At the end of the day, I suppose it all depends on whether you think lines like “prolix, prolix, nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix” are a playful use of language showing a certain self-awareness and even irony, or are just pretentious twaddle written by, in the words of one of his fellow-countrymen, a “snake-oil salesman.”
In support of the latter, you could point to Cave’s repeated use of the repeated line, particularly when the line is “we call upon the author to explain”. Well, yes we do, when we can’t make head or tail of what’s going on. Tom Waits is another gleeful wordsmith, packing images and characters into his songs, but Waits manages to cram them into a story; Cave just leaves them hanging in thin air, colourful, sinister but mystifying and without a context.
I’d really like to know more about the incident with ammonia in Albert Goes West, for instance, but the quality of the music sweeps you on to the next enigma with little opportunity for reflection or regret. While not reaching the manic heights of Grinderman, there’s enough energy coming from Cave and The Bad Seeds to leave you exhilarated, if baffled, at the end of the last track, More News From Nowhere. And yes, the line is often repeated and, yes, I call upon the author to explain. Or has he already?
22.3.08
Castro Destroyer - Toffee - Frimprince
Highlife began in the 1920s, a fusion of not quite traditional music styles, such as Gombe, Osibisaba and Ashiko, with foxtrots, jazz and military band music. Subsequently, it has borrowed from the Swing of the big bands, from Bebop, the R&B of the forties, Soul, Funk, Hard Bop and from Rock. Through eighty years of incessant borrowings, Highlife has remained itself – a music for relaxation, satire (gentle or biting) and polemics – never becoming a cosmopolitan mush, as might have been the case.
The latest edition of Highlife is called, inGhana, Hiplife. Yes, it’s borrowed from Hip Hop. Ghanaian DJs are sampling Hip Hop beats now and singing and rapping over the beats, but still incorporating them into the basic Highlife rhythms and melodic themes. I’ve just started to get into this music. This is the first album I’ve bought, but I like it so much I’ve ordered three more, by another guy (Tic Tac).
Castro Destroyer (how can you resist a name like that?) is pretty inventive – or his DJ is, which comes to the same thing. He has made another CD, which I can’t find out how to get, and is working on a Gospel follow-up. He also works under the name of Under Fire, but I haven’t found any CDs under that name yet. It is great dance music. Could it be anything else with eighty years of tradition behind it? And amusing. And inventive. And, in a sense, it’s more accessible than much earlier Highlife, because there is a wealth of videos out there on Youtube (and Ghanaian TV). These are essential in aiding one’s understanding – and not just foreigners like us; most Ghanaians don’t speak any of the languages of the country but their own. So bits of English and a helpful video focus people’s attention.
You can get this stuff in Britain from Ghana UK. CDs cost £9.99, including postage, and are well worth it. They take a little while to turn up because Ghana.UK doesn’t hold stock – the CDs are sent from Ghana. But the service is pretty good: 8 days from posting (three weeks for stuff I just got from South Africa - AM.
And here's the video for the title track Toffee:
The latest edition of Highlife is called, inGhana, Hiplife. Yes, it’s borrowed from Hip Hop. Ghanaian DJs are sampling Hip Hop beats now and singing and rapping over the beats, but still incorporating them into the basic Highlife rhythms and melodic themes. I’ve just started to get into this music. This is the first album I’ve bought, but I like it so much I’ve ordered three more, by another guy (Tic Tac).
Castro Destroyer (how can you resist a name like that?) is pretty inventive – or his DJ is, which comes to the same thing. He has made another CD, which I can’t find out how to get, and is working on a Gospel follow-up. He also works under the name of Under Fire, but I haven’t found any CDs under that name yet. It is great dance music. Could it be anything else with eighty years of tradition behind it? And amusing. And inventive. And, in a sense, it’s more accessible than much earlier Highlife, because there is a wealth of videos out there on Youtube (and Ghanaian TV). These are essential in aiding one’s understanding – and not just foreigners like us; most Ghanaians don’t speak any of the languages of the country but their own. So bits of English and a helpful video focus people’s attention.
You can get this stuff in Britain from Ghana UK. CDs cost £9.99, including postage, and are well worth it. They take a little while to turn up because Ghana.UK doesn’t hold stock – the CDs are sent from Ghana. But the service is pretty good: 8 days from posting (three weeks for stuff I just got from South Africa - AM.
And here's the video for the title track Toffee:
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