Carl Craig- More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art

Even when I left California for Detroit I already knew of the Detroit Trinity- Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May and Juan Atkins, as being the progenitors of the sound that would embody and define Detroit in the late eighties early nineties. A sound that expressed the hardships and industrial backdrop of a city that has always had the potential to be more. After all Motown, Parliament Funkadelic, Jazz stars like Alice Coltrane and Marcus Bellgrave all came from the "D". I came to hear of the second set of torch bearers- Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills and Carl Craig through local events. In 1996, held up in my studio late-night painting, I discovered this LP and the genius of Detroit's second wave of Techno artists. After hearing Craig play an art opening I became invested in the musical experiments of locals and those with an ear to the ground in the arts picked up on this as well. No longer was Techno relegated for warehouses and raves. It could be just as rewarding appreciated without drugs or being in a vacuous space. Each time I listen to this LP it takes me back sounding fresh and modern as the day I first heard it. "Songs" is very much rooted in the future. This music is the embodiment of the Techno genre for all the variety and textures it reveals. There are some 4/4 rhythms on the LP but there’s so much more. Hearing the ambient opener “Es.30” informs you this isn’t your standard electronica. This is music of experimentation and uncharted territories. "Televised Green Smoke" starts off with programmed samba rhythms and then changes up to introduce backwards synths, crisp hi-hats and warped phat bass lines Parliament Funkadelic would have been proud of. Elsewhere you can hear the influences of Blade Runner and Giorgio Moroder’s “Midnight Express” soundtrack work(“Red Light”). Straight Techno (“Dreamland”), House(“As Time Goes By”) and Jazz(“Attitude”). It also holds the classic track "At Les" which would later be remade on his Innerzone Orchestra LP. It’s the soundtrack to plots of abandoned burned out houses, crumbling historical buildings, various street fairs like Dally in the Alley, the Taste Fest or the Fourth Street Fair. It’s the sound of driving around Bell Isle or the riverfront where the Cement Space used to throw raves or the Packard Plant or Altas Building where Hot Box Parties would run through 6am. The sound of the Russell Street Farmers Market where every Saturday morning you’d see fellow Detroiters purchasing flowers, produce and hot cider- even trying to cram into Russell Street Deli. It’s about Zug Island that resides down river and is a toxic reminder of how a society that depends on one industry alone is doomed. Listening to this you hear the now and the future and for those that live there it's what keeps the city going. It’s the potential and the promise. I often refer to this album as Carl Craig’s love letter to Detroit. Every time I hear it a variety of moods pass through me but ultimately the feeling I receive from it is adventurous. It’s an escape. I miss the Chocolate City. Work it out Detroit!