The Aughts
by Brian Olewnick
← back | link to original →Instead of a listing of individual favorites from the decade, I thought I’d mention those musicians whose body of work meant the most to me during that period.
I think it was October, 2000, in Boston after an AMM show, that I first met Keith. I’d come (unforgivably) late to AMM first hearing their work around ’95 and, largely via Jon and the then nascent Erstwhile label, had in the previous couple of years really immersed myself in post-AMM music and in what little was available of Keith’s apart from AMM. Over the next ten years, no music made as deep and moving an impression on me as his, in a bewildering variety of contexts. As much, or more than, the music, getting to know Keith as intimately as I have was just as meaningful; one of these years, readers may even see the fruit of that…Virtually every year, live and on recording, he’s created consistently probative, dense, severe, cogent and beautiful work, musically, visually and conceptually. As a body of work, it stands above and apart from anything I’ve experienced. I’ll say that, among the many examples, “Duos for Doris” still stands out not only as my favorite recording of the decade but simply my favorite piece of music period. (the whys and wherefores of my experience with its creation can be read here) Contingent with that, mention has to be made of Erstwhile and Jon Abbey, without which (unless by some miracle someone else had stepped in), much of the music would either not have existed at all or would have appeared in different form. Label of the decade? Easy choice. Had I actually compiled a top 10, it would’ve largely been comprised of Keith/Erst releases. And Keith’s still going quite strongly. I make him the early favorite for musician of this decade as well.
And,too, there’s Tilbury who, at least as regards “Doris”, was quite possibly responsible for more than half of its success. Being so fortunate as to witness him in action, never more overwhelming than at the “Doris” session, has been a profound joy. His recording of Skempton’s “Well, Well, Cornelius”, his Feldman and his Cardew were all momentous events. I think his “All Piano” appeared this decade as well? Enough said.
I’d actually encountered a few of of the Japanese crew before hearing AMM, notably some early Yoshihide work around 1992. Of all the extraordinary musicians to have emerged from that scene (and there are dozens whose work I love), none has effected me more than Sachiko M. Something about her conception of strength and beauty is absolutely in sync with me and I almost always find her music utterly entrancing no matter how severe it gets. And that part of it, her amazing willingness and persistence in limning out extreme areas, of staying with one thing for inhuman lengths of time. I love it and am thankful for it. Additionally, both I.S.O. and Filament were crucial ensembles for me. Seeing the former at Victo in 1999 opened up worlds.
I maybe should mention another thing that’s been crucially important to me, an ongoing project: the investigation of the work of John Cage. I’d known bits and pieces from early on (I recall hearing a recording of Atlas Eclipticalis in college, among other things) and I’d always tried to hear/read/see more, but it was in this decade that I began to make something of a dent. He’s been a huge inspiration to me, something I wish I’d thoroughly investigated far sooner. btw, the one time I saw Cage was in the audience of an Anthony Braxton concert at Merkin Hall. I’ve recently been reading a book on Cage’s visual art, which I tend to love; his ideas continue to amaze, inspire and make me laugh.
Olivia Block’s recorded output spans the decade fairly neatly and includes some of my very favorite music from that period. She’s an outlier in many ways, not eai but knowledgeable of it, willing to use elements that are entirely unfashionable (always a great strength!) including bits of Americana, embedding a kind of narrative structure in her pieces, almost a programmatic one. Her work contains enormous depth and beauty, continues to expand and I greatly look forward to hearing much new music from her in the future.
A recent, most gratifying “discovery” for me has been the music of Michael Pisaro (and, to an extent, the Wandelweiser cadre generally). I’ve written a good bit about his work here recently so won’t go into depth, but it’s just amazing stuff. Again, his basic conception is, for me, so sure, so solid, that it seems like most anything that I hear has at least something (usually much more) that grips me.
The Japanese scene in general was the source of any number of tremendous concerts and recordings. Aside from Sachiko, great joy was provided by Toshi Nakamura (personally, as well), Otomo Yoshihide, Ami Yoshida, Taku Sugimoto and many more. Maybe Taku’s work from the decade stands out the most, his willingness to go to extremes, beginning from his set at Tonic with Keith and Gunter Muller where he essentially did nothing…I haven’t cared for everything encountered down this path but some, like the Live in Australia disc, made a big impression on me.
Speaking of regional scenes, the Iberian one was also a fount of wonderful music. Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Ferran Fages, Margarida Garcia, Mattin, Ruth Barberan and many more. And the Australian scene as well–such great music from Philip Samartzis, Anthony Guerra, Joel Stern, Arek Gulbenkoglu and others.
I’m leaving out much but wanted to include Jason Lescalleet. Among a series of fine recordings, his “The Pilgrim” stands out as one of my favorites of the decade (in some ways, for similar reasons that I love Block’s work) and, even apart from that, he was involved in several of the most exciting live performances I witnessed during this time. His ear is astonishing…
All for now…this was done pretty much off the top of my head, apologies for obvious omissions. We’ll see what the scene looks like in 2020….