music recordings. Even the brand new release by Van Morrison, Poetic Champions Compose, has a soft, folk-jazz New Age feel to it. The New Age heaith conscious lifestyle label given to the genre, distinguished by the pensive, acoustic instrumentals, may be difficult to dispel. Until a more descriptive name can be found, the music genre will stand on it’s own merits and continue to win - appreciative listeners in the future. Kevin Louis Planet of the Arts vol. 3 no. 6 April 1988 Running the Punk Gamut The other day | picked up a couple of albums, the two encompassing the whole spectrum of a musical genre that people were writing off as dead even a decade ago, with the demise of the once infamous and now recognized ‘Sex Pistols’. First, the long awaited new Pogues album “I Should Fall From Grace With God”, comes to us on the tail of two sold out and incredibly well received shows at the Commodore last December, at which the Pogues (an eight piece Celtic folk combo), armed with Joe Strummer (ex-Clash) on lead guitar, reminded a few hundred beer-swilling Vancouverites that no, Punk isn’t dead - it just changed its name and moved around the corner to the neighbourhood pub for a couple (?) of ints. j Produced by veteran Steve Lillywhite (Stones, U2, etc.) ‘Grace’ has all the life and ambience of a Pogues show, the band swapping Celtic thrash with socially conscious folksy protest numbers, and traditional Irish drinking music. Shane McGowan’s voice and songwriting improve with each album; when you listen to Fiesta on the second side, you just Know this guy smokes 3 packs a day and drinks like a fish. A super album that carries on the energy and conviction of punk rock without relying on the cliche and formula thai have long since set in to the medium. Never mind that popular “Pump Up the Volume” twelve inch single by M.A.R.R.S. - the Pogues are the only honest band out of England today. But a word of caution: repeated listening makes one want to consume huge quantities of alcohol, and this can be especially dangerous around rent time. The only thing that’s missing on this album is the voice of Celt O’Riordan (now Costello), but not to worry, Shane does a nice ballad with Kristy Nacoll; whoever she is, she has a great voice that meshes well with the band’s style and material. A highly listenable and con- temporary album, it would be a shame not to pick this one up. Second, on the other side of the coin, and 12 years after the fact, ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones is in L.A. with heavy/speed metal outfit Megadeth, striking those familiar anthemic chords again. This time, it’s Dave Mustaine, and not John Lydon, professing to be the anti-christ who wants to “get pissed and destroy”. ; Picture a cover that looks like something of a cross between ‘Rambo’ and ‘Captain Power’, and a nasty title “So Far, So Good . .. So What!”- it’s easy to see this one will be a hit with the 16 year old guys, and a lot of them will gain their first exposure to punk rock via this album. Almost impeccably produced, it has a fistful of good tracks. The instrumental opener “Into the Lungs of Hell” packs enough wallop to get even the most starchy graphic designer’s head banging and fists air punching. Follow this with the combustion bomb roar of “Set the World Afire” and a killer cover of “Anarchy in the UK” (changed to USA on the album) and you already have your money’s worth. The Anarchy track, though lacking the initial fury of the original, is surprisingly good, owing much to the lead guitar cameo of ex-Pistol Jones, with lead singer Mustaine on vocals which are Rottenesque without being tacky or overdone. The albums final cut, “Hookin Mouth” is exceptional, a metal punk anthem about the P.M.R.C. with clever lyrics and honest delivery. Though a bit tamer and less outspoken than outfits like Slayer or Metallica, these guys rank far above the standard heavy metal cliche - one thing however, they look like they came from Surrey or | New West. I didn’t know guys still did their hair like Farrah. It must take hours. ' The final question here is: who is more punk rock, Megadeth or the Pogues. John Lydon is quoted as saying about the current punks: “It’s a shame, they’ve turned being ugly into a busi- ness ”. Personally, | can’t decide which are uglier, Shane McGowan’s teeth, or anyone in Megadeths hair-do. You decide. Sean Gleason A Tall Short Story Steroids to Heaven At the gym where | work out there are a lot of the so called masculine