U TOTEM performs FUTILITY OF ONENESS

"Futility of Oneness"
©1990 Kerman, Kumar, Grigsby

Sanjay Kumar, Keyboards
David Kerman, Drums
Eric Johnson-Tamai, Bassoon
Emily Hay, Flute, Voice
James Grigsby, Bass

Original video shot by "The Wendy Hour" (including all those funky "special effects")

NOTES ON THE MUSIC:
One of the joys of playing with U TOTEM was being able to perform some pieces originally recorded by 5UU's, such as this piece from the "Elements" album. That project focused on the creation of music in the recording studio, with many pieces starting out as a frenzied drum track in an impossible meter. To perform these pieces it was necessary to "reverse engineer" the music - to notate from the recording, and then rehearse. This is the opposite of the process used in pieces such as "Vagabonds Home", which were through-composed in advance and rehearsed extensively before entering the recording studio.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• u
• totem
• motor
• totemist
• guild
• rotary
• 5uu's
• james
• grigsby
• david
• kerman
• emily
• hay
• prog
• rock
• avant
• art
• classic

[aztechnine]

biting Dagmar a little hard are we not?

[RotaryTotem]

@aztechnine -- Actually, Emily Hay had never heard Art Bears or Henry Cow when she was in this group (of course, Kerman and Grigsby were well familiar with the ReR family). I really don't think Emily sounds like Dagmar at all - she doesn't have that distinctive register-break in her voice, or the accent. People used to compare us to Jethro Tull, just because we had a Flute. These comparisons are mostly superficial.

[aztechnine]

everyone pays homage a little different, and what a great way to pay homage to

 In Praise of Learning and Desperate Straights for paving the way

[RotaryTotem]

@aztechnine - By the time of U TOTEM, Kerman had completely absorbed Henry Cow/Art Bears (let's not forget he was also a Gentle Giant fan). I think the first 5 UU's album shows these influences, but later Kerman moved on. I was interested in those groups becuase they were pushing so-called progressive rock into new areas. However, when we formed U TOTEM, we were really thinking about 20th C. composers like Messiaen and Lutoslawski. Could we incorporate their ideas into a rock context?

[seraj01]

Dear RotaryTotem, thank you for your explanation as to the circumstances of your recording. However, your flute is very expressive and due to the inherent high pitch above the other instruments it was still clear and a joy to hear. Thank you.

[RotaryTotem]

I'm glad you liked it! Check out Emily Hay's solo work as well as albums with U Totem, Motor Totemist Guild, Otherparts, I Am Umbrella, Vinny Golia and others. Cheers!

[aztechnine]

witold rips it up!! xenakis, varese, give it to me!!!

[aztechnine]

no i love this music and i love how it pays homage to Desperate Straights and In Praise of Learning