Playlist Week of 3-27-10

* J.S. Bach: Suites for Violoncello (ter Linden) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Debussy: Piano Music, Vol.2 (Thibaudet) (Decca 2CD)
* Debussy: Chamber Music (Athena Ensemble) (Chandos CD)
* Wynonie Harris (w/Sun Ra): Studio recordings, Nashville, March 1946 (78RPM>CDR)
* Sun Ra: Super-Sonic Jazz (Saturn/Evidence CD)
* Sun Ra: Delft, The Netherlands 11-11-71 (FM 3CDR)
* Sun Ra: Paris, France 11-29-71 (AUD? CDR)
* Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd: Jazz Samba (Verve CD)
* Cecil Taylor: The World of Cecil Taylor (Candid CD)
* Cecil Taylor: Jumpin’ Punkins (Candid CD)
* Cecil Taylor: New York City R&B (Candid CD)
* Cecil Taylor: Cell Walk for Celeste (Candid CD)
* David Torn’s Prezens: Mercat de les flors, Sala MAC, Barcelona, Spain 1-09-08 (AUD CDR)
* Praxis: Transmutation Live (Douglas CD)
* The Mothers of Invention: We’re Only In It for the Money (Verve LP)
* Led Zeppelin: Mothership (d.2) (Atlantic 2CD)
* Can: Delay 1968 (Spoon SACD)
* Can: Monster Movie (Spoon SACD)
* John Fahey: America (Takoma/4 Men With Beards 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR 5-19-74 (SBD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: Civic Center, Providence, RI 9-08-87 (SBD 2CDR)
* Cocteau Twins: Echoes in a Shallow Bay (4AD/Capitol CDEP)
* Cocteau Twins: Tiny Dynamine (4AD/Capitol CDEP)
* Cocteau Twins: Aikea Guinea (4AD/Capitol CDEP)
* Cocteau Twins: The Spangle Maker (4AD/Capitol CDEP)
* Beck: Midnight Vultures (Geffen CD)
* Mission of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches (Matador LP/EP/DVD)
* Mission of Burma: Vs. (Matador LP/EP/DVD)
* Ranaldo/Giffoni/Moore/Cline: Four Guitars Live (Important CD)
* Thurston Moore: Flipped Out Bride (Blossoming Noise CDEP)
* Thurston Moore: Sensitive/Lethal (No Fun CD)
* Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs (Matador CD)
* Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Deluxe Edition) (Matador 2CD)
* Guided By Voices: Universal Truths and Cycles (Matador LP)
* Guided By Voices: The Pipe Dreams of Instant Prince Whippet (FSC 12”EP)
* Guided By Voices: Earthquake Glue (Matador CD)
* Guided By Voices: “My Kind of Soldier” (side B) (Matador 7”)
* Guided By Voices: “The Best of Jill Hives” (Matador CDEP)
* Boston Spaceships: Camera Found the Ray Gun (Jackpot 7”EP)
* Circus Devils: Ataxia (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Circus Devils: Gringo (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)
* Circus Devils: Mother Skinny (Happy Jack Rock Records LP)

Commentary:

Another month, another Robert Pollard record -- actually, two! Former GBV bassist Chris Slusarenko continues to push Boston Spaceships to be an actual band, this time with a four-song EP on Jackpot Records, which sounds pretty boss, although Pollard’s vocals sound kinda flown-in at the last minute. A new LP is due any minute. The big news is the new Circus Devils album, which was supposed to come out this past Halloween, but was pushed back to now – it was worth the wait! After last year’s quasi-acoustic Gringo, Mother Skinny is a return to the electrified skronky art-noise-rock the Circus Devils are known for, giving Pollard the opportunity to really get his weird on. Pollard’s willfully anti-pop, pro-prog-rock posturing and Todd & Tim Tobias’s wonky, monolithic productions make for a rich stew, but the utter lack of self-deprecatory irony makes the Circus Devils’s gleeful self-indulgences sound fresh and exciting. To me, anyway. I am willing to acknowledge that this stuff is not for everyone – not even every Pollard fan – it is essentially the antithesis of the kind of anthemic cock-rock which classic-era GBV epitomized. If your tastes wander away into the seriously bent thickets of Pollard’s musical persona – the kind of dementia that dates back to Nightwalker or the Howling Wolf Orchestra, then this will be, more likely than not, an immensely enjoyable listen. Otherwise, forget it. Personally, it inspired an inebriated Friday-night survey of the last couple of Circus Devils albums, each of which have their own inimitable sound and mood. Mother’s milk to me, bitter poison to others – use only as directed and caveat emptor! You can test the waters by checking out two free mp3 tracks, “Sub Rat” and “Bam Bam Bam,” here.