types. Being far less built than these types and somewhat shorter results in instant ostracization from their clique. This therefore causes me to become an observer. What I’ve learned is that a gym is a psychological disaster area. There are so many myths about The Muscle- man. Unfortunately though, they are all true. I’m there because if | don’t work out | balloon into a mound of jelly, due to my uncontrollable addiction to sweets (new found love: Haagen Dasz ice cream bars with real Belgian chocolate - better than an orgasm). However, these particular Musclemen are at the gym to look like Mr. Atlas as seen on the back of comic books, or to resemble a reasonable side of butchered beef. Why do they do it? For more sexual success? Most women I’ve heard say they hate too many muscles. | can see their point. A two hundred and eighty pound slab on top of you is not exactly anyone’s idea of a fun night. ; Is it to turn themselves on? These men love mirrors so they can see themselves, but because they’re so muscle bound their hands can’t reach their crotch area, so masturbation is not an option. | suppose the reason is compensation. Yes, that’s it. The poor things are suffering from a bad case of insecurity. | mean, they can quote how many milligrams of salt they’ve ingested over the past month, but they can never get the change right for the coin phone. It’s also a way of not having to bother with normal human interaction, as was beautifully demonstrated to me when | was on one of the Nautilus machines in the gym. The exact quotation: “Is that an abortion or did the chihuahua have a shit on that.machine.” Stuff like that proves that the male actually is the more intelligent creature, | say. In terms of locker room etiquette one could write a book that would put Miss Manners in the grave. When Musclemen enter the shower area their close proximity to each other and their adamant Nazi philosophy of homophobia causes them to quickly establish their territory and strike hypermacho poses to conceal their sexual insecurities: “So did you fuck her last night?” “The tits man, they were huge.” Weaned onto the bottle too fast as a child? Perhaps, but this represents the average gym conversation, which occurs within any profession or class. It pleases me to see such an egalitarian subculture. Now I’m no grovelling Alan Alda, but one gets the feeling that one has entered a different planet. What has caused this? | feel it’s Mattel Toys with - their He-man Musclemen dolls: Barbie and Ken weren’t good enough. Ken felt insecure, being anatomically inert, so he was transformed into a Muscleman. He can’t copulate or masturbate (he never could) but boy he Looks Good. So remember: the gyms await all the little eager ones who want to Look Good this summer, and who have a taste for interplanetary travel on short notice. Jerry Stochansky x 10 8. Avoid unnecessary exertion, such as dragging out a deer. The Brand New Age of Music Let's discuss New Age music seriously. On one. hand, ithas been dismissed by citics and listoners as, ‘music for yuppies and granola-crunching types, and ‘on the other hand, it has been hailed as music hat trios hard to achiove something more lasting, with ‘more depth and experimental ambition. Whichever way you perceive this new strain of ‘music, ithas gained a loyal following that shows no sign of weakening. The recording industry has recognized this growing musical force and at last year’s Grammy Awards the New Age category was Created, It was won by Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider. ‘Andreas who? Despite its unfamiarty 1o a wide sogment of tho ‘music-istening population, New Age musics purely a 1980's phenomenon. It does not rock, it rarely has ‘any commercial airplay, and you cant really dance to it. Dick Ciark’s crowd probably wouldn't have a clue fon scoring it. Perhaps it would be easier to describe the music i you locate album covers,most of which hhave arty photos of green wind-swept fields, contem- plative ocean sunsets, or idyllic landscapes. ‘music inside these album covers reflects these meow, naturalistic photos—acousti, instrumental, with harmonic rhythmic charges that soothe the soul and sensuously stroke the spirit ‘A major component of this New Age music ‘movement is the Windham Hill rcord label. The ‘company released an album in 1980 by an unknown artist who played piano and guitar. His name was ‘George Winston and the album was called Autumn, ‘The album was a collection of solo piano