Sach O shouldn’t be writing before coffee.
I suppose if I’m up posting this early on a Saturday, I should say something about the untimely passing of Gil Scott Heron. I’m not a fan of writing obituaries for people I never met so I’ll keep it brief: look past all of the “forefather of Hip-Hop” talk and even the politics that dominated so much of his recording and you’ll find a insightful, conflicted, funky and rewarding musician whose true talent can’t be measured in times sampled or mentions in Jamie XX interviews. Take Racetrack in France for example, if you remove the socio-political undertones of African-American musicians finding greater success and freedom abroad, you’ve got a travelers lament of the most universal kind, a song that anyone who’s ever been to a foreign land can relate to.
We Almost lost Detroit meanwhile – famous as the source for Brown Skin Lady – feels just as relevant now as the day it was recorded in its damning accusation that “when it comes to people’s safety, money will win out every time.” That Heron’s death comes just as he was finally mounting a comeback and getting props from the Fader set is devastating but admittedly not totally unexpected, neither soul men and poets tend to be known for long healthy lives and the man’s excesses were well known. Still, it’s a devastating loss for lovers of good, meaningful music and a dark day for those who still believe in the idea that art should challenge not only aesthetic tastes but greater ideas of how we live. R.I.P Gil Scott Heron.
Download:
MP3: Gil Scott Heron – Racetrack in France
MP3: Gil Scott Heron – We Almost Lost Detroit
5 comments
Thun says:
May 28, 2011 at 7:09 am (UTC -7)
“look past the politics that dominated so much of his recording.”
Why?
Sach O says:
May 28, 2011 at 7:15 am (UTC -7)
Because by looking at his music in a different way you might appreciate it in a diferent light?
Trex says:
May 28, 2011 at 11:08 am (UTC -7)
By which you mean, I suppose, “ignore the rhetoric and realize the guy was a crack addict living off little more than reputation for the past 30 years.”
Thun says:
May 29, 2011 at 6:46 am (UTC -7)
How is this elusive “different way” impeded by acknowledging his political content? Do Public Enemy records sound better if I close my eyes, pay less attention to the words, and pretend that America is a post-racial paradise? Will I hear something in the production that was impossible to hear before?
Matt Shea says:
May 28, 2011 at 7:54 pm (UTC -7)
Well said, Sach.