May 25, 2013

Playlist Week of 2013-05-25

Dried Flowers 2013-05-23

* Venice Baroque Orchestra (Marcon/Carmignola): Concerto Italiano (Archiv Prod. CD)
* Reich: Music For 18 Musicians (ECM LP)
* Reich: Octet, Music For Large Ensemble, etc. (ECM LP)
* Sun Ra: Interstellar Low-Ways (Saturn LP)
* Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy (Saturn LP)
* Sun Ra: Continuation (Saturn/Corbett vs. Dempsey 2CD)
* Jimmy Giuffre 3: Emphasis & Flight 1961 (HatOLOGY 2CD)
* Anthony Braxton Echo Echo Mirror House: Septet (Victoriaville) 2011 (Victo CD)
* Sol 6 (Luc Ex, Veyron Weston, Ingrid Laubrock, et al.): Sol 6 (Red Note CD)
* Kris Davis: Capricorn Climber (Clean Feed CD)
* David Torn: Cloud About Mercury (ECM CD)
* David Torn: Prezens (ECM CD)
* P.M. Dawn: The Blisss Album...? (Gee Street/Island CD)
* Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Columbia/Legacy 2LP)
* D’Angelo: Voodoo (Virgin CD)
* Frank Ocean: Channel Orange (Island/Def Jam CD)
* Miguel: Kaleidoscope Dream (RCA CD)
* Praxis: Profanation: Preparation For A Coming Darkness (M.O.D. Technologies CD)
* Grateful Dead: The Lyceum, London, England 5/24/72 (selections) (GDP/Rhino 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: Dick’s Picks Vol.15: Englishtown, NJ 9/3/77 (selections) (GDP 3HDCD)
* Grateful Dead: World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL 7/21/90 (selections) (SBD 3CDR)
* Grateful Dead: World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL 7/22/90 (d.1 selections) (SBD 3CDR)
* Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Psychedelic Pill (Reprise BD)
* Blue Cheer: Vincebus Eruptum (mono) (Philips/Sundazed LP)
* Deep Purple: Machine Head (Warner Bros./Rhino LP)
* Soft Machine: Live At The Proms (1970) (Reckless LP)
* Yes: Close To The Edge (Atlantic/Audio Fidelity SACD)
* Yes: Tales From Topographic Oceans (selections) (Atlantic/Rhino 2CD)
* Yes: Relayer (selections) (Atlantic/Rhino CD)
* Dust: Dust/Hard Attack (Kama Sutra/RCA/Legacy 2LP)
* Metallica: Master Of Puppets (Elektra LP)
* 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)
* Wilco: Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch LP)
* Opeth: Orchid (Candlelight CD)
* Opeth: Morningrise (Candlelight CD)
* Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse (Candlelight CD)
* Opeth: Still Life (Peaceville CD/DVD)
* Opeth: Blackwater Park (Music For Nations/Sony CD/DVD)
* OM: Advaitic Dubplate: “Gethsemane” (Thrill Jockey 12”)
* Hands Off Cuba: From Arrival To Survival (Sebastian Speaks LP)
* Hands Off Cuba: Volumes Of Sobering Liquids (Sebastian Speaks EP)

†=iPod
‡=car

Commentary:

The photo will be the cover of my forthcoming black metal album, The Flowers of Evil

Ha ha.  Just kidding.

Actually, I was just playing around with Hipstamatic on my iPhone. And while I find this all great fun, two slightly disturbing thoughts come to mind: 

Firstly, it is fascinating to see that in our digitized and increasingly ephemeral world, people are using their smart phones to mimic the most crude analog cameras. Is this just free-floating nostalgia or something deeper? Now that the best DSLRs out-resolve the finest film stocks, Hipstamatic allows radical transformations that would require hours of Photoshopping to achieve. To be sure the  results can be visually stunning but it's a little bit like overdubbing the crackle of an LP onto a pristine digital sound recording.

And that leads to another thought: Photo apps like this instantaneously transform the humblest image into something "arty" -- not necessarily "Art," but "arty." While I quite like the image above, I know that much of what I like about it was purely result of software, operating in mysterious ways and with very little opportunities for me to control it. As a result, I am suspicious of its ultimate worth as a "work of art," despite my fondness for the picture. Where was the "work?"

Then again, these things are just tools. Artists have adapted to changing technologies since the beginning of civilization (and, to be sure, I do not pretend to be fine artist). Great photographers make great images with whatever they have at hand and the iPhone is no different. But the ease with which anyone can make something "arty" seems to demean actual "Art." 

Or does it?

What do you think? 

+++

SHAMELESS PLUG DEPT.

I actually do have a CD out, Rodger Coleman & Sam Byrd: Indeterminate (Improvisations for Piano and Drums). While not metal, it kicks serious ass. You can stream it at NuvoidJazz.com or get the deluxe CD by clicking below. It’s also available for download at  iTunes and everywhere else if that’s your thing. Thank you for your interest and support!

Rodger Coleman: Indeterminate (Improvisations for Piano and Drums)

7 comments:

Roddus said...