composi- lions which evoked feelings of introspection and ‘meditative ecstasies. I sold a half a milion copies in its first year. Tho record only cost $1,720.00 to record, a pittance by industry standards. Windham Hill in 4986 grossed $30 milion in sales. Quite an achievement when one considers that there are Virtually no vocals on the albums, just acoustic, instrumentals recorded with thoughtful musical cary Now Age music has baen given alot of negative press in the past because it was often linked to tho Now Age lifestyle. In fact, many ofthe so-called New {Age aulists ara quielly trying to disassociate them- selves from the name, the mere mention of which Conjures up connotations of holistcism, health food stores, crystals, yoga, harmonic convergences, and materialistic consumer llestyles. Yet, itis ironic that ‘many of the New Age artists developed their folowing from those people who frequented such health food stores. Their albums were sold beside rice cakes and whoat-grass juice. Magazines such as the New Age Journal, a leading organic-health periodical, were ‘among ihe frst to review Windham Hil releases regularly. However, the Now Age artists are hoping that stations such as WEMW in Washington and KTWV-FM in Los Angales, which offer entre radio formats for this type of music, will gain them greater ‘exposure. In Vancouver, New Age music can be heard on CKSS-FM between 11-12 pm. on ists on the Windham Hil label aro serious musicians. Michael Hedges, a 34 year old ‘uitarist and one ofthe labet's top selling artist, holds ‘a degree in composition trom the Peabody Conserva- tory in Baltimore, where he studied electronic music ‘and worked on tape manipulation piaces. His ‘popularity stems from his innovative playing and an aggressive picking style colored with melodic touches. ‘Appreciation of New Age artists can also be extended to other notable musicians who have similar musical styings. One such artist is David Syhian, former lead singer ofthe British glamor-pop band ‘Japan, who provide the soundtrack music fr the ‘movie Mery Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and who had ‘an auspicious debut with the 1984 album Briliant Trees. Much can also be said about the experimental theater-pop of Canagian Jane Siberry, American minimalist composer Philip Glass, and the Brian Eno- Robert Fripp collaboration on their series of ambient, ‘music recordings. Even the brand new release by \Van Morrison, Postic Champions Compose, has a soft, fok-jazz New Age foc to it ‘The New Age heath conscious lifestyle label given to the genre, distinguished by the pensive, acoustic instrumentals, may be dificult to dispel. Until ‘a more descriptive name can be found, the music genre will stand on i's own merits and continue to win ‘appreciative listeners inthe future, 10 Kevin Li Planetofthe Arts vol.3 no.6 April 1988 Running the Punk Gamut Th oer day | pled up a couple of abu the two encompassing the whole spectrum of a musical genre that people were writing off 28 dead ven a decade ago, with the demise of the once infamous and now recognized ‘Sex Pistol First, the long awaited new Pogues album ‘Should Fall From Grace With God", comes to Us on the tal oftwo sold out and incredibly well fecelved shows atthe Commodore last December, atwhieh the Pogues (an elght place Celtic Tok with Joe Strummer (ex-Clash) on minded a few hundred beer-siling tno, Punk Isn't dead it Just changed its name and moved around the corner {o the neighbourhood pub for a couple (2) of ints, Pin Produced by veteran Steve Lillywhite (Stones, U2, ete) ‘Grace’ has ail the life and ambience ofa Pogues show, the band swapping Celtic thrash With socially Gonsclous folksy protest number nd traditional ish drinking musie. Shane MeGowan’s voles and songwriting improve with teach album; when you listen to Fiesta on the Second side, you Just know this guy smokes 3 packs a day and drinks lke a fish. A super album {hat caries on the energy and conviction of punk Tock without relying on the cliche and formula tha have long since et into the medium ‘Never mind that popular “Pump Up the twelve inch single by MAR.RS. - the the only honest band out of England Pogues at alcohol, and this can be especially ‘around rent time. The only thing that's missing on this album is the voles of Celt O'Riordan (now. Costello), but not to worry, Shane does a nice. ballad with Kristy Nacoll; whoever she is, she has. a great voice that meshes well with the band’s style and material. A highly