EL MAHBOOB

Category: Vocal

  • 1991+30 Indigo Pool

    “Indigo Pool” is the first song from my 1991 DIY cassette album ōo, in my lo-fi, high-concept early period. The song was composed as it was recorded, layer by layer, beginning with the rhythmic pattern in 11/8 played on two empty plastic water cooler bottles anchored by an abandoned ride cymbal I found in the cluttered basement of the apartment I was living in at the time. Next, I added the synth patterns and fades — all live to recording without programming, software assists or editing — creating a spacey, minimalist, Lydian mode texture. I also worked without notation, which was typical for me at the time as a self-taught musician who played by ear.

    The text was an obscure communication to myself and fellow artists, in a rugged, childlike vocal performance. I still made songs the same way I had as a teenager, in that I didn’t rehearse beyond the testing of word sounds and vocal ranges (which usually doubled as a recording sound check), and made as few takes as possible. Once I had the general idea captured, I moved on and called it a tune, wobbly bits and all.

    Composed and recorded November 1991, remixed April 1992
    4-track cassette recorder, Yahama DX-27, percussion, voice
    Cassette mixdown transferred to digital 2017, unmastered

    Photo: cassette inlay designed by the composer

    Music and composer’s notes copyright Bruce A. Russell 2021

  • 90/30: Eccentricities

    Eccentricities is a six-song, self-released cassette EP which emerged in the fall of 1990. I recall having 100 copies made and being satisfied with that level of dispersion; it was all I could afford in any case. In honour of the 30th anniversary, I present two of the songs here (with a third linked below).

    My recordings during this period were all effectively demos. Made with no budget, engineers, producers, retakes, final mixdowns, editing, mastering, label releases or promotion. They were an in the moment document, like the solo piano recordings I turned to focus on in later decades, created with a minimum of tools and preparation and on the raw side. There are many songs and pieces I’ve returned to for revision or reimagining, but the version 1.0s are always done quickly, very rarely seeing a live performance.

    Track 1, side B. In its awkward, often corny way, “The Gardener” was about envisioning a sustainable, equitable and peaceful future. Musically, it looked back on the two decades which preceded it terms of tempo, rhythm and melodic style; and even further back in the century with the use of stacked-fifth chords as the main harmonic fabric. All the keyboard parts were performed live. The presence of the TR-808 marked the first time I incorporated a preprogrammed element into my music. I often wish I had seen fit to capture it on its own as a stem as it was so fun to make, and like the song itself, it expressed a unique side of my musical thought at a particular time.

    Written and recorded July 1990
    half-inch 8-track, unmastered mixdown to DAT
    Roland S-50, Roland TR-808, Yahama DX-27, Fender bass, voice

    Track 3, side B. “One Foot Firmly Planted” is the closing song of the EP, and like “The Gardener” which opens the side, it employs chords of stacked fifths in the organ as the harmonic material, sometimes doubled here by the voices. The intro is clearly modelled upon Steve Reich’s “Tehillim.” It’s a piece which did not “emerge from the ground” as I boast in the liner notes but neverthless formed spontaneously, layer by layer from a bare bones beat of conga, clapping and floor tom; coloured with organ and hailed by some strange, quasi-philosophical, quasi-choral voices. In an unconscious nod to the period of study of electroacoustic composition which I had just concluded, I randomly spliced and recombined the last few seconds of the multitrack tape, where the song disintegrates.

    Written and recorded July 1990
    half-inch 8-track, unmastered mixdown to DAT
    percussion, Korg CX-3, voice

    (Also from Eccentricities, Track 3, side A, “Quarter-Tone Study.”)

    Music and composer’s notes copyright Bruce A. Russell 2020

  • 5 Questions to Anaïs Maviel

    My interview for I Care If You Listen.

  • Twenty Tens

    As a farewell to the decade when music collections and manual selection became niche, here’s an old-fashioned segue mix.

    Ìfé | Bangah (Pico y Palo)

    Georgia Anne Muldrow | Overload

    Ibeyi | River

    D’Angelo and The Vanguard | Really Love

    King | Red Eye

    Thundercat | Them Changes

    Erykah Badu | Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long

    Childish Gambino | Boogieman

    The Internet | Wanna Be

    Esperanza Spalding | Touch in Mine

    Snarky Puppy with Lalah Hathaway | Something

    Solange | Junie

    Shafiq Husayn feat. Jimetta Rose & Fatima | May I Assume

    Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar | Never Catch Me

    Brandon Coleman feat. Patrice Quinn & Techdizzle | Giant Feelings

    Anderson .Paak | King James

    Kamasi Washington | Show Us the Way

    Kaytranada feat. Little Dragon | Bullets

    Laura Mvula | Phenomenal Woman

    Moses Sumney | Self-Help Tape

    Ibrahim El Mahboob

    December 2019