The concept of musical opposites is an intriguing albeit murky notion. However, I believe I have stumbled upon the archetypal example of a musical opposite after seeing Medeski Martin and Wood last night and Girl Talk earlier this week at the House of Blues. The juxtaposition is irresistible.
MMW: Organic like a wild mushroom in Yosemite National Park.
GT: More artificial than a plastic Twinkie.
MMW: Delayed gratification. I mean, really delayed. I’m talking about please-for-the-love-of-god-resolve-that-dissonant-chord-before-I-have-to-bite-down-on-the-dreadlocks-of-this-heady-person-next-to-me delayed.
GT: Instant gratification. You know exactly what’s coming, and you get it exactly when you want.
MMW: Stand totally still and bask in the atonal abstracts of songs you don’t know the name of.
GT: Dance your ass off and bask in the bubble gum-coated safety of every hit song ever made.
I love ‘em both somehow, but if we’re talking desert island, give me MMW every time.
MMW opened last night’s show with their greatest hit, "Fifteen Minute Ambient Jam in X-minor." This is their standard opener, a pleasant way of saying, “Hello! We’re getting started now! Finish up your business at the bar or bathroom and we’ll start playing songs in about fifteen minutes.” As the jam went on, the tension was quite palpable, as everyone enjoyed it but deep down inside was begging for drummer Billy Martin to unleash the funky breakbeats he’s capable of. This is MMW deftly working the delayed gratification as only they can do: teasing you and making you beg before finally delivering right when you think you can’t take it anymore. After the intro jam, the first song was something that could only be described as “the funkiest groove ever written in the 7/4 time signature.” Or perhaps it just seemed that way because I had just spent fifteen minutes begging for it. That’s the genius of MMW. The third song was straight ahead funk with keyboardist John Medeski playing the entire song on a melodica that was turbocharged through something akin to an overdrive pedal. Who doesn’t love that? The fourth song featured a steady heavy bass groove from Chris Wood while Medeski played at least eight different keyboards and Martin played at least 20 different percussion pieces and did some nice 8-bar drumbreaks. Good times!
For those of you scoring at home, the time signatures of the four songs in the first set were:
First song: None
Second Song: 7/4
Third song: 4/4
Fourth Song: 6/8
Eat your heart out, Berklee kids.
The second set opened with another MMW smash hit, "Jam > 3-Man Cowbell Jam." Following that, they traded in the ambience for the funk for the rest of the set, which got the heads bobbing and the faces smiling. MMW fans are a dexterous bunch who will appreciate anything these guys play, but I think most fans would agree that the most fun is when they give us the funky goods without interruption. Seven or eight people even started to dance! Look out! But in all seriousness, if there is one real criticism to give this show, it is that Chris Wood did not touch the upright bass the entire night. Unacceptable. This is the equivalent of going to Phish if Trey Anastasio only sang and didn’t play guitar, or going to a Celtics game and Paul Pierce only played defense. Come on, Chris! The thing is sitting right there; pick it up one time!
Anyhow, as the second set throwdown was nearing its end, they closed with an MMW classic, “Is There Anybody Here That Loves my Jesus,” from the album Shack Man, which I was very pumped to hear live. The beats were thick, straight ahead, and danceable, and yet somehow I don’t think Girl Talk will be sampling any MMW anytime soon.
And I am perfectly fine with that.
