horsemouth after the dilemma

how quickly things return to normal.

a sunday festival line up in docklands. african music. gospel. jazz.

see horsemouth has now been to two gig this month.

sona jobarteh. great kora playing from gambia and a tight band. but in many ways now for horsemouth that the problems of how to make it work for western audiences have (largely) been solved it is less interesting to him 

and then the kingdom choir. gospel - in many ways it gets horsemouth where he lives - it is love generalised, made a political system (and he likes the singing). himself and the other musician of bremen who shall remain nameless sat in the park and watched the music unfold. 

the hackney colliery band well horsemouth likes the music but he doesn't like the name. why not horsemouth?  

1). hackney  has a very specific meaning for horsemouth as in hackney as was (before the gentrification got to it), hackney after the gentrification isn't hackney (it may as well be  west london, and not that hackney ever was east london either you understand) 

2). colliery - well he can hear what they are trying to do, he can hear those colliery brass band arrangements in what they do (and they do it well) but here's the thing, it's like brassed off,  horsemouth grew up in south wales, again it has a very specific meaning to it, a meaning that was destroyed in the miners' strike. 

horsemouth supposes it is cultural appropriation. now when you make music you make a new thing out of the cultural materials you have to hand (wherever they're from). it's always cultural appropriation even if you are from there.  (look at horsemouth with his blues  and appalachian stylings). still something doesn't sit right with him.  with acid brass (a collection of acid house tunes done in a colliery brass band style) horsemouth can hear that style but he doesn't feel it as an appropriation, it feels like an engagement with the tradition and in an interesting way. the hackney colliery band less so. 

here is the williams fairey band at the opening of the tate modern (but you'll have to click through to youtube).

the musician of bremen who shall remain nameless now flies up, up and away. horsemouth remains earthbound and goes cat-sitting (down by the canal, up in the cloud forests). it is a grey day and cool. later (maybe) a walk with TG (perhaps more introductions to the cat).