God knows how you actually find time to actually listen to all that in a week. This week I have had plenty in my players too and with New CD's arriving weekly I have got plenty to catch up on. Still I have had a productive week listening wise, managing to get through the following:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold As Love
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings
Sun Ra - Fate In A Pleasant Mood/When Sun Comes Out
Sun Ra - Heliocentric Worlds Vol. 3
Sun Ra - Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy/Art Forms Of Dimensions Tomorrow
John Zorn - Filmworks Vii - Cynical Hysterie Hour
John Zorn - The Gnostic Preludes
John Zorn - Nosferato
John Zorn - News For Lulu
John Zorn - Spillane
Naked City - Black Box
Erik Friedlander - Volac: Book Of Angels Volume 8
Marc Ribot - Asmodeus - The Book Of Angels Volume 7
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
Bruce Springsteen - Live 1975-85
Bruce Springsteen - Hammersmith Odeon, London '75
Jack White - Blunderbuss
Alabama Shakes - Alabama Shakes
Django Django - Django Django
Shovels & Rope - O'be Joyful
Jon Madof - Zion 80
Ryan Adams - Live After Deaf CD1 Cork (2012).
ZZ Top - Tres Hombres.
Hmmm, more than I thought.

Sam said...

I understand your art apprehensions. To me, the bottom line is not how much work went into something but: does the final result work? I would argue that a sketch of a woman's face that probably took Matisse all of 5 minutes to draw is more valuable as art than the 20 hours it took some hack to paint a crappy scene of sea oats. Where's the "work"? Who cares, as long as it works?

Sam said...

p.s. how'd you like that Blue Cheer? That's a pretty wild record!

Sam said...

Here are my lists from last week:

Playlist 2013-05-27

*Morton Feldman: Morton Feldman Festival 2008-02-10 Amsterdam (CDR) disc 2
*Karlheinz Stockhausen: 2008-08-02 Stockhausen Day, London (CDR) “Stimmung” disc 3
*Karlheinz Stockhausen: Stockhausen Composer Day 2009-01-17 "Hymnen" (CDR)
*Ravi Shankar: The Sounds of India
*Ravi Shankar: Master of Sitar
*Ravi Shankar: Three Ragas
*Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Quartet: 2008-06-27 Besancon (CDR)
*Pete Christlieb/Warne Marsh Quintet: Apogee
*Colla Parte: A Cast of Shadows
*King Kong Meets Godzilla Quintet: 2013-05-06 Richmond VA (wav)
*King Kong Meets Godzilla Quintet: 2013-05-13 The Nile, Richmond VA (wav)
*Charles Mingus: Charles 'Baron' Mingus, West Coast, 1945-49 (selections)
*Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um (unedited version)
*Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop: 1959-07-04 Newport Jazz Festival (CDR)
*Charles Mingus: Mingus Dynasty (original edited version)
*Charles Mingus: Pre-Bird
*Charles Mingus: Mingus at Antibes
*Wadada Leo Smith & Roscoe Mitchell Creative Orchestra: 1979-06-03 Moers (disc 2)
*Sun Ra: Strange Worlds in My Mind
*Sun Ra: Sun Radio: Omniverse Mystery Ninety-Nine Infinity (Part 1: Fanfares, Disciplines) (streaming)
*When: Homage Series Vol. 1: Sun Ra
*Amok: Atoms for Peace
*Booker T. & the MGs: Green Onions
*Broadcast: Broadcast & The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
*Faust: 71 Minutes of Faust
*Grateful Dead: 1973-03-28 Springfield MA (CDR) “Dark Star”
*High Llamas: Can Cladders
*High Llamas: Talahomi Way
*Wendy Rene: After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities 1964-65
*Residents: The Third Reich 'n Roll
*Marc Ribot: Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos (The Prosthetic Cubans)
*Roxy Music: Country Life
*Roxy Music: Siren
*UYA: Selections 15: Tea Bomb Josey
*UYA: 1989-04-13 Middle East, Cambridge MA

Reading List 2013-05-27:

*Pynchon, Thomas. Inherent Vice (reread/started)
*Abercrombie, Joe. Last Argument of Kings (finished)
*Priestley, Brian. Mingus: A Critical Biography (reread/in progress)
*Weldon, Michael J. Psychotronic Video Guide (in progress)

Rodger Coleman said...

@ Roddus: Thank you for you comment and playlist. That is an eclectic list - I love it! I also enjoyed your blog, which I have bookmarked. Keep it up!

@ Sam: I would say that there is the "work" of Matisse's hand/eye mastery that makes his 5-minute drawing "Art" no matter how tossed off. Hack-work is something else. What bothers me is when the work is done digitally, invisibly, unconsciously. And Blue Cheer's debut is possibly the first "heavy metal" album, right? Sounds great in mono.

Rodger Coleman said...

@ Roddus - I accidentally deleted your subsequent comment. Sorry about that! I should not try to blog without having my first cup of coffee. Please re-post if you can. Thanks!

Roddus said...

Can't remember what I said now, lost quite a few braincells in my younger days. Never mind.