Supersong 1: The Stone

The first time I heard The Stone was in the university, trying to smoke my way through the grades. It was at a friend's place, one who favoured jam bands, and I was all for the shindig. I loved DMB, but I had little money to buy a tape that'd cost Rs 125 at that time.
The first thing I remember about The Stone was its eerie but simply superb violin intro. Later, on CDs, I could make out the pull of Stefan Lessard's bass and Tinsley's sax that launches the song into its groove.
Ah, the groove. Six-eight is an uncanny groove, for lack of a better term — eg. Red Prophet, from Milagro — and Carter Beauford does all justice to the eeriness of this one. It builds to a perfect cascade, to descend into a crystalline pool of a chorus with 'I was just wondering if you'd come along…. I love the violin outro as well, is a melody in its own.
Contrary to popular beliefs, this song is FAR from being about a heroin trip.
Dave spoke about 'The Stone' on "The Charlie Rose" show, and pointed out that this song is about his sister, Anne. She was murdered by her husband in Africa. This brother-in-law also committed suicide thereafter. 'Under the Table and Dreaming" is dedicated to Anne.
Dave is reportedly always emotional while playing 'The Stone' live.

Groove Relations

One of these days, one of my brother's students asked me about reggae. Now, being the strict teacher, my brother often gets irritated at my fun way of just passing on the little that I know, and even playing, at times.
Right, to get back to where we started....it often struck me that the essence of reggae is a slow, churning groove. When I caught on reggae, I think I was attracted by the drums — for that matter, most KINDS of music I have been attracted to have been because of the drums — which were quite different. Actually, it was the snare tone —a clangy, metallic 'thang' that was VERY different from the Lionel Richie records that Choto Kaka played on the beat-up gramophone. Technically, it was the slippery hi-hat pattern — more slippery for a more accomplished player, so you have Stewart Copeland doing all the things in Tea In The Sahara — and the bass drum on '2' and '4' instead of '1'. This latter thing changed meaning, though, once I realised what the groove was all about, the scooped-out feel of it. Reggae is particularly enjoyable when played with an able percussionist. Oh, the splash accents!


PS: I know Gabloo actually enjoys it all.

Working Title

Read an interesting Guardian piece by Amina Taylor about posthumous releases today: which builds from a B.I.G single, lifted from a Marley track. Any thoughts?
I miss the profiles, particularly the 'This Much I Know' columns of Sanjeev Bhattacharya (he profiled Carlos Santana and Slash), since, of late, Alexis Petridis seems to have taken 'criticism' to new heights of settling personal scores, which makes for boring, convoluted copy.

If I Could

I retrieved Junta, Hoist and Rift from the moth-eaten cabinets that have been snorting dust ever since I left for Pune last year. Come to think of it, except Rift, I hadn't touched any of the other (post-'2000) albums in way too long a time. So running those tapes — oh yes, I still have 'em on tape, Maxells are sturdy ones — was a little tricky, but all of them survived, and HOW.
There would be a time when all we did was listen to Rift, I know all the songs by heart. This album would, without a doubt, be on my list of 'Intelligent and Tasteful Album Art of All Time'. Even last night, I got goosebumps listening to the 'maniacal laughter' on My Friend My Friend.
Phish is releasing 4/26/96 via LivePhish to benefit musicians adversely affected by hurricane Katrina.

PS: Now that I know what Fish plays on The Wedge, it's double the fun.

Pujo, junkies, caffeine

Pujo was fun. Heck, Pujo is always fun. I must say I'm beginning to like clean Pujos.
I couldn't really sit and chat with Bugi. Maybe I've changed, maybe he has, whatever.
The coffee sessions were great, I like this CCD at Lake Road, it's spacious and spread out and the waiters are smiling all the time.
Okay, so I sat through repeat shows of Requiem and Maria Full of Grace again, but it's nice to know that Sanjoo's developing a good habit. He even got Spun. Vicky refused to watch Cheech & Chong, though.
Watched The Motorcycle Diaries.
And I missed Gudiya while watching A Clockwork Orange again.

The Stalker

Hmmmm... I have a stalker. She's called Jospehine, and the unpublished author of children's picture books. Interesting.