Lulu 3000

or, the cost of andré feeling his "free-est"

I am no connoisseur of jazz piano — I dabble enough to appreciate Mingus Plays Piano and to have vague feelings about Keith Jarrett —but I can’t say I have a sense of the canon, or even the right frame of reference to judge if a piece is important, interesting, or attention-worthy. But I can say with confidence that André 3000’s surprise piano EP 7 piano sketches is some plonking-ass baloney.

I happily gave André’s flute-jazz album New Day Sun a chance. Here was one of Earth’s most interesting musicians, truly devoted to a new instrument and new mode of expression. Of course I was going to root for him, even if his chops were, er, unconventional. But 7 piano sketches is worse both as music and as a statement of intent: Why was this dashed-off series of improvisations worth releasing? What does it offer, other than poorly played soundalikes to the much greater solo compositions that inspired him?

Now, to be fair, I love artists who put out bad records. I love demos, I love ideas that half-work, I love deep cut records between the hits. And I, too, have released unfinished songs for the thrill of sharing a raw idea — and you can’t love Guided By Voices (which I do) without embracing the wade through the dreck. But this is only fun when you know there are gems amidst the middling explorations and forgettable deep cuts. The reward there is still transcendence, or at least a pretty good Boston Spaceships tune.

On the jazz side, the same pleasure comes from the endless output of Sam Gendel, whose aliases and collaborations can feel as dashed-off as 7 piano sketches, but his sense of exploration and interest in new ideas peeks through every project as he finds new contexts for his virtuosic playing. Sometimes the mixes are wack, and sometimes the framing doesn’t work — but he’s still pointing to a place you couldn’t see yourself.

I’ve been surprised by the general positive reception to 7 piano sketches, minus jazz pianist Matt Shipp’s searing post (“is he some type of fucking asshole ? is he a complete and utter dilletante ? I could go into detail about why each cut is stillborn --but why bother”), as the EP is a barely-there product that offers very little to either jazz diehards or casual fans.

André’s Instagram post about 7 piano sketches dodges any statement of intent other than “feels good man.” The record might as well be named Jazz*, given he deflects any interest in the music other than a document for his own state of mind, pulling from his original liner notes of New Day Sun:

“It’s jokingly the worst rap album in history because there are no lyrics on it at all. It’s the best because it’s the free-est emotionally and best I’ve felt personally. It’s the best because it’s like a palette cleanser for me.”

That phrasing — “it’s the best because it’s the free-est” — reminded me, strangely, of Lou Reed and Metallica’s 2011 collaboration Lulu because it asks the same question: What if an artist at their most free makes art that sucks hella ass?

Lulu, like 7 piano sketches, is ostensibly the product of an artist (or artists) being unafraid of making art that feels free, without the baggage and bullshit of labels, managers, and producers. We’re assured that what we’re hearing is more real, more free, unencumbered by outside forces that might shape the music or revise the artist’s intent.

Chuck Klosterman’s Grantland review of Lulu summed up the problem nicely, in the pre-streaming collapse of the recording industry, suggesting that when records don’t have to be considered products, then records like Lulu can get made with little consequence:

The reason Lulu is so terrible is because the people making this music clearly don’t care if anyone else enjoys it. Now, here again — if viewed in a vacuum — that sentiment is admirable and important. But we don’t live in a vacuum. We live on Earth. And that means we have to accept the real-life consequences of a culture in which recorded music no longer has monetary value, and one of those consequences is Lulu.

If this is André feeling free, that’s great. Knowing his struggle with his own artistry and what to do with an expectant audience, hearing him work through what music resonates to him is its own gift. The songs, he said, were initially passed to friends via text – and maybe letting us in on his free-est self is what he can manage right now, but if the music offers that to André, it offers nothing to us.

Hey how about some good links?

• Be Quiet And Listen (Far Away) – I played on this acoustic cover of Deftones’ “Teenager” if that’s your sort of thing!

• Yes, they’re LITERALLY hounds of – whatever

• Puttin’ the Dank in Danko – Augustus Martini does a great deep dive into Rick Danko’s bass tone and parts, from the influence of tuba to his use of syncopation

• Our Stuff Could Be Your Stuff – You can buy some of Steve Albini’s stuff, or if you’d rather, you can buy some of Sonic Youth’s stuff?

• Is this why AI is dropping vinyl-only mixes no one listens to?

• What Would A Culture “Boom” Look Like? W. David Marx asks what the opposite of “cultural stagnation” would look like – and what some critics are missing when talking about the current state of pop

• Dance Dance Re-Evaluation – Foster Kamer on how dance music is back…with a twist! (DJ kneels by your table “ok we do things a little different here”)

• Top Of The Slosh – Cori Dash asks people what song was playing when they got a DUI, and the playlist is…sort of fire?

And here’s the best of the week. As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update (usually) every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!

Preoccupations – Focus

The latest Preoccupations album strikes an excellent balance between the dissonant art-stomp of their debut LP and a bright, icy new wave sheen. “Focus,” the title track, and “Andromeda” all scale Cult-sized heights while still feeling anchored in noisy, anarchic basement venue shrieking guitars and romping drums.

t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 – 君のもとへ還るその日を夢見て

If Angelo Badalamenti wrote hold music for the afterlife, this would be it. It’s 19 minutes long but it’s such a pleasant hang I’d gladly listen for hours.

Bleary Eyed – Heaven Year

There’s a moment in the middle of “Heaven Year” where the song’s mix seems to buckle under the weight of the track’s blistering guitars. Not content to conjure shoegaze past, Bleary Eyed stuff “Heaven Year” to the gills with so much sound it colors the air when you listen to it – I’m a little late to this track (it dropped in April) but I love it so much.

throwback

The Sound – Heartland

The Dare, NYC’s #1 quirked up white boy with the sauce, dropped a cover of the Sound’s “I Can’t Escape Myself” this week from the extended version of his debut – and though I like it, it mostly reminded me of how great the Sound LP Jeopardy is that the original came from. “Heartland” is up there for me with any Joy Division or Mission of Burma anthem – every part is a hook, and every turn just amps up the song’s blistering tension.