Playlist 8-8-09

* Handel: 12 Solo Sonatas, Op.1 (AAM/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Handel: Organ Concertos, Op.7 (AAM/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2SACD)
* J.S. Bach: Trio Sonatas (London Baroque/Medlam) (Harmonia Mundi CD)
* Christine Plubeau/Arnaud Pumir: Église Saint Nicolas, La Hulpe 3-20-09 (FM CDR)
* Boulez: Pli Selon Pli (Ensemble Intercontemporain/Schäfer) (DG CD)
* Andrew Hill: Mosaic Select 16 (Mosaic 3CD)
* Cecil Taylor: The World of Cecil Taylor (Candid CD)
* Cecil Taylor: Jumpin’ Punkins (Candid CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quartet (Coventry) 1985 (Leo 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton: Quintet (London) 2004 (Leo CD)
* Anthony Braxton/William Parker/Milford Graves: Beyond Quantum (Tzadik CD)
* John Abercrombie Quartet: Bimhuis, Amsterdam 10-2-08 (FM 2CDR)
* John Abercrombie Organ Trio: Congress Centrum, Bremen 4-25-09 (FM CDR)
* Olu Dara: In the World: From Natchez to New York (Atlantic CD)
* Olu Dara: Neighborhoods (Atlantic CD)
* Prince & The Revolution: Around the World in a Day (Paisley Park/Warner Bros. LP)
* Grateful Dead: Go to Nassau (GD/Arista 2CD)
* Grateful Dead: Cal Expo, Sacramento, CA 5-27-93 (SBD 3CDR)
* Jerry Garcia Band: The Keystone, Palo Alto, CA 2-5-82 IIx (SBD CDR)
* Talking Heads: Little Creatures (Sire/Warner Bros. DVD-A)
* Minutemen: Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat (SST 12”EP)
* Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador 2LP/CD)
* Helios Creed: The Last Laugh (Amphetamine Reptile LP)
* Radiohead: In Rainbows (TBD CD)

Re-reading:

Christopher Miller: Simon Silber: Works for Solo Piano (Houghton Mifflin, 2002)
N.B: This book was retitled for paperback as Sudden Noises from Inanimate Objects: A Novel in Liner Notes. The first time I read this, I thought it was uproariously funny. I lent it to a friend, and, after a long interval, I re-read upon its return. This time through, it just seemed unbearably sad. The conceit of “a novel in liner notes” is actually very clever and Miller viciously skewers the vacuous pretentions of the classical music establishment. But his merciless evisceration of the ambitious yet utterly talentless Simon Silber (and his equally oblivious biographer) is hard to take a second time around. Still worth reading…once.