New(ish) sounds from David Brown (Brazzaville)

Given this extended winter and dull life I have, about the only thing that gets me up during a boring job, a slow social life, and a moribund economy, is music. Knowing nothing about David Brown or his band, Brazzaville, I collected some friends and headed down to the Cactus Club in Bayview last Thursday for the final US date of David Brown's 3-city US tour. Thanks to WMSE Mil-town was lucky enough to be on this brief tour.

F.Y.I. David Brown was an LA runaway who spent his teen years on the streets, then traveled the world on a shoestring, played sax with Beck, then moved to Barcelona and started Brazzaville. David Brown strikes me as a younger, more street gigolo friendly, globe trotting, and sexier version of Jonathan Richman. Though Mr. Brown deals in more serious topics such as squalid slum life, international trade, child soldiers, and of course ladies, an affection he shares with Mr. Richman. However, David Brown is a more complicated study. He channels the likes of Lou Reed and even Tom Waits in his singing but is smoother and less down and out. His style evokes much of bossa nova, pop, jazz, and folky indie rock with Latin influences.

I had never listened to any of Brazzaville's music prior to the show. Brazzaville is basically David's band with a crew of Spaniards and expats formed in Barcelona. They tour the world in such diverse locales as Russia, the Ukraine, Turkey, and recently embarked on a journey in a vegetable oil powered boat. This music is perfect for any romantic who also happens to cry whilst reading The Economist, has spent time in Brazil, and loves to go on the road and make new friends.

David was joined by two local musicians playing drums (and percussion) and bass (and keys and vocals). They ran through about 20 Brazzaville tunes, none of which I knew. I did really enjoy some of the tracks like "Jesse James" and "17" off of his new album and then of course that song I can't yet identify which is about the peace found flying above the ocean. There were some tracks he sung which took me to a time when I was 20 and flying from New Zealand to Fiji and just staring at the sun glistening on the ocean being hypnotised by it all.

What I really loved was that his music was weird, romantic, and fun! He got the crowd trained to sing parts of songs, got us to jangle keys as accompaniment, dance, and I had a contented feeling at one point thinking, "I'm 27, single, and alive in this age, and it is alright". Despite the horrors and tedium of hyper-modern life things can still be beautiful and I could feel that, something I rarely find in music. There is beauty in life.

For more information please check out: www.brazzaville-band.com/

In Case You Missed It...

In case you missed the Rolling Stone or Vibe promos you gotta check out Pittsburgh's own Wiz Khalifa. Though his lyrics aren't ground breaking I'm glad someone with skills and pride in the Burgh is out there making waves. Enjoy!

Salsa Vs. Reggaeton

In total my formal dance experiences, not counting House music where it is acceptable to walk in a circle with your eyes closed and hands in the air, is limited. Experiences include 2 salsa lessons and 1 night swing dancing over a decade ago. The rest of my endeavors (however limited) run the usual gamut of trying to dance to ska, reggae, Motown, r&b, house, 80s, and hip-hop.

It was with great enthusiasm that I decided to go out and dance at a salsa club with about 8 other friends (mostly beginners) on Saturday night. We got to the club for a free one hour lesson. It took me 1 hour the night before to learn the basic step so another hour to learn about 6 twists and turns, fancier footwork, and more just didn’t cut it. A neurotic white guy cannot learn how to dance (let alone loosen up) in 1 hour! I spent the better part of the evening on the floor figuring out the steps and keeping rhythm; trying to lead someone to moves which I don’t conceptualize let alone understand or have confidence in drove me insane.

The frustration of this dance (while fun anyway) was having a pretty girl complain “lead me, lead me”, when I in fact had no idea where or how to lead her in a dance I barely understood (this sorta thing comes up and derails relationships I imagine). That was very, very frustrating for a passive individual like myself who normally spends weekends in the library.

For myself, being the embodiment of passivity, ‘leading’ someone on a dance floor (or in any endeavor for that matter) is quite overwhelming. I have studied and perfected the passive life of Haruki Murakami's characters whose only pursuits involve excessive and solitary reading, cooking, exercise, cleaning, and drinking. Like Repo Man’s Otto I’ve lived my life in the passenger seat, taking it all in, while doing nothing. However, my passivity has yet to carry me on any Murakami-esque adventures with psychic, crippled, 13 year old girls to Hawaii or into deep wells. Realizing that as a purely passive human being I need to be proactive and lead people in life, even in something as simple as a dance, is very daunting.

That being said, I gave up on dancing to the salsa and meringue (I found cumbia to be easier) and found solace in reggaeton, of all things. I’ve never been a fan of reggaeton prior, finding the lyrics a bit misogynistic and the beat boring. Compared to the complicated and proactive salsa rhythms reggaeton was a relief. To reggaeton I could dance with abandon without having to lead, figure out moves 3 steps ahead or worry about complicated steps, yet it is just as sexy and fun as salsa. No wonder everyone is into this stuff! Maybe I need to rethink music, it is hard to criticize music when your dancing to it, while it is just too easy to do while sitting on the sidelines. I will no longer deride reggaeton!

What I leared from this night was that without serious study of the various forms of Latin dance I will continue to remain frustrated and in the dark and reggaeton won’t always come to my rescue. I enrolled in a beginner’s salsa class and will figure out this ASAP. Until then I'll stick to dancing to House in my kitchen and to try and 'dance like no one is watching'. I urge you, dear reader, to do the same.