listenable and con- temporary album, it would be a shame not to pick this one up. ‘Second, on the other side of the coin, and 12 years after the fact, ex-Sox Pistols guitarist Stove Jones is in L.A. with heavy/speed metal outfit ‘Megadeth, siriking those familiar anthemic chords again. This time, it's Dave Mustaine, and not John. Lydon, professing to be the anti-christ who wants to “got pissed and destroy”. Ploture a cover that looks like something of a a nasty tile "So Far, So Good... S ‘easy to see this one will be a hit with the 16 year ‘old guys, and a lot of them will gain thei frst ‘exposure to punk rock via this album. Almost impeccably produced, t has a fistful of good tracks. The instrumental opener “Into the Lungs ‘of Holl” packs enough wallop to get even the most ‘starchy graphic designer’s head banging and fists punching. Follow this with the combustion bomb roar of “Set the World Aire” and a killer ‘cover of “Anarchy in the UK" (changed to USA on the album) and you already have your money's: worth. The Anarchy track, though lacking the initia fury of the original, is surprisingly good, ‘owing much to the lead guitar cameo of ex-Pistol Jones, with lead singer Mustaine on vocals which ‘are Rottenesque without being tacky or overdone. The albums final cut, “Hookin Mouth” ‘exceptional, a metal punk anthem about th P.MAR.C. with clever lyrics and honest delivery. ‘Though a bit tamer and less outspoken than outfits ke Slayer or Metallica, these guys rank far above the standard heavy metal cliche - one thing however, they look like they came from Surrey or Now West. I didn't know guys still did thelr hair like Farrah. It must take hours. The final question here Is: who Is more punk Personally, can't decide which are uglier ‘Shane McGowan's teeth, or anyone in Megadeths hair-do. You decide. an Gleason 8. Avoid unnecessary exertion, such as dragging out adeer. A Tall Short Story Steroids to Heaven ‘At the gym where I work out there the so called masculine types. Being than these types and somewhat shorter results in instant ostracization from thelr clique. This xrefore causes me to become an observer. What med Is that a gym Is a psychological “4 disaster area, There are so many myths about The Muscle- man. Unfortunately though, they are all true. '™m there because if I don’t work out I balloon into a ‘mound of jelly, due to my uncontrollable addiction ‘to sweets (new found love: Haagen Dasz ico cream bars with real Belgian chocolate - better than an orgasm). However, these particular Musclemen are at the gym to look like Mr. Atlas as. ssoen on the back of comic books, or to resemble & reasonable side of butchered beet. ‘Why do they do it? For more sexual success? ‘Most women I've heard say they hate too many ‘muscles. | can see thelr point. A two hundred and eighty pound slab on top of you Is not exactly anyone's idea of a fun night. Is it to turn themselves on? These men love ‘mirrors so they can see themselves, but because they're so muscle bound their hands can't reach thelr crotch area, so masturbation Is not an option. | suppose the reason is compensation. Yes, that's it. The poor things are suffering from a bad ‘case of insecurity. mean, they can quote how racy migra of sal they've ngesied over the having to bother with normal human interaction, as was beautifully demonstrated to me when | was fon one of the Nautilus machines In the gym. The ‘exact quotation: “Is that an abortion or did the chihuahua have a shit on that machine.” Stuff like ‘that proves that the male actually /e the more Intelligent creature, | say. In terms of locker room etiquette one could, rt book het would put Mss Manors inthe ve. When Musclemen enter the shower area {alr close proximity to each other and thelr ‘adamant Nazi philosophy of homophobia causes them to quickly establish thelr territory and strike hypermacho poses to conceal thelr sexual Insecuritio “So did you fuck her last night?” “The tits man, they were huge.” Weaned onto the bottle too fast as a child? Perhaps, but this represents the average gym conversation, which occurs within any profession or lass. pleases me io see such an egalitarian weren't good enough. Ken felt insecui being ‘anatomically inert, so he was transformed into a ‘Muscleman. He can't copulate or masturbate (he never could) but boy he Looks Good. smber: the gyms await all the Iitle ager ones who want to Look Good this summer, ‘and who have a taste for interplanetary travel on short notice. Jerry Stochansky