I woke up this morning in such a good mood; a real rarity for me. I was looking forward to getting to work at an earlier start time than usual. I looked forward to an out of the way trip to Starbucks for a rare cup of coffee to start the day. Within moments of logging in and checking my work e-mails, my peaceful morning was disrupted by Glenn shouting at his wife about her inability to operate a tractor.
I'm usually pretty good at coping with this because it is by no means rare. Sometimes I find humor in the preposterous volume and over-the-top harshness. Today it was upsetting. It made my head hurt and my stomach sink. I needed something stronger than cube walls in an open room to shield me from the overheated verbal blasts and I wasn't ready to crank heavy metal into my ears.
I listened to Sudaka for a second time this morning, hoping it would shield me from the gathering storm of Hurricane Glenn just a few feet away. I was hoping that by concentrating on the music that I'd not only get physical distance from the Great Tractor War of 2008, but that I'd also be transported to a place in my own mind where I could hear the music and find a voice to discuss and describe it.
What's funny about this is Sudaka is no easy listening record. This is an album bursting with sounds, rhythms, and grooves. I suppose it's a lot like taking Ritalin to counteract hyperactivity; I escaped my confinement by bludgeoning my senses with something equally encompassing.
The foundations of my own personal fortress were being erected by the time "Caminho" seamlessly transitioned to "Ginga." I'd love to play those first two tracks for U2. In six minutes, Musotto found the sound U2 spent who knows how long searching for in the studio when they were working on Pop. Instead of looking to Europe for the trashy electronic sounds to create a dance-oriented U2 record, they should have looked to Brazil. There are sounds heard in these first two songs that can also be heard on Pop. The difference, to borrow from Will Smith in Men in Black is that Musotto makes them sound good. Even now, I'd love it if U2 would turn over the Pop multitracks to him to see if he could find a way to make the album they were so desperately trying to make.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Yeah, I know what you mean about those guys named Glenn (or Glen). Real irritating bastards...
-Glen
2 - Mark Saleski
damnation! that Fast Horse label, they're gonna be the death of us all.
3 - Josh Hathaway
No question about it, Mark. This is just the first of a slew of releases still to come. I can't wait.
Percussion heads need to check this one out.