Because five hours remain in unofficial Dilla influence Day (little known fact: it is also Treat Your Secretary Right Day, sponsored by Chubb Rock), Stones Throw’s stellar Bruce Haack compilation deserves metnion. There is a straight line from the late vocoder pioneer to a song like “E=MC2.” Somehow, this record escaped review from Pitchfork, RA, Dusted, Fact, and everywhere else. Its lone official review came from Pop Matters, who allowed a church musician to give it a 2/10. Admittedly, Haack is no Michael W. Smith.
However, he was a Julliard-schooled, peyote-ingesting polymath from Alberta, Canada, who was largely obscure to mass audiences in his lifetime. He appeared on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” “The Mike Douglas Show” and “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” earning a rep as a kooky uncle playing extraterrestrial-sounding synths to dazzled audiences a decade before Kraftwerk. Like Dilla himself, Haack was an irrepressible shapeshifter. He spent most of the 1960s and ’70s switching between children’s music, experimental rock operas and acid-rock synth opuses. His collected output runs the gamut from Roald Dahl at his weirdest, Tangerine Dream being covered by Kraftwerk and Devo on strong drugs. He’s been sampled by Cut Chemist and covered by Beck and Stereolab. 22 years after his death, Haack’s music remains the right strand of strange.
No description is more trite than “visionary,” but the man deserves the crown. Even his swan song, 1982’s “Party Machine,” telescoped toward the future, with Haack collaborating with a young Russell Simmons to create a funky vocoder jam that would probably warp Kanye’s circuits if he heard it today. Highly recommended for androids who dream of electric beats.
Download:
MP3: Bruce Haack — “Stand Up Lazarus (Peanut Butter Wolf Remix)”
MP3: Bruce Haack — “Electric to Me Turn”
7 comments
Twitter Trackbacks for Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » The Lazurus Man [passionweiss.com] on Topsy.com says:
November 17, 2010 at 8:37 pm (UTC -7)
[...] Passion of the Weiss » Blog Archive » The Lazurus Man passionweiss.com/2010/11/17/the-lazurus-man/ – view page – cached Because five hours remain in unofficial Dilla influence Day (little known fact: it is also Treat Your Secretary Right Day, sponsored by Chubb Rock), Stones Throw’s stellar Bruce Haack compilation deserves metnion. There is a straight line from the late vocoder pioneer to a song like “E=MC2.” Somehow, this record escaped review from Pitchfork, RA, Dusted, Fact, and everywhere else. Its lone… Read moreBecause five hours remain in unofficial Dilla influence Day (little known fact: it is also Treat Your Secretary Right Day, sponsored by Chubb Rock), Stones Throw’s stellar Bruce Haack compilation deserves metnion. There is a straight line from the late vocoder pioneer to a song like “E=MC2.” Somehow, this record escaped review from Pitchfork, RA, Dusted, Fact, and everywhere else. Its lone official review came from Pop Matters, who allowed a church musician to give it a 2/10. Admittedly, Haack is no Michael W. Smith. View page Tweets about this link [...]
Josh says:
November 18, 2010 at 2:01 pm (UTC -7)
Dude, I can’t remember the last time I listened to Michael W. Smith. (Sorry to barge in like this, but the vaguely sycophantic Bruce Haack appreciation society linked me here.) Anyway, you seem to be a Good Writer, so maybe you can thoughtfully articulate what good you hear in his music, as opposed to the “he influenced so-and-so-that-I-like” saw everybody else seems to rely on. Your description above is a starting point, though calling “Party Machine” “funky” seems like wishful thinking. I’m pretty sure Kanye’d be able to handle it.
Cheers!
Passion of the Weiss says:
November 18, 2010 at 3:29 pm (UTC -7)
Well, I could’ve swapped in DC Talk and the point would’ve held. Truthfully, I suspect that we have very different taste in music and views on narcotics, so I imagine that we’ll have to agree to disagree. But c’mon? 2/10. That’s just silly.
In brief, I think there are great melodies on songs like “Stand Up Lazarus” and “Rita.” They have catchy hooks and a vibrant weird originality. There is no father to his style and it seems like he snatched these songs from some ancient alien songbook, without ignoring a pop sensibility. It feels like a warmer version of early Kraftwerk. Whimsical interpretations of Biblical parables, mythology, and space travel. It’s fun, and brimming with a child-like imagination that never panders to the audience. And yes, since I like Kraftwerk, J Dilla, and acid-rock, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that I’d like this. But to each his own.
Philip says:
November 18, 2010 at 3:40 pm (UTC -7)
You should probably see the documentary on Haack and listen to more of Bruce’s material… assuming you recently discovered him through Stones Throw. Can you honestly say that you’d be writing about Bruce if it wasn’t for Dilla? I’m just sayin. Very positive and supportive piece nonetheless– and kudos to you for questioning Pitchfork etc. Hope you get into Bruce more and run additional pieces in the future for other publications. It’s just a matter of time before he catches bigger waves…
Passion of the Weiss says:
November 18, 2010 at 3:59 pm (UTC -7)
Of course not. Peanut Butter Wolf wouldn’t have known about Haack if not for Dilla, and his record collection is probably larger than yours and mine combined. I see what you’re getting at, but it’s an immaterial point. What matters it that people are being exposed to music that they might like, yes?
I would like to see the documentary and delve deeper into his catalogue. Do you have any recommendations for where to start?
Philip says:
November 18, 2010 at 5:37 pm (UTC -7)
It’s on Netflix, but I have a cleaner copy we could send you. I directed it.
Josh says:
November 18, 2010 at 6:48 pm (UTC -7)
Weiss, your paragraph on Haack is better than everything else I’ve read on him combined, so thanks for the effort. (Maybe I should watch Philip’s movie, too.) That said, I don’t buy it, “Rita” aside. It all just seems too theoretical, when the actual sound of the stuff isn’t appealing at all. But right, agree to disagree. (Kraftwerk, Dilla, and acid rock are all fine by me, btw.) (As is select DC Talk.)